Holiday destinations that were unexpectedly lovely OR awful.

Ohdearme - thank you :)

MitzyLeFrouf Yes, looking back it was an alarming experience, but a good story. I'm still laughing about that holiday now - 20 years on!! Apparently I was going into 'shutdown' and could well have ended my days in Turkey had it not been for the sweet doctor who exclaimed 'Welcome to Turkey' once the injection had been administered...

Going to Amalfi Coast next week for our honeymoon. Anyone recommend any places that must not be missed? We are staying in Amalfi and had planned a day trip to Capri, so a bit concerned that there's not a lot of love on here for Capri

Its not really one of those places where you say Oh you must see this, or you must go there? The reality is that you drive along the coast and you see all there is to see.

Re Capri - I was there in May for a week and even then it was heaving with tourists and I was glad our holiday villa was a good 10 minute walk uphill oncee you get off the funicular. It was a different world to the one in the main square and surrounding areas. So for a bit of peace I'd say leave the main square and just head out of town on foot. You wont get lost and along the way you'll see some beautiful sights.

LaBruja - only going for a couple of days before heading onto the much maligned Majorca! Some great tips, will see what we can squeeze in!

Loved the Bekaa Valley

So do I.

'had to have emergency steroids pumped into my backside'

I can well imagine that dampening your holiday enjoyment somewhat!

I liked Copenhagen - great cafes (takes it's sandwiches and cakes very seriously ), took the train to Elsinore which was ace. Hotel was a dump though.

I have had loads of fab holidays and a couple of truly memorable (awful ones).

FAB and could recommend:

Kenya - safari (although the poverty in Mombasa was awful. We took the night train from Nairobi to Mombasa; it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had).

Ivory Coast - Africa. Visiting then BF. Extraordinarily lovely people and amazing beaches, but again, noticeable poverty outside the cities. Really worth a visit in the mid '90s. Not sure about now though.

Eastern Algarve, Portugal. Not many Brits go here apparently but we found it quiet, unspoilt and got a taste of the real Portugal. Would def. go back. Food fantastic too and the most beautiful beach I've personally ever been to (Tavira beach).

FRANCE
Paris - Love, love, love. Always have, but I do speak French which seems to help with the unfriendliness aspect.

Provence - one of my most memorable holidays ever. Breathtakingly beautiful. Esp. Avignon and also enjoyed Aix-en-Provence. Love Nice, didn't think much of Cannes.

ITALY
Venice - loved it but best to go outside of the hot summer months. Equally loved Lucca (fab city with beautiful medieval walls and great to cycle around).

Going to Amalfi Coast next week for our honeymoon. Anyone recommend any places that must not be missed? We are staying in Amalfi and had planned a day trip to Capri, so a bit concerned that there's not a lot of love on here for Capri!!

SICILY - adored Sicily (stayed on northern coast near Cefalu). Again, helps to speak a bit of the lingo and when I did, people were amazingly friendly). Very beautiful, although didn't eat much ground-breaking food tbh.

NEW YORK - just fabulous.

HATED:
Tunisia - with a vengeance. Felt unsafe, watched/stared at by the men and ripped off. Hotels we stayed in were horrible, got bitten to death by bugs and got very bad food poisoning which lasted until the end of the holiday, so spent most of the holiday in the bathroom! Very unlikely to go again.

TURKEY - been twice. First time to Olu Deniz which was near perfect to be fair. But second time stayed in a huge hotel - all-in board with very mediocre food near Dalyan. Got badly stung by a sea creature and had to have emergency steroids pumped into my backside. Was out of action fro a few days with enormous blisters all over my leg. Then got food poisoning (again!!). Couldn't wait to get home...

TENERIFE - Been twice - dull as ditchwater. Absoultely nothing to do of any interest whatsoever!

If your kids are interested in history then Carcassonne is great. You need to use your imagination when you go round the castle and maybe read up a bit of its history beforehand so you can tell them about it.

In Carcassonne there's a jousting exhibition in the Cite most afternoons, I believe it's quite good (we didn't go - we were on our own). If you are going self- catering there is a large Lidl supermarket in Carcassonne. There is usually some display in the square Gambetta, but it changes with the seasons. Last year there was a big carousel, several statues and a load of little fountains that kids could play in, it will probably be completely different next year.

We found Carcassone OK for a couple of days but no longer, the Cite is amazing to see, especially from a distance and lit up at night but it is a bit commercialised for me. The pay-access to the walls and castle isn't worth it not much else to see.

Rowenag, 'Person worried about Copenhagen now, I found it very fun and cool and perfect for a city break.'

That was me! Thanks so much. I'm sure it'll be nice really; everyone just has different experiences. I only want to go to cafes, check out a gallery/museum or two and walk in the parks a bit, TBH, so surely it can't let me down on those grounds?

Oh! I'm hoping to go there next year!
Any tips or stuff to do with kids?

Carcassonne in South of France was great. The Cite is a wonderful place to visit.The only downside is the queues to get into the castle, so go early in the morning. You can also go cruising or hire bikes to ride along the canal. Plenty of places to eat at reasonable prices. Loads of cheap wine too. You have to try the local dish of cassoulet at least once. It's not too far to get to the coast for a day either.

Japan -If you have the confidence to go, just do it. (Europe is much more expensive thanks to the Brexit vote!) Amazing country, so polite, friendly, incredible culture and extremely child friendly. Disneyland Tokyo is the best I've been to and its the place to introduce your children to real working robots!

Any package holiday destination - Not really my top choice, much cheaper and more fun to plan your holiday yourself - good experience to let your children play with the local children and there are amazing bargains to be on on Airbnb, anwhere in the world.

LOVED:
Nepal and Kerala - the most beautiful countries with friendly people who are proud that people want to visit.

Blasket Isles (off the SW coast of ireland) - in two weeks of rain we had one gloriously sunny day on these islands, swimming with seals, dozing in the sun with bunnies.

Gairloch - even in the cold weather was wonderful, glorious remote walks, fabulous food, tiny newborn lambs to coo over.

Gran Canaria - against all expectations was fantastic - stayed in the mountains (not on the coast) and hiked across the island. Lovely small hotel, memorable NYE with locals.

Dublin - loved it and fabulous food.

HATED:
Vegas - hated the Redneck/Frat Boy sexist, insular vibe. Encapsulates the worst of the USA.
Llyn Peninsula - beautiful place but awful, unfriendly locals. Why would you not be proud and happy that people want to visit and admire your home county? Pembrokeshire on the other hand was wonderful.

Syracuse, Sicily was truly amazing. We were planning on an overnight stay on our backpacking holiday, and ended up staying a week- and that just wasn't enough.
Split and Rovinj, Croatia. Gorgeous.
The Tyrol and Verona.
Loved the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and Masada in Israel. So much history and the desert is hauntingly beautiful.
However, the most beautiful, truly stunning place in the world is where we have settled for the rest of our lives: The Whangaroa Harbour, north of the Bay of Islands, NZ. Beautiful climate, the air like warm silk, extremely under- populated, clean, clear water, no pollution, especially no light pollution, so that there are more stars in the black velvet sky than you could ever imagine. The beauty is beyond description.

Loved Stockholm and Bologna. Beautiful surroundings, charming people, lovely food. Efficient and clean public transport.

Less impressed, nay underwhelmed by Florence. Fabulous art and architecture but ruined by literally thousands of tourists, all with selfie-sticks. Expensive.

BarbaraofSeville (cool name btw!), yes atmosphere is good synonym for vibe.

I've also really enjoyed this thread and also have some new places I want to visit. Berlin was on the list anyway, but this thread has really reinforced that, so I think it will be the next city break destination, either later this year or early next summer.

I've also learnt a new word - I've never seen the word 'vibe' used so much and now need to find out what it means. Is it the current word for 'atmosphere'?

Thank you to all contributors! Have really enjoyed this thread, and have some new additions to my (expanding) list of places I want to see as a result.

Would add that NE Scotland, in February, was fabulous. The scenery throughout Speyside and the Moray Firth were spectacularly beautiful, as was the drive across the Cairngorms from Balmoral. DS had a great day or two skiing at The Lecht; Lossiemouth beach and harbour, and Elgin were delightful. Our B&B, near Tomintoul and Glenlivet, was positively five-star! It was a long way from home (Cornwall) and the Lake District was an epic fail, because it rained and snowed so hard in both directions that we saw nothing.

Disappointed that so many posters have not liked Cornwall but would concede that the central parts of the county are quite ugly, and the coasts are beautiful but better outside holiday periods. It's a better place to live than to visit, IME.

Forgot to add..adored Turkey too...the locals were so lovely, friendly, willing to help and just so nice. (although we did visit Bodrum to whilst staying elsewhere...shop owners a lot more pushy there..but only as much as in some other places I have been to) Scenery amazing too and as for the clear sea with all the fishes in......! (and the villa we stayed in was a bit skanky so for me to like a place despite the bad villa is amazing!)

Really interesting and useful to hear others takes on places we've been to or hope to go.

Someone up thread asked about St Tropez, it's been the only disappointment we've had for holiday location. Was expecting a beautiful charming little French chic resort instead it was full of soulless designer shops and the boats in the harbour were so big they towered over the buildings. Beach, miles from town, pretty rubbish too.

For a French Jewell try Villefranche, near Nice, absolutely stunning.

Favourite city by a mile is Rome. The combination of its history, it's architecture and gelato is hard to beat.

Cinque terre in n Italy beautiful too with fantastic walking trails and coastal views.

I do lots of research on holiday locations to try and avoid disappointment and it usually pays off. Also we never go to popular spots in July and August, too many people and extreme heat would turn anywhere into a nightmare for us.

Florida, not just Orlando, but also Clearwater (beach amazing!) and Sarasota far nicer than expected. Barcelona fantastic for short break with older kids - so much to see and do, friendly people and easy to get around. Paphos in Cyprus the same - beaches not so brill, but great aquapark and cheap restaurants serving delicious seafood. Always try and make the most of places, but one disaster was Fuerteventura - knew it was windy, but the resort we stayed in was windy +++ = couldn't stand up against the wind and were sand blasted like a medieval form of torture every time went on the beach!! That being said, if you steer clear of the Esquinzo area of the island, think Jandia central and some other parts can be more sheltered, and beaches beautiful (if only weather allows you to sit on them!!)

Isle of Wight....just wasnt' what I thought...stukc in the 1950s, although may like it now if we returned.
Didn't like the place we stayed at or the island itself, although to be fair weather wasn't good, which does affect the way you feel about places. Took our 3 kids stayed on a "GOLD" David Bellamy site...not sure what the David Bellamy "GOLD" bit was for...you should have seen hubby's face when we arrived to see serried ranks of statics. (which he hates) One of which was ours, complete with velour, kids clubs, bingo and nightly show. Kids loved it though and won a return visit in the weekly talent show. (we booked somewhere else so we didn't need to go!)

The island itself seemed v expensive and you seemed to have to pay to get into everywhere...and everywhere there seemed to be expensive "all weather attractions" which we couldn't afford to go in (and may not have chosen to anyway) Cowes was lovely though, and so was Osbourne House, well worth a visit.
It was 14 years ago though and things may have improved...my parents went last year and adored it..though did have good weather too, which helps!
Didnt like Portugal near the Spanish border.....but again the place we stayed in was a complex out on its own and couldn't walk to anywhere to eat so didn't tick all the boxes for us, although went near Albufeira the other year and that was ok (although so cold in the evenings late May!)

Unexpectedly loved Scotland (weather wasn't good all the time but scenery amazing!) (Easter times) and would visit any time, also Northumberland and Lanzorote (Puerto del Carmen in Feb half term some years ago, last minute holiday as daughter had been ill)