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's different in work trips. You are tired and want to do easy or fun things in your spare time. Vacation is different.

We can’t help her if she doesn’t like a Lorne sausage or that Scots speak English wrong. I suppose any prospective visitors will have to decide for themselves if that sort of disrespectful behaviour is a deal breaker. For the midges tho (agree, wee bastits the lot of them) get yourselves some Smidge and use their website for the midge forecast!

@TyrannasaurusJex Yep- I think that person was lucky- I have 3 sets of friends who have moved back in last few years - 1 from Durban and 2 from Cape Town area. All have had menacing riots close by , attempted burglary's constantly, carjacked, my Durban friends have had several black work colleagues murdered

They had to have menacing dogs at all times, car windows locked, couldn't walk to shops-

l would love to spend more time in India as it is such an amazing place.
But I wouldn't feel comfortable going back to Jakarta, I went there for work and the hotel I stayed in as an international hotel but going down for breakfast, I was not just the only woman, I was also the only white person and was taller than everyone else. It was very uncomfortable. I also had to be escorted everywhere, the hotel had barriers and did bomb checks under the car with mirrors before you were allowed in.

Least favourite places:
Found Japan largely underwhelming. Travel was easy and felt safe but just a bit "meh". Also only place I've been openly stared at and photographed by teenage girls (I'm a tall ginger woman). Food was not enjoyable for me. Travelled on my own and found the locals somewhat hostile in some areas.

Mauritius- LOVED the sea life and this made the holiday, but the island itself was very much geared to make the most of tourists. Only place in the world we've visited where we couldn't openly explore without having a guide pushed on us. Also saw wildlife exploited for tourists which was very sad. Beautiful, but just not for us.

Naples- I LOVE Italy and have explored it extensively for work and pleasure, but Naples was just scary and felt hostile. Also got warned by our air bnb host (who was amazing) never to go on the train into Naples from the Amalfi coast as there is a high chance of getting mugged.

Most favourite places:
Hong Kong- Fascinating place, never felt so safe anywhere, and would go back in a heartbeat. The contrast between the super over populated mad busy areas and the beautiful bits on the south of the Island were awesome. Also enjoyed Shenzhen for the craziness of a hugely changing modern city.

Budapest- Great city, beautiful sites and amazing food.

Italian alps- Stunning part of the world. Great food, architecture and interesting culture.

Oregon- Very pretty, lovely people, great laid back vibe.

I loved Ibiza , it was absolutely beautiful.

A fan of Blackadder...

Second Dubai. Don’t know what I was thinking - it was exactly like I expected, tacky and expensive and soulless! Never mind the human rights abuses and sexist culture.

Malta. It was beautiful but (we went in February) my chest didn't like it

I'vr travelled to very many countries, and Iran was the absolutely best travel experience I ever had. Wonderful friendly people, incredibly hospitality and kindness and an absolutely beautiful country in every way. Its government is so at odds with the general feel of the country, that it's mind boggling. I'm glad I went when I did.

I’m not sure how else to word it if you don’t understand.

@saraclara Yes I agree with you. Spent time in Tehran and visited the other cities. Travelled by buses, often overnight. Flew from Zahedan to Quetta.

omg this!! yes, plants look fake too. I felt that when I was there as well.

Not personally, but a white, tall red-headed female friend of mine had a horrible time in Tunisia. Touched and harassed constantly by men. I'd never go there.

There are two countries I also won't ever visit on moral grounds. One is Turkey, for many complicated reasons, and the second is Thailand - a girl I knew a little bit at university was sexually assaulted and murdered there while on holiday. I know it's supposedly a lovely country, but I just can't bring myself to even consider it. Too much unpleasant association.

France - I don't understand why so much of mumsnet gets a hard on for it all the time.
It's grubby, the people are rude, it stinks of cigarettes and trash and it's expensive. It's not even beautiful enough to make up for all of that.
I've been to Paris, to the Belgian border regions and to the Alsace and it was all the same.

Hated the food? Food is good. And I am a picky eater from a country, whose food is considered very good.

There is a lot of variety in terms of cuisine, and plenty of good cafes and bakeries in England. When did he visit? In 1950? Where did he come from?

The comments about North Wales being anti-English are hilarious. Most people open their mouths and sound like they come from Liverpool (or at least the Wirral).

I had a great experience in a teashop in Denbigh where the ladies who ran it were talking Welsh to themselves and then English, with a light scouse accent, to us.

If people with English accents have a bad experience in (North) Wales they are inviting it, in my opinion. It's a great place to visit.

As for Brexit, the Welsh voted for it (and people from the likes of Manchester and Liverpool, who often go to North Wales for holidays, or at least short breaks) did not. That was turkeys voting for Christmas (see also Kent, Cornwall and, to some extent, Northern Ireland which was nowhere near as pro-remain as Scotland was).

Morocco for me too. A man spat at us because we declined his services as a “guide”in the market at Marrakesh. There was an unpleasant undercurrent once you were out the hotel.

ANYWHERE where women are treated like second-class citizens and pieces of meat for horrid, lecherous men to touch up - bleurgh. Any country that practises Sharia law. Any country that advocates against freedom of speech and encourages violent and aggressive punishments on gay people and curtails human rights. Any country that thinks it's fine to have the death penalty. It's a barbaric and dated practice.

Any country where it's culturally ok to treat animals badly.

I guess that rules out a lot of countries - oh well. I'm not going to subsidise these ignorant and misogynistic practices.

They didn´t say it wasn´t beautiful, just that they were treated with contempt. (The ones that said it rained a lot, well that isn´t something they can control...)

Maybe people get lucky or unlucky in their visits.

I’ve had wonderful holidays in some of the places mentioned upthread (Tunisia, Morocco, Paris, North Wales etc.) Paris in particular I don’t know why I love it so much, I’ve been 4 times with 4 different sets of people (college trip at 16, with mum and siblings at 20, with siblings and nieces at 25 and with DH at 30) and enjoyed each and every trip in a different way.

But I can totally imagine that a lot of people would have had different experiences. I was stalked in Egypt and Venice so I can imagine that happening in the countries I loved visiting to other people.

I've also had lots of holidays in Scotland and not been troubled by midges. Don't go in August and it's fine.

El Nido. It was dirty, full of backpackers. Not what I read in Conde Nast traveller.

Russia
Vietnam
Indonesia
Cambodia

Turkey,
The violent cruelty to the village dogs.
The young lads stoned me.
When I got back to the accommodation and said to the others "I've just been stoned!" this was the reply I got from a middle aged, middle class Turkish lady from Istanbul, she was a university educated professional, she said "But of course, you are a Christian slut."