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?

Hahaha. I used to live in Venice and speak Italian (and a bit of Venetian!) But I went back as a tourist a few years ago, in August (super cheap flight, and no I didn't find it too crowded BECAUSE I DIDN'T GO ANYWHERE NEAR PIAZZA SAN MARCO!!). I was in Torcello as most of the tourists were leaving, and had the area around the cathedral nearly to myself. Down the side of the church a guy was tinkering with something- I stopped to look and accidentally caught his eye. I said "Ciao" and walked off, leaving him ranting to himself about never being in peace, never ever, even when you think they're gone they're still here... 😆

But I went back a couple of years ago with the kids and stayed on the mainland (where everyone is still Venetian) and they were perfectly nice.

I largely avoided Piazza SM too. I'm not sure why you're shouting.
I found it crowded in many places.

So where did you go....Rialto? The main drag between the station and Rialto/ Piazza S.Marco? The waterfront immediately outside the palazzo ducale and the adjoining 300m towards Giardini?

OK, I'll add those to the list. Outside of those areas you should have been fine.

And I'll shout if I want to, thanks. Over and over again on threads about Paris, Venice, Rome etc you get people going "Ooh, it was sooooo crowded, you have to prebook the Colosseum or the Eiffel Tower ages in advance, there were loads of scammers and hustlers..." WELL DO A MODICUM OF BLOODY RESEARCH AND FIND ALL THE FASCINATING SPOTS THESE PLACES HAVE TO OFFER THAT AREN'T A CRASHINGLY OVEREXPOSED BLOODY TOURIST HONEYPOT THEN!!

@Falingoth thank you for recommending Karpathos, sounds perfect. We go to Greece every June, always to a different island, so am constantly on the lookout for new places to try. I will add Karpathos to my list 😎

Going against popular opinion I'm not a fan of Skiathos, too busy and lots of British folk there (I'm well aware of the irony of this statement given I am also British, but I prefer a wider mix of nationalities). I much preferred Skopelos and Alonissos.

The great thing about Karpathos is it's in between Crete and Rhodes and it's literally a 20 minute flight over to Rhodes from there (don't do it if you're not a fan of flying though. The plane we were on was like a small bus 🤣🤣).
So really, you could fly to Crete or Rhodes and hop over quite easily by plane or ferry depending on their schedules.
We always fly to Athens first just as it's an easy base to get to any of the islands (which you'll probably already know).

It's funny, the reason we went there was because I looked for villas overlooking the sea in Greece, saw it and booked it almost instantly it looked that fabulous, and then looked at where it was and was like, how do we get there ?? It's a long day of travel, but it's worth it. The sunsets 👌🏼👌🏼to dream of.

Admittedly we were there nearly 20 years ago but I found people in Japan really lovely and helpful - when we first arrive in Tokyo someone saw us struggling with the station ticket machines and not only helped us sort our tickets but ended up escorting us on the subway all the way to our destination. we knew a little bit of Japanese though (tourist level, enough to ask for basic directions, order in a restaurant etc) so maybe that helped. Also think maybe Western tourist weren’t ten a penny then (though I imagine Nagoya is hardly overrun)

@MeringueOutang I loved Cambodia, went for the first time in January and it's on my list to return to as we didn't get to Angkor Wat.

Went to Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem, I've only ever seen sand that white and "squeaky" in the Maldives. Also had a few days in Phnom Penh, thought it was a really nice city, far less frenetic than other Asian cities I've been to, and found the Cambodians to be some of the most gentle, friendly and kind folk I've had the pleasure of meeting.

I''m intrigued to hear more about the bad vibes you experienced.

I never understand these threads.. Many of my favourite places always come up in these.

Rovaniemi was completely burnt down by the Germans in 1946. Maybe two buildings survived. It had to be re-built from scratch and back then they really didn’t think what snooty tourists might want in 2025. The town definitely has “a municipal council” look about it but it’s like many other regional Finnish towns, not a Disneyland. PP said about going in Levi instead. Levi is great but it’s a purpose built ski resort.

Naples, it’s my favourite destination in the world. August is an awful time to go though. Too hot and it gets stinky then. I love Centro Storico, a world heritage site. And Spaccanapoli. I love it that Naples hasn’t disneyfied itself in order to try to please the tourists. The entire city marches to the beat of it’s own drum.

Ellis Island, I absolutely loved the Immigration Museum. The history of the place and of all those immigrants is so fascinating, I would have loved to spend longer there but DC were getting antsy so had to leave 😬

@Falingoth you've sold it to me! It's going on the list for 2027 (my husband has already booked flights to Samos for June 2026 for us - his turn to choose) but I'm going to get in early with my vote for Karpathos for the following year (unless I can persuade him to go in late September 2026 😎).

Have you got kids? I can massively recommend the villa and lovely family who own it but it's only really suitable for two adults and one younger child as there aren't separate bedrooms.

@Falingoth sounds perfect, there are no kids for us to accommodate.

Can you send me the details please?

That sounds amazing, can you link it? Thank you

I'll DM you both.

Sure, you can use what lettering and tone you want, but I'm just here to say you come off as shouty and unpleasantly gloating.

But in any case I don't get why you're shouting at me personally about it being busy; what I actually said was, 'I get that they're busy places, and Venice in particular has a serious problem with overcrowding, but...' My actual issue was that I found people rude and unfriendly. I think you misunderstood me.

You have been to all of Spain? Amazing. I have lived here 25 years and haven't managed that!

The only one I can think of is Barcelona, I’ve tried it twice, it’s just not for me

@ZippyBrick I agree about Oxford - we cut our visit short as we really didn't rate it. The colleges / library are lovely, and the kids loved Lyra's bench from His Dark Materials, but there wasn't much else there.

I'm not a huge fan of the Maldives either - it's beautiful and the staff are lovely, but I did get the feeling they secretly hate the tourists. The food looks good but tastes a bit 'long life', and a bunch of Moslem bar staff making cocktails tends to give exactly the result you'd expect :) I think I'd choose the Seychelles for relaxation and picture postcard beauty if I did the whole island paradise / ultimate relaxation thing again. At least you get giant tortoises there.

Like others, Capri. Beautiful island, but I went there last September on a day-trip and it was completely overrun with tourists (me included).

Went there for a week years ago with ex-h and it was lovely - after the last tourist boat had left. All the locals appeared from nowhere.

It's funny, isn't it? I really like Barcelona, Naples, Porto, all of Belgium and - well, several other places that are getting mixed reviews here. It's something to do with their feeling down to earth; a sense of being a guest in that place's ordinary life. While I hope not to be resented, I don't expect to be welcomed particularly. If I misjudge the prevailing culture, that's on me (and it's why I'm unlikely to visit strongly Muslim countries).

Don’t worry - I love Norway - you will have a great time!!! Make sure you visit a floating sauna and jump into the water!!!

We went to Florence the last week in November. Absolutely loved it. Crowds are low at that time of year and no queues. Like a lot of places, it's just spoilt by the crowds in peak season.

I agree with off season being good. I adored Venice in November. My last day there was a Saturday and the Rialto busy that day but in the week, we could just stroll across it with few others about. Particularly good for us as our hotel was literally at the bottom of the Rialto steps.

A few times in the evening, there was no one else at all on some of the streets we walked down.

I wouldn’t think that they’d care about that. They’re MEN😂

I’ll take your Venice in November and raise you Venice in August 2020! Bliss. Mid Covid yet break in restrictions. No cruises / no French / no international visitors. Just locals with the odd Brit and German. St marks square empty in the summer heat. No queues for anything no crowds just the beauty of Venice in the summer but empty. It was magic. We can never go back to Venice now though as nothing can top that.

I've been to Lisbon three times. First two times, loved it. Last time (last year)? Nah - absolutely filthy and crumbling. Looked like it hadn't been maintained well at all.

Couldn't even take a nice picture up the hillside to the castle because of all the graffiti.