Most disappointing holiday/tourist destination/attractions?

[Cyder]

Bradgate said:

Any all-inclusive resort.

When I travel overseas, I want to actually visit the country I have travelled to. I want to eat the local food and drink the local wine with the local people. I want to learn about the local area, experience the local culture, attempt t9 speak the local language, get off the tourist trail and see the real country.

I don’t want to lie around a concrete hole with 300 other British tourists. Nor do I want to queue up at a mediocre buffet with the same tourist hoards and listen to them moaning about ‘foreign food’ and ‘nobody speaks English’ while drinking crap British lager.

I agree to some extent, however I spend a great deal of the year travelling with work to all sorts of places, driving miles from airports to provincial towns and staying in hotels where they’ve barely seen a Brit let alone speak our lingo.

I quite like getting to our summer holidays and sitting by a pool/on the beach enjoying the benefits of a (decent) AI resort.

Don’t get me wrong, we make sure to explore and visit local towns/attractions, but enjoy actually stopping and relaxing for a change too.

The one exception was when we went to morroco and stayed in Agadir, craphole of a country.

[StanleyT]

swerni said:

Kilimanjaro.
Climb at night and summit in early morning in the freezing cold.
Bleak and misserable, hoped for a sense of euphoria and had a huge antclimax instead

Ah, sounded like you needed Mount Toubkal in teh Altas Mountains instead. Sleep overnight in hut, set off at dawn, climb the equivalent of Ben Nevis to be sat in Snow in August, drinking smuggled beer, watching the mid morning sun light up the dunes of the Sahara? Plus a few days in Marrakesh either side?

I tell you who was dissapointed when I climbed Killy (I also had the same sort of feeling as you) was the "charidee" group who'd had to raise £4,000 or whatever to do their "trip", they'd been sld it as the only way to climb the mountain!! Double pissed to find we'd paid only £2,000 each as a group of 12 traveliing togther and we also had a week at the beech planned afterwards.

[PartsMonkey]

Brussels: The food was extortionate at the motorshow (Makes the NEC look cheap), the Mannequin Pis was tiny, the city centre on a Friday night was full of "yoofs" and their discarded booze and food wrappers (I don't think anybody put anything in a bin!) and at one point I had a genuine fear I was about to be stabbed/mugged/dead. Also in the main shopping street there was a shocking amount of homeless families. Not individual homeless people but whole families of men, women and children, who after the shops closed would build shelters out of cardboard boxes that the entire family could sleep in. The only thing I can't judge is the food as I was with my Dad and on this trip I found out he is a massive wuss when it comes to interacting with the locals, forcing me to eat in McDonalds on both nights because we could order on the self service kiosks.

Malaysia was alright. Kuala Lumpur is an impressive city although I got pickpocketed in China Town. We moved on to Kuching which I can't fault and then finished up on Gaya Island, off the coast of Kota Kinabalu. God it was boring! The island has two resorts and a massive shanty town built on stilts in the sea and that's it. The shanty town had no sanitation which meant all the rubbish and the sewage ends up straight in the sea. Not that you could enjoy going in it as it was full of massive sea urchins.

[hyphen]

PartsMonkey said:

Brussels: The food was extortionate at the motorshow (Makes the NEC look cheap), the Mannequin Pis was tiny, the city centre on a Friday night was full of "yoofs" and their discarded booze and food wrappers (I don't think anybody put anything in a bin!) and at one point I had a genuine fear I was about to be stabbed/mugged/dead. Also in the main shopping street there was a shocking amount of homeless families. Not individual homeless people but whole families of men, women and children, who after the shops closed would build shelters out of cardboard boxes that the entire family could sleep in. The only thing I can't judge is the food as I was with my Dad and on this trip I found out he is a massive wuss when it comes to interacting with the locals, forcing me to eat in McDonalds on both nights because we could order on the self service kiosks.

Wow, I haven't been so wasn't expecting that. Imagined some tiny place benefiting financially and with high employment directly and indirectly from being EU HQ.

[TheBALDpuma]

HTP99 said:

Barcelona, went a few years ago on a stag do, I was realy looking forward to it as I'd heard great things about the place, we did the cultural thing aswell as the nightlife so I feel that I got a good idea of the place, it wasn't just a weekend being completely pissed.

I came away with the view that it was a st hole, Las Ramblas in particular was just a dump, all the side streets smelt of piss, at night it was full of prostitutes and pick pocketers and generally the place smelt of sewage.

Never again.

That was your problem!

I went last year for a long weekend, and the city is amazing. Beauitful architecture, great parks, great food, a great beach and the spanish girls....

[Robertj21a]

TheBALDpuma said:

HTP99 said:

Barcelona, went a few years ago on a stag do, I was realy looking forward to it as I'd heard great things about the place, we did the cultural thing aswell as the nightlife so I feel that I got a good idea of the place, it wasn't just a weekend being completely pissed.

I came away with the view that it was a st hole, Las Ramblas in particular was just a dump, all the side streets smelt of piss, at night it was full of prostitutes and pick pocketers and generally the place smelt of sewage.

Never again.

That was your problem!

I went last year for a long weekend, and the city is amazing. Beauitful architecture, great parks, great food, a great beach and the spanish girls....

Sorry, you don't have to be on a stag do to realise that much of Barcelona is an utter dump. A bit of architecture and some parks is all that it really has going for it - and the petty crime rate will put most tourists off from ever returning.

[soupdragon1]

Bradgate said:

Any all-inclusive resort.

When I travel overseas, I want to actually visit the country I have travelled to. I want to eat the local food and drink the local wine with the local people. I want to learn about the local area, experience the local culture, attempt t9 speak the local language, get off the tourist trail and see the real country.

I don’t want to lie around a concrete hole with 300 other British tourists. Nor do I want to queue up at a mediocre buffet with the same tourist hoards and listen to them moaning about ‘foreign food’ and ‘nobody speaks English’ while drinking crap British lager.

You just aren't doing it right, or maybe just picking cheap holidays and wondering why it's poor quality food?

Anyone for lobster?

[HTP99]

soupdragon1 said:

Bradgate said:

Any all-inclusive resort.

When I travel overseas, I want to actually visit the country I have travelled to. I want to eat the local food and drink the local wine with the local people. I want to learn about the local area, experience the local culture, attempt t9 speak the local language, get off the tourist trail and see the real country.

I don’t want to lie around a concrete hole with 300 other British tourists. Nor do I want to queue up at a mediocre buffet with the same tourist hoards and listen to them moaning about ‘foreign food’ and ‘nobody speaks English’ while drinking crap British lager.

You just aren't doing it right, or maybe just picking cheap holidays and wondering why it's poor quality food?

Anyone for lobster?

I don't think that is really Bradgate's point, I agree with him by the way and as lovely as that food looks, I too would rather also experience the country, its food, the locals etc properly.

[Du1point8]

HTP99 said:

soupdragon1 said:

Bradgate said:

Any all-inclusive resort.

When I travel overseas, I want to actually visit the country I have travelled to. I want to eat the local food and drink the local wine with the local people. I want to learn about the local area, experience the local culture, attempt t9 speak the local language, get off the tourist trail and see the real country.

I don’t want to lie around a concrete hole with 300 other British tourists. Nor do I want to queue up at a mediocre buffet with the same tourist hoards and listen to them moaning about ‘foreign food’ and ‘nobody speaks English’ while drinking crap British lager.

You just aren't doing it right, or maybe just picking cheap holidays and wondering why it's poor quality food?

Anyone for lobster?

I don't think that is really Bradgate's point, I agree with him by the way and as lovely as that food looks, I too would rather also experience the country, its food, the locals etc properly.

^^^^ This... its the reason I go to places to see the locals and experience the country, I dont go for an all-inclusive stay at a hotel in the sun.

I get to go to the weird and wonderful places and my friends get to have egg and chips with all the other UK people and sit round the pool all day

[djc206]

Du1point8 said:

^^^^ This... its the reason I go to places to see the locals and experience the country, I dont go for an all-inclusive stay at a hotel in the sun.

I get to go to the weird and wonderful places and my friends get to have egg and chips with all the other UK people and sit round the pool all day

There is a middle ground. We get a lot of leave at work so travel a lot. A couple of years ago we went to Mauritius for 10 days all inclusive. We also rented a car and drove around the island, did a catamaran trip, visited a rhumerie, went deep sea fishing/dolphin watching etc. There weren’t that many Brits in our resort but the few from the UK we met weren’t football shirt wearing wkers and we spent the evenings eating fantastic fresh seafood prepared by local chefs and drinking good drinks. All you can eat oysters is not bad. It was quite relaxing and we weren’t confined to the resort as you would be if you went to a st hole like Egypt, they had bikes you could borrow to cycle into the nearest village and go to the local bars and restaurants. Unlimited water skiing was my personal highlight, I’d never tried it before but left quite competent. I’m not a big fan of beach holidays and we rarely do them but found Mauritius to be a nice compromise, I wouldn’t go back because I’ve seen pretty much everything I wanted to see but it was very pleasant as a one off.

[soupdragon1]

Du1point8 said:

HTP99 said:

soupdragon1 said:

Bradgate said:

Any all-inclusive resort.

When I travel overseas, I want to actually visit the country I have travelled to. I want to eat the local food and drink the local wine with the local people. I want to learn about the local area, experience the local culture, attempt t9 speak the local language, get off the tourist trail and see the real country.

I don’t want to lie around a concrete hole with 300 other British tourists. Nor do I want to queue up at a mediocre buffet with the same tourist hoards and listen to them moaning about ‘foreign food’ and ‘nobody speaks English’ while drinking crap British lager.

You just aren't doing it right, or maybe just picking cheap holidays and wondering why it's poor quality food?

Anyone for lobster?

I don't think that is really Bradgate's point, I agree with him by the way and as lovely as that food looks, I too would rather also experience the country, its food, the locals etc properly.

^^^^ This... its the reason I go to places to see the locals and experience the country, I dont go for an all-inclusive stay at a hotel in the sun.

I get to go to the weird and wonderful places and my friends get to have egg and chips with all the other UK people and sit round the pool all day

Absolutely get the points you are making. There is a time and a place and a holiday 'type' for everyone. The previous 'all in' holiday we went to we hired a 4x4 car for a week, went to remote areas, bit off off roading and that type of thing. You don't have to sit by the pool drinking for the day. We've 2 kids so always keep the alcohol to reasonable levels, few drinks in the eve and thats it.

The holiday pic above, I got to sample fantastic indian food, chinese, japanese, korean (weird but kind of nice after a getting used to it) all cooked by the natives of each country in each kitchen. I guess you could say I nailed the 'cuisine sampling' of several countries all in one holiday

My only real point is that there are a lot of very good 'all inclusive' holidays out there - they aren't all cheap/trashy hotels with lager louts ruining the trip for everyone else. If you search by price 'low to high' then that's what you'll get. I search 'high to low' until I can find somewhere that looks great, but without spending the price of a car on the holiday!

[RizzoTheRat]

Bradgate said:

Any all-inclusive resort.

When I travel overseas, I want to actually visit the country I have travelled to. I want to eat the local food and drink the local wine with the local people. I want to learn about the local area, experience the local culture, attempt t9 speak the local language, get off the tourist trail and see the real country.

I don’t want to lie around a concrete hole with 300 other British tourists. Nor do I want to queue up at a mediocre buffet with the same tourist hoards and listen to them moaning about ‘foreign food’ and ‘nobody speaks English’ while drinking crap British lager.

I'm with you there. I've never done all inclusive but stayed in a place in Madeira that includes dinner. The food in the place was lovely, and it was nice being able to get back to the hotel for a swim before dinner, but we saw so many nice looking restaurants when we were out and about that we didn't end up trying as it seemed wrong not to eat the dinner we'd already paid for

[ReaperCushions]

bad company said:

Seventy said:

Lord.Vader said:

I have never met anyone who has liked LA.

Well, you’ve never met me, but I love it!
That is what this thread is all about. One mans meat..............

Or me. I love parts of LA and Southern California generally.

Likewise. I loved it so much, I moved here! Although, Orange County, rather than real LA.

[havoc]

Jaguar steve said:

By contrast the Canaries have been nudging mid to high 20s for the last two months, southern Europe and the Mediterranean coasts are warming up nicely and the sailing season has kicked off in the Adriatic.

I know where I'd rather be...

Yeah, right.

Just got back from P-Blanca - didn't top 22 the whole time we were there, with more cloud than you'd expect, rain 3x in 9 days, and winds that the BBC would probably call 'breezy' but we just called too f'n strong.

Friends were (coincidentally) across in Caleta - same sort of weather.


But don't let that stop your inaccuracies, will you...

[TheGuru]

ReaperCushions said:

bad company said:

Seventy said:

Lord.Vader said:

I have never met anyone who has liked LA.

Well, you’ve never met me, but I love it!
That is what this thread is all about. One mans meat..............

Or me. I love parts of LA and Southern California generally.

Likewise. I loved it so much, I moved here! Although, Orange County, rather than real LA.

I love it too, the whole of Southern California. I think most people think LA is Venice Beach, Hollywood Walk Of Fame and Disneyland - then they eat at some crappy chain restaurants.

[Frank7]

bad company said:

I agree with the op about Las Vegas, I thought it was horrible but many seem to love it. Florida is also over rated imo.

I’m rather ambivalent about Vegas, sure the Strip is trashy, but you should be aware of that before you go, get out into Red Rock, Summerlin, Henderson, or maybe Boulder City, and it’s a different world.
Florida over rated? You’re talking out of your hat there.
Sure, Orlando, if you have the misfortune to wind up there, can be like Blackpool or Basildon with sunshine, but get over to the West, the Gulf of Mexico side, Tampa, Clearwater, south to Bradenton, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Naples, Marco Island etc., and it’s a whole different ball game.

[Jaguar steve]

havoc said:

Jaguar steve said:

By contrast the Canaries have been nudging mid to high 20s for the last two months, southern Europe and the Mediterranean coasts are warming up nicely and the sailing season has kicked off in the Adriatic.

I know where I'd rather be...

Yeah, right.

Just got back from P-Blanca - didn't top 22 the whole time we were there, with more cloud than you'd expect, rain 3x in 9 days, and winds that the BBC would probably call 'breezy' but we just called too f'n strong.

Friends were (coincidentally) across in Caleta - same sort of weather.


But don't let that stop your inaccuracies, will you...

You've just got unlucky - If you've spent any significant amounts of time in the Canaries in spring you'd know that already and you'd know too even on the occasional overcast and windy day there's usually some sunshine and shelter to be found somewhere on the islands if you work out the wind direction and jump in the car.

In any case the weather pattern you describe is still a massive improvement on the UK over the last couple of weeks.

[bad company]

Frank7 said:

bad company said:

I agree with the op about Las Vegas, I thought it was horrible but many seem to love it. Florida is also over rated imo.

I’m rather ambivalent about Vegas, sure the Strip is trashy, but you should be aware of that before you go, get out into Red Rock, Summerlin, Henderson, or maybe Boulder City, and it’s a different world.
Florida over rated? You’re talking out of your hat there.
Sure, Orlando, if you have the misfortune to wind up there, can be like Blackpool or Basildon with sunshine, but get over to the West, the Gulf of Mexico side, Tampa, Clearwater, south to Bradenton, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Naples, Marco Island etc., and it’s a whole different ball game.

Yes Florida does have some decent places but give me California, Arizona or Southern Texas every time.

By the way the drive down to Key West in Florida is also pretty cool. 😎

[Jader1973]

Barcelona - utter dump and the only place I’ve witnessed a pickpocket in action. The main tourist attraction is a building site FFS.

And Bruges is a sthole.

As for Paris, I love it. Last time we went we did a 2CV tour - great fun and highly recommended.

[hairyben]

Paris was probably the most disappointing holiday, but the Parisians can't take full credit as their studious contempt for tourists was only the icing on the cake - "holidaying" in a group including us, the in laws and their friends would be a somewhat optimistic idea in the easiest of places...