Valley of the Kings for me. I expected more. And - and this was years ago - the loo there was without question the worst one I've ever come across. The loos were there but not plumbed in, and overflowing all over the floor (people were continuing to use them, in fact our guide simply hitched up her long skirt and tiptoed trough the mess) and the loo paper was being sold, one sheet at a time, by a little man sitting outside. It would've been cheaper to cut out the middle man and use the money... I crossed my legs all the way back to Luxor.
I was in Carvoeiro earlier this year.
Why did you not enjoy it?
To me it was a crapper, more rundown version of Spain. Wasn't impressed with the food and found people tried to rip you off a lot. Worst European destination I have been too.
To me it was a crapper, more rundown version of Spain. Wasn't impressed with the food and found people tried to rip you off a lot. Worst European destination I have been too.
That's a shame.
We had a nice time - but we were five couples sharing a large villa with a pool and a well stocked kitchen (equipment wise) so we shopped for food and cooked quite a few meals.
We ate out quite a bit too and that was always fine.
St Tropez - went there many years ago and never before or since have I encountered such squalid and stinking public toilets. It was all a bit of a let down TBH. That was nearly 40 years ago though.
Barcelona...nothing about the place of any interest.
Tenerife...the South at least, awful place.
Las Vegas, it really is Blackpool, just with more money....probably attracts the South Tenerife crowd.
The Mannequin Pis was a let down, not too sure what I was expecting though! Loved the Mona Lisa, I saw it in 1974 and it was surrounded by Japanese tourists.
My OH's parents have just come back from Italy complaining that none of the restaurant staff spoke English and they didn't understand the menus, and they didn't have 'things you'd expect, like lasagne'
I found Paris not... disappointing, but underwhelming. Had a lovely daytrip and packed a lot in (Eiffel Tower, cafe breakfast, walk along the Seine, Musee d'Orsay, lunch near the Louvre, Notre Dame, and a trip up to Monmatre and the Arc d Triomphe before back to Seine/Eiffel Tower for NYE). It was honestly a great time, but unlike other experiences I have zero wish to go back, and the things I didn't see are kind of covered by 'but I'd have to go back to Paris again'.
Other people I know who've been swoon over it, and yup, it was nice, but I don't get the fuss.
Disneyland Paris - although to be fair I don't have kids so was a little pointless for an adult.
Centre Parks - Overpriced dump.
LA - I was supposed to be there 4 days but left after 12 hours after experiencing incredible rudeness and bad service from the moment we left the airport.
Blackpool - the most racist place I've been, lights were disappointing, pleasure beach just pure tack.
Bondi Beach - every single one of the 20 odd other beaches we went to in Oz was better than Bondi.
Phuket - dirty beaches, far too touristy.
Oh and I forgot the Cook Islands - its stunningly beautiful but one of the most boring places as there is just so little to do there.
Tenerife (the South) - concrete, Brits abroad, time share selling dump. I have heard the North is nice though.
Beijing - very polluted and just a bit 'meh'.
My OH's parents have just come back from Italy complaining that none of the restaurant staff spoke English and they didn't understand the menus, and they didn't have 'things you'd expect, like lasagne'
To be fair to them, I was quite shocked by the food when I went to Italy when I was young. I had grown up eating lovely spag bols, and struggled with the concept of pasta served plain followed by something dismal like a breaded veal cutlet.
Come to think of it, the nastiest English seaside resort is surely Canvey Island. From the concrete beach to the giant oil refinery it is just horrible.
Really?
I'm intrigued, of course it your right to be disappointed, but I'm just trying to imagine why.
What was there, (in Portugal), that you thought perhaps shouldn't be there, or what was not there that you thought should be?
I've been there a couple of times, it's not my favourite destination of all time, but I wouldn't hesitate to go again, the weather is almost always great, restaurants and bars are good too, quite a bit of culture and history there.
Providing you give places like Albufeira, (Benidorm with a slight language change), Quarteria, and to a lesser degree Lagoa a miss, I find the Algarve a relaxing place to visit.
Lisbon and Oporto are good cities to go to as well, IIMO, you can't fail to find excellent restaurants in both places.
To me it was a crapper, more rundown version of Spain. Wasn't impressed with the food and found people tried to rip you off a lot. Worst European destination I have been too.
Thats not the whole of Portugal you were in . The silver coast is stunning , wild and beautiful and very few non Portugese tourists . Wonderful
My dissapointment was Venice . Smelly , overcrowded , tacky , expensive and advertisment hoardings everywhere
The last time I was there surly Balkan immigrants mooched around the less salubrious B/B areas away from the seafront.
Racist in that I was racially abused several times by the locals (who were English) in the few days I was there.
I've travelled to many countries in my life and have experienced ignorance from all corners of the world but only in Blackpool (and once in Sydney) did I experience true racial hatred and malice from groups of locals.
Disneyland Paris. After going to Disneyland in Florida many times we thought we'd give the Paris one a go. I shouldn't really compare the two but still I was very disappointed.
This. We went to Disney Florida 10 years ago (2004):o and went to Disney Paris August just gone, we and the kids much preferred Disney Florida, they don't compare and there's more to do in Disney Florida as well.
San Francisco. I know a lot of people, probably most people, love it. I didn't.
I liked the ferry ride across the Bay from Tiburon, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, and a ride on a cable car. Then what? Nothing else to do except shops, Lombard Street and Fisherman's Wharf. Ugh, just totally boring. Yes, my fault almost certainly, but I still bitterly regret wasting a day in San Francisco that could have been spent in beautiful Yosemite.
Las Vegas.
Or rather, specifically the cowboy neon.
La Boca in Buenos Aires.
My distant relatives - their ancestors moved to there from Japan during the 1870s - promised that La Boca, the birthplace of tango, would blow my mind. If I remember rightly, it was just a historic quarter with a couple of market stalls and shops selling souvenirs. Maybe I was too young to appreciate it as I was around 13 at the time. I didn't like seeing a shanty town beneath the motorways between the airport and the city either.
Ushuaia.
Our teacher kept on and on that it was "the most southern city in the world! How amazing is that?", but it was just a small, seemingly run-down coastal town with a lot of boats.
I was in Carvoeiro earlier this year.
Why did you not enjoy it?
Great minds Toby, my younger son and his family were in a villa near Rua de Areias dos Moinhos in August.
I sneaked out for four days from London City airport and had a ball with the grandkids, jumping in and out of the pool.
Naturally, as the price for being picked up at Faro and dropped off, plus B&B, my mercenary kid stuck me up for springing for dinner one night.
I was just disappointed that the good restaurant, Martins Kulinarium was closed.
We went to Hexagone in Sesmarias instead.
I am going there for the first time in a couple of weeks, why was it so racist? You're Chinese heritage right (same as me)? What happened?
Was approx 8/9 years ago, was walking along the promenade and they have game stalls and stalls selling stuff, but the stallholders can be quite aggressive when you tell them "no thanks", I got comments like "how much for your wife" and "Chink b*****"
Tried going to a few pubs one evening and I gave up after getting hassled by groups of lagered up louts who felt it was their right to shout out "love you long time" and "to f*** off back to China" when I walked in with my white boyfriend.
Comments
I was in Carvoeiro earlier this year.
Why did you not enjoy it?
To me it was a crapper, more rundown version of Spain. Wasn't impressed with the food and found people tried to rip you off a lot. Worst European destination I have been too.
We had a nice time - but we were five couples sharing a large villa with a pool and a well stocked kitchen (equipment wise) so we shopped for food and cooked quite a few meals.
We ate out quite a bit too and that was always fine.
Tenerife...the South at least, awful place.
Las Vegas, it really is Blackpool, just with more money....probably attracts the South Tenerife crowd.
I knew beforehand Detroit would be a dump but I was enthralled at the utter scale of its magnificent decline.
I'm sure it's great if the weather co-operates. ☁
I found Paris not... disappointing, but underwhelming. Had a lovely daytrip and packed a lot in (Eiffel Tower, cafe breakfast, walk along the Seine, Musee d'Orsay, lunch near the Louvre, Notre Dame, and a trip up to Monmatre and the Arc d Triomphe before back to Seine/Eiffel Tower for NYE). It was honestly a great time, but unlike other experiences I have zero wish to go back, and the things I didn't see are kind of covered by 'but I'd have to go back to Paris again'.
Other people I know who've been swoon over it, and yup, it was nice, but I don't get the fuss.
Centre Parks - Overpriced dump.
LA - I was supposed to be there 4 days but left after 12 hours after experiencing incredible rudeness and bad service from the moment we left the airport.
Blackpool - the most racist place I've been, lights were disappointing, pleasure beach just pure tack.
Bondi Beach - every single one of the 20 odd other beaches we went to in Oz was better than Bondi.
Phuket - dirty beaches, far too touristy.
Oh and I forgot the Cook Islands - its stunningly beautiful but one of the most boring places as there is just so little to do there.
Tenerife (the South) - concrete, Brits abroad, time share selling dump. I have heard the North is nice though.
Beijing - very polluted and just a bit 'meh'.
Come to think of it, the nastiest English seaside resort is surely Canvey Island. From the concrete beach to the giant oil refinery it is just horrible.
Really?
I'm intrigued, of course it your right to be disappointed, but I'm just trying to imagine why.
What was there, (in Portugal), that you thought perhaps shouldn't be there, or what was not there that you thought should be?
I've been there a couple of times, it's not my favourite destination of all time, but I wouldn't hesitate to go again, the weather is almost always great, restaurants and bars are good too, quite a bit of culture and history there.
Providing you give places like Albufeira, (Benidorm with a slight language change), Quarteria, and to a lesser degree Lagoa a miss, I find the Algarve a relaxing place to visit.
Lisbon and Oporto are good cities to go to as well, IIMO, you can't fail to find excellent restaurants in both places.
Thats not the whole of Portugal you were in . The silver coast is stunning , wild and beautiful and very few non Portugese tourists . Wonderful
My dissapointment was Venice . Smelly , overcrowded , tacky , expensive and advertisment hoardings everywhere
Racist, how so ?
The last time I was there surly Balkan immigrants mooched around the less salubrious B/B areas away from the seafront.
It's the price you pay for wealth actually being far more fairly distributed now than it has ever been in the past.
Racist in that I was racially abused several times by the locals (who were English) in the few days I was there.
I've travelled to many countries in my life and have experienced ignorance from all corners of the world but only in Blackpool (and once in Sydney) did I experience true racial hatred and malice from groups of locals.
I am going there for the first time in a couple of weeks, why was it so racist? You're Chinese heritage right (same as me)? What happened?
This. We went to Disney Florida 10 years ago (2004):o and went to Disney Paris August just gone, we and the kids much preferred Disney Florida, they don't compare and there's more to do in Disney Florida as well.
I liked the ferry ride across the Bay from Tiburon, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, and a ride on a cable car. Then what? Nothing else to do except shops, Lombard Street and Fisherman's Wharf. Ugh, just totally boring. Yes, my fault almost certainly, but I still bitterly regret wasting a day in San Francisco that could have been spent in beautiful Yosemite.
Or rather, specifically the cowboy neon.
La Boca in Buenos Aires.
My distant relatives - their ancestors moved to there from Japan during the 1870s - promised that La Boca, the birthplace of tango, would blow my mind. If I remember rightly, it was just a historic quarter with a couple of market stalls and shops selling souvenirs. Maybe I was too young to appreciate it as I was around 13 at the time. I didn't like seeing a shanty town beneath the motorways between the airport and the city either.
Ushuaia.
Our teacher kept on and on that it was "the most southern city in the world! How amazing is that?", but it was just a small, seemingly run-down coastal town with a lot of boats.
Great minds Toby, my younger son and his family were in a villa near Rua de Areias dos Moinhos in August.
I sneaked out for four days from London City airport and had a ball with the grandkids, jumping in and out of the pool.
Naturally, as the price for being picked up at Faro and dropped off, plus B&B, my mercenary kid stuck me up for springing for dinner one night.
I was just disappointed that the good restaurant, Martins Kulinarium was closed.
We went to Hexagone in Sesmarias instead.
Was approx 8/9 years ago, was walking along the promenade and they have game stalls and stalls selling stuff, but the stallholders can be quite aggressive when you tell them "no thanks", I got comments like "how much for your wife" and "Chink b*****"
Tried going to a few pubs one evening and I gave up after getting hassled by groups of lagered up louts who felt it was their right to shout out "love you long time" and "to f*** off back to China" when I walked in with my white boyfriend.