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?

Istanbul.

Went with DD, my sister and her best friend as a girls trip pre Uni for DD.

Never felt so vulnerable as a woman.
Men openly ogling, very uncomfortable in taxis.
we started using google maps to track journey and were def not taken directly. Male staff in hotel openly dismissive of us.
DD blonde (and gorgeous in my opinion) and attracted a lot of very very full on attention.

Just never felt safe or relaxed which is a shame in such a beautiful country.

I'm waiting for someone from another country to say they'd never go back to England because they had a bad meal or someone was rude to them in Cambridge

There was a thread like this a few months ago and someone said they wouldn't go back to Ireland because they'd gone to an event at someone's house and people weren't very friendly.

So yes, someone probably will say they had a bad meal in Edinburgh/Bath once so will never return to Scotland/England.

I had a friend overseas who had been to England on an exchange trip and hated the food. I don't know if he's ever been back but the last time I saw him, he hadn't. I nearly, so nearly, got him over here for my wedding but then he had a work thing (allegedly).

Animal abuse can really ruin a holiday - DS went to Gili and said the poor ponies being abused was really awful. {No motor vehicles allowed there}

Ponies and horses made to haul building materials in fierce heat, not enough shade or water, lashed like something out of 'Black Beauty'

Ill fitting tack and harness.

Overworked so they die at their work.

Their shoes are worn thin from hard work, and are found cast on the side of the roads - he brought a couple back to show me.

No farriery as we know it here.

Another veto for Tunisia based on a previous trip, albeit 25years ago. Went with a female friend, hated feeling unsafe and we weren’t flashing flesh out of the hotel. Hotel wasn’t great with canteen food. I’m sure there are better hotels there but nothing would really make me want to go back.

I had a terrible holiday in Crete but that was down to cockroaches and the company (horrible ex boyfriend) I wouldn’t entirely rule out Crete as have had lovely holidays in Greece although there are less arid islands I would probably prefer to go to. I am sure I could find a lovely hotel there and it would certainly be better company with my DH!

India in my very limited experience it was depressing and filthy and got sick from the food.

Vegas. An absolute cattle market. Only good thing was their version of the London eye with booze.

Egypt due to the awful food poisoning and pervy men everywhere.

LA because it's nothing like you expect, extreme poverty as well as extreme wealth all in the same vicinity. Also found it quite boring.

Turkey. We have different religious food laws to them and they were so rude about it. Complete wankers. We needed a icepack for my mums pain and the man at the front desk shrieked that it wasn't a hospital. All the shops sold the same tat. Awful place

I'd say Morocco too.
Was travelling as a family so no harassment but it was a bit meh. Marrakesh is so polluted. Imlil in the mountains was quite nice but I have no desire to return.

Crikey, where do you live out of interest for it to take 18 hours to get to @Crispyturtle ?

Hah! No! But I was recently in a very affluent part of the north and it was all too packaged, polite and Republican for me to care to visit again.

i loved my holiday, but American politics puts me off any return visit

Jamaica.
Didn't feel safe in many places as a group of women travelling. Men were rude, sexist and at times pretty verbally abusive to us. Some parts are gorgeous but these are the resorts - as with lots of holiday destinations, travel a mere mile out and it's really not very nice at all. I'd never go back.

Wouldn't opt to go back to NYC or San Francisco due to the drugs issues (but would go if had to for work trip). Have been to both a handful of times over span of around 15yrs and it's incredible to witness how far these cities have fallen in the fight on drugs. NYC earlier this year I was honestly stepping over men and women comatose on the pavement with needles hanging out their arms. This was in Times Square and all around Midtown. It felt quite unsafe.

Egypt awful men, Morocco awful animal rights, being pressured all the time to buy stuff.

India I didn’t mind.
taking kids to US next year not sure about it tbh! Bit worried

Australia too far!

Definitely wouldn’t visit LA again, had wanted to visit for years but my god it’s a skanky, dirty place especially Hollywood!!! I’m not easily shocked but there were so many people off their faces and at night it felt so unsafe. Pretty clear why rich people live in gated communities there!! I think I went to San Francisco before it went the same way, I’ve heard a lot of tales about SF in recent years being awful. I’ve travelled extensively in the US and never been to anywhere with as many juxtapositions as California, there is a huge divide between the haves and the have nots

A lot of Third World countries featuring in this thread. Which is one of the reasons I don't visit Third World countries.

Been to quite a few of these places and liked them but was always with my then partner so of course being with a male makes a difference. The only place I got hassled while despite being with a male, was oddly Boston USA, got really cat called when out walking a few times, very odd and not what I was expecting. Reading all these experiences makes the UK sound quite safe and civilised

Egypt due to pervy men.
Also been to Morocco, India, turkey, various subsaharan African countries and had no major problems.
I think it's worse if you travel as a couple (even if you are with your male partner all the time)
Travel in a bigger group either all female or mixed sex and it doesn't seem as bad. Whether that's because and hassle is diluted amongst those present or whether there's more respect for women travelling without their man, I don't know...

What was wrong with Burkina Faso @FoxtrotOscarFoxtrotOscar ? I thought it was ok for an extremely impoverished landlocked country with nothing much to see. What were you expecting?

Cyprus - casual animal cruelty for no reason.

Agreed, I wouldn’t go back to Vegas, I found it too fake and once I’d seen one casino I’d seen them all. Loads of overpriced bars in shopping centres, just soulless.

I did prefer the old Vegas off the strip, it was a bit more rough & ready but less like a shit too hot Blackpool.

Las Vegas - sleepy, tacky, artificial
Buenos Aires - dirty, burnt out cars, graffiti everywhere, clogged with traffic

Quite a few actually.
Jamaica I found scary for a couple of reasons. I was offered drugs constantly even by a police officer at the airport.
I found the men very full on... even in front of my husband. We were stood at the bar in the hotel one evening and one of the maintenance man walked past and grabbed my bum in front of my husband.
Also saw dead dogs at the side of the road.

Dubai I went with work and just didn't get the hype over it at all. Plus I felt like western women aren't viewed in a nice way at all.

Turkey! I've never known anything like that. Again in full view of my husband (and he's a huge man) I was grabbed at, cat-called, had my legs stroked while walking. My hair is blonde and I'd be sat in a restaurant/bar and waiters and locals would come over and take my hair down and stroke it.
Or if it was down they'd come over and just stand and stroke me. Very bizarre and was the longest 10 days of my life. We also had our hotel room broken into and passports and money taken.

@DinosaurMunch
Burkina Faso was a work trip & wouldn't have gone otherwise.
A dirty, dusty, polluted place which stank of exhaust fumes.

I don't have any places I wouldn't go due to not having a good experience. Only places I feel like going there once was enough eventhough I enjoyed myself.

So countries like Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden I love to back. But I don't really have the urge to go back to Belgium, Latvia, Spanish Islands. I'm so haply I visited and had a great time but I don't have the urge to go out of my way to organise another trip.

Italy. Found the people quite unfriendly each time I have visited.

Maybe Jamaica as it was great, but felt really unsafe.

Greece. Did so many of the island in my late teens early 20s, I feel I’ve been there/done that. Plus, not sure if they’ve sorted their sewerage system out yet.