rahmana92

Meeting expectations may be too strong a word, but by the title I mean cities that you just didn't like as much as others do. Not necessarily cities that you regret, but ones that wouldn't be at the top of your revisit list. I wanted to hear your experiences since you all have probably traveled much more than me. To make this more of a positive experiences instead of a bunch of complaining, I thought we could use the following format.

City
Things you liked about it
Things you didn't like about it
Recommendation of what you think would make the city more enjoyable if you visited again/ Rec of a similar city you enjoyed more

My city was Rome. I really loved a lot of things about it, the Vatican Museums and the Borghese Gallery were absolutely amazing but there were a few things that made it a city I don't think I want to revisit for a while. They were:

-I didn't have the best experience with the people there. I was stopped by the police 3 separate times while just walking down the street. I was never able to communicate well enough with them to find out the reason why. Also didn't have the best experience with the hotel staff and the hotel we stayed at.
- The weather! It was almost 20 degrees (F) hotter than what I expected when I planned the trip (I looked up the average highs and lows beforehand). It was approaching almost 100 degrees. In places like the Roman Forum where there was basically no shade, this was torture.
- The food was great! But...it wasn't as good as I expected it to be. We ate at high rated Tripadvisor restaurants or those recommended by the locals. And though the food was good, I just was wowed like I wanted to be.

My recommendation for those looking to visit Rome is to make sure you go at a cooler time! It's surprising how much of a difference weather can make. Much more enjoyable to walk around in 80F weather than 100F, in my opinion. I'm pretty sure my experience with the people was a fluke, so don't worry too much about that! I'm sure you'll love the city yourself.

So what are your cities that you felt you just didn't enjoy as much as others do?

Robert2533

It seems the problems are yours, not Romes.

IMDonehere

Can we avoid an endless Barcelona debate.

Rome is one of the great cities of the world. But I am curious why you think you were stopped by the police three times. I understand the language differences prevent a definitive answer.

pariswat

I like this idea of thread.
I'll come back.

sandralist

I think it is outrageous to say that someone who is stopped by the police 3 times in Rome for no apparent reason is the one with the problem, not Rome. I rarely say this on Fodor's because it is so pointless, but the OP is owed an apology.

If the OP's screen "rahman" is an indication that he comes from an Asian country, then people should catch up with the news that Italy is rife with prejudice against non-Europeans and that Italian police do not operate fairly and treat people on the basis of their actions rather than their appearance. If you look like Robert (I've seen your picture), a typically overweight, past middle age whiter than white man who is obviously afflluent -- hey, it's "your" problem is you are stopped by the police. We rule the world.

Also please catch up with the news that zillions of people who visit Rome, even those who are not stopped by the police, and even one's with Robert's looks and mentality (apparently shared by IMDonehere), don't like Rome. Ask bobthenavigator sometime why he doesn't go back to Rome.

And why should we skip mentioning Barcelona? Rahman is not asking for a debate. He is asking for personal experiences. He already knows people like Rome. THE PREMISE OF HIS POST IS THAT IT IS UNUSUAL TO NOT LIKE A FAMOUS TOURIST DESTINATION AS MUCH AS OTHERS DO. Get it? He is asking for unusual opinions who don't react as others did to an admittedly great historic city, not the typical tourist rah-rah-rah one finds on the Fodor's tourist board from people who often sound desperate to get away from wherever they actually live and have no discrimination (except against other people).

Rahman,

At the top of my list is Barcelona, where somebody tried to aggressively rob me within an hour of my arrival. (I won the fight for my bag.) It was also muggy and hot, and I agree that can cut into the enjoyment of touring any city. As for people, not only were there lots of obnoxious and drunken tourists, but the natives often seemed weary of so many tourists period.

justineparis

I too am surprised at Roberts rather rude post.. the thread is just a discussion .. you are free to disagree.. but its no ones problem if they like or don't like places you like..and especially in this case where the OP did not do the usual " I hated everything" rant that I don't really like but fairly pointed out both the pros and cons of his take on a place.

I would also agree somewhat with him.. Rome , while fabulous in some ways ( I mean come on.. the sights like the Coliseum, Forum, Vatican, St Peters etc) are pretty amazing. .but my personal take on Rome is it didn't seem to have some of the more intimate neighborhoods that some other larger cities do.. and believe it or not, the food routinely has disappointed me.. with the notable exception of one roasted rosemary chicken that still to this day haunts my taste buds memories as being the best I have ever had)

Barcelona was also not a favorite.. we had no bad experiences there.. but other then seeing the Gaudi buildings.. it was just kind of meh for us... ( however we loved the small town of Tossa De Mar only an hour and half away by bus).

Every city has pros and cons.. and not everywhere appeals to everyone.. but I do think there is no place that's all bad or all good for any fair minded traveller.

bilboburgler

I found Warsaw a bit of a dissapointment, but perhaps my expectations were unfair, after all the place had been flattened the population destroyed and then rebuilt under colonialism, hardly likely to be a towering success.

jtpj777

Have to agree a bit with the poster: as much as I love Italy, and the Italians, I was a bit disappointed in Rome when I visited. I loved the "sense" of history that it had and the magnificent structures ( although disappointed that the Trevi Fountain was out of commission); however, it felt a bit, I don't know, "grubby"? I know that sounds trite. I also HATED the numbers of selfie-stick sellers at the big sites, it really spoiled it for me!

I have visited Rome, London and Paris in the last six months and I found Rome the most disappointing of the three: London was vibrant, almost rowdy; Paris was busy but still managed to retain an air of elegance - away from the "honeypot" sites, like Notre Dame - that makes it my favourite big city ( although seeing Charles Aznavour whilst in Paris probably renders my analysis completely unscientific!).

PS Barcelona also disappointed me somewhat, I have to say.

TS47357

Interesting question. I'm not a huge Paris fan. It's pretty it has a great subway and there are lots of museums and things to do but I was always disappointed with the food. Maybe french food isn't my thing. People seem to like it a lot but I've had so many better meals in Germany and the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Canadian road houses and deep-South diners, pretty much anywhere but Paris. The bread is great though. Its probably just me but somehow every time I come to Paris it's cold. Even when I've been there in summer. Most of the time I end up there in the rain. I've never been in a city and had more difficulties with taxis. I like Rome so much more than Paris.

People are always way more impressed with Vegas than I am too. I feel like vice is everywhere and I don't have to be stranded in some desert to enjoy it if I want it.

EYWandBTV

Budapest: we had depressing experiences there. Our feeling was that the city and the people had been hammered down terribly in the past few decades and they had not yet psychically recovered. Example: I was taking some photos of a courtyard of an old building, two business people happened to be walking into the courtyard at that moment and they began gesturing angrily, shouting at me, pointing at my camera. I think they thought I was photographing them, they seemed to be afraid of being photographed. (There was no notice anywhere that photography was not allowed, nor any indication that the courtyard was private.)

Another unsettling incident: we visited the remains of the surviving large synagogue and the museum. We had a delightful guide, a lady of a certain age. Her son today was a doctor in New York state. Her father had been a research assistant of Einstein (!) God knows how her family members survived, or who did not survive. Anyway, when we returned to our B&B, we were chatting with the person at the front desk, telling them we had been walking around the old Jewish quarter, and he said "what Jewish quarter? Was there a Jewish quarter here?" Very unsettling, we had the feeling that Budapest's holocaust had simply vanished into an Orwellian memory hole.

We had more incidents like this. Granted, this is a 100% unscientific sampling, but I have no need to return. The city itself seemed a combination of drab chunks showing the scars of the war and the revolution and new glitzy chunks which could be Anywhere Europea.

Ackislander

I went through a long period of actively disliking London.

I had visited as a child in the 1950's and had gone with my own family a lot in the 80's, but by the 90's, I had had it.

My London was gone. My streets were filled with too many cars. My Victorian neighborhoods were falling victim to perhaps the ugliest modern architecture in the world, and that is saying a lot. Prices were and are outrageous, and taxes are punitive without providing any apparent benefit. The streets were filthy, and the Tube a sewer. The upper classes were all trying to talk with cockney accents, and the people they were imitating had lost their salt-of-the-earth sense of humor. Who needs it?

But I got my London Mojo back oddly enough by becoming a tourist. London has a thousand points of historical and cultural light, and by concentrating on these rather than on LONDON, I enjoyed myself again despite the high prices. I also took buses as I do in other cities to get out of the centre. But that's another story.

I also found Lisbon and indeed all Portugal to be disappointing, but that may be my problem. It is the only place I have ever had obvious pickpockets line up behind me at the ATM.

IMDonehere

People what they want to see. You can make a convincing argument, why to like or dislike any city. It is a matter of balance.

For example, we found Switzerland akin to being in a sleep clinic with Zurich and Geneva as the centers of somnambulism. Others find charms where we found little to none.

nini

France--Rouen, Germany--Fussen, Italy--Ravenna.

nytraveler

Well we love Rome - but then we are big city people. Can agree that it is hell in the summer but I would never go then. We typically go in May (unless I must do summer for a business trip) and that is plenty warm for us. But in summer we either do northern europe, where it is usually cooler, or stick to the Hamptons. And agree that if I were stopped by the police (3 times no less) I would be really unhappy.

The city I was most disappointed in was Madrid. It was much hotter than we expected (100 at end April), dusty/dirty, looked too much like a modern city filled with many quite new tall buildings, and there was too much noise in the streets in the early morning (apparently kids singing and yelling going home from clubs at 4 or 5 am). Yes, NYC can be loud but not so much in the residential areas. And while be enjoyed the Royal Palace and a couple of great museums it somehow doesn't seem particularly Spanish.

Also, our hotel experience was not great. Staff treated Spanish-speaking guests very differently than they did us - and a couple of other americans. I think they didn't realize that we could understand some Spanish - and rude remarks that were made. And putting us in a room directly above a ballroom in which they were playing bingo until 2 am - with us trying to sleep through the loudspeaker calling - B ocho, etc for hours. And then denied it when we complained - until I pointed out the sign in the corner of the lobby.

We loved Andalusia with it's unique moorish heritage and felt that area much more worth our time. Also that the people there were much more welcoming and treated us as we have come to expect throughout europe.

vincenzo32951

City in Europe that disappointed us: I honestly can't think of one. There are cities that we visited and liked well enough, but that we felt we didn't have to see again.

City that exceeded expectations: There are a few, but Milan stands out.

Of course, often such judgments are made on the particular circumstances of one visit, such as weather. But I can see how people go to a place with certain expectations and come away less than satisfied. My brother, btw, had the same feeling about the food in Rome: Yeah, it was good, but I wasn't wowed.

dwdvagamundo

Tours

Geneva

Sympathize with those who don't like Rome or Madrid. I like Rome much less than other cities in Italy, but it still has so much to see that you can't skip it. Ditto with Madrid. Tours and Geneva, however, have little to recommend them, IMO.

pariswat

I'd say Atlanta quite disappointed me.
Maybe partly because I hadn't booked a room and slept under a bridge or maybe becasue I visited the poor quarters.

Bucarest has disappointed me several times, last time to the point that I came back earlier to the airport to work instead of walking through the city. I simply found it full of soulless big buildings.
And very poor people, old women with scarves with their face hardened by work in the field close to a skinny young girl in mini red skirt leaning against a red ferrari with a guy full of golden chains.

Rome on the other hand, still rings of the 'la bella famiglia' that so many people said to us when we were there.

kimhe

pariswat

bilboburgler

ah, but pariswat I was kinda expecting that when I went to Bucharest, still the dog packs (now much improved) were an eye opener

TheFlyingScotsman

I'm sorry you had a bad experience in Rome; it's my favorite city anywhere. Having said that now, my first trip it was incredibly hot and humid. I was uncomfortable because I spoke no Italian then. I didn't understand how to find a good restaurant. A helpful native tried to steal my suitcase and I caught a cold.

I swore I would never return. Thank god, I changed my mind.

I'd say,we've been there at least 20 times. We stay at the same hotel where they recognize and make us feel very welcome. I think you should give the city a second chance, you may find, if you do, that your opinion will change just as mine did.

As for cities that were a disappointment, it has to be Athens.

The pluses for the city are obvious: the historic ruins and the archeological museum.

The negatives for me were the rest of the city. Food was disappointing.

It's not that I wouldn't go back, I would. It's just not high on the list of places that I want to go.