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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

cities you've been disappointed with....

245 replies

brimfull · 13/02/2008 19:46

Barcelona was a big disappointment to me,couldn't see or feel the charm that everyone went on about.

Seattle also...was expecting a fab place that was voted number one place to live a while ago.Just another big city..nothing special imo.

What cities did you find disappointing?

OP posts:
MrsMattie · 14/02/2008 09:57

Agree about Barcelona. It had built up big time to me by friends who lived out there, but to me, it couldn't touch any of the other gorgeous European cities I have visited, really. Don't get me wrong, I liked it a lot. But it didn't charm me in the same way that say Florence or Paris did, and I didn't find it as exciting as Rome or London.

MrsMattie · 14/02/2008 09:59

Just read through all the other replies, actually. Agree about Brussels - dull as fuck. Also, L.A - disjointed, not really a city, very hard place to be a tourist in.

Sunshinemummy · 14/02/2008 10:02

Oh I liked LA. Especially the beach towns of Santa Monica, Venice Beach and Marina Del Ray.

Singapore was another place I thought was ok for a couple of days but no more.

MrsMattie · 14/02/2008 10:04

Marina Del Rey is nice, yes. All of those little pockets of money by the beach are pretty good. But as a 'city' - in terms of sight seeing, culture, food, night life, shopping etc - I found L.A confusing and odd.

Sunshinemummy · 14/02/2008 10:06

It's huge and there's no real centre. Not somewhere to be without a car either. We were there for a wedding and lots of mates were there as well, one of whom is from LA, so that might have made it easier for us.

Kewcumber · 14/02/2008 10:06

Pretty much any city in America that isn't around the edge is dull. But not as dull as Frankfrut obviously.

margoandjerry · 14/02/2008 10:07

Oh yeah. LA. What is the point of that place?

I lived in Brussels. It IS ugly but is also quite interesting and has great restaurants. I enjoyed my time there much more than my time in Paris which made me a bit

margoandjerry · 14/02/2008 10:08

And not a city but Bondi Beach was very disappointing. Looks like Torquay.

TillyScoutsmum · 14/02/2008 10:12

Am feeling disappointed I haven't been to Frankfurt now... maybe I need to go just so I can see for myself how dull it is

Kewcumber · 14/02/2008 10:14

don't bother - go to coventry ionstead and imagine german accents. Will save you the plane fare.

Bluestocking · 14/02/2008 10:14

Brussels. What an absolute hellhole, incredibly overpriced and full of eurotwats.

Denver. "Things to do in Denver when you're dead" because you've died of boredom and lack of oxygen.

Sao Paulo. Indescribably hideous with no discernable redeeming features.

Beijing.

I only saw the point of Paris fairly recently!

TillyScoutsmum · 14/02/2008 10:16

Been to Coventry lots (live in the Midlands) so have probably got the picture.... BUT have Frankfurt got a statue of Lady Godiva ? No? Well, then it must be the winner

francagoestohollywood · 14/02/2008 10:17

I love Paris, but don't feel safe there.
I was a bit disappointed in San Francisco but felt I shouldn't have.It migfht have been the jet lag.

Fennel · 14/02/2008 10:21

Frankfurt is OK if you happen to be there, it's just probably a bit disappointing if you approach it as a Destination. I quite like it, in an unexciting way.

Kewcumber · 14/02/2008 10:23

Don't get me wrong Fennel - there are lots of places I wouldn't mind living as they are "quite pleasant" but as an exciting destination to visit.... no thanks...

bran · 14/02/2008 10:27

Perth and Bombay.

I can't say that I was disappointed with Frankfurt as I had be told about it, it met my low expectations and even went a little lower. Especially the time we couldn't get a central hotel and ended up in a conference-type hotel in a business park.

Berlin I hated the first few times I visited, but it has a split personality and is charming in the summer and bleak in the winter. By the time I'd lived there for a couple of months I liked it much better.

Sunshinemummy · 14/02/2008 10:28

Friend has travelled all over with work and the two places she really didn't like were:

Caracas - dangerous, polluted and chaotic, she had to be picked up and dropped off at the airport by a private security firm with guns

Birmingham, Alabama - dullest place she's ever beem

sagacious · 14/02/2008 10:31

Monte Carlo

Architectural disaster zone.

The subway was clad in marble fgs

Greasy old blokes in expensive electric blue suits with over tanned bimbos snarling at then for more money.

Bluestocking · 14/02/2008 10:31

I quite liked Caracas. I am sure it is dangerous, but I walked around the city centre without any sense of being at risk. The posh suburbs are exactly like Beverley Hills- there's an awful lot of money swilling around, which I suppose is why it's dangerous - great wealth and horrible poverty side by side.

francagoestohollywood · 14/02/2008 10:32

sunshinemummy, dh went top birmingham alabama 2 yrs ago for a onference. on his way back his flight got cancelled. He was terrified for having to spend another 12 hrs there!

Sunshinemummy · 14/02/2008 10:33

Yes she went to what sounds like an amazing party at the house of a very rich guy who lives there. She said the conspicuous wealth was quite shocking.

francagoestohollywood · 14/02/2008 10:33

Monte carlo must be terrible, a proper tax heaven (shivers)

MrsMattie · 14/02/2008 10:37

Bluestocking - how could you not like Beijing???? I thought it was one of the most amazing places I have ever been!

Franca - why don't you feel safe in Paris?

I liked Monte Carlo, but may have been because I was with very rich friends who completely spoiled us. It felt surreal, like I was a character in a film.

Interesting to see all the completely different opinions here!

GrapefruitMoon · 14/02/2008 10:40

I'm often disappointed in more modern cities - but from the pov of a tourist - in that often there isn't a lot to do in terms of museums, galleries or even just walking around looking at interesting buildings. But lots of these cities would be great places to live in at the same time. I'm thinking of Vancouver, Seattle, most Australian cities I've been to. Often the problem, I find, is a lack of a defined city centre. Also didn't think much of Singapore (apart from Chinatown). Generally I know I've seen all I want to in a city when I end up going to the park or zoo for the day because I've done everything else (and this is pre-kids or without kids in tow...)

elkiedee · 14/02/2008 10:46

Anchorage Alaska

Actually I should have realised that Anchorage wouldn't be that interesting, it's just the city. But the tourist hotels and tacky souvenir shops are in one area of town, no ordinary stuff. I actually like going to the bits of a city where real people live and that just wasn't possible. Travelling there with a 4 month old wasn't fun, though what I worried about wasn't an issue (weather) - the distance to the nearest supermarket was.