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 a bit unsure what to expect but I absolutely loved Bosnia.

Mistakenly thought Blackpool would be fun for the DC for a couple of days to see the lights. We lasted a day , the most vile place we have ever been- we escaped to Liverpool which we were very taken with and had a fab time there.

Love love loved Hong Kong didn't expect so many open spaces and beautiful beaches

Hated Corfu- usually love Greece but it was awful lacked any charm and full of shouty Brits. We were apparently in 'a nice bit' too

Oh and agreed with above - Blackpool I thought would be fun for a night.... 3 daytime hours was enough & we left whilst we could it was bloody awful.

I had a work trip to Chicago - I'd only previously been through the airport and thought it would be industrial and boring. I loved it - amazing architecture, loads of culture, friendly, and lovely lakeside to get away to.

Liverpool was also a pleasant surprise as others have said.

Nice.... urgh. Expected a glamorous fun city. We stayed in cheap accommodation out in the suburbs and it was grim. Escaped for a while to Aix en Provence which was bliss in comparison.

I want to give Lanzarote a go now!

Seychelles and Disney Paris were awful
Cornwall and Disney Florida were nice
Other trips are probably outdated but the Serengeti plain is awesome

Hated:
Mexico - filthy and the poverty was terrible and the people were all about wanting money- understandable when you saw the poverty- and it didn't feel safe at times
Greece but mainly because DH got bitten on a bollock by an insect and we spent most of the holiday trapped in a beach hut with his unfeasibly large testicle and a tube of ointment . Had only been together a couple of months.

Meh
Dublin - been several times and it is ok but has lost its charm I think over the last 15 years.

Unexpectedly Lovely:
Charentes in France. Very rural, lovely coast as well, big sleepy river that meanders through little medieval towns. We love it and have been 4 times now for long holidays - are there as I type. It is bliss.

Loved:
Paris - very romantic
New York- everything I wanted it to be and more, every time we have been
Rome - it was like a 1950s film with Audrey Hepburn

When posters say they hate Mexico, what part do you mean.
It's a big country.

Recently discovered - The Hague in December. Full of charm.
Love Tallinn, Helsinki, Stockholm, Hanoi and Capetown.
Budapest grim and open loathing of tourists.

Find Bangkok pretty grotty and soulless.

Interested in the thoughts and huge generalisations about Australia (I live in Melbourne). I think there is a well worn and probably tedious trail of drunken British backpackers tourist sights. Sydney has so many more magical and beautiful beaches than Bondi, for example.
My personal experience is that racism is not as pervasive as others seem to think. I guess it depends who you hang out with.

I loved Orlando too. A relative and I took my children there to do the Disney thing and I was looking forward to it but kind of thinking I would endure Disney and the other theme parks rather than enjoy them. I absolutely loved every minute of i

Me too. My brother and his wife took me a few years ago after the breakdown of my then 36 year marriage. I went because my adult children said - just go mum. So I did, and I loved it. So much so that I've since been back with them 3 times and we're off again in 4 weeks. Im counting sleeps. 😍

amaica - 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

I have a cruise booked at the end of the month. The itinerary was changed and one of our stops is now Montego Bay. I'm so concerned that I've not booked any shore excursions even though I've been on other cruises in the area and enjoyed them.

Saffronwblue - your defence of Australia's racist rep as just 'depending on who you hang out with' reminds me of white people saying #AllLivesMatter when confronted with the #blacklivesmatter movement. By minimising real experiences of racism you are in fact participating in perpetuating racism. The country, though beautiful and full of lovely people, is saturated in racist attitudes.

The past & current treatment of its indigenous population. Adam Goodes. Nuaru. Bumper stickers and t-shirts saying 'Fuck Off We're Full'. Golly's being sold in QLD and everyone getting their knickers in a huffy twist when some tourist points out that they are in fact pretty racist.

Just because you feel you aren't racist and your nice friends aren't, doesn't mean that all the other racist bullshit doesn't happen or matter.

I'm glad you said that Ami - I was poised to reply, but yours is much more articulate than mine would have been.

Tangiers, Morocco is the worst place I've ever been. Hygiene in the hotel (5 star) was virtually non existent and we all ended up with a week long D&V bug. Add to that being jostled to buy things in the street & then sworn at when you decline and you have somewhere I wouldn't return to in a hurry!

Ditto Cairo.

I wasn't defending racism actually. I have seen horrible racism here as I have in other countries including the uk. I am just tired of the knee jerk description of Australia as racist when there are so many levels and nuances and changes and people here fighting inequality and discrimination. It is a meaningless generalisation like the previous posters saying 'I don't like the weather in Australia' and 'I don't like the sea in Australia.'

We lived in Melbourne for a couple of years - it's a nice place to hang out, not sure there's much to see - if you like big sights but the food and coffee are fantastic. We had some amazing holidays when we lived there but they all involved hiking - we aren't very keen on beach holidays and Australian cities lack depth and interest - even Sydney, they are all a bit same, small towns are often pretty grim. We kept Tasmania till last and we were not impressed, we expected it to be similar to New Zealand but it was dull, cold and rather uninspiring - unfortunately we stayed there for 2 weeks!
New Zealand stole my heart, stunningly lush, dramatic and while accepting that Queenstown is pretty awful, we loved Wanaka. It's a bit old fashioned and friendly - laid back.

Pockets of Corfu are divine - the far northeast tip for example, around Kalami and Ag Stefanos NE. The clearest sea for snorkelling, chichi tavernas, geezers selling melons. Bliss.

I find a hire car vastly improves most places!

I don't think I was making a huge generalisation saffron
My opinion comes from over 4 years experience and I certainly wasn't going on some drunken tourist trail.
I was there to work in a professional capacity. Lived in numerous places including Melbourne, Perth, Broome and Sydney.
My dad is from my Pakistan, I'll let you figure out the name I got called on a daily basis, usually followed with the word 'bitch'
I wasn't hanging out with these people, these were people I had to deal with at work, my neighbours in the suburbs and even people in the local grocery store.
Just because you are in the fortunate position never to have experienced it doesn't mean we're all exaggerating and making it up.
Thanks amifor putting it so succinctly.

Australia has a race problem. It makes you uncomfortable when people point it out. You get defensive. You perpetuate the problem.

And around and around it goes.

very uncomfortable and felt unsafe without a man with us which I resent hugely

That's exactly how Tunisia was for me.

Any ways I don't want to derail the thread, so my apologies..

Another favourite holiday that blew my expectations out the water was a static caravan jaunt in Cornwall. I can't remember the name of the place, we weren't far from St Ives. But it was about 10 of us in two caravans, masses of delicious food and booze, wide gorgeous grassy sandunes to the sea, beautiful beach with clear water. We played games, had a camp fire, ate and laughed. It was bliss and I have such fond memories of it.

UK

I am sorry I clearly have not chosen my words properly (trying to cook dinner). I was not meaning to minimise your experience Jacksalrighty or the experience of others who have encountered racism here in Aus.. As I said I too have seen ugly racism here. I just don't think that it is fair to sum up all the different strands and complexities and initiatives around race by saying it is a racist country, end of.
I would not say 'the UK is racist and classist' even though I have experienced this at many levels myself. It is just too simplistic.
However I guess simplicity is the point of this thread so would like to add that a fab place for a holiday is Portland, Oregon.

Not keen: Amsterdam
Love: The Hague

So many differing experiences
Cannes, Dublin, Barcelona, Niagra did not meet expectations. My DH walked me off my feet in Rome. Did not like Gran Canaria.

Loved Copenhagen, Argeles, NYC, Paris and parts of French Riviera. Disappointed by some of the Dartmouth/South Devon beaches by expensive locations like Blackpool Sands that are always cited - they were gritty!

My favourite place will always be Cornwall though. Beautiful rugged coastline and sandy beaches. Breathtaking. If only we had the weather...

Dublin was boring.

After you've been to the Guinness Factory and to a few bars, what is there?

To be fair this was a £1 Ryanair flight 10 years ago, it was raining, and I lived in a pretty town with old architecture so Trinity College was "just like things I walk past every day".