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.

Cannes... My sister adores it there so I flew down to stay with her for a weekend while my DDs were with their Grandma last summer. Wish I hadn't bothered. Seriously. There is a beautiful shore line but I cannot understand the "hype". Nice is so much nicer (lol), and more interesting too!

New York City - I have terrible anxiety about being in built up places where I feel there are too many people around (I HATE London for longer than a day), but just didn't feel that way in NYC. I was only supposed to stay a couple of nights en route to Canada but ended up staying a week. THE SHOPPING

Hated Australia, Bulgaria, Thailand.
Loved Bologna, Corsica, Las Vegas.

San Sebastian. DH & I were living in Barcelona and everyone there told us over and over again how lovely it was. So we took an overnight train there. I was 3 month pg and couldn't walk into any of the restaurants without wanting to throw up. One of the days there was a general strike and everything was closed. We didn't eat all day. And to top it all off, it looked like Scarborough. So not any different to what we would have seen at home.

Didn't take to Barbados. Didn't realise how small the island was. Dh and I saw all the sights in 4 days and were at a bit of a loss of what to do with the other 3.
Clearly others love it. We met loads of couple who go every year. Just a bit small for us.

Really enjoyed New York even though I thought I'd hate it (don't do city breaks normally). Loads of fun and really hectic.

Agree with Cannes, the way how the hotels charge you to use the beach is a disgrace. There is also nothing to do there. Just don't get the hype.

I loved Mallorca, I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it but it's a gorgeous island. We stayed in Puerto de Soller and Valldemossa.

Closer to home.

Hated Brighton it was raining, busy and just loads of shops and bars and even the eye was boring. Really don't get the vibe that everyone talks about.

Loved London even though it was busy. So much history and quirkiness so much to do despite all the people.

Absolutely loved Lanzarote, we booked a cheap winter week away thinking that anything would be better than January in rainy Britain and were blown away. We hir d a car and drove around the island. It's just beautiful, development is very restricted and the food was fabulous

Disliked Orlando intensely. We booked a Disney trip for the kids, endured the parks for their sake and were just astonished by what a horrible place it is. Bad traffic, terrible food, crowds and tack everywhere. Elsewhere in Florida though, even 20 minutes out of Orlando was very nice. The gulf coast and Sarasota area is fabulous and just breathtaking. Anyone who thinks Florida is all about Orlando is seriously missing out

Florescent underwhelmed me. Don't get me wrong, there are some incredibly beautiful things there, it was just so hideously crowed it was ruined. I went round things and barely saw them, there were so many people between me and the stuff to see. I think it would be better in grey February on a rainy day.

Menorca was a surprise for me. Amazing archaeological sites to see

What did people not like about Australia?

Holiday park in Great Yarmouth. Wish I could remember the name of it . Booked it as staying in Yarmouth elsewhere and the day we should have travelled major rail strike. So booked an extra few days in this dump.
Was marketed at sleeping 8. There was 5 of us and we was cramped. Tv hanging onto the wall by a screw, crapping myself that at any minute it would fall. There was fuck all to do despite being sold with loads of attractions.. Nearest shop was aparantly 5 minutes max away, we walked for 40 minutes. The place stank and was dirty. No staff around. Emailed complaint - wish I had kept it, was told basically what do you expect from a budget chalet when I got a reply weeks later.
contacted holiday park we were heading to, to see if they had any cancellations, once they heard where we were bent over backwards to help us. Even sorted transport to come and pick us up.

Really disappointed with Hong Kong. Dirty and grey. Concrete depressing high-rise shopping centres with windy dusty precincts that reminded me of Milton Keynes in my childhood.

Not much culture (we found one exhibition at an art school but fuck all else). Bugger all to do generally, in the daytime at least, although TBF it came to life a bit at night; there were a few atmospheric narrow streets with lanterns strung up and stalls cooking lovely steaming food, people sitting at shared tables chatting etc.

Worried about Copenhagen now; I'm going soon, for a few days including a weekend!

Anice - I liked bits of it but I didn't like some of the attitudes which seemed to be quite widespread; racism, sexism. It was for that reason (and the attitudes / laws around refugees) that I didn't emigrate there when we had the chance.

Pissouri in Cyprus. Or Pissed off ori as we renamed it.
Just nothing. And windy as fuck.

Seville. I expected to like it but I didn't expect to love it that much. My favourite city in Europe.

Too hot in summer but a great out of season choice.

Cancun and places near it. Angry vibe towards tourists, bad food, polluted, really built up.

Prague - meh!

Singapore. I expected to find it dull and soulless. I loved it and want to live there!

I can always find something to like. Even in Aberporth.

We went to a town in the south of France called Argeles sur Mer. The name made it sound so lovely. Oh my god, what an utter shit hole. Sunburned brits from local mega campsites queuing up outside the comically over priced Spar shop. Literally no affordable dining options. The boardwalk attractions at the beach are the tackiness I've ever seen, and an ever present sense of threat hangs in the air.

Non, non, non.

Madrid: hated it! Locals looking at me like I was an alien, harassed by men, treated like scum by waiters, even had one lady in a shop point blank refuse to serve me. (I'm a normal looking British lady by the way, not some Edward scissorhands lookalike carrying a sign that says 'I kill children'.

Barcelona: expected it to be similar to Madrid but couldn't have been more different. Absolutely loved it! Every street I walked along was bustling with a good mix of locals and tourists, I didn't get a second glance from anyone. Polite customer service at shops/restaurants. Helpful signage for tourists. Lots of solo beautiful ladies walking around looking chic and confident (this always make me feel better about a place).

I was very underwhelmed by Australia, found it quite sinister in parts.VERY militaristic, which surprised me, lots of racism, a certain glibness in the cities? Also it's so remote - the newspapers have about two paragraphs of world news a day. Sydney in the rain meanwhile revealed how flattering sunshine can be

Dubai: so fake and plastic. The locals were nice, but the tourists there thought they were all that...

Seville is wonderful.
So is Ibiza. I don't go to the resorts. Just stay in Ibiza Town and drink and dance at the rooftop bars.
Love Malaga. The pavements are v slippy if it has rained!
Hate Marbella
Love Oslo
Hate Bali
Love Tokyo

Expected to love it, found it a ridiculously expensive dump full of drunken stag parties and with nothing I actually wanted to do. Sorry Dubliners.

No problem. Dubliners know better than to frequent the places visited by the UK hen and stag parties!

- I liked bits of it but I didn't like some of the attitudes which seemed to be quite widespread; racism, sexism. It was for that reason (and the attitudes / laws around refugees)

Same for me.