Holiday venues that didn’t live up to expectations

I was disappointed by Stonehenge and the Statue of Liberty. I thought they'd reach up into the clouds. They didn't.

4allweknow

Paris did not impress. Found staff in restaurants,both cafe and highend styles to be rude, felt ignored once discovering British inspite of speaking French. A lot of places, areas appeared neglected and dirty.

I think you were unlucky. We stayed in several different parts of Paris and ate in loads of different cafes and restaurants over many years. We never felt anything less than welcome. Our French left a lot to be desired, but I wonder if that helped. Maybe the French heard us struggling with the language and liked us for trying. Or maybe we were as lucky as you were unlucky. Who knows?

Blackpool ….. dirty , crime ridden , rubbish illuminations ….. awful place !!!!
Morecombe ……. Mud flats , sharps on the streets , boy racers !
Southport …… lives on past glories !
Such a shame as surrounding areas are lovely….. true blots on the landscape .

The women I know that travel overseas solo dress themselves in the style of local women and don’t leave the hotel alone at night.
I did meet 2 French women in Zambia they were cycling from Addis Ababa to Cape Town ( couldn’t do it now) I asked them about safety, no problem, we stop overnight at any village school and ask to camp, there is always someone who can speak English, we are offered food and a guard for the night safer than most places in Europe

Witzend

*@Flippinheck*, in Luxor, with dh, adult dds and my mother, we soon found that if we went out without dh, we’d be seriously pestered. With him it never happened.

The hotel (The Old Winter Palace) was lovely, though.

I wonder if any women travellers to such countries ever tried dressing up and passing themselves off, as men. not as easy as a man passing himself off as a woman. It would be hard to replicate the beard .

Unlike many here, I love Paris. I even prefer it to London, but I daren't say that too loud.

I love Italy in general but can't think of a specific place I do like. Maybe Sestri Levante on the Riviera.

I hated Rome: the narrow, broken pavements and the way they don't take care of the amazing historical sites. They could make so much of them, but it's all just left to decay.

My DH went to Sorrento some 20 times with school groups and inspired them all without exception - even now we often bump into ex-pupils who still rave about the trip. He took us there as a family once. I was underwhelmed and feel no need to go back.

Someone mentioned Scarborough - we stopped there last year on our trip to Yorkshire, Northumberland etc and we're pleasantly surprised. We walked up to the castle and saw Ann Brontë 's grave. It seemed much more civilised and genteel than I expected.

@Flippinheck, in Luxor, with dh, adult dds and my mother, we soon found that if we went out without dh, we’d be seriously pestered. With him it never happened.

The hotel (The Old Winter Palace) was lovely, though.

nanna8

I once went to Leicester as part of a local history study. Never been so scared in my life! My girlfriend and I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. That was many years ago now, hopefully things are better.

Come on Nanna! Tell us more! What happened?

I once went to Leicester as part of a local history study. Never been so scared in my life! My girlfriend and I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. That was many years ago now, hopefully things are better.

Many years ago we decided to take a short winter break to the Dominican Republic, the resort itself was lovely but had the chef from hell. The second night was BBQ night which consisted of the leg of a cow roasted and carved kebab style, we declined to sample that, most of the rest of the buffet was laced with coconut oil.
Unsurprisingly the queue outside the doctors next morning was endless, we spent the whole week eating bread and bananas, drinking rum and coke, nothing else was safe. However returning home chatting to another couple, they told about the lovely resort they chose, we had several good holidays there in following years

Cronesrule

Marrakech.
I was told how wonderful it was but I just found it upsetting and so disappointing. Old people with dementia/mental health problems lying in the gutter filthy and half naked, cats and kittens running wild everywhere starving and being run over, donkeys with raw sores carrying bricks on building sites, residents (I was told by one, but this might not be true!) unable to get out of Morroco because getting a passport so difficult and ruled by a despot.

I didnt like it there either. A small child had his hand in my bag, watched over by his father. Luckily I saw it in time. The native people were not particularly friendly and the culture seemed very alien, men and women segregated etc

We saw lots of people in Amsterdam exercising their dogs by bike. Maybe they don't get off their bikes to pick up the poo?

On the Amsterdam comment, I have to agree about the amount of dog poo in the streets. DH and I noticed it last year, though it won't stop us returning this November.
I looked it up, and there's lots of comments on Tripadvisor, etc.

Also, Nearly 6 in 10 people in the Netherlands think that dog mess is a problem in their neighbourhood, on the pavement or in green spaces. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on the basis of figures from the latest edition of ‘The Netherlands in Numbers', 2023.

Ive never been completely dissapointed in a foreign city. I always did my homework and learned which places to avoid. However I was annoyed by the amount of dogsh**t in the streets of Amsterdam as I think of the Netherlands as a very clean place
Maybe I’d better check my shoes!
We were there for 5 days in the late Spring and walked for hours every day. I saw lots of dogs but no dog sh*t! 😱😱😱.

Paris for me too. I like other parts of France much more. Many of our French friends dislike Paris too, so we aren’t alone!

I went with my husband, son and two of his friends to Pineda in Spain many years ago. It is near Blanes and Lloret de Mar and I remember it being pretty horrible - the beaches were dirty and most unpleasant - although there was a very nice cactus garden in a nearby coastal area.

Fortunately, my husband and I hired a car and travelled inland and came across some lovely countryside and villages. The boys spent most of the time at the hotel and its swimming pool! Some coastal areas of Spain aren't nice at all but inland there are some beautiful places.

My parents were divorced when I went with my dad, his new wife and stepkids to Blanes, Spain, when I was 15. I'd only been abroad once with school and there was the excitement of a coach trip from Newcastle to Spain to look forward to as well, and a new country to visit.
The resort was typical of many on the Costas: a collection of ugly 1960s hotels, English pubs, English fish and chips, and very little of the old town left. It was a big let down and while the weather was nice and the hotel was OK, I wouldn't recommend Blanes. Also the Germans were the first to get to the sunloungers lol.

Ive never been completely dissapointed in a foreign city. I always did my homework and learned which places to avoid. However I was annoyed by the amount of dogsh**t in the streets of Amsterdam as I think of the Netherlands as a very clean place.

I also found some of the people in Paris rude and dismissive and I speak fluent French. That did not put me off making several visits to the city for the art, culture and fleamarket.

Another vote FOR Venice. I have only ever been out of season - late December or January. Italy is not cold by UK stadards. I always stayed in the same hotel by the Rialto where the staff knew me. I always found the locals very friendly to out of season visitors like myself. I always travelled alone and always felt safe. I can imagine that in the season with crowds and tour ships its a hellish place with all those narrow winding streets.

Better further south. Maratea?

Yes Sorento is another tourist nightmare FloraDora!

Kerela, India, should have saved my money.
Really can’t see what the attraction is 🤷‍♀️

Nobody has mentioned the south of Tenerife . There were dead bodies on the beach when we were there and drugs are rife.
Sorento did not live up to it's romantic name.
Go to the Lake District and Edinburgh out of season .I love both . We were lucky to have a friend who lived in Paris show us round so we enjoyed it though my French speaking DGC complain about people being rude to them .

Marrakech.
I was told how wonderful it was but I just found it upsetting and so disappointing. Old people with dementia/mental health problems lying in the gutter filthy and half naked, cats and kittens running wild everywhere starving and being run over, donkeys with raw sores carrying bricks on building sites, residents (I was told by one, but this might not be true!) unable to get out of Morroco because getting a passport so difficult and ruled by a despot.

Ha ha!
No, but it would have been a possibility?

I guess your husband was not researching characters for a novel. A missed opportunity there.