What is the most overrated destination you have ever been?

[Meltinthemiddle]

Mine is Dubai l.

I’m going to risk being flamed here, but I’m going to say the New Forest, especially Ashurst. What a dismal, depressing place. So gloomy.

Um it's you saying that Brightom has too many white people, so yes racist. It works both ways you know.

I’m with you on that. Creepy.

i left South London nearly 30 years ago but have always missed it, so I’m chuffed to bits my DC have moved there and I can get my fix. I’m fine with east, west and central London but I just don’t ‘get’ north London. Ho hum.

genuine question: do tortoises shag more than other species? It feels like whenever I see more than one tortoise, shagging is going on!

I think it depends what your expectations are and what you expect to get out of the trip... we love Paris and are going back but we weren't under any illusion it was all perfect and romantic as portrayed in films. There are good and bad parts to everywhere.
It seems anywhere touristy is deemed tacky on this thread.
We also love Egypt and have just come back from there, yes it is hot, yes the pyramids are rubbish but if you go to the other side (Hurghada, Sharm) the diving is some of the best in the world and that's the beauty of it. And not all Egyptian men are perverts that's just offensive to say. I have seen more creepy men in England!
I would struggle to name one place thats perfect.
I don't know if it is less places are underwhelming and peoples expectations are too high or skewed by what they see on tv.

genuine question: do tortoises shag more than other species? It feels like whenever I see more than one tortoise, shagging is going on!

Probably because it takes them so long

Antigua.

Would have cut the holiday short to get away from there if I could have. Hated it.

Does anyone else wonder if they look back on some holidays with rose tinted glasses?

I remember a trip to Brussels and Bruges with a friend which was full of lovely days roaming the cities and eating waffles every day twice a day. I remember being so sad going back home.

How can it be that I preferred Brussels to New York?! Or Madrid?! And even Paris?!

I wasn't expecting to be wowed but was. I loved New York. We went for a week so we saw a lot but not at a fast pace.

Tortoises lay multiple clutches of eggs a year - 7 or so for species in warmer climates that don't need to hibernate for winter. So they do shag quite a lot.

@margotmargeaux I didn't like it either. My H lived there for 2 years when a child so went back with H, FIL and our son- 10 at the time. Didn't help that there were signs everywhere saying catch the rapist!! Weird vibe I thought and non stop hassle on the beaches

@Icelandholiday I agree- I don't like the Lake District either if I'm honest for similar reasons

Sand! That’s all I expected: sand! It’s in the name Grange-over-Sands. Sand, and sea you could swim in.

I read these threads which seem to pop up regularly, with incredulity. I have been fortunate enough to have been to many of the places listed, some of them multiples of times and I have yet to find a place I found overrated.

Some I liked more than others for sure, but I have always been happy to see and experience other places.

I do lots of research before travel and never go to resorts and I choose places because I have an interest in something there.

I adore Dublin, and have no idea why it attracts as much hate as it does on here. In fact I am heading there this weekend to meet friends and I am really looking forward to it. I go between 4 & 6 times a year, sometimes for work, sometimes pleasure, often a combination. I went to university there many years ago and still love it.

Ditto with Paris - I absolutely adore it and always have the best time there, so much culture - art, literature, architecture, etc. I could easily live there.

I visit Italy annually for work and cannot understand anyone hating Rome / Florence / Venice etc. They feed my soul when I visit. Again I could easily live there.

There are places I have zero interest in visiting - Dubai, any of the Disney's, huge AI resorts, waterparks, theme parks etc so I'd say it's actually a difference of expectation of what makes a good holiday that causes people to be disappointed in some places?

London is fine, but it's not better than New York or Paris or Sydney or Hong Kong or Bangkok in my opinion, they're just different places with different things to offer.

@SerafinasGoose I'm with you on all that- I do like a London jaunt though- but not central. My son lives in Belsize, so I like it up there and he used to live in Tooting- and I like that too in a different way. I also really enjoy california- has its shitty areas and gorgeous ones but I like the weather and the food and the scenic long coastal route . NY is a big place and an afternoon at the department stores (mainly just browsing!) and lunch on the Upper west on a leafy side street is one of life's pleasures for me

Actually, it doesn't.

Cornwall and the Cotswolds - tourist traps, expensive but without the luxury or wow factor that should come with the price tag.

Whitstable

Hanging Gardens of Babylon - just a big garden centre

Snap. This was before the days of the internet and booked purely from a holiday brochure. Although it was beautiful we literally got eaten alive by mozzies as there was a lake behind the resort plus it felt incredibly dangerous. We had good reason to worry as a couple of years later a couple were murdered at the same resort. I am so grateful these days for Tripadvisor and Google Earth.

@PinkPondQueen me too- that murder was I think 3 weeks after we went!! I too spent most of the time covered in green aloe Vera cooling gel after being bitten alive. I remember saying to my H , I failed to see why people spent a fortune on it- I much preferred the Greek islands or Mallorca!!

LA
New York
Las Vegas
Tahiti
Hongkong
Paris

I sometimes wonder though, if it is about who you are travelling with, how long ago you went and how long you were there.

loved, loved, loved

Sydney, Rome, Florence, Stockholm, Oslo, Raratonga, Seattle, Boston, the Canadian Rockies, The Whitsundays, most of New Zealand and Alaska. Singapore was pretty cool too.

Yet others here disagree on many if my ‘loves’

Pick any location. One person could stay in a bad hotel/area or some creepy bloke hassling them and have a crap holiday. Same place, a mile away and someone else will have a different experience in lovely accommodation, and meet different people.

Depends also on factors such as weather, travel issues, price, busy/quiet time of year, lost luggage. So many variables really.

I agree Cornwall in the summer is totally overcrowded and awful. Out of season it's a very different place. Long stretches of beaches with nobody on them.

St Ives is being held up as an example of over tourism. It's sad to see and it seems it's the same in a lot of places around the world.

globalphile.com/travel-trends-will-overtourism-continue-to-be-an-issue/

Paris. Barcelona
On the flip side the most under rated place that I loved was Bruges

Bruges isn't normally underrated though?

Seems there's an awful lot of wasted energy goes into travelling very long distances by people who either don't research or don't put much energy into getting under the skin of a place. It's the long lists of underwhelming places I can't get over. And long lists of cities - maybe you guys should just stop going to cities!