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.

I'm from wales and I can't speak welsh and consider myself friendly 😁

Kos. Thought it was shabby, run down and a bit Blackpool.

Prague. Seedy and very boring, not a great deal to do.

@Heartofglass12345 maybe it's only the ones who speak welsh who are unfriendly 🙄

I’m a bit of a glass half full person when it comes to holidays so I’m not sure that there’s anywhere I wouldn’t go back to. I generally find something interesting to do in most places I go to. I like to get out & about though so would be less keen on places where that might be unsafe (although I think I’ve a higher level of tolerance for that than some). I also find it wearing to be harassed all the time, though being older that is less of a problem now.

Obviously this is a thread for people to give their opinions and everyone’s entitled to their own, but I’m a bit baffled about people who say “it rained a lot” or “it was too hot”. If only there was some technological wizardry whereby you could look up what the weather was likely to be in the place you were visiting - oh, wait......

This thread has had me really chuckling

Crete? No chance. Sun, sea and sand? So dull.

Barcelona with its unbelievable architecture and world class food? Yeah but did you see the tattooed Brits? Yuk.

Australia, the world’s largest island, with more things to see than most could manage in a lifetime? Nah. Boring.

London? It’s just too busy now, not like when I discovered it back in 50 AD.

Wales? What with all those Welsh speaking bastards? I think not.

Haha I haven't been to north wales but I find it hard to believe.
SW/ West wales is lovely especially in the summer. Tenby is a great place to stay as it's lovely itself and has lovely beaches and there are a lot of things to do if you have kids.

I think what a fair few people are saying they don't like people. I get that , I'm not too keen on people either , especially those on holiday.
We ( me included ) have high expectations when we are away. We want the places we visit to be not too busy, the food we buy to be cheap but top class. All the hotel staff to be happy to be working long hours for little money etc etc.
We are all shaking our heads about climate change yet we jet off to far flung places, because that doesn't count does it ? As long as I'm ok and your ok all is good.

Well said Funghi, I've just come back to the thread to have another chuckle!

Have luckily had great experiences on most holidays but whilst I thought Prague was a beautiful-looking city, we had so many negative experiences being short changed and other underhand things happen in 3 days that it put me off returning.

Had a nice enough holiday in Lanzarote but found it a bit dull and not enough to do to want to return. Didn't really like the landscape either.

And despite the fact I don’t live in London I visit a lot and look on it as “my” city. I expect crowds and try to work round them. I was bemused, however, when visiting the National Gallery by the large groups of tourists (say 30 people?) being led by guides showing them the paintings on IPads because they couldn’t get close enough to look at the real thing. What is the point? Also people who just pop up, take a photo of a painting and then move on to the next one. I like to take the odd photo to remind me of what I’ve seen, but not as a substitute for actually looking at the painting!

Also went back to Barcelona after a gap of about 15 years - I was a bit worried after hearing about the increased levels of robbery and the anti-tourist demonstrations. It was fine, and everyone on a personal level was very friendly.

@nancy75 - I've lived in London all my life too (born in 1970) and it is busier now. In the 80s the population actually went down and lots of schools closed or merged together. Now most schools where I live are adding a form due to population rising.
I do prefer the London of the 80s and 90s, loads of illegal warehouse parties and underground culture, before the gentrification, and closing down of clubs and nightlife that has been happening since.
But cities evolve and maybe I'm just getting old.

I agree these threads do bring out the ridiculous. Why go to the Mediterranean island of Corfu in summer if you don't like hot beach holidays?

Nancy, my point was it feels more crowded because it is. I was banging on a bit in my other answer.

Bali. Felt a bit like Newquay but hot and everyone a bit older. Really busy. Not a huge amount of culture (compared to other parts of Asia) and the locals constantly trying to rip tourists off. I know this isn't uncommon but I used to live in Asia and yeah, Bali was just awful.

We booked a last minute trip to Corfu last summer. Stayed in the north of the island which was lovely and we hired a boat and cruised up and down the coast, it was fantastic.

Turkey.
I found it dirty, everyone got ill and the locals pestered constantly. I’ll never go back, even if it was free.

Fairylea - I agree with you about Nidri, horrible place, but the rest of Lefkas is beautiful. Luckily we only stopped for a nose round and we didnt stay there. We had a fabulous week exploring the rest of the Island though x

Marmaris. The rest of turkey looks lovely but I’m not sure I could bring myself back after experiencing Marmaris. What an utter hovel.

I suspect that the posters disliking entire Greek islands haven't left their "Brits abroad" resort.

We stayed in the North of Corfu in a low key resort and loved it so much we went back the following year. We have stayed in two different places in Crete, and on both occasions explored other places. Our resort in Kos was small, low key, friendly and clean, and we used the local bus to travel about.

You simply cannot base an entire island or country on one small touristy resort.

I loved Vienna. DD visited on her interrailing trip this year and wants to go back. I am struggling to understand why people disliked it. There is so much art, history and culture to see. I guess you might find it boring if you don’t enjoy those things, but then why would you go to Vienna in the first place?

Actually, we didn't stay in a Brits abroad resort. We did leave where we stayed and the whole island was a disappointment, except for Zia. That was beautiful.

This is a horrible thread encouraging doom and gloom and based on sweeping generalisations. Surely every experience is relative to who you were with, when in your life and a whole host of other contextual circumstances!

Yeah, Hampstead Heath, what a dump! 🙄

I love North Wales and Cyprus. I also loved Blackpool and Tunisia. Wouldn't go back yet to Tunisia until it's more stable, but we had an amazing time.

Wouldn't go back to Morocco - felt really unsafe which was a shame. Also Isle of Wight. Weather wasn't great and DS was ill. Probably us rather than the area but unlikely to go.

Paris - ugh (much prefer Madrid) and I've been going to Paris for over 30 years but it really is over hyped and the people are rude.

Turkey - combination of awful tourists and being pursued by men all the time

Tunisia - food poisoning and being harassed by men

Ubud in Bali - worst case ever of food poisoning, very very hot, no toilets at the temple - it was the worst day ever,( I won't give you TMI)

Northern Ireland - apart from the odd area (Giant's Causeway etc.) the towns are a dump! Belfast is also very dull for a capital city! Can see why the suicide rate is quite high!

And you don't think that the fact that NI isn't glitzy enough for your tastes might have something to do with the fact that a violent civil war was being waged there until very recently?

Honestly, while I sympathise with anyone who had a disappointing holiday, half the issues on this thread stem from people not doing their research and thus having a completely baseless set of expectations of places. Yes, the Mediterranean will be hot in summer. New York is hot in summer, cold in winter, and is built on a grid system. Big cities will be crowded and very often have considerable numbers of visibly homeless people -- did you expect them to be tidied away for your arrival?