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.

Japan
Awful breakfasts
Miserable looking people in Tokyo

I love Japan. Delicious food everywhere, including breakfast and I now make miso soup regularly. The people were friendly and helpful, everywhere is clean and the museums interesting. I travelled throughout Japan, not just Tokyo and would like to visit again.

Oh, I was travelling around Canada, and flew into there from London.
I did go to Ottawa, Montreal, got the train across New Brunswick and then onto Nova Scotia.

But Toronto was a boring, urban sprawl with nothing to offer.

Venice, glad I went but rude customer service. A day there is enough, although it is a lovely place.

Malta. Maybe it was just where we went and other areas, or the capital, may be different.

Too much traffic everywhere. Very built up. Beaches not very nice/man made. Hotel wasn't up to much.

Paris - felt very unsafe there

New York, hated the suffocating skyscrapers, freezing wind ( only been in winter ).
Seattle. Felt weird, can't pinpoint why, couldn't wait to leave.
Barbados. Too many glitzy/nouveau riche 2. home owners.
Dubai. Fake, transient, soulless, zero
culture and they treat the foreign low paid workers like animals.

My worst holiday hands down was Tunisia. I've holidayed extensively across Europe and wanted to experience something different but not long-haul. Unfortunately, it was grim.

We stayed near Hammamet and the Tunisia I saw on our transfer from the airport was filthy, barren, ominous and riddled with poverty. Behind the high walls of the hotel complexes, it was a completely different story, and not in a good way. It felt inauthentic - it was as though they were trying to cater to an antiquated ideal, fake grandeur everywhere, and smarmy staff, trying to get as much money out of you as possible.

The only part of the holiday that even came close to what I had anticipated was when we took a 2-day stuffy coach ride out into the Sahara desert and watched the sun rise over the dunes.

Tenerife. No pretty beaches and no little towns or villages with charm.

I’m going with an open mind and am staying in Valletta so not going for a typical beach holiday. Looking forward to visiting the gorgeous churches, ancient sites, eating seafood, people watching and a few boat trips. I’ve a particular interest in the immediate post-war history too. Can’t wait really!

I have mixed feelings about Barcelona. My friend and I went for a long weekend and met up with another friend living out there who showed us all the places off the beaten track which were full of charm.

Unfortunately, my friend got her bag snatched in Catalunya Square. We ran after the thief and managed to get the attention of two policemen, who gave chase. We were driven to a police station where our passports were taken off us for ID and wasted the entire day waiting for someone who spoke good enough English to take a statement, to no avail. We were eventually taken to a second police station miles away to give said statement and learn the thief had been caught. My friend was reunited with her bag but we were then left to find our own way back to where we were staying as by this point we were in a different jurisdiction so they had no duty to drive us. This was in the days before we had mobile internet, so with our pitiful Spanish, this took bloody hours, and half of our holiday was wasted by this point. That night, to forget the ordeal, I managed to get spectacularly drunk on surprisingly few cocktails, measures seemingly not being a 'thing' in the beach bars.

Sounds like you will have a great time then. I loved Valletta. The tour of the harbour is one of the best trips I have ever been on. The amount of history in such a small island is amazing. I was really keen to go for the WW2 sites as we have a family connection, my naval Uncle having been in hospital there after being sunk in the Med, but a lot of the older history is fascinating too.

I see someone has already beat me to it with the Niagara/Blackpool comparison. The falls, of course, were stunning but there's a good reason why the photos don't show the nearby monstrosity that is Niagra itself.

Malta. Just like Benidorm with a pebble beach.

South east spain. Barren, windy and no vibe.

Completely agree, Wales is absolutely gorgeous

i already posted on here earlier saying Thailand was the one for me.

But after discussing it with my husband, we think Singapore was pretty bland. Good for a couple of days but completely overrated. Food was really poor too, even in the good restaurants. I think SEAsia countries joke about that Singapore is over-rated too. Makes sense to us now.

NYC

I didn’t like Monaco either…apart from a fab milkshake in the Cafe de Paris. It’s all too pretentious.
Dubai…never been, never wanted to go. It’s like one big wag type place.

Dubai
Copenhagen
Southend on Sea (worst place I have been in my life by a long long way)

Not read absolutely full thread, but I see that those saying they liked Paris have been recently so maybe an effort is being made for the Olympics? I haven't been in 30 years and liked it despite the rain.

Ah! Madeira. Against my better judgement dh persuaded me to go for our last holiday before kids for some reason (30 years ago). Stayed at the same hotel Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor on her honeymoon with Ronnie Knight had stayed in the early 60s. (Not at the same time as us!) Don't think it had been updated since then. Every morning started sunny and yet by the time we got to the pool it was pissing down for the rest of the day. It was full of British couples about 20 years older than us who didn't speak a word to each other. Quite a staid destination but for the fantastic levada walks!

To pp who said the sea swimming in Madeira - yes that was truly exhilarating. The food was a bit meh though; like Spanish but without the spice. And didn't understand about the huge portions.

DisorganisedMummyTurningOrgnaised · Yesterday 21:13

Venice! Was expecting a fairytale city… instead soooo overpriced and full of tourists!! You get over the water pretty quickly and then there isn’t much to see

As with all cities, get away from the tourists and you will find a much more interesting experience. Venice? Try the Ghetto and the Arsenale...very few tourists and absolutely fascinating.

Japanese breakfasts?? Wonderful! Get out of Tokyo, go to the remote parts of the islands. Go to true Japanese ryokan for the most wonderful sensual experience.

Malta? Try looking at the history. The Mesolithic temples are absolutely stunning. Gozo on a festival day. The Medina. Did you know that Gozo is the island of Calypso?

Rome? Take the train out of Rome for the day to Naples and Paestum. Don't stick to the boring boring boring touristy stuff. Villa di Oplontis and Herculaneum, not Pompeii. Paestum for Greek temples, the best in the world, and the most atmospheric, peaceful experience.
Go to Ravenna of you want really brilliant history without crowds.

Sicily...go to Syracuse for the best pizza in the world, amazing history, fabulous atmosphere. Agrigento too. Take the overnight train across the Straits of Messina to see Etna in eruption by night. Pays to have good French, rather than English, though, if you want to find out about train times etc.

Such happy memories...

Sorry - I also laughed out loud at this!

Anyway, Florence, Pisa and St Tropez for me. The first two are remarkable and saturated in incredible sights, but THE CROWDS. I couldn't handle it. I go to St Tropez fairly frequently (family), but never find it it in the least bit charming. It was back in the day, I know.

Los Angeles is one of those places you need connections.

Las Vegas. Tacky at its best, seedy at its worst. Just go to Blackpool when the illuminations are on, it's a lot cheaper!

That said, it's still a useful base for a few national wonders.