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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Best and worst place you have been on holiday to?!

584 replies

Frosty66611 · 26/01/2019 14:53

My best was definitely Canada. Driving through the Rockies was an unforgettable experience and we got perfect weather and lots of lovely food and hotel stops along the way.

The worst has to be Dublin. I was really underwhelmed by it and found it crazy expensive.

OP posts:
Imsosorryalan1 · 26/01/2019 16:27

Love Tenerife and Lanzarote too

Original poster
Frosty66611 · 26/01/2019 16:28

@imsosorryalan oh I forgot about Gran Canaria for mine. Hated it there too and couldn’t wait to leave.

OP posts:
GnomeDePlume · 26/01/2019 16:29

Worst was a campsite nearish to Venice. Regimented, expensive, crowded. Totally underwhelmed by Venice itself. We lived in the Netherlands so were a bit meh about canals. Lots of renovations going on so buildings were hidden.

Best is tricky as we have been to some lovely places and had some great times.

Standing stones in the woods at Carnac
River jousting at Sete
Tourist train at Besalu

ClanoftheCaveBear · 26/01/2019 16:29

Best Lapland, Egypt, New Zealand, Australia, Florida most of the time
Worst Florida when it rained constantly, Wales when it rained constantly

YoThePussy · 26/01/2019 16:32

Frosty I understand the area around the Pitons is pleasant but I stayed up at the north end of St Lucia. Touristy and the beaches were thin little strips of sand which were littered badly. I like swimming and beaches and can say that all the ones visited in Antigua were fabulous. I have always gone self catering there so can’t comment on the hotels.

Remembered another less favoured place, Alicante. It did have a lovely art gallery though with a brilliant exhibition of illustrations. Staff were delighted a Brit was in there and not swilling beer at 8am in the bars so were very charming to me. The flight there and back was so dreadful with singing and drinking almost needed counselling after.

Deadringer · 26/01/2019 16:33

I don't think I have had a really bad holiday, but thought Sicily was a bit of a hole. Tbf we visited it on a cruise and the docks might be the worst part of it. Found Barcelona a bit meh too but would like to return and see more of it. I love Rome and Paris in particular and I liked Malta too, surprised to see it get such a pasting on here.
I live in Dublin and tbh I can't see how it would really appeal to Brits in general, it's like a smaller less interesting version of London imo. Americans enjoy it I think especially if they have Irish roots and are interested in Irish history.

Quarepants · 26/01/2019 16:33

I also don't think I've ever had a bad holiday.

The best was in Biarritz.

And in Dublin' s defence I have spent a week there for the past two summers with just my kids and had a wonderful time. It probably makes a difference that I live in Ireland so the cost wasn't a huge surprise but we dont have friends or family there so rented a house each time and visited museums, rode the Luas, visited the zoo, the city farm and walked the pier in Dun Laoighre and loved every minute. Maybe i was seeing it through my easily pleased young children's eyes too which helped. And we had a lot of sunshine.

seenna · 26/01/2019 16:34

My sister is Dublin now for a long weekend with friends, wonder how she's finding it!

tinytreefrog · 26/01/2019 16:36

I don't think I've ever had a holiday where I've thought god this is awful.... well maybe as a child/ teen with my mother who thought it wasn't a proper holiday unless she had a full on mental screaming session at one or other of us at least twice a day. But that was her fault not the places! Lol.

Best place I've been to is probably corsica. It's just stunning.

YoThePussy · 26/01/2019 16:37

Frosty Edinburgh is lovely. So much to do and see there. What’s not to like about a hike up Arthur’s Seat, free to enter botanic gardens, good open top bus tour there too.

Deadringer · 26/01/2019 16:37

My sister is in Malta right now, I wonder how she is getting on too!

HaroldsSocalledBluetits · 26/01/2019 16:38

Best - Lago Atitlan. It is so beautiful that several times over the first few days you think someone's taking the piss and putting visions of the perfect place over your sunglasses instead of it being real. Honestly can't think of a bad thing about it.

Worst: it's a great place with loads to do but men in Istanbul are fucking pigs, sorrynotsorry. The constant fucking hassle completely coloured my view of the place because it was just so stressful.

DaveCoachesgavemetheclap · 26/01/2019 16:38

ave any of you been to Edinburgh? I grew up there and think it’s the best city ever. My friends (not from there) who have visited all hated it though which always surprises me so much

I loved Edinburgh. I went to the castle on a misty morning, and there was a piper playing. It was beautiful and I got quite emotional!

StableGenius · 26/01/2019 16:38

Best was a gite in Dordogne, gorgeous place, lovely weather, loads to do, own pool and great owners who gave us bellini cocktails on arrival.

Worst was a high rise hotel in a long-dead resort in Tenerife. One strip of grim bars and kebab shops, no beach, freezing unheated pool, miles from anywhere worth visiting. And dd1 lost her comfort blanket Sad.

(We had a really good holiday in Costa Adeje in Tenerife the next year though - apart from dd2's ear infection...).

AgentCooper · 26/01/2019 16:41

Best - Cape Cod in autumn. Been a few times st that time and it’s just beautiful. Lovely, friendly people, lots of wee towns full of character and history, gorgeous North Atlantic beaches that go on forever.

Worst - Brussels. We were only there a couple of days but I found it really expensive, businessy and boring. The toy museum, museum of musical instruments and atomium were great but the rest just felt like it was designed for business and everything seemed to shut down at 5.

SenecaFalls · 26/01/2019 16:41

Best - Florida is amazing if you like theme parks and are looking for a 'family fun' holiday rather than anything cultural.

Excuse me, but there is a lot more to Florida than theme parks. We do indeed have culture, just as we have an interesting and complex history.

My best holidays are any time I am in Scotland, especially Edinburgh, which is my favorite place in the world.

My worst was just one night as a child in Miami. My dad had mistakenly booked us into a somewhat seedy hotel where some nefarious activity seemed to be taking place. He made up for it the next day by moving us to a luxury hotel on the beach.

I have been lucky in my travels; I can't say that I have ever really had a bad time.

LucheroTena · 26/01/2019 16:43

Driving holiday in California, then flight to Hawaii
Austria
St Ives Cornwall

Worst: Gran Canaria

thebabessavedme · 26/01/2019 16:46

best - 2 weeks cruising on a small boat, about 30 passengers, on the Nile. was soooo beautiful, interesting, warm weather, i felt like i was in an agatha chirstie novel, we had to dress for dinner and meet on deck for cocktails!

worst - 2 weeks (oh dear lord) in torrievejca in spain, we had been having a truly shit time at home and needed some sun so i booked in a rush - i knew i had made a mistake when the woman i was sitting next to on the flight asked if we had been before, on my answering no she said 'oh you'll love it. it's just like blackpool but with the sun' she was not wrong! the place was awful!

Cheekylittlenumber · 26/01/2019 16:48

Best: Antigua. The sea looked like the screensavers you see on a computer.

Worst: Marrakesh. It was so polluted, terrible food and we all came down with the worst food poisoning I’ve ever had.

Beebumble2 · 26/01/2019 16:48

Worst - Slovenia, dreadful food, atmosphere of a left over from the Communist regime. Lake Bled, castles and caves were no more spectacular than anywhere else with that type of Geography.

Best - Canada. I’ve travelled from the centre through the ice fields to the west coast. This year doing the Eastern seaboard. Then the cities of the Great Lakes.
Wonderful country, so diverse in culture, climate and environment.

TheyBuiltThePyramids · 26/01/2019 16:49

The worst trip we did was a campsite in the Jura - the place was lovely but there were torrential downpours for days on end and everything there was to do was outdoors. And the wifi wouldn't work. We came home early. And AI in Cuba. We spent a few days in Havana which was marvellous, but 2 weeks at the beach - food awful. Nice pool and beach but we were bored rigid and spent most of the time in a rum squishy haze.

Best - oh loads. Anywhere in Italy. Barcelona, Seville, St Tropez, NY, lots of France and Eastern Europe.

Farle · 26/01/2019 16:50

Worst - Rome...beautiful and wonderfully historic city but the Italians we met were incredibly racist. Because I'm black they also presumed I was a prostitute (to be fair there are a lot of African women trafficked to Italy for this purpose) so nearly got kicked out of the Vatican as they thought I was touting for business!!. Also men chasing me down the street, trying to thrust money in my hands to buy a "good time" and the police thought it was funny!!

Best - Gran Canaria, relaxed and welcoming

TheyBuiltThePyramids · 26/01/2019 16:50

Oh and we went to Zadar in Croatia and I was a bit underwhelmed. Especially by the food.

CatnissEverdene · 26/01/2019 16:51

We've had some amazing holidays in the UK. St Ives was a recent favourite; love Tenby; and Rock in Cornwall.

Worst ever holiday - Callella in Spain. Bloody vile place. I was 18 and couldn't get home quickly enough.

tomhazard · 26/01/2019 16:52

Best: Western Crete and a secluded part of Phuket
Worst: eurocamp in France