Most disappointing destination/holiday

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For me, it was the Norwegian fjords. Not because they weren’t beautiful (what we saw of them, they were!) but because it was cold, rainy and foggy when we went. One town known for being very pretty was ridiculously busy and there was a cruise ship blocking the view from the restaurant we booked. We knew the prices were going to be high, but expected good quality… when you pay over £100 for a train ticket, you expect there to be toilet roll and soap in the toilets!

where have you been that was disappointing?

The obvious is Table Mountain. Watch the weather for a good day, the cable car doesn’t run when it’s too windy.

A drive from Sea Point round to camps bay over the hill into Hout Bay (best calamari in the world at Chapmans Peak hotel) and then drive further up and over Chapmans Drive. We do this early evening because the sunset over Hout Bay is something else.

Silo Hotel for another view of the city and Zeitz Museum.

Winelands is beautiful. Babylonstoren is fantastic. So many wine farms. Get the wine tram to experience a few.

Enjoy!

I love these threads, esp as I’m planning our holiday for next year!

Have to say I like Egypt though - not the Red Sea resorts but rather Cairo & Luxor.

I found the following disappointing and have added them to my “ticked off the list, wouldn’t go back” category: Copenhagen (boring, too many crowds around the little mermaid) Shanghai (foggy, too busy, awful food) and Santorini (too crowded, sad donkeys). I generally find cruise port excursions disappointing as you pay £££ to be rushed around, often to sights that you wouldn’t otherwise bother with.

Loved our hotel in Tenerife , but outside seemed a bit run down and unsafe and not great. Not what I was expecting really.

I didn’t say Australia, I said Melbourne specifically. Melbourne was the shit hole. It didn’t have anything to offer, no culture nor city life.

@midlifemover21 hope the weather treats you ok. August not quite yet even spring in SA. Cape Town can be wet in winter!

There was loads to do when we went . We watched a cricket match at the university. We went to the rum factory and did loads of tasting. We also went into Castries for some city time. We also did a couple of boat trips.

I'd love to go back but we're on bucket list holidays now and we have so many places we want to go.

Our worst holiday was Laganos, a bit like a British resort but with sun.

Cape Verde. Where the people who holiday in Benidorm in the summer holiday in the winter! It was awful, hotel was lovely but the service and food were shocking.

France was dull and the food left a lot to be desired ☹️.

I can't help but feel that a lot of the destinations on here that are disliked (apart from Tunisia) are because people had unrealistic expectations or didn't research their holiday very well.

For example, I want to visit Malta because I am interested in the history. I know it wouldn't be a beach holiday, and I would carefully research where to stay. Yet so many posters disliked Malta.

Exactly, quick google could surely have saved thousands of pounds 😂. Ditto for the posters who seemed surprised that Hong Kong was full of skyscrapers and Australia is devoid of culture and history.

for me, Cornwall was the most disappointing. Was told the beaches are ‘just like the med’ but that was a blatant lie, the sand was grim, it was overcrowded, typical English wind and rain and the water was f’ing freezing even in August. I’ve been back a few times since but for walking holidays rather than a beach holiday as the coastline is admittedly quite beautiful.

I think it was around 2006

Altinkum in Turkey,hated every minute of it.

Spain.Yes all of it.

I love Naples too, fantastic city once you get away from the arse end which is the train station. I swear most people don’t venture past that area. What’s not to love!

As with several other places we stayed in our lovely hotel (Hotel More, half an hour outside Dubrovnik, directly on the Adriatic and you could swim from its deck to the other side of the coast if you were up for it) and went into the city after about 5 pm when the cruise ship parties returned to the ships. It made a huge difference.

New York. Overrated. Rude people.

Malibu. I not sure what I expected but I didn't the shit hole found.

Haha I went on a fjord cruise and I heard similar complaints… I think people forgot to look at a map to see where it is.. it’s not in the Mediterranean. It is cooler and rains more there - it’s easy finding typical weather using Google. Plus the places are busy when some cruise ships have 5000 passengers and the village has a population of far less… Same with restaurants - Google maps would show its near a port. And cruise ships stop there.
you need to restart things better.
I loved the cruise despite the drizzle but it wasn’t as beautiful as expected. No better than Scotland.

Train toilets or restaurant toilets? You should complain in restaurant or leave a review but on trains, they are always awful wherever you are so I take my own tissues and hand gel. And try to pee in stations.

Yes, have been to Cork and it was lovely. Currently planning a trip to the SW so already taking your advice! 😉

@Ontheedgeofit prepared for the rain. Not the best weather but a lot to do! Plus we couldn’t help the timings as we are there for something specific. Looking forward though.

Cornwall was a let down for us years ago now , but mostly because the weather in august wasn’t great and DS 2 had food poisoning from a place in Newquay and the roads are hard to navigate and it just seemed busy and wet.
Im sure it’s lovely in the sun on a beach, but a bad holiday or weather can put you off a place!
Never been back.

Egypt & Turkey. I feel unsafe and was harassed in both, men felt able to grab me on the street, trying to pull me in to restaurants, asking if I wanted a kiss, stares everywhere I went, I was spat on in the streets, asked constantly if my Dad was my boyfriend, had a man stalking me who worked in the hotel (Egypt) and had someone molest me in Turkey, men photographing me. I was 13!! I would never go back and haven’t been to a country like that since.

I loved Norway! It does rain a lot and did when I went but I still adored the place and the fjords. I felt very safe!

Brussels.
Boring, grey..
The best thing was there was Eurostar train leading back to UK.

Tenerife. Scenery mostly looked like slag heaps in Yorkshire.Shops full of tourist tatt.

Malta I loved. Loads to do and see. Really interesting history.Fabulous boat trips round the island.Food was varied, but we did have a lovely pork dish called,”Roast sucking pig in juices.”

No one’s mentioned once yet which is Sri Lanka. Ripped off and hassled by everyone you meet including rude hotel staff, cheating bus drives. Non stop aggro and awful seeing young girls and boys with older male tourists it was horrendous.

You couldn’t pay me to go back……..and several Sri Lankans that were working in the Maldives confirmed what it was like on beach areas there. Maldives was like heaven but you have to choose carefully and be happy with sun, sand and snorkelling all day, every day.

I loved NYC apart from awful food but hear it’s not as nice now, met DH in Bali which we both loved. Stayed in an amazing place in Lanzarote but yes very touristy. Gran Canaria was fine again too much tourist tat. Everywhere else really enjoyed but Maldives is only place I’ve been 4 times……apart from Cornwall and North Devon.

Same. Went twice for the day then as we were leaving the sun came out and I thought- wow this is amazing! Went for a 2 day break there and stayed in a lovely apartment and totally loved wandering - different experience staying there maybe?