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.

Go to Budapest! Beautiful place and loooooads to look at. Ticks all of your requirements - lots of museums, landmarks, river cruises, churches, restaurants. Stunning!

Los Angeles- too big and scary

Copenhagen- dull, dull, dull

Sydney- takes itself far too seriously

Singapore- you basically never go outside

Barcelona - DH and I had a trip that went farcically badly wrong. I got horrendous food poisoning and it was downhill from there.

Copenhagen - Lovely city, but it was so bonkers expensive that I couldn't afford to actually do anything. Also, back when I went it was tough to find nice hotels, but that was 2014, so hopefully things have changed.

On the other hand, loved Paris (I speak French though), Edinburgh and Madrid. I'm also apparently a total weirdo in that I absolutely adore San Francisco.

Gibraltar. An awful moving car-park, and the monkeys are anything but cute. I would pay the Spanish to take it off our hands.

Florence.

Controversially, I didn't like Paris or Manchester.

LOVED: Budapest, Prague, Barcelona, Valencia, Edinburgh

MEH: Rome, Paris

Really loved Florence and Prague, Amsterdam (I ate so well there and I’m a bit of a food snob!) and Lisbon for city breaks.
Very much disliked Berlin. Pretty much all other city breaks I’ve been on, even if not in my loved list, I’d visit again if a trip occurred. Not Berlin though!

@whomoon YES!!! Budapest is such a hidden gem. And don’t forget the spas! Absolutely glorious

Went to Manchester as a band we liked were playing and it was the only date we could attend. Awful, awful place. Couldn't believe there were security guards on supermarket doors at 8am. I couldn't find a single redeeming feature about it and can't think why stags and hens flock to it,

My dd is there now she absolutely loves it. Doesn't look like my kind of place either.

Loved Rome, Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna and Munich. Been to the latter for work quite often and have yet to get bored.

Berlin, I loved the first four or five times, parts of it have been really done up nicely, but other parts feel quite grubby. Do not like the Potsdamer Platz area, as it seems so soulless.

Paris I found quite dirty and uninviting.

Dublin, was okay, but not something I'd hurry back to

Marrakech

Venice.
The first time it was hellishly crowded and pouring with rain.
The second time it was hellishly crowded and baking hot.
Plus DH told me halfway through the day that my dress was transparent, and dgs was suffering the effects of MMR jab and howling in misery. I felt like joining him.

Slough.

Oh and Liverpool. Awful

Yes Budapest is worth a visit. I last went for a long weekend, enjoyed it so much I changed my flights and stayed and extra few nights

I love Italy - favourite was Verona, which you can easily combine with Lake Garda. Have been to Milan, Venice, Pisa and Rome too, enjoyed all (caveat - they were work trips, so we had organised guided tours and ate off the beaten track).

Also like Basel, Nice and Edinburgh. Just back from Edinburgh Xmas markets which were lovely.

Barcelona. Spent an entire long weekend queuing. A lot of things need to be booked in advance so little spontaneity. Felt like I was at Disney land for adults.

Paris can be shit and can be great. I spent my year abroad living near Paris so went in a couple of times a month. There were some good times but I think for the amount it costs as a tourist it isn’t worth it. So many ways to have a bad time in Paris.

Funny people mentioned Warsaw. My dh was working there a few years back and I flew over for a weekend to visit not expecting much. We had a fantastic time. Yeah it’s ugly because it was flattened in the war but people were great and there were so many cool bars and cafes and a great walking tour.

An unexpected gem is Haarlem in the Netherlands. You can also take a quick train ride to Zaandvoort for a day strolling along the coast. There are some lovely cafes and deer running around freely in the national park area. And some swanky boutique hotels if you want to stay overnight.

Why Vienna? I'm going in February but just for a day as passing through. Is there anything or anywhere to avoid would you say?

Copenhagen
Paris
Oxford
St David's
Salisbury
Didn't enjoy any of them.

I'm from near Manchester. So overrated. Rough and depressing.

Lyon is amazing. So is Bristol.

Hated Paris.

Loved Bruges, Edinburgh, Perth (Aussie one!)

Prague was a bit meh, imo. Especially Wenceslas Square, which iirc, had a Marks and Spencers on it. More prosaic than romantic.

Bruges- love it, but probably only for a day.

Lucerne- fabulous. Also- Salzburg. And Vienna.

I was surprised by how much I adored New York- so much so that I've been three times. I'm not normally one for large, frantic cities but something about NY really got to me (plus I found the people very friendly and helpful in a brisk sort of way)

Dublin- meh.

Venice- expensive, although pretty.

Rome- kinda grubby but I loved the merry abandon with which the Italians parked their cars.

Edinburgh- love it.

Paris- much better when we started Ubering our way around.

Always go to the city outside of the tourist season. There’s always a life of locals and plenty to do but no crowds. Went to Rome in October and really rated it . No queues , just good food and cool enough to walk the whole city.

It was a combo of visiting during a heatwave (42 deg+), things not being open (despite it being peak season), a bit grotty in places, food being a bit rubbish, public transport being rammed (and I take London tubes daily so I'm used to the squeeze), tourist sites having zero info/background for visitors and not feeling very welcome in the restaurants. The aquarium was really nice though...