Worst trip you've been on?

[everythinglooksbetterpaintedblack]

Just returned from 3 nights in Lisbon and it was a truly awful trip.
Anyone else had a trip from hell they care to share?

@goldenretrievermum5 I love LA - (well West Hollywood , the Grove, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica and Laurel canyon admittedly) we've been lots of times on business ) but LAX I agree- awful place. But that's like saying London is shit because you hate Heathrow.

I didn't like the constant drugs thing on Lisbon either and I don't like food in Portugal generally- it's all a bit mega salty

Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum?

The last time I was there...

First time I went there (20 years ago), rude TSAs, rude immigration, not allowed to transit because the US is weird about that so you have to go through immigration and then back again, I stepped out of the airport for five minutes to get air and was hassled and someone tried to rip me off. Slow, annoying and rude. Immigration were baffling. STAY IN LINE. "Why do you want to enter the USA?" I don't actually but the USA doesn't allow transit so here I am. I'd like to be in Canada, thanks. They make the rule then are confused by it.

Last visit. Had to get from terminal 2 to 6 (or vice versa, I forget) with two hours. Hand luggage only because I remember how bad it was last time. TSA was rude again, despite me being charming. They opened the very new duty free bag, for no reason. Made us take our shoes off even though the signs said not to. They change the rules on a whim. Liquids still in bags, shoes off? Shoes on, liquids out. Laptops in, phones out. It's like a joke. They closed the security screening in several terminals when there were still flights going through then so you had to get to the terminal, find a closed security, go back to the last terminal, clear there, then get to your terminal by a different route. All the staff who should be helpful (the well-paid ones) are all rude, arrogant and unhelpful. I've learned in the past to ask the cleaners, porters, people on minimum wage who are delightful, helpful and want you to get where you're going. The buses were shit and the poor woman with disabilities who tried to get on, let's not talk about it. They don't have the modern TSA system with the conveyor belts so you have to push your bags through. Terminals take forever to get to and there is no explanation of how or what's quicker. The buses all go to all the terminals but say that they don't. There's no good signage, no indication how long things take, no help and it smells disgusting. And they look at you sideways if you're going somewhere they are racist about (like Central America). Richest city in the richest country in the world.

And every time in between. However, all the cleaners and porters and tourists we asked, in panic, were lovely. And helpful, and we wouldn't have caught the flight without them. And a lovely young man called me ma'am and offered me a seat on the bus.

I feel better now.

@CheeseWiselyTwo of the many, many airports in the world I've experienced have reduced me to tears, MIA and JFK (and at the latter I was ill and emotional anyway). I was genuinely wondering by the end if I started kicking off would I be deported faster than clearing security, since I didn't want to enter the country in the first place? I'd probably just get shot though 🤷🏻‍♀️

I completely agree about JFK - when we landed it was such a mad and utterly disorganisation mess it took us longer to get through immigration and to our hotel than the entire flight from the UK 😫 Luckily I loved New York!

These threads are always hilariously entertaining 😂
Honestly I don't know why so many people bother to go on holidays.
I have a mental image of hoardes of British daytrippers wearing kagouls & bumbag & sensible ecco shoes traipsing around with sour faces & cats bums mouths finding fault with everything because its not like home...

I've travelled a lot & have never been disappointed by anywhere I've been. I've been to the majority of places slated here & enjoyed them for the different experiences they were

I'm shocked. I'm American, and I have lived in the UK and traveled extensively in the UK. Edinburgh remains my longtime favorite, but Glasgow is a great city, and the friendliest place in the whole of the UK.

Like anything else in life people are allowed to have differing opinions on places that they visit, don’t be so judgmental and stereotypical. I am very well travelled - didn’t stop me wanting to get on the next flight home from Malaga of all places!

I think Glasgow is winning on this thread for the worst place to visit in the UK - I am not the only one who has mentioned it. It was a horrible experience, topped off by nearly missing our train on the way back because we were diverted the long way around so many "police incidents"

Well you obviously didn't try very hard ... the red light district is what it is, and that's expected, but there's loads more areas that are beautiful and cultural. Did you go further than half a mile???

Paris.

We stayed in a weird hostel, in a horrible area, it was dirty and unfriendly but the worse part was being followed & harassed by men constantly over the 3 days we were there. My friend was SA - it was awful.
I’m not even exaggerating, the men in that area were feral & just wouldn’t leave us alone, despite us telling them to f-off.
Such a horrible and scary experience as a young girl ( we were 18/19)
It left me with a very, very bad impression of the place and I refused to ever go back.

I ended up having to go back about 10 years later on a couple of work trips. Stayed in a nicer hotel, in a nicer area, went to some lovely cafes & restaurants, but that first experience never truly leaves you.
I still found it a rather grey and depressing city on the whole.

Barbados is the best!

Alberta Holiday Park at Seasalter. What a tip. Left a day early. Horrific place

Paris is a dirty place full of creepy rude men.

@MrsTerryPratchett my god that sounds horrific. I have never visited the states, definitely would be entering via LAX, JFK, or Miami if I do.

My DS is Autistic so air travel is challenging enough as it is.

This made me nod along in agreement throughout.

We will literally pay $500++ more to avoid transiting through LAX.

**would NOT be

Because the complaint was that Boston was
expensive
pot smoking on the streets
cold
wet
dull
boring

I don't happen to think Vancouver is dull or boring (many people disagree) but all the others absolutely apply, depending on the time of year!

I decided the best bit of travelling was planning it. Always disappointed so stopped.

Very similar to my experience. Such rude people who couldn't give any advice or information and over zealous security, no one had a clue how transiting worked or where we were meant to go.

The flight was cheaper ( LHR- Auckland) and I now know why.
Never again.

San Fran was horrible. Dirty, vomit and rubbish everywhere, so many drugged up homeless lying in the streets and freezing in middle of July.

A few nice bits but people were so rude.

Xabia in Spain - my appendix burst in my birthday when I was 14 weeks pregnant with #3 - much drama and pain - worst bit - they only give pregnant women paracetamol for pain!

Berlin with Uni is a close second - firstly I have lived in Bavaria so was confident with German - but obviously no one in north Germany understood a word (or pretended they didn't), I was with a group - one of whom was a guy I had just started seeing - OMG he was so full of PDA it was cringey - even the lecturer with us pulled him up on it - we broke up on the way home!

Dublin was also a huge disappointment - just too much touristy

Had some great trips to lovely places though - my favourites include Sarlat, Bath and Madrid

I think it was a pedestrian zone. We were lost and my French isn't great but I managed to find my way out without getting into trouble.

I can laugh now but it wasn't much fun.

DD is ND and quite a lot of time and energy was spent saying, "we are running, and it is hard, but if we miss the flight we will be OK". She was a trooper but I don't know how anyone with additional needs, ESL, MH issues, anything copes. I'm a very seasoned traveller and I was tearing my hair out.

Honestly, I think the States is a little broken. I love Americans and they (individually) are wonderful. But their systems are so messed up and their collectively individualistic culture is so foreign to me, I wonder if it's gone too far down a 'last days of Rome' path to recover.

Torremolinos in the early 80's. I could write a book about that one.

Ilfracombe in the late 80's.

Otherwise, always loved travelling.

@MrsTerryPratchett sounds horrendous and I completely get where you're coming from based on that. I suppose I've not struggled there as every time I've landed in LA ( multiple times over the years and most recently 2022) I've either been picked up by a friend or picked up a car and driven off. I've never done an internal flight from there. I was actually in a head on smash driving in LA which was a terrifying experience. The 2 cops that came to the scene were initially really stern verging on the unpleasant but seemed to warm to me and were absolutely diamonds in the end and could not have been more helpful. I think a lot of it is based on them ( and maybe the immigration guys) putting on a front but if you can get past that they're absolutely fine.

I hated Turkey and would never go back there.

Budapest - beautiful city and sites but really struggled with the public transport and 35 degree heat. I didn't realise it would be that hot.

I didn't mind Malta and liked the food there. We were only there for 5 days though.

Loved Tunisia and went back a second time.