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Holiday destinations that were unexpectedly lovely OR awful.

916 replies

NickiFury · 31/07/2016 18:33

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.

OP posts:
Followyourart · 04/08/2016 15:21

Fell in love with: Croatia, Copenhagen (could live there)

Not so great: Riga (Latvia) nothing to do, and was so cold in April. Good if you want the strip clubs, but these are run by the mafia - my boss went on a stag and had a gun pulled on him.
Also sunny beach Bulgaria - was stuck there for 2 weeks with ex and family. Most shocking was me and ex decided to stay in the room one evening, put tv on and some very very graphic porn suddenly came on on one of the main channels straight After the lottery at about 9pm! It freaked me out as a 17 year old and made me wary of the men..
LA and Hollywood: dangerous, unnerving, dirty - not at all glam!!

Iceland is hit and miss.. I went to a festival there so had stuff to do, if it hadn't been for that I think id have been bored, you need money and a car.

Next year, hoping for Oslo and Montenegro (not been mentioned yet). I though Berlin looked grim on a travel doc but after what people have said it's def on my list now!

areyoubeingserviced · 04/08/2016 18:03

It is obvious that everyone has different ideas about the same places.
My American cousins came to stay with me ( I was living in a London at the time).
They had a brilliant time because myself and Dh took time off from work and therefore had time to spend with them.
They loved London
They told me that they had been worried about coming to London because a friend of theirs had told them that London was boring .

NicknameUsed · 04/08/2016 18:38

"It is obvious that everyone has different ideas about the same places"

Clearly. I can't believe that some posters hate Italy Shock

hollyisalovelyname · 04/08/2016 18:50

Areyoubeing
London boring...... faints.
I love London and would usually visit once a year but with the heightened security issue I won't go this yearSad

MadHattersWineParty · 04/08/2016 19:01

Holly will you really not visit London because of recent events? Millions of us live and work there every single day.

I just wanted to add Ljubljana. It's beautiful.

hollyisalovelyname · 04/08/2016 19:10

No, I won't visit London because I fear a terrorist attack.

Which is strange as I believe when your number is up your number is up.
Contradictory I know

Statelychangers · 04/08/2016 19:23

My sister went to London - saw Oxford Street, Buckingham Palace, Madam Tussaud's, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus and declared she hated it - next time she visited we made sure she saw the better bits!

Charley50 · 04/08/2016 19:55

Re: London. Big cities are as much about the people showing you them as the actual place. Sorry if I sound a cliche but New York to me when I visited in the 80s was walking about all day, everything amazing, clubbing, meeting a cocaine taking clown in Central Park and clubbing with him, eating Polish food, eating Chinese food, going to thrift stores and also visiting the Statue of Liberty; and watching people play basketball and chess and let off fire hydrants in the heat.

If I went as a tourist I probably would have just done the Statue of Liberty bit.

Shut up Charley get off dat wine!!! Grin

Charley50 · 04/08/2016 20:21

Apologies for being a twat. Blush

JedRambosteen · 05/08/2016 00:18

We had a crap holiday in Alcudia donkeys years ago. Went in mid July & it was fucking boiling. I was in a crap job with no appropriate cover and booked a fortnight to make a point at work. Spent most of the fortnight lying on the bed of our air-conditioned room in our pants, and not in a sexy way - it was too hot for sex to be appealing. I haven't taken against Majorca though - it was a square peg/round hole situation. Same goes for Rhodes, though - lesson learned - we went much earlier in the season & had a week of rain & freezing our arses off in inappropriate light summer clothing.

DH and I loved Barcelona, though made sure to book a hotel in Paral.lel on our 2nd visit, not the Gothic Quarter, which felt edgy & threatening at night on our first visit. A friend visited recently & said it was less fun & much more expensive post-2008 crash.

Touring New England with small children was dullsville, though the kids were a hit with locals which led to lots of good happenstance conversations. Boston was nice.

Sorrento & Capri were crowded and expensive, frankly a bit of a chore, although Pompeii just about tipped the balance to give the trip a favourable score. I generally find the cheeky rounding up & light fleecing in Italy makes me grind my teeth & it was a lot worse in Sorrento than northern Italy.

Also love York (UK), Edinburgh, Belfast, Hamburg, Iceland, Tuscany, Cornwall & Canada.

Am inspired to visit Lanzarote and Berlin off the back of this thread.

dontevenblink · 05/08/2016 03:31

If anyone tours NZ in a tent or motorhome and wants some beautiful places to stay, my favourite two campsites we have stayed at are Pelorus Bridge not too far from Nelson on the South Island and Kaitoke Forest north of Wellington. They are stunningly beautiful and I could go to them again and again. Amazing walks and forests, rivers, waterfalls and for the not faint hearted, swingbridges. For those LOTR/hobbit fans parts of them were filmed there too. Very different to top 10 campsites which a lot of tourists tend to stay at (we find them far too crowded). My favourite places we've visited in NZ so far have been Arrowtown, Wanaka, Banks Peninsula, Picton and the Kaitoke Forest. Wellington is great too, He Papa museum is fab, but I'm not that fussed by Auckland city itself, but there is beautiful scenery around. Queenstown is in an amazing location and the skyline is well worth going up but we found the town itself full of bars and hostels so weren't that impressed.

Its interesting those of you who've said it makes a difference being shown round by someone. If any one finds themselves in Hawkes Bay and wants a tour give me a shout Smile

I'm Europe I'd love to go back to Rome, Vesuvius and Pompeii and Herculaneum one day. And the Dordogne. I do really miss beautiful English villages, country pubs and castles. And the museums and history of London.

JedRambosteen · 05/08/2016 08:00

Thinking about it, I love the Lake District but haven't been for years. Must revisit soon.

NicknameUsed · 05/08/2016 08:03

Are you me Jed?

We stayed in Alcudia, which we nicknamed Alcloudier because we had crap weather there,but hiring a car made the holiday for us and we really liked Majorca, just not Alcudia. Same with Sorrento and Pompeii.

We loved New England, but that was just the 2 of us. It was anything but dull.

hollyisalovelyname · 05/08/2016 08:29

We didn't like Alcudia either. Souless.
Puerto Pollensa was nicer.

largerleon · 05/08/2016 08:45

Hated: Turkey, full of sleazy men who kept touching me like a piece of meat (this was 25 years ago so may have changed by now); Padstow, overrated, tacky and very expensive; Blackpool, went there for a weekend when my now 14 year old was a few weeks old so appreciate it maybe wasn't the best time, it rained, blew a gale and there was nowhere I felt comfortable breast feeding so I ended up in our grotty B&B room (courtesy of exH) for hours while he sauntered off round the pubs Angry

Loved: Cyprus, been there 3 times now & loved it each time; Brixham in Devon.

Pleased to read that those of you who have been to New York loved it. It's top of my bucket list, followed by San Francisco and Hawaii. Grin

largerleon · 05/08/2016 08:47

Ooo yes the Lake District, must go there again. I loved it too

NicknameUsed · 05/08/2016 08:59

Interestingly NY is not on my bucket list at all. I loved San Francisco.

dreamingofsun · 05/08/2016 09:23

largerleon - which resorts in cyprus? which ones are good, which to steer clear of. Reading the reviews on here i think one of the key things is choosing the right resort and interested in going to cyprus next year

Badbadbunny · 05/08/2016 09:49

largerleon - which resorts in cyprus? which ones are good, which to steer clear of

Depends what you want. All the resorts have their good and bad points.

Polis & Latchi are quiet with not much to do, but scenery is lovely and mostly modern properties - first time I went there wasn't much there, but last time there were some pretty large hotels and plenty of apartments built.

Pathos is mixed - some modern areas, some run-down, plenty of shops, nightlife, water park, some historical sites. Some new hotels being built, quite a few luxury older hotels, lots of new apartments/villas both close to the town and in the hills 10/15 minutes away.

AyiaNapa very lively, mostly modern, water park, nightclubs, good beaches, etc.

Protaras - close to AyiaNapa for nightlife etc but generally modern, lots of shops/restaurants, good beaches, watersports, etc, but not so much historical sites, yet, close to the occupied Turkish areas of Famagusta that you can now go on a bus to around, which is a fairly unique sight-seeing trip!

Limassol and Larnarca are fairly old resorts, but some new developments, but quite industrial/commercial in parts. I holidayed there many years ago, but tend to avoid these days.

For me, I choose between Protaras and Pathos as I go quite regularly, both are close to water parks, shops, restaurants, beaches, etc. But I really do my homework to check out the properties, local area etc - especially in Pathos.

The other point is that it gets VERY hot, July and August are actually quite unpleasant and you end up hiding from the sun or locked in your accommodation with the air-con. The East end, Protaras and Ayia Napa are hotter than the west (Pathos), so even worse in Summer. In fact a lot of accommodation lies empty in July and August, with May/June and Sept/Oct being the prime months.

Butteredparsnips · 05/08/2016 10:32

Have reported this thread for classics. Some very inspirational ideas here. Need to buy a lottery ticket tooGrin

squoosh · 05/08/2016 10:35

No need. Everything goes into Classics these days it seems.

BarbaraofSeville · 05/08/2016 10:46

Could they put it in Travel Advice and maybe make it a sticky instead?

dreamingofsun · 05/08/2016 11:10

thanks badbad - that's very useful. we were looking to go october

NickiFury · 05/08/2016 12:09

MN - have had a few PM's about moving this thread somewhere it won't disappear after thirty days. Would that be ok please?

OP posts:
Cedar03 · 05/08/2016 12:10

Places we've stayed and loved:

Rome (went in January so not crowded at all)
Barcelona (although both DH and I had our not designer but normal sunglasses stolen)
Costa Brava around Begur. Beautiful countryside, lovely little villages, great restaurants.
Lake Garda
Guernsey - had a couple of lovely holidays there. It is fully of lovely beaches like Cornwall but without the crowds. Thoroughly recommend it for anyone looking for a bucket and spade style holiday. Great cafes and restaurants.
Greece - particularly Paxos and Andros. Corfu was OK but wouldn't rush back there.
In the UK we like South Devon, Dorset (loads to do there with small children), Isle of Wight and Lake District. Also Isles of Arran and Bute in Scotland. Beautiful.
In London a surprising hit with two 7 year olds and a 5 year old was the tour around Buckingham Palace. I wondered about the wisdom of doing this before we went in, but they have an audio tour for children and all three of them loved it.