Is there somewhere that you would not return to? And why?

[Mothership4two]

Just commented on a post asking for places you would go back to and why. Thought it would be interesting to find out places you would never go back and why not. Not trying to cause offence! I'm going to get flamed arent I?

Mine are:

Amsterdam. Just found it a big unfriendly city. Away from canals, the buildings are pretty ugly. Staff in shops/restaurants/etc had a couldnt care less attitude. Didn't help that it was a really cold few days and we werent interested in getting 'cake' from cafes or looking at the red light district. I find Dutch people usually lovely.

Dublin: found it drab and old-fashioned. People lovely though and good pubs

Florence: I love Italy but Florence is just a working city with islands of lovely buildings imo. We'd just come from Venice and it didn't compare.

North Wales: beautiful but unfriendly. Everywhere we went people switched from English to Welsh when they heard our English accents including a staff member in a tourist info office! We knew it happened but it just makes you feel meh. The fact if rained every single day didnt put it in a good light for us. Have visited many parts of the rest of Wales, all good. My lovely fil is from North Wales and my lovely sil and dn is also Welsh.

Dubai, just felt very soulless although more my fault for expecting it to be something it wasn’t, I think. As other people I know go and love it.

Kos in Greece. We found a few nice villages but the main bit was just depressing and full for drunk Brits eating kebabs and being sick outside the Nag’s Head (of which there were many). We are Brit’s too btw, it was embarrassing.

Egypt. We stayed in a lovely lovely resort but I felt so uncomfortable talking to the staff and realising the poverty they lived in (again my fault for not being more clued up on where I was going beforehand) I also didn’t like the presence of armed guards into the coaches and along the beach, although I have to say the coast and sea was absolutely stunning. I just didn’t enjoy the vibe of the holiday.

I’ve been to Spain, Turkey, Scotland, Wales, Canary Islands, lots of places in Italy and lots of places in the UK and loved them all, but the difference there was I booked them and did lots of research (as opposed to the family holidays above that I didn’t enjoy) so I think that’s where the difference lies for me!

How the hell can you say London?! It’s awesome a world city. Lived there for 7 years and I can tell you every time I needed help or a seat on the tube it was given. I remember once at top of stairs on tube with buggy one man in a hurry didn’t even say anything picked up bottom of buggy we got down steps and he powered off!

Egypt is the worst county I have ever visited but went in my twenties with a friend travelling non stop misogynistic abuse from almost every man. We ended up confined to the hotel but then harassed by Male staff. It is an utter shithole.

Orlando- because the kids have done it and they are far more interesting and genuine places to visit.

Bali - Kuta is Australia's Blackpool and you get non stop hassle on beaches.

Singapore- been twice. It's small so wouldn't gain anything from going back.

Auckland- it felt quite dangerous and was not what we expected.

Tonga- too many spiders.

Komodo- once you've seen an island of dragons you've seen it.

@EmmaGrundyForPM So you learn the native language of EVERY destination you travel to do you? Okay No I don't 'expect' them to speak English but when I point to the item on the menu (that's written IN ENGLISH) I'd kind of expect to receive said item! And when I didn't expect more than a shrug of the shoulders and a filthy look!

When you’re talking about places like Paris and New York not living up to the hype, it really depends what you do while you’re there, surely?

My first trip to Paris I did the usual touristy things - Eiffel Tower, Notre dame, etc etc. It was nice. Been at least four times since and every trip is different - galleries, museums, finding amazing restaurants off the tourist trail etc. I have a Paris map pinned with all rhe places I want to go, eat at, etc - if I went every year for the rest of my life I wouldn’t get through it all.

Come on you can’t deny people in north wales are unfriendly to tourists and it does rain a lot. My grandparents retired there and the locals were very kind and friendly to them. We used to go all the time it is beautiful but sure does rain!

Absolutely we on our 4th trip to Oaris this Oct it’s inexhaustible like London and Berlin

Sharm el sheik, Egypt.

I'll preface this and say it might be better now as I went when I was 14ish, but I don't have good memories.

When leaving out hotel to visit the nearby town, there were soldiers with what looked like machine guns down the length of the road.

While wandering through the town with my mum and her friend, the male shopkeepers would constantly grab my arm and literally drag me into the stores. They also made us feel like we couldn't leave due to their 'hospitality' and often stood by the doors while we were in the stores which was intimidating.

Last straw came when one of them wrapped me up in a sari type outfit and jokingly said he would marry me. Massive no at 14, not a joke, freaked the hell out and just wanted to go back to the hotel.

I refused to set a foot outside the complex after that. The culture made me feel so uncomfortable and unsafe at the fact I was female (evidenced by when my stepdad rejoined us for the walk back to a taxi while in town) that I was repulsed by the place and never want to go back.

I don't have it in me to give the place a second chance, even if that was over a decade ago. I even know people who have been since and enjoyed themselves, but I would just prefer to go somewhere else. The world is a big place after all.

Delhi 😩

The “shit on shoe” people followed us around and wrecked our clothes flinging their gloop. I shouted a lot!

Dominican Republic, Naples and Prague.

@MsTSwift I will accept "people" are unfriendly to tourists in north wales if you say people in London are unfriendly also?

Oh!! Paris and London too.
Paris because it’s so overrated, kind of grubby (in my experience) and I didn’t feel overly safe there.
London because it’s just not for me, too much going on, and the rough bits are very plentiful. And I’m too poor for the nicer bits 😂

Gibraltar I'd never go back to. It's so densely populated, the town is really tacky and the apes on top of the rock are nasty. I felt so claustrophobic there, its so small!

Northern France is my other no-no (Brittany and Normandy). I have amazing memories of camping in Brittany as a child). But every time I've been in the last 10 years the weather has been awful and the experience bleak. I wish it were different as I love France but DH and I aren't going to waste any more money going to that part of France, even though its the easiest to get to. When your holidays are limited, you have to minimise the risk of it being rubbish!

purpleolive

WTF? You’ll go against your belief if someone goes against theirs? What the actual fuck?!

These threads always go the same way. I hate Wales because people spoke Welsh in front of me and it rains. I hate Egypt/Turkey/Tunisia because I was hassled on the street. I hate Barcelona because I felt unsafe. I hate Random Place because our holiday cottage was damp and the weather was awful. I hate Paris because people were rude and there were homeless people. I hate Big City X because it's big and crowded and someone didn't let me have a seat on the tube once. I hate Big Tourist Draw because it was overcrowded with tourists.

Bulgaria... Restaurant staff had barely any concept of speaking English so when ordering on many occasions in different places we didn't receive what we had asked for (even after pointing at it on a menu!) attitude was "oh well" and nothing done to rectify

Oh the ignorance It’s this kind of attitude that make Brits seem lazy and arrogant. I can see the point with posts like this.

Paris- too many people( mainly Americans) squeezes into a small city and the locals are rude.

Ended up with the flu too

Plus it's not a safe destination to visit.

Dublin- even though it's my home capital. It's terrible rainy with drab depressing scenery/ grey buildings and the north side accent( plus tallagh and a few other south side areas) 😬😬😬😬 cringe !

Also, the huge and visible drug/ homeless issue that the government won't address

You’ve just described perfectly why I hate wales and the people. Very rude and unfriendly.

We’re people. Some of us are friendly and some of us are not. Some of us are nice and some of us are not. Like all people everywhere.

@hardrainsgonnafall it's making a point through playing devil's advocate, I obviously don't believe any collective group of people can be described as unfriendly because that is ignorant and stupid.

I wouldnt be bothered about going back to Dublin, Blackpool and Barbados

I went to (south) Wales recently and absolutely loved it. Perhaps north wales people are grumpy if they are inundated with tourist from Wirral which is the place I’ll never go again...

I was sitting on a bench and was asked if I was waiting to do a drug deal

In the town centre two guys were “zombied”, that is they had taken some drug and were just slumped against the wall. People just walked by or took photos

A House of Fraser employee called someone a “spaz”

Calling someone “gay” or “homo” is everyday use

I was there for 3 days for work and will never ever go back.

Santa Ponds ( and Magaluf and those other tourist towns in that area of Majorca. Lots of drunk Brits on holiday, loads of touristy tat for sale.
Other parts of the island were lovely but not those resorts.

Our wedding anniversary is in November, so we often have had short breaks at that time. I really recommend it as a good time to go.
Venice, was really spooky in the evenings as hardly a soul on the streets. Everyone was really friendly, I guess because it's not prime tourist season so they aren't quite so frazzled.
Also went to Paris last November, nowhere was crowded and everywhere we went people were so lovely. DH was shocked because he has been many times as worked for a French company, it had been a while. He said it was like a whole city had a personality transplant.
London is ok, it's history is fascinating. I have been several times, will probably go again but I'm not desperate to.
Places I wouldn't go back to I can only think of Dubai, just didn't like the feeling there. I felt unsafe.

It's a real shame that some lovely places have been ruined by over-tourism. I totally understand the anger and frustration of the people of Barcelona with the ridiculous levels of visitors. Venice and Florence too - absolutely rammed with tourists unless you go in the depths of winter (when it's cold and wet).

I didn't like Dublin or N. Ireland. The whole place just depressed me. Dublin was tacky, touristy and run down, N. Ireland was just grim and there was nowhere decent to eat (probably is now in Belfast, to be fair).

Sydney and Melbourne - bland and boring. The natural wonders and wildlife of Australia is incredible though and I'd go back to see more of those. I wouldn't bother with the cities again.

Milan is a dump. I actually lived there for a while and it was a dump then too. It's a fun city to live in, but as a tourist it's horrible and the druggies around Central Station/Piazzale Loreto area have been there for decades. People shoot up in the underpasses and then pass out, needles and blood-soaked tissues lying beside them.

I wouldn't go back to Vienna or Gran Canaria or Berlin - thought they were all soulless.