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.

I was most disappointed in Budapest. Buda side was dull and Pest was full of beggars and some awful poverty in areas. The underpasses to get across the roads gave me the shivers. It was also surprisingly expensive the last time I went. I gave it a second chance about 5 years later as everyone raves about it and I still disliked the place.

Riga, Oslo, Cuba and Corfu also make it to my dislike list. Though in fairness only Cuba had been on my bucket list. I found Cuba terribly exploitive and in Havana I ended up in two screaming rows with con artists who got pretty aggressive and tried to charge far more than was agreed upfront. Great crumbling city though, which is equally fabulous and a bit baffling (tourist dollar v local and private v public restaurants).

I was pleasantly surprised with Kraków and i always recommend it for a short break.

I like Oslo too but actually Bergen is fantastic - amazing history and just wonderful.

Isle of Wight - loved it. It's a time machine back to 1972 ! We had been for a walk in the afternoon and sat on the beach cooling our feet in the sea at about 6pm. We avoided the obviously touristy places and had a great time. We always try and stay in the same self catering place as it's so nice. The pubs are great. The café in the old Rex Cinema is fab.

Turkey - I remember having a nice time & not that many street hawkers. We had booked a day trip & wanted some cold water to take with us. They guy in the little shop rummaged around at the bottom of the chiller to get us a couple of bottles of water that were half frozen so they would be chilled for longer in the heat of the Turkish sun.

We had a day trip to Saclakent Gorge and after lunch we went walking up this cool gorge paddling through the water. OK, the lamb served in the restaurants was probably goat, but hey.

Dublin was good. The Guinness Factory. Kilmarnham Gaol. The bus tour around the city. Eating steak on Hannover Quay. Seafood at Bentleys the next night. We could have hired a bike from one of those coin operated bike hire places but preferred to walk. Nice place. Nice people. Had lunch at, 'The Jam Factory' thinking it was an old jam factory. No. Jam as in guitar playing sessions they had in the evening. This was at the end of a week long driving holiday in Eire. Again, all good.

Paris - magical city of light. Was taken there by my boyf now husband back when we were dating. (Oh except for a minor altercation with a street urchin near the Sorbonne who tried to grab the bottle of water I was holding. My husband intervened and got a kick in the nuts for his trouble. He tried to tell the Gendames what had happened but did not know the French for, 'kicked in the knackers'.) I also ran the Paris Marathon in 2010. Fantastique.

Sydney - very good, but like others have said. Why would you want to live there ? It's just a city. Once you get over the touristy bits you might as well be just about anywhere. Loved Circular Quay and Sydney Harbour Bridge though.

Cook Islands - glorious lagoon.

Auckland - very good but will always be loaded with, 'emotional baggage' as my in-laws live there.

Cyprus - went to Paphos in 1987 and thought it was great.

London - always going to love it.

Blackpool - getting the tram back into town from Fleetwood in the evening when the illuminations are on was just magical. Harry Ramsdens fish and chips were delicious too.

Barcelona - walked round everywhere not one beggar or any aggro. Las Ramblas, the markets, the sex museum, the beach, Sacre Familia, Park Guell where Gaudi used to live. All good.

Gibraltar - utter dump with a dreary town centre full of duty free shops
Kuta in Bali - there for just one night en route to Ubud - just awful
Oslo - most boring capital city on the planet and ridiculously expensive too
Yogyakarta - another utter dump. We stayed on the outskirts which was very nice, but the centre is dreadful. The Sultan's palace was so bad it quickly became the highlight of the holiday! Kids still talk about it now!
Christchurch NZ - FFS just get on with the rebuilding - looks like a bloody war zone in the centre.
Queenstown NZ - far too many tourists, must be awful living there
Some of my favourites:
Hanoi
Hong Kong
Margaret River
Prague

Loved Bangkok as I thought it was one of the most exciting places I've ever been.

Hated Nice. Boring, naff.

I'm just back from Copenhagen tonight and I loved it .

Chicago - this was my unexpectedly great experience. I felt to daunted to visit as a solo voyager on a earlier trip to America. However I went with my husband and had a great time. The city is clean. The people are friendly. The food is great. We went up the Sears Tower to the observation deck. It was at night time, it was just great. We had late supper at the Palmer Court Hotel on our way back. Just great. I got a nice Chicago Cubs American Football sports shirt from a second hand shop in a suburb of Chicago called Belmont.

I also got a Nike brand t-shirt that was relevant to Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

The trains run on overhead steel girders. The train stops at different stops on the same street. We thought we were lost when we got off but followed the football fans towards Soldier Field stadium and all was good again.

Walked around the lake. Got a boat trip across the lake.

We then went on to Alaska and had a great time there too.

I can't remember a properly awful holiday or destination.

Iceland was grey and miserable - everyone says it's stunning scenery but we just had grey fog and drizzle so couldn't see anything apart from wet air for 3 days. Plus alcohol everything is very expensive.

Cork - had been desperate to visit Ireland for years, but what a disappointment. Everyone we came into contact with was openly rude, whilst simultaneously sucking up to the American tourists. We stayed in one small village where the locals were openly hostile - I was very glad to leave.
Loved Florida, so much so that we got married on a beach in Sarasota at sunset and it was perfect.

arfur where do you usually stay? As a couple of with children too? May have some ideas.

I expected to like Vegas. I absolutely loved it but then again I live in AD and spent years in Dubai, so what do I know

I also expected to love San Francisco. Was very meh, and one of the few times I've ever felt on edge the whole time we were there.

Maldives was boring. 2 weeks on an island with chuff all to do.

Paris was meh.

Australia I still hate and lived there for 2 years. I'm in no hurry to return.

Tunisia was a shit hole. The beach was covered in fag butts left by the Russians

Loved Nice for a Xmas sun weekend break, was very family friendly.

Love NY and been loads since.

Loved Lanzarote, thought I'd hate it.

Bulgaria was lovely, we've been in summer and also skiing in Plovdiv in winter - beautiful and not busy and considerably cheaper than the more well known ski resorts!

Also have to say I love Dubai - I live here and it is so so much more than glitzy hotels and malls, we leave that to the tourists!!! 10 minutes out of the city has some amazing, cultural places to visit and camping out in the desert and the stunning sunsets will forever be one of my favourite things to do. As so many places living here is totally different to holidaying here

In UK have to say I hate Brighton and Exeter - grubby, unfriendly and boring

Shanghai Diva WTF about Christchurch? I'm sure the locals would love to have their city repaired, everyone I know there is over living in chaos.

The casual racism towards Australians here never fails to bemuse me.

That's my point. It's five years after the earthquake - do something! It seemed when I was there this year that so much time was being spent in considering plans that nothing had happened. I am sure it's hellish for the locals.

Hated:
Barcelona , went on NYE and there were rivers, no seas of piss. Disgusting.
Madrid. Food. Yuck.
Paris, been a few times and it's beautiful but sick of rudeness wouldn't go back now

Loved:
Lanzarote, loved it, something lovely about that place and so relaxed.
Berlin - want to go back
Finland . Cakes are yum.
Estonia. Stunning. Mid week so missed stag and hens.
Isle of Wight, reminds me to go back with dad
Bologna. Got lost driving and lovely lovely people.

Sad about Sidari. Went there 24 years ago and it was gorgeous !

Oh and loved NY and unexpectedly Washington - great sightseeing.
Hated LA. That's top of dislike list

Loved Canada, all of it

I'm surprised by some of the hates on here and can only deduce that people didn't stray too far from the main tourist areas, but glad to see a lot of love for Lanzarote.

It truely is fabulous but it took quite a lot of persuading from me to DP for him to agree for us to go. We've since had holidays in loads of classic 'touristy' places like Lanzarote, Tenerife, Mallorca, Costa del Sol etc and always make a point of staying in smaller resorts and eating where the locals eat - makes for a totally different experience to most people's perception of these places and I can heartily recommend it.

We're even probably going to try Benidorm, going for a big fiesta in March (it will be DPs birthday while we are there) and having done my research, I am reassured that there are tapas bars and proper Spanish culture if you know where to look.

Interesting that someone mentioned being stared at in Madrid - that was my lasting memory too. I was there for work but had a couple of days free so saw a bit of the city and was stared at a lot. I am visually obviously not Spanish - classic English rose colouring and taller than the average Spanish woman. But it was quite unnerving how common it was.

Berlin was fabulous. I expected to like it but it was amazing. People are lovely, food was amazing and there is so much to do.

Loved Dublin. Going back in September.

Can't think of anywhere I haven't liked.

Lincoln was absolutely beautiful particularly the cathedral. I was staying in newark and strayed into lincoln. Loved it more than i expected to.

I like dublin. Lots of beautiful places to visit and we had no problem finding traditional Irish pubs to sit by the fire and listen to a traditional irish band. It was expensive though.

Hated paris. The only good thing was the metro and seeing notre dame cathedral. Otherwise, smelly, dirty, overcrowded, people were rude and pushy and quite a lot of the men were pervy.

Rhodes was a shit hole. Upset me going to lindos and seeing tiny little donkeys hauling adults, some of them very very overweight, up and down an extremely steep hill. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. The beaches were shit and the people not very friendly. As someone said like a building site.

Tenerife was nicer than i thought. Lanzarote was pretty but there wasn't much to do once you've been up the lava fields.

Don't get the hate for Budapest.Beautiful buildings,cheap, variety of restaurants and amazing spas. Stayed in a lovely hotel with really friendly and helpful staff, fabulous cocktails and had the most varied and delicious breakfast buffet ever, open from 7-12. Would definitely go back!

Loved Liverpool Cornwall is fab but only off season I d never go in the holidays. North Devon is lovely.

Wasn't keen on Wales but I'd try it again now the kids are older It may be different without a baby in tow.

Hated Ireland as a family holiday. Never never again No where to eat expensive dirty beaches Grim grim grim. Took forever to get there As a adult city break tho I may enjoy it.

Love New York. Vagus and Orlando were fun. Grand Canyon amazing

Loved Maldives Not keen on Caribbean but the people are friendly.

Love haldikiki Santorini was nice but beaches disappointing. Preferred Fira to oia as a town.

Portugal was ok but needed a car. Loved Costa Dorada and enjoyed Barcelona in April. Would be too hot later in the year I think

Love love love Italy but Pisa is a dump and Venice is too expensive. Eat out of the main bits and it's ok though.

Canada amazing but too cold in January 😬 Love Slovenia.

On the basis of this thread I've just booked a week in lanzarote for half term

Not understand the hate for Norfolk.
Anyone want to explain.

Love the Gulf coast in Florida.
Barcelona will always have a special place in my heart.
Biarritz is nice but the beaches have tiny bits of broken down plastic from the sea on them.
Boston is a fab city. More relaxing than NY.
Koh Samui is great. Very friendly people and nice beaches.
Love Rome, The history astounds me.

Just arrived in Bangkok. I'm not liking it much.

I think people that don't like Norfolk haven't been to the right places there. It's a lovely county.

I went to Barcelona about 20 years ago and hated it. I went again a few years ago with a group of friends and loved it. Maybe I was just lucky, but the atmosphere seemed much more relaxed, and much safer.