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Original poster

Where in the world have you been that was very different to what you’d expected?

386 replies

Davespecifico · 04/05/2020 15:24

For me it was a journey through Montenegro to Kotor. I couldn’t believe the fjords, steep cliffs and cruise ships.

OP posts:
leckford · 04/05/2020 17:01

Gosh so many places - loved NY, so interesting with good food, unlike much of the US
Barbados, it was OK would not go back
Cape Town was lovely quite a long time ago, would not go back
Rome is amazing, last time we went too many tourists and obvious mafia take over in some places. I prefer Florence
LA awful, loads of freeways and grotty buildings, Malibu extremely over the top houses with a busy road behind. I cannot understand why her Meganess has dragged poor Harry there.
Nice is great, hope to go back, expensive

SneakersandSocks · 04/05/2020 17:06

Paris - We went on a College trip and didn’t stay in the best area but I found much of the main city to be dirty and very unfriendly, we kept getting followed by pervy men, got hissed at multiple times and my friend was groped by a man on the way into the metro.

I went back a couple years ago with work and had a better experience, as up until then, I had no desire to ever go back.

actiongirl1978 · 04/05/2020 17:09

Agree with LA. Also Santa Monica awful. Filthy, vagrants with obvs mental health problems. Felt very nervous walking back to the hotel with DC.

Also Rome. Been twice, still dislike it.

MrsMGE · 04/05/2020 17:11

Bosnia. What a country to visit, I'd recommend to everyone.

BillieEilish · 04/05/2020 17:12

Oh, I've just remembered Tel Aviv. I really didn't want to go and it was fantastic. Stunningly beautiful and kind, beautiful people.

Really lovely. For some reason I didn't realise it was on the beach Hmm

limesoda · 04/05/2020 17:12

Russia. Appreciate that is a v sweeping statement about a v large country but I was not expecting very much at all and adored it and the people we met there.

Would love to go back, we went in the dead of winter, which was definitely an amazing experience, but would be equally cool to see it in summer. Well, hopefully not literally cool, it was -35 when were there 😂

Thestrongestavenger · 04/05/2020 17:16

Rome - horrible dirty city with crazy drivers

SneakersandSocks · 04/05/2020 17:22

Double posting, sorry, I’m getting carried away thinking about all these brilliant places!

Places that were a positive surprise:

Kalkan in Turkey - we booked it as it was so cheap and all we could afford at the time, we didn’t expect it to be so stunning. The locals were so warm and friendly and the restaurants were amazing ( lots of them were on the rooftops , the sunsets and hearing the prayer calls from the mosques was a very beautiful experience)

NYC - fell in love with NYC, yes it’s pretty dirty and abit smelly in the heat sometimes but there’s an energy there I’ve never felt anywhere else. I can’t put my finger on it.

Cuba - loved it, so colourful and abit surreal in parts, decaying mansions, lots of music coming out of people’s homes. The locals were so welcoming and very interested in us, we got invited into some of their homes for food. Didn’t want to leave.

bert3400 · 04/05/2020 17:28

Amsterdam - took the kids there last year for the weekend. So much to do for families - loved it. My 11DS thought the sex shops were hilarious and the weird smokey smells disgusting .
San Fran - very disappointing, very scary and the homelessness was on another level. Touring Alcatraz at night was brilliant fun .
Rome - love it Great food if you stay away from the tourist traps
Amalfi coast - stunningly beautiful but driving is so scary
Mauritius - away from the hotels are some spectacular buildings . Would go back in a heartbeat.
Costa Rica - so incredibly hot and humid and the bugs ...I guess that's the jungle for you .
Miami - great city was only there a few days but can't wait to go back
Lake Tahoe Skiing - so very boring, everyone in bed by 8pm . No atmosphere or Apres skiing.
I miss traveling 😭

Nowifi · 04/05/2020 17:31

NYC was underwhelming, I think as I built it up so much in my head!

Edinburgh I was blown away by, and still one of my favourite places to visit, just so beautiful!

ihatethecold · 04/05/2020 17:33

Florida, mostly the gulf coast. its a million miles away from the theme parks. great food, beautiful beaches and amazing wildlife.

I would struggle to dislike any Italian cities. Didn't like Venice but we went when it was too hot and with a pushchair.

The best food we have had on a holiday was on the Florida keys. the roadside restaurants and shacks had incredible food. It was so fresh and not expensive compared to eating at our hotel, sadly I think quite a few were destroyed in a hurricane a couple of years ago.

Hated Bangkok.

WitchQueenofDarkness · 04/05/2020 17:34

San Francisco -

I was expecting a laid back bohemian vibe. In reality a lot of entitled young people with air pods in their ears and permanently glued to their lap tops. It was almost impossible to get a table in a coffee shop for breakfast or lunch.

managedmis · 04/05/2020 17:36

Perth in Australia. It was like sodding Preston

EspressoX10 · 04/05/2020 17:36

Postive: Tel Aviv blew my mind. Was there twice for a few months with work and my only regret is that I didn't manage to learn enough Hebrew.

The food is fresh, healthy and lovely. The beach is great and the people are super interesting and engaging.

New Caledonia was weird. Nothing wrong with it, had stunning scenery as you'd expect in a touristic Pacific island, but it was just very very bland.

ElaineMarieBenes · 04/05/2020 17:37

@Heidihoo I agree re Beirut (and Lebanon generally) - was due to go back in two weeks time (maybe next year!)

Elouera · 04/05/2020 17:37

Washington DC (admittedly in 1987)- Homelessness everywhere, even coming into restaurants and asking for what was left on your plate!

Greyhound buses in America- again 1987- parents thought we'd see the countryside- BIG mistake. Drug taking, guns and police putting people on the bus so they'd be taken over the boarder to the next state where they were collected by the police!!!

Northern lights- Many photos have been touched up and coloured. The view from photos was great, but to the naked eye, they were really disappointing.

Pompeii- Bit disappointed. I assumed there would be the plaster casts of where people were found, frescos, tiles etc, but everything is in the museum. Not even replicas onsite. Could have had before and after pics of the area and explained how they dug all the soil out, but info was minimal.

Rome- loved it. Only booked to spend 3 days there, but would love to return.

Historyofeverything1 · 04/05/2020 17:37

Barcelona was very clean for a city.
Paris as pp said dirty and not romantic.
Ibiza (its like two islands).

JacobReesMogadishu · 04/05/2020 17:40

Uganda. Specifically western Uganda. Reminded me of Wales. Very green and hilly with goats.

Sparklingbrook · 04/05/2020 17:43

I have been to San Francisco a few times, love Alcatraz, the cable cars and all the touristy stuff. Loved the big houses overlooking the bay towards Golden Gate bridge. The eating out is great.

People that have been more recently than me have described the homelessness and drug use.

I really liked Boston too.

Dowser · 04/05/2020 17:44

Cuba, Havana ..wasn’t prepared for the apartments to look so down at heel in the city centre..part of its charm probably
We were invited to a farmers home..couldn’t get over the fact there was no glass at the window , dirt floor in the kitchen..next to nothing in the house, very, very basic

We were visiting as part of a group, about 15 years ago, The neighbours all congregated at a safe distance watching us eat.
Felt weird.
A chap cycled up the dirt road with a piglet on the crossbar squealing it’s head off. I wondered if it was dinner.

Matanzas..very poor. Children had no shoes. Our food was very hot and miss. Breakfast was a boiled egg, a slice of ham and an orange.

The guides were lovely. Told us how they got government rations every month which even eking them out did not cover a full month.
Mostly rice and beans. I’d taken a lot of chocolate covered cereal bars which I shared around.
I put a cheap radio in the bin, in one of the hotels I stayed in..the porter asked if he could keep it..I wished I’d brought more stuff for them..if I’d only knew.lovely people..I’d go back in a heartbeat.
They weren’t even allowed to stay in their own hotels...they were only for the tourists.

ButterflyOfFreedom · 04/05/2020 17:47

Ibiza- quiet side - absolutely stunning! Favourite family holiday so far.

Lisbon - absolutely loved it! Totally underrated. Will go back.

Cyprus - found it tacky, bit like Blackpool (sorry). I guess not all of it is like that. (We went to Pathos)

Connie222 · 04/05/2020 17:48

Rome.

Horrible place.

changemynamechangemynamewhen · 04/05/2020 17:48

The Sistine Chapel. It's very over-rated and not worth it.

It didn't make you scream then?

changemynamechangemynamewhen · 04/05/2020 17:49

I loved Krakow so much more than I imagined I would. Beautiful

AgeLikeWine · 04/05/2020 17:54

Austin, TX.

We stopped off there for a night on a touring holiday, expecting it to be a stereotypical Texan city but nothing could be further from the reality. It’s a cool, liberal college town with a fantastic live music scene in a very, very conservative state. We would have stayed longer if we had known it was such an interesting city. If Austin was in Northern California or New England, it wouldn’t seem unusual, but in Texas it certainly is.