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.

Kefalonia ie Lassi - oh dear, hated it. Just one street! Had seen the whole street by the first morning but assumed the resort was "more". Had SOOO looked fwd to going there too. Stayed at White Rocks Hotel. Day 1 - a few v pretty cats & kittens roaming around the hotel grounds but not getting in anyone's way. Day 3, I noticed half the cats & kittens gone. Day 5 no cats or kittens. Someone told me the Greek folk hate them ("vermin") so prob "destroyed" them all. Never saw these cats/kittens anywhere else - just disappeared. Hated Argostoli (main "town") e.g. museum was a tiny room!. Went to St Ives in Cornwall - unexpectedly LUVED it! Hated Newquay! Luved Zante (Kalamaki) yet 1 1/2 miles up road (or along beach) awful resort! Then visited another 2 Zante resorts (day trips) - hated them! Hated Crete, loved Paros! Errrrr now gone blank!

Jamaica - our hotel was stunning, but it just wasn't safe to wander around outside. We did venture into Montego Bay (DH is an ex rugby prop, and can look intimidating if he wants) and it's the only time I have felt physically scared. We were heckled and jostled by local youths with large knives tucked casually into their back pockets. Horrible.

Austria - wasn't expecting much, but it was staggeringly beautiful and everywhere immaculately spruce and clean. Loved it.

Australia is awesome!. .you cannot experience it's greatness in a matter of weeks..you must live there or go for longer to understand the lifestyle...(from an Aussie) there is so much to see and do in towns, outback, a real summer, friendly people, fab beaches, theme parks, rainforest. ....can't beat being able to head to the beach in summer after work..

Cairo was horrible! Dirty, hot and smelly and we were continually hassled by the locals. Hated the fact we were ripped off whatever we tried to buy - haggling was so tiring and soul destroying.

Not a single destination but was very happily surprised by the 'driving through France' (to get to Spain) leg of our holiday last summer. Much easier and enjoyable than I thought it would be. Nicest service stations I've ever seen and great scenery. Wouldn't hesitate to do it again - stopping in various cities along the way next time!

Derailing slightly- which are the bits of lanzarote to definitely give a wide birth? Going to look at it for spring

Anyone planning on Dublin, pm me please I'll sort you, great place for families, couples, individuals. Disappointed that people hated it cause they were probably in the wrong areas..

Picos de Europa region in northern Spain.

Some friends of ours had been there previously and raved about how there was plenty of vegetarian food, fabulous tapas and lots of wonderful markets. We found that many restaurants and cafes had nothing vegetarian, and the ones that did offered defrosted ready-meal-style paella or potatoes in tomato sauce. (DH eats meat and found the non-vegetarian food was similarly poor quality.) We couldn't find any markets and struggled with finding anything nice for a picnic in the local supermarket.

The hotel owner just looked at us blankly when we tried to communicate using our phrase book (OK our Spanish accents may have been bad, but he could at least have tried to meet us halfway.)

We had booked for 10 days but after 3 days we got bored with eating microwave meals and looking at the horse (the town's only attraction) and decided to head to Madrid. When we arrived in Madrid in the evening we found an Indian restaurant; it was shut with no opening time displayed but we were so desperate for proper food by that point that we camped out on the doorstep until it finally opened at 9pm. And it was worth the wait!

Dublin - expensive and felt rather unsafe.

Kilkenny City - beautiful, good food, the Castle grounds are lovely. A very old city, would definitely return, but would give Dublin a miss and fly into Shannon.

I have loved all greek islands i hve been to, crete, corfu, paros, naxos, ios, kefalonia, lefkada etx etc. loved new york,

Thought dubai and madrid was meh

Few more...

Brussels - dull, dull, dull. We came home 2 days early.

Bodrum - went when I was 21 and had waist length, blonde hair. Spent 2 weeks, being constantly hassled/groped by local men, despite, very obviously, being with (a very pissed off) DH. We basically stopped going out and just drank in the hotel bar.

The Cayman Islands - okay, some of the best beaches and diving in the world, but actually feels utterly souless. Just endless, identikit uber expensive bars/restaurants catering for the filthy rich bankers and ex pats.

The Bahamas - plastic/fantastic. And just totally American-ised.

Basically, I'm not keen on the Caribbean.

Tuscany - yes, yes, very pretty and everything, but you've seen one walled, hill top town, you've seen 'em all. And vineyards are frankly dull.

New York - assumed it would be grubby and feel unsafe. Nope. Fell in love with it, and it's now my very favourite city in the world.

I always thought Turkey wasn't for me but I went on an unexpected holiday to Datca and fell in love; I've been lots of times since and never been hassled but I wouldn't go to somewhere like Marmaris. Pottering around the coast on a Gulet for a week was one of the best holidays I've ever had. Istanbul is amazing too.

Someone mentioned Seville, which I did find nice but a lot of it was built for the expo so it didn't feel real. I preferred Granada, quite gritty but it has the Alhambra which is one of the most incredible things I've seen.

I've never been anywhere in Italy I didn't love, Florence and Rome are better in early spring though.

I was massively disappointed by Dubrovnic, I was expecting something like Florence but it was so over restored it was like a Disney set.

Mistyprivates, I have been to Fukuoka on he way to somewhere else! Didn't see that much but it was perfectly nice from what I remember. Japan itself is absolutely amazing, my best ever holiday was there

Not a huge traveller overseas but absolutely loved Madrid - Saturday night in Puerta Del Sol is an experience not to be missed!

Not impressed with Paris, found it very dirty and just, well, grey

Love Laugharne/ Pendine, Weymouth and Poole. Oh and Northumberland, Bamburgh in particular.

Australia - loved it so much we moved here. Gorgeous weather pretty much most of the time, amazing beaches, lots to do, lovely people.
Cruising holiday - thought I'd love it but I found the boat claustrophobic and being out on the ocean made me feel vulnerable.

Cairo. Was so excited having loved Egyptology since being tiny. It was a massive shithole. Ripped off and groped on every corner, pyramids a great disappointment and impossible to appreciate due to being hassled constantly to buy tat and fighting off hands.

New York, as per pp, worried it would be unsafe and filthy and I absolutely adored every inch. I have been back countless times, walking around looking at the skyline and chatting to random people is my favourite thing ever.

Australia, had such high hopes, lived there the first time for two years.
Ended up going back again for another two a decade later, it hadn't changed.
The racism I experienced was horrific, that and the mentality of the people I had to work with/ live with was cringeworthy.
Uncouth would be the best description of some of the people I had to deal with.
I've met plenty of lovely Australians since I left, so I do realise I was probably very unlucky. I cried with relief when I left.
Agree Cairo was grim.
Loved Amsterdam, ended up living there for a year and it was amazing.

Honeymoon cruise went to a good fee places but hated Egypt with a passion. Felt unsafe. Had an armed person with us and a man named Abdullah scared he shit out of us at the Spyhnx, asked for our tickets then cornered us for money, bloody terrifying.
Israel on the other hand was my favourite destination ever. Everyone was so friendly, the country is beautiful and so much to see

Love:
Tofino. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Would move in an instant. Actually, loved all of B.C.
Chicago. Lots to do. Fab food.
Northumberland coast. Stunning.
Pembrokeshire. Lovely place and lovely locals.
Taba Egypt. Great resort holiday with very friendly locals.

Hated:
Cornwall. Beautiful place but people not so nice.

Disappointed by Prague and New York.
Love the bits of Australia I have visited. Been three times and would go again if we could afford it. We have only visited (parts of) Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

CharlieSierra
Someone mentioned Seville, which I did find nice but a lot of it was built for the expo so it didn't feel real. I preferred Granada, quite gritty but it has the Alhambra which is one of the most incredible things I've seen. Did you miss the Cathedral, Santa Cruz, calle sierpes and all the rest of the city that isn't the expo? There is so much more than the expo site, which is only a tiny bit and has bugger all in it these days.
www.adventurouskate.com/sevilla-the-most-beautiful-city-in-spain/

I've enjoyed a few city breaks in places that are getting fairly slated here. In particular I've had a good time in
Paris (several visits, loved them all)
Lisbon
Madrid
Barcelona
Hong Kong

I also really enjoyed holidays in
New York (one of my favourite places to go hands down, you'd never be bored whatever way you like to spend your time, unless it's sun worshipping I suppose)
Las Vegas
New Zealand (if it wasn't so far away I'd visit all the time)
Mozel Valley in Germany
Ghent and Antwerp
Amsterdam
Maastricht
Kilkenny, Galway, Cork, Kerry, Sligo & Donegal
Kraków & Warsaw

Places I've been but wouldn't bother going back to
Brussels (just not as interesting or scenic as other parts of Belgium)
Ditto Brugge (too chocolate box & soul less)
Turkey (hated every minute - to be fair we were in a tourist resort but sleazy men and rip off merchants seemed to be everywhere and I just didn't feel at all comfortable)
Malta (have been twice, enjoyed the first time but by the second I'd felt I'd seen all the most interesting & scenic parts)

Forgot to mention Granada which I also really enjoyed and Edinburgh which was also great. Did not like Glasgow but I was very young so maybe it's not what I remember, which is pretty grim.

I feel like I'm in a parallel universe... Or perhaps just easily pleased but I loved so many places that people have hated -

Paris, Barcelona, New York, Copenhagen, Valencia... I generally find people pretty friendly too and even in places that were hard work or intimidating I was often backpacking so just moved on to somewhere nicer. I think if I was stuck somewhere for two weeks and didn't like it I might feel more strongly. I think it's partly down to expectations too - some places are so iconic that they have a lot to live up to. And for some places it's easy to get stuck in all of the touristy places, feel hassled and ripped off and miss out on what's wonderful.

Oh! I forgot to mention Warsaw (and today of all days). Went for work and was expecting a grim grey Brutalist city. But it's fantastic. The restoration of the old town is amazing. Loved it.