Holiday destinations that were unexpectedly lovely OR awful.

Loved Lanzarote, and I wasn't expecting to. Most of the island is very beautiful, only a small part is British cafes and the like.

Also loved Falkland Islands which we were not expecting to. It is like Scotland, very beautiful, but with lots of penguin colonies, amd the people were lovely

Didn't like Vienna.Very nice place, but seemed very dull, boring and quite English. The only thing I liked was the amazing cakes.

Didn't like New York, which was a surprise.

Also didn't like Venice. But I went during the hottest month and it was extremely over crowded. Might be totally different at a less popular time.

Didn't like Capri. Not as attractive as most of the surrounding Amalfi coast, and just seemed to be full of very expensive clothes shops, and not much else.

Venice was even more magical than I thought it would be.

Agree SharkBaitOohHaha London has become too corporate

Still quirky places about but getting harder to find though one good thing it is much cleaner than it was thankfully

workshyfop without hijacking the thread, can you please tell me about Fukuoka I'm about to head there solo for 2 months and am bricking it!! I haven't come across anyone who's been

'Hot Milton Keynes'

Hated dubai. Its just a hot milton keynes. Honestly, its just shopping ctrs, has a ski slope. Save your money and go milton keynes instead!!
Sydney to me was just like a hot british city. i dont want to travel that far to experience what i could get to in half an hour on the train to.

Loved Singapore, also wanted to move there!

Hated the one day trip we did to Malaysia. The people were just so rude and I was shocked and how dirty and full of litter it was.

Hated Barcelona and Madrid; too many really obvious pickpockets and the food was bloody awful everywhere. However, a cheesy bit of coast by Alicante turned out to be a lot of fun.

Bucharest is horrible, but the Transylvanian mountain region is lovely.

Oslo is one of the most boring places ever.

Tallinn is one of the best places I have ever been in my life. Such lovely people and such a sweet little city.

Venice - quite disappointing, over crowded, cliched, stinky,!hot.

Lucca (Italy) fabulous walled town with amazing food and restaurants, loved it

I liked Venice, thought it would be too touristy but wandering around the back streets and squares at night was lovely, as was the cake and the lovely glass shops.

Generally though, I have been disappointed by Italy - it often seems dirty, loud, really sexist and as someone said, decades out of touch. Especially the food in many places. I've had far better "Italian" food at Zizzi and Pizza Express than the shabby/boring salads and pizzas I've had actually in Italy - with only a couple of exceptions. And also it is not as child-friendly as it's supposed to be either. Trying to get cafes to do a small plate of pasta for DD was a total PITA! They just did not get it.

How can you write off Mexico?

I feel sorry for anyone taking foreign holidays before budget airlines and the Internet were invented. People used to book two weeks in the sun based on five photographs in a Thomas Cook brochure. Christ knows how some of them must have felt on arrival.

Western Australia - didn't want to go really, WA sa but meh about it, got there spent time in Perth, travelled to Margaret river - amazing spot, loved the rest of that trip, completely unexpected!

, Fraser Island, Gold Coast Australia - ugh worst holiday ever.

Had an amazing holiday experience in Biarritz / st Jean de Luz

Have horrible holiday experience in st Jean de Luz (second

Lanzarote - booked a cycling hol there but was so convinced I wouldn't like the place was googling flights home while waiting for my flight out. Amazing lunar landscape, beautiful clean beaches and the greenest sea, lovely people. Also love Paris, New York, Edinburgh, Las Vegas. Not feeling the love for Norfolk, Dublin, Cork, Monaco, Quebec, Venice.

Hated Venice. Toddler DS was pushed over and cut his face within minutes of arriving. Very hot and busy . Gondola ride underwhelming and food and drink extortionate!
After some poor experiences in Paris did not expect to like Nice but I loved it. The people were so friendly and lots of places to visit in the area.
Loved the Isle of Bute off west coast of Scotland. It has Palm trees and beautiful beaches

And agree with everyone on Croatia - a complete surprise. Flew into Dubrovnic, then ferry to Korcula and Split. All idyllic.

Everyone told us Malta was wonderful. It was like we'd be transported back to the mid-80s and the food was dismal everywhere. We really didn't like it.

n0ne Had almost the same experience in Milan. It seemed shut. Took the train on a day trip to Venice (amazing) and when we came back into the main rail station about 7pm it was almost deserted.

Oh yes, Bruges is lovely, and so is Wanaka in NZ (though for entirely different reasons).

Loved Belfast. Beautiful city, amazingly friendly, polite locals, loads to see and do, and a short drive to the gorgeous coast, Giants Causeway etc. I would live there in a heartbeat. Apart from the murals, armoured police cars and barbed wire round the police stations, there's no obvious sign of the Troubles. Didn't feel in the least unsafe.

Milan - dull as fuck

Expected to hate Turkey but fell in love with it. We stayed in Side and it was just beautiful. Stunning scenery, amazing food and the locals were so friendly. I really feel sad for what is happening there at the moment, and the local people who's livelihoods will be ruined. I've been several
times with my family but couldn't go back now.

DL Paris. Thought it would drive me
Mad but I walked in when a parade was on and cried! It was brilliant, except for the behaviour of the adults. Very rude and pushy, thankfully DC didn't notice.

I was disappointed with the Dominican Republic, I felt quite unsafe.

I was quite pleasantly surprised by Bulgaria. Nice beach, decent service at the hotel, plenty of restaurants although service a bit dodgy (different mains arriving at different times) and we felt safe. We weren't going crazy with sighseeing though, just pottering around the old town and went on a couple of bus trips in between reading on the beach.

Am glad it's not just me that hasnt 'got' Copenhagen or Brighton. ALthough the law changed a few years ago so more things in Denmark are now open on Sundays.

Can't believe that some posters hated Vienna and Italy.

Italy is a big country with some less savoury places than others. Vienna is one of my favourite capital cities, and I just adore Lake Garda.

I was underwhelmed by Dublin and disappointed with New Orleans as we felt so unsafe there.

I'm not a fan of Paris either.

I fell in love with Bruges.

Doh not Paraguay, I mean Panama