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.

Thank you for all your lovely replies

Burghausen - a random day trip to see 'the longest castle in Europe'

It is a very very good castle. Even in Germany which has many exceptional castles, it was still a top castle

Salzburg. It was to celebrate a big Birthday and after looking at some places the travel agent suggested this. Totally not on our radar of places to visit. We loved it. Very easy to get around and so much history and Architecture. Not a big population and it was lovely to see older people usually the men in traditional dress but not the whole shebang out doing their ordinary shopping. We would definitely go back.

@Sandsnake

Ljubljana, Slovenia. I went with work and had no idea what to expect. I wrongly assumed it might be a bit drab with ex-USSR vibes. What I found was a beautiful, friendly and exceedingly safe feeling European city. Would go back in a heartbeat!

I don't know if anyone has agreed with you (haven't read the full thread) but I completely agree with you on Ljubljana. It's a stunning city. Slovenia in general is a beautiful country and all the better for being relatively undiscovered compared to other eastern European countries. I've been twice and still want to go back. My husband gets to go every year with students (in non-Covid times, obviously). Lucky sod.

Wadi Rum, Jordan, I thought it would just be desert. It’s stunningly spectacular.
Myanmar. All of it, but especially Bagan with its thousands of temples and it’s wonderful people.

@Jellifer

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.

Agree with you about Kotor. In fact the majority of Montenegro is a wonderful surprise ! It packs so much into a small area in terms of scenery and history- yet is only a short flight from the UK.

Slight shift in tone from the more exotic locations, but we have had absolutely brilliant family holidays in Birmingham, Bristol and Portsmouth, none of which are particularly marketed as holiday destinations.

Cuba especially Havana. It has such a special charm like nothing I've ever experienced before and music on every corner which was fabulous. The food wasn't great but the cocktails were amazing and the best I've ever had!

@Medianoche

Slight shift in tone from the more exotic locations, but we have had absolutely brilliant family holidays in Birmingham, Bristol and Portsmouth, none of which are particularly marketed as holiday destinations.

I love Bristol too, there is lots to do. The parks there are amazing. I live near Manchester, and I do love it, but wish we had better parks. Also like Portsmouth, went for a long weekend with family and there was lots for my 3 DS to do.

Hellothere19999 , think your the only person here I know that has been to Dharamshala!

I lived in India and went for a holiday, so different from the city I lived in, had a great time and the roads were fantastic (compared to where I lived)

Other places that have been mentioned I have lived as well, Japan is indeed a fascinating place been all over the country inc the southern Islands which are great.

I must say some of the lesser visited Eastern European country's are fantastic, as are many places in Germany

Glasgow. I expected it to be a total dump but I absolutely love it; the food; the perfect place for foodies, the culture; museums, opera, ballet, the people; so friendly, the history; you can see how the industrial revolution transformed it, its location; the surrounding countryside is beautiful and easy to access and you get amazing sunsets. I now visit 10-12 times year (pre covid am desperately waiting to go back now) I always feel excited when I arrive and I'm writing this as someone who generally loathes city life.

Taiwan. I went without any huge preconceptions (attending a family occasion) but absolutely loved the place. Taipei is such a buzzing, 24-hour city with very stylish young people, but traditional Chinese culture is also very much on display, with Buddhist and Taoist shrines to be found all over the place. And the National Palace Museum is stupendous.
We also headed down the coast to Hualien and up the Taroko Gorge, which is like something out of a scroll painting.
The people were so friendly and the food incredible.

*@Sandsnake *

I agree, Slovenia was lovely! Went thee with Travelsphere decades ago and it was lovely. I wanted mountains and lakes and got them! The food was lovely too. It seemed to be a mix of Italian and Austrian.

StoneColdBitch Did you go during the carnival time? It was great! Everyone happy, no stabbings (that I heard of). Young guys dancing in front of floats with can of beer in one hand, fag in the other , no aggression!

Dundee. I thought it was lovely, friendly and interesting. We climbed to the top of the hill and watched the haar come over the river.

Bangkok. I went with a really negative idea of what it would be like and absolutely loved it. Interesting, fantastic shopping, temples, markets, it was brilliant

Strasbourg, great countryside surrounding it and easy to visit the villages such as Colmar and easy to travel to Germany and Switzerland.

Venice, I had an idea of what it would be in my mind and thought it could never live up to explanations but it totally did, a wonderful place

Alcatraz. It wasn't until we were sitting on the ferry that we realised neither of us wanted to go; I thought my husband wanted to visit so I was tagging along, while he wasn't particularly interested but thought I was. Too late to do anything about it by that point but we both found it an interesting experience.

I mentioned it on the other thread but Belize. I didn’t have any expectations and hadn’t even really heard of it until I booked the holiday but it was amazing, especially ATM cave and the incredible barrier reef.

I agree with Montenegro too, we went on a day trip from Dubrovnik and I would definitely go back for a full holiday.

There are lots of lovely places in Germany (e.g. Bremen, Heidelberg, Mainz, Aachen etc) but it’s very overlooked as a tourist destination outside of Berlin, Oktoberfest, and Christmas markets.

Istanbul.... yes it can be loud, it can be in your face but that's part of the fun of it...playing the game. I lived there for 2 years quite a while a go and try to get back as often as I can.

Japan....somewhere that wasnt on my list of places to go but loved it so much I went back....and want to go again ...for longer.

Everywhere I've been has had certain elements I've loved, in Oman it was the people, in Uzbekistan the mystical magic of Khiva and the gorgeous sunny snowy winter. I just can't wait to get back out exploring.

North and South Dakota. Loads of people told us not to bother with these two states but we had a great time in both on a roadtrip across the Midwest.

The buildings in Budapest were amazing (sadly that's mostly because Germany left them alone during WW2 as Hungary persecuted their own Jews)
I liked Copenhagen more than I expected and think it's better as a canal based city than Amsterdam

In the UK visited Pooley Bridge in the Lake District by accident last year, and absolutely love it as a village that's closest to us in Scotland but amazingly we'd never been to.

I also really liked Swanage where my cousin has a holiday home - even off season it had a bit of a vibe to it.

Dubai. Never wanted to go there, thought it would be a long way for quite a boring holiday, not much to see etc.

DH had to go for work when our eldest was 10 months old. Decided to tag along and have a family holiday once his work was finished.

Loved it! Great place to go with young children. Loads for them to do, lovely hotel, very friendly towards breastfeeding, easy to do dairy free diet for DS, loads of good nappy changing places (annoying all in the ladies though)

Would totally go back while the children are young.

@colouringindoors couldn't agree more with Isles of Scilly. A real favourite family holiday destination although it's a long way from us in NE England! DH and I going back in September for our silver wedding anniversary, without university aged DC this time!