Places you have been to on holiday but hated and would never go back

[PemboExpress]

Originally Posted by scro

I can’t agree on London. I am pretty certain it’s not my bias speaking when I say that it’s the second finest city in Europe to spend time in.

Rome is top but only as a tourist endeavour I would far sooner live in London and rome would be quite far down the list to live in quite a few European big cities than rome. London being one of them.

Amsterdam has always struck me as a place I would happily live. Can’t think of too many that I would rank above there in terms of that criteria.

Now that I think about it. I am not sure I would select any Italian city on a list of places I would like to live.

Sorrento or somewhere the Amalfi coast are pretty stunning places to live.

[greybot]

London is a fantastic city. Best city in Europe IMO.

[scro]

Originally Posted by PemboExpress

Sorrento or somewhere the Amalfi coast are pretty stunning places to live.

I enjoy where we are in the north East in a village at the foot of the Dolomites. Stunning part of the world about a 45 minute drive to udinese for a bit of sport and plenty to do all year round. We have family in Genoa as well. Another decent enough place, I just wouldn’t choose a city in Italy. They never strike me has having anything like as much to offer as London.

[PemboExpress]

Originally Posted by scro

I enjoy where we are in the north East in a village at the foot of the Dolomites. Stunning part of the world about a 45 minute drive to udinese for a bit of sport and plenty to do all year round. We have family in Genoa as well. Another decent enough place, I just wouldn’t choose a city in Italy. They never strike me has having anything like as much to offer as London.

Sounds idyllic and yes I get what you mean about Italian cities.

[RazorsEdge]

No one has mentioned Kandahar, it used to have the cure for the fear of flying. Once been there no more fear of flying

[Wycombe Eagle#2]

Originally Posted by Maz

Venice is absolutely fab if you actually bother to explore it.


St Marks Sq etc sucks.

Yep loved Venice. Just walk through St Marks sq and be done with it. Pre covid €10+ for a beer. 60 second walk through the lanes and onto a bar facing the waterway and same beer €5. First night mistake was find a nice looking restaurant as we were having such a nice start. Food was awful and ridiculously priced. Thereafter we ate were the locals were and it was excellent.

Lots to see there and stay away from the tourist trap and you’ll get better quality food and drink for reasonable price.

Just remembered a place never to go back to which made Benidorm look like the ritz. Hamburg……perhaps I’m being a tad unfair as it may have some nice parts but stay away from Reeperbahn. Biggest carzie I’ve ever been to. One bar you wiped your feet on the way out. One mate who has no filter unfortunately said to the barman ‘f me did the RAF miss this part of Hamburg’ luckily Germans have a good sense of humour. But was a proper s***hole

[Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by RazorsEdge

No one has mentioned Kandahar, it used to have the cure for the fear of flying. Once been there no more fear of flying

How so?

[RazorsEdge]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog

How so?

Back in the day, to avoid the rockets of Taliban, the planes used to come in quite high up and perform a dive and land. Bit like being on the big dipper in Blackpool (I never been on it, but I am told it is same feeling)

[Icy]

Morocco.

[Johnsonpen]

Originally Posted by RazorsEdge

Back in the day, to avoid the rockets of Taliban, the planes used to come in quite high up and perform a dive and land. Bit like being on the big dipper in Blackpool (I never been on it, but I am told it is same feeling)

I was given a flack jacket to sit on in a helicopter because the locals took potshots up at the main body. That was exciting stuff

[greybot]

Originally Posted by Icy

Morocco.

Cities! Not whole countries!

Have you been Tangier, Agadir, Fez or Rabat? All lovely places. Marrakech is as previously mentioned not a great experience but that's mostly due to the large amount of tourist traps. You can avoid them almost everywhere else in the country.

Morocco is a country I go back to every year. Great people and lovely beaches. Loved it so much I stayed even longer when the Word Cup was on and the whole country was engrossed with football fever.

[AJ]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog

I always find it pretty depressing looking out the window of the train from Victoria to Bromley South upon my returns. Especially south of the river to say Herne Hill.

Always been the same in my lifetime, but when you've been away it just seems pretty striking. I suspect if you are commuting this route everyday you would not even notice it.

I tend to agree that the longer you stay away the more you see a place in a different light. One thing that I have really noticed about London and probably the rest of the UK is that people really don't spend a lot of money on the outside of their houses. I find it amazing to see a house with BMWs and other luxury cars parked in the driveway but the exterior of the house are starting to show their age and could do with some repair work, painting and a general overhaul.

[singapore eagle]

You're all being a bit harsh on Dubai.

If you take it for what it is, you can have a really fun break there. Go for some winter sun in either late November or January time, book a beach-front hotel, enjoy the excellent water parks, seek out middle eastern food, spend a night in the desert, maybe a couple of days in Abu Dhabi. It's definitely somewhere I'd recommend visiting at least once.

[GorBlimey]

Cancun.

[Hedgehog]

Isn't there (or was) a bumper sticker that said something like, "A bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work"? Sort of how I feel about travel/holidays etc.

(P.S. I think the actual sticker said, "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work", but I stand by the sentiment.)

[scro]

Originally Posted by AJ

I tend to agree that the longer you stay away the more you see a place in a different light. One thing that I have really noticed about London and probably the rest of the UK is that people really don't spend a lot of money on the outside of their houses. I find it amazing to see a house with BMWs and other luxury cars parked in the driveway but the exterior of the house are starting to show their age and could do with some repair work, painting and a general overhaul.

Which i am told by my friend in Paris is the opposite there. She always tells me that the grand outside of buildings in central paris, is often in stark contrast to the interior.

[scro]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog

Isn't there (or was) a bumper sticker that said something like, "A bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work"? Sort of how I feel about travel/holidays etc.

(P.S. I think the actual sticker said, "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work", but I stand by the sentiment.)

ha ha i agree with the sentiment but i am not sure it's entirely true. Places that experience relatively high levels of crime or natural disasters could certainly throw up some days on holiday that i would happily swap for a day in the office.

[RazorsEdge]

A work colleague at my previous job wanted to go on holiday to Muscat and asked me how was the place I said there is feck all to see and do. He went for a week and came back I asked, how was it, he went, there was feck all to see and do I stayed in the hotel by the pool and read a book.

Well at least a quite holiday I said.

So Muscat to the list of boring places, unless you fancy spending time by the pool and reading a book

[Maz]

There's camel racing there.

And reading a book.

(There is one modern-style hotel. The then sultan took one look at the finished building and decreed no more western architecture in Muscat).

[RazorsEdge]

Originally Posted by Maz

There's camel racing there.

And reading a book.

(There is one modern-style hotel. The then sultan took one look at the finished building and decreed no more western architecture in Muscat).

Oh now I understand why the architecture is like that. It is a good idea to save the culture etc.

Oh yes camel racing. But you stay in a tent don’t you? (I never been and that is what I was told, which put me off)