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.

Los Angeles. Though it is better to live in than to visit.

We were expecting a concrete jungle and some bits of it are, but we loved it. Everywhere you go you can see the mountains and palm trees. So many great restaurants and things to do and so much character in different areas of the city.

Belfast, Cardiff, Lisbon, Alicante, along the Spanish Portuguese border

Alicante and Valencia

@DinkyDiggies

Krakow, and Poland in general really. Thought it would be dull, concrete Cold War stuff with just cabbage to eat. How wrong I was. Beautiful old city, really good food.

Agree, Poland is beautiful and I adored it so much I then got myself a Polish fella 🤣🤣

@whenthedoveslie
*hahahahaha

So a city is written off due the the weather.

Bless you.*

I lived there for six month. The weather was consistently terrible. Never seen so much rain. Many parts of it are very grotty, such as Cathys, which is unfortunate as it is so close to the centre.

You come across as trying to be really condescending with your little "bless you", why are you so defensive? I can think that Cardiff is grotty and has terrible weather for at least six months a year, possibly more, what do you care? I don't care if you live in Cardiff and are the proudest Welsh person going, or if you are Spaniard who can't say Cymru, but either way, enjoy what time you spend in Wales, as you seem really invested. It won't change my view. Try to be a little more positive, more space in Cardiff for you.

@YouBelongHere

Vilnuis in Lithuania - friends booked a surprise trip for mine and another friends 21st birthday and I really didn't know what to expect but I loved it. There's so much to do and not many tourists so you could get round everything really easily. I'd love to go back one day!

Same!! I got a cheap deal for my birthday and wasn't sure about it at all. But I absolutely loved it. The food was great, lots of history and just really lovely to amble around. Oh and THE best hot chocolates I have ever had too

It does rain a lot in Cardiff, but that doesn't mean that it's not a lovely city.

Cathays is a student area, it's not grotty, but the demographic isn't one where the houses are going to be well kept Stepford wives style!

Cognac.

Gorgeous rivers you can swim in, great wine obvs and lovely rural France vibe

Surely Sicily is well known for being amazing?

Liverpool is one of the ugliest and most horrible places I have ever been to. Can't believe people are trying to pretend it's somehow beautiful on here. I even had to cut an overnight stay short because I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible

Oh for goodness sake. Where were you - some grotty suburb? We are talking about the city centre which categorically is neither ugly nor horrible and there are villagey bits like Woolton. The people are really lovely and even the grotty suburbs feel safe enough (in the daytime, I might not wander around Bootle on my own at night).

@FryingpanintoFire

I haven't been to many places in Germany that I don't love, and some people might be surprised at how beautiful much of the landscape is.

Same here and I agree with a pp that Nuremberg is lovely.

Bing had Berghausen as its wallpaper the other day - that is on the border with Austria and looks amazing.

BUrghausen.

@Mercier1

Belfast. Galway.

Both of those - went to Belfast late last year and we're keen to go again. Brilliant city, lots to see and I know everyone says this about places they like - but genuinely very friendly locals.

Kiev. Lovely city, cool vibe, fantastic coffee shops and great galleries, beautiful classic + soviet architecture. Not the best food though.

I was massively impressed with cardiff too.
And Lisbon and Kracow and Malaga.
A lot of places that are listed already.
I research holidays pretty well so I wasn't surprised they were nice apart from Cardiff. My previous visit in the 90s as a geography student hadn't left a good impression. It changed massively in the Bay and City centre in past few decades.

Maastricht Netherlands. Stunning, historic and vibrant.
Padua (Padova) Italy, half an hour to Venice on the train, and less than an hour to Bologna. Gorgeous in its own right though.
Limoux and Mirepoix in the Aude region France.
The triangle of Cadiz, Seville, Malaga (city).
Segovia, Toledo.
San Sebastian, San Jean de Luz and Bayonne.

Trips taken over many years, I am not boasting, just sharing!

Copenhagen, so so pretty. Amazing food. Amazing shops with the most beautiful displays. Very friendly.

*@MangosteenSoda *

Central Asia bordering Russia and China. So much interesting culture but very friendly and welcoming people. I was lucky enough to work at the hospital in Almaty and have lots of great memories from that time.

Liverpool, Cardiff, Hull

We booked to go to Lanzarote in October.
My expectations were very low and I had quite a few lanzagrotty comments. However, it was beautiful. I loved the wild, volcanic landscape. The climate was perfect for biking and running along the coast. We’ve booked again for next October.

Had low expectations of Berlin. But it was amazing and now in my top 3 cities. The people, the shops, the bars. Did a cycling tour. Loved all the history too.

Everyone hates LA but I loved it. Stayed with a friend who lives there. Went hiking in the hills, swam in the Ocean. Ate amazing food. Didn’t do downtown LA so maybe that’s the trick.

Stavanger is an interesting weekend break - even better if you can time your trip with the 17th May festivities. Preikestolen is spectacular.

And meant to add Pula too (photo is of the amphitheatre which is remarkably complete).

Liverpool isn't beautiful but it's a great place to visit. Very friendly people too loads of people happy to chat.

Liverpool, Amsterdam, Bologna, Athens

I expected to hate Las Vegas but I’ve had a brilliant time every time I’ve gone. We discover new things to do every time. Last visit our group age range was 14 to 78, it was over 100F, and it was still fun.

Similar with Venice. Everyone told me it would be hot and crowded and smelly and I’d feel let down. I had a blissful 4 or 5 days there.

I feel a bit let down by the Grand Canyon but blown away by the rest of Arizona and Utah each time we visit, which feels a bit upside down.

I also loved Pittsburgh. It’s one of those best-kept secrets that’s leaking out in a big way. Such a cool city.

Also West Virginia is a mix of exactly what you’d expect and far more beautiful and friendly than you would imagine.