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.

Disneyland Paris - I’ve had days out at Alton towers and chessington which were better for a fraction of the price. I just didn’t quite get the hype.

Totally agree about San Francisco, the poverty and homelessness was so shocking, there were so many people with severe and highly visible needs not being met - I saw a row of people just and on the street with various missing limbs at one point, waiting for a community health clinic to open. No-one had a wheelchair. It just felt like people were abandoned there, really surprised me in such a rich country. It made the really pretty, very expensive parts of the city feel kind of grotesque.

Las Vegas made me feel physically sick.

Nit quite sure why everyone raves about Edinburgh.

Because it is breath-takingly beautiful, fascinating and full of interesting history and brilliant places to eat and drink. Not to mention the amazing (free!) museums and art galleries. The shops on George Street and the new St James Quarter are great. Saturday Farmer's Market (where you can also buy restaurant meals), great theatre, amazing Arts scene, the Fringe....Yeah, actually, you're right. I can't see it either. What a dump. :rolleyes:

We weren’t keen on our hotel, funnily enough someone I worked with loved it there and went for her honeymoon.

I remember Mont St Michel very fondly as when I was a child my dad and I marched up there and visited the Abbey at the top. We saw the hole in the floor where they dropped dead monks into the sea (no space to bury them)... We loved it!

I didn't enjoy Las Vegas, but 10 days was far too long. Probably 3-4 days would be perfect.

The only place I've visited with high expectations and been slightly disappointed with is Prague. There was a lot to like, but somehow it just didn't quite hit the spot for me.

On the other hand, the one place I've been that I wasn't expecting to like very much is Disney World Florida and I ended up absolutely loving it. So much so that we've been several times and are planning another trip next year.

Mykonos. Over crowded, to sit at a table by the sea in Mykonos town you had to all be ordering cocktails even at 10am. Over priced .
me neither

Lake District (specifically Windermere) and Dublin.

Verona a let down. Could have done it in a day. Not over invested in Cairo (shithole) or Marrakesh but found a great restaurant which only served fresh cous one day a week in front of a roaring fire (it was winter) which was worth it and watching the locals come out of a loo roll shop (well that's what was in the window) with brown bags (containing alcohol ha ha). Athens loved - the ruins preserved for viewing on the underground stations got me hooked although granted some seedier areas like all cities. Generally felt safe though. Agree Paphos a bit meh. Paris yuk. Delhi didn't feel safe at all and disappointed with Taj Mahal maybe because it's so iconic. I guess we are all different which is great.

We did and the Pamplemousse gardens but it was pouring with rain so that didn’t help. We were on the quieter side of the Island so everything was a cab ride away.

Kuala Lumpur. Would like to go back to Malaysia at some point but I think I’d head to Singapore first and travel on locally from there instead.

Agree about Naples - couldn't wait to get out. Northern Cyprus was lovely.

Athens for me was great for 4 days at the beginning of May this year. Any longer would not have been so good.

There was nothing likeable about it, it's where dreams go to die. After an amazing two weeks on route 66, we managed a day in Vegas then binned it off for some national parks before we flew home.

Vietnam - we went 20 years ago and again recently, loved it the first time but the recent trip was a disappointment in comparison, it has changed SO much and there is so much over tourism (yes I know we were part of it)

Barbados - to be fair I only saw one resort and beach but the beach was so-so and the food was really dull

Florence - got sick of Madonna and Childs, probably our fault for trying to fit in too many galleries

Dubai - nothing there except manufactured tourist attractions, and a lot of traffic

Conversely I enjoyed

Venice
Barcelona
Paris
Split
Carcassone
Mauritius (for a resort holiday)
Marrakech
India

Never been to Dublin or the Algarve and this thread has reinforced my doubts.

It is unfathomable to me that people willingly go to vegas.

NYC on the other hand I absolutely love but have been there enough times now that we rarely do anything touristy.

I went to San Francisco 20 years ago and saw a spark of what made it iconic but went back more recently and was shocked by how dangerous and rundown it was. Such a shame. And sooo expensive too.

Agree about Dublin. Also dislike Paris and Athens.

I love Barcelona and Nice, though.

San Francisco. It's an unpopular opinion amongst pretty much everyone I know but I really didn't rate it.

Came here to say the same!!! Lake District, Windermere was just a poky old town. And utterly boring.

The Queen Mary, at Long beach, California.

Lanzarote

Vegas without a doubt

Our family approach to deciding if something is worth waiting for is to ask 'but is it as long as Peter Pan?'
7 years later DS still absolutely insistent it was worth the wait!