Page 16 | Most overrated destination you’ve visited?

somethingslastforever · 20/05/2023 21:46

New York

FoxtrotOscarFoxtrotOscar · 20/05/2023 21:47

The Giant's Causeway.
San Francisco.

Kathyshome · 20/05/2023 21:57

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 20/05/2023 21:29

I don’t like cities in general, but I’d love to revisit San Francisco. You’ll have a great time. We even saw dolphins from the beach just past the Golden Gate Bridge.

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Wow that sounds fabulous @WiseUpJanetWeiss , thank you!

OneMoreCookieMonster · 20/05/2023 21:57

Niagara falls - been there too many times to count. It's Canada's version of Vegas. Tacky and over priced. Over run by tourists. But, Niagara on The Lake is stunning. Tiny town up river from the falls.

Lisbon - dirty, tourist traps everywhere and just such a disappointment

Brighton - just no...never again

Brussels- rude locals, and just blah and grey

Detroit- steel city, need I say more

Philadelphia - dirty, boring and could be any major city

Leeds - yuck

Magnoliainbloom · 20/05/2023 22:09

Meem321 · 20/05/2023 20:52

And it smells of piss.

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I was in Paris last summer and it has cleaned up its act compared with visits in previous years. Not a whiff of piss anywhere.

catwithflowers · 20/05/2023 22:10

Absolutely love Italy (we are here in Northern Italy now with the incessant rain but are still having a fabulous time.

Rome is one of my favourite cities and where we spent our honeymoon and Venice in the winter is magical.

Magnoliainbloom · 20/05/2023 22:12

BarrelOfOtters · 20/05/2023 21:41

A close friend went to Japan for 2 weeks. Hated it…can’t understand why anyone would want to go there. I lived there for some years and just nod and smile. My experience was so different.

dublin is my don’t really get it place, had a couple of nice evenings there with friends….but the place doesn’t float my boat.

mallorca I love, the scenery is stunning.

Oh did friend say why she disliked Japan. I have a craving to go. It seems so beautiful from the research I’ve done. Did you enjoy living there?

Blondey2023 · 20/05/2023 22:28

takeawayonme · 20/05/2023 20:03

Miami. I found it really intimidating and felt unsafe the whole time we were there.

We went to Venice on ur honeymoon which was late June and I distinctly remember the flight attendant telling us we were going at the right time before the canals begin to smell.

Good I'm glad you've said this about Venice, as others didn't believe me about the smell!

user1469796848 · 20/05/2023 22:58

Paris.

IloveJudgeJudy · 21/05/2023 07:04

I thought Lourdes was a surprisingly spiritual place. I hadn’t expected it to be. I had expected the tacky shops which we also enjoyed, trying to find the tackiest ornaments. The grotto, though, was very beautiful and ‘holy’ for want of a better word and the river was lovely. Everyone was very friendly.

PurBal · 21/05/2023 07:05

@Bumble84 are you me? This is the description I’ve been using too! Awful place but thankfully only there a weekend.

Crazydogmumma · 21/05/2023 07:41

HesterLee · 20/05/2023 17:35

I loved Bali but was there a good 10 years ago. I stayed in Sanur and would love to go back. I remember Ubud being incredibly busy but it was buzzy and interesting.

I also loved Bali and also stayed in Sanur (apparently where the Balinese people holiday). It was lovely and fairly quiet. We hired a driver for the day to show us the real Bali and it was amazing. Ubud and Kuta were busy and ‘touristy’ but there is more to Bali than those places. The Balinese people I met were kind and warm.
I wouldn’t write it off and not go- just do some research.

TheaBrandt · 21/05/2023 07:42

Still baffled by Paris and Venice says rather more about the critic than the place…. Both are beautiful- where do you live that’s better?! What on earth are you doing in these places that you don’t enjoy? Were you expecting pristine beaches?! The art and buildings in both are exquisite just wondering round soaking up the atmosphere in cafes etc is lovely.

Chortling at the fawlty towers quote to the guest moaning about Torquay “what did you expect the Sydney Opera House” 😀

Emptiedout · 21/05/2023 08:57

Kathyshome · 20/05/2023 21:08

We are going to San Francisco next week. This thread has made me feel 😢

I ADORE San Fran and Berkeley. Admittedly, haven't been in a few years, but I've been about 15 times in total and would have happily lived there.

Honestly, one man's medicine is another person's poison.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 21/05/2023 09:30

I was underwhelmed with NYC - mind you it was for a wedding in December and absolutely bloody freezing. I remarked later to a BiL who’d spent a lot of time there that I’d expected Broadway to be marginally more special. He replied, ‘Yes, it’s like Worthing.’ 😂

Chchchchchangesss · 21/05/2023 09:37

girlswillbegirls · 20/05/2023 17:06

This is because Mallorca, (with a ll please) has the best and the worst of the tourism all in the same island.

If you go to Magaluf you will find all the drunken people (mainly from UK) who ny the way are the source of total hatred from the locals. The same people start drinking at the airport or the plane. They are loud a look for a cheap holiday. Then they find just people like them and if sun is not guaranteed they hate it. I will never understand how the Spanish and the local balearic government allows those places to still exist.

Mallorca has also very wealthy tourists who either have their yachts and or villas in it. If you go to the north part of Mallorca to Sóller or Alcúdia or you visit the Promenade in Palma, (the capital) its gorgeous, nice tourists etc.

You basically pay for what you get.

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This is probably the snobbiest post I've ever seen on Mumsnet and that's saying something.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 21/05/2023 09:37

@Emptiedout , we visited Berkeley for a niece’s graduation and found it very pleasant. Seems to be where all the old 60s hippies go to die - loads of them about, with long grey ponytails and flower-power shirts, etc.

Bubblyb00b · 21/05/2023 09:40

Paris!

TiredDonut · 21/05/2023 09:43

BakedTattie · 20/05/2023 14:00

Also St Lucia - couldn’t leave our resort unaccompanied (2 young females) as it was so dangerous.

This saddens me. I've spent quite a lot of time in St Lucia and travelled around alone on busses, explored Castries alone and explored the island (including remote villages) on busses and with a hire car with my husband. We never experienced any issues or heard about any.

Unfortunately some of the hotels (esp. Sandals) scare visitors into sticking to their expensive excursions.

HesterLee · 21/05/2023 09:44

Crazydogmumma · 21/05/2023 07:41

I also loved Bali and also stayed in Sanur (apparently where the Balinese people holiday). It was lovely and fairly quiet. We hired a driver for the day to show us the real Bali and it was amazing. Ubud and Kuta were busy and ‘touristy’ but there is more to Bali than those places. The Balinese people I met were kind and warm.
I wouldn’t write it off and not go- just do some research.

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Completely agree. Its like a pp said, if you stay in Magaluf on Mallorca it will be a vastly different experience to staying in Alcúdia. But the two places are less than an hour apart. And different taste will dictate which place you prefer.

ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea · 21/05/2023 09:52

@queenofcrypto
If you do ever decide to return to the Algarve, try Alvor or Lagos - we visited Albufeira and would not chose that as a destination, can understand why you maybe wouldn't like it .

Zipidydodah · 21/05/2023 09:54

LA & San Francisco - absolutely staggered by the amount of homeless and drug addicted people on the streets everywhere apart from a few select tourist areas clearly kept that way by the police. It’s in equal measures dangerous and heartbreaking to see

Venice / Sorrento / Positano / Kalkan - (and I recognise the incongruity and hypocrisy here) but they are just awful as they are no longer what they were. Over run with tourists with almost no other industry anymore. The only ‘locals’ are in the tourist business. I don’t know what the solution is ….. somewhere that is beautiful and authentic to its country and culture (& has good weather) gets over run with us tourists who then complain!!

KimberleyClark · 21/05/2023 10:12

Paris gets a lot of mentions, we went there for our honeymoon and it was the prelude to 33 years and counting of happy marriage. It will always be very special to me.

And sad to see Venice mentioned so much. I’ve been twice, May and August and it wasn’t smelly. It really is magical, especially at night, and speeding across the lagoon in a water taxi with a big wake behind us just felt so glamorous, like being in a James Bond film! I felt like standing in the stern belting out Goldfinger a La Shirley Bassey.

willWillSmithsmith · 21/05/2023 10:34

SquashPenguin · 20/05/2023 19:48

Barcelona. Shithole.

Soo many people seem to love Barcelona, including my best friend who says it’s her favourite city but I didn’t like it at all. I like Spain generally but that city left me cold, I’ve no desire to go back.

Blondey2023 · 21/05/2023 10:36

TheaBrandt · 21/05/2023 07:42

Still baffled by Paris and Venice says rather more about the critic than the place…. Both are beautiful- where do you live that’s better?! What on earth are you doing in these places that you don’t enjoy? Were you expecting pristine beaches?! The art and buildings in both are exquisite just wondering round soaking up the atmosphere in cafes etc is lovely.

Chortling at the fawlty towers quote to the guest moaning about Torquay “what did you expect the Sydney Opera House” 😀

Settle down, people are allowed their own opinions. I didn't say it wasn't beautiful? It is. But it did smell when we went so soured the experience some what.