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 always research into where we are travelling so I have never been utterly disappointed but there are place I wouldn't want to go back...

Singapore
Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne
Brussels (been there twice, horrible weather, everything looked dark and dull)
Cologne (so disappointed I am still angry about it)
Cadiz (very sad atmosphere, run down and dirty)

Then there are disappointing places I do not want to go back to... Although sometimes you have to go back (work, friends, etc.)
Barcelona (I hate it, theatrical-touristy set; lost its authenticity in the mid 90s. Though I liked the BCN of my childhood)
Córdoba (this is irrational, like the patios but not the cathedral area)
Paris (a bit like Barcelona, however cannot say if it's been like this all the time or also lost its soul at some point in the past)
Rome (dirty and hot; once is enough)
Milan (only good for shopping)
Lisbon (I've tried to love it but cannot)
Athens (hot and run down, although the new museums area is almost nice)

I went to New York, Boston, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Prague, Copenhagen, St Petersburg and Tallinn with low expectations, but loved them and would go back immediately.

I love:
Stockholm
Dubrovnik
Verona
Parma
Trieste
Dresde
Aachen

And, nearer my heart:
London
Edinburgh
Belfast
Liverpool
Madrid
Valencia
Murcia
Seville
Santander

And some lovely villages in Northern Spain, like Comillas, Santillana del Mar, Zarautz, Hondarribia, etc.

Have always made the best of where I have been but have disliked Paris for the dog shit and hawkers

Pieceofpurplesky, thanks! Valencia is my hometown!

Loved Rome, NYC [although was there with 40+ kids on school trip for 24 hrs so would like to def go back], Ghent, Bruges, every part of France I have been to. Going to Aigues Mortes next week and so hopes it doesnt disappoint! Also enjoyed Lido di Jesolo. Stayed in a wonderful hotel - Principe Palace on a colleagues recommendation and loved it. I also like CP Longleat
Hated Malgrat [booked a cheapie with 4 other girls when 18-was awful. I called it Malgrot].

Ha- i also recall the Principe Palace in Lido di Jesolo and liking it-
this was about 25 years ago and it had an amazing vibe. I don't think I'd like it as much if I went back now though!

Frazzled2207 - I too have a positive Lido di Jesalo memory but I'm sure it was late 1960's

It was lovely. I was expecting warmer water as I forgot it was the Adriatic not the med! I survived though as I live by the South Wales coast and am used the Bristol Channel!

I hated Liverpool. Expected it to be a friendly city but it was full of teenage lads hanging on street corners looking menacing. My friend and I grew up on a rough council estate but had never felt intimidated like we were in Liverpool. Saw an argument in a train start over absolutely nothing, went to a shit Chinese buffet where the staff hung over you making sure you weren't wasting food and petrol stations that require payment upfront I was scared to take photos as I thought my camera would be robbed.
Tallinn also underwhelmed me as did Monaco (rip off beer in a pizza parlour as we couldn't find any bars and the worst cocktail I've ever drunk in the casino). I do look for the best where I can though so I would return to try again.

Unexpectedly great places were Jamaica, I'd been put off by case studies of sex tourism and foreign owned hotels that I'd studied years before. Ended up there on honeymoon, I loved it and have longed to go back.

Bristol also surprised me, it's a lovely city.

lynzeylou - ashamed to admit that was a student in Bath for 3 years (80's), in all that time we never went to Bristol . Naivety of youth and all that, now think Bristol is great .

LaBruja - any recommendations? We are visiting this weekend!

Not keen on Malaga at all. And went to Marbella, reminded me of Cannes, couldn't get to the beach, seemed so odd, and that place near or in Marbella porto Benus? No attractive scenery, there was a great bar, on the beach but it was tacky.

Un expected surprise was Amsterdam, fully expecting it all to be like sleezier parts of soho, drunken stag do's, grim and grimy, with - a few attractive places thrown in.

However we stayed in the 9 streets area and it was beautiful. Gorgeous independent shop, after - gorgeous independent shop, lovely bars, cafes and of course the endless canals and bridges. Staff conscientious and great service. It was beautiful and so clean I didn't see one dog shit, the atmosphere was great, I loved the architecture and the history the art galleries, am going back next year and cant wait .

Malta - hated it. Everywhere was concrete and dry. Not a blade of grass or anything pretty. The locals were unfriendly and ill-mannered.

Porec (Croatia - love it, been twice recently. Spotlessly clean, very lush and scenic, locals are pleasant. Beautiful little place.

Prague was beautiful ,

I am in Malta at the moment, miserable people, terrible food and crap beaches, some nice historical stuff but not enough to make up for the bad points, we won't be coming here again.

Hated Stockholm - lived there for a year, people were so uptight, lacked spontaneity, so caught up in what everyone thought of them, a bit zenophobic..winter is so bloody depressing and it's expensive as hell.....but I'm tempted to go back and see whether it suits middle aged me better than my younger self because it is without a doubt a beautiful city.
Loved Hong Kong - lived there for 6 months before 1997, crazy busy, smelly, fascinating, other worldly but friendly and energetic - very interesting place to visit.

Adored: Yukon/Alaska (was expecting to, that was a trip we'd planned for ages). Also very fond of the rest of Canada having travelled reasonably extensively - yes yes to previous posters love of Tofino! Also deep south of the USA (yes, some very shocking stuff there - but the gay bnb owners we stayed with in rural Alabama made our honeymoon). New York and San Fran ace. Love Madeira. Adore Lanzarote - we stayed in a little self catering place in Puerto del Carmen but had a car and drove all over. Equally had a brilliant time in Gran Canaria, and enjoyed a brief stay in Tenerife. The trick to the Canaries as PP have said is getting a hire car and staying where possible outside of the major tourist areas. Really love Slovenia, Budapest, Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw, Paris, Rome, the rural bits of Costa Rica (touristy bits are grim, we stayed in the mountains), most of Ecuador (Guayaquil is a hole, Montanita, Banos and Quito amazing). Northern Scotland also massively exceeded expectations - DH had been begging to go for years and I refused until this summer and completely fell in love with the place. Loved Kerala. Japan simply one of the most amazing countries in the world - luckily my cousin lives there so have travelled with him and being with a fluent speaker makes a very big difference to the experience.

Really let down by: Tulum - revolting, massively over touristed and way too expensive. Bits of the Yucatan were amazing but really didn't like the beach bit at all. South of France - holiday was somewhat marred by DH's illness but hated nearly everything we ate with the exception of a wonderful curry in Lyon. Antibes a particular let down. Also really didn't like the Gambia - so much poverty and it felt like an exercise in extracting every last penny, and not safe outside the hotel - not the way we like to travel. Also felt that Goa was a bit of a let down. You also couldn't get me back to Las Vegas if you threatened to set my hair on fire - I had to leave after a day and went to Boulder whilst DH and his friend went on a 48 hour boys trip, I came back to watch Barry Manilow before flying home, which was at least a cheesy highlight. Fez in Morocco was massively scary as a blonde 24 year old but kindly got adopted by the maitre d in the hotel who organised his son as a chaperone which really made the last day much more fun, his wonderful wife also cooked me an awesome dinner in her home whilst we tried to communicate in our mutually awful French - so rescued by kindness!

Ergonomically, Valencia? Have a great time. Hope it's not too hot...

Cathedral and Plaza de la Virgen (Our Lady Square), Plaza de la Reina
Cripta de San Vicente, La Almoina Museum
El Micalet
Drink horchata (tigernut milk) with fartons (elongated cakes) at any of the horchaterias in Plaza de Santa Catalina. Or head to Alboraya and go to Daniel.
Palacio del Marques de Dos Aguas
Lonja de la Seda
Mercado Central
The medieval gates, Torres de Serranos,, de Quart...
Barrio del Carmen
So many places...

You can also go to the beach, la Malvarrosa, Cabanyal
Or go to the Albufera, a natural park

The "modern" Valencia, Oceanografic, Arts and Science City (not very keen on this... I left Valencia such a long time ago that these places are not "mine", iynwim)

Shopping: Calle Jorge Juan, Calle Colon, Calle Pintor Sorolla, Gran Via Marques del Turia, Calle Sorni, Calle Marques de Dos Aguas, etc.

Pop into the mainline train station, Valencia Nord; it is stunning.

Places I thought I would love but didn't:

Sydney - beyond the harbour could've been any city, big disappointment at the end of my 4 month trip (prob didn't help that I stayed in a rough area and wanted to get home to my then bf)
Melbourne - just another city (loved Brisbane and Darwin though)
Staying on an island in the Whitsundays - I've realised that I don't like staying on small islands, feel too hemmed in. Had the same feeling staying on Brownsea island, had to come back early!
San Francisco - as pp said, stayed in a rough area and was given a safe walking route, so many homeless people (also didn't help that I'd arrived from beautiful New Zealand and was also at the end of a round the world trip and wanted to get back to my now dh)
Tobago - felt hassled and unsafe to leave the hotel, got scammed by someone who got in our car and offered to show us the island, and then demanded money
Dominican republic - bad food poisoning

Places I've loved:
Turkey (great food, lovely weather, great scenery,enjoyed Turkish baths) but was quite a while ago.
Norway- Oslo, Bergen, around Tromso particularly beautiful in winter
Singapore, Madagascar, Peru, Cuba, Costa Rica (still dream about Manuel Antonio), all of NZ (maybe not Queenstown), most of Oz.
I loved Tobermory and Mull, was really upset when we had to leave. This was pre DD though so no Balamory preconceptions.
We also had a great holiday staying in a caravan in Brean Sands in May. Thought it wouldn't be my cup of tea but really suited us now we have a toddler.

Loved the Amalfi Coast, Dubrovnik, Nice, Kalkan in Turkey, Mallorca, most a Greek Islands but you have to pick your resort carefully, Jamaica, Cuba, Rome, Brussels, New York

Meh: the Canary Islands, Marbella, Paris, Chicago

Hated: Sharma el sheik, Cancun, Naples

Also really don't get the poor views on here of Stockholm and Copenhagen - both were (ime) lovely, friendly cities with great food and architecture, even if a bit expensive for a Brit. Helsinki less easy to get into - I was there for a week with work and found it hard to fall in love with the city but fun to hang out in for a week. Found the Finns a bit taciturn but really nice once they warmed up a bit.

Nancy75: I just read your post to DH who said, 'that's exactly what Malta's like; you go once, you don't want to go back'.

I hope your holiday improves.

I felt the same about Malta.

And found Gibraltar to be very similar. With the unwelcome addition of some flea-bitten monkeys who would kill you given half a chance by the look of them.

Went to the Highlands and Islands in Scotland. Absolutely beutiful. Glorious quite beaches, stunning scenery and the weather was brilliant. Don't always beleive weather forecast about Scotland, I was dreading it. Came back with a gorgeous tan and no midgie bites!!

Scotland for stunning scenery and amazing beaches and proper mountains.
New Zealand for much of the same!

Places I was completely underwhelmed by; Auckland NZ, Detroit, Orlando, Perth Australia, Rome, Fuerteventura and Ghent.

Places I was pleasantly surprised by; Brussels, Toronto, New York, Santander and Bruges.

Places that met expectations; Portugal(Algarve), Barcelona, Singapore, Brest, Dublin. Other parts of Florida.

Places I love; Cheddar Gorge, Raratonga in the Cook Islands, Crete, Dorset, Oxford(Not the shopping area), Lanzarote, Tulum in Mexico, Cape Point South Africa, Jersey, St Michaels Mount, Fistral beach, The Gower peninsula. Oh and Northern Ireland wowed me.

My favourite places are Dorset(I am not from here but live here now) and Lanzarote. I have learnt that you have to give a lot of places a second chance, and in towns and cities there are of course nice areas and not so nice areas.