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!

Iceland is so popular now, not sure I understand why...it seems a bit bleak

LockedoutofMN, your description of Madrid really makes me want to go!

Barcelona can be so hit and miss, have been 4 times and always very lucky, eg walked past concert hall and saw Dimitri Hvorastovsky was singing, there were tickets left! Amazing concert with amazing atmosphere (standing ovation, everyone shouting "BRAVO!!!" ). Going there with the kids years later, and a lovely waiter giving them a little plate of Jamon Iberico, small things like that make all the difference. I have liked everywhere in Spain, so really MUST visit Madrid some day!

Although before I'm accused of being snotty, I know that I've expressed similar sentiments myself on occasion...

I loved Venice, if you just stand in the tourist spots of course it’s crazy busy. Take a walk through the back streets, found much better food that way.

I know treaclesoda, that's why I have never been to Rome or Venice!

My favourite "empty"yet stunning places to visit are Norway and Patagonia!

Waikiki Beach (but Pearl Harbout I found very moving)
Taj Mahal (much preferred Jodpur and Jaipur)
Bondi Beach

And everywhere that's over touristy - you just don't get a 'feel' for the specialness of a place with so many people milling around, particularly when they're not from the country one's in.

Dublin I loved but for the weather...but both times I was there with local friends.

Would love to go to Iceland having read that brilliant recentish travelogue written by an academic (she spent a year over there for work).

I think that once places get turned into major tourist destinations they lose their je ne sais quoi.

It would be fabulous to visit places without the other people around...think that's what spoils most places.

The most amazing place I've ever been to is Meteora in Greece - went years ago when it truly was unknown and off the beaten track.

There was a thread on here once before like this so I will answer now as I did then, even though I have more travel since then added to my list.

Australia.

Some lovely places but with thousands of miles of bugger all in between. Like the whole of Europe only having Paris, the Lake District and Berlin in it.

Meh.

Madrid is fab. We stayed in a central hotel with a rooftop pool. Morning at the Prado etc tapas lunch lounge by pool from mid afternoon then out for the evenings. Us and dds had a great time.

I found Dubrovnik to be a disappointment, it was just too done up

You know that, unlike Florence, there was a war there in the ‘90s and the Old Town was bombed? Would you have preferred them to leave the roof tiles shattered and debris in the street to make it a bit more authentic for you?

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Dubrovnik

Yes it is quite ironic to say places are full of tourists when you are one yourself, but I do get what you mean.

I think this thread shows that we are all widely different and one man's meat is another man's poison so to speak. There is the good and not so good in every place.
Someone mentioned further up the thread about landmarks being small. I thought that about Big Ben. I always thought it was really tall when in reality I think it's short and stubby!

I am struggling to understand linoleums assertion above at 0:1.48 that there are only about 5 trees in The New Forest..............

Yes but frank THEY are tourists WE are travellers

Milan. Was only there for a weekend thankfully but still didn't like it.

Interesting what you say about the New Forest- I have fantasies of seeing wild ponies there, but perhaps I'm misinformed.

There are ponies everywhere: you have to drive through hordes of them, they're always strolling along the roads. Cows too - there's something vaguely disconcerting about a cow peering at you through the car window, about 2' from your face. It just seems very wrong.

We overnighted in our motorhome in a pub car park in the forest last year and when I took the dog out first thing I had to walk through a little group of ponies. You couldn't call them wild though, they seem very used to people and cars.

I think people expect the forest to be a huge wood, but a lot of it is open heathland and grassland. I love it though, we often go for the weekend.

New York
Didn’t find any nice places for food (and we trip advisor checked before we ate), smelly, rude, clothes shopping expensive, food expensive for what it was. We made it a great holiday but I’d definitely put NYC on a pedestal and was deeply disappointed in it.

Venice
We went in peak season so it was awfully busy. We branched off the tourist bit and found a great restaurant so made it great but with the car parking, water taxi, gondolas etc the cost of the day trip there was extortionate.

Barcelona
Not impressed with food. People were rude. La Ramblas was packed and it wasn’t enjoyable.

Paris....I really don't like it.

Iceland is so popular now, not sure I understand why...it seems a bit bleak
Because it us bleak. I think people go thinking there must be more but it's dramatic but bleak, cold with hot springs. Don't expect anything else.

We had a cycling weekend with the DC in the New Forest and saw

Loads of trees incl areas where the planting was so dense it provided lots of rain shelter
Loads of open heathland
Loads of wild ponies - in villages on the main road , on the heathland etc

Newquay too - great beaches but that's it. Bit of a let down.

But that's why it's famous, beaches and surfing.

there's something vaguely disconcerting about a cow peering at you through the car window, about 2' from your face. It just seems very wrong.

Ah, that's standard when you live in a rural area. I used to commute to a small country town and get stuck in a cow jam regularly as the farmer took her cows from their fields on one side of the road to the milking parlour on the other. They're nosey animals, they always liked to surround the car and have a look in.

Despite being underwhelmed by the New Forest there are definitely more than 5 trees and areas of woodland (which to be fair are the nicest part I think).

Underwhelmed by Niagara, San Francisco (with the exception of Alcatraz), LA and Gatlinburg.

Didn't like NYC the first time I went but have been back lots of times and love it now.

Monument Valley blew me away so surprised to see that mentioned.

Absolutely loved Japan

Spartacus - we stayed in Reykjavik and took organised trips to various sites. It worked for us. Had lovely day at Blue Lagoon and booked an underwater massage. Amazing scenery and great history

Hmmmm 2019 maybe... if we can avoid the lures of Italy! I have a hankering for Sienna and Ravenna!

Spartacus we actually stayed in Reykjavik and went on organised tours which I know sounds tragic but they were fantastic and meant we got driven around. We were only there a few days though. Next time we'd go for longer and hire a car*

Two votes for organised tours ... OK...

Is there much traffic on the roads?

I have hated NY, Rome and London. Pretty much for the same reasons: noisy, dirty, crowded and depressing.

Apart from that, I think there must be something wrong with me. I love Cornwall, Venice (went in winter, stayed 4 days and did lots of strolling about away from the tourist hotspots), Bruges (not busy once you were away from the main square, people friendly and great food), Bath and Paris.

I wonder if part of the problem is that we go to places with unrealistic expectations, so end up disappointed?

Another one for the Eden Project. Just dull. I could have done my entire week's grocery shopping for what they charged for a few manky sandwiches, crisps and soft drinks (there were four of us).