Ever visited somewhere for the day and been really disappointed?

[Summerhouse2013]

We travelled to Yeovil in Somerset yesterday for the day, wow, we were so disappointed.

It was like a ghost town. Most of the shops were shut, only a handful were open. And towards the bottom area of the town most of the shops were completely closed down.

I'd always got the impression there was a lot more to Yeovil.

We left after an hour as there was nothing to do.

Yep, Nottingham too. Also a dump. Nothing there but young kids drinking.

Yes @Abracadabra12345 I agree. My
kids thought the bird of prey show was absolutely magical. The birds were stunning, there were loads more than other displays I have been to, and they swooped so close overhead it was so exciting! Yes it was a Disneyfied day out, and therefore very different to other castles that we’ve visited, but there was lots to see and it was all good fun (if not very authentic)!

I liked Nottingham when I was there. They had some really good Korean/Japanese restaurants, book stores, a cat cafe and a very nice chocolate cafe. I was there for Download but I could barely move after the first day so decided to skip the other days and spent the weekend hobbling around Nottingham. I enjoyed it.

Dublin - like Glasgow 30 years ago (am Glaswegian, can testify), but about a million times more expensive.

Bristol - in spite of everything I had heard, about as vibrant and dynamic as a dead hamster.

The Museum of Rural Life just outside Glasgow - the most extreme version of dumbing down I've ever come across.

Kew Gardens - an extremely expensive park in a city full of beautiful, free parks.

@MsFannySqueers, I enjoyed Cullen too, though we only stopped for Cullen Skink which was delicious. I'd never had it before and didn't even know what it was, apart from being a soup, so we had to stop and try some.

Oxford. Apart from a tour around the university buildings which was quite interesting and obviously some of the buildings are nice (the bits that are filmed for movies such as Brideshead Revisited and Harry Potter) the rest was a very blah town with no decent shops/cafes. I was expecting it to feel very affluent and pretty with some nice independent shops/eateries but most of it is grotty with lots of beggars and has the same high street shops as everywhere else.

I also liked Bath and Torquay.

I was not such a fan of Manchester though. It has some great restaurants, museums and shops but I felt very unsafe there, and I'm from Glasgow, and I've never seen such blatant open drug dealing.

I came here to say exactly this.

I enjoyed the falconry and trebuchet, but the rest was crap.

Why would anyone ever think Newport was worth visiting in the first place?

Maybe they'd heard the song - much of which isn't actually about Newport?!

Interesting you should say that about Manchester.

I'm Glaswegian too, and actually lived in Manchester for about six months in 2011 and LOVED it, but was down for work recently and parts - especially around Picadilly - were pretty scary.

Rocquetas De Mar near Almeria in Spain. Hated it on arrival and just wanted to go home straightaway. Was counting down the days. Absolute soulless, dirty dump of a place. Usually love Spain.

Sundown adventure land.

I knew it was for little kids, but people kept saying how good it was.

So we went, and luckily didn’t have to pay for dd as she was under 2, but had to pay a fortune for me and dh.

What a load of shite. It was really worn down and tired. For the price, it really wasn’t worth it.

Yeah dd enjoyed it, but she was also at the age where we could go to our local free park and have just as much enjoyment.

We didn’t go again, though I’ve known people to go several times and really like it

I like most of the places mentioned here, or at least I can usually like something for a day.

Bath- lovely, plenty to do for two day holiday I had there a while back, but not for smaller children, beautiful buildings, squares, the Fashion Museum, the Baths (with lots of interesting artefacts), classical music on the street, we enjoyed it!

Kew Gardens is fantastic, most of the London parks are not well-maintained nowadays, can't understand not loving this, but it is just a 'park' if you think of it like that!

Brighton is underwhelming for the day.

Paris- odd if you can't find anything to enjoy even if it's just doing the tourist sites and the odd gallery, or sitting having a coffee. But is dirty/run down and it's such a shame about Notre Dame as that was the highlight of my previous trips, had quite a spooky feel to it, but this is 20 years ago or before it burned down.

I wouldn't go to yeovil for the day though!

Southport, not Liverpool. We loved them.

Agree about Yeovil, though!

My sister went and offered to lend me her 'valid for a year' pass so I could go (neither of us live anywhere near but we were both visiting the area at different times one year and we look sufficiently alike for this to have been viable). I declined because I didn't fancy it even for free! My sister loved it, though, and did manage to get another visit in before her year expired.

Funny you should say that about Mill Road….I’ve just moved from there (literally four days ago) and it really is grotty. It’s as if, because it has a reputation for being bohemian and cool, no one dares to say anything different! It’s dirty and tatty with garish shop fronts. The people living there are pretty nice though - it’s very left wing and multicultural.

Love Bath. My husband was part of a new vaccine drug trial last year so he had to go to Bath hospital every 6 weeks. I went along. We had lunch each time. So many lovely places to eat. The Victoria art gallery is beautiful. The Bath society of artists summer exhibition is on now Its absolutely worth a look . The Abbey is stunning. Worth reading the memorial plaques on the walls inside. Some are brilliant. Look out for the brilliant artist Peter Brown ( Instagram petethestreet) painting in the street. He is friendly and a superb artist. Lots of lovely shops. Rossiters well worth a look.

Was a bit too busy to appreciate in the King's tombs - and outside was like a dusty quarry. I preferred the craftsman's village (left after you cross the river) - where they had dug out and painted their own small tombs under their houses. You could be in one alone there, the fully preserved vibrant colours were amazing.

I'm going to be very controversial here and say the Cutty Sark. I think it's all done very well done and a fun morning with DC but if you moved it to Hartlepool (link proving my point, an older more interesting ship that I bet most of you haven't heard of) it wouldn't be anywhere near as famous.

Agree with Portmeirion, we had a fab holiday in North Wales but Portmeirion just felt a bit pointless. They also seemed very bad at managing all the visitors and providing food etc. We were there on a rainy day in May, can't imagine how rubbish e.g. getting an icecream on a sunny day in July. We did like the walk round the park though, it's the village itself that's a bit meh. The National Slate Museum on the other hand was excellent fun, very informative and free entry so go there instead.

Warwick Castle I think is good fun if you go into it knowing it's just an attraction (I'd been told it was a bit disappointing if you are used to EH style castles). But Alnwick Castle does the same kind of thing much better (and with some history alongside the broomstick flying lessons).

Durham is overrun with visitors in the very centre but there are some very nice restaurants a bit further out. And the castle and cathedral are a world heritage site and worth a visit. I love the Oriental Museum as well and the Botanic Gardens.

Most of the other places on here that I've visited I liked. I love Bath but you should always take the train there, driving into Bath is a nightmare whereas the train journey is beautiful.

Paris and Marrakesh.

Not all for just a day but:
Isle of White
Chester
Edinburgh
Eden Project
Centre Parcs
Durham
Paris

I used to love visiting Cambridge - they had a huge paddling pool where the water went right up to my middle. To be fair I was probably about five or six at the time and I don’t remember much else,

So you're basing your view on the Park and Ride car park five miles out of town!? I think that might reflect more on you than Nottingham!

Dover. I have an American husband that was under the impression it was a must see. Spent one hour dodging crackheads in the town and two hours walking on the cliffs, staring wistfully in the direction of France.

I must be too, I love Paris, Bath, Whitby, York and Oxford! 😂

Brussels, I’ve traveled all over the world and never felt so unsafe as I did there