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.

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I don't want to sound ungrateful because of the circumstances on why I went. But yeah wouldn't go back to Bangkok again

The capital of Mongolia sounds like most towns in the UK.....

Tunisia. My last holiday abroad. I was fifteen and got molested on the second day by a hotel worker, but I didn't want to tell anyone (4 adults, 5 kids). I spent the rest of the holiday in the hotel room, until it was dinner and my dad and uncle would be there.

I adored Paris, Lisbon and San Francisco.

i was a little disappointed with Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ugly architecture, shops and food not amazing and our Airbnb was in quite an edgy area, although it did have a couple of cool start up type restaurants and a bakery. However the museums were very good and public transport around the city was easy. If I went back I’d hire a car next time and explore the wider area which is meant to be beautiful.

Most of the places I love have been mentioned on here. But then I don't think I've ever been to a place that wasn't either fascinating or beautiful in some way.

I agree that I found Paris a bit smelly and full of dog poo. Still worth a visit. Or two. There's so much to see. Wasn't very impressed with Nice but I didn't spend much time there. Loved the music bars in Dublin but I also found it a bit dirty.

I don't remember much of la palma in the canaries. I had a good time there but it wasn't very distinctive. Neither was the algarve though i suppose we just didn't find places that interested us. Fuerteventura was too windy. Love love love Lanzarote.

The rice fields in Bali are so stunning i thought my eyes would pop out but i did expect that. Moat places outside europe thst i have been to were fascinating. But surprising gems in europe were: Luxembourg, Madeira, Lisbon, Copenhagen and Belfast.

I didn't care for Crete either. I was expecting a beautiful, pristine, Greek island. There was fly tipping and rubbish everywhere, only rivalled by Naples and Rome.

Dubai.

I like Malta too, though I can understand why not everyone does. It's definitely not the most picturesque island in the Med and there's not much in the way of sandy beaches so perhaps not the best choice for families with young children. But there's loads of interesting historical sites and the sailing is good so it suited our family. I was impressed with the public transport too. We went all over the island on the bus quite easily and cheaply. It's a bit of a marmite destination but obviously enough people like it to support a large tourist industry. Go with an open mind @ScotsTaxQuery - you might like it.

Can't believe all the hate on Paris. Probably my favourite city. Architecture and food are stunning.
Yes there are rough parts and the metro isn't very nice but overall think it's a great place if you avoid really touristy places and do your research.
I am from London though which a lot of ppl hate.

Bali
barcelona
san Fran and LA both overrun with druggies on the streets. Awful.

Someone I knew at Uni went to considerable effort to win a scholarship to spend the summer doing research at a university in New York (this is years ago so I can't remember the details). We were all terribly envious. When she returned, she said New York was really boring. It turned out that she didn't go anywhere except the university - spent every weekend and evening in her dorm room watching TV...

We go to a Spain every year. The people are so kind and friendly. It's one of the things we love about it. They go out of their way to be helpful.

More run down these days, and lots more junkies and visibly mentally ill homeless people roaming around and hassling people/aggressively begging, even in the city centre.

Wd have friends there and I like Cali in general, but I just don’t really feel safe walking around, even in the daytime, and I have lived in several North American cities, and have never felt unsafe in NYC, Seattle, LA etc.

Toronto. Just an urban.....urban.

Not walkable, nothing really to see or do, no real centre, spread out for miles, no cafes or bars or vibe. You can't walk easily from the city centre to the lake shore as it's bisected by a multi-lane highway and railroad tracks. It's just boring. No little interesting streets or shops.

You can even go up CN Tower to see the whole spread out hell of it.

I LOVED Montréal though!

Namechangetwo 🤣🤣🤣

Overrated suggests that lots of people rate it... so many of these places are known for being a bit shit. There's also some surprises on here where people have clearly only been to the crap bits

Out of interest, what was it about Toronto that made you choose it as a holiday destination?

@TheOldBazinga

I’m so sorry that happened to you.

@TheOldBazinga so sorry about what happened to you.

I have never had a bad holiday, been to many of the places mentioned here, including Paris (several times), and the only place I felt was very over rated was Pompeii. Since I learned about it in school I always wanted to go there, I imagined the streets full of artefacts (bodies) but it seems everything of interest is in museums in Rome. It was literally just ruins, and not very interesting ones, especially compared to Rome and Athens. That's the only time I was disappointed in a destination, and to be fair I probably had very unrealistic expectations.

A few people have said Venice and cited it being full of tourists. Well, yeah. But the beauty of Venice is that it’s… so beautiful and historic everywhere. You can walk a couple of streets away from the crowds, not be swamped and essentially be in an open air museum. I love it!

I completely agree, I spent my honeymoon in Madeira and it was stunning - so green and lush away from the capital and so much to explore - there's a reason why it's known as 'the island of contrasts.'

Fanal took my breath away- the enchanting ancient forest, the costal view from the hill above the clouds. I loved the Santana houses and the cable car ride to the Monte Palace tropical gardens.

We researched in advance and stayed in a Quintata away from the hotel complexes. Old town Funchal had a special charm and we were spoilt for choice with the restaurants - Il Gallo D'Oro, Restaurante Mozart and Restaurante do Forte in particular were spectacular.

Why are people saying Barcelona? It’s on my list of places I’d like to go, but would like to know the negatives.

Did you just go to one of the beach islands in Cape Verde? There are ten islands in total and I've been to several and they are amazing. Fogo is my favourite with black volcanic beaches and chance to hike in the volcano crater and drink wine grown there. Santiago has the lots of history and beautiful landscapes and beaches. The music is amazing, as is the food and I've felt safe. My least favourite island there was Sal, too many package tourists and resorts, which I find a bit bland, but fine for a couple of days of clear blue beaches before or after visiting some of the other Cape Verde islands.