Hmmm...its so funny to read the differing views. I thought that the traffic was horrendous in Florence; much worse than Rome. Not that Rome doesn't have its fair share of traffic, but I thought the traffic in Florence was ridiculous, so much traffic given its small size.

Tracy

That is funny, because I don't recall the traffic in Florence being at all bad...Florence seemed calm to me, except for around the train station, around the Duomo and the route to the Uffizi. In Rome, no place seemed calm.

All the Fodor's veterans know the places I hate, but I will add to the list for the novices.

1. LUZERN, SWITZERLAND--the Dollywood of the Alps. Even Heidi wouldn't be caught dead here. Put down that rhinestone beer stein.

2. VIENNA, AUSTRIA--dank, dark, depressing, and that is after taking 40 mg. of Prozac. No wonder Freud opened up his practice here. Please, please, no more Sacher tort for you.

3. PISA, ITALY--"No, Mr. African man, I don't want an ebony voodoo doll." Let's all stand in the grass in front of the Leaning Tower for silly photos. Let's not!

4. NEUSCHWANSTEIN, GERMANY--Even Walt Disney would be horrified. I should get some of the tourists who stand in line at this white elephant to take a tour of my garage for 5 bucks. I don't think Ivana Trump would even live here.

IOC, you obviously have no appreciation of the Tacky. The pictures of my kids "holding up" the leaning tower are adorable! What is so funny is watching every single tourist down on the ground, each figuring out how to get "the shot"... that must go on hundreds of times a day, every day of the year.

I have to add that I hated Las Vegas. Too many gamblers, I hated the energy of it all. Couldn't wait to get out of there!

Missy, I got a feeling that the traffic situations probably vary greatly according to the time of year. We've been to Rome three times, but all all three times have been during winter months. It wasn't hot, crowded, or congested, and traffic was as expected for a city of its size but I don't recall any gridlock or tons of traffic. I think that if we would visit in the summer (which I have absolutely no desire to do) we would probably find a completely different traffic situation in Rome.

Of course, the only time we were in Florence was in February and I remember almost getting knocked over by those stupid vespas!

Tracy

Ah, Tracy, if only there HAD been gridlock in Rome. The lack of it amazed me....so many cars that never stopped...no back ups, just many many many many cars moving very very fast all the time. Traffic engineers should study that city.

What I really dislike is the lack of crosswalks. Italians just seem to walk across the street, having complete faith that the cars will stop, since I believe drivers are supposed to yield to pedestrians. DH did it a couple of times but the thought terrified me because the cars move so fast so I wouldn't do it!

Tracy

Tracy, that amazed me, too. The thing is that MOST of them do stop...say you're crossing 6 lanes - maybe 5 lanes will stop and one vespa will zip ahead! I must confess that there were a few times that we were so chicken that we waited a few seconds to let some Romans step out into traffic before us.

One time, however, we really irritated them: The five of us were looking like we were going to cross the street - we had barely stepped off the curb when my husband started looking into a store window. We followed after him, while 4 lane of cars and motorcycles had already stopped for us - several of them honked their horns at us. It's times like that when you're glad that no one knows who you are!

You know, I haven't encountered many places I disliked when I traveled. Especially in Europe, I find most places to have something beautiful, or quirky about them that I fall in love with.

However, even though I know this is the Europe board I have to say that Limon in Costa Rica is one of the ugliest places I have ever been. Even the dead rat outside our guesthouse would agree with me.

I have enjoyed reading this thread! I am surprised how many people here did not enjoy Florence--I happened to love it when I was there 3 years ago. I was in awe over the art and stunning views, especially in the tuscan area. I also loved Rome. I thought I would hate Rome, but I think it is one my favorite cities now. Venice was interesting, but I think there were just as many pigeons there as there were people. Some of the pigeons even seemed agressive as I nervously watched people knocking them off thier heads. I also loved Lugano, Switzerland. The places I did not really care for were Milan and Pisa. I found them both boring, and although the leaning tower was interesting, I found Pisa to be a bit seedy and I didn't feel comfortable there. I will be in Ireland in August and I am thankful I haven't seen a lot of negative replies on Ireland.

I'm another one for 'florence hating'. I found it dirty, smelly nosiy, very expensive and not many friendly people.

We were disappointed in Gibraltar. The ride to the top of the hill to see the monkeys was very expensive. That doesn't leave a lot to do but walk the main street of duty free liquor and camera shops. That gets old fast, then you eat lunch and leave. In our case back to our time share in Benalmadena-Costa, Spain. It does have a beautiful view of the water, though, blue skies and sunshine. Somehow disappointing tho...

WELL having read all 150 + reports i am suprised no one mentioned Scunthorpe or Mablethorpe

Dublin has become a victim of its own success. Its beginning to look like any other urban area with lots of money to attract tourists.

Any of the large Swiss cities.

London Heathrow , whenever I'm there I want to hit someone or something.

Dax; I am shocked you did not like Rome in any of your three trips! E

Dublin and Galway

Despite having several "worst experiences" there -- by far the worst hotel, and the worst breakfast (though possibly the funniest; football revelers the morning after are not a pretty sight) -- I really liked Liverpool. Likewise, a terrible, terrible meal in Llandudno did not blunt its charms. Ditto Conwy. In fact, I can't think of a place I've visited that I "didn't like", even if unpleasant things happened there.

Oh, wait, yes I can: Detroit.

I originally put down Amsterdam -Now I say Tenerife!

Litomysl, Czech Republic