immimi... you know what we New Yorkers say...
NYC is a great place to live but I'd hate to visit. -:)

I have been to Slough [i used to have to go to court there - it was a prefab] and I have no desire to go back.

"Tell me more about Colmar. I have never been. But from the pics I've seen, it looks quite lovely."

From my old 200 trip report (my first on Fodors):

"I first saw Colmar in 1984 with my first wife (yeah, I know. It's hard to believe I have gotten two women to marry me)

First of all, Colmar is not small, not quaint and really not pretty. We got to the city center and meandered to little Venice (or Petit Venise). My thought.."Real Venice should sue for defamation of character." Petit Venise was pretty drab. We saw the hotel where we almost stayed, the Marechal. We thought about eating there until we saw the menu and prices.

Anyway, my first wife and I did not like Colmar then, but I chalked it up to being young and not knowing the nuances of Europe (of course, as it turned out, she liked me about as much as Colmar in a few years).

Well, Tracy and I didn't like it either, and I truly find it not charming at all, especially with all the other beautiful towns dotting the Routes des Vins. The rickety boats cruising the faux canal looked like they would sink at any moment, and the whole place was rather depressing.

If you do like Colmar, I don't mean to rain on your parade because everyone is different."

((H))

That should have been "my old 2004 trip report"

((H))

Thank you to all who answered my question about Slough. Sorry to hi-jack.

Places I have been that I don't have a desire to return to:

Château de Versailles
Museum Erik Satie
The Sacré-Cœur Basilica
The Spanish Steps
The Trevi Fountain
Uffizi Gallery

maitai - thanks. Interesting stuff. From the pictures I've seen, Colmar appears to be a small hamlet, sort of like Brugge; I didn't realize it was quite large.

I totally agree, maitai. Been there twice and spent the whole time thinking....WHAT is all the fuss? I mean, I like geraniums, but I don't need to travel to France to see them. Walked ALL over, and just never "got it."

I love this thread--find it fascinating how everyone has a different opinion. Like another poster mentioned, I have pretty high expectations when I travel because I've usually wanted to go to a particular place for some time before I actually go.

Here's my list with qualifiers:

Athens-loved the Cycladic art museum and the Acropolis, but I found the people really unfriendly, then again they're probably pretty burned out on all the tourists. Unfortunately I will have to go through Athens again because I DO want to return to the Peloponnese and Crete--two of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

Santorini--glad I saw it for the dramatic, jaw-dropping setting but was on its way to becoming a total theme park when I was there in '98, can only imagine what it's like now.

Madrid--loved the people--very friendly, helpful lot who seem to really enjoy themselves. Alessandra, you said you liked the art here--did you see the Thyssen Bornemisza museum? Great collection. I've seen everything I need to see in the city though--don't need to return.

Barcelona--had really high expectations and the Art Nouveau buildings didn't disappoint, especially the Casa Mila--outstanding place and exhibit. The city itself left me totally cold--unfriendly, miserable-looking people. Also didn't feel that safe.

I don't get the whole " people are friendly" or " people are coold".... conclusion
about the population of a city or a whole nation...like " the French are rude ".

Most of us spend several days in the city or town . The only contact we have is with
taxi drivers, hotel and restaurant employees, shop keepers etc.
Mostly , we don't speak the language or know just enough to get by.
Often, a number of people we see around the museums, galleries, and other attractions
are themselves tourists.

A few days ago someone asked me : " What are Germans like?" - he knew I had visited the country five times.
I never lived there, never worked in the country, never spent more than 10 days, never had a serious converstion
with anyone....How the heck would I know.

Barcelona hands down. For the last several years, I have taken Mediterranean cruises leaving from Barcelona and while I don't like to arrive for a European cruise the morning of because of possible flight delays, my m.o. has become flying into Barcelona usually from a few days in London via Easy Jet (relatively inexpensive) and staying out by the airport the evening before and taking a cab to the pier.

Interestingly enough I was talking to somebody during my cruise in June about my dislike for Barcelona (one of the pick pocket capitals of the work and I'm from NY and know how to watch out and luckily I haven't had that experience but..) as I was talking to somebody next to me about this, the man sitting in front turned around and told me the last time he had been in Barcelona, they got him. Sorry if I offend anybody who thinks Barcelona is so wonderful. About five years ago, I did a Spain tour which finished in Barcelona and on the way to the airport, the tour director told the group this was the first tour she had done for the past year where nobody was pick pocketed.

Barcelona is #1 in this regard and while I'm forced on many of my cruises to depart from Barcelona, it's the airport for me.

I forgot to add St. Moritz, concrete city in the midst of awesome scenery. Loved Pontresina a short distance away.

danon,

I understand what you're saying and you make a good point. There's no way you can know a total population, however, I think when people say a place is "friendly" or "unfriendly" they are just relaying THEIR experience--not that their experience is fact. It's just how they found it to be.

I do think you can notice overall differences between cities though. As an example, for me, the people in Madrid seemed to move at a slower pace than those in Barcelona and therefore were more willing to take the time to help with directions, transport, etc. The people I approached in Barcelona were just not as forthcoming with information and didn't seem to want to take the time. I also talked to people other than shopkeepers, taxi drivers, etc. Granted my experience of these cities is limited and the people I met were just a small sampling, but they were a sampling nonetheless.

I think it's also a gut feeling, something you can't put your finger on. There are some cities/places that put me at ease more than others for no apparent reason. It's just a vibe I guess, very subjective.

Re Kilmarnock. I've been to worse.

The palace at Versailles, unless a loved one rents the whole thing for a wedding or something and I feel obligated to show up. The place got on my nerves.

I'd like to tour the gardens, though, if on a private bicycle tour at twilight.

MaiTai... my husband and I stayed at Le Marechal.... can't remember the exact year..80's some time... and loved it. I still remember the delicious dinner and breakfast on the canal. But...
that's the only thing we did in Colmar so our memories were positive.

I still don't want to go back to Madrid despite all the reminders of the great art collections.

without a doubt.............Lourdes, France was the worst place ever I have visited in all of my European trips.

I forgot to mention Christiania, an area in Copenhagen.

Frankfurt
Antwerp
And it pains me to write this as two of our children were born in Belarus, but Minsk. We found Gomel and Mozyr to be charming with friendly people, but Minsk seemed to have no soul and felt like a police state. Probably the unfriendliest place I've ever been. It didn't help that the consulate urged us to get our children out while we still could.

Luxembourg-I have very, very fond memories of living in Luxembourg during the mid 90s. Luxembourg City has a large amount of space devoted to beautiful parks, and there are so many quaint little villages in the surrounding countryside. The food was divine. I'd go back in a heartbeat, but to each his own...

Vienna, though to be fair, we visited on a holiday weekend (Corpus Christi). It's beautiful and certainly has its share of world class museums, palaces, churches, etc. Wonderful coffee and desserts. We rented a great apartment we liked. But there was absolutely nothing that would draw me to return. We never got any sense of the soul of the place at all.

Positano (hold the fire, folks!). I don't regret going and have returned to the AC twice since visiting Positano, but I just didn't fall in love... At all. Positano is way too expensive of a place to frequent if you don't love it. Give me Naples or Capri (after the last ferry) any day.

Salzburg, but it may be DQd because I've actually been twice for a total stay of around a week. It's a lovely town, but once you've seen it thoroughly, it's a bit stale. The music festival in August or the Christmas Market are the only reasons I'd return.

I've been to several places in Europe that were okay but not places I'd return to -- just "been there/done that" kind of places. But the one that I truly hated was Naples -- crowded, filthy streets with garbage piled up, horrendous traffic - couldn't wait to get out of there.

Texasaggie... You summarized my view of Vienna well. I lived in Bratislava so we went to Vienna a good bit (day trips, overnight, weekends).

Vienna always felt like visiting someone and sipping tea on china cups in their living room.

Salzburg (if I have to look at one more chocolate Mozart ball, I'll choke. And it's not even good chocolate!) -- way too crowded and touristic when I was there.

Bamburg -- The old town center was nice for about 45 minutes, and then I got bored.

Rome -- Too hot, too crowded (when I was there), and too many vespas.

Loch Lomond and surrounding area-- Did a walking/hiking tour of southern Scotland and ended up waist high in mud (like quick sand). Had to be pulled out. That was over 20 years ago, but the memory of it does not fade.

TexasAggie and centraleurope, Vienna is my temporary home, and I can appreciate your impressions of the former capital of an Empire. Even in our first few weeks here, playing tourist while waiting for HHG to arrive, I could see that Vienna, and the Viennese in particular, would require extra effort if I were to enjoy my time here.

A year into that effort, I love the city (it's so much more than Imperial this-and-that, and Rick Steve's "heurigen"), but have made little ground with the Viennese, although I caveat that statement as being a generational issue. I speak American-German and no matter my best effort, the older Viennese will either correct me disdainfully or pretend they can not understand. The younger generation is as eager to practice their English as I am my German; they're also chipping away at Vienna's historical crust and helping to make the city truly an Imperial destination. :)

Vatican City.

What a bunfight. Confusing booking system and admission system. Nasty little Sistene Chapel guards - totally took away the enjoyment of breathtaking art. Overcrowded and bad crowd control overall.

I found more beautiful places for art elsewhere in Italy.

>Nasty little Sistine Chapel guards
You have that right. They really are.

Ian

I can't think of any place in Europe that I truly did not like, but there are some places that underwhelmed me, given everything that I had heard about them. I was thinking of Colmar when I read the beginning of this thread but at that point dared not mention it. However, I see that although in the minority, I am not alone in it not being a favorite town in Alsace.

The chateau country of the Loire is another place I would not return to, and I know it is an area well loved by many.

And Versailles!

HATE the Vatican and totally agree with those that find Colmar unappealing and the châteaux de la Loire less than wonderful.

Istanbul.
I gave it two tries, too.
Not sorry I went the second time (if only because now I know that my first impression thirty years ago was, for me, valid), but have zero desire to return.

Oh... I'm on my way to the Loire Valley for the first time in a few weeks. Hope it's not a let-down. I actually liked Colmar (but liked the little villages in the Alsace region more).

Clicked on this thread out of curiosity...what on earth could have generated 189 replies??? Very fun and interesting thread, though.

Incredible how often Vienna came up. Shows how personal travel is, as Vienna is one of my favorite big cities. Probably due to the fact that I lived there as a student for a year and spoke fluent German. The Austrian women students ignored me, but I made many male student friends. Few spoken English. I loved the opera (cheap standing room), the many museums, the beautiful walks, the Wienerwald, the general romance of the city. I did come back years later with my husband and best friends. We all loved it. Anyway, I can understand how people would be put off by the Viennese sometimes. Very traditional and reserved. I've never been to Paris for the same reason...don't speak French and am nervous about how the Parisians treat you. This is probably "old news" by now. However, I was talking to a French woman several years ago at a small inn and she laughed..."Don't worry...even we French hate the Parisians!"
Am actually thinking about a trip to France next spring, however.

As to a city I would never return to...that's Bratislava. My best friend is half Slovak and we went to visit her relatives. Interesting as long as you were with people to relate to, but I don't remember much about the town that was attractive enough to return to. The relatives lived in typical Communist block housing apartments.

Luxemburg city
Dusseldorf
Liverpool
Prague
Barcelona
Liege

Leely2-

What's wrong with Cesky Krumlov?

I am really enjoying the thread.

I also enjoyed Vienna.....several times.
Don't speak German.....did not feel " not well treated" at all.

As for Paris and Parisians.......in all( twenty something ) visits
never experienced the "rude French" some here have complained about.
On the contrary, people were polite an helpful.
( my French is far from fluent )

Viennese were never rude to us--I just did not fall in love with city one bit.

I HAVE had a few waiters be rude to me in Paris in about 20 or so visits. Same % as in US. Some people in the guichets were not sweethearts--same as in US. IT'S A HUGE CITY THAT IS IN THE TOP FIVE MOST VISITED CITIES IN THE WORLD--these people are worn out with idiots expecting them to be tour guides.

We will ALWAYS return to Paris.

nubbyrose, we stayed two nights in Cesky Krumlov. It is a pretty little town, but when we were there it was far too crowded and touristy. And this is coming form someone who likes Assisi! On the same trip (a little over a week ago) we also visited Telc and Jrinichuv Hradec. Liked them both better, though perhaps they are less picturesque.

Sorry, didn't preview: Jrindichuv Hradec. J Hradec felt more like a real town. Even Telc did.

Yes, I completely agree, Leely2. I stayed three nights in Cesky Krumlov, intending to use it as a base for day tripping to other towns and sites in the area. It actually wasn't mobbed with tourists when I was there (mid-September) like Prague was, but the place seemed totally devoted to tourism. All of the stores seemed like tourist stores. It didn't seem like a place where locals bothered to come.

At night, the place was pretty dead (even on a Friday night). There were a few restaurants open very late but many were not and others seemed empty, and I worried about finding food if I didn't eat dinner early enough. I originally chose CK as my base because I thought it might be a thriving place to enjoy at night after long days of sightseeing, but it wasn't. I really should have stayed my final night in Jindrichuv Hradec or even Pisek in the north and just eaten the cost of the B&B I'd paid for in CK. Oh, well.

I'm sure a big part of my problem with Cesky Krumlov was too high of expectations. It really feels like a fairy-tale town with a cute castle up on the hill, in a beautiful setting, but up close the town itself felt inauthentic.

You know, I find it funny that I still like some places that are very touristy, like the Cinque Terre. I was last there in 2011 and the place was mobbed - and I still enjoyed it, perhaps because the views are so amazing and the Focaccia bread pizza was so good. And I still found locals in the towns.

Thanks Leely2 and Andrew

Andrew, I (and my husband) feel the same way about the Cinque Terre. We have been 5 times in the last 8 years, and we intend to return as many times as possible.

But I understand people who visit in June, July or August not being able to enjoy it...especially if they choose not to stay overnight for a few nights in one of the five villages. It's not a place for daytripping, imo.