Places you've been underwhelmed by

[HannaPintura]

I just love going away and have really loved most places. One place in particular really Underwhelmed me...Gibraltar...just like Britain in the sun! I'm sure it has so much to offer, but I couldn't wait to cross the border back to Spain!

London. HATE it. Crowded, loud, busy, smelly, expensive, the people aren't friendly...just cannot understand why people love it so much. I will never go back

Give me the Scottish highlands, Northumberland or the peak district any day

I don't get @Fosterdog123 writing off the whole of the Caribbean! Everywhere from the tiny, off grid islands through French Guadeloupe to socialist Cuba and the Bahamas? Jamaica? I'm struggling to think of a more diverse place... musically, food, people.

I can normally find the funny or wonderful anywhere and I've travelled to places most people would hate. But LA; there was a nice woman at the bookshop in the airport. That is it. The issue with SF is that I thought it would be like the books and movies.

And I thought the social/Gay/lefty thing would mean that the mentally ill and homeless people would have community services at least. It was horrible seeing poor people in wheelchairs begging. So much addiction and homelessness.

Warwick Castle. I was soooo glad I used Tesco vouchers as I'd have asked for a refund if I'd paid the walk up price.

Geneva. Not a single shop in town which isn’t a luxury brand or part of a chain. Beautiful setting. Great to look around the U.N. Not great for a family holiday unless you want to go to Mayfair by a Lake and spend mega $$$$ surrounded by diplomats. Pretty and polished, like on the Swiss can do but any character and semblance of normal spontaneity of life, normal people has been squeezed out of it. useful to go if you want to see what the elites and bankers have in store for London and other Western cities.

I think if you can dismiss an entire city - or country - then you are spectacularly lacking in imagination and/or initiative.

Bruges - Belgian Disneyland
Knossos - an archaeological disaster. So sad - a really important site, ruined by concrete "reconstruction"
Chatsworth - that giant car park and tacky tourist stuff right next to such a beautiful house. Why on earth didn't they build it all just a bit farther away from the house?
Amsterdam - really tacky and seedy (aside from the pretty buildings in the canal district and a couple of quite good museums)
Poor Venice, Rome, Barcelona - good cities absolutely overwhelmed by tourism.
I'd like to see a thread about places that exceeded people's expectations and were pleasant surprises; I have quite a few more of those than places that have disappointed me!

London - dirty, crowded and ever so scary - I've travelled alone to various places/countries but have never been scared like I did there - only time I've felt like a female I needed to keep my eyes on the floor - if I didn't then I'd get men trying to engage and lech - I was stranded after a flight delay and waiting for a train at Victoria station and I thank God and my lucky stars that the guy from Poland who I admit I would have been wary of just because he wasn't British - he told the scum to F off and made sure I got on my train.

Lanzagrottee - horrible - dark pebble sand and windy

Dominican - such an impoverished island apart from the '5* all inclusive hotels - children begging at the side of the road for food :(

Middlesborough = prostitutes and pimps

Hated Monaco - it really disappointed me. I loved Key West though.

I loved Niagara Falls, even though it is rather a lonely place with some massive hotels around the falls and nothing else. Still, it was a lovely experience despite us visiting in miserable cold late October weather. It is supposed to be a honeymoon destination of North America and Canada and kind of i can see why. It seems a good place for honeymoon.

I was disappointed with how bare and soulless Toronto looked like but just within a week, Toronto grew on me. It's new and the buildings are characterless but there are lovely parts in the centre that occupied ys tourists. Its not the kind of place you would want to vusit for a second-third-fourth visits. Once was good. Second visit might be disappointing.

In the UK i dislike Bath and Bristol. Both are cold and depressing places and i wouldn't want to live there even with the best jobs and super houses.

Italy: Rome okay, just a big city and a capital. Just ok.
Naples, i loved it despite being rather dire with eating out experiences. I felt not too unsafe in Naples. On the contrary, in Rome, in the middle of the major street where we were waiting for the city tour bus, some eastern European Balkan looking people came in flocks, surrounding us and tried to snatch our shoulder bags and bumbags in broad daylight. Some Italian passer bys intervened and protected us. It was very scary. I felt unsafe in Rome. Also i found people of Rome quite full of themselves and rude and snappy. Even the hotel receptionist was very patronising to a Japanese guest when the Japanese man said he had the loyalty card for the hotel and receptionist said "Good for you " in a very fed up, miserable, dismissive manner. I found Romans extremely arrogant and rather rude. I wouldn't want to visit again.

Florence : nothing special. Old and dusty and depressing. Seeing it once was enough.

Venice: liked it a lot.

Pompeii: interesting and worth a visit, although when buying our entry tickets, there was a massive commotion for someone 's camera and bag being snatched, not sure how. We've been told this was quite common there.

Capri: a massive balloon. Nothing special. It might have been a glamorous destination in the past (according to books and films from 1960's and 70's) but absolutely nothing glamorous or special about the place. Just a simple crowded island. Seen prettier ones elsewhere in the Med.

First place winner, by a long shot, is The Leaning Tower of Pisa - it’s TINY. It was years ago, but I still remember the ‘That’s It ?’ feeling when we finally found it, a tiny thing in a completely odd location.

Arles - I do not get the hype, it’s a complete shithole.

Venice.

A few other places, but I can usually find something I like about them.

Allesandro you will like SF but you will immediately notice the homeless. In my experience of visiting they are NOT threatening but they are so obviously destitute, rags, beards, going through bins etc,that you will feel terribly sad for them and angry the City has not got a grip on it. Other than that issue, it’s a wonderful city- very European vibe, great bars and pubs, fabulous shopping and some great tourist sites

The Guggenheim museum in New York - burnt shit everywhere passed off as art!

As an American, I can tell you New York is overpriced, snotty, and grungy. Every fabric store in the Fashion District measures fabric differently, but never accurately. I much prefer London for shopping and museums.

Provincetown, MA has been gentrified to an extreme by so many New York gays buying houses they use two months out of the year. It was much nicer 25 years ago, when the Portuguese resturants and bakeries still existed.
Block Island is a poor man's Nantucket. It's expensive. Nearly all the year rounders are related to each other.

Yes PP - New York is THE most expensive place I've ever ever been! Still loved it tho'

Glasgow is grubby. Stonehenge. Boring.

MrsTerryPratchett SF has had this issue for years. Little support at the bottom end in the US. People (yes, even lefties) are broght up in the thinking this is the land of opportunity - if you fail it’s because you didn’t try hard enough to be what you wanted to be. This attitude is so prevalent culturally in the US. It’s horribly Darwinian and mercenary. People do not want to be associated with losers or failure and there’s little time for those down on their luck. Many people are scrambling to get ahead in the US very well aware that there’s little safety net if things go wrong and they act accordingly to look after Number 1. It’s SO obvious whenever I go to the states that this is the way they roll and why they are so successful and also why they have the social issues they have. I always enjoy my time in the States but usually slightly relieved to be coming home after a couple of weeks.

I have an irrational hatred for Dublin, no reason, I just have disliked how it ‘felt’ every time I’ve had to go there.

India-went the same month a woman got gang raped to death so I didn’t have high expectations, but ended up feeling like I was going to shit my brains out, neglected animals everywhere, human shit all over the place, burning rubbish, stinking, and got sexually assaulted on my last day.

Istanbul was ok in winter until I was alone for a while, then it was very intimidating, men were stopping in front of me to stare and be creepy.

Rome and Paris are lovely though!

Brazil; worth a visit. Rio is really unsafe. There are decent hard-working normal residents who are warm snd helpful but there are bag snatchers among them and you don't know who to trust. So end up trusting no one and being paranoid about everyone. Still i enjoyed being in Brazil and especially Rio. Fitness gym isa massive business there.
By the way i had a colleague from Brazil who went to visit family in Brazil for supposedly a fortnights holiday and couldn't get back to the UK as passports and bags were stolen in Brazil and needed to reissue the passports and UK visas to come back to work in UK. It took quite a while. In Brazil you cant be too careful with your belongings.

Allesandro - enjoy SanFran. Go to Science Park (not sure it’s name) - info on Earthquake, great aquarium and natural world wildlife etc, Wharf area / great for crafts and food, good shopping malls / laid back vibe in city and felt safe if you stick to main areas (your hotel will advise). Take trip to tall trees and down coast if you have time.

Years ago (before we knew each other) DH went to the Grand Canyon in Colorado. Dull apparently.

The only time I went to Lyme Regis the fog was so thick you could barely see the person standing next to you.

Weston Super Mare - depressing acres of donkey-shit strewn sand.

....and take a tram ride

Rio is really unsafe Yes, I've heard this, a friend went there on a business trip and couldn't wait to leave. She said it was a very unsettling experience, and it just felt dangerous all the time. She had nightmares after returning to the UK.

Glasgow, Paris, Tewkesbury, Blackpool.

Toronto, Mexico, Baltimore, Florida Keys, Rome, Pisa, Barcelona and in fact, lots of Spain, Lisbon - I could go on as I’m a tricky customer when it comes to holidays

Bali felt very unsafe and was harassed the whole time.