Ever been somewhere for the day and been really pleasantly surprised?

[Treasureboxkey]

Just for the opposite side to this thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4791849-ever-visited-somewhere-for-the-day-and-been-really-disappointed

For us it was Llandudno.
We had been to a few places along that coast and they were unloved and sad. Llandudno was a pleasant surprise with the sweeping front, houses built into the hills and surprise evening fireworks.

Where have you been that was a pleasant surprise or exceeded expectations?

I had to go to Glasgow in 2015 because my family wanted to meet up there. I wasn't looking forward to it. I thought it would be like Liverpool because of the shared history. When I got there the city centre seemed quite affluent. I thought it would be different outside the centre. I'm sure there are poor parts of Glasgow but there was nothing depressing about it the way there is with Liverpool. I didn't notice any boarded up shops and churches. I made a bus trip out to the west to visit Fossil Grove. There are the fossilized stumps of trees in the same place as they grew about a third of a billion years ago. I thought that was interesting.

Plockton
So beautiful
A little island you can walk to at low tide
A good pub with an amazing view
Just perfect to relax

Dornoch
Great beach
Saw the cathedral Madonna had Rocco christened in
Not too touristy

York
Loved the shops and restaurants
So old with so much to see
Great for families with the transport museum and yorvik

Cambridge
Punting on the river
Endless beautiful buildings
Went to kings college for free choir singing

Canterbury
Nice to walk around, lots of history

Belfast
The bus tour was the best I've ever been to
The peace wall was so disturbing

Wigtown
Best place to visit if you love book shops!

Sunderland
I expected this to be a dump. But the glass museum was interesting and the beaches were great. It was cheap and easy to get around.

Dundee - not really a day trip, but a couple of short trips for a very stressful family reason. Really liked it, loved the Discovery museum, visited several excellent cafes and restaurants, including a very memorable Lebanese meal where we were very well fed and looked after indeed. No Lebanese meal I have had since has lived up to it.

Tamworth - broke a long trip from Cornwall to Durham (disappointing!) there and just really liked it. Very friendly and hospitable people, stayed in a lovely hotel which had a delicious scent of lime blossom from the trees in a little square just over the road. There was a food fair in a rather old-fashioned but lovely public park, all topped off with a very good meal in an Indian restaurant. You could see the town's former glories were a bit faded, but it had a good vibe.

Scarborough. It has a sort of faded elegance that really appeals to me!

Glad you liked Llandudno because I'm from not far from there.

The Air museum in Brussels. We had one last day left and had “done” what we’d wanted so decided to take a look - and were blown away. It’s enormous and very well- presented and turned out to be our favourite thing !