Holly -

I don't think we're rotweilers. I think we're labradors with attitude. If you offend us you'll get lots of growling and snarling but its very rare that anyone actually bites.

Wow.. I hadn't read this thread in a few days... whoo-weeee, lots of strong feelings about my home state of Texas. Now, y'all need to remember that Texas is a 'whole other country' - something there for everyone to like and dislike... Long stretches of boring highway but fields and miles of bluebonnets in spring...flat land for miles and miles but canyons and starry skies in Big Bend....strip malls in pokey little towns but fun antique hunting in Hill Country towns like Fredricksburg and Boerne...

I will say, however, I enjoy living in Florida - less allergies, beautiful St Johns River, refreshing coastal breezes but yes - big bugs!

Cute way to describe the people of your State nytraveler...:):)

Travelnut, we are kindred spirits. I feel the same about my home country, Texas, even though I am quite happy here on the East coast of FL.

Yep, Wren, I could tell that! You can take the 'girl' out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girl...

Calamari's post which said that she hates LONDON made me think about the last time I went there in June, I hated it too. The truth is that I LOVE London but NOT at the height of the season, and the goes for most big cities. I find that the cities all become dirty and horrid in the heat and when they are overun with tourists (us :-) ) It is also the only I have had a problem with pick pockets. I love to travel just out of season, but would rather go in winter than in season.

Dayton, Ohio. If it is not the armpit of America, you can certainly see it from there!

Greece. Well I should say Crete. The natives seemed to be full of loathing for the tourists. However I went on a boat trip managed by an English girl who explained to me that the English & German tourists behaviour was so appalling ie. vomiting in the street, treating the Greek females as whores etc. that to the local
taxi drivers, wait persons etc all tourists were the same and treated accordingly. For the gentleness and friendliness of the people Fiji was wonderful. Maybe all the lovely places change as more tourists arrive on their shores and it is us travellers who spoil them?! I love America well Disneyland/World Epcot etc. and altho I feel that the "Have a nice day" remark is insincere (we now get it everywhere even here in Oz) I don't let it bother me.

Jamaica: you would have to PAY ME to go back! I agree with Patick about Florence,,,something just did not quite sit right with me. Judy

Interesting thread.

Austria--my daughter would love to read this one. She spent a semester in Vienna and hated it. thought the Austrians were very cold. We are probably also the only pdople in the world who had their passports stamped 3 times in a half an hour at the Vienna airport. We were asking for information and these guys at the desks must have enjoyed a big laugh at our espense. They kept telling us we had to go to a certain place for information. Problem was you couldn't get there without going through customs and then the desk was never manned.

Germany--we've visited Bavaria's small towns away from the major tourist traps and really enjoyed the area. We;'d return in a minute.

I agree with the poster on Carcassonne. Nothing there worth more than an hour or two.

RE; last summer's heat wave. We were in Krakow (which we really enjoy) but couldn't stand the heat, so left for the mountains. Zakopane in August is a place i will neve return. Ever.

I, too, can not think of any place that I abhor. Sure, there are some things I've both liked and disliked about certain locations, but I honestly can't say that I would refuse to return anywhere.

I even like many things about my great home state of Texas! :)

I've never had a problem with visiting places that aren't particularly friendly - I can enjoy my trip without getting smiled at by the waiter.

However, I DO have a major problem with any country where it's deemed acceptable for numerous ancient old toothless men to harrass, grab and molest 15 year old female tourists. For this reason, I will never ever EVER go back to Tunisia.

I personally find the north of England dreadful. In my opinion the cities (Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, etc.) are all relatively unattractive and lack major attractions you get in continental and Scottish or Southern English cities. The Lake District and Newcastle are only destinations in Northern England that I would ever visit again.

I would also never go back to Milan, Athens, or Switzerland again.
To the people who said they found Germany unfriendly or cold well I am sure these opinions have a lot to do with two things.
1) The stereotypes some people take with them when they travel
and 2) the language. I am not German but I speak the language well and it makes such a difference to speak German, because the German accent in English sounds quite unfriendly and the Germans let down their guard more easily when they can speak to someone in their native language, just like every other nation in the world.

oakey, I personally haven't found people all over Germany to be cold, but it was noticeable in Lindau, a very pretty, charming town on Lake Constance. It's a major tourist attraction so most people in the service or retail sector speak some English. We were at a convention of several hundred people (a very well-behaved group, I might add) and we were not the only ones who remarked on it.

Kate, getting the waitress to smile is certainly not the measure of my trip, however, even if it is a cultural difference and not true hostility, it still colors your experience because it does feel unfriendly when most of the people you come in contact with are clearly NOT glad to see you.

By the way, how were you dressed in Tunisia? What were the circumstances in which you were groped? At 15, wasn't there some adult to be looking out for you?

Marilyn I am sorry to hear you had an unpleasant time in Lindau, like you said it is a lovely town. But I think some of the problems you had were typical of heavily touristed areas. It seems to me that areas and especially smaller cities that get loads of tourists are often less than friendly towards their visitors, maybe because they get so many.
You should definetly not be discouraged about Germany however, there are many places in the country where people go out of their way to make visitors feel welcomed.

What is bad about jamaica, please ?

I agree with Kate about Tunisia, though I was quite a bit older than 15 when I was there. I went into a dressing room in a shop to try on a djellaba, and two male shopkeepers were in there with me within 2 minutes - and my spouse was still in the store! It was a constant hassle. That, the sandstorms, the dysentery, the dung beetles, and the meat markets pretty much made Tunisia a total bust for me. Morocco is a far better North African destination.

And Oakey: I am one of those who mentioned Austrian and German people as being dour, and I studied German for eight years. It wasn't a language problem, it was a national personality problem. Much as I appreciate their cultures and have enjoyed traveling in their countries, there is a noticeable difference in they way they treat each other, as well as the way they treat outsiders, from the way other countries' citizens do. I was rarely treated badly, but there is just a kind of stiffness in the air, a subtle unwillingness to make light of any situation, and a certain suspicion that combine to make a less than friendly atmosphere. In stark contrast to all the silly oom-pah-pah stuff, I might add.

Often posters are loose with language.

There's a huge difference between saying that the people I came into contact with were rude (which was the case for me in Austria, Germany, and France) and saying that Austrians, Germans, and French are rude.

In a post several months ago, I said that a friend of mine was deliberately short changed several times in Austria and I noted that I'd had similar experiences with the Austrians I'd "dealt" with. Many posters argued with me that Austrians aren't rude.

I probably won't go back to Austria (except perhaps to ski) because of the bad experience I had there with the people. But I would NEVER say that Austrians are rude . . .

If I am treated rudely by a restaurant personnel, I don't go back. Why would I pay lots of money for airfare, lodging, meals to go somewhere that I'd been treated badly?

Going to Switzerland tomorrow. What's the best way of having a cheerful, short visit? Any things to say/do, and anything to avoid?

I realise this is all a matter of opinion and everyone is entitled to one, however I would like to offer mine.

I stayed for two weeks on a farm in Germany with a German family who couldn't have been more friendly and hospitable. They in turn introduced me to many other Germans who were equally friendly and hospitable. And when they came to stay with me, they carried on the friendliness with everyone they met in England.

Also to the poster who said the North of England was dreadful, have you been to the Yorkshire Dales? Harrogate? Chester? Durham? York? the Northumbrian coastline?

Good points about language, Snoopy. This is a "conversational" forum, and people write what they are thinking rather than carefully choosing their language.

StCirq, <i>your</i> language continues to express my feelings with an uncanny precision. &quot;A subtle unwillingness to make light of any situation&quot; was exactly what bothered us, as opposed to rudeness or coldness.

And I have spent some time elsewhere in Germany and did not notice that same attitude. I thought perhaps it was a southern German trait. Actually, some of my best friends are German. (Honest, it's true!)

Wow -- hard to believe someone hated Crete! I guess if you are only in the very developed and touristy parts, it's possible. It was one of our favorite trips and we can't wait to go back.

Paris (esp CDG post 9/11) specifically
had multiple bad experiences although we were only there fore 1 day at the eginning of our trip and 2 at the end

France in general. Found the people with afew exceptions to be snobby, unhelpful, unsympathetic and many times downright rude. (unpleasant incidents in our 2 week trip are too numerous to detail)

FYI have been to Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary in Europe (working my way through one country per vacation, one vacation per year). Have travelled extensively in North America, Central America, Caribbean as well, can't think of a place I absolutely wouldn't go back too.

Enjoyed my trips to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Salzburg in particular

But never again to France

Everyone is entitled to their opinions here. I can say that I would probably go back to most or all of the places I have been to after I have seen other things on &quot;my list.&quot; As to Texas, I live in a really small town and would not tell anyone to put it on your travel agenda but if you had to come you could even go to a couple of museums here and at least have something to do. And Fort Worth is great if you like diversity. I would like to go back to Israel but not now. From my several visits to NYC I can tell you I have only found helpful, friendly people.

Hmmmm...this is a tough one. I've been to lots of places and liked pretty much all of them. But my two cents would be...

Vienna...because I made the mistake of going there are after Prague.

and...

Santorini...because I made the mistake of going to a romantic island after I left a man whose whirlwind romance took us from Prague to Salzburg to Ljubljana to Dubrovnik to Positano (you get the idea...)

Quite possibly the rudest person I have met in years was a young man who worked at the desk of an auto rental firm at the main railway station in Brussels.

Seeing that I was American, he proceeded to lecture me on the failings of the United States. On and on he went. Finally I just took my car keys and found the car in their parking lot. I was steaming mad. But I kept my cool.

The next day I wondered why I didn't punch him in the nose. But that would have spoiled my trip for a brief moment of personal satisfaction. As it was, on that second day, I fulfilled my mission: to find the grave of a high-school buddy. The over-educated (and under-employed) punk at the car rental desk faded into memory as I gazed out at my buddy's grave...and 17,000 other Americans buried under the soil of Belgium.

This post is amazing!! Crazymina I would say what you did but absolutely in REVERSE!! Loved Vienna and did not love Prague. Wouldn't say we hate any place but Prague is definitely on our do not return list. Having said that, after travelling for over 50 years I cannot think of any place that did not have something that we liked. People or food or sites - sometimes one can find everything perfect and that's when you go back.. Realize this post is for dislikes but some poor soul out there is being turned off of visiting places.. so love Madrid, only thing I would go back to Barcelona for is the Picasso museum. As some of the other posters said.. keep an open mind and don't take things personally. Sometimes it's perhaps native culture!

Tangier- dirty, no moroccon feel, dangerous, a ugly city.

Munich - cold people, everything in german, an average city, I found no beauty in it.

Palermo- old, dirty with absolutely no charm.

Las Palmas - the city is awful and the beaches are black sand and burn the feet.

Hotel Savoy in London - tired, decadent, bad service,I had a room more of a 2/3 star hotel. Never again.

Budapest - A place to go once and that's all. Was robbed in my hotel room, the Kempinsky Hotel, by some maid . Was robbed at the market, was given hungarian coins mixed with euros and lost nearly 40 dolars . I only noticed it when I was at the hotel already.

Topping... Tat, still waiting for you to share...

Gatton, Queensland !
even hell would be more interesting !

Wow, after spending a year living in Europe and a few minutes reading this string of responses, you guys have all given me renewed enthusiasm for my time here! Seems like everyone wants travel to be like Disneyland - happy hosts with perfect food and entertaining rides. Sorry to sound like I'm scolding, but I am. Enjoy where you are or move on. And don't expect towns that are really the European equivalent of Cleveland to be your dream Euro-experience! And don't extrapolate that one crabby person in wherever means that all people in that country are rude or arrogant or snobs! You know what, American cheeriness drives some Europeans nuts!

Well said, Hoepsin!!!
One of the most enervating threads I've read. And it doesn't spring to the mind of most of them to wonder what their share of the problem was!

Two previous posters are obviously didn't get this thread.

It is NOT a complaint board, but helpfull tips to travelers with limited abilities I guess.

If I was wondering where to go vs not to go - here is tons of opinions. Count how many times Venus got &quot;No&quot; or Prague and figure out whether you want to go.
But be aware - things aren't perfect.

So, I found all these very helpfull, so, what is YOUR, baldrik/horsepin problem, who knows?

Tat-Ziana, you started this thread, but have yet to &quot;share&quot; those places you won't return to. Now that you have learned so much from all these well traveled Fodorites, where will you choose to avoid based on the input of this thread? Come on, please share!

Iregeo,
are you absessed with me or something ? Could this be like ... long distance attraction based on ... nothing ?

Anyway I'll tell you. I will be less shoked now in Paris if I see some &quot;urine spots&quot; ( I would be WAY too much shocked before this thread, as I pictured Paris as &quot;perfect&quot;).
I will however go to Venice just to prove &quot;them&quot; wrong. It is my life dream.
I will probably skip Prague, but if on the way - I would stop for a day.
I will still go to Germany as coldnest of people doesn't bother me. If I do not stay in place for long - what difference does it make whether they smile or not ? However I saw that my impression of Germans was the same as for most people in this forum.

I can continue Iregeo, but what for ?
I said - I am learning from this thread.
For you it is just a troll place.
Good Bye.

No, Ziana, I assure you that I am not obsessed with you. I simply do not understand the judgemental nature of your reply. You asked people to share, and so they have. I was truly interested in your input. Perhaps you should heed your own advice and consider a valium or a cold shower? Regards.

Iregeo,
I could NOT give you input as I haven't been to Europe yet. Gosh !
I am asking all of those questions in order to plan and make less mistakes and I appreciate responses very much,
when here you are hunting me with your &quot;share you&quot; stuff. I don't want to argue anymore. So far no one but you having a problem with me, guess why ?
Because only YOU bugging ! I am not responding to you anymore as it can lead into pickering I don't want.
Thanks

Hoespin

On both sides of the Atlantic, people have been gossiping over the back fence about 'The Neighbours' for centuries. This thread is just more of the same. Stop taking it so seriously!

Besides, you are quite right - the world isn't Disneyland. Which means the people and travelers in it aren't going to be like Minnie and Mickey Mouse, you know, eternally sweet, smiling, always non-complaining.....and gossip-free.

As for me, I found the people in Germany to be perfectly friendly. But my hairdresser, Bernice, swears those blonde German ladies all have dark roots......

Ziana: I am sorry you feel I am bugging you. That was not my intent.

OK, peace then ?

I am always happy to travel, especially to places which have consumed my imagination since I was very young.
So it is with extreme sadness that I have to say: CAIRO

All the sites and treasures were indeed amazing. But the whole experience was deflated by the poverty, filth, smell, overcrowding and more importantly, the attitude of the people.

The touts were intense and persistent (I almost fell off the &quot;cliff&quot; area next to the Sphinx due to a postcard vendor's jostling); they were literally in your face and would not leave you alone. Around the Pyramids, vendors harassed tourists by pushing items in one's face, following at every turn, not leaving one alone (a repeated and firm NO was ignored).
This was aggression greater than any exhibited by Asian or Mexican vendors.

Dead animals (one was a dog) were left on the highway, rotting (or cooking) in the heat.

At the Mena House Oberoi hotel, musicians who had serenaded tourists as they ate later accosted us and asked for money outright (I would have given them a tip... but now).
PS
I overheard several German tourists and an Egyptian gentleman express anti-American sentiments (Bush, Cheney, invasion of Iraq, US support for Israel, etc).
No matter what your political leanings, it still rankles to hear your country criticized with such venom!
I don't think they thought I was American (oddly enough, other than myself, I met only 2 other Americans on this trip).