Which city break did you NOT enjoy?

[pinkfishbluefish]

Where’s overrated, and why? Looking at making a 2023 travel itinerary and curious.

I wasn’t fond on Rome.

I would love to try Amsterdam but worried about safety: wouldn’t be interested in any of the ‘popular’ activities that folk do there, or the red light district. I more like the look of the food, culture, boat trips and museums.

Overrated Amsterdam and Dublin.
Loved Venice (early spring, not smelly), Reykjavik, San Diego stayed by the beach not downtown, Stockholm.

Not many cities I’ve visited I actually hated - except one - Berlin. Very unfriendly, weird atmosphere and felt uneasy the whole time. Not unsafe as such just didn’t find it a nice place.

Cities that I found meh - Barcelona, Paris, Dublin, Las Vegas, Brussels, Venice, Zagreb, Graz, Frankfurt.

Loved: New York, LA (selected parts!), Vienna, Salzburg, Cologne, Reykjavik, Innsbruck, Basel, Verona.

Loved Berlin, Nice and Naples so the opposite of a lot of pp. Also loved Hong Kong (30 years ago now though)

Hated Monte Carlo and Geneva ( in winter, it might be better in summer but I’m not going back to check)

I want to go to Budapest, I keep hearing how nice it is.

paris and dublin for me and i tried them twice-rude parisians and it stank-dublin just overpriced and not much to lok at

Love: Venice, Nice, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Vienna, Berlin, Athens
OK: Barcelona, Florence, Prague, Edinburgh
Hated: Budapest. Virtually no green space and I went down with a filthy cold, which didn't help
Not sure: Lisbon. I need to visit again. I was there over Christmas one year and it wasn't the best time to see it

Barcelona for me, it was nice because I went with my son, but it felt unsafe and the weather was awful, we spending most nights in the hotel bar.

Dublin was really grim too

Wow! So much hate for Dublin on this thread.

I absolutely hated parts of Havana and loved others. It was very dirty in parts and we got scammed a few times but it was also beautiful and interesting.

Rome was awful, so was San Francisco and Paris was over hyped and smelt like wee.

Dubai was meh and Athens

I really liked Reykjavik, Madrid and Barcelona (though I was only there for about 6 hours) and loved Athens.

I love love love Paris ❤️

I hated Prague. I used to live in Rome and it can be really lovely if you stay away from the tourist traps but the number of scammers is tiresome.

New York ☹️
Loved it 20 yrs ago, but not this time.
Sydney also underwhelming.

Love Amsterdam!
LOVE Bangkok 😍😍😍

Washington DC, thankfully I was there for work and didn’t have to pay. The poverty, drugs and untreated mental health problems on the street are something else.

gibraltar - polluted, horrible, tacky.

Miami - some bits were amazing, but one block to the left or right is like a war zone. So weird. Same with LA.

loved - Cairo - chaotic but amazing. Almost every European city - if in doubt go to a museum…

Naples was scary. I got stared at a lot but not in a good way. The markets didn’t feel safe and there was rubbish stacked up everywhere.

vienna but that was probably because it was absolutely freezing and I caught strep throat on the plane there so spent the whole time ill

Munich didn’t do much for me and Salzburg is like a Mozart theme park. So many towns around Lake Garda have been completely hollowed-out by tourism, just runs of pizzerias, ice cream shops, shops selling some of the ugliest bags you’ll ever see, and limoncello, on repeat. Just quite odd and depressing. Someone mentioned KL upthread, some decent food but God alive, it’s dull. Perth WA and Sydney were also quite underwhelming.

It's been said before but New York.... Saw it in the winter and it was certainly all pretty and lit up for Christmas. But soon got fed up with the buildings, endless buildings, I felt hemmed in. Noisy, and rubbish dumped on the streets at night (overnight collections), tube very run down.... Can't imagine why people find the place exciting.

Paris is a bit meh, and worse in the height of summer, when sensible Parisians clear off on holiday and leave it jam-packed with tourists.

Places like Buenos Aires and Rio are bloody dangerous for tourists: don't wear a watch, no jewellery, keep cameras hidden, don't carry money.....

Budapest wasn't up to much either!

Hated: Dublin, Bruges, Frankfurt, Baltimore

not massively keen on: Munich or Lisbon

ok: Paris, Edinburgh, Toronto, Montreal

loved: Belfast, Berlin, Strasbourg, Lille, Bologna, Verona, Paris, NY, Boston ,Washington

Yes would be really interested to see a tally!

I hated San Francisco, disappointed by Dublin and not enjoyed Paris at any age, stage or time of year.

Loved San Diego, New York, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

LA, Paris, Edinburgh, Athens

Florence. Absolutely beautiful but insanely busy - impossible to move anywhere. I felt as though I hardly saw anything.

Perth, WA. Fine to fly in and out of, that's about it.

Ditto Marseille.

Love Edinburgh, Madrid, Barcelona and Vancouver.

I didn't like Paris or Barcelona because in both places I was suddenly surrounded by thieves who tried to rob me. So crowded and noisy.

My partner was with me at the time too! He chased them off.

I prefer places like Ljubljana and Norwegian towns/cities. I felt safe there.

Norway is beautiful but horrendously expensive!

Paris - it's dirty and the locals are very rude.
London - can't stand the place. Again, I find a lot of people rude and I find it too overwhelming. I also hate the tube.
Belfast - really wanted to love it but I just wasn't keen. Plus, I know a member of hotel staff (at a very nice hotel) stole a favourite dress of mine and the hotel didn't give a shit, despite me having evidence. Now when I think of Belfast, I immediately think 'dress thieves'!

I’ve only really hated a couple of cities - Naples is horrid and Milan’s only marginally better.

Florence and Valletta are two of my happy places, I love Paris which is wasted on the French, Seville is lovely, so are Edinburgh, Bath and York. Berlin would have been nice if I hadn’t had my purse stolen.

There always is on these threads!

I live in Dublin, so maybe I’ve low expectations 😉 but I’ve never been anywhere I’ve hated. I love cities and the grit and grime. Shocked that someone said the only place to see in Dublin was the Guinness storehouse though? And that a pint is €12. Oh and that it’s provincial!