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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

for..... not fur..

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?

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

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!

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?

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.

@ STCIRQ- LOL, OMG that story is hilarious.

"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?

((H))

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

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.

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.

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.

Madrid, just big wide streets with big blah palacey buildings and lots of traffic.

Palermo, glad I've been but the traffic was murder and, let's face it. it's a dump. A romantic, evocative dump. But still a dump.

Barry Island, Wales. I went for a laugh, thinking it would be fun in a kitsch way. It wasn't even that. The most depressing town I've ever visited. The town council has even banned alcohol, so I couldn't even drown my sorrows in a pub.

I get why so many don't care for Madrid, it's not one of my favorite cities either. However, the Prado is my favorite museum I have ever visited and I would love to return to Madrid just to spend more time there. I also loved Retiro Park.

I am a little surprised to see so many that don't like Rome. I had pretty low expectations when I first went there based on having not found it to be very beautiful in the pictures I had seen. There were dozens of other places in Italy I was more interested in. But of the places I have been in Italy, it's the first one I will return to. I absolutely loved the character of neighborhoods like Prati and Trastavere. I think if I had stayed in the center near the major monuments I probably would not have liked it so much.

Like many of you, I didn't care for the Vatican Museums because of crowds. However, I had a friend who got a private tour with a tour guide a few months after I went, and he had a completely different experience, getting to see the Sistine Chapel with only a few people in the room. It was the highlight of his trip. I loved the Borghese Gallery though, where I was able to get close to the art with very few patrons to contend with.

Vienna was the first place I went in Europe, which may cause me to hold it in higher esteem than I would otherwise. I loved the architecture, the music, and how pristine everything was. I also loved the extensive pedestrian only areas. I would definitely go back.

I'm sure I can think of other places but here's my short list:

Vienna (left me cold; not appealing to me)
Pienza (ruined for me by bus loads of tourists)
Pisa (I went to Italy five times before I finally went)

Fascinating thread
Luxembourg - the city, couldn't find anything appealing about it.
Inverness - found it ugly and boring

Surprised to see Colmar and Vienna coming up so often - loved them both.

Madrid - dirty / not appealing - hate the graffiti

Gothenburg Sweden - dreary and boring - horrible food

I thought of another one. London. Have been three times. I don't <b>hate</b> it, but I have absolutely no desire to return. I sort of never want to go to England again. It just doesn't hold any interest for me.

//Running for cover.

The only place I've hated is Acapulco but that's not in Europe.

I sort of never want to go to England again. It just doesn't hold any interest for me.

//Running for cover.>>

this isn't meant to sound patronising, Leely, but I wonder where, apart from London, you've been? we drove home to Cornwall from London last week down the A30 - we went through lovely little villages, past historic cities like Salisbury, and passed through gorgeous towns like Wilton.

several times I just wanted to stop and explore for a week or more.

I feel a "staycation" coming on.

annhig, good point. I should admit that I haven't been even to London in over a decade. Other than that, just Cambridge (or Oxford? I can't remember!) and Bath in England more than 15 years ago. I didn't dislike any of it, I just don't feel drawn to return. Also, I am more of a city person, so little towns and bucolic scenes are charming only up to a point for me. I need a city I love to want to return.

[I guess a major exception is African safari countries. I love those vacations even if I don't love, say, Dar es Salaam or Nairobi.]

Leely2, I hear you. London doesn't do much for me, though I've been back and back and back (which says something about how much it DOES do for me), and the English countryside is beautiful...but I harbor no major desires to go back there and wouldn't feel deprived if I never went back. I think I prefer countries where the language is foreign, for one thing (and countries where the food is inspiring...which, forgive me, but I don't find England to be one of). I need some sort of exotic edge or at least a challenge, and I don't get that in England.

BTW, I loved Nairobi. Dirty, chaotic, unpredictable, dichotomous, bordering on insane, horrible slum in the middle of the city that gave rise to the horrid massacres a few years ago during the elections, yet insanely lovely people, always a surprise, but heart-warming in the extreme. I would go back there in a heartbeat.

StCirq, I think Nairobi is great--in its own way. However, it has by far has the worst traffic I have ever experienced. And it seems to get worse each time I visit. I was there again June 2012. I was taking a car from Wilson to Karen during rush hour. Not an exaggeration to say I could have walked faster.

I feel terrible for the Kenyans who have to go to and from work in that, often in a crowded matatu.

That's very true, Leely2. Though I think Delhi and Mumbai are even worse...maybe because instead of herding cattle through town, as we saw in Nairobi quite a number of times, the Indians just let the cows wander as they wish through the traffic (and plonk themselves down in the middle of the road if they wish).

Loved Vienna. And Venice, though beautiful, left me cold. And let's not even go into the crowds that made me want to turn around and leave.

If I had visited Venice only during the day, I would have hated it. In fact, my third visit was like that - a stop off the train for a few hours on the way to somewhere else - and it was miserable. But I always tell people that they must stay overnight and stay ON Venice not in Mestre to appreciate the place. Because I think Venice is magical at night and in the morning before the crowds come.

I stayed in Venice for 5 days and nights. Didn't change my perception.

Interesting how one memory or experience colour your perception of a place. When I think of Venice (was there in July) I remember the heat and the crowds and the distinct aroma of urine mixed with fish. Will I go again? Perhaps in winter, will definitely never stay near Piazza San Marco again.
Milan: spent precious travel euros on tickets for Swan Lake in La Scala. Had seats where we could literally not see the stage, even when standing.I just hated La Scala for knowingly selling those seats. I hated the hotel for saying they are '20 minute walk' from La Scala - it was more like a 45 minute boring slog. Maybe the rest of Milan is wonderful. I will probably not return.

Now that Billoburger has mentioned it: Troon. Miserably cold wind and rain in August. The postcards showing people frolicking on the beach were obviously from 20 years previous, probably the last time they had sunshine. Cranky, racist landlady at the BnB, dreary city all round.

Come to think of it, I'd be willing to give all of Scotland a miss.

Also, San Jose, Costa Rica. Horrendous traffic, one or two colonial buildings, a small museum: that's it. The rest of the country is so magnificent, why go into the city at all?

Cuba...nice beaches but didn't really get the rest of it. Hard to meet the locals too.