I was disappointed in Munich. It was really rather dull and we had much better
Food elsewhere in Bavaria.

Pat

Oh forgot to add. Rahmana feel bad about your experience. That would certainly cloud my experience.

In terms of the off season in Venice we enjoyed it in March, but it depends when Easter falls, as you want to get there before the Easter break. I've also enjoyed Venice in January. Another key is where you stay, ideally away from St Marks, Cannaregio works or Dorsodouro are good options. I liked Venice for the art and architecture, the food, walking around the silent streets at night. It is indeed touristy but it's one of those places that it worth it nonetheless but you need to pick when you go and where you stay. I can completely understand why people who go for the day in high season don't see the charm.

In terms of Dubrovnik I agree with Andrew it is better if you stay overnight. We were there for a couple of days and it was far nicer in the evenings but you knew the onslaught was coming the next morning. We're heading to Cartagena on a few months and I've gone online to check what days the cruise boats will be in town and have planned our visit to avoid them, which is one way to improve your experience.

This thread illustrates just how individual our experiences are several of us have Lisbon on their" Loved it" list and others have it on their "disappointed list". It's always hard to say that someone will love something or not, all you can say is why you loved it or why you didn't.

@pariswat- That's probably why I'm fairly fluent in Spanish and not French!:) Though I managed to buy a newspaper and all of the macarons in a Pauls Bakery in French, lol.

And yes, I'm still not quite sure why the hype about the Mannequin Pis...

Weird Topic...especially since everyone has different taste and different expectations. Verona is my pick.

Except for the Coloseo and Castelvecchio, I found it overly crowded and touristy in a tacky way. And what's with the Casa di Giulietta? The home of a fictional character???

The Piazza delle Erbe was nothing but stalls selling tourist junk. Compare that to almost any other weekly outdoor market n Paris -- no contest.

Oh well, each to his own.

SS

"Oh well, each to his own"

No doubt!
Madrid, the city where nightlife starts at10:00 PM and ends around 5:00 A.M
is dull? amusing.

I was disappointed in Munich. It was really rather dull and we had much better
Food elsewhere in Bavaria.

Pat

@emily
'gran plas' would not be related to french but to flemish, you're entirely forgiven :-)
I'm also one who doesn"t understand manneken pis, but if it brings tourists, he can stay.

I had an interesting discussion yesterday with an architect who reexplained to me that Brussels is a case of stupid public architectural management, as we allowed so many old (and nice) building to be destroyed and have in the place soulless buildings. it lasted several decades... But what is left is beautiful, and some places are fabulous.

Another place that left me 'bah' is Los Angeles - I found it a succession of towns with no real historical center (I only found one place, small..) and it let me quite disappointed.

Rome was great for the sites and history but I was so happy to leave after a few days and refused to throw coins in a fountain. Just didn't want to take a chance and wind up going back. The rest of Italy was wonderful. It's a bit unfair, there wasn't one thing that I say I specifically didn't like about it but once we were well on our way out, I felt relieved.

Munich is just okay. I've been there a couple of times. The first time was great, after that no so much.

@emily, It is possible to visit Brussels without seeing mannekin pis. I've been three times and haven't seen it and don't imagine I ever will.

Thanks for an interesting thread, rahmana92. A city that I didn't like as well as others seem to is Vienna. I can appreciate its beauty, but for some reason I didn't really enjoy it either time I was there. Perhaps I would find more to love if I were to spend a week or so there; so much depends upon what you're really doing.

I have to admit that, along with some others here, Madrid was also not a favorite of mine.

On the other hand, I liked Rome, Warsaw, and Munich, among others mentioned here.

As mentioned above, some of the places you "had to visit" have been changed by mobs of tourists. It is terrible when you arrive in a special city or town and need to regulate your time to avoid mobs of day trippers,many from huge cruise ships. We felt that way about Santorini.

Cities which I didn't like during my tour to Europe was Tirana and Moscova. The crime rate in both of these two cities has been increasing and I really don't feel safe being there.

Miami is the large colon of America