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.

This in an interesting point insofar as how people behave and carry themselves when travelling. What makes you a target for holiday crime?

There's lots to Las Vegas away from the strip. I had work in Vegas for two - three years and discovered how bloody amazing it could be. I never went to the strip - not my thing.

I completely understand the pull of the glitzy stuff, but I always feel compelled to stick up for Vegas

Dubai, mind. I've had four brief trips there (not holiday) and absolutely loathed the place. I would never go there on holiday - ethically it's the pits, and I agree that it's one big, flash, soulless shopping experience.

maybe you actually saw the best of it - I went to Florence several times on inter-rail - it was "popular" then for sure but I don't recall thinking it over-run by tourists - seemed to be a lot of Italians around.
Am so glad I saw many places in europe, and very cheaply& before - I have the impression - they were pretty much totally ruined by truly global tourism. When I was wandering round europe slumming it the idea that there would be lots and lots of tourists from the east would have seemed bizarre.

& I think I may very well have slept in Florence (or Firenze as the Italians insist on calling it) station more than once.

Am so glad I saw many places in europe, and very cheaply& before - I have the impression - they were pretty much totally ruined by truly global tourism.

I wish I’d seen more. One of my 3 wishes (which obviously won’t be granted) would be to have travelled around the Far East in 1920s or 30s.
Rationed air travel is often suggested on here - I wonder if it will ever happen. Presumably one problem is that there would have to be global cooperation.

To be honest I can't stand the strip. Much prefer 'old town' Vegas down Freemont Street way, yet it is a bit more grungy but the casinos and the characters in them are way more interesting then the utterly soulless experience you find at Ceaser's, Bellagio, Parisian etc. The best nights I have had are chatting to random Americans at some $5 blackjack table in some old school casino.

Agree Off. everywhere is now so crowded if you don’t book the major sites well in advance forget it. Remember we were at the Alahambra (had booked way in advance) and a little family with young children just turned up to buy tickets -the ticket seller guy just laughed at them. In early 2000s you wandered where you wanted.

Best thing we ever did was Venice in summer 2020. Magical and deserted. Don’t think we can ever go back now.

I probably sound all sniffy lol, but really I just cannot for the life of me understand how people could even contemplate having anything of value in a backpack or bag that's accessible to thieves. Am I the only person on the planet who wears a backpack just for water, raincoat, snacks, umbrella, bits and bobs etc. and uses a small flat cross body bag UNDER my jacket, or in Summer a waist wallet that threads through the belt loops and stays under the top/ T shirt whatever? That's where the ID, card, cash, phone and name and number of hotel etc. goes always.

Muggings are opportunist crimes. If they see an opportunity.....

Well, I wouldn't have anything valuable in an outside pocket in a backpack that is accessible to thieves, and I don't put important things in pockets either. But in an inside pocket underneath other stuff it would be more fiddly to steal without my knowing. And if they wanted to take the whole bag it would be harder than for a handbag across one shoulder. And handbags are not comfortable to carry a lot of stuff in over a longer period of time.

But then in a city on holiday I'd probably not be wanting to carry a lot of stuff in a rucksack anyway so a small cross body bag would probably suffice.

Florence is stunning but agree the extreme tourism spoils it. Sounds hypocritical when visiting as a tourist. Huge tour groups following people with flags just bring the centre of Florence to a standstill really - you have that feel of walking out of a huge venue after a concert or festival - slowly following a disorderly traffic of people. It is difficult to enjoy it.

When in Italy in a hire car we took to leaving the glove compartments wide open and empty to show there was nothing to steal. Thieves in Italy know what cars are hire cars and they are magnet for thieves. Same in Barcelona.

Rome - too touristy
Bulgaria - it's Blackpool with sun
Dublin - reminds me of London. Too expensive, too busy and the locals are rude.

For busy cities I have over shoulder little leather bag from Tunisia. The zip opens the other way so it's perfect anti theft confusing device. Even I sometimes forget where the beginning of zip is😂 plus you can just move it forward so you can guard it

Bulgaria - it's Blackpool with sun

The whole country?

You might as well say "The UK - it's Blackpool"

Seriously, there are so many ridiculous generalisations in posts on this thread, that I wonder what's happened to people's brains.

I was thinking everywhere I’ve been to has something to commend it, no matter how apparently lacking in charm initially ( Bucharest, Glasgow, Roubaix, Durban) and I like Paris and Barcelona and never felt threatened there. Then I remembered- Dubrovnik. Crowded, insanely expensive ( more than London) nowhere to just sit and chill, no green spaces. It’s been turned into a machine for extracting money from tourists. Such a shame. A PP mentioned that walking out of a festival and fighting the crowd feeling, that’s what it’s like there all the time. The only good thing about Dubrovnik is the ferry port out of there.

Thailand. Absolutely no soul.

Try South Korea instead.

This is interesting . I was thinking of going to Dubrovnik.

Yes, Korea is amazing.

We had a good time in Dubrovnik, by using the very helpful port website, which tells you how many cruise ships are in town reach day, how many passengers each has, and when the sailing times are. Then each day is traffic lighted to show which are the busiest and least busy days.

Add to that, that cruise passengers don't come into town until around 10am, and they go back at about six, and you can plan your break pretty well. We walked the walls and explored town early in the morning or in the evening, and got out of town to explore the wider areas on the busiest days.

Bondi beach shit tip
Surfers Paradise,tacky and in the shade because of the ugly tower blocks

South Korea is great, but it’s best to go in the spring or autumn (bitingly cold winds in the winter and ferociously hot and humid in the summer). Getting around is easy as it has a great public transport system, and there’s lot of great food options.

What, all of Thailand has no soul?!

The naivety is always amusing, the urinary outpourings of the Frens is so superior than that of other nationalities!

We really enjoyed Dubrovnik. We stayed an entire week and think that actually helped. It didn’t feel overwhelmingly crowded at all (see photo of the square, taken during the afternoon) — we referred to the boat schedule and avoided doing things in Dubrovnik when the cruise ships were in town. We had some lovely day trips out. Lokrum in particular was absolutely stunning — crystal clear waters, peacocks and bunnies running around, interesting ruins to explore. We also went on little hikes around Dubrovnik which were great — the sea was so clear and beautiful! The marble streets were absolutely stunning at night.

This was in May 2017 so a few years ago and not high season. Never watched Game of Thrones and hated the first book so steered as clear as we could have the game of thrones stuff.

We too loved Yosemite, we've been a few times and our favourite trip was during Spring when the various falls were full. We liked to enter the Park from the South, if it's open the drive up to Glacier Point is well worth the long trip.