Most disappointing destination/holiday

[Forgottenmyphone]

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?

Totally agree! Also remember being pestered by crowds of beggars and “souvenir sellers” around the Eiffel Tower who would not leave us alone.

I hated LA. It's a dump. Very disappointing.

St Lucia, AI for a friends wedding. The issue wasn’t St Lucia itself, but the resort was shit. The restaurants were all very samey, and you had to book them every morning. The resort was quite isolated so hard to see much of the island. The resident band was very MoR. We had unseasonable torrential rain, ok not the resorts problem but it wasn’t designed for rain….poor drainage and most of the restaurants were designed to be open to the elements do you ended up getting wet. Some of our party had their money stolen from their room. The cleaners were suspected. Seemingly thefts from rooms were rampant. Hotel had a nice bit of victim blaming because the people concerned while locking their rooms when empty did not put the wallets in the safe, they were just left in the room (I think his wallet was in his trouser pocket.) Planned excursions were not always up to scratch. The b&g hired a helicopter to take them from the resort to the airport on the day of departure. The helicopter did not arrive and by this time the transfers had left. They were provided with a refund and a courtesy taxi but they got to the airport by the skin of their teeth.

we were so looking forward to it and it cost us £££ but was definitely the worst holiday ever. The following year we went to Cornwall self catering and enjoyed that far more!!!

Because I came to Casablanca for the waters 😉

Probably the most disappointing for me was Copenhagen. It's not awful, actually quite enjoyed it. But it always seems to come top of the 'best city break' polls and so it was rather underwhelming. I've no idea why people love it so much but for me, there are much better cities to visit.

100% agree, albeit 30 years go was when I went. Hired a driver to go out to Bulla Regia and exactly as you said,no roping off,risk is all on you. But to have such stunning ruins pretty much to oneself for 4 hours was beyond amazing.

Dominican. We left early after witnessing the sanky pankies. We saw the same guys day in and day out around the pool with different women.

Thanks - I was just trying to find out what the previous poster meant by being unable to walk anywhere. I’m not interested in going hiking or anything but I do like a mooch around shops, or along the sea front.

Agreed, better to base in Sorrento for accessing the ruins from a nicer base.

Marrakech!

Dominican Republic
I don't know why I chose Punta Cana out of all the places in the Caribbean we could've visited. I expected the seaweed and the odd smell but didn't expect the disgusting feel of the sand under the water, rather slimy and inconsistent. A shower was needed to wash the smell off after being in the ocean. We also didn't dare leave the resort after seeing the area outside of it on our way in and spent our days avoiding a timeshare-selling guy. We avoided consuming the water the entire time there until DH has some ice in his drink at the airport on our way home and got terribly sick for days.

New Orleans
If you're young and wild and adore alcohol, it may be great. I was young once, but never that degree of wild. I went for work and we were in a hotel a block off of Bourbon Street - you could hear noise into the wee hours. I just don't understand the allure.

I'm a hang out, talk to people, soak up the atmosphere kind of visitor. I appreciate architecture, art, scenery and history but I've never loved a place purely for any of those things. My two biggest disappointments are two countries, for opposite reasons:

Switzerland (I've even lived there) - everything about the country's lovely, and it's totally antiseptic imo. I'd never call a place with humans in it 'soulless' but I might call Switzerland a little thin-souled, if you like.

Thailand, by contrast, teems with humanity and the worst of it's on full display. The atmosphere of Bangkok freaked me out so badly, I left early - only the second place to ever scare me away! Seeking solace on the islands, I encountered more sex tourism than good stuff. I'm no stranger to this but Thailand was a giant wave of exploitation. Urgh.

I also discovered I really don't like Thai food - it wasn't that I just hadn't tried the authentic cuisine, after all - and I caught dysentery. It was my most expensive trip (I went for a month) and probably the least enjoyable.

I was bored by Malta, can't stand Center Parcs, and would love to go to Istanbul!

Tunisia: I'm very intrigued by it, but am an old woman travelling alone. How easy is it to hire a driver to ferry you around the country?

I’m actually kind of impressed that we got to page 5 of a Places I Dislike thread before someone trotted out the tired, stupid, ignorant “Australia has no history or culture” rubbish.

🦜🫡 🤣🤣

You’re misunderstanding what @onehorserace is saying. A lot of these comments are about disappointed expectations (whether those expectations were realistic or not). But the poster who complained Maldives was just “beaches and watersports” then said they knew that before they went. So what they got was exactly what they expected. How is that disappointing?? It may be they were expecting to enjoy endless beaches and watersports and found they didn’t, but that’s hardly the fault of the destination.

So many of these dislikes could be avoided if people were realistic and informed about what each destination offered, and chose a destination that caters for their preferences. Or at least managed their expectations.

I live in NZ and my parents came over. We visited Milford Sound which was the "most beautiful place on earth". Spoiler its not even the most beautiful place in that region of the South Island.

It was a long drive and bit shit and I tell people to not bother.

Uluru/Ayres Rock on the other had, sensational (if you go early in the morning).

It's nothing but a grotty North African town. The beach is like the one at Southport....the sea is miles out, the sand is grey and grubby and the locals don't like tourists sunbathing on it - particularly women.

My husband and I went on a couple of 'trips' organised through the hotel - the city tour consisted of being taken to the highest point in Agadir to look at the view...then dragged to local shops with the expectation that we'd spend huge sums of money in them...and the tour guides were NOT happy when we wouldn't. There is literally nothing worth seeing in Agadir. The local market we were also dragged to is modern, shabby and horrible - nothing like the sort of moroccan bazaar I was expecting...and once again we were expected to spend a lot of money on shoddy local tat.

The second trip was a 'boat cruise'.... it was a local's tiny fishing boat, and the 'cruise' consisted of us being taken out to sea, where we got to enjoy the fine view of all the concrete bollards lining the shoreline, and the refinery in the distance. There were only 4 of us on the boat, myself my husband and two German women who were so horrified one of them pretended to be ill so the 'cruise' was cut short.

After that I refused to leave the hotel for the rest of the week. I've travelled all over the world, I work in the travel industry and Agadir is the ONLY place I would rather chew off my own foot than ever have to go to again!

(The worst part was the trip was supposed to make up for the shitty 50th birthday I'd had 6 months prior. What a great delayed present it was! Not)

I made exactly the same mistake and got lost in Washington and ended up in a dodgy area at 9 pm and very luckily, a very nice couple guided us back to the right place.

FWIW I think you have a better experience in both Paris and NY if you have to live or work in those cities , or are visiting for some specific project, rather than just experiencing them as an ordinary tourist. You then find the hidden gems!

Same for me! A year in Paris is on my bucket list. This city makes me unbelievably happy.

Oh dear...so many not impressed with Malta, and we're off there for a month at the end of September.

I have friends who have Maltese heritage, they are on holiday there at the moment and are having a great time. I feel it might be the type of place where you might need to travel around and seek out the good stuff, but it’s worth it.

From what I remember there isn't really a sea front in Sorrento like you get in many resorts. Sorrento is on a cliff. You can walk down to the harbour but I don't recall there being a promenade.

Brittany. There are some truly extraordinary stretches of coastline, with sandy beaches and turquoise water and gorgeous views. But the hospitality industry just isn't good enough - terrible food. And expensive.

Berlin is one of my most favourite places ! Wonderful history, amazing food … and oh the wine 🥰