Have you ever been anywhere on holiday that was like the emperors new clothes?

[Cheeseandlobster]

I did. Last year I went to a very small hotel in Greece. 16 rooms only with pages and pages of great reviews.

When I arrived all the tables were pushed together and everyone was sat together pissed as farts getting louder and louder. One woman was drunker and swearier than the rest and it turned out she was the owner.

It was expected that you socialise and drink at the hotel even though the entire pool had no sun from 1pm and the surrounding area was beautiful. The owner would bark at you if you asked for food from the menu and would openly slate other guests for making reasonable requests. And the interrogation you got if you went out of the hotel was crazy.

Luckily I met another lovely solo traveller who felt the same as me so we paired up and left the hotel at the same time each day to share the interrogation. I will never stay at another small hotel again because of this.

Anyone else?

Barcelona.

I think our view was tainted by witnessing two pickpockets in action on Day 1. We were on the Underground, doors opened, someone barrelled into a tourist, who twisted round to see what had happened and as he twisted a second person grabbed his wallet/ passport, they both jumped off the train as the doors were closing. It was so fast! It happened 5 feet away from me but I couldn't have described either man.

A couple of days later DH felt a hand in his pocket, but fortunately the only thing in his pocket was a pack of tissues.

The signs prohibiting public urination also made the place feel dirty.

The sights - Sagrada Familia, Park Guell etc were worth seeing, but I would never go back.

Corsica. Mafia central and ridiculously overpriced restaurants.

‘Oirish’???? Really???? A Dublin accent is what you are mocking.

London. It’s filthy, unfriendly and expensive.

I hate Paris. But I love Rome. I love center parcs because it's great for holidaying with under 5 who love the whole place. We go twice a year

Whitby.
The place reeked of fish & chips all day & night.
Dogs shitting & pissing everywhere.
The highest-rated "hotel" was really a B&B without the staffing & facilities that an hotel provides.

Agreed. Went last year. Awful weather and so cold (in July). Cramped tourist places and very overpriced accommodation. Full of people from london all diluting any natural ambience. Took longer to get there then to fly somewhere hot.

Expensive mediocre food.

It's pretty but that's about it. I won't be rushing to go back.

LA.

I travelled from NYC to LA by Greyhound bus following the Southern States route. I felt unsafe and uneasy the minute I stepped off the bus. I dipped my toes in the Pacific and left the same day.

Rome. I got my bag snatched. Amazing sights and history, but I mainly remember it just being busy and full of traffic.

Eden Project. Wanted to like it so much but it’s SO busy with these huge car parks. And felt just a bit run down and meh. Many other much more impressive sights in that part of the country.

I LOVED New York!

Agree that Berlin is SO much better than Paris! I love it there.

The Taj Mahal. I have been a few times because it’s on the must-see list for anyone visiting India but I am always underwhelmed. I don’t really get the fuss about the architecture — the Alhambra, the Sultanahmet palace and some of the Mughal architecture in Delhi (and even Fatehpur Sikri just outside Agra) speak to me so much more in terms of Islamic architecture.

Agra is an absolute shithole of a city outside the nice hotels.

Istanbul was absolutely beautiful and SO rich in history but the experience was unfortunately marred by sexual harassment and the political situation (this was 2013). Not emperor’s new clothes but the only time I have cut a trip short.

Some places like Santorini and Positano I can absolutely see the appeal but they feel like victims of their own beauty. Especially Positano where I couldn’t figure out what exactly there was to do… Felt a bit that way about the Amalfi Coast and Sorrentine Peninsula as a whole (drop dead beautiful though).

Have you reported any of the other posts on this thread for supposed xenophobia? How about the poster who went to Albufeira and was disappointed because the old town contained scousers having a fight? What about the posts describing the behaviour of some Moroccan or Egyptian or Israeli people in resorts the posters visited? Thought not. I can only conclude that you are one of the James Joyce wannabes indulging in the behaviour I described. Either that or you are the leader of Knock town council.

London: Filthy, unfriendly, expensive.,

Niagara Falls. Underwhelming

Yours is the only post mocking the way native people speak @Iamthewombat .

wont Be on anyones bucket list now🙄

I generally love travelling and most places I’ve been.
But I came here to say Centre Parcs.
We HONESTLY had a better time at Butlins.
The food on the plan was lovely (had a poached salmon the size of my head one night). Having to self cater isn’t a holiday for me.
Endless free activities (balance bike, soft play, little indoor foreground, big outdoor fairground, all the shows, the pool I could go… ).
I was bored at centre parcs, had to sell a kidney for one activity and the crowd was rougher than Butlins.

I agree with lots of you, I prefer Berlin over Paris, absolutely fell in love work Berlin!

Lots of cities are old, funnily enough, but what is the reason for it being so shabby and derelict?

The only people not allowed to complain about perceived 'xenophobia' are Britons, Brits to the ignorant, there seems to be the general idea that one can be as rude and offensive as one wishes to Britons and we're not allowed to respond.

Capri. Got off the ferry and thought I was being cocky and walked in the opposite direction to everyone else. Got lost but eventually found the bit where everyone goes to if they turn right when they get off the ferry. Everyone crowded into a square drinking expensive coffee and nobody really knows why they are there.

Whoa! I live here and it's marvellous!

Agree with the difference between Paris and Berlin too. I speak pretty good French (can read books and stuff). Found it very difficult to have a conversation in French in Paris.

Speak very basic German. Was blown away by how far out of their way people in Berlin would go to help me carry on a conversation in German. Similar experience in Nuremberg too.

Yes to Agra. I'd seen the Taj on so many photos that it wasn't really a great surprise when I walked through the gates.

I LOVE Glasgow…..I took my Mum last week and we stayed in an Airbnb tenement apartment near Byers Road…..shes 85 and loved it! Everyone was so so friendly…..i love Edinburgh too but not as much as Glasgow