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!

Also IOW used to have Brading Waxworks which was both scary and compelling - just found this article and it brought back many fond childhood memories:

Waxworks

I can’t understand why people love Paris, I have been a few times and it’s just whatever.

Cambodia/Thailand - beautiful countries but the pervy old men with young girls make me feel sick, and all the white backpackers boring on about fiiiinding themselves.

Korea - I live here and no idea why anyone would enjoy it as a tourist, trying to find useful information is like trying to get blood out of a stone, the locals treat all non-Koreans like they are idiots, everyone is loud all the time for no reason, totally over the top nationalism (anti japan propaganda on the airport train for one) plus missionaries/cults/religious nutjobs try to convert you constantly on the street unless you walk around with a face like a slapped arse (on the other hand, a lot of gorgeous things to see and so many nice people too but some days, it’s hell.)

I didn’t hate Vietnam but I didn’t understand why people love it. We didn’t get ripped off but I saw lots of white couples being really overcharged for basic stuff.

I also hated Amsterdam, Brussels was also boring.

A lot of people hate it but I LOVE China, I find the people really open and fun, food is lovely, lots to do.

Agree with Paris, some parts are really pretty but the metro is the worst I have ever experienced - the men on there are genuinely frightening in their attitude and demeanour. I love France and speaking French so I still like parts of Paris, but some parts are genuinely awful.

Haifa. I wasn't prepared for the SIZE of the bastard cockroaches. Many many sleepless nights cowering in bed watching these enormous fuckers strolling round the room. Also they were the kind that can fly, which is just wrong. Outside was full of feral cats, eating the cockroaches. And the roads were mostly vertical, which was tiring. Also as a Brit I was not used to the sort of humidity/air-conditioning combo where you walk outside and your glasses steam up.

We did the full touristy bit in Paris with the DC at Easter and it was fab. The Pompidou Centre was a highlight - the DC loved it. Took them to Tate Modern a few months later and it was nowhere near as good in comparison.

We also loved the IOW, even in the rain.

Funny, all these different opinions!

I hate Legoland, for the record.

South Africa (a few years ago) felt dangerous. You can't walk to a restaurant in the evening because it's unsafe, you have to drive. You then have to pay some poor black kid outside the restaurant for your car NOT to be stolen while you're in the said restaurant.

Black people live in shanty towns on the outside of cities while white people live in gates houses. Didn't enjoy being there at all.

I've also got to add Disneyland Paris I mean I went 10 years ago, but I actually felt robbed. It was a few short crap rides inside a large chain of Disney shops all selling the same things.

Legoland isn't great but I liked it better.

Cadbury World on the other hand is hands down the worst tourist attraction in the UK

Copenhagen was crap

Just back from a weekend in Paris with DH and we both loved it. Also love Amsterdam, Vienna and Stockholm.
Naples - terrifying.
Sorrento - Blackpool in the sun. Hated it.
Quite liked Ostend and in fact the whole Belgian coast. The tram that links all the towns is great.
Never wanted to visit Dubai, LA or anywhere else so 'manufactured' - can't stand the heat anyway!
Each to their own.

I didn’t like San Francisco. Can’t put my finger on what I didn’t like about it (although the people were pretty rude - hotel staff etc, not other tourists) but I’ve travelled extensively through the US and that’s the one place I have no desire to return to. Loads of people told me how much I’d love it before I went too.

Saying that, although not exactly a place as such, I wouldn’t bother with Epcot again either. Really don’t see what all of the fuss is about. Apart from a few rides it’s just a load of places to eat.

Corfu. Only because the refuse collectors had been on strike for weeks and there were quite literally miles of rotting bags of waste stinking all along the streets.

Stayed in Kalami which was lovely but very quiet. Had one night in Corfu Town which was dreadful.

I would go again as long as the rubbish problem has been resolved.

I really do not get the love for York. Maybe as a day trip from Leeds, Hull etc. but as an actually place to stay? It is tourist hell and very dull for a city break. Harrogate, just spend a day on a coach tour for pensioners.

The Highands. Yes beautiful but very often the weather is too shit to see in front of your hand. At least 20 miles drive to anything, midges and grumpy locals. Nothing to actually do. A friend of mine sold up in Edinburgh in the early 80's to fulfill partner's dreams of running a b&b and the kids growing up in the wilds. Kids grew up, fucked off back to the city for uni and can they sell their house and move back? ( Edinburgh house now worth loads).

This is exactly how it was

I liked Chicago, and love San Francisco, one of my favourite places in the world and which I return to repeatedly when I can afford - funny how people's impressions can vary so much! - but I've never fancied Paris and after reading this, I feel affirmed in not wanting to go.. obviously irrational, since posters before me hate some places I love... go figure!

@Applesinmypocket don't write off Paris! I was never that bothered about it either but we ended up going there to meet up with a friend. We spent a long weekend there and I loved it. I wonder if going in with low expectations made the experience better.

I wouldn't hurry back, but I'm glad that we went.

Popeye Land in Malta circa 2008

That place is still going?! I went there when I was 7 (spring 93) and it was crap even then.

Budva in Montenegro. It’s basically been taken over by Russian investors who’ve built some tacky casinos and nothing else. Went on a day trip from Dubrovnik and wished we hadn’t bothered!

I loved Paris...

OMG I went to Popeye Land when I was about 13 in 1982. At the time the film had recently been released. I can’t believe it is still in operation 30 years later!

Bucharest with work last year. Crazy traffic, beggars, people spitting in the street.
Hotel was nice and it was cheap as chips though for shopping so that kind of made up for it.

Gretna Green was the first place over the Scottish border where eloping (in the true sense of the word, meaning running away) couples could get married. This couldn’t be done without parental permission before the age of 21 and banns had to be read beforehand, so it couldn’t be done secretly. So no reason to visit otherwise.

The Eden Project.
Amsterdam

I can't remember precise locations but I spent a few days with my then boyfriend and our two friends (a couple) in a lighthouse keepers cottage. Storms for the whole weekend (v violent ones) so we couldn't go anywhere, there was no TV, no mobile signal and although our friends said they'd 'bring games' they brought backgammon. So, a game for two then. It was like we'd been placed into some kind of weird experiment to see which of the humans would start killing the others first....

It was somewhere near Melbourne....

So surprised by some of these - love Lanzarote and go there most years for winter sun. Agree there's not much to see but the sea views can be stunning.

Spent my honeymoon in Barbados in May this year - beautiful island with the friendliest and loveliest people I have ever met.

Each to their own, though! My personal hell j holes are Sharm in Egypt: inedible food, 7yo daughter spent the week throwing up with food poisoning (that's when she wasn't fighting off inappropriate attention from waiters)
And Cancun - Americanised hellhole full of American kids who were just there to get shitfaced.