Tourist destinations you thought were a bit shit...

...any destinations you've done that you just won't go back to?

Top of the pile for me is Milan. The Dumo and piazza are lovely. And there was the San Siro which was interesting. And miles of Pirelli factories and grime and subarbs and little else really.

Amsterdam is another that I prob won't visit again. Great fun and all that. But just found little to see after the Ann Frank house. Lots of galleries which are not my thing. And though there was something almost claustrophobic about some of the older streets.

And not sure I'd rush back to Barcelona. Like Milan, a great church (or two, the old Cathedral and the Sagrada familia) and a great football stadium. And some lovely Gaudi buildings. Did it while I was staying in Salou, a dump of a destination, so may have been in a depressed state anyway.

your mom

Niagra Falls gets boring really fast

Amsterdam: ur doin it rong

  On 3/23/2010 at 8:48 PM, baph said:

Amsterdam: ur doin it rong

Ah yeah, it was a bit of fun alright. But can get that fun with the gazillions of hippies that live where I live. There was just not a whole lot else to the place.

Sometimes the best way to enjoy a destination is not to just visit the tourist attractions, but to find some places to relax and take the city in.

I know I don't really do this too often when I'm on vacation, as it's easy to just get caught up in trying to see as much as possible during the short stay.

But for me some of the best times are spent in restaurants, parks, cafes, etc. seeing people and how the city flows.

The Lonely Planet sent me to a place in Cambodia called Battambang with promises of quaint this and thats and french architecture and blah blah bollocks it was a horrible turd of a town

  On 3/23/2010 at 8:57 PM, sidewinder said:

Sometimes the best way to enjoy a destination is not to just visit the tourist attractions, but to find some places to relax and take the city in.

 

I know I don't really do this too often when I'm on vacation, as it's easy to just get caught up in trying to see as much as possible during the short stay.

 

But for me some of the best times are spent in restaurants, parks, cafes, etc. seeing people and how the city flows.

Good advice.

I went on a cruise and one of the stops was Costa Maya, which is essentially a tourist town with a pool in the "city centre," a hard rock cafe, people dressed in costumes with monkeys on their shoulders, a plethora of souvenier shops. There's a Mayan ruin in the area, but it's literally 2 or so hours away. The actual town, Mahahual, 2 miles away, is just as tourist driven.

Just as it looked like a complete waste of time, my fiance and I took a snorkeling tour that went south along the coast, and it was one of the most relaxing days I've ever had. Even going back through the town before departing was nice, it literally turned into a stereotypical sleepy, little tropical town in the middle of nowhere.

It was kind of like that Futurama episode where Fry goes to the moon...

Athens. Everything about it was awful, including the people.

  On 3/23/2010 at 8:55 PM, Conor74 said:

  On 3/23/2010 at 8:48 PM, baph said:

Amsterdam: ur doin it rong

 

Ah yeah, it was a bit of fun alright. But can get that fun with the gazillions of hippies that live where I live. There was just not a whole lot else to the place.

I was just joshin' -- I've never actually been to Amsterdam. I'd actually really like to see some of the old architecture, though. I've got a thing for old, maritimey places.

  On 3/23/2010 at 8:23 PM, Conor74 said:

...any destinations you've done that you just won't go back to?

 

Top of the pile for me is Milan. The Dumo and piazza are lovely. And there was the San Siro which was interesting. And miles of Pirelli factories and grime and subarbs and little else really.

 

Amsterdam is another that I prob won't visit again. Great fun and all that. But just found little to see after the Ann Frank house. Lots of galleries which are not my thing. And though there was something almost claustrophobic about some of the older streets.

 

And not sure I'd rush back to Barcelona. Like Milan, a great church (or two, the old Cathedral and the Sagrada familia) and a great football stadium. And some lovely Gaudi buildings. Did it while I was staying in Salou, a dump of a destination, so may have been in a depressed state anyway.

man, you sound hard to please.

i loved Barcelona. maybe you should've stayed there. i did, and it was fucking awesome. did you go to park guell? the picasso museum? barrio gotico? did you eat anything? do you have a soul? ;)

Nice is pretty shit aside from Old Nice, which is very nice and has more outdoor cafes per sq. ft. than anywhere i've ever seen. But new Nice reminds me of the shittiest parts of South Florida coastal cities.

  On 3/23/2010 at 9:10 PM, kakapo said:

Athens. Everything about it was awful, including the people.

5 euros for half a litre of water, just because it's sold out of the acropolis? you're out of you mind,

  On 3/23/2010 at 9:21 PM, blicero said:

did you go to park guell? the picasso museum? barrio gotico? did you eat anything? do you have a soul? ;)

Yes. No...I hate Picasso. Yes...it was nice. Yes. No, Salou ate my soul.

florida. all of it.

  On 3/23/2010 at 9:27 PM, Hoodie said:

florida. all of it.

LOL

the florida keys are pretty nice

  On 3/23/2010 at 9:22 PM, mohamed said:

  On 3/23/2010 at 9:10 PM, kakapo said:

Athens. Everything about it was awful, including the people.

 

5 euros for half a litre of water, just because it's sold out of the acropolis? you're out of you mind,

thirded. if i had known how shit it was going to be, i would've just dug in and taken a flight directly into/out of the islands instead of having a layover for a night at the beginning and end of my trip to greece. what bollocks.

  On 3/23/2010 at 10:56 PM, Jonas said:

I like how people value, generalize places on one experience.

But that's true for most experiences, particularly first impressions. I have listened to maybe 5% of Tiesto's music but on that basis I have decided that he must be generally shit and I have no intention of listening to him again and again to see if I was wrong!

  On 3/23/2010 at 10:42 PM, Deep Fried Everything said:

  On 3/23/2010 at 9:22 PM, mohamed said:

  On 3/23/2010 at 9:10 PM, kakapo said:

Athens. Everything about it was awful, including the people.

 

5 euros for half a litre of water, just because it's sold out of the acropolis? you're out of you mind,

 

thirded. if i had known how shit it was going to be, i would've just dug in and taken a flight directly into/out of the islands instead of having a layover for a night at the beginning and end of my trip to greece. what bollocks.

despite that, it was my first serious trip. i drove 3200 kms all around greece. that curve on the street for meteora (coming from igoumenitsa) when you see those giant alien rocks appear abruptly, totally out of context.. i nearly cried for the stupor. it was august, and i remember that once arrived in Delphi and placed the tent, the weather was so hot that i badly wanted to dive into the swimming pool of the camping, and i did it, but i didn't notice that the water was deep half the size of a children and i crushed my head on the base. then i went to the nearest hospital and a novice sewed me his first three stitches, and a Socrates-looking doctor wrote the diagnosis in strange carachters, 24 hours later circa.

the rest of the trip was absolutely ace.

Luna Park in Sydney

  On 3/23/2010 at 11:16 PM, mohamed said:

  On 3/23/2010 at 10:42 PM, Deep Fried Everything said:

  On 3/23/2010 at 9:22 PM, mohamed said:

  On 3/23/2010 at 9:10 PM, kakapo said:

Athens. Everything about it was awful, including the people.

 

5 euros for half a litre of water, just because it's sold out of the acropolis? you're out of you mind,

 

thirded. if i had known how shit it was going to be, i would've just dug in and taken a flight directly into/out of the islands instead of having a layover for a night at the beginning and end of my trip to greece. what bollocks.

 

despite that, it was my first serious trip. i drove 3200 kms all around greece. that curve on the street for meteora (coming from igoumenitsa) when you see those giant alien rocks appear abruptly, totally out of context.. i nearly cried for the stupor. it was august, and i remember that once arrived in Delphi and placed the tent, the weather was so hot that i badly wanted to dive into the swimming pool of the camping, and i did it, but i didn't notice that the water was deep half the size of a children and i crushed my head on the base. then i went to the nearest hospital and a novice sewed me his first three stitches, and a Socrates-looking doctor wrote the diagnosis in strange carachters, 24 hours later circa.

 

 

the rest of the trip was absolutely ace.

I was thinking a bout honeymooning in the Greek islands. I like beaches and my lady likes culture. Any recommendations?

BTW, I thought London was a tad shitely. When I went, the pound to dollar ratio was 2:1. I didn't know anyone there so we just walked around and shit. I think if you are American and want to see the sights and all, you better be well off if you're in London. Also, shit closes way early there. We wanted to see nightlife and there really wasn't any. I was all like

  On 3/23/2010 at 11:33 PM, jefferoo said:

I was thinking a bout honeymooning in the Greek islands. I like beaches and my lady likes culture. Any recommendations?

i stayed in the continent, saw no island sorry

  On 3/23/2010 at 11:33 PM, jefferoo said:

I was thinking a bout honeymooning in the Greek islands. I like beaches and my lady likes culture. Any recommendations?

Nope.

But honeymooned on the Croatian Islands, off the coast of Dalmatia, and they are beautiful.

  On 3/23/2010 at 11:33 PM, jefferoo said:

I think if you are American and want to see the sights and all, you better be well off if you're in London. Also, shit closes way early there. We wanted to see nightlife and there really wasn't any. I was all like

Generally, in London, we stay well clear of the touristy areas, they're all full of tourists from 10-6 then go dead, save for a mcdonalds or such, you can't even buy booze in shops, and if you can, it's overpriced.

Then the nightlife, not sure how it works, but you generally don't see Londoners at nightclubs like Fabric, where it's just out-of-town folk and tourists, usually.

We're all of accidentally perpetuating a new scene in some industrial backwater or kurdish quarter.

Like many cities I've been too, only really gets good if you have a local friend.

  On 3/23/2010 at 11:43 PM, Jonas said:

  On 3/23/2010 at 11:06 PM, Conor74 said:

  On 3/23/2010 at 10:56 PM, Jonas said:

I like how people value, generalize places on one experience.

 

But that's true for most experiences, particularly first impressions. I have listened to maybe 5% of Tiesto's music but on that basis I have decided that he must be generally shit and I have no intention of listening to him again and again to see if I was wrong!

 

I think there is a big difference between experiencing a place, space, city versus listening to a fixed medium Tiesto (anywhere :) ). Your expectations color your expectations, you might miss what is there.

I don't disagree with your point of view, but...the world is huge. If someone has a negative or not great experience somewhere, they're not likely to go back. There are way too many other places to go instead. So I can understand people generalizing to an extent. As long as they don't call the place shit just because they didn't have fun, mind you. It's all about the approach. If someone continually gets disappointed everywhere they go, they're clearly doing it wrong.