Destinations that turned out to be surprisingly good

[Pluvia]

Salamanca. On a trip through Spain we randomly stopped there for a night at Salamanca and loved it. Inexpensive bars and restaurants, lots of locals, no tourist hotspots — so much so that we spent the day looking round and stayed a second night.

Cardiff. A lovely, bustling, buzzy city with a beautiful river, park, castle, shopping, cafes and a harbour and history. I'd gone for the weekend to visit an old friend, ended up moving there.

Lucca. So beautiful and lots to do and see.

@Surelyitscoffeetime it was called Kazan but I’ve just looked and sadly it seems to have permanently closed since the start of the pandemic.

Cities that I liked more than I thought I would:

Glasgow. Pleasantly surprised.
Liverpool. Good fun, attractive in parts.
Valencia. Awesome city, much preferred it to Barcelona.
Girona. Beautiful small Spanish city.
Berlin. Interesting and fun.
Osaka. Great.
Bangkok. More pleasant than I expected.
Mallorca. Much nicer than expected.
Charleston. Not a fan of US cities, but it's small and really beautiful.

[quote BaggaTDoubleTroubleDoubleG]@Surelyitscoffeetime it was called Kazan but I’ve just looked and sadly it seems to have permanently closed since the start of the pandemic.[/quote]
Oh that’s a shame!

I forgot Budleigh Salterton

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Can't agree with either Cardiff or Liverpool, Cardiff in particular has terrible weather. Dreadful. And some extremely grotty areas.
Lausanne was a big surprise to me, I didn't think it would be so nice.
Also, Montpellier, some amazing architecture.

Hull - went there for its city of culture opening weekend and thought it was so wonderful and lots of potential. Amazing people and architecture and that beautiful waterfront.
Ramsgate - again rundown but the potential and the history there.

@Lesperance

Can't agree with either Cardiff or Liverpool, Cardiff in particular has terrible weather. Dreadful. And some extremely grotty areas. Lausanne was a big surprise to me, I didn't think it would be so nice. Also, Montpellier, some amazing architecture.

hahahahaha

So a city is written off due the the weather.

Bless you.

Liverpool

Lebanon - especially Beirut and Byblos

OMG yes!!

Though not for the folk that call Paris a shithole.

Granada, absolutely loved it!

Baveno in Lago Maggiore Italy more peaceful than Stresa charming great food and close to Switzerland for a day trip, air so fresh boutique hotels.

Venice, felt like a film set when we arrived on a water taxi at our hotel. Such a beautiful city food architecture. See the Islands Burano Murano and Lido. Seek out little squares the Jewish Quarter. Guggenheim museum.

Moraira and Xabia lovely small towns great food and beaches, hire a car and drive inland such beautiful scenery.

Ishia small Island near Naples stunning you’ll want to return. Lovely feel about it so relaxed beaches are beautiful.

La Baule Pays de L.A. Loire palms tree lined promenade stunning beaches freshest seafood.

Les Sables-d’Olonne beautiful beach town independent shops great restaurants with again freshest seafood.

Baveno - yes!
Beaune
Dijon

Oundle in Peterborough. Such a pretty town, with plenty of nice cafes, pubs and restaurants. We went there for a few days in the summer of 2020, just because we could get a reasonably cheap AirBnB there, when everything else was sold out and/or hugely expensive, and had such a fabulous, happy time.

It has a lovely river and lake, too. We had a glorious picnic by the lake one day.

Oh, and also Maiori, on the Amalfi coast. It's a short drive from Amalfi itself, and whilst not quite as picturesque, is still very pretty and a LOT cheaper.

Another shout for Hull. My son studied there and we were both expecting a dump. Really pleasantly surprised-great old town with lively, characterful pubs and lovely marina. Beautiful university campus.really enjoyed visiting during my son’s time there. I need to revisit.

Butlins, Bognor

Llandudno, wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.

Aberystwyth, I think the relief of arriving in one piece after various local drivers had valiantly tried to drive us off the road on the way over the mountains, probably had something to do with it

Cornwall, not mad keen on Newquay or Bude or a lot else along that bit of coastline, sorry Padstow. Love Looe and Polperro, Falmouth is great , as is Fowey, Readymoney cove is a particular favourite . Also love Marizion, Penzance, Newlyn and Mousehole and especially love St Ives, yes it gets busy, yes its a bastard to park in the Summer, but the light and colour of the sea is something else, can't wait until I can go out of season. The Scilly isles are gorgeous, the crossing on The Scillonian not so much, although the way back is generally better, if you can afford the helicopter or plane, do it !

Northumberland . Stunningly beautiful, extraordinary beaches, fantastic and friendly people, great food, awesome skies and all round amazingness.

Wooler in particular.

"Westfalen-Therme Hotel" in a small village in Germany called Bad Lipsspringe during a time when we couldn't fly abroad due to Covid and were already in Germany). It's one of the best hotels we stayed in with a huge indoor/outdoor waterpark. It was a really great holiday!

This is it: www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g230057-d1910434-Reviews-Westfalen_Therme-Bad_Lippspringe_North_Rhine_Westphalia.html

The photos don't even do it justice. It's huge inside and we had an amazing week there

I enjoyed Aleppo - the fort was amazing, the people were welcoming and the street food was delicious.

You do know that Aleppo's been practically razed to the ground and thousands of its citizens killed in recent years?

Newcastle, Durham and the Northumbrian Coast. Loved it all so much I moved here.
Loch Lomond.
Utah! I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that and I had a great time.
Germany.
Singapore

Biaritz. Put a pin in a map and got a Squeezy flight. It's absolutely lovely.