Most overrated destination you’ve visited?

[Hairbrush123]

For me, it was Paris. Not an AIBU, I know

That's hilarious- pitying those of us who live in the South of England. My Mum moved to Shropshire from London and when my teenager was younger up until about 12, he loved it but he's nearly 15 now and he does like the change of scene but there is nothing to do there. What he likes to do the most is visit his cousin in London and hang out in London as it is so vibrant.

Seems there’s a lot of people need to do more research before going away. I’m astounded by the number of people who have said LA. Since when has LA been considered a great place to visit?! I positively avoided it on my west coast road trip.

@CounsellorTroi

Sardinia. It’s lovely on the coast but threatening and poor inland. And Cagliari is a shithole.

Have any other posters had this experience ? We were planning visiting next year .

Jamaica.
Lovely beaches and countryside but you could not go outside the hotel without being constantly hassled and touched.
Felt very very dangerous

Edinburgh - been four times, always leave disappointed. I can't really explain why, it's a city which just should be much more than it is

A lot of bars and clubs in Edinburgh are almost hidden, as they are underground. If you don't know where to go, you would miss so much. You really need to do your homework. Did you visit South Queensferry? This part of Edinburgh is often overlooked by tourists and yet offers one of the best days out.

BiscuitLover3678, that's interesting. When did that change start to happen then? I remember watching Party of Five as a teen late 90s and I thought that was set in SF, it looked pretty cool then but I suppose it was a fictional drama.

Paris

Might as well stick the Eiffel Tower in the middle of Glasgow Govan.

Brighton is rough, it also has a vibe that it's never grown up, it has a seedy party vibe, just horrid
Los Angeles is a dump, driving past skid row is terrifying, street upon street of homeless people high on spice, very intimidating..

@BlondeDogLady

Seriously? London is one of the greatest cities in the world and no matter what your interest, you'll find it there - culture, history, architecture, food, sport, parks, I could go on. I envy anyone with access to it and one of my dreams in retirement is to do a houseswap or something and spend a long period of time there

I think it depends how much money you have though. I lived in London in the early 90's, and my Mum was a Londoner, so we were always there visiting family. The areas my family lived - and myself later on - were dirty, dangerous, full of gangs and mobsters (my own cousin was in a mafia type ring) - because we lived in the poorest areas. I'm sure you'd have a very different experience if you could afford to live in an expensive area.

I now live near Edinburgh, and the contrast between London and Edinburgh is stark. Edinburgh is friendlier, cleaner, less dangerous, easier to get around, and you can live pretty cheaply on the outskirts. For eg. my house is about 25 minutes from the centre (on the train), and it is 5 bedrooms with a sea view. It is worth about £250k. This house in London would easily be a few Million. I wouldn't move back to London if you paid me.

Fair enough, but if you were just visiting London you wouldn't necessarily stay in the kind of places you describe. Nor would you encounter them if you went for a day trip. It is eye wateringly expensive obviously but partly because it is so amazing!

@Thevoiceofreason2021

There are many things to do in Mauritius. If you are going to stay in a resort the whole time of course you will be bored. Some resorts are nicer than others so have better beaches. It depends where you stay really!

@Kelly7889

London is awful now, truly.

When my foreign friends from far flung countries want a holiday here, I tell them to spend one day in London to see what they want ot really see, then get to King's Cross, straight on the train to York, then Durham, then Newcastle, then Edinburgh then up to the North of Scotland. All of them have thanked me for pointing them to these great places, all on one fast train line, stopping a few days in each.

I feel sorry for people who live in the south of England and think that's what Britain actually is.

I love living in the south of England - we have the warmest, sunniest weather and fantastic beaches.

@HalfCakeHalfBiscuit

So many rubbish places

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon - like a provincial garden centre
Colossus of Rhodes - just a statue of a bloke
Lighthouse of Alexandria - a boring tower
Statue of Zeus at Olympia - bloke in a chair
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus - just a tomb
Temple of Artemis - like any other church
Great Pyramid of Giza - big triangle

Paris

And I thought the eiffel tower was a glorified pylon

@Bonnealle

LA - dirty, polluted, didn’t hire a car and the waking bordered on dangerous. Just so dull, I hated it. Las Vegas - I’m not sure how people can spend more than two days there, dry heat outside, freezing inside, again reliant on cars Padstow - no charm

Love Venice, Paris, Naples. Love Venice so much as there are no cars and so much to see (maybe it’s a theme with me as live in London and although have a car don’t use it that often), I’ve been so many times and only seen about a 10th of it, which is surprising as it’s so tiny!

How can padstow have no charm!? What is charm if it’s not a quaint old English village by the sea? It has too many people in it though- I’ll grant you that. Would be better with 75% less people on the day I visit 🤣

@HalfCakeHalfBiscuit

So many rubbish places

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon - like a provincial garden centre
Colossus of Rhodes - just a statue of a bloke
Lighthouse of Alexandria - a boring tower
Statue of Zeus at Olympia - bloke in a chair
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus - just a tomb
Temple of Artemis - like any other church
Great Pyramid of Giza - big triangle

Hilarious - this reminds me of the sort of things Karl Pilkington would say 😅

I also find the inevitable outrage that London could feature on someone's shit list, and people listing all the reasons its not shit very funny. Because most of these reasons could be applied to all the cities being slated.

@shinynewapple22
We loved loved loved Sardinia. Only a couple of years ago. I would not really agree with the pp. the food is amazing, the beaches beautiful and inland is basic. It's a much simpler way of living rather than poverty stricken if that makes sense. Think basic roads and lots of lemon and olive trees, big farming community. It's very difference to mainland Italy. It's very pure abs simple and just beautiful. Enjoy!

@Kelly7889

London is awful now, truly.

When my foreign friends from far flung countries want a holiday here, I tell them to spend one day in London to see what they want ot really see, then get to King's Cross, straight on the train to York, then Durham, then Newcastle, then Edinburgh then up to the North of Scotland. All of them have thanked me for pointing them to these great places, all on one fast train line, stopping a few days in each.

I feel sorry for people who live in the south of England and think that's what Britain actually is.

Been and stayed all over the UK many times. Except for a few pretty cities (York being one of them) it mostly really is grim (and very dull) up north.

Florence. A pity, as I discovered I felt this way after committing to an entire semester of study there. Oh, the art is great and yes I loved that bit. Hard to say what was the worst about day to day living: how about walking into an empty restaurant to be told it's full when frankly the waiter simply didn't like the look of you (interesting repeated occurance); constant heckling by blokes on the street; dog poo everywhere (this may I guess have changed); trying to get a hair cut and being told that the style wasn't popular in Italy (should I get up and leave, with my hair wet?). This is before I even get onto the cohort of Americans I was with (I am also born Yank.) Anyway. I love Rome and Venice, was totally expecting to love FLorence too.

@Goldenbear

That's hilarious- pitying those of us who live in the South of England. My Mum moved to Shropshire from London and when my teenager was younger up until about 12, he loved it but he's nearly 15 now and he does like the change of scene but there is nothing to do there. What he likes to do the most is visit his cousin in London and hang out in London as it is so vibrant.

London is definitely an amazing place to grow up, especially as a teenager (not that many parents can afford it). But surely the thread is about visiting?

(To be fair it's also amazing to visit as a tourist too, although I'm sure some tourists might well prefer a few days in Durham )

I love living in the south of England - we have the warmest, sunniest weather and fantastic beaches

Look at the beaches in Northumberland and west Scotland. Nothing in the south comes close.

Yes, I'm near the Southdowns and get to go to the Shropshire Hills quite a bit due to where my Mum is and from Spring onwards it is so much brighter and warmer. This makes a huge difference to my mood. My DH is the same and has been doing quite a bit of work in the North and he just finds the city he is visiting just wet and grey on every visit, I won't say which one.

An unwelcoming host family, blatantly doing it for the cash, didn't help either. I am not sure what others think for their own kids but I really don't think the 'living with a family' thing is what it is cracked up to be - unless I knew the family already I doubt very much I'd encourage my Ds to do it.

As a Londoner I could not care less that some have listed London here. Each to their own. I have always had a love/ hate relationship with the city myself.

However I feel sorry for people who live in the south of England and think that's what Britain actually is. This is bullshit. Feel sorry for the us, whatever? But to imply that we know nothing of the rest of Britain is utter bollocks. The vast majority of those in the SE are not originally from the SE.. and believe it or not some of us travel around Britain and love many parts of it.