Holiday destinations that were unexpectedly lovely OR awful.

Oh and loved NY and unexpectedly Washington - great sightseeing.
Hated LA. That's top of dislike list

Loved Canada, all of it

Hated:
Barcelona , went on NYE and there were rivers, no seas of piss. Disgusting.
Madrid. Food. Yuck.
Paris, been a few times and it's beautiful but sick of rudeness wouldn't go back now

Loved:
Lanzarote, loved it, something lovely about that place and so relaxed.
Berlin - want to go back
Finland . Cakes are yum.
Estonia. Stunning. Mid week so missed stag and hens.
Isle of Wight, reminds me to go back with dad
Bologna. Got lost driving and lovely lovely people.

Sad about Sidari. Went there 24 years ago and it was gorgeous !

That's my point. It's five years after the earthquake - do something! It seemed when I was there this year that so much time was being spent in considering plans that nothing had happened. I am sure it's hellish for the locals.

Shanghai Diva WTF about Christchurch? I'm sure the locals would love to have their city repaired, everyone I know there is over living in chaos.

The casual racism towards Australians here never fails to bemuse me.

Bulgaria was lovely, we've been in summer and also skiing in Plovdiv in winter - beautiful and not busy and considerably cheaper than the more well known ski resorts!

Also have to say I love Dubai - I live here and it is so so much more than glitzy hotels and malls, we leave that to the tourists!!! 10 minutes out of the city has some amazing, cultural places to visit and camping out in the desert and the stunning sunsets will forever be one of my favourite things to do. As so many places living here is totally different to holidaying here

In UK have to say I hate Brighton and Exeter - grubby, unfriendly and boring

Maldives was boring. 2 weeks on an island with chuff all to do.

Paris was meh.

Australia I still hate and lived there for 2 years. I'm in no hurry to return.

Tunisia was a shit hole. The beach was covered in fag butts left by the Russians

Loved Nice for a Xmas sun weekend break, was very family friendly.

Love NY and been loads since.

Loved Lanzarote, thought I'd hate it.

arfur where do you usually stay? As a couple of with children too? May have some ideas.

I expected to like Vegas. I absolutely loved it but then again I live in AD and spent years in Dubai, so what do I know

I also expected to love San Francisco. Was very meh, and one of the few times I've ever felt on edge the whole time we were there.

Cork - had been desperate to visit Ireland for years, but what a disappointment. Everyone we came into contact with was openly rude, whilst simultaneously sucking up to the American tourists. We stayed in one small village where the locals were openly hostile - I was very glad to leave.
Loved Florida, so much so that we got married on a beach in Sarasota at sunset and it was perfect.

Iceland was grey and miserable - everyone says it's stunning scenery but we just had grey fog and drizzle so couldn't see anything apart from wet air for 3 days. Plus alcohol everything is very expensive.

Chicago - this was my unexpectedly great experience. I felt to daunted to visit as a solo voyager on a earlier trip to America. However I went with my husband and had a great time. The city is clean. The people are friendly. The food is great. We went up the Sears Tower to the observation deck. It was at night time, it was just great. We had late supper at the Palmer Court Hotel on our way back. Just great. I got a nice Chicago Cubs American Football sports shirt from a second hand shop in a suburb of Chicago called Belmont.

I also got a Nike brand t-shirt that was relevant to Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

The trains run on overhead steel girders. The train stops at different stops on the same street. We thought we were lost when we got off but followed the football fans towards Soldier Field stadium and all was good again.

Walked around the lake. Got a boat trip across the lake.

We then went on to Alaska and had a great time there too.

I can't remember a properly awful holiday or destination.

I'm just back from Copenhagen tonight and I loved it .

Loved Bangkok as I thought it was one of the most exciting places I've ever been.

Hated Nice. Boring, naff.

Gibraltar - utter dump with a dreary town centre full of duty free shops
Kuta in Bali - there for just one night en route to Ubud - just awful
Oslo - most boring capital city on the planet and ridiculously expensive too
Yogyakarta - another utter dump. We stayed on the outskirts which was very nice, but the centre is dreadful. The Sultan's palace was so bad it quickly became the highlight of the holiday! Kids still talk about it now!
Christchurch NZ - FFS just get on with the rebuilding - looks like a bloody war zone in the centre.
Queenstown NZ - far too many tourists, must be awful living there
Some of my favourites:
Hanoi
Hong Kong
Margaret River
Prague

Isle of Wight - loved it. It's a time machine back to 1972 ! We had been for a walk in the afternoon and sat on the beach cooling our feet in the sea at about 6pm. We avoided the obviously touristy places and had a great time. We always try and stay in the same self catering place as it's so nice. The pubs are great. The café in the old Rex Cinema is fab.

Turkey - I remember having a nice time & not that many street hawkers. We had booked a day trip & wanted some cold water to take with us. They guy in the little shop rummaged around at the bottom of the chiller to get us a couple of bottles of water that were half frozen so they would be chilled for longer in the heat of the Turkish sun.

We had a day trip to Saclakent Gorge and after lunch we went walking up this cool gorge paddling through the water. OK, the lamb served in the restaurants was probably goat, but hey.

Dublin was good. The Guinness Factory. Kilmarnham Gaol. The bus tour around the city. Eating steak on Hannover Quay. Seafood at Bentleys the next night. We could have hired a bike from one of those coin operated bike hire places but preferred to walk. Nice place. Nice people. Had lunch at, 'The Jam Factory' thinking it was an old jam factory. No. Jam as in guitar playing sessions they had in the evening. This was at the end of a week long driving holiday in Eire. Again, all good.

Paris - magical city of light. Was taken there by my boyf now husband back when we were dating. (Oh except for a minor altercation with a street urchin near the Sorbonne who tried to grab the bottle of water I was holding. My husband intervened and got a kick in the nuts for his trouble. He tried to tell the Gendames what had happened but did not know the French for, 'kicked in the knackers'.) I also ran the Paris Marathon in 2010. Fantastique.

Sydney - very good, but like others have said. Why would you want to live there ? It's just a city. Once you get over the touristy bits you might as well be just about anywhere. Loved Circular Quay and Sydney Harbour Bridge though.

Cook Islands - glorious lagoon.

Auckland - very good but will always be loaded with, 'emotional baggage' as my in-laws live there.

Cyprus - went to Paphos in 1987 and thought it was great.

London - always going to love it.

Blackpool - getting the tram back into town from Fleetwood in the evening when the illuminations are on was just magical. Harry Ramsdens fish and chips were delicious too.

Barcelona - walked round everywhere not one beggar or any aggro. Las Ramblas, the markets, the sex museum, the beach, Sacre Familia, Park Guell where Gaudi used to live. All good.

I like Oslo too but actually Bergen is fantastic - amazing history and just wonderful.

I was most disappointed in Budapest. Buda side was dull and Pest was full of beggars and some awful poverty in areas. The underpasses to get across the roads gave me the shivers. It was also surprisingly expensive the last time I went. I gave it a second chance about 5 years later as everyone raves about it and I still disliked the place.

Riga, Oslo, Cuba and Corfu also make it to my dislike list. Though in fairness only Cuba had been on my bucket list. I found Cuba terribly exploitive and in Havana I ended up in two screaming rows with con artists who got pretty aggressive and tried to charge far more than was agreed upfront. Great crumbling city though, which is equally fabulous and a bit baffling (tourist dollar v local and private v public restaurants).

I was pleasantly surprised with Kraków and i always recommend it for a short break.

Oslo - booked a super cheap spur of the moment deal without knowing the first thing about Oslo. One of the best places I've ever been.

Not "polling"... spelling!!

Dislike:-
Athens - dirty and grim
Madrid- only the Prada to recommend it
Barcelona - meh

Love:-
Seville - my favourite holiday ever
Split and Kurcula(polling??) in Croatia - gorgeous
Nashville - awesome in a tacky way
Monte Carlo - totally loved watching the "rich people" ...which we aren't!!
Paris - just love the vibe, even the rude Parisiens
Mykonos - so pretty.

NickiFury
Do you have any AD hotel recommendations?

Our favourite one is fully booked When we want to go next

We've been about 10 times so are familiar with quite a few areas, just usually stay in the same hotel as we totally fell in love with it!

Thanks

We went to Skopelos (where Mamma Mia was filmed) and it was just breathtaking. Eating breakfast every morning on a terrace, with swallows flying in and out, and the view of jewel blue seas below us.

Favourite holiday ever must be the West Coast of Scotland, but we were incredibly lucky with the weather, and it was too early for midges. Wonderful views at Loch Fyne, Jura, Skye, Port Charlotte and Torridon.

Loved Portofino, Italy, parts of Switzerland (for the stunning landscapes), Orlando, Florida and Florence.

Wasn't so keen on Amsterdam.

Marrakech was an absolute dump. I gagged on its smell the entirety of my visit.

New York - first time stayed in midtown and it was noisy, humid, and all the sights were shit.
Second time stayed in Harlem, visited friends and fell in love with it. Central Park is still shit though - full of roads and no grass you're allowed on.

St Ives and a sub-Butlins holiday camp were actually lovely.
Blackpool is depressing as fuck.
Abu Dhabi ppretends it has the culture Dubai lacks. It doesn't. And it rained when I was there so was just a muddy building site.

Florence, Venice and Paris are all lovely especially in spring/ autumn. Aix and Avignon were unexpected gems.

Really disliked Tunisia, men looking at my daughter and I a lot ( she was 12), very uncomfortable and felt unsafe without a man with us which I resent hugely. Sharm el Sheikh, so much hassle and hustling!
Dubai, filthy rich and slavery side by side, just horrid. Not overwhelmed by France, and been a few places there.

Loved Verona (the opera was wow!) Ibiza, Zante and Kefalonia.

And nearer home, Portmerion in Wales, ridiculously beautiful with Italianate architecture, and the views over the sea