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.

Grand Cayman . . . flat and boring if you're not into diving
Jamaica . . . absolutely stunning!!

Loved Rouen.
Not impressed by Marmaris in Turkey. Not a good place for a young woman to go.
Nairobi was a bit scary but I loved the more rural parts of Kenya I stayed in.

I honestly don't take much notice of anything anyone says on here... not being rude but... one person's Utopia is another person's hell.

It's all a matter of circumstances isn't it? Pick a place... any place... throw in rude locals, grotty hotel and a restaurant where the food is crap, and you'll hate it. Someone else can go to the same place and chat to a local who helps you find the right bus, your hotel is quaint and atmospheric and you ate the best pork dish you've ever had... and it will be heaven.

There's lots of places on here that people hate, and I've loved and vice versa. Some have really made me laugh

My worst places

India - all of it. Travelled the country and hated the culture, the people the filth. New Delhi traffic. Dead cows on the pavement - people openly defecating, I found it lacking in anything spiritual which I wasn't expecting.

Tenerife and Crete. Soulless, windy tourist traps.

Vienna. Boring, couldn't find a thing of interest to do.

South Africa. Beautiful in places but terrifying rates of car accidents, rapes and murders. I felt desperately unsafe the whole time I was there.

My favourite places

Nepal. Amazing, beautiful. The people were wonderful, I was on my own there for a month and I loved it.

Gibraltar. Went there in my early twenties and snogged a different sailor every night for 14 nights

Costa Del Sol especially Torremelinos - beautiful, spotlessly clean. Classier than it sounds.

Turkey. I know some resorts are naff but generally I love the country. So much culture. Lots of sexual harassment though. You have to be resilient there.

Rhodes and Ibiza - much nicer than some of the other resorts.

Sardinia and Corsica. Beautiful and classy.

Edinburgh and London both such lively, energetic cities. Love them both with a passion.

Malta, boring and the local men are very rude

Love Australia

El Gouna in Egypt was ok but the airport in Hurghada was enough to put me off ever going back - absolute chaos, like being stuck in a cattle market - basically an airport full of people all pushing themselves towards passport control at the same time, everyone shouting and swearing at each other and people trying to grab your suitcases off you to carry them through arrivals for a tip! Err no thanks! Them got stuck on a bus that didn't go anywhere for two hours in 38 degree heat. Horrid.

I found Venice strange. Fabulously beautiful, but like a kind of middle class theme park. It didn't feel like a city but like a huge museum. I still had so much fun, but I was bemused by it as a place.

I loved Vienna (big fan of the architecture, Otto Wagner, and SO much great art I couldn't fit in everything I wanted to se etc) but I felt like the people were really unfriendly, and the attitude in some of the cafes was appalling. It is completely unclear whether you're supposed to seat yourself or wait to be seated, and you get really told off for doing the wrong thing - I actually cried. I speak reasonable German, too, so it wasn't a language issue.

I loved Crete. Get off the resorts, hire a car, and get a villa in the countryside in a real village in May, when the flowers are in bloom. The Cretans are the most wonderful, generous, bonkers, friendly, crazy people! I would go back in a heartbeat. The resorts, however, did look like hell holes from a distance.

I found Japan quite difficult at times. Again, an amazing country, with so much that is beautiful to see - but I also witnessed some really reactionary attitudes to women and people from the BME community. It's also hard to find things to eat if you're veggie.

Encouraged to read a few comments about liking Belfast. We're trying hard!!

Love:
France -esp Annecy, Puy du Dom and some parts of Brittany
San Francisco, New York and Rhode Island (RI was in March - Lovely time to visit and not too busy)
Bavaria

Dislike:
Gran Canaria - just too grey and soulless
Tenerife - Playa de Las Americas was a shithole imo
Cyprus - honeymoon with exDH so maybe that's why!!

HitList:
Sri Lanka
Iceland
Bergen/Fjords
Lake Garda
New Zealand

Loved: Germany, Austria, Corfu, Costa Rics, Australia and NZ. Cornwall.

Hated: Dubai, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Spain

I found people in Vienna so nice and helpful! Falling over themselves to give us directions and some even us walked with us to make sure we got where we were meant to go.

How can anyone hate all of Spain?

Loved San Francisco, Yellowstone. Didn't like Orlando, las vagas.
Love France, didn't like salou at all!
Love Austria, Germany.
Really enjoyed Pisa and Pompeii.

Think it depends on lots of things, accomodation, the weather and what you like. I don't like beaches at all so even a pretty beach would count as a bad holiday.

How can anyone hate all of Spain

By assuming, wrongly of course, that Spain = Benidorm, Magaluf, Playa de las Americas etc

outofsightoutofmind There are actually Welsh people on this thread, y'know. Your holiday experience isn't representative of the entire country. Obviously!

My city is getting a bad press

Mitzy - Oh, I am generalising, and you are quite right to pull me up on it. Really, all of the bad stuff happened in those grand old cafes. Outside of that, in the heuriger and more modern restaurants, people were absolutely lovely. One lady even gave me an ice cream because I looked hot.

I should have been clearer about that in my post. Go to Vienna, people, but just avoid those old cafes!

I thought I would hate Las Vegas because it is so tacky. Actually I loved it! The tackiness was tacky in a really fun way and there was so much to see and do, and the people watching was immense.

Great thread!

Another vote for Berlin - truly amazing city. Would return in a heartbeat.
Surprised to have really liked Brussels, Dusseldorf, Zaragoza.

I live in Dorset so it's interesting to read people's views on it! Agree with a PP that Brownsea Island is wonderful.

Everything in and about Marrakesh was hard work, so that was a long-time dream shattered. Milan was dull, Bergamo was unpleasant and I have no desire to set foot in Italy again. Warsaw and Krakow (in 1999) were awful - people were universally and inexplicably rude.

I've really enjoyed this thread. Is it ok with you OP if I report it so it can be moved to another topic that doesn't disappear after 90 days? I've never been on a plane or had a passport but would love to travel when my kids are older. Nice to see the love for lanzarote. Would like to go in our first ever holiday there.

To the pp that said Manchester you're wronger than a wrong thing in wrong town. We went one day and had a fab time. Beautiful art galleries, IWM, stunning buildings like the town hall and central library. Very easy to get to each place thanks to the free and frequent shuttle bus. We had a delicious lunch in the northern quarter ultra cheap due to a man handing vouchers out further down the street. Then we spent an hour in Afflecks palace looking at all the weird and wonderful items for sale. Afterwards we got a bit lost trying to find our way to Oxford Rd station but were rescued by a lovely homeless man and his gorgeous chocolate lab. We had a couple of hours to kill so went to Manchester museum to see Stan the T-Rex and the supposedly haunted spinning Egyptian statue. We had a wonderful time. The only downside were the roadworks for the new tramlines. But they'll be gone by the time we return. It was lovely. And didn't rain once. :o

I think Manchester is maybe one of the cities that works better as somewhere to live rather than somewhere to go for a great weekend. I thought it was okay but maybe I'd have enjoyed it more if there with a local.

Loved...
Edinburgh
West coast of Scotland
Paris
Amsterdam
London
Cologne
Munich
Rome
Savannah, Georgia
Colmar in France, very pretty and the wine road goes through some of the prettiest villages you will ever see.

Hated...
Naples, dirty, crime, rude people
Sardinia, much the same complaints as above but add over crowded in the summer
Stuttgart, the most stand-offish people anywhere.