Cities that exceeded and failed to meet your expectations
 

So which places exceeded your expectation and which failed to meet your expectations

Exceeded my expectations
- Venice
It's hard to beat the first impression. I walked out of the train station greeted by the beautiful Baroque church (I can't remember its name). Then I looked, hey no cars, no streets. When they said, there's no road in Venice, they weren't kidding. After that, I was all giddy in Venice. I was so eager to explore every corner and every nook of Venice. The hidden churches, the little bridges, the little squares, etc. I spent hours in the vaporetto, the one that goes circling the city.
St. Mark square and St. Mark Basilica also didn't fail to impress, the mosaic inside the church is just amazing. Palazzo Ducale, the entire building is covered with masterpiece paintings. Sitting by the lagoon watching the sunset is just wonderful. At night, the canal get so dark and so quiet, it's eerie and yet so surreal

Venice is absolutely the most beautiful place on earth.

Other:
- Salzburg
- Siena

Failed to meet my expectations
- Paris
I arrived with high expectation. I left with a disappointment. I can't help to think that the city is a bit overrated. Every single major attraction is crowded and lined-up with tourists, billions of them. Outside of the major attractions, the city is not that much better than other major city. Nothing really sticks out in my mind

Other:
- Zurich, expensive and there's really nothing to see

Exceeded:
Turin - What a gorgeous, classy, delightful place.
SanRemo - It's dense and busy, but a feast for the senses.
Utrecht - A really pleasant place with cool touches everywhere.

Failed:
Well, yeah, Paris. Once you've seen the major sights, it's grey and monotonous and most anywhere else in France is nicer.

Funny, but I thought you were asking for cities that exceeded and failed expectations both at the same time -- to which I immediately thought: "Brussels!" The Grand Place was infinitely more beautiful than I had expected, and so much of rest of Brussels was a bummer for me.

But now that I get what you are saying:

Exceeded? Napoli and Porto

Failed? Venice and Edinburgh

As for destinations that are not cities:

Exceeded? The Dolomiti

Failed? Puglia

Exceeded: Paris! (I thought it was magical - don't know how I'll view it I return), Siena; Also regions like the Berner Oberland and Engadine (Switzerland), Rhine around Bacharach, Hallstatt, Austria (a knock-out).

Failed: Regensburg, Rome, Salzburg (way too crowded), Nice, Lucerne (too many American tour groups everywhere you turn).

After a half dozen trips, Venice exceeds my expectations every time.

Istanbul also exceeded expectations - beautiful.

London, in an odd way. I never think of London as exciting, but once I am there, I love it.

Aix - don't know what I expected, but found it totally charming.

Barcelona. In my head, I love Barcelona because of the architecture. Once there, not so much.

Oh -- I forgot Barcelona. I don't know what my expectations ever were, but I disliked it both times i was there. In fact, I went back to Barcelona after my first highly disappointing visit thinking maybe I should give it another try. But second time was just the same. Somebody else's party, not mine.

I go back to Venice not expecting to like it, because there is so much art there that I want to see. I suppose I could say it no longer disappoints me, because I don't expect to enjoy the scene there, and I don't.

I can't think of too many places that exceeded my expectations as I guess when you read and hear about some of these major European capitals, you expect them to be great.

However, I guess the ones that stick out more (which to me means I go back to them repeatedly whereas when I first went there I figured they would be nice to see on that one particular trip) are Prague and Krakow. I think both are just beautiful and the people are generally friendly and there is a lot to do and see, and they have reasonable costs. Barcelona also exceeded my expectations as I had read a lot of conflicting opinions about it but I just loved it. I thought it was also a beautiful city and there was so much to see there that I didn't know. Also really liked Leipzig, Germany.

The disappointments are kind of easier as they stick out more. I'd also put Lucerne in that category, although I don't really remember noticing a lot of American tour groups. I do remember the old town area near the lake/river was just packed with European tourists and I didn't think there was really that much to see there. It was okay, I didn't hate it but wouldn't go back. I didn't like Montreux very much, that was a real disappointment. It just seemed like some shabby run-down place in the main downtown area, crummy stores and not a lot of great places to eat and things were kind of expensive. The lake is nice, but that can't fulfill you that much.

I wasn't that crazy about Dresden, seemed kind of sterile to me. It seems like the kind of place that might be nicer to live than to visit.


In France, I really liked Montpellier, Toulouse and Narbonne a lot and didn't have a lot of expectations about them.

There are some smaller towns and cities that I don't think are that impressive and don't get their attraction (like St Remy and Gordes in Provence), but I never plan a vacation around a small town like that.

Exceeded:
Barcelona
Venice
Bologna
Berlin
Sydney


Failed:
Dublin

Exceeded: Porto, charming, historic, interesting riverfront, friendly residents.
Failed: Santorini, over run with tourists, unfriendly staff at hotel and other places. And Greece is still is one of my favorite places, just not that island.

I find my feelings sometimes evolve and change.

Paris has grown on me. The more I visit, the less tourist attractions I go to, the more I enjoy it (I was there for the 8th time this year). I also tend to only go in fall/winter now. I really don't like summer there, too hot and crowded for me.

Both times I went to Vienna and Brussels I enjoyed them more than I thought I would.

I've been to Amsterdam 3 times and still can't get too excited about it.

Sydney wowed me the first time. But the luster sort of wore off on the second visit. I don't know what happened.

I really have never been left wondering "what is the draw, here?" Every place we have been has pleased me. We try not to expect too much, so that we are always happy with the result. I think we know what kinds of places appeal to us, what kinds of accommodation, and what types of activities draw us.

We were able to laugh at all the tour groups in Capri, and still felt in awe of the natural beauty of the place. But I don't feel the need to return. While MOST of the people we met in Burgundy seemed a bit pompous in comparison to our MANY other experiences across France, we still found much to enjoy and charm in unexpected places.

Otherwise, I really don't think we've picked a "lemon" of a destination in any of our adventures.

I agree about "evolving" feelings.
The first couple of days in Berlin were underwhelming,
By the end of the visit, I knew I would be back....returned three more times.

Continuing visits to Barcelona, Paris and Madrid have never disappointed.
Although, Dublin was not great it was not a"lemon".....actually, the places along the Bay were charming

Often , one's visit is influenced by weather, hotel, company, crowds, etc.

.

Exceeded: Torino, Bologna, Bilbao, Budapest

Failed: Florence the second time, Lucerne for reasons mentioned above, and Amsterdam (though I would give that city a second chance. a few recent trip reports have made me curious to revisit. I was there in August, which likely had much to do with my negative impression)

Prague was in between: exceeded in beauty and beer but failed because my vision of what the city would be like was about 10 years outdated. maybe 15.

Almost everyplace I have been has exceeded my expectations. I have been disappointed only in a couple of places:

Madrid - too modern, looks a lot like Chicago - and way too hot (was almost 100 and humid the first week of May). Also felt we were not well treated in the hotel (Spanish-speaking guests received preferential treatment to Americans - the staff didn't realize how much Spanish we understood) and found the food overall to be disappointing.

I don't often travel with major expectations, but do with hope, and I'm fairly easy to please if I'm traveling, and do a LOT of research ahead of time, but cities (big ones...the small ones are too numerous to list) that have really captured me have been:

Paris, above all
Lyon
Montpellier
Venice
Prague
Copenhagen
Marrakesh
Nairobi
Jaipur

Disappointments:

Tunis
Casablanca
Madrid
Zürich (big time)
Geneva
Athens

I forgot to mention Stocholm
did't know what to expect... a stunning city!

I also enjoy Nairobi and don't find it to be nearly as bad as its "Nairobbery" reputation. The only thing is the traffic seems to get worse with each visit.

I wasn't entralled with Venice but I visited in August when it felt like I was shoulder to shoulder with tourists. I need to go back at a quieter time.

I thought Hobart was a cool, little city. I could even envision living there.

Harbin enchanted me I think because I was there for the ice festival but that was 20 years ago and who knows what I'd think of Harbin today.

I didn't like Manila but I think losing my passport and getting food poisoning colored my perception.

Exceeded:

-Prague
-Hong Kong
-Bali

Disappointed:

-Milan

Stockholm certainly exceeded my expectations - lovely city.

I love the cities of the Veneto -- Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, etc -- but dislike the countryside.

Love Istria and Dalmatia, didn't find Zagreb very interesting.

Would go back to Spain to see the big tourist sites again, something I usually avoid, but they are very rich. I wasn't taken with the country as a whole, finding the monoculture in agriculture (twenty miles of olive groves followed by twenty miles of cork groves) tedious and economically and environmentally dangerous. I would go to Madrid in a minute for the museums, but I would go to Barcelona to walk around.

I like Southern Tuscany very much, Chianti not so much. Siena yes,tomorrow if you are paying, but Florence only for the art, though I need to spend at least two more weeks there to skim even the cream. Lucca is wonderful, but it is a long way off the tourist beaten path.