John

Geneva. Nice setting, bland, expensive beyond reason, full of suits. I guess I expected the UN's presence would make it more cosmopolitan and energetic, but it didn't feel that way. <BR>

Rick

Under-impressed with Salzburg. Much smaller than I thought and very expensive. Loved: Paris, Venice, London, Rome, Vienna and Paris.

Bill Fleites

Naples, the dirtiest, ugliest, and most unfriendly city in the world. I'll never stay another night in it again. The Neopolitan pizza in New York city is 1,000 times better than anything I ate in that city.

Teresa

Venice, my biggest disappointment. I expected much more from it. It stinked.<BR><BR>I was never tempted to go to Rome but I felt in love with it when I went there. Going again next month.<BR><BR>I love Paris and London. I go there again and again and never get tired.

Carolyn

Amy & Clair - I get the same feeling from this thread & others like it about the Paris/Venice -- I am hearing the same for London/Paris <BR>I agree that each person is going to have different expectations & dreams and the fact that everyone is different will not change my view of what I want to see or visit. (Someone may hate it but I may love it!)

xx

Venice, Birmingham, Paris (but I mean the ones in the USA) full of fat, arrogant, over opinionated tossers I found to my utter surprise.

selena

I loved Venice. Paris didnt thrill me that much. Mostly because snooty people. I did love all the shops and restaurants. The buildings were all that dull brownish color. That was a turn off. <BR>I loved Amsterdam. We stayed in the Jordaan area. It was clean and quiet. I would go there agin in a heartbeat.

Steve

Dublin: blah.<BR>Frankfurt: blah.<BR>Salzburg: First time ('78) loved it. Last time ('01) blah.<BR>Glasgow: blah.<BR>Inverness: blah.<BR>Zurich: blah.<BR>Geneva: blah.<BR>Lisbon: blah.<BR>Limerick: blah.<BR><BR>Interestingly, though, I had a great time in each of these cities and I found wonderful pubs, restaurants, hotels, people . . . I guess this is sort of an "charming atmosphere per cubic meter" question and I would rank the cities I listed as low. However, this is such a subjective question because I would rank Copenhagen, London, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Milan, Rome, Nice . . . to name a few . . . fairly high. Yet, I have acquaintences which would reverse my ranking.<BR><BR>What is it that makes a destination desirable? Pre-conceived notion? Expectation? Others dogmatic opinions? Frankly, I think Paris is a dump but I liked going through the Louvre, Notre Dame and other "sights".<BR><BR>Steve

Annie

Amsterdam and London.

yodeladyhoo

Vienna. Don't get what all the hooplah is about. Ugly buildings. St. Stephen's is a disgrace, covered in pigeon droppings and crumbling facade. Public transporation outside of the 'ring' is a joke. Never again.

mauld

While I can't say I had high expecations, I must admit I wouldn't rush back to Frankfurt anytime soon. I flew into FRA, then took the train to Mainz, then up to Koln (both of which, while I had no high expectations-- I enjoyed tremendously), but my return to Frankfurt on a Sunday (when EVERYTHING is closed), was somewhat of a let down.

Byrd

Florence--in spite of its many treasures, we just found it to be an unpleasant city.<BR><BR>Now Budapest--what a glorious surprise! Loved it!

Susan

London & Lisbon.

Michelle

We've always been reluctant to admit this - most people think we are crazy or culturally backwards- but my husband and I did not like Florence. Yes, from the inside it is wonderful: the art etc. but the town itself was grey, dirty, and full of scooters! Each evening we would blow black soot from our noses!! Yuk!!

Joe

Vienna! Perhaps our expectations were too high. Some pretty areas, some interesting areas, but overall, didn't do it for us. Left a day early. Some travel in between, but next "City" was Budapest. Wonderful City.<BR> Hard to understand dislike for Venice, Paris and Rome, but, after all, that is what makes the world go round.<BR>Prague and Krakow have to be right up there somewhere. Biggest surprise for us has to be Pecs. What a fantastic little city.

x

let it be noted the above are not travelling right now, but nonetheless feel perfectly free to pontificate - oh, and do look at Sam's Venice critque. I suppose we should all be thankful he didn't' ohh and ahh about cats in the canal. Anyone care to bet he's never set foot near the Veneto?

xxx

Hands down, Vienna. Dog crap all over the sidewalk and horse crap all over the streets. Rudest, most dour and arrogant people ever encountered. God awful food - hard bread, lousy coffee. Constant scam attempts from shopkeepers and ticket takers. Doors dropped or slammed in our faces. St. Stephansdom has an actual gate inside the cathedral so that only the locals may access Sunday mass and everyone else is excluded. Couldn't wait to get out of that place and will never go back. Not at all surprised to hear about the rise of neo-Nazi Jorge Haider several years ago in Austria, it seems the perfect breeding ground.

K

Nice was a bit of a letdown.

Maureen

Didnot like Nice in the French Riviera--people talking to themselves, saw person stealing tip money from table, a few strange people with baggy dirty clothes like hobos walking around and just not as pleasant as Cannes, St. Tropez and other areas in the F.R..

K

Geneva was also a letdown after the other spectacular cities and towns I visited in Switzerland.