hart's shirt
Well-known member
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WORST holiday destination you've ever had the misfortune to visit
- Thread starter Bry Nylon
- Start date
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ROSM
Well-known member
Not all expats of course - but you've surely met the ones who think that they're recreating the spirit of the 19th century pioneers and seeing the mid east as the new raj. Couple that with the the Friday brunch sessions and the ensuing corporate interventions to the local police and it can grate at times.
Parce que
shirley not …. though the Ski resort was not great as far as I recall 30 odd years ago
Nibble
New member
- Jan 3, 2007
- 19,238
Sorry, that's my impression of the place. Doesn't mean I'm correct. Plus, I think a VERY pertinent point indeed is that I'm referring to it as a HOLIDAY destination. Now, if we are talking about a place to live while one earns a shed load of tax free money in the sun, spending Fridays and Saturdays at the beach I can't blame anyone for that.
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Second that. Admittedly my only stop over was the weekend of the away game there a few years back. We went on the pier. Rusty things, wind, the smell of nasty food.... The sea front is wrist-slashingly depressing. Never go on holiday anwhere that has 'poo' in its name . . . .
As far as an actual proper holiday (a week at least) is concerned, at a proper destination that moden folk might consider seriously (Blackpool isn't), I guess Sousse in Tunisia was probably my worst. Back in 96 is was a sort of military dictatorship, and if you ventured ouside the hotel grounds and on to the beach, there were swarms of locals perving over the English women in a manner we regarded as sinister.
I went to somewhere in the costa del sol in the 90s in November, and the sun was too weak to raise a freckle, but it was a cheap and entertaining holiday over all, so Sousse gets my vote.
- Apr 13, 2015
- 3,493
The Bazar, the waterfront restaurants, its sell sell sell, wont let you relax and browse for a minute, duff from beginning to end.
Lyndhurst 14
Well-known member
- Jan 16, 2008
- 5,133
Similar feelings about Prague. Just did a rail trip through Europe with friends. Vienna / Budapest / Bratislava / Prague / Berlin. Really enjoyed all those places but felt Prague was a bit of a letdown – lots of stag / hen parties and Tescos, M&S and Debenhams in the high street, but the brew pub come hotel we stayed at did help to make up for some of that. My worry is that in maybe another 10 years Bratislava (which I really liked) could be going the same way.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
Most of those chancers went home to their various countries after the 2009-2010 downturn which hit construction hard, and consequently had a knock-on effect to other sectors.
For every individual tabloid-friendly case of couples (often tourists, not expats) caught in flagrante delicto post-brunch on the beach or in the back of a taxi, there are thousands of families having regular time together over a relaxed buffet lunch by the pool/beach.
It would be wrong to consider the majority of football fans thugs because of the actions of a tiny minority. The same's true here.
With the opportunity to buy and own freehold properties in Dubai, many of the 20s and 30s singletons are marrying and settling down to bring up their families in a safe, tax-free environment with a fantastic standard of living. For example, the number of schools and nurseries has increased significantly here over the last few years.
Big businesses are here too in the shape of Halliburton and Emirates. Apple will shortly be opening its largest store here in Mall of the Emirates - around 50,000 square feet. (It's too early at the moment to say whether NSC will be temporarily shut down on the day itself so that we can all absorb the news of this...)
From the comments, it's fair to say that Dubai's not everybody's cup of holiday tea. Of course that's quite ok, it's just personal preference. But seeing as we're talking about 'vacuous holes in the desert', for my part I can't understand why anyone would visit Las Vegas, the home of broken dreams and bank accounts, for anything other than watching an occasional world title fight and as a base for a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon. (Just my preference...)
For the record, I've been here in Dubai for 11 years and would never want to move away.
Perhaps it's simply that residents will always feel differently towards a place which they call home when compared with those views of tourists just visiting.
Camels for courses.
I last went to Prague around 20 years ago. It seems to have changed somewhat.
Just spent a month in Thailand, however that certainly isn't on my list. Also amazed at the suggestion of Olu Deniz, one of the few places I happily went back to numerous times, so cheap and so much to do.
I did however have a stopover in Helsinki on the way to Thailand, and in the time i spent there it seemed like there is NOTHING there at all. Very dissapointed.
I also thought Prague was a bit over hyped. Was a good holiday nevertheless.
I did however have a stopover in Helsinki on the way to Thailand, and in the time i spent there it seemed like there is NOTHING there at all. Very dissapointed.
I also thought Prague was a bit over hyped. Was a good holiday nevertheless.
looney
Banned
- Jul 7, 2003
- 15,652
I had ten days in Manchester it was effing great, although some were day trips to places like Blackpool, Bolton, Salford etc.
I'd agree with Helsinki, while it was quite picturesque, we had a 10 hour layover on the way back from Estonia earlier this year and we couldn't find ANYTHING to do. that matched with useless taxi drivers, and £12 for coffee and sandwich in the equivalent to a Pret wasn't great.
Went to Suommenlina, as it's a World Heritage site (and the only thing anyone could recommend).
Even that was disappointing, falling down and just a bit 'meh'. They had a decent sale on in Fred Perry though, I guess that was a positive.
SouthCoastOwl
New member
Juste parce que?
daveinprague
New member
Its touristy all year round.
Stag do's are in all the capitals really. If you have lots of strip clubs, and brothels, then there always will be probably.
There ARE a lot of strip clubs and brothels here.
Wenceslas Square does indeed have M&S and Debenhams. ... something that seemed to excite northern women from UK for some reason.
I suspect the expectation they would be cheaper than UK. They are not.
Cant really remember the last time I was in Wenceslas Square, and I only live a few tram stops away.
Theres a big Tesco's in the middle of Bratislava.
If you stick to the tourist areas, you find tourists.
The only Czech people you will find in these areas are people working in these areas. Czechs dont drink/party in the tourist areas. They cannot afford the prices, as cheap as they are for foreigners. They will party away from the center. Zizkov (A lot of 'smoking' bars), Smichov (some decent clubs that tourists never find), Vinhorady (lots of British and Americans), Letna (mostly Czechs) .. where things are a third or half of the price. This also includes stripclubs and brothels
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EuroDisney
Took the family there for 5 days last year at Easter - Disney itself was OK, you get what you expect - but the service was non-existent, the "fast" food was ridiculously slow and almost inedible - and the Restaurants outside and in the local Hotel that we stayed in was just awful!!
and its in France!!
Took the family there for 5 days last year at Easter - Disney itself was OK, you get what you expect - but the service was non-existent, the "fast" food was ridiculously slow and almost inedible - and the Restaurants outside and in the local Hotel that we stayed in was just awful!!
and its in France!!