Where is the most overrated holiday destination you’ve been?

[phoanymoany]

Where have you been on holiday and thought “wow, that was a waste of my time and money”.

Mine was travelling to a fairly remote tropical island where people were supposed to be so friendly. Unfortunately we found the people we interacted with in the hotels and restaurants to be anything but nice. It piddled down with rain and then we almost got scammed.

Venice was bloody awful. So expensive, covered in scaffolding and manky, stinky cats.
It was 1983 though so might have improved since. I've never been back to see.

Paris - still some nice bits but overall food was very over rated, poor infrastructure, agree about Eiffel Tower being boarded up and tat sold everywhere being depressing.

However I think that's similar to everywhere with big cities these days. Travel 15yrs ago meant stepping into a new culture with food and independent shops, with more of a taste of local life. Travel today and the impact of tourism means everywhere has H&M/McDonalds and are virtually indistinguishable from each other unless you're being sold "tourist tat". Overcrowding means you feel rushed and claustrophobic in most cities and locals become rude because frankly their cities get taken over for huge chunks of the year by miserable tourists desperate to find something unique.

I've been to a lot of places and never hated any of them. There are plenty where I thought 'glad I've seen it but don't feel the need to visit again', but every place has a redeeming feature surely?

Or is it just a cup half/full empty thing - I'm just SO happy to be off work and travelling, I am determined to be happy wherever I am!

Granted I do a LOT of research to plan the best possible holiday. For example, I know where to go and not to go in Bali (and wouldn't brush my teeth with the tap water). I avoided downtown LA and Hollywood on a recent trip because I had done my Googling and knew it was seedy and rundown - had a magnificent long layover around the beaches instead.

Anyone who can't find ANYTHING to like about Paris I'm just going to write off as a miserable sod.

Dublin... Found it small and boring. Might be a lovely place to live but didn't rate it as a city break destination.

Australia.

Expensive, racist, so flipping far.

Yet English people lose their minds about how great it is (because it's hot and they speak English maybe?)

Madeira for me too. I hated it and can't understand the attraction. You can't swim in the sea really, the weather was awful in July, I hated Funchal. The chairlift terrified me and I found the Botanical gardens underwhelming. Everyone there seemed to be elderly and badly dressed.

Didn't like Fuerteventura either. Very windy, lacking in character, just dull.

Patis always appears on these threads. I love Paris personally but didn't enjoy NYC. So crowded with no quiet areas to escape too. The people I encountered were generally pretty ride, unlike those from the rest of the USA.

We've visited lots of the places in this thread, and enjoyed them. But for many places we've not seen but thought about going to, consensus seems to be don't bother - over tourism/overdevelopment has ruined it. So much so that now we can't travel as much as we would like, we don't feel like we are missing out anyway.

What's wrong with Lake Garda?

I agree with that. When I started travelling way back in the last century, the places you'd visit would have their own character and, unless you were visiting Rome or Paris in high season, would not be overrun with tourists. You'd often have to make an attempt to speak the local language and the lack of internet and smartphones meant you'd interact more with the locals and with your surroundings. Now, all the major tourist destinations in Europe, and even the not so major ones, look the same, with the same Made in China souvenirs, the fast food, jaded locals and tourists taking selfies.

Of course, as one of those tourists taking selfies, I'm part of the problem!

I recently went to Lanzarote for the first time and actually I was pretty impressed, contrary to the posts on here. Yes we stayed in playa Blanca which was just a whole load of hotels, but we learnt about how cesar manrique had managed to influence the rules such that all buildings have to be white or beige, there can be no overhead wires, and there are no billboards. The island feels very nicely developed and I liked the way the coach tours mean the volcano top feels good and wild.

Agree about Cyprus but I loved Paris.

There was already a massive security presence and lots of checkpoints that made you feel nervous rather than secure. I remember the chaos at the airport and realising they had let my hand luggage through with two bottles of water in it - they didn’t care at all

Wales has so many beautiful beaches, mountains and castles How can someone say ‘Wales - all of it’ if you don’t like our country then don’t come back

Gods waiting room means lots of old people!

Oh and it isn't the question but to spread some love, places I loved more than the general consensus lead me to expect:

Glasgow
Genoa
(Oddly, quite similar, I think - incredibly grand cityscape, now a bit shabby but lots of culture and warmth and beauty. Both are declined industrial hubs so maybe that's my vibe!)
North coast of Northern Ireland - just breathtaking and incredible food scene, yet much less on the radar than eg Cornwall
Venice - I was so worried it would be totally ruined by over tourism and in spots and in many ways it is - a huge issue for the city - but it was so incredibly easy to find moments of breathtaking quiet and beauty, and I ate and drank so cheaply and well, contrary to my expectations!

Have done a lot of traveling and been to many of the places on this thread.

Only place I really hated was the capital of Chile. Probably because it is the only place were we have been robbed. Nothing to do. Awful food. Never felt safe there.

Not keen on Australia, but have only been to the east coast. Far too hot and there's something about the thought of all that nothingness and venomous insects in the centre of it that is really off-putting.

We spent 2 weeks in Paris back in the 70s and I really loved it.

This is very true Christmasnut! - my BIL stated at a family meal "there was absolutely nothing to see in Asia!" he is currently studying to be a GP. How can someone supposedly so educated - be so uneducated? Baffled.

PS. Travelled extensively in Oz & SE Asia over the last 20 years - can confirm there are things to see!

This thread just shows you can’t pay any attention to Trip Adviser reviews! I disagree with most of the views on here.

I love holidays of all shapes and sizes and haven’t had a bad one yet. I would say that Tenerife was underwhelming for me but we stayed in a hotel which we don’t usually do as I avoid hotels at all costs. I understand why many people love it but it just didn’t have any redeeming qualities (bar the sun).

The comments about Paris don’t resonate with my trip last November. The city was very clean, people were friendly and welcoming. Would definitely return.

I’m shocked anyone could have an awful time in the Maldives and Barbados. I mean, there is so much to do (or very little, depending on what you want). Maybe people aren’t holidaying correctly 🤣

I was in NYC a few weeks ago. Our hotel was between 7th and 8th Avenues.

When we headed towards 7th - straight into Times Square people hell.
But walk to 8th - just a normal suburban street with a normal amount of people.
Go to 9th and beyond, as far as the path along the Hudson - dead. We had a whole park to ourselves.

Found the exact same thing going a few blocks north, east and south of the main tourist bits.

I found Americans everywhere to be unflinchingly polite, in a much more warm and genuine way than most Brits.

Why krakow? Been looking at holidays there recently

Miaow! 🤣

Canary Islands. Boring and bleak, when they werent cheap looking and tacky.

Paris disappointed me. It just doesn’t live up to the image. In reality, it’s a dirty city with a nasty vibe. I wouldn’t wander around the suburbs on my own, that’s for sure. I wish I could go back and see it in around 1950, or even 1930 - a quieter Paris with fewer cars and fewer tourists. My fault for reading Maigret novels and watching old French films I guess.

I also had a miserable time in Ireland. The weather was grim (low grey sky and drizzle for a whole week), and the people were often rude or hostile. This was not long after Brexit, so anti-British feelings were running high. If I’m going to go through the hassle of airports and flying, then I’ll go somewhere sunny and bright, like Spain or Italy.

Australia is not for me at all. I love the sun, but I loathe the heat. I’m also a bit of an aesthete at heart. When you go to Italy or France, you can feel the layers of culture and history. Florence alone is more interesting to me than the whole of Australia.