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Biggest disappointment and nicest surprise


Kejan

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Barcelona is coming up as a disappointment a lot on here but it was the other way round for me as I had passed through there twice and want exactly bowled over by the Ramblas etc but when we went around on the open top bus tour I loved it there and was totally taken aback and never wanted to leave.

I don't think I have ever went somewhere with very high expectations and was let down, maybe some parts of Thailand I thought were over rated. I can also see why people wouldn't think that much of Sydney as it is a rather soulless place to visit. I loved living there though.

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Barcelona was a definite disappointment for me. By and large I thought it was an overgrown slum and the nightlife was average at best. Had a much better time in Reus, which was an hour or so away by train, Was there to visit my sister who lived in Reus at the time and she knew both fairly well.

Cape Town was the opposite. I wasn't too keen on going to South Africa but she was and I gave in. Cape Town was tremendous, and never once felt intimidated or in any kind of danger. So much to see and do there, and the food and drink was outstanding.

I feel people are being harsh on Vienna. I wouldn't say it is dull, but it is definitely laid back. The architecture is stunning, everything has it's own space(Kind of opposite of Barcelona where everything seemed to be right on top of you) and if you avoid the tourist traps there are some excellent bars and restaurants,

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On 28/02/2017 at 06:22, AsimButtHitsASix said:

Obviously having been trapped here for half a decade I'm seeing it a bit different but planning and organising from A to B? It's much easier to get from one part of London to the other than any other UK city I've been in despite its size. There's a few exceptions (Getting to South East London can be a bit of a b*****d at times but there's f**k all touristy there anyway) but between the tube, overground, trams, national rail, buses and walking it's pretty straightforward and cheap.

Having lived in the big smoke for a decade, I agree the travel infrastructure is great, however the previous point stands. Because of its size, you do have to take into account travel time on public transport.

Outside the central square couple of miles and with a few notable exceptions, the city is one giant shitesville of the highest order, with more crooks, scroungers and general nogooders than folk in Scotland could ever have nightmares about.

Interestingly, one of the nicer bits outside the centre is Greenwich. It is of course in SE London.

 

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On 26/02/2017 at 22:02, Marr1 said:

All of these were from the same trip I went on 4 years or so ago. It was a Geography/Classical Civilisation trip to the Bay of Naples.

Disappointment: Naples and Pompeii

Naples is a massive tip, like Leith in Trainspottting but with 3 million more people. Not to say there isn't some great buildings in Naples but it was full of crime and the Mafia have quite a bit of control in Naples.

Pompeii was very disappointing, far too many tourists had ruined the site and it felt like it had lost it's character. Due to to the volume of tourists who don't know how to respect the site a lot of buildings were also fenced off. The Gladiatorial Arena was still quite nice - a Tannadice-sized arena that held around 16000-20000 people.

Surprise: Capri, Sorrento and Herculanem

Capri is a tax haven, and is accessible by a 35 minute ferry from Sorrento, it is a limestone island with some beautiful coves dug into the coast, it's well worth visiting.

Sorrento is probably the nicest town I've ever visited, it's like an Italian St Andrews, with beautiful old buildings and feels like it has not pandered too much to tourists. Feels like a traditional small Italian town, with narrow streets and very compact housing right on the coast with a beautiful beach.

Herculanem was another Roman town destroyed by Vesuvius, it was basically a village with about 1000 people living there at the time of the eruption, but it has preserved much better as it was destroyed by boiling mud, rather than buried by falling ash. It gets visited by very few people and has not been wrecked by tourists. Probably because the people who know about it, know why it exists and how to respect the buildings.

If its Roman ruins in Italy yer after go for Ostia Antica. Romes ancient port. Fantastically preserved.

Less than an hour by train or car from central Rome.

Far bigger than the sights at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Far more access. Very few fenced off areas. U can just wander in and out the buildings and ruins.

Also when we were their in September last year, we had the place to ourselves.

Sitting on the steps of the temple of jupiter in the middle of what would have been a sprawling roman town. Hot sun starting to set. No one else about. Fantastic. Not to be missed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Disappointment: I would say Prague and Hamburg. Prague because whilst the architecture is amazing and some parts are nice, its a bit ruined by the state they've made of the centre of town and the whole seedy set up they have now.

Hamburg, to be honest, I thought that it was actually a bit dull. The place is like one huge red-light district but beyond sneaking onto The Reeperbahn (just because girls weren't allowed to go there) if you aren't interested in the whole prostitution side of things then there isn't actually that much else to do.

Surprise: Budapest. Absolutely wonderful, what Prague ought to be like. Loved the Spas, the architecture, food and bars were great. Brilliant place.

Innsbruck was also a pleasant surprise, nice town, whilst quiet there are a lot of things to do in the area and we had the most amazing train journey through the Alps to reach it (took the line from Munich, via Garmisch).

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Disappointment  - another vote for Prague I'm afraid. Did it during a mammoth Central European train tour so maybe I'd been spoiled by the beauty of other places (see below) but found it a bit tacky, with strip clubs and segway tours everywhere. The people there weren't the friendliest and were trying to sell us stuff constantly and the prices have obviously been hiked up in recent years. Add to that the number of "lads" there and adds up to and major disappointment sadly. Decent food mind you. 

(Dis)honorable mentions: Another that's been mentioned, Rome - possibly because I had a dodgy leg at the time and all I seemed to do was walk for miles to one disappointment after another (the Spanish Steps in particular) - and one that was mentioned in a good way, Sorrento. I agree that Capri is lovely but I love the batshit crazy nature of Naples and the authentic, we-don't-give-a-shit attitude, while Sorrento was a bit like an old place trading on former glories, where you couldn't actually get to the sea because of all the private beaches and even an espresso was super expensive. We also ate a one of the top rated on TripAdvisor places and it was awful.

Surprise - quite a few places but the most recent, and another where I'm disagreeing with previous posters is Hamburg. We only went there because the flight were cheap and we weren't expecting much but it really was a lovely city. The buildings in the centre around the Alster are gorgeous, there are loads of nice spots for lunch or drinks, and maybe because we weren't there on a lads weekend or stag, we found there was plenty to do. The Reeperbahn itself (the red lights in the window that's closed off to women and children is Davidstraß I think?) wasn't that exciting but the Dom fairground was there and the fish market area, canals, minature wonderland, Japanese gardens, shopping areas etc kept our attention for the 3 nights we were there and we didn't even get to the Planatarium, zoo, City Park, boat trips, spice museum, chocolate museum, maritime museum or see a show. 

Honourable mentions to Zagreb and Ljubljana - two of the prettiest cities I've ever been to and still relatively cheap - and to Trieste, tucked away in the north-east of Italy. A wonderful little city wth exceptional food and drink, bars and coffee and at a crossroads of Italian, Slavic and Austrian influences, it's well worth stopping off there. Echo the above about Innsbruck too, you can include the Ziller valley and Mayrhofen to that while area. 

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17 hours ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

Disappointment  - another vote for Prague I'm afraid. Did it during a mammoth Central European train tour so maybe I'd been spoiled by the beauty of other places (see below) but found it a bit tacky, with strip clubs and segway tours everywhere. The people there weren't the friendliest and were trying to sell us stuff constantly and the prices have obviously been hiked up in recent years. Add to that the number of "lads" there and adds up to and major disappointment sadly. Decent food mind you. 

(Dis)honorable mentions: Another that's been mentioned, Rome - possibly because I had a dodgy leg at the time and all I seemed to do was walk for miles to one disappointment after another (the Spanish Steps in particular) - and one that was mentioned in a good way, Sorrento. I agree that Capri is lovely but I love the batshit crazy nature of Naples and the authentic, we-don't-give-a-shit attitude, while Sorrento was a bit like an old place trading on former glories, where you couldn't actually get to the sea because of all the private beaches and even an espresso was super expensive. We also ate a one of the top rated on TripAdvisor places and it was awful.

Surprise - quite a few places but the most recent, and another where I'm disagreeing with previous posters is Hamburg. We only went there because the flight were cheap and we weren't expecting much but it really was a lovely city. The buildings in the centre around the Alster are gorgeous, there are loads of nice spots for lunch or drinks, and maybe because we weren't there on a lads weekend or stag, we found there was plenty to do. The Reeperbahn itself (the red lights in the window that's closed off to women and children is Davidstraß I think?) wasn't that exciting but the Dom fairground was there and the fish market area, canals, minature wonderland, Japanese gardens, shopping areas etc kept our attention for the 3 nights we were there and we didn't even get to the Planatarium, zoo, City Park, boat trips, spice museum, chocolate museum, maritime museum or see a show. 

Honourable mentions to Zagreb and Ljubljana - two of the prettiest cities I've ever been to and still relatively cheap - and to Trieste, tucked away in the north-east of Italy. A wonderful little city wth exceptional food and drink, bars and coffee and at a crossroads of Italian, Slavic and Austrian influences, it's well worth stopping off there. Echo the above about Innsbruck too, you can include the Ziller valley and Mayrhofen to that while area. 

I went to Prague a year after the Velvet Revolution and it was an amazing place, utterly different from anywhere I've been, very friendly and ridiculously cheap, 50p for a meal and 3 pints of great beer, 15p for a centre stalls seat in the Opera House. Returned a few years ago and it could have been in any European country, they were selling Stella ffs.

Glad you mentioned Trieste and Ljubijana, been meaning to go for ages, maybe next spring along with a boat trip to Croatia.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'd like to add Ljubljana to the 'nicest surprise' category. I've just spent two days here having traveled through a few central European and Balkan cities. I really wasn't expecting much but I've been absolutely blown away by just how beautiful a city it is. The people have been extraordinarily friendly - up there with the warmest peeple I've ever come across anywhere. There's an abundance of places to enjoy good food and drink at reasonable prices and with the city being so small and compact, everything is pretty much within walking distance.

I can't wait to visit again for the Scotland game in October.

I visited Zagreb before Ljubljana and thought it was nice enough, if a bit 'meh'.

Biggest disappointment has to be Hamburg. I thought it was a seedy shithole. I was on a lads weekend admittedly and we didn't venture far from the Reeperbahn so I suppose it's a bit unfair to write the entire city off based on this. One of my mates travels over regularly and assures me that there's much more to it. 

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I can see why you'd feel that way @Hammer Jag. Like I said, I was there with the missus so the red light district and bars etc were a point of interest rather than the be all and end all, and the only interesting thing I remember about the Reeperbahn is that there was  a McDonald's on the ground floor of a building and a giant brothel advertising sex for €39 on the floors above. Talk about a culture clash.

It very much reminded me of Amsterdam though. The first time I was there, I was about 14. I was able to walk round the red light district and have a wee look at the shops, peek in a few alleys where the windows were etc but it was all quite relaxed and friendly. I hate to use the phrase 'carnival atmosphere' but that's what it was like. The drugs and harder sex stuff was there but not being forced on anyone and I had a great old time. A few years later I returned and it had changed beyond recognition. The smell of the hash cafes was everywhere, there were drug sellers on every corner, there were pushy bar owners trying to get you to visit their sex shows, the place looked darker, dirtier and seedier. Clearly the advent of cheap flights and stag weekends had an effect.

Now though, I love Amsterdam. I stay away from the red light area and concentrate on the history, the markets and restaurants, de pijp area, and the outlying villages you can get to in 30 minutes by bus and it's one of my favourite destinations. In fact I'm planning on heading back in October. Hamburg is exactly the same in that regard - ignore the bits that stag weekenders head to and it's a lovely place. I can't wait to return.

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Best surprise - Reykjavik/Iceland - I knew I would be seeing some great landscapes etc but the capital city was a cracking place.  Plenty decent bars and some amazing food.  Would head back tomorrow if I could.

Biggest disappointment - Vienna.  Was possibly a bit young when I went there but can only remember being bored out my tits.  Other than the giant big wheel.

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Disappointmet: Hollywood, an absolute hole. We stayed one street up from Hollywood Boulevard, so when we got to it, we couldn't believe how run down it was. Homeless folk all out of their faces everywhere. Obviously you have the Chinese Theatre to have a quick look at, but on the whole, found it to be really underwhelming.

Surprise: Another vote for Reykjavik, a really stunning place, as the above has mentioned, some really nice grub, and it wasn't priced as heavily as some folk make out. All the touristy stuff is well worth doing, only went for a long weekend, so would like to go back.

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5 hours ago, Hammer Jag said:

Biggest disappointment has to be Hamburg. I thought it was a seedy shithole. I was on a lads weekend admittedly and we didn't venture far from the Reeperbahn so I suppose it's a bit unfair to write the entire city off based on this. One of my mates travels over regularly and assures me that there's much more to it. 

 

2 hours ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

I can see why you'd feel that way @Hammer Jag. Like I said, I was there with the missus so the red light district and bars etc were a point of interest rather than the be all and end all, and the only interesting thing I remember about the Reeperbahn is that there was  a McDonald's on the ground floor of a building and a giant brothel advertising sex for €39 on the floors above. Talk about a culture clash.

Recently visited Hamburg as well, I can totally see why you have both said this and largely completely agree. I was on a stag do though and absolutely served the purpose. The thing that was worst about it though, is when you wake up and walk around the Reeperbahn in daylight, you see it for what it really is. While we were there part of the group decided to go on a walking tour, ye know see some culture, during which someone (a local perhaps) committed suicide and on route home spotted someone injecting heroin right into their boaby, on the street, in broad daylight...

Good points though, found a great microbrewery and there are parts of the city with really good bars away from all the seediness and neon signs. 

Nowhere has really been surprise or disappointment for me tbh. The above was about what I expected. 

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Another one for Prague as the disappointment. It was pretty seedy, and dodgy at night, although it was whilst interrailing so weren't staying in the nicest area.

Special mention to one of the strip club reps who tried to entice us in with the following conversation whilst following us up the street:

"Hey, you like ice cream?"

"Eh, sure"

"You like titties"

"Aye"

"Come in and I'll smear some ice cream all over some titties for you"

Utterly bizarre, but hilarious.

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On 4/6/2017 at 00:33, git-intae-thum said:

Having lived in the big smoke for a decade, I agree the travel infrastructure is great, however the previous point stands. Because of its size, you do have to take into account travel time on public transport.

Outside the central square couple of miles and with a few notable exceptions, the city is one giant shitesville of the highest order,

 

Nope.  I go in to London 2x a week and it's always a delight.  I particularly like when they have tube strikes so I can walk from Marylebone to Fleet Street.  It takes about 50 minutes but includes the best city walking you can do.

Surprise: Stavanger.  Absolutely nothing like Aberdeen  though they compete in the same market.  The townscape is lovely and lightly grilled whale served with a lime foam accompanied by a bottle of Meursault was a memorable meal.

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Disappointment

 

Dubrovnik - had already done Split and Zagreb on a previous holiday when I ended up here for the last leg of an inter railing trip. Old Town was pretty cool but nothing overly special and the place was just ridiculously crowded considering the small size of it. Gauntlet of tour guides flogging game of thrones crap before you get in and it just strikes me as a place that has probably been ruined recently

 

Auckland - just struck me as gray and dull with all the best things to do involving leaving the city itself.

 

Surprises

 

Hoi An, Vietnam - when I did my tour this wasn't a stop I'd heard of or that had jumped out at me but what a place! Amazing little old town, one of the best I'd ever visited, and an incredible mixture of French, Chinese, Japanese architecture. Had a tremendous night out for St Patrick's day too

 

Bratislava - a city that gets talked down slightly amid general preconceptions about Slovakia but I found it to be a really interesting, nice looking city with some very decent nightlife

 

 

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Another one for Prague as the disappointment. It was pretty seedy, and dodgy at night, although it was whilst interrailing so weren't staying in the nicest area.
Special mention to one of the strip club reps who tried to entice us in with the following conversation whilst following us up the street:
"Hey, you like ice cream?"
"Eh, sure"
"You like titties"
"Aye"
"Come in and I'll smear some ice cream all over some titties for you"
Utterly bizarre, but hilarious.



I'd have gone to see if he'd followed up on the promise tbh.
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6 hours ago, kilbowie2002 said:


Yeh re Hollywood Boulevard completely agree, the yanks have a serious homeless/mental heath epidemic. I would say though you perhaps stayed a bit too close to the buzz, we stayed out in North Hollywood, near to Burbank and although we hated HB we just floated about near to the movie studios, great wee restaurants and shops etc. Really liked Beverly Hills also.

Yeah we definitely did, wish we did what you did. A couple we met over there had been staying in an apartment block through Air BnB, the lounge didn't have any curtains, and when dark they noticed a laser pen shining through the window. In the block opposite, a bloke was naked, and after their attention so he could give a little show so to speak. Very odd place.

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