Holiday destinations that were unexpectedly lovely OR awful.

[NickiFury]

Torremolinos - ex booked it and I really didn't want to go. It was beautiful, amazing food, beach, perfect for kids, been back loads since.

Thailand - I hated it from the moment I left Bangkok airport, Krabi down by the coast was ok but the rest of the time was awful, I actually cried with relief when we touched down at Heathrow.

And agree with everyone on Croatia - a complete surprise. Flew into Dubrovnic, then ferry to Korcula and Split. All idyllic.

Hated Venice. Toddler DS was pushed over and cut his face within minutes of arriving. Very hot and busy . Gondola ride underwhelming and food and drink extortionate!
After some poor experiences in Paris did not expect to like Nice but I loved it. The people were so friendly and lots of places to visit in the area.
Loved the Isle of Bute off west coast of Scotland. It has Palm trees and beautiful beaches

Lanzarote - booked a cycling hol there but was so convinced I wouldn't like the place was googling flights home while waiting for my flight out. Amazing lunar landscape, beautiful clean beaches and the greenest sea, lovely people. Also love Paris, New York, Edinburgh, Las Vegas. Not feeling the love for Norfolk, Dublin, Cork, Monaco, Quebec, Venice.

Western Australia - didn't want to go really, WA sa but meh about it, got there spent time in Perth, travelled to Margaret river - amazing spot, loved the rest of that trip, completely unexpected!

, Fraser Island, Gold Coast Australia - ugh worst holiday ever.

Had an amazing holiday experience in Biarritz / st Jean de Luz

Have horrible holiday experience in st Jean de Luz (second

I feel sorry for anyone taking foreign holidays before budget airlines and the Internet were invented. People used to book two weeks in the sun based on five photographs in a Thomas Cook brochure. Christ knows how some of them must have felt on arrival.

How can you write off Mexico?

I liked Venice, thought it would be too touristy but wandering around the back streets and squares at night was lovely, as was the cake and the lovely glass shops.

Generally though, I have been disappointed by Italy - it often seems dirty, loud, really sexist and as someone said, decades out of touch. Especially the food in many places. I've had far better "Italian" food at Zizzi and Pizza Express than the shabby/boring salads and pizzas I've had actually in Italy - with only a couple of exceptions. And also it is not as child-friendly as it's supposed to be either. Trying to get cafes to do a small plate of pasta for DD was a total PITA! They just did not get it.

Venice - quite disappointing, over crowded, cliched, stinky,!hot.

Lucca (Italy) fabulous walled town with amazing food and restaurants, loved it

Hated Barcelona and Madrid; too many really obvious pickpockets and the food was bloody awful everywhere. However, a cheesy bit of coast by Alicante turned out to be a lot of fun.

Bucharest is horrible, but the Transylvanian mountain region is lovely.

Oslo is one of the most boring places ever.

Tallinn is one of the best places I have ever been in my life. Such lovely people and such a sweet little city.

Loved Singapore, also wanted to move there!

Hated the one day trip we did to Malaysia. The people were just so rude and I was shocked and how dirty and full of litter it was.

Hated dubai. Its just a hot milton keynes. Honestly, its just shopping ctrs, has a ski slope. Save your money and go milton keynes instead!!
Sydney to me was just like a hot british city. i dont want to travel that far to experience what i could get to in half an hour on the train to.

'Hot Milton Keynes'

workshyfop without hijacking the thread, can you please tell me about Fukuoka I'm about to head there solo for 2 months and am bricking it!! I haven't come across anyone who's been

Agree SharkBaitOohHaha London has become too corporate

Still quirky places about but getting harder to find though one good thing it is much cleaner than it was thankfully

Venice was even more magical than I thought it would be.

Loved Lanzarote, and I wasn't expecting to. Most of the island is very beautiful, only a small part is British cafes and the like.

Also loved Falkland Islands which we were not expecting to. It is like Scotland, very beautiful, but with lots of penguin colonies, amd the people were lovely

Didn't like Vienna.Very nice place, but seemed very dull, boring and quite English. The only thing I liked was the amazing cakes.

Didn't like New York, which was a surprise.

Also didn't like Venice. But I went during the hottest month and it was extremely over crowded. Might be totally different at a less popular time.

Didn't like Capri. Not as attractive as most of the surrounding Amalfi coast, and just seemed to be full of very expensive clothes shops, and not much else.

Another one for santorini. Complete dump full of towie wannabes.

I wonder if the people who hated Milan went in August?

Loved Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, Seville, Bruges. Loved Sicily, although Catania was a bit of a kip. Loved loved loved Venice, went in late April, walked everywhere, got right off the beaten track ate cheap but wonderful food, everyone we encountered was lovely. We speak Italian, don't know if that helped.
Underwhelmed by Dublin, just underwhelmed.
Hated Paris, Rome, Brussels - jeez that is a soulless place.

I have never been to countless places mentioned on here, never had 'a week's holiday in the sun' growing up, or now.

MyLlamasGoneBananas come to Tarragona and i'll buy you a drink

AnyFucker have you seen a Spanish film called Torremolinos 73? I highly recommend. Bittersweet.

I had fun in Sydney but it was basically Britain with sun.

Agree re Lanzarote -it was awesome. Couldn't fault it.

Found Brussels very drab.

Agree re South Wales coast. Liked Cardiff too, but it was quite expensive.

Florida Orlando loved it went to a trip to the florida Keys it was beautiful thought i would be a bit meh

Playas des americas in tennerife shithole hated it

London was meh

I love London! I could happily have a holiday there on my own for a week, just shopping and going to museums and galleries. But I used to live there and that sucked.

Favourite place in the world - Maldives !
Loved Las Vegas, Prague and Budapest!
Kraków - okish
Hated Benidorm - went as a teenager and didn't know what to expect and thought we might be able to find a tapas bar - only found burger and chips and English places everywhere !

Waterford in Ireland, I wasn't really feeling a week there for a summer holiday but we had such a great time, did loads of stuff we hadn't done (sea fishing, horse riding with the kids etc) and the people are just so lovely. We're going back again this summer. It'll rain every day at some point but the sun always shines in the evenings.