Places you have been to that have exceeded expectations

[Ginfordinner]

On the back of another thread, where have you been to that you didn't expect to enjoy as much, or where you had no expectations?

When we went to Venice everyone said it was smelly and dirty. It wasn't and we loved it.
Our last holiday abroad was in Kos in 2019. Again, we loved it.
A couple of UK city breaks to Lincoln and to Carlisle made us think that both cities were underrated.

Kotor, Montenegro. Went there on a cruise and it far far exceeded my expectations. Absolutely stunning scenery.

Yangon, Myanmar. Another cruise port and just wow. So much to see and the people were so lovely and happy to be sharing their country with us.

@NastyBlouse

Washington DC - great city. I much prefer it to NYC.

Me too @eurochick

Although the mugginess in the summer is something else.

While I like NY and DC equally, I was surprised by how much I loved DC. I decided to go there because "I might as well spend a few days there while I'm on the east coast, as I wouldn't make a trip to US just to go to DC". After spending 4 days there I loved it, wasn't at all ready to head off to NY, and would happily go back.

Grand Canyon and Hong Kong.

Dharamshala in the himalayas.

Japan, Paris (again and again), Rothenburg, A500 route in Scotland, Eden Project, lost Gardens of Heligan.

Iceland, only booked to see if we could see the northern lights (we didn’t) but I didn’t expect to love everything else. We had a great - albeit pricey - time and I’d go back there any day

@Tartyflette I loved Cadiz as well, something raffish and end of the world about it. Cartagena in Spain is the same.
The ultimate place for me was Cartagena in Colombia, wasn't expecting to love it but would move there tomorrow if I could.

Tobago was gorgeous, having all the colourful fish swimming with you and tickling your toes, the freshest and tastiest Lobster caught live and moving until you pop them in the pot, the amazing beaches and sea.

Lake Como Absolutely stunning like walking into a Painting, you cannot believe a place can be so pretty I was shocked by this as didn't expect it.

Mumbles & Caswell Bay Stunning.

Trinidad Rugged beauty is something else especially the Mazanilla beach with its never-ending coconut trees outstanding.

Jordan - fascinating and amazing history, and therefore so much to see. And really not crowded. Great food. Lovely people. And of course Petra, which is just breathtaking.

Agree with Tokyo. I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did, and to fall in love with so many aspects of Japanese culture. My bucket list trip now is to travel around Japan.

Butlins

Seconding Liverpool - brilliant art and architecture. Also some of the best Indian and Chinese food I’ve ever eaten in my life.

I went to a university friend’s wedding in Halifax. He’d told us it was straight out of the ‘Crap Towns’ book. It is beautiful.

I live Liverpool and wish I lived there. So much to do. And the countryside and Coast is lovely.

I'm originally Leicester and can't believe how much the city centre has improved. When I was a teenager the shopping in Nottingham was much better. Now Nottingham isn't great and Leicester is much better.

barbados i knew it would be good but it was fabulous the seas the people everything (except the mossies)

krakow a georgous city to walk round the hotel was really nice the food was ace wish i had booked longer there than the three day trip we did

I have been to places like the Maldives and the Taj as well. But yeah, Halifax was great.

@Tartyflette

Cadiz. Beautiful and lively city with amazing, and I mean amazing food, churches, shops, markets and bars.

Shush!

Don’t bloody tell everyone! The very last thing I want to happen is for Cadiz to be besieged by British tourists. Let them stay on the Costa del Sol.

If you go back, check out La Taperia de Columela, just off the Plaza de las Flores. You might enjoy it. But don’t tell anyone!

Barcelona. It had been di hyped I thiugt I would hate it. But...took my breath away! Just walked for hours gawping.
Ditto Rome.

Rome and New York for holidays with smallish children - both utterly amazing.

In this country, Longleat safari park - one of the few family days out we have had that we didn’t feel like was just designed to get as much money from us as possible. We absolutely loved it.

Jerusalem

Luang Prabang, Laos

The Grand Canyon. It is breath taking.

Japan! I thought I’d enjoy the trip but I loved the place. I want to go back for a longer trip and visit more of the country next time.

Cambodia. Beautiful country, beautiful people. We had a lovely time there and met so many wonderful people!

I agree with PPs on Washington DC. I was keen to visit but had no idea just how much I’d like the place. I was going to say we met some great people there which we did but probably similar numbers to those we met in NYC and Philadelphia!

Bath! I love a visit to Bath. It’s just beautiful. I took my DMum there a few years back when she visited me from NZ, we had a fantastic day and she still raves about it.

I also really love visiting Battle and Hastings.

Belgium - DH had a Eurostar voucher we needed to use so we went for a week, had a few days in Brussels and a few in Bruges. Lots of interesting things to see and do. Also, plentiful chocolate, waffles, beer and chips

Went to Leicester a few years ago with friends and really liked it. The Ribble Valley is beautiful, loved walking around and thinking of Tolkien writing his books. Fantastic food scene there.
Turin was a real surprise, a very industrial city, with amazing museums. Really enjoyed the Egyptian and cinema museum.
Berlin is a fantastic city. It's great to walk around and the street art gallery was brilliant.
I love the Amalfi Coast. Ravello is beautiful and has two amazing wine shops called Wine and Drugs, great free wine tastings. Really enjoyed Ischia, the botanical gardens and spas are amazing.

Santorini. The sunset at Oia unforgettable.
This was 30 years ago.
I wouldn’t go now, infested with cruise passengers.

@mootymoo

I love Sri Lanka l, can't recommend it more highly, Maldives are nice but boring, the opposite basically

Sri Lanka and the Maldives are the perfect combination in my opinion. A busy week to tour around Sri Lanka and see the wildlife and cultural sights followed by a week relaxing in the Maldives.

As a sun worshipping cold hater our trio to the Ice Hotel ranks as one of my favourite holidays which I really did not expect but reluctantly went along with it for DH and on the basis I normally get my way where we go!