To ask which country you would not visit again and why?

[travelcat]

I love hearing about travel experiences and am interested in knowing about places you have visited that you wouldn't go back to.

AIBU to ask which country you'd avoid in the future and what specifically made your experience less enjoyable? Was it due to culture, safety, or something else?

It is very safe. Younger women can experience groping though, but in general you can walk home at night and it’s literally the safest country in the world that way. Osaka though is known as the rough uncouth part of Japan, they’re different there (my dh is Japanese and I’ve lived there, I’m far East Asian myself).

Exactly this.
You couldnt drag me back in chains

Turkey. Went on a school trip there and some men trapped us in the back of the shop, leering, touching our hair, then offering to give us stuff if we “went” with them, the teachers had to come rescue us. Got leered at in the streets, offering to marry us etc. Fucking horrific country for women and girls. The school never had another trip there.

It is so true what you say about the way you look being a driver for harassment and the type of harassment.

I recall going to Brazil with a friend who is a statuesque blonde. She was harassed constantly to the point she did not want to go to the beach. I apparently “look like I am Brazilian” so was left alone.

Yet I have found myself sexualised and taken for a sex worker in places like Germany and Italy. And in places like Russia and China the pointing and people taking photos was overwhelmingly. My (male, white) colleague did not believe that kind of thing would ever happen (when I told him about my experiences in Russia) but changed his mind when he saw it for his own eyes in China.

It’s why I try my hardest not to dismiss people’s opinions as they all different. Similarly a female friend of mine is a sole female traveller and has been to Morocco many times alone and has never had any issue or any harassment.

As a Scottish person that’s definitely a thing, people abroad change when they know we are Scottish and become a lot more friendly

Germany - really large 'no-go' areas at nights that locals avoid. Ditto with lots of parts of Central Europe (Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland etc). Such a shame tbh as they're lovely countries.

On the other hand, I would go back to Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Lebanon in a heart beat.

Never understand these kinds of threads, they're always good for a laugh though.
I mean, it's like someone coming to England, going to London and encountering a rude person shouting at them, then going to a cafe and having bad service
"That's it, I hate England, I'm never going again, they're so rude and it's horrible there!"
What, all of it?! 🙄😁

Scotland. I had so many problems there. Firstly the midges are terrible I have never seen or been bitten by so many. Also I ordered sausage with my breakfast and it came like a slice of sausage toast not a sausage. Plus I am okay with foreign languages but mangling up my own language of English is just not on they are proper weird up there and it’s just too unsettling for me.

I am not sure there's a whole country I wouldn't go back to, but I have not been to many of the countries where women's rights are poor - I hate the sound of it. Only been to Tanzania in Africa and nowhere in the middle east.

From travel lots of countries in the Americas, Europe, southeast Asia and Australasia:

I used to live in china and would always go back in a heartbeat. However I'm not sure it's the best place for a holiday if you don't speak the language and have time to do some random stuff beyond terracotta warriors and the like. Completely understand why some people hate it.

The USA - nature only for me. Hiking and camping is brilliant, but I HATE the cities. Difficult to get around without a car, dangerous in places, food is shit (admittedly better in the cities but in general I'm always shocked at how hard it is to get non-UPF and vegetarian food, and how rubbish the remaining options are e.g. cheese is bland), people are a mixed bag like anywhere but the culture is not for me.

I've just remembered Vietnam. I wouldn't rule it out but it's probably the country where I least enjoyed it/was most frustrated - you sort of have to give in to being a tourist I found, nobody would talk to us to say where we could get a bus for example, they wanted to ring their mate to drive us somewhere for a lot of money. I don't deal very well with being hassled on the street to buy things and that sort of thing happens a lot. Still had a great time though!

I did comment similar. I cannot imagine being put off an entire country but I can be put off revisiting cities if I had a really bad experience in one.

My daughter spent 5 weeks in Oman in January to do with her uni degree.
She loved it there. The food was amazing, the people polite & friendly. Due to the no alcohol in public places, people were well behaved.
She said she felt safer there than back at home in the UK.

Unlikely to revisit Iran or Pakistan again. When we were there it looked as if ordinary life was improving, we enjoyed our visits. From what I read and see both degenerating into total shit holes now.

I might be visiting next year with dds (17, 19) so I am worried by this. Groping on public transport - uggh, not what I expected.
Very depressing how almost every post here is about places being horrible to visit because of the predatory behaviour of men. I thought of Japan as somewhere women could feel pretty safe.
Paris as a young woman was shocking in terms of sexual harrassment. I was groped, had a man grab my breasts in the street , constant cat calling and hassle. It was frightening. I loved the look of the city but the people were very rude and unfriendly, and the men were horrible. I wonder if it would be different now as an older woman ?

I think that's the point? It's just interesting what people's impressions were and why. Hopefully everyone knows that it's just a first impression of one person not a valid summary of the whole country or the people within.

We have been in Australia a few times; you get use to the flight but we also stop over one night which make it easier

I've been to New York in February and never known cold like it. Also yes unspeakably rude shop assistants etc. I felt rushed all the time. And it felt grubby.

I adored Vietnam and the people were some of the loveliest I've ever met! Pollution no different to any other big cities

Tunisia- leery men and felt unsafe.

Oman surprises me (UAE doesn't)- I've heard amazing things about the natural beauty there as well as kind and friendly people, great food. Why didn't you like it?

Is this a joke?

Osaka is just like a concrete sprawl and not worth visiting imo. Also the only time I experienced rudeness in Japan. A woman cut in front of me at a queue at a shrine, which is just so unthinkable to do…Her teenage daughter was so embarrassed and tried to tell her not to do that, but the mother was giving me the evils just for existing and tried to justify it as fine. I speak some Japanese and my listening comprehension is pretty good so I could understand most of what they were saying, which I’m sure the mother would have had no idea of 🙄. The daughter was really nice though and kept trying to give me apologetic looks so that offset the experience a bit. Still, I have no need to ever return to Osaka.

Re paris, yes I think so. I went aged 16 (someone called social services eh Kirsty 😂) with female friends and we drank and went to clubs, we had men hit on us but no groping or scary behaviour. I do find in general french men cross the line of what I think is acceptable more than English, like just a bit too pushy.
Nearly 20 years later whenever I've been back Paris has been fine. Admittedly rarely walked around alone though.
No scrap that, I did a 2 week language course in my 20s staying on my own in Paris. Not a single issue! I wouldn't worry about it any more than London.

I lived in Paris as a year and never really had any issue then nor when I visited since although yes men would approach me on the street to ask for my number (but not in a disrespectful way). I went back recently and was largely ignored which was quite nice! I am middle aged though now.

Israel i was new to feel very unwelcome although the country itself is beautiful and so interesting especially Jerusalem…. Vietnam same experience, there is a lot of hostility towards westerners just imho…. and Thailand although the locals were really nice, it’s clean and beautiful all the horrible old white men with young Thai wives ruin it.

I've been travelling constantly for 4 years now, staying weeks to months in each place. I surf so avoid large cities and stay in smaller towns / villages on the coast. Have been to 24 countries, currently in the south of Morocco.

I'll never go back to Peru. Good surf, but the worst rubbish problem I've ever seen. Stray dogs everywhere in pitiful conditions. Surly people (and I speak Spanish so it wasn't a language problem).

I'll never come back to Morocco after I've left either. Rubbish, stray dogs and cats in pitiful condition and the gender imbalance in public (many more men than women) makes me feel less safe. Have found the people to be nice so far though.

To balance this with something positive, so far my favourite country is England. I LOVE the cosy pubs, good food, polite people, ability to queue properly and stunning countryside. I stayed end winter / throughout spring and don't mind the weather. If the surf was better I'd consider living there. I'm from New Zealand and I consider England beautiful, so my comparison is a high bar.