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?

Just shows one man's cup of tea is another man's poison. I love a lot of places mentioned by others e.g. Paris, Barcelona, Athens, Greek islands, New York, Amsterdam, remote French villages (I live in one half the year). Belgium! Excellent for chocolate, frites and antiquing.

I wouldn't go back to Torrevieja however.

Cambodia was awful. Absolutely horrendous. I had a friend who lived there and her family used to go out and visit her and always said how wonderful it was so I was really excited to visit. Oh my god, awful awful awful place. Angkor Wat was ok, and Siem Reap was 'ok' but Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh were absolutely horrifying places.
Also had an awful time in Nice but this is going back about 20 years when me and my husband were just dating. Not as glamorous as I'd imagined it to be!
Cornwall was horrendous the last time I went as well, but that was in 2020 where you could travel but there weren't many abroad places you could go so UK tourism went mad. It was just far too busy and the pubs and restaurants were so unwelcoming (understandably). Wouldn't return though!

How could anyone not like Lisbon? Or Porto? 😮

Stunning places.

How can anyone be 'bored' in Venice? That's blown my mind.

My 'most overrated' destination was Forte dei Marmi in Tuscany but that's probably because I'm not a millionaire. It's full of designer shops you can find anywhere and the service was so dismissive in three separate restaurants I ended up getting on the train and going back to lovely Lucca where I was staying. Maybe the service was dismissive and rude because proprieters and waiting staff are so fed up of rude, pig-ignorant millionaires bossing them around though!

These threads are so fascinating.

I’ve also had my share of disappointments. New York: where was the glamour? Sicily also disappointing. Florence, so touristy it was completely overwhelming. I’m planning a trip to Paris this Summer and I’m bracing myself as few positives on here. I’ve heard the pyramids are amazing to see - but I’ve also heard so many shocking stories about Cairo and Egypt (poverty, harassment, food poisoning) I doubt I’ll ever see them 🤷‍♀️. I quite enjoyed Naples, full of history and character.

Sometimes holidays just make you appreciate home, an unexpected reward.

I actually enjoyed it! I was with a friend and we had some great fun! Some lovely restaurants, my friend visited churches *I am not a fan), met a lady whose back garden is full of little cat houses, went to a pub that served up complimentary food (though as a veggie there was not much I could have), visited some great historical ites too and found the people very friendly.. Visited during the carnival time and it wa all fun and friendly, guys walking and dancing in front of the loats with a ciggie in one hand and beer can in the other! Unlike our Notting Hill carnival nobody seemed interested in killing anyone!

The only thing I did not like is all those steps you have to climb in Valetta! But by the end of the holiday I had mastered them!

I also enjoyed Barcelona and have been twice. Once over Christmas holidays so it was great in that the usual British holiday makers there were absent. It was still warm albeit cardi weather. But I loved it!

Just wondering what part of Switzerland you went to ? I spent two weeks in Poschiavo ( Italian speaking part) loved it . An introverts dream . So peaceful. Food ,basic food like potatoes and pasta that we cooked ourselves tasted the best I have ever tasted. Pure air. Crystal clear streams and lakes. Beauty all around . My nans family came from there .

Agree! Was so disappointed.. preferred Sienna and Pisa

MeringueOutang · Today 09:20
I'm amazed we're on page 29 and no one has mentioned Cambodia.
Angkor Wat was pretty but the rest of it... Just seriously bad vibes.

Meringue, when you say bad vibes, do you mean you felt unsafe because you might be mugged, or it had a bad atmosphere because of its terrible, sad history?

A lovely, I'm for Cork myself (the real Capital :p )

Oh no! Rovaniemi was horrible. We only got off the train there, quick visit to SCV was enough! Picked up our hire car and went to Akaslompolo, beautiful

It's beautiful at this time of year. My son lived in Alta way up in the far North

I loved India, beyond my expectations but it was one place I was glad to be on an organised tour (with a local guide) as it protected us from a lot of the harassment and hawking. I had a day in Delhi on my own before I met up with my tour group and I was followed back to my hotel by a gang of men, I was afraid for my life!

Outside of that though I found India just wonderful and people so generous and welcoming.

Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey and Dublin

It’s rank. I went for a wedding and hated it. Could not wait to leave!

India is incredible isn't it?! I LOVED it too. Just incredible.

We loved Tokyo too, so different and a real culture shock but in a totally good way. I have never felt so safe in a foreign city as I did there.
It is incredibly clean, DH likes to go for a run every morning and took to counting the pieces of rubbish he saw on the street. Total was 2. And for one of those a lady darted out from her office to pick it up!
We loved the food and the fish market was fascinating. I used a public loo there, a portaloo type and was a bit anxious about it. It was spotless.

In fact I Ioved Japanese toilets so much that when we redid our bathroom we invested in one of the same type.

North India - disappointing. I was expecting more spiritual aspects but experienced mostly chaos, pollution, a lot of litter everywhere and food poisoning. Might be different in more rural parts or south - I was mostly based in cities. Liked Lisbon, Zurich, and Venice.

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Colombo - I generally love big Asian cities like Bangkok and Jakarta (and most people really hate Jakarta) but Colombo was miserable. Everything was either a sea of grim glass and concrete or just grotty and hard to walk round. The latest round of building seems to have razed all the old architecture and there's not a lot to do. The Galle Face Hotel looks great but is very 'faded seaside glamour' inside, and the food was horrible. Loved the rest of Sri Lanka but couldn't wait to leave the city.

@kerstina, I do like the Italian part of Switzerland best! I'd rather be over the border to Italy, though.

My memories of Tenerife are good because I spent most of it in mountainside villages: all forest and surprise tavernas with weird people. I've been told the villages are more developed for tourism now - great for their economy, but probably much less fascinating to the amateur explorer.

What you said about the Scots border, I'd largely apply to Wales as well 😆 It's heresy to say so, though!!

To be fair I did not visit the nicest area, as I had to be in Nagoya for an event most of the time.
I think it was the rigidity, finding out a lot of the museums were closed a lot of the time, little willingness to provide help amd direction even at tourist information desks, and clear frustration at my lack of ability to speak Japanese.

The food was a highlight though.

The whole of Spain or just the edges with sand and sea?

I've visited many of the places mentioned in this tread and loved them, however, Brussels is the one place that I thought was overrated. The Manneken Pis is disappointing and there was nothing else of interest.

Agreed. Very unfriendly, nearly drowned as NO health and safety ( no red flags indicating unsafe to swim in the sea and got swept away by currents- more tourists drown than you would expect) and the weather was rubbish. Absolutely never again.