Places that were a let down

[DarcyDear]

Have you ever been anywhere on holiday and felt it wasn’t what you thought it would be? My friend is just back from New York and absolutely hated it. I’ve never been let down by a holiday but I remember being really taken aback at the levels of poverty and homelessness when I visited Los Angeles in my youth.

Hypocrite @halloweengrinch

😂😂😂

You’ve never been to Blackpool then 😁

I don’t understand your first sentence. Surely what OP was expecting is exactly what she’s getting - places people were disappointed with (for whatever reason).

Santorini. It’s a very small island which is pretty and geologically interesting but there’s not really anything there. All the Greeks islands have the white buildings and blue and the views. Perhaps once upon a time it was an untouched piece of heaven. But now it’s just an overcrowded tourist trap.

I went to Santorini back in 2000 and you are right - it was a relatively untouched piece of heaven. An absolutely stunning place but I hear now its become overrun with tourists

Lisbon. Streets were dirty with pavements full of dog shit and torn open rubbish bags inc dirty nappies. Drug pushers often hassling us to try and sell us coke and weed. Felt it had a dirty downtrodden feel and just didn't get the hype at all.

Depends who you are. Have found they’re generally friendly to white tourists but quite rude if you’re not white.

Amalfi coast. Over hyped, so expensive and not a lot to see.

Dubrovnik, same as above.

Lyme Regis! Expensive for what it was, crowded, not sure what the fuss is about!

There are thousands of Greek islands. 227 which are inhabited. To write off not only all of the islands but also mainland Greece because you’ve visited 3 is hilariously stupid.

What used to be Yugoslavia. Time has fortunately made me forget the name of the place we stayed in. I'm sure it's better now but it was so bad I've never been tempted to go back. Gambia you are constantly hassled and I got food poisoning. Egypt - hassle, dirty. The snorkelling was worth it but wouldnt go back. Bulgaria was ok but the airport a nightmare.

Have been to Malta more than once. Stay at the quiet end, visit Valletta and Mdina. Visited Stonehenge more than once, Avebury is OK but just once. Algarve in the rain - found a little locals bar with tumblers of port for pennies but it was a long time ago.

Places we wouldnt visit - Dubai, India, a lot of America including the major cities.

An American colleague was over here and went on a day trip to stone henge (from London). I asked her the next day how her day had been.

“Stone Henge? It’s just a bunch a racks!”

I realised then that we should never rely on others opinions of places. This thread bears that out..

There’s only one place I’ve been that I’d never go back to. That’s Tunisia. Other people might like the incessant pestering and feeling unsafe, but it wasn’t for me.

Haha- you rumbled me! Writing on the other thread then reading this one made me think about it a bit more, perhaps

Lanzarote, boring.
turkey - grim tbh!
xx

Yes I was so disappointed with Amalfi too! It was overhyped, over priced and just felt really overcrowded like any uk seaside town. I remember being disappointed that we left it too late to book accommodation in Amalfi and had to stay in Sorrento instead but once I saw amalfi on a day trip I was actually glad. Sorrento was so much nicer!

Yes Dublin isn’t a particularly exciting capital . Though to be honest I don’t know why nobody seems to do much research on Dublin before venturing there. Ireland was among the poorest countries in Europe up to the 1950s, and of course never had an empire or whatever like England, France, Portugal, Spain etc etc to siphon wealth from, quite the opposite.

So that’s basically reflected in the capital. There actually is plenty to see and do to fill a few days but, yes, very little big/grand landmark type stuff. So it’s better to visit with an interest inIreland /its history than expecting a big city break experience. Though some agree that the government should do more of that kind of stuff now that there is some money to spend. On the other hand, housing crisis etc so it’s probably not a priority. As things stand, a day in the capital is probably enough for most visitors, with the other days spent in the nice towns and villages around the capital, or otherwise further afield. Emerald Park is pretty cool for a day out with the kids half an hour drive from the centre. Anyway, while some criticism of Dublin is warranted, I think some of it more just showcases the general ignorance of the British regarding everything Ireland than anything else.

So…. You don’t agree with your pompous lecture on this thread? Or you don’t agree with your disdain for certain countries in your post?

They are complete contradictions

Love Paris. New York is massively overhyped. Barcelona is a nice enough big city, but has been hugely overhyped the last twenty years (to the displeasure of the locals as well!).

Writing off a whole country on the basis of being miserable in one city or resort says a lot more about the traveler than the place.

So what do you think the below says about you? Genuine question

“Air of seediness in the whole country”?! Think that’s in your head, and a bit of a weird description of a country twice the size of the UK.

I absolutely loved Athens, I love history but dear god it's not clean and the hotel was a nightmare despite being 5 star.

The worst one for me was Lanzarote. I thought it would be cheap with lots to do and it was neither. This was the only holiday I cried on because after two days we'd run out of things to do.

For both of these I was so happy to get home.

Absolutely Dublin. Whoever said it was like Leeds but expensive was spot on (and I quite like Leeds, for what it is, but it's not a capital city).

I remember the first time I went into Trinity College, it was wet and there was literally a stream running out of the main gate. Not 'a bit wet but jump over the puddle,' and actual stream, like 'you can't get in without getting your feet soaked'. And then they ponce around pretending it's the Oxbridge of Ireland. I also found the pubs quite unpleasant to be in as a woman - a bit like England in the 90s.

Yes.
This is a thread about places that didn't meet expectations. Unsurprisingly therefore, many of the expectations people had were wrong.
I'm not unique in being foolish enough to believe in Hollywood New York before I went there.

Even the locals will often you that the modern city is a mess, but I love the Plaka, the old part. We’ve stayed several times in a little hotel in a leafy square in the old city - from our little balcony we can see the Acropolis all lit up at night.

Cape Verde

We were the same, our kids loved it, mainly the rides, but we found it dreadful, but made a yearly trip when we were at one of our Lake district holidays.

I like most places - I never went anywhere as a kid and always enjoy going to new places so don't tend to get disappointed even if there are issues.

However I'd be happy never to go back to:
Melbourne (24 hours is a long flight to go to what is essentially a cleaner Manchester without the vibes)
Florence
Any AI resort in Cuba
Tulum (rest of Yucatan is fab though)
Dublin (like a more boring Reading)