Ever been anywhere that far surpassed your expectations?

[cptartapp]

In contrast to the current thread about places which disappointed, where have you been that far surpassed your expectations?
For me, Seville. And El Djem in Tunisia which topped the Colosseum in Rome. We climbed all over it unaccompanied top to bottom and underground. And no crowds.

Seville is my favouritest city ❤️

montenegro - so beautiful, mountains and inland sea, almost ex soviet culture then Mediterranean culture. Very affordable, great beaches, just great!

Northumberland and Hadrian's Wall. Great terrain around Hadrian's Wall, lovely beaches and lots to do.

I mean I know Venice is famous for its beauty but it still took me by surprise. Every time I turned a corner I just thought "Wow!".
I had low expectations of Germany but after staying near the Black Forest, and then another holiday in Heidelburg (?) I thought it was absolutely beautiful.

Maldives - high expectations but still surpassed them.

Trip to India - low expectations, went under sufferance as DH really wanted to go. It was amazing and I loved it.

Lisbon

Kefalonia

Isle of Wight. Just loved it and we had great accommodation and weather

The Highlands. I wasn't quite expecting to be so beautiful. We were lucky with the weather but I swear it's almost a secret how wonderful it really is.

Washington DC. I went for work, and I kind of expected an efficient but bland politics-first city. But the reality was much more interesting, and much more fun. The monuments tour was fascinating, and the food/restaurant scene alone in DC is worth the trip.

The Outer Hebrides. Absolutely stunning white sand beaches and turquoise seas. We even had sun and DH got burned, Who needs the Maldives?

Namibia. On the face of it, it's a big desert but it's so much more than that. The different ypes of desert, the different landscapes and the friendly people we met made it somewhere I want to visit again. We also saw far more on safari in Etosha than we have in any other country. Amazing country.

Amazing - I came on to say Seville! So beautiful

Kos
Lisbon
Sicily
Venice - loads of peope had said it was dirty and smelly. It wasn't when we went in the October.
Rome
Bruges
Shropshire

Granada's Alhambra. Tavira in Portugal 20 years ago.

Cesky Krumlov
We went there for a long weekend in early December. With the snow and the cobbled streets it was like going back in time. Anyone who likes Medieval drama, GoT or video games would love it.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/czech-republic/bohemia/cesky-krumlov

Bayeux Tapestry, which really is fantastic, and the town of Bayeux is lovely too.
Venice and Rome are both amazing - I can never understand the complaints I see on here.
Southern Germany, especially around Lake Constance, is little-known but gorgeous, especially by the lake in a hot summer.
A safari in South Africa - I am not really an "animal person", but this was the best holiday I've ever had.
Jaipur in India - much preferred to Agra (home of the Taj Mahal).

Tewkesbury - loved it. Went to see the Abbey but the town was amazing as well.

Philippines. I expected it to be similar to other South East Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia but we were blown away by how kind the people were and how amazing the food was. No one tried to scam us once, even the taxi drivers were so nice and honest.

Whitby
York
Scarborough
Trip

Heard good things but it definitely surpassed my expectations

Brussels - City break with a then 8 year old and 6 month old baby. It was brilliant! Mussels, chips, waffles and beer. Fab museums for kids, smurfs, tintin etc all very interactive. And replica statues of a little boy having a wee everywhere. Brilliant!

Eurodisney - Had a much better trip than expected and the food in some of the restaurants was surpringly good

The postal museum in London. Sounds shit but is brilliant. Everything is interactive and you can take a ride of the old mail cart under the city that used to deliver the post..much more fun than the science or history museums

I was expecting to like Bruges (I did) but wasn't expecting to prefer Ghent (I did).
A little market town in the Dordogne called Sarlat, was expecting a sleepy hamlet but it was buzzy and very pretty.
Town near a run down resort in Majorca - can't remember the name but there was a really nice walled market town near our bargain basement hotel strip. Alcudia, that was it! Had a great morning there.
Bodensee in Germany was very lovely.

Athens
Sri Lanka
Leicester

Malta. I only went for a friend's wedding but it was lovely.

Myanmar was far more amazing than I'd expected.

Granada in Spain.

Bosherston in Wales.

Ludlow (in contrast to several people on the other thread who mentioned it as a disappointment! Think the difference is I only went to meet PIL so had zero expectations whatsoever haha)

Zakopanie, Hel and Czestochowa in Poland (went with ex, again zero expectations)

Cape Town.