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!

Loved Barcelona but again back in the day before it was mega touristy.

Many Italian cities are better in the winter, spring or autumn as less busy and less problems with smell or litter. Florence around Christmas is amazing - it’s so beautiful. I’ve been to Venice in October (school trips) and in July and October was far nicer. Rome is wonderful despite the crowds and dodgy men when I was younger but pickpockety and dirty in places. It’s worth going to places like the forum late in the day when it’s less crowded and more atmospheric.

Underwhelmed by:

Montreal - I’d read how it was supposed to be amazing and interesting different quarters with their own identity. I’d been there for a day in winter when I could only really be on the underground malls and was excited to be there for longer in the spring - but it just felt like the worst bits of Paris combined with uglier buildings and wider streets. I just didn’t take to it at all.

Adelaide - most people told me I’d love it, it would be like a smaller version of Melbourne - but it felt quite dull and not very attractive. It didn’t have the vibrancy of Melbourne at all. It was perfectly nice but I couldn’t see what everyone else saw in it to be so impresssed.

The Cotswolds - great if you like water sports....I don't
Have you mixed up the Cotswolds with somewhere with a coastline?

Florence. Insanely crowded.
I like Stonehenge but you need to look at the whole landscape - it’s riddled with satisfyingly mystical stuff.

An underground service, a tram, a train? Like in every other western European capital?

The geography of the place is probably what stops them doing that. The airport is right by the coast and the other side is all built up with motorway etc. There is already a huge road tunnel into the city, so maybe no room for an underground train as well.

There is very little railway in the entire island of Ireland (compared to GB), entire counties have no railway line at all.

I've never thought of it as having poor transport I suppose because it's so much better than what we have in the north I suppose. I didn't realise that people viewed buses as a poor alternative to trains, become most of us have to option to use a train anyway so it's not on our radar.

I think expectations have a lot to answer for as well

Yes, I guess so. I am usually just so pleased to be away on holiday that I find something to love almost anywhere. Even Barcelona which I hated I managed to find a lovely market and a great shop selling the best gelato. It didn't put me off Spain. I have since been to Andalucia. I loved Cordoba (the mosque/church is fantastic) and Rick Steves provided the best tip ever for an area in Grenada to explore (away from the tourists) and even in the tourist town we had a great time in a teeny tiny cafe with people from all over the world. We took one look at Prague and went 'ick' (drunken lads from all over the UK on stag do's and equally drunken Germans just being German), but we found some lovely areas outside the city to explore, including one that used to be the capital and where there was a catherdral that looked like it was out of Disneyland. I guess I just feel so fortunate to be able to travel!

And also Ireland was a pretty poor country until about 20 years ago so they just didn't have the money for infrastructure until recently.

Have you mixed up the Cotswolds with somewhere with a coastline

That wasn't the kind of watersports I thought she meant, although why the other sort would be associated with the Costwolds I really don't know.

Sorry I am just laughing my head off at someone saying that all of the north island of NZ looks like Dorset

And nothing to do here? I have lived in NZ for quite a few years, on both islands, and I have not run out of places to visit yet. And I don't even do all the mad adventure stuff. It's a pretty varied country.

I miss visiting a lot of the European cities people have mentioned though, I love history, particularly medieval and there is definitely none of that here - Rome is number 1 in my places to go back to, it's just so fascinating, wandering around you come across so many different things. I went as part of my ancient history A level course so maybe that helped as we went off the beaten track to places like Ostia as well.

I grew up camping in the New Forest, beautiful place. Lots of forest to explore and great cycling. Can't comment on how busy it is now though as haven't been back for about 15 years.

I have to say the CBD of Auckland is a bit underwhelming as there is not much there to do apart from the sky tower and the theatre, but it is mainly offices and food malls plus the university. You really need a car to get out and explore, it's the suburbs and islands around that are beautiful, not the centre.

Your only option to get to city centre from airport is a bus (or taxi). I mean come on! This is a capital!

I don't really see the problem with that tbh, the aircoach is

For those saying they enjoyed Venice because they got off the beaten path - could you please let me know where exactly? I'll be going in the spring.

I don't understand how people can write off an entire city as big as London where there is something for everyone. Each area is so different and I don't think anyone could come up with something they'd like to do/see/eat and not find it there.

Liverpool is another I don't get the hatred for. It has shopping, great nightlife, good food, lots of history and very friendly people. The atmosphere of the place is the main attraction for me. I don't think I've ever been there and not had kind locals strike up a conversation and they're bloody hilarious.

Lindisfarne was the most mind-blowingly shit place I've ever visited.
It's like Craggy Island in the 1920s. Even the birds looked depressed.

The thing is I don't mind a city being a bit dirty, I think this probably comes from growing up near London and that being my first reference point for a capital city. Cities with a bit of dirt and grime on the old buildings or full up bins and paper cups in the gutters show they are inhabited by people and have a nightlight. It's the bleached clean and tidy cities that freak me out, it's like the Stepford wives, I can't help wondering what they are hiding....

Damn, hit post too soon - the aircoach is great!

There have been vague plans for years about a metro but right now they're concentrating on the luas trams.

Capetown was a big disappointment...white people there have this air of superiority that I found very unsettling..

Madagascar...not what you would expect, not idyllic, dirty and dangerous..

Loved bath. Stonehenge was ok but didn't want to pay so we climbed a couple of fences and took pictures quick before the security guy shouted!

London I found awful and would never return, dirty, smelly, so so busy. Buckingham palace was grimy and our local park has a much prettier grand house.

Ever since I read Tales of the City as a teenager I longed to visit San Francisco.

I finally got there, on holiday with DP in my early thirties. I cried and made him keep driving north. Bleak, grey, dirty and wholly unwelcoming was how I found it.

I have to admit I'd quite like to return now with the benefit of trip advisor, google maps and mumsnet. Analogue visitors had to walk into hotels and be met with stony faced daylight robbery.

For those saying they enjoyed Venice because they got off the beaten path - could you please let me know where exactly? I'll be going in the spring

A couple of areas spring to mind. One is the old ghetto. The other is near the academia bridge. Also - a day trip to Padua to see the Scorvegni Chapel is an absolute must if you love mindblowing art.

But really, there are tourist areas that are obvious - St Mark's Square and Strada Nova, the area around the Rialto Bridge and then there are a zillion other quieter areas. Don't expect splendour, just make the best of the little canals and bridges and cheap little rest stops with beer or wine or spritzes.

Thank you Spartacus. I'll research those areas. As long as there's beer, wine, pizza and pasta I think I'll be a happy camper!

New Forest.- lived here and HATED it. Sure parts are pretty but there is a great big oil refinery on the sides and it stinks. Always busy and nothing special.

Cornwall.- some nice beaches but nothing special? Really don't get the hype.

My nan lives near Stonehenge and has never been lol. She has no interest. I like it though.

I hate Isle of Wight too.

I love Scotland (Highlands) and I love Suffolk Skies.

www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/aug/29/venice-that-tourists-miss-cannaregio

The first district mentioned here is one we went to.

www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/veneto/venice/articles/Guide-to-10-of-Venices-best-campi-or-city-squares/

Indeed we also enjoyed the squares.

Like I said, there are no amazing sights, but there is still atmosphere.

This thread! :o :o :o

Yelllowstone - SHIT! Just mountains and geysers and bears.
Bath - CRAP! Just a Georgian city.
Cornwall - BORING! Just a load of sea. Dullsville
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon - SHIT! A load of flowers by the Euphrates. Nothing to do.

Thank you so much Spartacus, the articles are really helpful.

I know this is taken from the 2012 article so things will be pricier but...

Cantina Azienda Agricola - where a glass of the excellent house wine is 90 cents

Something tells me I'm going to like this place

Devon and Exeter
Whitby -awful, and creepy, felt inbred
Anywhere touristy that isn't a City (southern Corfu for example, whereas Lindos has some charm on Rhodes).
Love Paris, Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Madrid, Washington, NY, Aspen, Boston but would swerve Disney because it just doesn't appeal and nor does LA, LV etc.

However we did do a long w/e in 2006 at Eurodisney witb the DC and were very very impressed by it. Even DH who came under sufferance. So may be completely wrong about the US experience. But a long weekend was enough for us.

SF sounds vaguely surprising because I always imagined it to be a place where rich and hipster Californians live out of the way of all rough bits typical of LA and rest of SoCal - squeaky clean Stanford Uni/Bekley, Napa Valley and massively overpriced Silicon Valley places where every tech wants to work in etc. My well-travelled friend did warn how sleazy the city centre was.

Grit in NYC was more expected, it looked great in cold December and there was everything for everyone.

Big cities are always have something (when you are not hassled too much - Egypt, I am looking at you) and even little quaint old towns with twee cafes offering tea and cake - easy, I'm sold :) Even Norway nodescript towns of Narvik and Tromso - it was just nice to see how Norwegians live, with their doors unlocked, and Bauhaus cafes.

Most worrying are beach resorts - that's where I spend massive amount of researching. Croatia is easy, but struggle with the rest. Avoid places where one can't escape with many various daytrips.

I think some people are just hard to please. And how is Buckingham palace grimy 😂 ??