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!

Also perplexed by Chatsworth/Churchill. It is the Duke of Devonshire. Churchills ancestral home is Blenheim Palace.

Mine is Malta. I hated it and will never go back. I am not a sit by the pool/beach type person anyway but that is all there was to do. I found the people incredibly rude (pushed me out of the way to get on a bus when I was holding my 1 year old and a pushchair!).

I had always been told that Malta was very family friendly but it couldn't have been further from the truth. We went into one restaurant and asked if they had a high chair and they just said no and made it clear we weren't welcome with a child (it was a beach restaurant, not michelin starred!)

I have never been more pleased to see the inside of an airport in my entire life than I had when we were flying home.

I can't remember who supplied them (was it Treacle)? but thanks for the tips re Dublin. In respect to Molly Malone, we (I) am not expecting much, but since I first heard about Dublin through that song which I sang at school and which my Grandfather used to whistle I have to see it. Sometimes travel is about the little or personal things. We are considering the uber expensive connoisseurs' tour of the Guinness Factory. My instinct was to stay on the South Bank, but as we are only there two nights we are a little more central.

Upthread someone made fun of an earlier comment I made about turning left rather than right in Pisa. My feeling was the poster who first criticised Pisa for being grimy and suchlike could not have done this - maybe they only hung around the area near the wall closest to the Piazza di Miracoli? Because if they had really walked and got to know Pisa then they would have discovered a lovely area off to the right that included the university buildings and grassy squares, the markets and the beautiful Piazza dei Cavalieri. I fail to see what is 'LOL' about that.

Now lots of people told me that Chiswick was "lovely". It was litter strewn and quite uncared for in most parts. Another example of a place being oversold leading to disappointment.

Re Churchill, it was Chartwell that he lived, in Westerham.

I was pleasantly surprised by Pisa! There was more than a leaning tower which was unexpected. The tower itself was far more lovely than I'd expected. NOT doing my homework led to a better outcome.

In Pisa did anyone else look at the chandelier in the Duomo and marvel that Galileo once looked at this and started to think about how the planets moved instead of bloody listening in church, naughty boy, or did they go into the baptistry when one of the attendants who is also a singer sang opera so we could all hear how wonderful the sound was? Did anyone else notice the odd stones in the Duomo wall that had obviously been used previously in 'something roman'? And the beautiful doors?

Yes, no to the singing, and yes! I did have a really good guide book that I cracked open on arrival.

Also I remember the Baptistry and its font.

Never been to Paris but think I'll give it a miss now.
Malta - plenty to do for a week , but much more built up than expected , lots of rubbish dumped everywhere. Glad I saw it though.
Sardinia was a big disapointment, stayed in the north end, beaches nice but started to look the same, and most were the busiest I've seen in my life. Food a problem, I'm gluten free and waiters were very unhelpful even though it read that they are very used to catering with gf. Hotels extortionate, went for somewhere a little cheaper and it was a dump.
Giants causeway a bit crap saw it as a child.
Amsterdam again glad I saw it but wouldn't rush back - seedy
I've lived in Dublin, and it'd be ace for a long weekend expensive though. Combine with a trip to the countryside.
Glasgow is nice but deffo has an edge never felt safe there.
Adore rome bath Edinburgh Dubrovnik all of Crete

:) Oh yes, the font!

The singing only happened at particular times. Because we stayed in Pisa for three days we were able to plan our trip to hear it.

Paris - dirty
Amsterdam - dirty
Cairo - horrible place. Filthy
Mauritius - overrated

Liked

New York
Melbourne
Sydney
Barbados
Belfast

Jeez my hubby keeps going on about wanting to take me to Paris, im so put off now lol

It really was a little mini field of miracles to me.

I wonder if in one way I was lucky to be there when the tower was shut for shoring up works so there were fewer visitors? We stayed overnight and arrived early, so again not crowded although I recall there being a very international set of visitors so it wasn't empty.

I get impending doom feelings in Norfolk but in-laws live there so those feelings are rational.

I wonder if in one way I was lucky to be there when the tower was shut for shoring up works so there were fewer visitors? We stayed overnight and arrived early, so again not crowded although I recall there being a very international set of visitors so it wasn't empty

Possibly. Both times I have been the tower has been open and yes it was full of visitors. Most arrived in coaches parading behind tour guides, bought tat from the mainly African market sellers at the side of the piazza, climbed the tower, had a quick look around the rest of the main sights and got back in their busses to go to the next pitstop. The museum display of the engineering works on the tower is really, really interesting too.

@youngnomore Have you been to the pyramids ?

My best travel experience ever was interrailing, arrived in Rome on an overnight train at 5.30am so went straight to Vatican and St Marks for when the doors opened literally no one there except ex bf and I and a few nuns. Jaw dropping and will stay with me forever even though not religious - to be somewhere like that essentially totally empty.

In my p post about underwhelming Chiswick I almost mentioned the post office, which should have a sign over the door "Abandon hope all ye who enter here" but I thought it was a bit niche. Googling I've found that Sheila Hancock nominated Chiswick Post Office for Room 101!

It's always satisfying knowing you are not the only one with a problem.

GinisLife- I have been to the Pyramids and going them so disappointing. I was expecting them to be in the middle of the desert. They were literally on the edge of the City and full of people begging. Grim.

Does this thread deserve a Part 2?

I loved Paris. About to go to Rome soon, so now worried.

I also couldn't stand Norfolk. Found it menacing, and depressing. Couldn't wait to get away.

Love , love Scotland. On a sunny day it just can't be beaten. The Highlands especially, and Edinburgh.

Lake Maggiore a huge disappointment. Over commercialised, rip off. Hated it.

Corfu is an absolute dump - completely ruined by tourism and lager louts.

Marrakech - loved it but found it a massive shock to the system initially.

Sorrento also a massive tourist trap and overpriced, like Taormino. There are so many of these places in italy, it is truly depressing.

Love France - the Dordogne, the Languedoc. Don't like Brittany or Normandy as it's too much like Britain and the weather isn't much better.

Love Kefalonia, but not Argostoli.

Also found Niagra Falls a bit of a commercialised disappointment.

Have no desire to go to the U.S. at all.
Just don't like Wales at all, i have tried and tried. It feels really depressing and always seems to be raining. Also miles and miles and miles of run down towns everywhere.

Love Cornwall but prefer the North.

Love the Lake District but not Penrith or Kendal!

I find Cornwall so underwhelming that I lived just over the border (10 minutes drive) for 2 years and could never feel the motivation to go and visit. It might have a sort of rugged beauty but it's not a happy place. Everyone scraping by on sub minimum wage or feeling squeezed out by second home owners. There's a ton of resentment from Cornwall towards the rest of the country (witnessed by Brexit vote) and a very terse acceptance of tourism as it's the only thing that brings any money into the county. There's nowhere else in the UK with a more Royston Vasey feel

A lot of this thread is hilarious, but this is just bullshit. Maybe it's you, rather than the whole of Cornwall and everyone in it. Maybe you're just a negative misery guts?

Surprised so many still think the pyramids are in the middle of the desert. I’ve never been but most TVs documentaries about Cairo or Ancient Egypt don’t hide the fact that the outskirts of Cairo rub shoulders with the pyramids.

To all those that now don’t want to visit Paris, give it go. If you live in the UK it’s so easy to get there too.

I didn’t hate Rome completely. It was more the fact that the authorities seem to have given up on trying to get a handle on the touts and sellers of junk that you have to negotiate before you can see the sights. I know people have to earn a living but they are so aggressive it made my trip really unpleasant. Still have memories of loudspeaker announcements outside the Collesium of the prices of the tours as there were so many touts trying to rip everyone off.

London has grown on me over the years.I'm very much a rural person, and rural dweller and when I first had to visit London for work was completely overwhelmed by the crowds, and traffic and yes, it's grubby in parts.
but the more I explore and find new things, and very old things, the more it appeals to me. and, contrary to many people, I am constantly staggered by how polite people are (compared to Central Scotland where i live!). Arrive yesterday, man at tube station waved me on ahead of him then waiting to cross a busy road the bus driver gave me a big smile and let me cross before moving on. I like this city.