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.

Savagebeauty did you bother to learn about the history of the island? Or just sit there and complain about the wind?

Booked honeymoon to Maldives - sadly didn't do much research and ended up on a relatively "new" < undeveloped > island - rats in the room, sewage pipe Into the sea outside our bungalow - husband Ill despite usual precautions - was horrendous.

Bali - absolutely loved it!! Hawkers are annoying but generally if you're happy but firm they go away. Our resort was amazing - would go back in a heartbeat

The only place I've been that I would never visit again is Tangier.
The most dodgy, dangerous, smelly and unfriendly place on earth. I had to steal a knife from the hotel to give me the courage to walk down the street.

Have enjoyed everywhere else I have been in the world.

Playa del Ingles, Gran Canaria... absolutely hated it, and felt almost scared there, not my best choice of holiday

Myanmar (Burma) - absolutely loved it but that's because of the people, they are poor but the buddhist philosophy just shone through. Would love to go back

Paphos, Cyprus - not helped by the most godawful hotel imaginable that I battled to get money back because of. Where our hotel was there were gangs of feral youths and dead cats in the street, it was more like a warzone. (But I appreciate we were unlucky as we met up with friends who were on the right side of town )

This is really interesting in as much as to see the places that people love and others hate.

We have family in Dubai which means I've visited a place which would otherwise be very low down my list. I expected to hate it but actually have a surprisingly nice time. I also quite like Hong Kong which is rubbished above though only been for work.

Unlike most of the population of Great Britain I had never been to Cornwall as a child due to always going to Ireland where my dad came from on holiday. What a revelation taking my own children. Stuff to entertain them with if it rained, access to Sainsburys rather than a butcher and a shop in a petrol station! And still lovely scenery and beautiful beaches. To be fair Ireland has changed a bit since the 1970s too and we've also had good holidays there.

Once went to Skegness for the weekend and it was truly hideous but not sure I can make a convincing case for that being unexpected.

The Gower, I was expecting Pembrokeshire with bells and whistles. I discovered that the Gower is a tad small and over crowded compared with all that Pembrokeshire has to offer.

pimp how patronising are you?
I have been to other parts of Cyprus which were stunning. Not Pissouri.

I had the best time in Copenhagen. Go to Christiania for music and food. It does not close.
Norfolk I tried 3 times and very underwhelmed. Ugly beaches.
Brussels surprisingly fun.
Venice not for me. In fact I haven't been anywhere in Italy that I loved.

Corfu was crap. I was probably spoiled by an effortless idyllic island hopping holiday in the Dodecanese the year before but it was crowded, soulless and impossible to get around. All the small islands I've been on have either great public transport or cheap, convenient taxis - this had neither. Beach (chosen because supposedly small, local, used by Greeks etc) smelt of sewage and was covered in flies.

NicknameUsed that little Cretan village...was it Sissi by any chance? I went there too, was a bit apprehensive given its proximity to Malia (where I'd been as a callow youth) but it was just beautiful and relaxed, with some lovely restaurants.

LA, Baywatch it is not
Agree with Barbados and the bit of Crete we went to. Not my kind of place.

Love Paris, Florence and thought Brum was a great city when I went.

Padstow. Truly awful.

Too busy, too tacky, too expensive, way too overrated, too shite.

I have never been as disappointed with anywhere as I was with Capri, I had wanted to see it for ages but it was just full of extremely expensive designer stores of the kind that the assistant looked at you with disdain if you ventured in to. It cost a fortune on the ferry, we looked around and then got the next one back.

I loved Paris, I hadn't been that bothered about seeing it for some reason but I loved everything about it.

I loved Las Vegas, despite being an utter snob before we went, and thinking I'd hate it. Wonderful restaurants, fabulous service, and just an air of fun about the place. There are even little museums tucked away in places you wouldn't expect; we went to a pop-up Monet exhibition at the Bellagio for about $10 that was utterly amazing.

I hated Kyoto, sadly. It was unfriendly, muggy, and I had more stomach upsets than anywhere else in the world that I've visited. We also kept finding ourselves in little red light areas which was very odd!

We enjoyed Transylvania in winter.

Ooh I adore Capri and the Amalfi coast. It is far nicer later in the day when everyone has gone home on the ferry though.

Copenhagen. Loved it. Went for the weekend to see a band on the Friday night and an exhibition on Saturday,. Didn't want to come home on Sunday.

I'd love to see more of the country and we planned to go back for an extended meander by car this summer, but was upset to discover they'd stopped the Harwich-Esbjerg ferry.

Hated Menorca - not entirely the island's fault that the husband of the married couple who ran the hotel had died only a couple of weeks before and his widow had decided to carry on regardless, but she was definitely struggling, and the staff were taking advantage. Chickens left out to defrost by an open window and covered with flies, filthy swimming pool, food very meh, and when we went to a beach and the kids started digging they uncovered a brownish-black layer about six inches down that stank...

Loved Krakow. Love the Polish anyway, but they are so warm and welcoming, couldn't do enough for us, the city was clean, friendly and fascinating, and I LOVE Polish food - just as well I don't live there (we did consider it) or I'd be the size of a bus!

I also found Brussels to be fun, with a nicer vibe than Paris.

Really disappointed by: Prague (far too touristy, a rip off), Cannes (went when I was small and loved it, went recently and it really is a hole), Dublin, Koh Samui, Auckland (that was 20 years ago though not sure it counts), LA. Salcombe in Cornwall was scenically stunning bur completely spoilt by the Chelsea set.

Pleasantly surprised by: Washington DC, fascinating clean friendly place; Croatia.
In the UK: South Wales coast around Tenby, Northumberland.

On the positive side - Sarajevo. Amazing east meets west city. Stunning Turkish quarter with artisans working metal, wood etc in front of their shops, friendly people, fascinating cultural mix and recent history (the tours and museums are harrowing, you have to be ok with that to appreciate it). The food is among the best I've had anywhere. Several hours from the sea though, hence hot as blazes (44 degrees one day but we were there in August which probably wasn't very clever).

Oh and yy to Krakow being a pleasant surprise, as were most cities in Poland (lived there for a year)

Expected to find Paris a bit meh, and well...not totally our thing (DH especially is not into city breaks as much as he is being wind whipped and rain pelted, clinging onto the face of some mountain somewhere)

LOVED IT. Both of us, absolutely loved it.

Awful - Southern Spanish coast. One great big long long massive rickety building site, nasty smelly hotels, nasty beaches, horribly windy, full of English cooked breakfast cafes, and red-faced shouty Brits who looked like they did some kind of illegal trading, driving was a nightmare, got food poisoning, just awful. Why people go to live there I have no clue!

Lovely - St Andrews. Thought it was just a poxy Scottish town with not much going on. It's beautiful, with loads of fab shopping and cafes, castle, beaches, culture, just love it.