Where would you have once liked to visit but now wouldn’t go?

[buddhasbelly]

For me San Francisco. Would have loved to visit Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge etc but seeing the reports of the drug epidemic /fentanyl use just makes it seem like it would no longer be a place to feel safe whilst sightseeing.

Where would you no longer wish to visit?

Unless the place is actively unsafe (war, disease, etc) I wouldn't write off anywhere. There's often misinformation/stereotypes of people and places from what people have heard rather than what they've seen and experienced.

Can I add Manchester and Scotland to this "what's wrong with" list please?

Russia, sea world, South Africa (just doesn't seem safe?)

New Zealand - when politicians support violence against women it's out for me. Was planning on spending 3-4 weeks there later in the year but fortunately had not booked flights yet.

I've been to Mexico. The hotels offer good value for money and we met some nice Mexican people who were very grateful tourists were still visiting. You need to be careful there if you go outside the hotels but it didnt feel much more unsafe than South Africa.

The Hermitage, St Petersburg

Egypt on a cruise to see the Pyramids.
Put off partly because of its political issues and dangerous to visit, also fear that it would be a huge disappointment with hoards of tourists and I would get food poisoning

Me too. It was going to be my retirement trip. Not going to happen now,

For those who feel parts of the Caribbean are too unsafe can I suggest Barbados, Tobago (outside the usual tornado area and unfairly penalised by Trinidad being unsafe), Antigua.

South Africa is beautiful and although I wouldnt want to live there as a tourist it isnt too bad.

USA for me. I’ve been a few times before but their attitude to guns puts me off more now than it did when I was younger.

I’m more than comfortable alone in Cairo though and I’d jump at the chance to go to Iran.

I've been to Egypt and Israel.

Egypt you had some people hassling you quite a lot, but speaking German and being firm got rid of them. If you pay for a decent excursion then you will be looked after pretty well and can always stay on the coach if you're really upset. I have also heard good things about Nile trips as its very much insulated from the realities around you (there's a lot of poverty).

Israel, you have armed soldiers all over the place, so you are safe. I did find that in Bethlehem and the more Palestinian areas, you got more hassle and a couple of people in our group had problems with pick pockets. Overall though it was a decent trip. The "sites" were very crowded though and it felt a bit vulgar tbh.

The US, the only time I saw guns was when I went into a Walmart and saw them for sale including 2 for 1 on ammo. That was a bit of a culture shock. I think that was Kentucky or there about. You do need to be a little self aware and don't wander alone into the dangerous areas of cities (New Orleans for instance is safe as houses in the French Quarter, but has a lot of murders outside). However, I didn't feel at risk at any point... aside from when I walked into the wrong area in New Orleans and when I drove through the wrong area of LA. I survived though and did a couple of road trips and found most people really friendly.

Russia

Egypt

Also been wanting to go back to New York, but apparently it's really changed for the worse since I was last there in 2015.

I understand why people would avoid the major regions of conflict or countries with appalling human rights records. However, writing off entire continents starts to feel like those people who only ever holiday in the same costa in Spain because they know it well. You can inadvertently make your own world very small if you try and eliminate every single element of risk and believe all the scaremongering.

Antartica and the Galapagos I quickly realised that what you see in TV docs is not what you'd necessarily see as a tourist in a week or two. Plus the evidence of the effect on growing tourism in these wonderful places. I'm not in the position now of having to make decisions based on ethical practice, but I was always aware of the effects of tourists on fragile eco systems.

Iran is fascinating, I am so happy we managed to visit in a narrow window when they relaxed the rules a bit.

I was planning Kamchatka or Trans-Siberian to Bajkal lake in 2020, but we know what happened then ;). I am not sure it will be safe to visit Russia for me in my lifetime (I am Polish).

Can't wait to visit Ukraine though!

@Emmalj65 I have a workmate who went there a couple of week's ago and they loved it if that helps.

I always wanted to visit India. The treatment of women there and reports of horrific attacks on women really put me off. In addition to the awful poverty that millions of people live in. Their government just doesn’t seem to address it. This is despite seemingly having the funds to join the Space Race. Anyway I am too old now and I don’t think my tummy could cope anymore!

I don’t understand your username, he is MY husband!

I was just trolling with Manchester.

I imagine the reason not to go to Canada, New Zealand and Scotland is their anti-woman politics and rampant wokery.

I've been put off cruises after finding out just how terrible they are for the environment in general and the places they go to - those modern massive ships do tremendous damage.

As a PP mentioned, India - I'd be too scared of harassment, and not be able to cope with seeing poverty and the suffering of people and animals, no matter how beautiful or interesting the rest of the trip would be.

Also agree re San Francisco. You grow up with this romanticised 1960s idea of it from all the songs and its history, but I understand it's very different now.

NY does stink of weed, but then so does my local area!

I went recently and found it safe enough, with husband and kids.

I always wanted to go to Egypt, but have always felt it too unsafe.

Any country bordering Russia!

would have loved to take the kids to Moomin world in Finland but won’t trust the Russians!

I wanted to go back to Russia and take the trans-siberian railway to Vladivostok stopping off at various places along the way. That won't be happening now.

You have to use common sense. A lot of these places mentioned are as dangerous as anywhere else. Obviously if the government advise against travel and you can't get insurance for or places experiencing wars, riots, state of anarchy etc it would be reckless to go. Things change though, at some point in history it would be dangerous to go to just about every country in the world.

Russia, St. Peter'sburg in particular.
I would've loved to visit in the middle of winter.

@Sugarmicetails There's no way Russia will attack Finland. If they did, it wouldn't matter where you were as all of NATO would then be at war with Russia.