Best/worst country to visit

[travelinterest]

AIBU to ask which countries/cities were the best or worst you have visited and why?

Best:

Portugal (Atlantic coast further round from Lisbon, NOT the Algarve) was beautiful, plus hardly any English tourists compared to other parts (a definite win in my books).

Switzerland was so clean and trains were always on time.

On the other hand :

Vienna didn't feel very friendly towards tourists.

In Mauritius for a family wedding (no control over hotel etc) I was really struck by the poverty outside of the resort and taxi drivers kept taking us via fake designer outlets.

taxi drivers kept taking us via fake designer outlets.

Yes, in India rickshaw drivers would give us a reduced rate (once even free I think) if we took a 'detour' and went to our destination via a touristy shop or outlet.

Suck we took two young children (4 and 7) to Berlin twice and got on well. There are large parks, lakes, outdoor swimming pools, seaworld etc as well as all the historic museums.

Best: Lebanon especially Beirut, San Francisco, Barcelona and Italy esp Amalfi Coast (Not Sorrento though!). Also love London and Liverpool.

Worst: Tangiers in Morrocco - very aggressive port town. Not relaxing at all

Underwhelmed by: the Maldives, Nice and Cannes , St Andrews... meh

Ulster coastal scenery is wonderful. I would really like to go back to counties Donegal and Antrim to see more of it, and two fingers to Jacob Rees Mogg about the border between UK and Ireland, you only notice by the change in road markings and signs that you have crossed.

Norway is another beautiful country I would love to visit again.

Morocco is not a place I would choose to return to (dangerous driving, corruption and assaults on gastro-intestinal health).

Edinburgh really isn't any more crowded than any other city... unless you go in August. Don't visit Edinburgh then unless you are ONLY going for the festival.

I was in Edinburgh at the beginning of July this summer and thought the city centre was awfully crowded. The one attraction we went to this time (as we've been to the city before) was dated, a bit silly and eye-wateringly expensive - I haven't felt so fleeced for a long time.

Liked Portobello though.

Loved: loads of places! Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris (which I genuinely didn't find unfriendly), Berlin, Prague, Lisbon, Dubai, Doha.
For scenery I love Scotland, many parts of South Africa, the Dordogne.

I'm another one who was completely underwhelmed by Dublin. It felt very boring and ordinary.

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I wasn't that keen on Rio either. The beaches and botanical gardens were stunning but the city centre is ruined by unsympathetic development and even the supposed nice bits (Cobacabana, Leblon) were really just okay.

The part of Dublin my family lives in is very nice, near the canal and quite central but I don't like the city much itself. We use it as a staging post really to get to other family and friends in Kilkenny, which is gorgeous, and Dingle, ditto

Germany - love it, people are fantastic and it is a beautiful country. I was gobsmacked at how much I love it actually as I thought I'd prefer Italy. Italy is ok but not a patch on Germany.

France - I love the idea of it - hate it in practice. The hotels are grubby, all the cities are full of people begging, people are rude and it is full of sterotypical mumsnet types

davros

Yes, Dublin is definitely a mixed bag, as I say. Some lovely parts, some fucking grim.

Best:
Nice. We’ve been loads of times, in summer and winter, and that’s where I’m happiest. That’s where I’ll retire if they can sort out bloody Brexit.
Egypt - loved the temples and history. Also met DH there ☺️
St Petersburg - so amazing I had Stendhal syndrome
Prague
Maldives
Bali - great for family holidays. As is Singapore
Madrid
Greece
Turkey - Istanbul, capadoccia
Luang Prabang (Laos)
Mykonos and Santorini
French Polynesia
Magdalen islands in Canada. But please don’t go.

Worst:
Disneyland Paris
Cozumel, Mexico
Kolkata
Karachi
La Palma - what a dump
Majorca - just meh
Hanoi - rather charmless
Cuba - the Blackpool of Canada
Stockholm- expensive for what it is
Brighton
Dubai. As described above, colourless, money-driven and I find the massive pictures of the princes oppressive.

I forgot Disneyland Paris on my list of dislikes 2 hour queues and expensive. Was so happy when kids said that this place is awful please don't take us here again. 😂

Best country - Vietnam. Everyone was so lovely, the food was amazing, and the scenery was incredible. Best city - Berlin. Clean and some really great architecture, good bars, plenty to do, good public transport.

Worst country - Cambodia. Felt like we were constantly being harassed by dodgy street sellers/dodgy taxis/scams everywhere. They clearly have no love for tourists (and I get it, coming from a v busy tourist town, we hated them too) but it tipped over into outright nastiness and contempt. Not sure about worst city!

I also forgot Disneyland Paris
Expensive , long queues, too many shops: stores selling Disney tat.
Never again

Yeah Disneyland Paris is quite grim actually. Weather isn’t great till summertime and the area around it isn’t nice. The food is so expensive and frequently disgusting there too, especially if you don’t eat meat.

DLP is one of my favourites both with/without kids

I think (though haven't been!) that a week chilling in the Maldives with only snorkelling etc, drinking, eating and relaxing would be bliss

Best city -
Vancouver , just beautiful, good vibe, great open space in Stanley Park (someone upthread had it as worst city as too many aggressive beggars, we were there this summer and didn't see any beggars agressive or otherwise)
Ho Chi Minh city
San Fransisco
Stockholm
Paris
Cape Town
Barcelona
Seville

Worst City
Lille
Milan (other than the last supper it was underwhelming)
Venice - dirty and overly touristy

@travelinterest - funnily enough a friend of mine just told me how hellish she foudn the Maldives. There's just clear water and wooden huts - nowhere to tuck yourself away, nowhere to investigate, no surprises (according to friend - not been). She said relationships can fall apart there when people go on romantic getaways because there's nowhere to hide, no distractions. Put me off!

@PierreBezukov Was that the Edinburgh dungeon by any chance? :)

unless you go in August. Don't visit Edinburgh then unless you are ONLY going for the festival.

Yes, I live in Edinburgh and totally agree with this - always baffled by tourists who come here in August but are not interested in the festival (then usually complain about how crowded /busy it is and how expensive their accommodation is - yes, that's because it's the festival, hence prices double or treble).

If you knew the festival was on but had no interest in it why not come in any one of the other 48 weeks of the year when it's not on. If you didn't know it was on, then maybe do some basic research into your destination before going/booking - it's only the world's largest arts festival, so hardly a secret. :)

Just before we moved to Edinburgh, dh (then bf) and I visited Edinburgh to look at flats. We had just graduated from university in the south of England and stupidly had no idea the festival was on! Couldn’t figure out why it was so expensive to stay there. Such a relief when we moved and realised the crowds weren’t a permanent fixture. Mind you, parts of London are at least that crowded all year round.

I'm Irish & I get why Dublin gets a lot of 'worst' hits. Please bypass & travel down the coastlines. Clare & Kerry have stunning beaches & scenery, as good as any I've seen anywhere. Food same!

My best South Africa, Prague, Ile de Re in France

Worst: Alicante- bungalows & mediocre beaches is all I remember

Trieste and Vancouver are on my bucket list, along with the Orkney Islands - despite the negative comments on here I still want to go to both cities.

I am looking at Cork too - my mum wants us to go together. It's her birthday in April - but of course a no deal Brexit might scupper flights grrrr.