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.

I know Nice quite well and your post made me 😂😂

No one would go to Nice for its beaches. It’s a town so yes it’s noisy and busy etc….

It makes me think that some places are often seen as ‘iconic’ so attractive but people forget that it doesn’t mean they’ll then get the ‘beautiful touristyI’ experience they expect.
In your case, beautiful quiet beaches when the beach is just next to one of the main arteries of the town.

Nice and Cannes! I thought it would be terribly glamorous with fab hotels and restaurants, but was very disappointed - both were dirty, very expensive and not much to do. The best part of the holiday was taking the train from Nice to Monte Carlo and walking down into the town from the station!

Loved and love NYC though - just everything about it is exciting, bright, loud and fun! One thing - people on here are always talking about the 'smell of weed' - I honestly have no idea what this smells like as have never encountered it. Can anyone explain, please?

was full of showy people looking like Eastern European mafia straight from the 90s

Ha ha that’s how I felt in Cyprus. Russian also. I enjoyed watching it all. But I thought in Cyprus perhaps they actually Are Eastern European / Russian mafia..

The smell of weed? It’s quite distinctive if you know it! Quite… herbal.

Of course! But the average person has probably seen numerous theme parks, but only one Carcassonne for example. So the real thing looks ‘fake’, even though it’s not! It’s not a complaint, merely an observation. It’s quite psychologically unsettling because your subconscious is telling you it isn’t real, but it is!

I have been to Nice several times, a couple of times stayed for a week. Also been to Cannes and countless little towns on the shore. But I forget every time how much I dislike Nice. The smell, the people... urgh.

I travelled around France for a bit in a car, so have been to different places. My last holiday was Corsica and it was amazing. I also love small towns with medieval buildings, they are stunning. But generally, I much prefer Italy. It is much more charming - even when scruffy. And people are much friendlier, you cant deny that.

Agree, it is. Baffled that anyone would find it otherwise.

Actually, I meant to say re a post way upthread about Niagara Falls, the US and Canadian sides are quite different. Both are geared up for tourists, and you can do and see different things on each side, but the Canadian side is far more commercialised as it’s traditionally been a place for US residents to cross the border and party. (Drinking age in Canada is only 18/19 rather than 21 and you can smoke Cubans.) My personal experience of both sides is dated, and the new worries about border control may have reduced the casual traffic, but it always used to be that the US was the less hectic and seedy side!

Weed smell: take equal parts dog poo, patchouli and oregano and then sent fire to them. Voila. To get the experience walk out of any non-posh Zone two tube station any time after 7pm and inhale.

I personally think it's somewhat xenophobic to complain about people looking Eastern European. I think the nicer Mediterranean and Aegean beach resorts have lots of Eastern European tourists these days and don't feel any the worse for it.

We did enjoy it, but I was a little bit underwhelmed with Bali. But that was probably down to all the raving about it I’d read before. I can imagine that before mass tourism was a thing, it really was an idyllic sort of place.

Have been to New York twice and hated it both times. My husband loves it.

I am going to Marrakech in October and fear I won’t like it there either

I often think that going to a city/place that has been hyped up to the gills can be a disappointing experience sometimes. For me, I feel I should be so excited to be at the the Eiffel Tower, the Acropolis, Venice and so on, that when I get there, I realise that I am just one of millions doing the same thing, jostling for a selfie, crowding out everything and it can be overwhelming. I found myself just wanting to get out asap, but at the same time doing exactly the same as all the other tourists! We are all part of it and we are all different.

I have never been to Rome. Been all over Italy, but never made it there, so it's the big box to be ticked. Am going in September and am half afraid to look forward to it! Decided to stay at the coast in Ostia and take the train into Rome (I have 8 days), on as many days as I feel like it. Half an hour away. Will be beside the ancient site of Ostia Antica and the Portus harbour so I'll get my fix of Roman remains also. I am excited, but with trepidation. Still, I can sit on my balcony overlooking the sea if Rome itself becomes too much. I'll be a part of it like the millions of others!

I went to New York 28 years ago so pre 9/11. It was a bit of a culture shock at first but I ended up absolutely loving it.

I’ve already been to Victoria and Iguazu falls, can’t help feeling I would find Niagara a bit underwhelming!

Where do you live that you've never smelled weed? Even when driving, I often get a whiff from the car in front. It's everywhere! By the way, I don't smoke but I do quite like the smell of weed.

Paris! Very underwhelming and smelt of sewage in many areas. For everyone saying Venice, try going in November/early December - it's absolutely magic and so different from the spring and summer months.

Let down by an industry selling places as some kind of utopia, nah, if you want Disneyland, go to Disneyland (but I suspect Disneyland isn’t like the brochure either).

Nothing makes me more angry when people refer to places as a shithole, how disrespectful and lacking in insight.

These threads always go the same way…

X “This place is an absolute shithole” (usually based on a brief visit where the visitor made minimal effort to leave their all inc hotel and actually see/experience anything on offer)
Y “Oh no it isn’t, it’s a wonderful place”.

Very true. It’s magical from afar, takes forever to get there and is a packed out, tat-filled hell-hole. I wondered if it might be different off-season though. Saint Malo was more appealing.

I’m just back from the Algarve and I have to say I preferred Porto. There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with the Algarve (clearly, being as it’s a world-wide tourist destination) but I kept feeling I wasn’t getting the point. Which may well be golf and sunbathing.

NYC was an experience like no other but not what it was twenty years ago.

Mont St Michel outside peak periods is still wonderful IME. I didn’t recognise it when I stupidly took the kids there in August. It’s been packed with tourist shops for decades (I had a pair of MSM dangly earrings from a trip there in the early 90s and DH has fond memories of the flick knives he and his mates bought on a school trip in the 80s) but most of the year you can wander up and down to the abbey without engaging with them if you don’t want to.

@GreenLemonade totally agree about carvoeiro, restaurants were average at best, and resorts like that are 10 a penny in Majorca with better food!! I didn’t like the Algarveatall even Lagos- all very average and the ocean isnt nice to swim in - can’t see the appeal

I didn’t like Venice either - felt an enormous rip off, smelly and ridiculously crowded

I loathed Dubai - boring and expensive

first time I went to LA wasn’t thrilled but we’ve been quite a few times now for work and I know it a lot better - so I just stick to West Hollywood/ studio city/ Melrose/Beverly Hills/ the Grove areas and a day trip to Santa Monica pier and now enjoy it a lot Fira bit of bling in the sun

Barcelona & Rome.

Visited Rome over 10 years ago and loved it. Went back 2 years ago and can't walk down the street without being hassled now.

Wales- the locals were rude and obnoxious
Florida- overhyped and too busy

Jamaica was disappointing we were on a cruise, beaches were nice but very pushy in taxi queues to beach trying to get us to go further beaches or to try places to eat.Saw a tourist elderly lady getting one length of beads in her hair she kept saying one holding one finger upon but they kept going and she ended up with many beads and she had to pay , her son came up to complain and some men appeared so he backed off. We felt unsafe getting taxi back as he demanded more money before he unlocked doors for his daughters “ birthday treat”
Next stop was Grand Caymen I said this is calmer/ nicer than Jamaica the lady at the till said I’m from Jamaica I went oops and then she laughed and said
you are right!
Italy is beautiful well Naples isn’t but it’s just a big port city but so many lovely places to see.
Washington DC was even better than I thought it would be and very walkable city centre.

Rome