semiramis

I am not crazy about the whole idea of "must sees" because one person's "must see" is someone else's big "yawn".

I think you COULD use "must sees" as a rough guide but you should always take your own personal interests and tastes into account when making decisions about what YOU really are likely to enjoy and therefore "must see". If art does not interest you, don't visit a lot of art galleries.

Of course sometimes you can get a pleasant surprise and are really overwhlemed by things that you were not sure you would like.

Case-in-point when my DH first went to Europe with me he said "I really don't want to see a bunch of boring old churches". I insisted that we see at least one cathedral and he was hooked! Now he always asks if there are any of those "great" cathedrals on any travel routes we plan.

Same thing for me and Hawaii - I was not sure I would like it but DH really wanted to go - so we went and I loved it.

Connie

Disappointment--Uffizi Gallery and the rest of the Accadamia besdides David (Florence)

Surprise--how hard it was to turn around and walk away from David.

Disappointment--Versailles palace
Surprise--how much we enjoyed the gardens at Versailles (especially with fountains running)

Disappointment--all the graffiti in Rome
Surprise--how much I enjoyed Rome anyway

skibumette

Re: the Louvre. Our (then-preteen) daughter took us on our first "tour" -- she had been there with a church group the year before. Simple, she said: start with the Venus d' Milo, up the stairs past the Winged Victory of Samothrace, swing by the Mona Lisa and you're done!

Next time I returned I decided to do the museum "properly" and took the best tour I could find. Did see the Roman ruins in the basement, but then it was just (you guessed it) the Venus d' Milo, Winged Victory, and the Mona Lisa! Sigh!

sheri_lp

And on the other hand - I loved communing with the Botticelli's at the Uffizi! It was a wonder to see them up close and soak up that visual feast.

Connie

More thoughts...

Underimpressed--
PARIS at first but by the time I left 3 days later felt like I hadn't had time to really get into it.
NOTRE DAME--I expected it to be more grande--like the Vatican.
ORSAY--there's more Impressionistic art in Chicago's art museum

SIENNA AND TUSCANY COUNTRYSIDE--people completely decorate their homes after seeing it. Just looked like regular, lovely country side to me--nothing special

Loved--
Cinque Terre--especially after being in 3 large cities in a row--scenery is just fabulous and it was very relaxing
SWISS ALPS--I had been in Paris, Rome, Florence, Sienna, Pisa and Cinque Terra and I FINALLY got tingles as our train went from Interlaken into the BO valley.
GRAND CANYON--looking up from the bottom as the morning sun shone on the snow on the top of the canyon.
GREAT WALL OF CHINA---even though I didn't care for mainland China at all
HONG KONG--especially from Kowloon at night with all the different colored lights glowing AND from Victoria Peak during the day.

gruezi

Ahhh, the Botticelli's at the Uffizi!! I don't even like renaissance art that much, but I was hooked. I spent about an hour and a half at the Uffizi. Most of it was in the Botticelli room.

In an art gallery I like to do a once over first. Then after a short coke break I always stop back for a final visit with my favorites. It was definitely hard to leave David and the Botticelli's. BTW, there are a few Botticelli's in the Accademia as well. They are in the first room as you enter.

gruezi

valerie218

Loved

Paris - The beauty & lights of the Eiffel Tower, walking the Siene River and the park near Notre Dame.

Rome - The Pantheon was amazing, the small alleys were great. Not as impressed with Rome as I had hoped to be.

Venice - During Carnival was so much fun. The costumes were fabulous. The city is great.

Amsterdam - Spent 6 days there and it is a fancinating city. Canals and architecture are great. If you go there's a fabulous restaurant called "Get Together".

Bruge - Great Medieval city. A must city in Europe.

Ireland - Dingle Peninsula is one of the most beautiful places on earth. All of Western Ireland is so Beautiful.

Scotland - Inverness is a great town in the Highlands.

Prague - Loved thia city, amazing when I visited in 2004 it had only been 15 years since Communist rule. The building are wonderful. The Jewish cemetary was depressing but a must see.

London - My favorite city of all. Why you may ask....the people, the people, the people. I've seen all the sites but I love to just go to St. James Park and sit with a sandwich and drink and talk to my good friend Jan who live in London and catch up and watch the people. And oh the theatre....I'd go everyday if only I could afford to. Riding the buses in London is better then the Tube because you can see so much more. There's always something going on in this great city. Don't pass up getting out of London to any of the great cities and the beautiful countryside.

DISAPPOINTMENTS:

None really.....I've traveled in over 40 States in the USA and been to the Caribbean and Scotland, Wales, England, Ireland, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic, Holland, Beligum, and Germany. Even though some weren't as exciting as others....I love every place for some unique reason. I have more states to see and more countries to see....and I will always go back to London and the English countryside.

There's a whole world out there to see. Have fun on your travels and enjoy the different cultures and get to know the people.

althom1122

Glad to see this resurface. I enjoyed it before - and enjoyed it all over again with the new additions. I'll add a few new thoughts:

Not Europe, but no one has mentioned Machu Picchu. It lived up to all its hype. What a mystical place. WOW.

Also, while several have commented on the Grand Canyon, I'd add: Sequoia (humbling) and the Rockies (Tetons, Rocky Mountain National Park, Glacier, Banff/Jasper) - all truly majestic.

As for Europe, additional surprises:

Ronda and some of the other white villages in Spain.

The Dingle Peninsula - definitely the highlight of my trip to Ireland.

Kizhi Island in Russia, which we visited while on a river cruise. Amazing wood churches. http://kbutler1122.zenfolio.com/p677...fd2a#h1e4ffd2a

Moscow and St. Petersburg also very cool - esp St. Basil's, the Kremlin and the Hermitage.

The Algarve in Portugal.

And still... David. I really need to get back to Florence. He made the whole city worthwhile. As another posted commented, I could barely walk away.

Disappointments:
Prague - although a lovely city, Disney World-like crowds detracted from its charm. I enjoyed Cesky Krumlov more.

Vienna - I didn't get it. Enjoyed it, but could have skipped it.

This thread is fun.

Shanti

Underwhelming experiences:
Musee D'Orsay - It's ok and I'd go back again if I didn't have to wait in line but, just like Connie wrote above, when I went there I kept thinking that the Art Institute of Chicago had a much better collection of Impressionism paintings.

Sicily - I had really wanted to travel there, but felt rather bored when I visited and left a day earlier than planned - although it had the best food of any place I've visited.

Unexpected delights:
Paris - I never really was interested in visiting Paris and only went because my daughter was spending a semester there. Now it's one of my favorite places to visit, not only is it interesting & fun, but because it's such an easy & comfortable place to vacation.

Michelangelo's David - I don't know what it is about this sculpture, but it's the most fascinating piece of artwork I've ever seen.

cmeyer54

I was totally underwhelmed with Alahambra. It was boring, empty, and very blah after seeing other spots in spain. Places that exceeded my expectations; American Cemetery in Normandy, David, LaPieta in St Peters, Our Lord in the Attic church in Amsterdam, Cortina and Isera, Italy.

althom1122

I was thinking about David last night, and I think the way he's displayed adds to the impact - literally an up close and personal experience. It's like standing at the base of a sequoia tree in terms of that "wow" factor. There truly is something special about that statue.

Also, another pleasant surprise: the Rodin Museum in Paris. (I keep thinking of more!)

bratsandbeer

The Ring of Kerry - after driving through Northern Ireland and then down the west coast of Ireland, the Ring of Kerry was not as interesting as it is made out to be.

Loved - St Petersburg, Russia - Helsinki, Finland and Oslo, Norway.

The Norway in a Nutshell trip was awesome.

Budapest did not sound interesting but was I wrong!!! Loved Budapest and would like to go back and spend a lot more time there.

librarianjen

I didn't remember much of Florence after my first time there-- and I blamed it on the wine!

But the second time there, I still wasn't overly impressed. I enjoyed the outer city, by the Boboli Gardens, but wasn't too impressed with the rest of it. The Ponte Vecchio was interesting. The Uffizi would have been amazing if it had not taken almost two hours to get inside ( I live near NYC, and know that it takes exactly five minutes to get into the Met, which has just as much-- or more-- great historical masterpieces.) I left Florence with contempt for their way of treating tourists. I felt that they viewed tourists as a way of raking in cash, but didn't show any kindness to us. (Yes, I know that tourists are disruptive and annoying, but as a nice tourist, I resented being treated like a pest.) My hotel owner was very nice, but the majority of people I met in Florence were not very nice or friendly to us. I felt like I was begging every time I went to a restaurant and tried to order a simple lunch or dinner. I don't speak good Italian, but I hated being laughed at, or forced into ordering the "special" which was often whatever hadn't sold that night. Twice I sat down in restaurants where other people were being well fed, and was refused any sort of menu and forced to order whatever the waiter decided to offer (while locals apparently got a full choice of meals!) I would have rather spent the time I stayed there in Venice or Siena.

I don't know if this is common in Florence, or if my family and I just had supremely bad luck...but I can say that we never encountered the same problem in Venice, Siena or Rome. I've also traveled throughout England, Ireland, Scotland, Prague, Paris, Budepest, Vienna and the US without facing the poor treatment I had in Florence. It was depressing, because I had wanted to love Florence so much.

bachslunch

librarianjen--

I very much liked Florence when I visited there and generally was treated well, but there were exceptions:

-at one restaurant (recommended by a guidebook no less) I was treated very shabbily by a waiter when all I wanted to order was a pasta dish and no appetizer or secunda. Luckily, it was the only bad dining experience I had there.

-Gypsy children pickpockets were all over the place, though I fortunately had no run-ins with them.

-some museums had terrible hours (Il Bargello and the Accademia were only open 9am or 10am to 2pm, and the former was closed with no advance notice the first day I tried to go), though a quick re-check suggests this may be a thing of the past.

-a few museums were ones where it was wise to queue up well before opening (Accademia, Uffizi) as lines were usually long. I made sure to do this. I think that's been fixed now with timed admissions.

I've actually found myself much more shabbily treated in Rome and Prague than Florence the times I went. Guess it depends on who and what you encounter.