Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask where you’d love to visit but are too scared to visit.

237 replies

Gawwwd · 04/08/2025 21:04

Mine is Haiti. Such a fascinating place and such an interesting (and predictably oppressed) history. I would so love to go there, but even if things improved there I’d likely still be far too chicken shit, truth be told.

OP posts:
lljkk · 05/08/2025 08:17

I'd love to visit Iran. So much history. So much rich culture.

I'm American though, a member of the great Satan nation. So.. best not.

I'm not afraid of visiting Cuba but omg the food is said to be dire. Not their fault, probably due to sanctions. Still, bad food is Very offputting.

ps: I went to Egypt (Sinai Peninsula) as a solo traveller 9 months ago. Had a great time. Definitely can recommend, at least that area. I would try Alexandria next if I went again.

RaraRachael · 05/08/2025 08:21

Russia
The Holy Land
India
The USA

AvoidingPandaEyes · 05/08/2025 08:38

Rio de Janeiro during carnival. It’s been on my bucket list for years but I’m chickening out at the thought of being robbed, especially after a pick pocketing experience in Rome.

I’ve been to a number of countries mentioned. Would agree that the food in Cuba is dire and would also warn that it may cause issues if you want to travel to the US subsequently - currently you would need a visa instead of an ESTA and that’s much more expensive.

I travelled to Russia on a school trip many years ago and had the best night’s sleep on the train to Moscow. The toilets were awful, as they were in the Hermitage (where I am aghast to remember we spent 45 minutes trying to find our way out rather than appreciating what an amazing museum it was).

MrsHamlet · 05/08/2025 08:54

GoodLaudanum · 04/08/2025 23:06

I really want to go to Georgia with my teen son.

Is it safe to go there? It just seems so precariously positioned . . .

I've been. It was perfectly safe.

MyOtherProfile · 05/08/2025 08:55

Interesting how many people have said USA. I've been once and don't particularly want to go again although I always felt safe at the time. My teens really want to go to New York. I've told them no way at the moment.

MrsHamlet · 05/08/2025 08:56

EmmaD11 · 04/08/2025 23:54

Albania is very different now to what it was 20+ years ago. The first time I went to Tirana it was extremely run down and looked nothing like a European city.

Nowadays it is far more modern and less of a culture shock. The rural areas still feel like you’ve stepped back in time.

I'm in Albania now - it's fabulous. I've happily wandered alone in the evenings.

Runnersandtoms · 05/08/2025 08:57

drspouse · 04/08/2025 21:07

Russia- I'd love to do the train from St Petersburg to Moscow. Or even the trans Siberian.
Maybe some day!

I've done both (lived in Russia for 7 months) and would love to take my kids there some day.

irregularegular · 05/08/2025 08:57

Waggytail · 04/08/2025 21:25

Russia is miles out in front.

Followed then by Sri Lanka, India and Egypt.

I had the impression from Sri Lanka was a fairly easy and safe place to visit. Much more relaxed than India. A number of friends have been. Looks lovely!

MYled · 05/08/2025 08:57

Haiti

PaxAeterna · 05/08/2025 09:00

We ate some wonderful food in Cuba. We ate in Paladars, these informal restaurants that people open up in their own homes.

The food in hotels can be very bad. But good food is possible for sure. You just need to put the effort into finding it.

irregularegular · 05/08/2025 09:01

groovergirl · 05/08/2025 01:53

I'd love to travel along the African Mediterranean coast, especially to the Algerian city of Oran. Tripoli, too, always looked awesome to me.

For those considering Colombia, please give it a go. It is so beautiful; the Andean cloud forests, and the historic cities of Popayan, San Agustin and Cartagena absolutely blew my mind. Bogota is so much fun. Music! Dancing! Charming men who know how to use their hips! I was in Colombia for a month during the civil war and took sensible precautions, including dressing down. I also carried and read the day's newspaper wherever I went to scramble the signals, i.e. "Er, she looks foreign, but she reads the local paper and might possibly live here ..." Everyone treated me kindly and was patient with my crummy Spanish.

Agree. We had a three week holiday in Colombia this spring. We had a wonderful time. It's such a beautiful country and everyone was so friendly and pleased to show off their country. With the possibly exception of Cartagena, which wasn't unfriendly, but they have more than enough tourists there already - it was the only place we found a bit overrun.

Runnersandtoms · 05/08/2025 09:01

Youdontseehow · 04/08/2025 21:48

Moscow is my dream destination!! We looked into going in 2017 and were advised to wait until after the World Cup as they were likely to introduce tourist visas that would be easier to get. Fast forward to Covid now there’s Putin being even more of a maniac - I’m so sad that I’ll likely not get there.

Show quote history

If you ever get to go, choose St Pete over Moscow. IMHO Moscow is a grey shithole, St Pete is beautiful.

Daffodilsarefading · 05/08/2025 09:07

Afghanistan
Israel

EmmaD11 · 05/08/2025 09:19

irregularegular · 05/08/2025 08:57

I had the impression from Sri Lanka was a fairly easy and safe place to visit. Much more relaxed than India. A number of friends have been. Looks lovely!

Show quote history

Sri Lanka is great. I went to watch England play cricket there a few years ago. I never felt in the slightest bit uneasy even outside the tourist areas.

Fen476 · 05/08/2025 09:20

WaryCrow · 05/08/2025 00:20

I’ve always been interested in history and in the beginnings of civilization in the Near East in particular. Trouble is the Near East is now a hell hole especially for women. So anywhere there really. I do not want to be just on the ‘beaten paths’ or guarded gate enclaves for tourists, I actually want to see what these places are like so I’m not even too confident in the idea of visiting Egypt or Turkey, and Jordan, Iran or Iraq have long been off my list. Syria and Yemen are war zones of course. Many of the Silk Road Towns are also in very very questionable countries.

It makes you wonder about humans, more specifically men, that this is how those of us responsible for producing the future can expect to be treated. There is not much hope from men. I am glad the birth rate is falling.

I went to Jordan solo and it was amazing, it's small so you can get around really easily. In Spain and France as a solo traveller I've been flashed, groped and propositioned for sex, in Jordan a shopkeeper mimed undoing his trousers and I thought 'here we go' - but nope he was just trying to alert me to the fact that I was walking around Madaba with the back of my skirt undone....

Turkey is also wonderful, I remember running around the huge bus station in Antalya trying to find where to catch the bus and the guys there all helping me out, same at Fethiye dolmus station. Istanbul and Cappadocia are amazing! Egypt on the other hand I wouldn't go back to and wouldn't be so keen to travel around solo. The hassle is just too much.

MagnificentBastard · 05/08/2025 09:27

South Africa.

Starlight1984 · 05/08/2025 09:42

EmmaD11 · 05/08/2025 09:19

Sri Lanka is great. I went to watch England play cricket there a few years ago. I never felt in the slightest bit uneasy even outside the tourist areas.

Show quote history

Yeah I'm baffled by Sri Lanka too?! It's probably the safest and friendliest country I've ever been to (and I've been to loads mentioned in these comments!)

maxandru · 05/08/2025 09:43

Sri Lanka is lovely and the people are absolutely the loveliest most gentle people I’ve ever met!

AffIt · 05/08/2025 09:48

Very pleased to hear of PPs' experiences in the 'Stans (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan etc), as I've always wanted to travel to these countries but was concerned that they were off the list for now.

I'd also love to visit Russia, Georgia, Iraq and Iran.

Perhaps the world will magically resolve itself in the next 20 years and that will be my retirement present to myself!

MyOtherProfile · 05/08/2025 09:49

Perhaps the worry about Sri Lanka is because of the civil unrest there a couple of years ago?

Edited to add that it was actually 3 years ago, but it was a bit scary with politicians' houses set on fire.

Starlight1984 · 05/08/2025 09:51

MyOtherProfile · 05/08/2025 09:49

Perhaps the worry about Sri Lanka is because of the civil unrest there a couple of years ago?

Edited to add that it was actually 3 years ago, but it was a bit scary with politicians' houses set on fire.

Edited

I mean, if you apply that kind of logic then pretty much every single country in the world would be deemed as unsafe.

MyOtherProfile · 05/08/2025 09:54

Starlight1984 · 05/08/2025 09:51

I mean, if you apply that kind of logic then pretty much every single country in the world would be deemed as unsafe.

Show quote history

It was pretty scary at the time though, and I can't think of many countries right now that I would travel to where top politicians are having their houses burnt down.

AffIt · 05/08/2025 09:56

MyOtherProfile · 05/08/2025 09:49

Perhaps the worry about Sri Lanka is because of the civil unrest there a couple of years ago?

Edited to add that it was actually 3 years ago, but it was a bit scary with politicians' houses set on fire.

Edited

We were in Sri Lanka in 2020 and it was fine, although there was a very visible armed police presence on the streets of Colombo because there had been a few explosions in recent weeks.

There are ongoing scuffles, but they tend to be in the north of the country, away from most of the tourist centres.

MyOtherProfile · 05/08/2025 10:01

AffIt · 05/08/2025 09:56

We were in Sri Lanka in 2020 and it was fine, although there was a very visible armed police presence on the streets of Colombo because there had been a few explosions in recent weeks.

There are ongoing scuffles, but they tend to be in the north of the country, away from most of the tourist centres.

Show quote history

It was summer 2022 when it got a bit hairy. Friends of ours were due to go there and we were watching the news closely. They postponed their trip until things calmed down.

irregularegular · 05/08/2025 10:02

I follow the UK government travel advisories and I don't think I would be "scared" of travelling to anywhere that is isn't red/orange on their maps (ie avoid all travel/avoid all but essential travel). But in most countries there would be parts of certain cities that I would be wary of at certain times. That includes the Uk!

Current warnings for Sri Lanka are the same as eg France.