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.

Lake Garda, God's waiting room.

Another vote for Paris - I wanted so much to love it, but it was all just a bit underwhelming. I didn't hate it, and I liked some parts, but it's the only European city that I've been to that felt disappointing, and that I wouldn't return to.

@Snugglemonkey SanFran was awful too but there were a couple of redeeming things. We stayed in an incredibly cool hotel (guitar shaped swimming pool!). SanFran was a while ago though and I think the US generally and California specifically are becoming a dangerous and unpleasant place. There are much nicer places to be.

Dubai! Bloody awful.

The Maldives. Rained the entire time on our honeymoon 😔. Dolphin spotting cruise cancelled, only had one hot day where we could sit in the sun. The accommodation was beautiful but I was so disappointed

Just back from Paris and it was wonderful - the pedestrianisation policies are working great, and people were super charming. Great brasseries with good and affordable food on every corner as well as high end restaurants. Everyone very welcoming and nice to kids.

London - so unfriendly, everywhere completely crowded, filthy in many parts, takes ages to get anywhere, public transport really expensive
Edinburgh - pretty in parts but very snobbish, not a patch on Glasgow
Switzerland - boring and uptight
Copenhagen - eye-watering prices, irritating hipster culture, seems laid back but actually hyper nationalistic/superior
Dubai/Abu Dhabi - fake, exploitative, full of gated communities for westerners

I froze my arse off in Australia. Melbourne in spring...

It's weird. I was in Morocco with two teenage girls last year for a couple of weeks touring round and spending time in both villages, towns, the desert and Marrakesh - they are both really lovely, pretty girls, and I'm not completely terrible looking myself.

But we didn't have a single leer or shout or unwanted attention 🤷🏻‍♀️ We just had a fantastic trip.

It just shows how different situations can be.

Another vote for Bali, for the same reasons as everyone else! Dirty, Aussie Benidorm etc. There's so many nicer places in SE Asia.

I get why people are saying Paris- I used to live there and it took me years to stop hating the place.

I loved Kuala Lumpur though!

Should be twinned with Devon.

Have been to lots of places on here and loved them but coming along to add my disgruntled vote to Dublin.
Really nothing to redeem it at all...

L.A. - although love Catalina Island
Many people I know have said Cape Verde
I was fairly bored in Sydney and Perth (had a few months in Perth and a few in Melbourne.. adore Melbourne)

I liked Paris in 2002, hated it when we visited with dc in 2015 and felt really unsafe. Dh and I return for a music concert in 2022 and I’ll be honest, expectations were low but we absolutely loved it. We stayed in liberty square and there was a wonderful vibe. We walked so much and it wasn’t 40 degrees so we were sweaty, swollen messes stopping at cafes along the way. Beautiful architecture, clean and felt safe. So so different to 2015.

Cavtat. I've been to Croatia a few times and always loved it and hated Cavtat couldn't wait to get home.

I agree with others who’ve said Dubai! Almost nothing to see unless you enjoy luxury shopping. But why go all the way to Dubai for that? I found there was almost no culture or sightseeing to be had apart from materialistic pursuits. I’d describe it as soulless.

Another vote for Paris.

I wasn’t too fond of Lisbon either. But the nature outside the city / the nearby countryside is gorgeous.

THIS!

I didn't love Goa or Marrakesh, and I was very disappointed that I didn't love them!

Ah we loved it! But got there very early and did the 6 glaciers hike out the back, one of the highlights of the trip. The massive hotel does spoil the view slightly (!) though and it was heaving when we got back from the hike around midday so I definitely see what you mean.

For us it would be Oludeniz, Blue Lagoon in Turkey. Looks lovely from above (paragliding and photos) but it's overcrowded and characterless. We couldn't wait to come home.

Also LA is overrated, and San Fran isn't great either - a huge amount of homelessness, and we didn't feel very safe. Other parts of California (eg Yosemite, highway 1, Santa Barbara) are stunning however!

I suspect some of the posters have a very limited imagination, and if a foreign place doesn't offer all the comforts of home then they write it off.

I was about to say the same thing about Australia!! Once again, a poster lacking imagination.

Lanzarote. We’ve been a few times and just don’t like it. I don’t know why we went back, tbh, but we thought we had been put off because we had had such a horrendous holiday that TUI had given us a full refund and compensation so that was clouding our view. But nope. It’s horrible.

Someone said Cape Verde up thread. We went to Boa Vista 10yrs ago and loved it.

‘Of course those people are just tourists.
I myself am a traveller’

The place has changed massively in the last 20 years. Lots of street hassle back then but they then brought in the tourist police who had some bite and really clamped down on the faux guides, street hawkers and sleaze bags. Not perfect now but way way better.

Yosemite and San Diego are still worth visiting.