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.

Love Galway. Easy to get around and a real cosmopolitan feel with all the visitors but not too much so.
Also loved Salsburg the old town with narrow streets opening out into large squares. Older people in traditional dress out doing their shopping. We got on a bus going the wrong way and got a unscheduled tour of the suburbs though it's not got a big population

In the UK, I'd go for Nottingham. Was there for work recently, and pleasantly surprised. Nice little indie quarter near the ice arena, good walks along the canals, felt like a vibrant nightlife (although I think I was there when the universities were just starting term, which might explain it), excellent local what's on magazine (nothing to do with the rather ordinary local paper). I'd always dismissed it as a Robin Hood tribute act, and was far more impressed.

Worldwide, I'll speak up for Moscow - great city, impressive architecture, cultural life etc. Very marmite, though. I stayed for a decade, I know plenty of others who were gone in a fortnight.

Thoroughly enjoyed Santiago de Chile as well - especially the museum of pre-Columbian culture. But that was my first and, to date, only taste of Latin America so I'm not the best judge.

Ulan Batur. I didn't really know what to expect but I was traveling through Mongolia on the Trans-Manchurian railway and figured after getting a visa I might as well get off and have a look around. It's an odd city, very Soviet in style (down to the embalmed great leader in a mausoleum in the main square, sadly closed when I was there and possibly never to reopen) but enlivened by a couple of Buddhist monasteries. What I really liked were the people - it's a poor country, but unlike Russia and China the people I met seemed happy with their lives rather than frantically chasing every last dollar. Don't know if that makes for a great place to live, but it was a much more pleasant environment for a visitor.

Surprisingly I enjoyed Benidorm! Very clean beaches, lots of locals and families in the daytime and the old town was quite nice as well.

@gogohm

Liverpool. An amazing place to visit, what took me so long! And such friendly people who seemed to really want tourists (unlike many places). We are already planning to go back

Agree. I love Liverpool. Any excuse to visit. I joined a walking group up there as it's such a lovely city and the people are nicer than my home town. Everyone laughs at me because I live 100 miles from Liverpool.

Bristol, we just came back from a week long city break there . Loads to do and the Baltic Wharf area reminded me of Copenhagen.. quick ans easy train service to Bath also.. we had a great time ..

New Orleans for me, jazz bands on Bourbon street all day, amazing food, best place i've ever been! I guess a party city for grown ups!

Lovely to see the positive comments about my home city of Munich, it really is beautiful and a great mix of traditional and cosmopolitan.
Seefeld is also fantastic as a summer break.
Malta was a happy surprise, as were Zaragoza (Barcelona was so disappointing afterwards), Porto, Graz (absolutely stunning all year round) and all of Slovenia - wonderful cave hiking and a tiny, beautiful coast.

Halifax.

Loved it so much we’re going again at half term.

Love love love Liverpool! I totally agree everyone is so friendly and happy to have tourists. It’s also not ridiculously expensive.

Glasgow, especially in summer, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it so I went back a few weeks later.

Singapore

Cong in Ireland. I know there are lots of beautiful places in Ireland, but this village was just so beautiful I loved it.

Oklahoma City was, without a doubt, one of most pleasant surprises I've ever had. It was originally a pitstop on an American road trip, but we enjoyed it so much, we changed our plans and stayed a few days longer. Plenty to see/do, great food (even for this vegetarian!), and just really lovely, welcoming locals.

Disclaimer: I didn't expect to really dislike any of these places; it's more that I liked them more than I expected.

Liverpool. Went specifically to see a show at Tate, but had a great day in another couple of museums and some nice cafes etc. Really pretty place, lovely walks by the water, good vibes.

Madrid. Not a 'beautiful' or picturesque place (it's got lots of big busy roads and feels very built up), but very easy to have a nice time. Loads to do (wonderful galleries, great flea and antique markets, amazing bookshops) and really easy to find good food and drink and nice places to hang out in.

Aarhus. Again, went pretty much just to visit the ARoS gallery, but loved the place. Beach and a swimming section with lovely well-maintained changing rooms and municipal sauna, woods with nice walks, beautiful cobbled old bits of town, great cafes.

I would move to Liverpool in a heartbeat. Stunning architecture, friendly people, loved it.

I adore Á Coruña in Galicia, Spain.
Galicia itself is a gorgeous region.

Gdańsk and Sopot in Poland
Been 3 times now

Seville old town for me, its a stunning city.

Echoing a few others here we booked a cheap break to Lanzarote last year and had a few 'Lanzagrotty' comments so tried to cancel and had very low expectations - loved it. We stayed in Playa Blanca, on the Playa Flamingo end. It was brilliant, beaches were gorgeous, lovely views, friendly but non pushy locals, there were lots of brits abroady restaurants but also plenty of good quality local cuisine if you looked for them. Toddler had a brilliant time which we expected but we really did too and I'd go back!

I had to go to Sibiu in Romania once, it didn't appeal and I wasn't excited to go at all. Amazing place. They call it the city with eyes, it lived up to that! (Google it) but honestly brilliant so many brilliant restaurants, so much culture, the architecture, it was overall a really unexpectedly great trip! I'd really recommend it!

I don't think anyone has mentioned any Canadian places yet, I was very pleasantly surprised by lovely Montreal wheh I went there for a conference (this was over 20 years ago but I don't imagine it has changed all that much?). I love all of Canada and have travelled extensively there but Montreal was a real standout treat as far as cities go.

@theDudesmummy

I don't think anyone has mentioned any Canadian places yet, I was very pleasantly surprised by lovely Montreal wheh I went there for a conference (this was over 20 years ago but I don't imagine it has changed all that much?). I love all of Canada and have travelled extensively there but Montreal was a real standout treat as far as cities go.

I've never been to Canada and would love to go to Montreal. I'm fascinated to find out just how French it is ie does it feel like being in France/does everyone just speak French?

Madrid and Malaga as mentioned above were both huge hits with us. I was disappointed with busy touristy Barcelona but absolutely loved these two.

Strasbourg is gorgeous. Athens in February was fantastic (though we got lucky with the weather) - hot enough to nip up to the Parthenon in the midday sun and there was barely anyone up there!

I have to say we did a Californian road trip and LA was a total surprise to us.

Birmingham city centre around dishoom/the canal with the bars is also nicely done, as is Cardiff which is a long term fave

Next in my list are Gdańsk and Munich. Hope they're decent.

@IntermittentParps it didn't feel like France to me at all (I liked it much better than most of France), and everyone speaks English. It had something more European-feeling about it than other Canadian cities though, it just felt different somehow, in a good way.

We loved Salzburg, highlight of the trip was doing 'The Sound of Music' coach tour, was brilliant! Lots of champagne and singing the films songs, seeing all the places in the film including going high up into the alps, i loved it! Lovely people too!

Agree with lots on here. Granada, Girona, Strasbourg, Trier, Urbino, Bologna, were all surprisingly fab. Although they all were places I went to for work or to visit someone so not 'chosen' so maybe that's why. Go with low expectations and get blown away. Whereas when I went to e.g. Venice, I was expecting it to be fabulous (and it was).

Also, is everyone else making a list now of places to go to? One of the places mentioned repeatedly on here is where we are thinking of going this year so that's really good to know.

I'm really enjoying this thread - lots of great ideas.
I love that someone mentioned Silloth! It's not a million miles from where I live and is a regular weekend bike ride destination for me. Not the place for an adrenaline rush, but it's lovely. The Cumbrian coast is very under appreciated, in fact the wider county is a bit neglected as most people don't venture beyond the Lake District honey pots. (But then I kind of like it that way...)
Spanish destinations I've enjoyed include Segovia, Burgos, the whole of the Northern coast and the Picos D' Europa. I agree Valencia has lots to offer and think Mallorca is a beautiful place - you just need to avoid a handful of resorts which is easy enough.
Most of my favourite Italian places have been covered, but I don't think anyone has mentioned Padua yet? It's very historic and an attractive city.
I would really love to go back to Kerala some time. I stayed in Kochi for a few days on business about a decade ago and I absolutely loved it. It's greener than anywhere else that I have been in India and has a bit of a different vibe - more relaxed somehow. I didn't get anything like the same amount of hassle there as in cities like Dehli and Chennai. Yes, people would still approach me in the street trying to sell stuff but if I said no, that was it, whereas in Delhi I'd be followed for miles. I felt quite safe in Kochi, and the history and architecture is very interesting too. That said, I loved India in general and the Taj Mahal is mind blowing. It's a hard country to visit in some ways of course, like many developing countries, but there is a vast amount of beautiful and fascinating stuff to see. As I was working there was a lot I couldn't do, so I'd like to go back on holiday one day.
To be honest, I have never been anywhere that I have absolutely hated. A few places haven't been quite what I expected, or things have happened that have coloured my view of a particular destination. For example I was ill in Cannes so found it boring as I couldn't do much, but if if I went again I might see it differently. Generally I think everywhere has something to offer if you look for it and have an open mind.

Tallin, Estonia. My husband booked it as a surprise for my 30th on a recommendation from a well-travelled friend. I was totally WTF and on arrival to the hotel it was very Soviet, concrete, grey. But we found the Old Town and it was absolutely gorgeous, we went in November and the Christmas Markets were on. People so friendly and amazing old buildings and food. Wonderful free museums and art/sculptures everywhere. Honestly one of the best holidays! Would love to go back.