Never To Return
 

What places in Europe did you like so little, you would never return.

Three rules
1. You must have actually visited that place. No second hand impreessions from Aunt Tootsie or preceived notions.
2. Place means any size shape city, town, hamlet, megalopolis, hole-in-the-wall, glen valley or mountain top.
3. This is open to commoners and Lords.

Roubaix, stuck in the old iron and cold fields of Belgium/France without glamour.

Kilmarnock, see above but between Glasgow and Troon in Scotland

Barcelona. Crowded, noisy and overrated.

Croydon. Need I say more?

Vienna-the oppressive sense of imperialism and officiousness. I thought I would love this place due to my interest in Fin-de-siècle Vienna.

Switzerland-A beauty country without a soul.

I've been virtually every place in Europe and always want to return to every placed I've been - even the ones I did not like much - like East Germany and the Soviet Union before the changeover.

When anybody writes or says "Need I say more", I rarely know what they are talking about in the first place, especially regarding a place most have never visited.

Is this thread open to Ladies?

My vote goes to:

1. Interlaken because it was so boring.
2. Eagle's Nest because I hated the bus ride to get there and now I'd never get in that elevator.
3. Obidos - once you've seen it there is no need to go back.
4. Croatia (all the parts I've seen) because there was not enough sightseeing.

Sorry Adrienne, of course it is open to Ladies and ladies.

Wigtown, the book town of Scotland along the lines of Hay-on-Wye. It took AGES to drive there, even after we got through Carlisle, and the books were fairly paltry.

LA, just endless nothing.

I'm not too keen on Prague these days either, too much of a party town.

Strangely I cannot think of a single place in Italy I would refuse to revisit.

In no particular order (quite a few of them are places I've been forced to go to on business):-

Bonn
Toulouse
Dundee
Antwerp
Skelmersdale
Brighton
Bremen
Norwich
Lisbon
Frascati

Maidenhead. Four years was plenty.

Marlow. Actually, I like Marlow quite a bit and I'd still recommend it to people who've never been and are looking for a scenic Thames Valley day trip, but I was there often enough that I don't see any reason to return.

Zürich, and pretty much anywhere in Switzerland
Vienna, and pretty much anywhere in Austria
Mazamet (France)
Madrid
Toledo

well over 25 years ago, DH and I detoured through Cornwall on our way home from the ferry terminal at Plymouth.

we were not taken by the grey mining towns and grim urban landscape so quickly passed through to our favourite county of Devon.

fast forward 10 years later, and we found ourselves relocating to...Cornwall.

we also spent a very dull few days in southern Scotland before we decamped to the Lake district.

for our next move....?

OK big Al - Croydon. Endless concrete, no soul. The very worst of Britain. Oh maybe Slough rates for that accolade too. They are both worse than Swindon, and that is pretty grim.
I will add Bletchley (as in the park) to that list. That was a depressing place to visit as a town. I know it is part of Milton Keynes, but it makes the rest of MK look great.

Fortunately I can´t think of a single reason I would need to revisit any of them.

Salou, Spain (It was a fine base for seeing the Spanish rally but nothing there to attract me back.)

Dachau (This is a place that I am ...glad isn't the word--powerfully impacted by having been there. It is good that I have been there; a concentration camp would have been on my long list of "want to see"'s. But I don't want to return. If you haven't been there, it is important to see such a place, and this one is one would make a memorable visit. But for me, once was enough.)

I don;t want to say NEVER - but I'm not really interested in going back to Madrid. Have been on vacation (5 days but was ready to go home after 3 partly due to the hideous heat (99 at end of April) and twice on vacation.

I can understand that other people might like it - but It just doesn't speak to me, the food isn't that great (give me Belgium for fantastic at every meal) and I found quite a few locals who gave preferential treatment to native Spanish speakers. (I'm not fluent but know enough to understand when hotel staff and waiters are stonewalling you and then joking to their colleagues about it.)

Paris, and pretty much anywhere in France

Dingwall, Scotland. Went to a cattle auction there once; not sure why. No need to return.

I am a bit like palenQ... I go back until I find something to like... Trips which have disappointed or cities which just do not thrill me..

Most anyplace in Germany (from Baden thru Mosel thru Frankfurt)
Vienna
Prague
Madrid
Luxembourg
Palermo
Brussels

Berchtesgarden
Rome
Frankfurt
Innsbruck

Galway, Ireland
crowded, charmless, worst fish and chips we ever had

Dublin....kind of blah....
liked small towns on the Bay: Howth and Sandycove.

Ah, yes... How could I forget Dublin... Agree, a city which left me cold in a country I adore.

I have been fortunate enough to have done enough pre-trip research on where I might like to visit that I have no "bombs" in my travel history.

I did purposefully stop briefly in Cologne and Brussels for a few hours when they were a logistical part of a greater itinerary. I saw what I stopped in for and, in each case, confirmed that it was highly unlikely I would ever return for a longer visit.

Monte Carlo/Monaco

Holyhead, Wales

Glastonbury

Cheddar Gorge

Fussen

Waterford

Wow, some of these really really surprise me. I have been to many of them and LOVED them...but then again, we are not cookie-cutter versions of each other. Thankfully.

Another example of why it is soooo very difficult to answer questions like, "I'm going to city XYZ. What should I do there?" Or, "I want to go to France...what area should I visit?" Very very subjective.

Back to the question. I wouldn't say I would never visit a place again. I'd be willing to give it another shot. Maybe I just didn't 'get it' the first time. Or weather, crowds etc influenced my first impression. I will travel anytime, anyplace, anywhere. Just get me on the plane and I am good to go.

Aix-en-Provence

The only reason I would return to Colmar is to see the Musée d'Unterlinden, which we did not visit. The town underwhelmed me.

((H))

I'm the same as Michele_d, there's no place I've been that I wouldn't try again. Sometimes real life interferes--allergies, bad weather, bad mood, crowds--and sometimes it simply takes a little while to 'get' a place. For example I've had both my worst and one of my best vacations in Paris (and I can say the same for New York).

Generally a 'bad' vacation makes me determined to make the next one a success.

I found Leipzig uninteresting. I would not recommend a first time visit.

michele,
good point!
Sometimes it is the crowds, hot weather, bad food, lousy hotel, or our own state of
mind at the time that has made the place unattractive.
I would probably give a second look some spots if only I did not have to pay for the trip.
Since I do, I keep going back to the "safe" destinations.

Actually, on secont thought, I probably wouldn't return to Bruges--it was beautiful but two nights was enough for me.

I forgot Monte Carlo - sterile, full of expensive cars and soulless apartment blocks.

<i>-it was beautiful but two nights was enough for me.</i>

That applies to a lot of <i>plus beaux villages</i> and their equivalent whether so designated or not in other countries, and without the overnight stay.

Germany
Italy
Poland

Yes,
Monte Carlo, Bruges, Leipzig, Aix....
forgot Sanremo

"Never" seems too strong a word for my feelings.

There are many places I have not visited that draw me now. Of the places I have been, some I could return to over and over again (Rome, Paris, the Italian countryside). Others necessarily move down the list because of time and money constraints.

With limitless time and money, I would return to the places I did not "get" the first time (Pisa--did not get beyond looking at the outside of the buildings on the Field of Miracles) or those that drove me crazy with crowds (Venice--I might try March instead of May).

I do kinda like going to Monte Carlo to watch the self absorbed self absorbing.

I do kinda like going to Monte Carlo to watch the self absorbed self absorbing

Wouldn't be cheaper to get a sponge?

I only drop by if I am in the area BigAl... I was there in late November... A young man with D and G sunglasses and a D and G camera case was taking a picture of self and girlfriend. He in lime green and she in gold metallic.

I consider myself well dressed on days my pants are long enough (I am quite tall). So yea, I will pay some extra money to watch the show. Being somewhat fashion challenged, I could watch this all day.

The history, the art, the Vatican, the archaeological sites are all incredible & Rome should be on everybody’s must do list but we tried twice & we disliked the place both times. Too crowded, too many motorbikes, too crowded, too intense, and too crowded. I may use FCO for transit but I will also use the ring highway . . .

While the rebuilt Old Town area of Warsaw has charm & poignancy, the rest of the city was grim & our short 5-6 hour visit was enough.

Except for small islands of interest, Palermo stands out as a good thing to see in your rear view mirror as you are driving into the wonderful Sicilian countryside.

And the widely hailed Barcelona left us absolutely cold.

Ian