Holiday destinations that were unexpectedly lovely OR awful.

I expected Costa Rica to be misogynist and possibly gropey but it wasn't in the slightest - the men were the most gentlemanly and respectful I've ever met. That was a real surprise! However they all spoke with horror of the horrendous men of neighbouring Paraguay and said I must never go there :o

Milan was so boring. There's nothing to see apart from the Duomo and some castle/museum we went to. Everything was closed randomly. It was Euro 2004 or something and I thought it would be ace watching the footie in football-mad Italy, but nowhere was open. In the end we found one bar run by an English guy showing the game. The toilet was a hole in the floor. One evening we went out for dinner and ended up in what looked like the ghetto (next to the rail tracks). Loads of boarded-up buildings and huge piles of rubbish where it appeared homeless people lived. When we stopped to ask directions of some police they were horrified to find tourists in that area and told us to go back to our hotel.

Love this thread! So interesting to read so many opinions and to see that there is broad agreement over some places.

I am another who was underwhelmed by Venice - I preferred Verona, and having loved Glasgow I was really disappointed by Edinburgh.

I love Croatia, There are some beautiful resorts in Dalmatia, between Split and Dubrovnik. Finally, it is probably sacrilege, but I wasn't all that keen on Rotorua, but loved Milford Sound.

Swansea. Grim
Tunisia. More grim but with the added bonus of mega hot.

Kyoto. Amazing. Really spiritual and historical.
Agree that northumbrian coast is amazing
Llandudno. Expected it to be grim. Cheesey but cheerful we liked it

I hated the week I spent in tenerife, the sun never came out once and its the only place ive seen a cockroach.
Loved disneyland paris but was shocked at the behaviour of some adults there, same issues as mentioned by a previous poster.

Madeira

Stunning

Oh, and I went to Newfoundland for work and wasn't expecting to fall in love with the 20ft snowdrifts, iced-over seas and bitterly cold temperatures but it was breathtaking. Saw whales and icebergs, places where polar bears live, etc. I've been twice in the past 18 months and intend to go back soon!

Jamaica - DISLIKED hugely. Too dangerous to leave the walled hotel premises without a guard, bad infrastructure, people trying to rip you off at every opportunity.

Turkey - ditto, very poor infrastructure and a lot of hassle from young men (when I was a lot younger!)

Belgium - really nice, great people, was surprised how much I liked it.

Singapore - again, a big surprise hit. Lovely weather, very clean, nice locals. I'd go back any time.

Thats really interesting Dozy, my friend lived in Dubai and travelled to India. She hated Dubai, one of the reasons being the attitude to women being so awful.

India is bad but I never once felt threatened when we were there, unlike Australia.

I was disappointed by Barcelona. It was cold/ windy, beggars and pickpockets everywhere. Plus my DP was propositioned by a prostitute while we were walking ARM IN ARM. Lastly, the restauranteurs and hoteliers seemed to be openly hostile to tourists.

BUT, literally everybody else I know absolutely loves the place so perhaps we were unlucky.

I love tangiers! Went in April to help out at a friend's animal sanctuary and walked through the market (two western women) to be met with no hassle at all. Visited village school just outside and loved the kids and teacher and went to locals houses and was welcomed profusely. And the scenery is amazing. Not keen on dawlish warren in high season but love Corfu and adored Malta.

I unexpectedly fell in love with Seattle, Philadelphia and Washington DC. They were all places I never really intended on going, they were just 'on the way' to something else, so I never had any preconceived ideas about them. Loved them all.

Not all too taken by Stockholm and Prague. Rome was lovely as a place but didn't like the vibe.
Found Kenya to be a bit.. strange. A breathtakingly beautiful country and, on the whole, people were the friendliest. However, I didn't feel safe as a lone female, and people trying to stroke my (blonde, so a bit of a novely?) hair without warning got tiresome very quickly.

Enthusiasm I'm not arguing with London's history or the fact that it's a great city, but it's a personal thing for me. I first came to live in London in 1982 and it's changed beyond all recognition since then. All the quirky, interesting, individual aspects of it seem to have been swept away - Charing Cross Rd when it still had bookshops, family-run shops and funny little cafes and restaurants, etc etc - and it's just one great big never-ending building-site now, sadly.

I still work there so know it well, and it has a lot going for it, but I mourn the London I knew that has disappeared thanks to big-money developers and overseas owners who just want to open another branch of some 'luxe' department store or boutique hotel. That's 'progress' I guess

I don't think I've been anywhere I regretted, although this thread is confirming places that are not for me!

Once was enough for las Vegas - great evening outdoor sights but with no interest in gambling, shopping or strippers one night was sufficient. Waikiki is worth it for the 'wow, guess where I am' feeling but the sea is mucky and the tower blocks come right to the beach. Ko phi phi was full of noisy gappies and was a very sad place with a clear section of the population absent.

Hated Vienna - beautiful but just not my thing. Very pretentious, didn't like the food and didn't feel welcome there. Also got food posiong - not good.

Love Berlin - go every year, so independent and creative. Amazing people, food, bars, architecture, art. "Berlin is poor but sexy" as the saying goes.

but did love the Gulbekian Institute
That's the one with a lot of Lalique pieces, isn't it?

Hated Italy as soon as we crossed over from Switzerland. It was like going back to the 60s. Traffic jams for no apparent reason, overpriced spaghetti dishes, no receipts for any purchases and men that looked like something out of 'Rising Damp'.

Best place in the world - the civilised Peloponnese and home of gentlemanly Patrick Leigh Fermor. Bliss, beauty and peace.

I loved Lisbon and have been back several times. I fell in love with Hay-On-Wye after a very short visit and have been back three time in the last year. Pubs, cake and bookshops. Perfect.

Love love love Dubai, Abu Dhabi (even more so than Dubai), Las Vegas, Florence, Ibiza, Nice, Monaco, Devon, Cotswolds, Copenhagen, Stockholm. Probably in that order. I've been to most of the above twice or more.

Meh: Budapest, Cancun (shit food), Zurich, Dublin, Vietnam.

Never, ever again: Thailand, India. Dirty, poverty stricken, hassle everywhere you turn. Dangerous travel conditions & a disgusting attitude to women (India more so). Fine for my younger days, but now…no thanks.

Just never, full stop: any all inclusive resort, any resort geared towards children (yes, I have DC & it boils my piss when parents think these places are their only option), Tenerife (boak), Benidorm (double boak)

I'm glad I've experienced all of the above, though.

Expected to love: San Francisco. I not only hated it, I was terrified. My hotel was in a back street so menacing that staff advised me not to walk along it and drew me a 'safe' detour on a map. When I finally made it to any of the attractions they were all really disappointing. I was supposed to stay a week but left after three days.

Unexpectedly loved: Berlin. Much more relaxed and fun than I expected, loads to do, great architecture.

I didn't expect to like Amsterdam, I thought it would just be all about the weed and seedy. I loved it, so pretty, loads to do and fabulous restaurants.

Also loved Barcelona, Verona and Krakow.

Really didn't like Gran canaria, Madrid and Polperro (although that could be more to do with the fish smell setting my morning sickness off).

Croatia/Slovenia. Absolutely stunning however we were there a very short time before the war broke out and the atmosphere was awful. Some one tried to run us over, the food was terrible and there were awful shortages of everything in the shops. I hope it's a happier place now.

I was disappointed by Madeira, Cannes and LA. Expected to dislike Alicante, as I thought it'd be like Costa del Hell but it was lovely.

Hated Lisbon, especially the food (but did love the Gulbekian Institute). First city I'd felt unsafe in.

Loved Crete, me and DH had never been on a sun/sea holiday before - but it was a quiet resort off season, and access to a car meant we had some great trips - we still talk about the amazing food we had.

Unexpectedly awful:

Morocco. Essouoira was nice-ish but generally it was horrible. Fez and Marrakesh in partic. Loads of sexual harassment and groping. Lots of closed doors, v little street culture - all felt very closed off and unwelcoming. Also uncomfortable hotels and bad food.

Bilbao - again just felt unwelcoming and lacking culture. Very average. Had expected more.

New York - all grey and concrete and aggressive and hard work. And I'm a Londoner ! And the art galleries - which is what I specifically went for - were appallingly bad. So few of their best works on show. Rip off.

Barcelona - what can I say, maybe it was the company. I knew as soon as we arrived that I had to dump the guy when we got home. Perhaps that sapped the joy out of the place.

Unexpectedly lovely:

Northumberland coast - had to go on a field trip for uni. Blown away. It's beautiful !

Exmoor - ditto and ditto.

Hong Kong - had a layover for a couple of days. Loved it so much I went back for a week and hope to do so again. So much to do, so much greenery, the world's highest swimming pool, the beaches and islands have such diversity, amazing public transport, it just makes it all so easy. And the food obvs.

Seville - on a trip round Andalusia I was expecting to like Granada in partic but no, Seville was far nicer. Just a very civilised and beautiful place.