Andrew

Oh I would NEVER want to visit the Cinque Terre in the summer! I'm thinking October (when I first visited) might be ideal, if you catch the weather right. (Still warm when I was there - I hiked in shorts.) I'm sure there will still be tourists in October but not quite as many.

I wouldn't necessary warn new visitors never to visit Cesky Krumlov. I think it's important to set their expectations, though. Expect a pretty place but very tourist-oriented. If you are driving, do try to visit other towns like Jindrichuv Hradec as well, if you can, to have a different experience.

Leely2

Now that I think about it, I had a really good schnitzel in Cesky Krumlov. So it wasn't all bad.

LucieV

I just thought of another one:
Civita di Bagnoregio.
Which we visited on the advice of Mr. Steves, right after he published his first Italy guidebook way back when. Which is why I stopped taking his advice.

LSky

Rome!

Once was enough. It was really a let down, I was so excited about going to Rome. I can't say I was anxious to leave Rome but when we left it was a huge relief to leave that city. I'm not sure why but I knew I didn't want to return.

The rest of Italy was great.

Andrew

I loved, loved, loved the Roman Forum and exploring the ruins there, but otherwise Rome didn't grab me, either, and I have little desire to return. Even the pizza I had there wasn't very good. Once night I ate at a little Italian deli in the neighborhood where I was staying, a place the locals in the neighborhood seemed to favor. The pizza there (sold by weight) was awful.

StCirq

It took me three visits to Rome to "get it." Now I love it, but my first impressions were decidedly not positive. I'm glad I persevered. I still dislike the fact that it's a city that has never really made much of its river. So many other European cities have developed such lovely riverbank cultures.

As long as I stay away from the Vatican, which gives me heartburn and makes me angry, I love Rome.

tuscanlifeedit

This is fascinating. Who likes or hates what is a puzzle.

I think of myself as urban and edgy, and I hate Naples. Although I think I have my reasons, including a couple of abysmal meals with crappy service, a lady that punched me in the arm, and those hideous tank towers above ground.

I also greatly dislike the palace at Versailles.

I hate Pompeii.

However, I would give Naples one more chance. Not so Versailles or Pompeii; they've had my extra chances and I'm not going back.

Leely2, I also like Assisi.

jelopez33

Mont Saint Mechel.
Good for just one visit....once in enough fur us....

jelopez33

for..... not fur..

StCirq

I agree about Versailles, which as a long-ago tour guide I was forced to go to a gazillion times. I have the same gut reaction that I get from the Vatican - why am I here witnessing such insanely vain excess when so much of the world lives or lived in squalor?

Guess it's not that much different from Wall Street and us peons these days, though, eh?

tedgale

St Cirq made me laugh with her citing of Mazamet. Yes, it is a pit.
And so are the French cities of Decazeville, Clermont Ferrand and Chatellerault

StCirq

tedgale, we still laugh about Mazamet. There are VERY few places in France I find totally repulsive, but that was one for me. We were assaulted by drive-bys of teenagers who threw used condoms at us, the Tourist Office , when we asked for a hotel, directed us to a bordello where the owners wanted to charge us by the hour and demanded health certificates to prove we didn't have AIDS or STDs (and we were a couple traveling with two young kids), there was nothing at all to eat in the entire town except at a greasy, gross pizza place, and nothing else going on.

Really, really monstrous place. And it takes hours of navigating wild, dangerous, mountainous roads to get there!

greg

Is Mazamet a good lesson for those who come to this forum looking for something "off the beaten track" as if any places off the beaten track are automatically worth visiting?

layanluvstotravel

Wow- I'm surprised some of you did not like Toledo. It is one of my favorite cities in Europe.
I will say: Izmir, Turkey. There's no reason to go unless you are catching an airplane back to Istanbul and the city was so strange to us (someone threw water balloons at us from an apartment building). How rude.

layanluvstotravel

@ STCIRQ- LOL, OMG that story is hilarious.

maitaitom

"Now that I think about it, I had a really good schnitzel in Cesky Krumlov. So it wasn't all bad."

...and we had one of the best meals we've ever had in Cesky Krumlov. Not to mention (well I guess I am) a day with very few tourists. Travel is interesting, eh?

immimi

...Oh yes, Izmir - the armpit of Turkey!

layanluvstotravel

I just went through this entire thread. I have to admit I held back.

Here's my complete list (since you all are being so brutally honest):

1-Izmir: rude water balloons followed by dogs taking over outside cafes.

2- Rome: I also wanted to love it and was really disappointed. I felt like I'd seen it all before (maybe we've watched too many movies set in Rome?). It was too hot, too crowded, too boring even.

3- Florence: ok, so I saw it. Now, I have no desire to ever see it again. Once was enough.

4- Marbella, Spain: nice and relaxing but a tad (just a tad) boring.

fourfortravel

We were just in Cesky Krumlov on Saturday. This was a second trip; the first was in 2001 and I was 7 months' pregnant (and more interested in eating and in the locations of WC's) so we thought a re-take was necessary.

On this trip we arrived early enough to park outside the castle and wander the town, talking to shopkeepers and artisans, before the tour buses disgorged the camera clicking lemmings following their guides. By the time we had walked the town, shopped a bit (there are non-touristy stores to shop in, it just takes time to find them) and finished a pleasant lunch at a terrace restaurant overlooking the Vltava, the tourist density was reaching crisis levels, so we departed for Trebon (worthy of a small pause), Jindrichuv Hradec (snoozer of a town, in our thoughts), and Telc (pleasantly not crowded, even with a weekend festival in the square).

Back to the topic, I'll return to Istanbul, but won't waste my time visiting the Blue Mosque again. Too much of an "attraction," and there are so many other equally as impressive mosques in the city to discover.

klondike

I read through the thread and find it most interesting. Here's my list of "been there and once was once too many: cities:

Poitiers, France - and I was so looking forward to seeing the Romanesque architecture! But drove into the city, hated the vibe, and just kept on driving (I think we ended up in Brantome...now that's a lovely town!) In all fairness, we should give Poitiers a second try as that is how we felt about Annecy; we spent the night outside the city and the next morning my husband got in the car and said, "now, just go with me on this...." we returned in the freshness of a new day, absolutely loved Annecy and have been back to vacation many times since. Maybe someday we'll give Poitiers a second chance...but I've got too many high priority places to get to first

Marseille - I know, I know. There's lots to see and do, but I don't feel comfortable in this city at all. Period. Didn't like it.

Monte Carlo - I came, I saw, I went.

Cities I've been to that I'm glad I saw, but I don't need to return to: Rome, London, Munich, Southern Italy (I know, it's not a city) and maybe Venice.