Worst 'tourist' places you've visited

[ThunderOnlyHappens]

A little inspired by the school trips thread but I have been thinking about the worst places I've visited in pursuit of leisure. Disclaimer-sorry if you live there/love it. These are not anything other than my experience on that day/time.

There was the time I took a group of patients for a nice country stroll, which turned out to be a lay-by off an A-Road.

Or going on holiday to a small town near Gainsborough and realising that there was nothing to do, at all. We were there for a week!

Thanks Polly!

I liked Copenhagen, but it depends what you want to do, I suppose (like most holidays). DP and I wanted to have quite a quiet time and just 'live' in the city a bit; we stayed in a flat on an estate and generally just mooched about and went to bakeries for coffee etc. We stayed in an area called Norrebro that's good for hipsterish cafes and interesting restaurants and has a public park full of street furniture (benches, bus stops etc) from all over the world. Spent a happy afternoon wandering and taking pictures of us sitting on Uzbekistani benches and stuff

There are also lovely parks, a wonderful design museum and a great modern art gallery down by the waterfront in a very groovy area called Paper Island, which also has a covered street-food 'market' with loads of seating outside. Brilliant for reasonably priced and varied food, and watching the beautiful Danish people at play

Fully aware the problem is with me and not Berlin as I am literally the only person I've ever met who hated it.

I agree with you lurkingfromhome, I didn't like Berlin either - grey and depressing. We stayed in the old East Berlin and it looked like a Soviet Gulag! Horrible. And yes, roadworks everywhere, ugly buildings, I hated it. That was about 15 year ago though so it might have improved I doubt it.

I think your experience of Paris is very different if you can speak French. Not saying that is a good or bad thing but it is the reality.

For me London is one of the most overrated places ever.

To those saying a place is different if a local can show you good places to go - that makes it a good place to live, but a crap place for tourists. The good places for tourists are good without knowing any locals. So Washington DC is an amazing city and takes very little research to really enjoy.

I've been to Berlin much more recently than 15 years ago and liked it. There were, funnily enough, quite a lot of roadworks but hey, it's a big city, there'll by the laws of statistics be roadworks somewhere at any given time.

For me the eastern bloc vibe and depressing buildings etc were part of the appeal too. Although it's not all like that, by any means; I stayed in Neukolln (sp?), which I think is 'up-and-coming', and there were some lovely buildings and streets.

Tempelhof park is amazing and there's lots of really interesting small independent shops and cafes. The Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag building etc, IMO, are not necessarily beautiful or interesting per se but because of the weight of their history. Berlin has such a strange history and I personally found that compelling.

@derxa

I like the smell of piss in Paris

Made me laugh, thanks for that

Hesperatum - where would you recommend staying in Southern Galicia? We had a fabulous holiday in the Basque country a few years ago and would definitely go back to northern Spain - really unspoilt, friendly, great food, and very few Brits!

Bahamas. I actually went to the British Embassy to get me on an earlier flight out of there. Hot and humid hell hole.

Men at dusk walk around with machetes digging holes in the dusty dirt. I actually feared for my life.

A serial killer was at large when we arrived and had targeted western tourists on our local beach. .

My friend and I gatecrashed the 5* exclusive resorts as the downtown beach burnt my throat from the cruise ship detritus going into the water.

The fruits and vegetables on sale at the local markets were rotten whilst over the bridge on the resorts there was out of this world cuisine and abundance of beautiful fruits and vegetables.

The divide between the rich and poor was too much for me and a serial killer on my local beach was the last straw.To top it off I hit the tail end of a hurricaine on the flight home!!

Berlin is one of my favourite cities. Rich in history, brilliant art scene, lovely people!

Oh and apparently it has the most vegan/vegetarian shops/restaurants in any city in Europe!

I don't like Berlin - it's not a pretty city, but it's incredibly interesting and for that reason I like going there.

I forgot to add that one morning I awoke and one of my legs was paralysed I couldn't walk and fell over when I got out of bed. I had been bitten by something and it took about 8hrs for my leg to right itself!

I've been to Berlin much more recently than 15 years ago and liked it.

Likewise, we went 2 years ago and unexpectedly loved the place. We stayed near Museum Island, so basically the old "border" between East and West, but other than the tower area, we didn't stray any further into the old Eastern end as we just didn't fancy seeing the soviet style suburbs (we had looked there for accommodation and really didn't fancy it at all). We did the bike tour of the central/tourist areas and through to the park and zoo area - really good to do it on a bike which was a first for us and an experience we thoroughly enjoyed. The touristy bits were a bit tacky (Checkpoint Charlie I'm looking at you!), but the history we learned was amazing in the various museums, and from the bike guide. Strangely, we also enjoyed the excellent public transport and took a few random train/tube rides as they were so clean, regular and safe (even at night), and quite exciting to randomly stop off at places we knew nothing about, safe in the knowledge it was quick and easy to get back!

Torquay was another disappointment - though I'm guessing we went to the wrong area of town as we felt quite unsafe even just walking down the high street

You didn't go to the wrong part of town. The seafront is lovely - and places like St Marychurch, Cockington are pretty. But the town centre is AWFUL! It used to have decent shops. One road was really tacky but the main high street was fine. Not any more. M&S moved out recently and it's killed it. I totally get where you're coming from with feeling unsafe.

I live in Dubai and can imagine that if you don't get out to explore the older areas of the city that it can appear to be all shopping malls and hotels.

The older part of the city is actually rich with culture though but many tourists don't seem to explore those areas. The best thing about it is that you can explore those areas safely and without being hassled, like you would be in similar areas of other middle eastern cities.

the souqs (markets for spices, gold, textiles etc), creek, museums and even other emirates in the UAE are worth a visit, and definitely a trip out of the city to the desert. There are also areas of Dubai which cater to the vast Asian population in terms of textiles, food etc which are really worth a wander around for some amazing street food and a look around that way of life.

It's a great place but you need to leave the hotels/malls etc to find these areas.

It's another city that has alienated people by being overtly "anti car". Rather than use inconvenient park n ride, car drivers just go to the out of town shopping/attraction areas instead

Gosh I didn't think that at all. I thought the park and ride was really good, but the buses got caught up with the cars. In my view they should introduce a congestion charge and get the cars out of the centre. I did think it was a bit run down compared to the mid 90s when I studied there, but that's just the British high street malaise.

Previous post was about York.

GiantKitten I aim to please.

The "Bostel" in Amsterdam Bos (a big public park outside Amsterdam. I thought it would be more family friendly and cheaper than Amsterdam proper.
Everything cost extra. Heating in the chalets, blankets, tiny packets of toilet paper for 5 euros (none provided in the loos), 5 euros for a filthy shower.
The guy that run it was a highly strung Basil Fawlty character, continually fighting with the guests over perceived breaches of his byzantine site rules.
Still not sure if it was terrible or hilarious tbh

Cornwall, DH and I went for our honeymoon in November ... we left two days early.

The Eden project, also a Day of our lives we couldn't get back and the nail in the coffin of our Cornish honeymoon

@DarlingNikita I got my Venice folder out for you this morning - have a look at some of these, all of which I've used at various times:

Impronta Cafe
Rosticceria Gislon
Bacaro Osteria Barababao
Bacaro 22 Vintido
Tuttinpiedi
Bacareto Da Lele
Da Mamo

@rosieposey

Cornwall, DH and I went for our honeymoon in November ... we left two days early

There’s a good reason why so much of Cornwall shuts down for the winter, you know

Giant kitten I see that now! I've been for a weekend in the summer too since and that was it for me - never again!

I’d give it one more try, in eg May or September

Puzzled, thank you, that's so kind you have a Venice folder???

It's another city that has alienated people by being overtly "anti car"
Personally I find too much traffic much more alienating. I love places like Soho and Venice for the feeling of being able to just stroll around and not worry about traffic lights, mad drivers etc. So many cities are blighted by a screaming great road blasting through a nice area.

Cornwall. A lot of the villages looked quite like those in the Est Nuek of Fife (or reminded by of them) and that's only about an hour away from me. The hollowing out of the place by second homes, holiday homes etc was also quite dispiriting.