What is the worst place you have ever visited?

[Washingforweeks]

I saw a thread on instagram about this and found it really interesting and wanted to hear more. What is the worst place you have visited and why?

That'd be Boston, MA. Not Boston in Lincolnshire.

I had a sideline in the 90s that took me around the country. I visited about 60 towns and cities and the only place that felt unfriendly was Grays, Essex.

The Gambia. I travelled with a friend - both female and the men would not leave us alone. Just constant harassment. If you were friendly in your rebuff they took that to mean an open door and would literally stalk you and if you were harsh then they yelled and threatened you

Agen in France. The whole place felt like being in a horror movie.

Someone mentioned The Gambia upthread: we went there in the spring and were surprised how awful it was given how evangelical regular visitors to the place about it are. Won't be going back!

This! I was so disappointed when we got there and it wasn’t at all what I expected. The Falls themselves are lovely but the rest was tacky.

I wasn’t wild about Hollywood either. Plus, it got very sketchy as soon as the sun went down. We retreated to the hotel.

What’s up with Prestatyn? I have a holiday booked there soon 😫

I mentored a student teacher who was from Saudi Arabia. She was delightful but said the place was a medieval hell on Earth and she was never going back

DD (7) calls it Creepy Crawley. We live not too far away and literally go to Primark (our town doesn't have one) before leaving.

These threads are always interesting. One experience can really shape your perception. I used to always say Bucharest was the worst simply because we visited in winter so no greenery to hide the communist blocks and "look how powerful I am" government buildings , wild dogs in packs everywhere and we got scammed by a dodgy taxi driver. Had to go again for work in Spring and was much better. Had a good night out in the tiny old town bit. Still a bit stag do but I found it all much more interesting and a contrast to other cities I had visited. Would like to see more of Romania.

Noooo, I was brought up in Gosport and go there several times a week as I live in Fareham a few miles away.

I admit the town centre is not a patch on what it used to be when I was a teenager in the 70s, (major military town then so quite lively), but we have beaches all around us, the Solent is beautiful looking over to the IoW, there are some lovely green areas like the Wildgrounds, loads of maritime history and the people are on the whole, friendly and nice.

45 minutes from the New Forest, couple of hours to Heathrow or Gatwick and have a decent local airport at Southampton about half an hour away.

Out of Portsmouth and Gosport, it's Gosport all the way. 😆

Bournemouth

I love the Gambia but your right and it’s sad and depressing they spoil the place.

Manila and Swindon.

I liked some bits of Egypt but not others...loved Alexandria but Cairo was soo polluted and in Hurghada I had a very gropey tour guide.

I feel like Brighton is one of those places that's nice to live (there's nice playgrounds, libraries, a pool etc) but isn't always great for tourists. I try and avoid the town centre in summer!

Hull has parts that are a bit grim, like lots of other places, but there are parts that are decent, like around the old town and the marina.
I hated Marrakesh, found it a complete overload of the senses, noisy, smelly and being completely hassled by market sellers. I know they need to make a living but the more I’m hassled, the more I’m going to walk away.

Whaaaa?!? Are you for real?

Aldeburgh in E Suffolk. I went as a 5 or 6 year old 60 years ago. There was something about the fort on the beach that gave me the creeps. Somehow the stuff of childhood nightmares.

I visited last year - it's actually quite a nice place.

Ha ha I see!!

Romford town centre. Friday night works night outing in around 2003. We had to be given bouncer protection and escorted out of the pub to a taxi rank for our safety. As I looked back through the taxi window there was a sort of misty vision from hell as large groups of men were fighting in the street.
This wasn't a riot, Ive been in riots which were far less scary.
We hadn't done anything wrong by the way we were too gay and too mixed race according to the lovely bouncers who liked us as we were so polite. We were all teachers.
Im sure this isnt a fair reflection of Romford .

Margate a long time ago. We stayed for the weekend opposite a disused lido and there was something very sad about it. We went for a walk and all we seemed to see were boarded up houses and we struggled to find anything open.

Luton, closely followed by Swindon

I’d love to go to Egypt to see the history but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a truly positive account of it. I understand lots of people there must be very poor and desperate and none of us know what we would be like in their position.

I’ve been to Las Vegas and Los Angeles and I didn’t like either at all. Plus my experience going through immigration there puts me off going to the US again. You have to be escaping something horrific to want to move there - land of the free my arse. And I didn’t experience the wonderful US hospitality or the larger than life vibe - it was very average indeed.

I can see lots have mentioned Blackpool, but even though it’s had a bad rap over the years, it did used to be a nice place - typical seaside town with lots of positives. Spent many day trips there as a child. But it’s now become a place that sells lots of tat, usually fronted by Eastern Europeans who will try to scam everyone. I went there last year and was nearly scammed three times! I must have one of those gullible looking faces. Also the immediate outskirts of the place are very run down and seedy attracting a lot of undesirables. Neighbouring St Anne’s is lovely though.

Hull really odd people

Oh I quite liked it there , lots of wandering around at an easy pace and sitting canalside with a drink ( we aren’t drinkers so had coffees , zero alcohol beers and some other random soft drinks )
Enjoyed the museums, found everyone to be efficiently friendly rather than overly enthusiastic.
What I found a bit annoying were the group parties on those beer bikes ( UK tourists )