What places are you willing to give another shot?
 

I think it was the company I was keeping but i would like to give Paris another chance.

I was traveling with my 2 best friends. A married couple. Julie is very easy going but her husband Tom has "moments". On our last trip we re-named him "Tommy Turbulance" He was an a$$ in Paris. I got to see the Eiffel Tower for 5 minutes at night cuz he was having issues. I was so struck by it that I really want to see it again and linger. Also there was a strike and there were some closures. D'Orsay and St. Chappel.

JandaO
Boy, I know how you feel!!
When you travel in a group, it's the ""Lowest common denominator""...the person with the most needs...always runs the show!!
I'm so selfish.....very picky about my travel companions.
Very smart to give Paris another chance!!
The city I'd like to "try over" is Rovinj Croatia. We arrived on a Sunday.....crowds/construction....a not-nice experience trying to check-in. So we moved on!!
It is very beautiful.....someday I'll return.

One I will give another chance is Venice...but I will not go back to Aix en Provence...what a waste of time!

Uncle Sam

We'd like to get back to Brittany. The weather there on our first visit was really lousy and we came away with a less than great impression . I think another visit is warranted.

Rome. I was there when I was young, and although I was extremely interested in many of the specific sights and works of art, I just could not warm up to the city as a whole or relax there. I've gone back to various parts of Italy quite a few times since then, always skipping Rome. Maybe I would enjoy it more now, more than 30 years later, so I really should try going agan.

Let me suggest you give Paris another shot. My first visit there was when I was at the end of a 7 week trip around
Europe. I was not feeling well, and I was unprepared for my visit. As a result, I did not like Paris.

Many years elapsed before I went back.

The next time I had my life-long travel mate, more money, and more preparation.
I found it very interesting. I think the big thing that helped was that I had a list of what I wanted to see and I had studied the bus routes and metro lines so I knew how to get to where I wanted to go.

Fodors contributors gave me many good suggetions. Some of them were little things, but they helped me get around the city and pinpoint interesting places to visit. In that respect the Michelin green book on Paris is very handy as are Fodors Paris Guide and Let's Go Paris.

I will say that my most recent trip to Paris found me somewhat back in the same mode of not liking it. I had a series of incidents that were upsetting, like getting clamped in a subway door in such a way that I could not get out without assistance.
Two strong guys helped force the door open to free me. That did sort of sour me.

But prepare and revisit Paris. Also, I think having a good place to sleep makes a difference as does having a compatible travel companion.

I have tried travel all kinds of ways.
The best way for me personally is to travel with a good partner and on my own. I find groups awkward because you move slower and en mass and you are never fully in step with the others.

However, I had rather be alone than with a bad companion. Fortunately, for the past 48 years I have traveled with the best.

The first time I visited Florence it was humid, very hot and raining off and on. It was crowded with sweating, ill tempered tourists and the exhaust fumes from the busses could not rise above eye level and our eyes were tearing.

When we had arrived in Florence, we could not find parking for our car and drove around in circles getting more and more frustrated, the four of us were on the edges of our seats all blaming the others for lack of parking lots.

Our hotel's air conditioning was out and all I wanted was a shower, our bathroom had the kind of facilities that turned the whole room into a shower stall. I had not used these before and when I turned on the water all of the toilet paper and the clothes I had set out to change into were soaked. I sat on the toilet and let the water run over me until it turned ice cold in about three minutes.

We went to a local restaurant recommended by our hotel for dinner and it was so dark and smokey, I felt like a ham hock being smoked in a cellar for the winter.

We went to bed early, and I literally felt like crying out of frustration, we had booked the hotel for a few days. The weather did not change for our whole stay and since it was the end of a three week trip our tempers were hard to keep in check.

About three years later, I reluctantly returned to Florence with another friend and I warned her about Florence, when we arrived by train it was the most beautiful clear cool day, the tourists were happy and I got a whole new Florence experience. Now I love Florence and try to visit every trip to Italy.

We gave Brittany a two-day "shot" (mostly Paimpol and nearby) on an 8-day trip (the other 6 were Normandy). And I agree, it would be worth exploring for more like two weeks, I get the feeling.

And after five visits to Switzerland (often more lije simply "through"), I still get the feeling that it would be worth my while to find what it is that others like so much.

Best wishes,

Rex

I am willing to give Florence another shot.
My first time there it poured rain all day. One of the women I was traveling with wandered off and we spent 2 hours looking for her.
The second time it poured rain again on one of the women I was with only wanted to shop.
The main problem both times, besides rain, was trying to ride herd on too many women. I will go again, spend the night instead of a day trip, and travel alone or with one other very compatible friend

Phuket, Thailand. We spent a night there en route to another island and found it overdeveloped and tacky. I have since read enough posts on the Asia board to believe there are some wonderful parts of Phuket.

anotherjudy...if you go again please give Florence two or three days...its worth it!

Uncle Sam

CMT - please give Rome another try. My first time there was awful - lots of terrible experiences. Many years later with more travel and cultural awareness my second and third times in Rome were wonderful.

Rome, not as much giving the city another chance but giving me another chance to see more of the city. It was the first stop on my trip, I got to Rome after flying from San Francisco. I was supposed to meet my friend at the airport, she was flying from L.A., her plane was delayed so I met her at the hotel, but had to wait for her for about 2 - 3 hours. During that time I did go walk around the hotel, but being alone, tired and hot, I was a little intimidated by the city at first and didn't want to wonder too far from the hotel. After she arrived, we did walk around a bit more and did go see a church nearby Santa Maggiore, but then had to meet our group for a welcome drink (we went with an organized tour). Afterwards, we did have a great walking tour of Rome at night, and had dinner at a restaurant in the Piazza Navona. The next day was a mad day, The Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum and the Forum during the day, much too much. At night we then went to the Spanish Steps and relaxed before we had dinner, the evening we were on our own. And then the next day we moved on.

It was the only time I felt rushed with the tour and I would like to spend more time just exploring Rome at a more leisurely pace.

Of course, Venice, it doesn't need another chance, it won my heart immediately. I was there for 1 1/2 days and had a full day to ourselves to walk all around Venice. We walked from Piazza San Marco all the way back to our hotel which was near the train station. We explored and explored and our feet begged for mercy! :) However, my plans are to go back someday and spend a week there to really take it all in and sit at cafes, read, write, photograph and let Venice take over!

ttt

I also agree with Paris. I fell in love there as a teenager, then returned with my mom a decade later and the city lost all its beauty to me. I'm eager to see it again through my husbands eyes though, and visit places like the Musee d'Orsay that seems to be closed each time I'm there as well.

Also Belize, as it was the first third-world-type country I'd ever seen. I'd love to return and truly appreciate the wilderness.

LOL uncle_sam, I gave Aix another shot several years ago and it continued to disappoint. Maybe it's just not beautiful in the spring, but I fail to see the allure.