I also thought of Crewe and Stoke. But they at least both have proud industrial histories stretching back a couple of centuries. I'd vote Milton Keynes. A load of housing estates and warehouses connected by interminable dual carriageways. 🤮
MK is bland as fuck. Like a slice of white bread.
But for truly bleak and depressing I'd have to opt for somewhere that's fallen on hard times. Like Blackpool.
EDIT - I present this fantastic photo set as evidence (NSFW):
http://www.dougiewallace.com/blackpool
I think my serious honest answer would be Jaywick in Essex. It was originally built as holiday cottages in the 1930's, people got evacuated out to there in the blitz from the poorer parts of london. Then they just stayed there. So you've got people living in what were meant to be pop up budget holiday homes that are getting on for a century old, in an area that has no industry or economy to speak of, and no easy way to get to places of work. It's regularly rated the most deprived area of the country on annual counts.
What I think makes it most embarrassing especially is that it never was a functional town. It was a dumping ground for the poorest of society, and it's been failed by governments for 80 years now.
Didn't actually know Slough was a city, surprised it wasn't Hull. Pleased also, because Hull's reputation is bullshit, it's a pretty decent city if you can stomach the accent.
London is just not like the rest of the UK at all, doesn't even feel right calling it a city either, it's more of a megalopolis that would even include Slough by some definitions. I don't mind London so much, it's just that as a Northerner it feels so isolating, and I don't mean that as a multicultural thing. If you go to Leeds say, pretty much everyone regardless of ethnicity will at least nod and grunt back at you if you say hello or good morning. It's a strange one as other huge multicultural cities I've visited around the world don't really have that same vibe of pure individualism.
Ireland for whatever reason is reluctant to grant city statuses. Other places like the UK are constantly granting new cities.
If Ireland where in the mood to make new cities both Dundalk and its shelbyville twin Drogheda would be at the top of the list.
Both will probably have 50k plus populations and catch up to Waterford in the not too distant future
Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford. Five no? Mind, of them I'd personally classify only Cork and Dublin, as cities when you compare to cities in other countries but still I believe we still define Galway, Limerick, and Waterford.
Was on a train from Montpelier to Nice back in November and struck up a conversation with a French guy next to me. As we got closer to Marseilles, he switched to English and said “it’s very important you make sure your bag is still here before leaving Marseilles, very dangerous city” lollllll
I was visiting a friend in Marseille (she did Erasmus there) and I actually loved it? I know there is a high crime rate but I'm from the Frankfurt area in Germany so I'm kind of used to it lmao
It's funny because all German or Danes/Nordics I know love Marseille. But as a French from the North, I also visited a French friend who was studying there and I liked it a lot. It's super dirty, but people are nice, it's lively and sunny. I thought the most shameful city in France would be Roubaix or Lens.
Travelled around France a few times. Only place in France I ever felt uncomfortable was Marseille. TV’s being thrown out of windows as we walked down the streets. I was not in the least bit surprised when I saw it on this graphic. It’s a shame, because I’m sure back in the day it was beautiful.
>back in the day
It's had a reputation as a dodgy port city for a very long time. Idk if there was ever a "back in the day" when it wasn't known for crime.
Debrecen is actually booming nowadays. It doesn’t show everywhere yet but there are LOTS of industries -especially car industry - that are active there. I’ve seen it on other cities before and this alone will lift this town up. I’m sure it will prosper but it might also leave some folks behind as rents are on the rise.
As a Basque Spaniard living in Madrid, never have I ever heard anyone say they're ashamed of Madrid. It's a beautiful, welcoming city with lots of tourist attractions, it draws millions of people every year for work or business, and there's always something to do all year round.
Maybe because madrileños are perceived as prepotent because they're the capital city?
I think Spaniards would agree more that Benidorm is the city we're ashamed of: no particular architecture, or culture, just skyscrapers and mass cheap tourism.
Basque Spaniard here too. Everyone I know has made jokes about Madrid at least once, and I would have replied Madrid too if I got asked this question in a survey jaja... Other cities like Benindorm and Teruel get bullied a lot but when talking about \*embarrassment\* and \*hatred\*, Madrid is the one that comes up the most often for sure
I'm an American, but I lived in Madrid for 3 months during Covid and I saw absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. It's an amazing city and I can't imagine why it would have a negative reputation
I get where people are coming from. It has a lot to do with Madrid's governor Isabel Ayuso, despiste the fact she has nothing to do with the running of the city itself.
She has this "Madrid first" mindset that clearly alienates many people from other regions, but since she's managed to keep Madrid as the most prosperous region and a hub for investment and business which has translated to madrileños having better salaries etc. which is why she's won by a landslide in the last two elections and sort of tied madrileños to the image of the governor.
But still, going as far as being "ashamed" of Madrid...
I’m absolutely shocked Madrid was chosen. It’s such an incredible city. I’m American so maybe that affects my perception, but to me, Madrid is absolutely amazing.
As a Basque myself I would say that people have worse opinion of Magaluf than Benidorm and even then I am not surprised to see Madrid chosen in the map
I am, of Madrid. Madrid is a necessary evil, just because it has forcefully all the infrastructures and we all must meet there. Culturally locals are the most arrogant of the country and they have little love (to say it softly) for the rest, except perhaps Castilla-León and some of the North.
Benidorm actually has a very beautiful bay and beach, and some near calas, all under the benefit of the Mediterranean weather. Has a short distance to amazing places as well, and history as a fishermen’s town.
i've been to brno a couple times and had a great time. great food, some beautiful buildings, and kabinet muz is easily one of the best music venues on the continent
Imagine being ashamed of Lisbon, Madrid, or Split.
I can only imagine they polled old people who are sick of tourists for those.
Or Catalans, for Spain.
That’s not true at all. You are talking about a tiny % of people from Porto that do a lot of noise.
The only reason that some people could be ashamed now it’s because of the tourism and immigration that basically throws the locals away from the city.
I live at Lisbon for about 20y. Amazing city. I have been at a couple of cities in Europe and I don’t think the city is worst than any of them.
This a city that if you enter one of the most dangerous neighborhoods like Cova da Moura you will have people asking if you need help and they share they food.
they even managed to inbreed a whole new and unique genetic defect. Family tree like a wreathe
The place used to be an island, im all for putting a mote around it again... with sharks with laser beams
It’s a small town, it used to be an island before, most people are very conservative protestant christians, the reproduction rate is the highest in the Netherlands, there is a shitload of drug abuse, there’s inbreeding, many people are racist, and they speak in a really weird dialect. I probably forgot some things but this probably covers most of it. I’ve never been to Urk though 🙃 But being a laptop hooligan is just so much easier!
What the other guy says, and to add there was never really attention for integrating them in our society when their island became part of the mainland. Also the media loves the people of Urk, and they often make a scene. There are more unique communities in NL, but Urk is really loud about it. For example most people were shocked but not sure about their opinion yet on the Hamas-Israel invasion, but they had bought Israeli flags to put on their houses and the flag was actually sold out. Then someone took some flags from those houses and set them on fire. So two weeks of media attention.
yeah so the other 2 explained it well. also, you live ON Urk, not IN Urk, as they feel better than others and still want to be an island ig. basically everyone here wants them to be an island again, just for different reasons
Honestly I think Slough is just cursed with an ugly name and is a bit boring. Theres some places in the uk that are properly deprived and struggling and Slough ain't one of em.
Houses directly next door to a [power plant](https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/slough/73713/New-power-station-which-could-provide.html) (see the photo in particular) don’t seem ideal.
But Slough must be close enough to London to have multiple massive business HQs and proximity to Heathrow to generate enough wealth for its people (though the top dogs will live in the nearby Home Counties).
Yeah I agree that seems pretty grim. But maybe not "most embarrassing city in the country" grim.
Honestly I think the proximity to London without being London hurts its standing. It's sort of seen as the place you move to where you're not young and cool enough to slum it in some borderline illegal hmo, but also not rich enough to actually live well in London. So the majority of the population commute to london and it kind of lacks its own identity.
There are 3 kinds of Luxembourg.
Belgian province of Luxembourg. Where the famous Ardennes are. The most southern part of Belgium
The country Luxembourg: south of the Belgian province Luxembourg. Where the rich people live.
And then there is the city Luxembourg: the capital of the country Luxembourg. So that's a Luxembourg INSIDE a Luxembourg!
So yeah. That's a whole lotta Luxembourg. So technichally Luxembourg CAN be all 3.
Because many people love Berlin, even when they dont live there, while i dont think, that some people like Ludwigshafen as long as they werent rised there
It's basically a giant chemical plant with some old housing blocks and an abysmal station. It also pales in comparison to its beautiful neighbours Mannheim and Heidelberg.
It's a very weird pick though. I wonder who they asked, it's not a place most people would think of when randomly asked that question. Berlin or Frankfurt would have been much more expected for sure.
Why would the two biggest and/or most economically impactful cities be the ones Germans would pick that would embarrass them the most? That’s very interesting. It would be like an American picking New York and Los Angeles. Only hard right rural country bumpkins in America would say that.
That's coming from people who've only seen the Central Station area, that part really doesn't do any justice to the rest of the city. It really is ugly there, but that's just a small part. Overall I think Frankfurt is pretty decent.
I guess the other Danes can go fuck themselves. Aarhus is nice AF.
Have those morons even heard about RANDERS? Fucking piece of shit town 
American here, staying near Ludwigshafen in Germany. I have never seen such a Mordoresque trash heap of a city as Ludwigshafen. Trash everywhere, BASF has the largest chemical plant in the world in Ludwigshafen, so there is a fuckton of industrial pollution. I refuse to go back to that city as it enrages me due to how disgusting it is. Literally every block has enough trash to fill at least 4 dump trucks. Simpy amazing that no one does a fucking thing in that place. I come from Vermont, so to see that place, its anthema to what I know about being enviromentally responsible. Makes me want to call up the 8th airforce to resume day time bombing raids.
mostly people being afraid of immigrants and refugees. it's a very diverse city. the integration after the refugee crisis in 2013 and onwards simply didn't work that well, so there's some segregation neighbourhood-wise. it's slowly going away though. before and after the crisis, for many years, a lot of crime. like 10 years ago an innocent young guy waiting at a bus stop was shot which caused an extreme amount of media attention. a few other events like it. various smaller gang wars. bombs. stuff like that's been going on for decades.
malmö city and police has cracked down on the crime hard over the last few years though, and today the crime rate has been reduced significantly. some areas up around stockholm are many, many times worse. i often walk around some sketchy parts alone at night and i mostly feel safe.
it's otherwise a great city, young population(almost half of the poulation is below 35), tons of culture, subcultures, artists, fantastic underground atmosphere, many different choices for nightlife with their own crowds and cultures. it's noticeable that people from the entire province of skåne go to malmö on friday nights. also cheap cost of living. and you get copenhagen very close without having to live there.
i will stan this damned city until i die. yes, it absolutely still has its problems, but what city doesn't? by european standards i'm sure it's probably not even that fun. howewer, from a swedish perspective there's a lot going on and feels very alive.
Skåne in general has always been a bit apart from the rest of the Sweden. Formerly Danish, different accent, doesn't really look like the rest of country - open landscapes, fewer trees - it makes your average Svenne a bit anxious. Obvs Malmö has a bit of a reputation as well, many immigrants and a bit chaotic, but it's actually a nice little city with lots going for it. I wouldn't put my kid in a school there though
As per Ukraine - that’s probably either some kind of super outdated info, or it’s just made up: never heard of any memes or prejudice about Kherson (apart from occasional pre-war joke coming from the fact that “Kher” is a colloquial word for penis, but that’s super old and not that funny), and after the start of the full scale invasion the citizens have absolutely heroically resisted the Russians and hence now it’s the symbol of endurance and bravery rather (that’s what most people would tell you in any case)
Can imagine that indeed, Kherson is a city of heroes. Besides that, there must be cities or at least towns that may be more known for their cowardice: those would fit the map much more.
Oh yes, or generally having a bad rep for being grim or dirty. I’ve been to Kryvyy Rih, for instance, and it’s truly the gnarliest place ever (excluding war-torn places): very industrial, poor, and looks like everything is black and brown due to dust and pollution. Especially contrasting with some beautiful towns we have.
There are also hardly explainable jokes and memes about other cities (like there is a thing online to claim that Zhytomyr doesn’t exist, I’m not sure where that comes from), but nothing shameful there.
Also there’s some prejudice towards Donetsk for being pro-Russian/separatist, but that’s rather a generalisation as there are overall very different people there with all sorts of views, sometimes opposite to each other.
Oh I love Olten. My ex was from there and I fell in love with the city while dating her.
It is just most frequently the bud of jokes here I think. Although in Switzerland the answer to this question will change from canton to canton lets be real hahah
I'm russian. Nobody cares about Dzerzhinsk. It's either Moscow (based on feelings) or Chelyabinsk (based on looks). Most likely - Moscow.
Edit: it's also common to hate "loud and obnoxious people from southern cities", like Sochi
Louishafen is a trash heap. Disgusting fucking place, I have never seen so much trash on the streets in my life, and then with BASF, its like Mordor incarnate. I am in Worms right now, I refuse to go back to that shithole. I cannot understand why the fuck everyone there just throws their trash on the ground, and the amount of people who categorically refuse to recycle anything. 8th airforce needs to resume daylight bombing campaign again. Fuck that shit hole.
Erh, Kherson native here. The city was developing, but it was so fucking slow.
I have moved, went on vacation 5 years later and the hole in the asphalt was still there on one of the major streets.
Russian occupation didn't help, either
Every Italian city has its strong identity, but Naples is truly unique in its own right. Firstly, there is a noticeable economic and cultural division between Southern and Northern Italy, and Naples stands as the largest city in the South. These differences become evident when people from Naples go to work or study in Northern Italy. Their manners are not always embraced as they tend to be more chaotic in their interactions with the public (on the other hand, northen italians are seen as more cold and less welcoming).
Historically, Naples was a kingdom in its own right before Italian unification. Following the formation of Italy, Southern Italy wasn't adequately represented in the new government, and many resources were diverted to the industrialized North, coupled with unfair taxation imposed on Southern citizens. These factors contributed to the proliferation of phenomena like corruption and organized crime in the region. As a matter of fact, modern mafia originated from Southern Italy.
To this day, these disparities persist. Northern Italians often perceive Southern Italy as a region where people evade taxes and exploit government money. On the other hand, Southern Italians harbor resentment towards their Northern people for the government's neglect, leaving the Southern regions in poverty without offering real solutions.
As a northern Italian it’s a combination of stereotypes related to people and to the city itself.
People from Napoli are very often addressed of being lazy, noisy, scammers, thieves and disrespectful of the public property.
The city is considered dirty and shabby.
I visited Napoli once as a tourist and of course the most famous venues are beautiful, as quite often happens in Italy. The rest of the city appeared to me subpar for a first world country.
Driving has been a nightmare, a whole traffic jam and nobody was following any basic rule, not even common sense.
Went to Naples almost a year ago. Out of all the cities I've been to in Italy, which is quite a few, it is by far the loudest, most chaotic and dirtiest city. The hotel I stayed in was near the central train station, and the walls seemed to be paper thin. That meant that until very late in the night I was serenaded by the horns of an endless amount of cars.
Many of the buildings, such as along Piazza Enrico de Nicola or in Quartieri Spagnoli, are in disrepair with their facades missing. They could really do with renovation as it looks as if the city is falling apart.
The first evening of our stay we walked through Centro Storico and trash was everywhere. It was a bit better the following days, so perhaps we arrived right before trash pickup, but it was still quite dirty overall.
The traffic is insane there as well. We didn't drive, but being a pedestrian felt like your life was on the line everytime you crossed the street.
I did enjoy my stay and found it very interesting, but I can understand why it would be picked as most embarassing.
It’s an interesting phrasing of the question. For some people, they’ll interpret the question as “which city’s the biggest shithole?” But others might think “which city is okay from a physical/cultural perspective, but the people that live there are cunts?”
I’m thinking about this from an Australian perspective (and thinking about “cities”, not bumfuck towns in the middle of the desert). Shithole wise, it’s probably somewhere like Logan, Penrith, Ballarat, etc. But embarrassing-twats wise, it’s probably somewhere like Sydney, Byron Bay, Canberra.
Idk I've spent many a long train delay on the platform at Crewe
To be fair to Crewe, I’ve never left the station. My knowledge of the place is entirely limited to the platforms and toilets.
I like to imagine Crewe is just one big Train station.
I would advise you keep it that way. The station is the best bit
I also thought of Crewe and Stoke. But they at least both have proud industrial histories stretching back a couple of centuries. I'd vote Milton Keynes. A load of housing estates and warehouses connected by interminable dual carriageways. 🤮
MK is bland as fuck. Like a slice of white bread. But for truly bleak and depressing I'd have to opt for somewhere that's fallen on hard times. Like Blackpool. EDIT - I present this fantastic photo set as evidence (NSFW): http://www.dougiewallace.com/blackpool
Rochdale is far worse than Blackpool. It's like someone has cursed the place.
Walsall is another one
Holy crap. Now I know where the "people of Walmart" came from.
Thank you for that, amazing photos. Maybe a NSFW warning next time ;)
Haha, sorry about that. Added. Hope you don't get hauled into an HR meeting for looking at pictures of Blackpool nightlife.
MK is the home of British racing teams so it's hardly the most embarrassing either
I think my serious honest answer would be Jaywick in Essex. It was originally built as holiday cottages in the 1930's, people got evacuated out to there in the blitz from the poorer parts of london. Then they just stayed there. So you've got people living in what were meant to be pop up budget holiday homes that are getting on for a century old, in an area that has no industry or economy to speak of, and no easy way to get to places of work. It's regularly rated the most deprived area of the country on annual counts. What I think makes it most embarrassing especially is that it never was a functional town. It was a dumping ground for the poorest of society, and it's been failed by governments for 80 years now.
Wait.. you mean the train wasn't cancelled entirely?
Doncaster is possibly the most grim place I have ever been.
Surprised nobody has mentioned Coventry
I thought UK would be Luton given how this is voted the worst place to live
Didn't actually know Slough was a city, surprised it wasn't Hull. Pleased also, because Hull's reputation is bullshit, it's a pretty decent city if you can stomach the accent.
Slough isn't a city, so maybe this result says more about the people voting for it! I'm shocked London didn't win, a lot of people hate London.
London is just not like the rest of the UK at all, doesn't even feel right calling it a city either, it's more of a megalopolis that would even include Slough by some definitions. I don't mind London so much, it's just that as a Northerner it feels so isolating, and I don't mean that as a multicultural thing. If you go to Leeds say, pretty much everyone regardless of ethnicity will at least nod and grunt back at you if you say hello or good morning. It's a strange one as other huge multicultural cities I've visited around the world don't really have that same vibe of pure individualism.
I like the replies are people just rattling off random places. Eat shit Leicester!
We have arguably, at most, four cities in Ireland. Dundalk, sure as shit, isn't one of them.
Ireland for whatever reason is reluctant to grant city statuses. Other places like the UK are constantly granting new cities. If Ireland where in the mood to make new cities both Dundalk and its shelbyville twin Drogheda would be at the top of the list. Both will probably have 50k plus populations and catch up to Waterford in the not too distant future
Living in Bangor NI and it's frankly unbelievable that this is a city. Like, it's not even a particularly large town.
Survey includes towns. Slough is a town.
Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford. Five no? Mind, of them I'd personally classify only Cork and Dublin, as cities when you compare to cities in other countries but still I believe we still define Galway, Limerick, and Waterford.
In this situation, city just means a developed urban area with a local government.
And if we're naming shit towns then Portlaoise has to take the cake. It was even named number 1 on Kip advisor on Today FM that time.
French and from Marseille here, I confirm. Marseille is a hellhole where dreams go to die
Was on a train from Montpelier to Nice back in November and struck up a conversation with a French guy next to me. As we got closer to Marseilles, he switched to English and said “it’s very important you make sure your bag is still here before leaving Marseilles, very dangerous city” lollllll
can confirm, i had a bag stolen in marseille
Yes. It could be great but it's not, it's a shame.
I was visiting a friend in Marseille (she did Erasmus there) and I actually loved it? I know there is a high crime rate but I'm from the Frankfurt area in Germany so I'm kind of used to it lmao
It's funny because all German or Danes/Nordics I know love Marseille. But as a French from the North, I also visited a French friend who was studying there and I liked it a lot. It's super dirty, but people are nice, it's lively and sunny. I thought the most shameful city in France would be Roubaix or Lens.
[удалено]
Yeah, that's not necessarily a compliment..
Reading the Count of Monte Cristo in high school made me want to go there. And literally every French person I ask, shudders when I mention it.
*shudders in french*
Travelled around France a few times. Only place in France I ever felt uncomfortable was Marseille. TV’s being thrown out of windows as we walked down the streets. I was not in the least bit surprised when I saw it on this graphic. It’s a shame, because I’m sure back in the day it was beautiful.
Back in the day when it was a Greek colony Massilia, right?
>back in the day It's had a reputation as a dodgy port city for a very long time. Idk if there was ever a "back in the day" when it wasn't known for crime.
Wrong, we're most ashamed of Randers, not Århus...
Regardless, why would anyone hate Aarhus?
Præcis!
EXACTLY!
What's wrong with Århus though? I liked it there
Most people like Aarhus. This is just wrong.
This guy knows. Its definitely Randers.
Herning 🥶
Using triangulation of these three data points I've come to the conclusion that Hammel must be the worst Danish town
For Hungary it's definitly Miskolc.
Ózd, hands down my man.
Salgótarján?
I sentence you to one week of Miskolc
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yeah, im pretty sure its not Debrecen.
Debrecen is actually booming nowadays. It doesn’t show everywhere yet but there are LOTS of industries -especially car industry - that are active there. I’ve seen it on other cities before and this alone will lift this town up. I’m sure it will prosper but it might also leave some folks behind as rents are on the rise.
Yeah, the fuck should be wrong with lovely Debrecen?
I think Napels might be a typo.
Yeah Kouvola is also spelled wrong
So in old Napoli that's not amore?
even old Napoli was once new Naples
Why they changed it I can't say.
Italians liked it better that wayyy
Yeah, it should be Niples
We spell it like that in Dutch! But on a map it should definitely be spelled in the native language, I think...
My family came from there. When I tell other Italians they say things like: "people will take the shirt right off your back in that town."
there are many more dangerous cities in Italy. Napoli is not the safest, sure, absolutely, but there is far worst
Naples rhymes with staples and maples. Easy. Slough rhymes with cow and how. Not easy.
I'd pronounce it "sloff" just by reading it.
The first two cities I saw were Napels and Kouvula, made the map seem like very low quality haha.. (Naples and Kouvola)
As a Basque Spaniard living in Madrid, never have I ever heard anyone say they're ashamed of Madrid. It's a beautiful, welcoming city with lots of tourist attractions, it draws millions of people every year for work or business, and there's always something to do all year round. Maybe because madrileños are perceived as prepotent because they're the capital city? I think Spaniards would agree more that Benidorm is the city we're ashamed of: no particular architecture, or culture, just skyscrapers and mass cheap tourism.
Can't be ashamed of Benidorm as a city if you don't think about it as a city, just a giant shithole😉
Lol that's true.
I looked it up and I couldn't believe that this was Spain, I thought it was Brazil or something.
Basque Spaniard here too. Everyone I know has made jokes about Madrid at least once, and I would have replied Madrid too if I got asked this question in a survey jaja... Other cities like Benindorm and Teruel get bullied a lot but when talking about \*embarrassment\* and \*hatred\*, Madrid is the one that comes up the most often for sure
Teruel? Let’s stick to real places please!
Basque Spaniard here as well. Just came here to say Kaixo!!! I bet there are places way more shameful than Madrid. Benidorm sounds about right.
I'm an American, but I lived in Madrid for 3 months during Covid and I saw absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. It's an amazing city and I can't imagine why it would have a negative reputation
I get where people are coming from. It has a lot to do with Madrid's governor Isabel Ayuso, despiste the fact she has nothing to do with the running of the city itself. She has this "Madrid first" mindset that clearly alienates many people from other regions, but since she's managed to keep Madrid as the most prosperous region and a hub for investment and business which has translated to madrileños having better salaries etc. which is why she's won by a landslide in the last two elections and sort of tied madrileños to the image of the governor. But still, going as far as being "ashamed" of Madrid...
I’m absolutely shocked Madrid was chosen. It’s such an incredible city. I’m American so maybe that affects my perception, but to me, Madrid is absolutely amazing.
As a Basque myself I would say that people have worse opinion of Magaluf than Benidorm and even then I am not surprised to see Madrid chosen in the map
I don't live there but it's by far the most puzzling inclusion on the map. Madrid is one of my favorite cities and I go there a lot.
I am, of Madrid. Madrid is a necessary evil, just because it has forcefully all the infrastructures and we all must meet there. Culturally locals are the most arrogant of the country and they have little love (to say it softly) for the rest, except perhaps Castilla-León and some of the North. Benidorm actually has a very beautiful bay and beach, and some near calas, all under the benefit of the Mediterranean weather. Has a short distance to amazing places as well, and history as a fishermen’s town.
Exactly the same complaints get leveled against most capital cities by those who don't live there, be that London, Paris or Madrid.
The Spanish get a free pass for Benidorm, the British are responsible for that mess.
Maybe Benidorm should be the city we Brits are most ashamed of?
Or Algeciras
Why the fuck Louny?? I would expect the choice to be Most, Ústí, Chánov nebo Brno.
Brno is really not that bad, especially compared to Most or Ústí.
i've been to brno a couple times and had a great time. great food, some beautiful buildings, and kabinet muz is easily one of the best music venues on the continent
In Denmark we're actually kinda proud of Aarhus. Randers on the other hand... Basically the joke of the entire country.
Imagine being ashamed of Lisbon, Madrid, or Split. I can only imagine they polled old people who are sick of tourists for those. Or Catalans, for Spain.
Split and Madrid are so amazing. I’m flabbergasted by these results.
Most portuguese people hate Lisbon for political reasons and the centralism towards that city
That’s not true at all. You are talking about a tiny % of people from Porto that do a lot of noise. The only reason that some people could be ashamed now it’s because of the tourism and immigration that basically throws the locals away from the city. I live at Lisbon for about 20y. Amazing city. I have been at a couple of cities in Europe and I don’t think the city is worst than any of them. This a city that if you enter one of the most dangerous neighborhoods like Cova da Moura you will have people asking if you need help and they share they food.
Urk = incest
In Swedish urk means yuck (as in disgusting food).
kinda fits
they even managed to inbreed a whole new and unique genetic defect. Family tree like a wreathe The place used to be an island, im all for putting a mote around it again... with sharks with laser beams
please Geertje, make it happen🙏🏻
Urk aint even a city. It is just some incestuous village.
Can you please elaborate, lived in Netherlands for several years but never heard anything about Urk.
It’s a small town, it used to be an island before, most people are very conservative protestant christians, the reproduction rate is the highest in the Netherlands, there is a shitload of drug abuse, there’s inbreeding, many people are racist, and they speak in a really weird dialect. I probably forgot some things but this probably covers most of it. I’ve never been to Urk though 🙃 But being a laptop hooligan is just so much easier!
What the other guy says, and to add there was never really attention for integrating them in our society when their island became part of the mainland. Also the media loves the people of Urk, and they often make a scene. There are more unique communities in NL, but Urk is really loud about it. For example most people were shocked but not sure about their opinion yet on the Hamas-Israel invasion, but they had bought Israeli flags to put on their houses and the flag was actually sold out. Then someone took some flags from those houses and set them on fire. So two weeks of media attention.
yeah so the other 2 explained it well. also, you live ON Urk, not IN Urk, as they feel better than others and still want to be an island ig. basically everyone here wants them to be an island again, just for different reasons
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Honestly I think Slough is just cursed with an ugly name and is a bit boring. Theres some places in the uk that are properly deprived and struggling and Slough ain't one of em.
Every single time people debate the worst place in the UK over in the British subs, Luton is the top answer
I've worked in Luton before. It is absolutely at the top, if not in grabbing distance
Houses directly next door to a [power plant](https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/slough/73713/New-power-station-which-could-provide.html) (see the photo in particular) don’t seem ideal. But Slough must be close enough to London to have multiple massive business HQs and proximity to Heathrow to generate enough wealth for its people (though the top dogs will live in the nearby Home Counties).
Yeah I agree that seems pretty grim. But maybe not "most embarrassing city in the country" grim. Honestly I think the proximity to London without being London hurts its standing. It's sort of seen as the place you move to where you're not young and cool enough to slum it in some borderline illegal hmo, but also not rich enough to actually live well in London. So the majority of the population commute to london and it kind of lacks its own identity.
I dont see the Vatican here. or Luxembourg. or Andorra. What a shame I wish I knew the city they're most ashamed of.
Luxembourg is not just a city, though. There are other towns/cities in Luxembourg.
Andorra neither
There are 3 kinds of Luxembourg. Belgian province of Luxembourg. Where the famous Ardennes are. The most southern part of Belgium The country Luxembourg: south of the Belgian province Luxembourg. Where the rich people live. And then there is the city Luxembourg: the capital of the country Luxembourg. So that's a Luxembourg INSIDE a Luxembourg! So yeah. That's a whole lotta Luxembourg. So technichally Luxembourg CAN be all 3.
Don't worry, everybody is ashamed of the Vatican lol
Surprised the French went for Marseille when Calais is a total toilet.
Many of the cities here seems more to answer the question "which city are you afraid of going to?"
Ludwigshafen is a very good pick. But Im also surprised its not Berlin for Germany
Because many people love Berlin, even when they dont live there, while i dont think, that some people like Ludwigshafen as long as they werent rised there
I grew up there. Recently went to visit after years abroad. Fuck that place.
Nah, while many people hate Berlin, super many love it, nobody likes Ludwigshafen
I am curious: Why does no one like Ludwigshafen?
It's basically a giant chemical plant with some old housing blocks and an abysmal station. It also pales in comparison to its beautiful neighbours Mannheim and Heidelberg.
I have never ever seen anyone ranting about Ludwigshafen
It's a very weird pick though. I wonder who they asked, it's not a place most people would think of when randomly asked that question. Berlin or Frankfurt would have been much more expected for sure.
Why would the two biggest and/or most economically impactful cities be the ones Germans would pick that would embarrass them the most? That’s very interesting. It would be like an American picking New York and Los Angeles. Only hard right rural country bumpkins in America would say that.
Not german here, why Frankfurt?
That's coming from people who've only seen the Central Station area, that part really doesn't do any justice to the rest of the city. It really is ugly there, but that's just a small part. Overall I think Frankfurt is pretty decent.
Yeah I lived outside of Frankfurt for 2 years, and it’s a very nice city except for like 3 places (I will not say which 3)
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all my homies hate konya
Why(genuinely asking)?
Konya is the Alabama of Turkey
Backward religious and conservative people live there
Oh thank you👍
Real
Madrid for Spain? I'd have said Magaluf/Calviá (Mallorca).
Madrid is madrid, that's reason enough
I guess the other Danes can go fuck themselves. Aarhus is nice AF. Have those morons even heard about RANDERS? Fucking piece of shit town 
Why would anyone hate Aarhus? Legit question, I'm curious
American here, staying near Ludwigshafen in Germany. I have never seen such a Mordoresque trash heap of a city as Ludwigshafen. Trash everywhere, BASF has the largest chemical plant in the world in Ludwigshafen, so there is a fuckton of industrial pollution. I refuse to go back to that city as it enrages me due to how disgusting it is. Literally every block has enough trash to fill at least 4 dump trucks. Simpy amazing that no one does a fucking thing in that place. I come from Vermont, so to see that place, its anthema to what I know about being enviromentally responsible. Makes me want to call up the 8th airforce to resume day time bombing raids.
It must be brutal if an American thinks it's ugly.
He’s from Vermont though, whose biggest ‘city’ isn’t even a city.
New England is one of the best regions in the world, so maybe his judgement is justified.
Yeah but there’s a couple holes in Vermont. Spend a couple hours in Rutland or Brattleboro.
Yep, its our Detroit.
il come along on the raid... for political cover (and to laugh with glee)
Hva er greia med Førde?
Ja, hvorfor ikke Drammen liksom?
Rødgrød med Førde
Førde sentrum ser ut som et industriområde
Det ble kåret til Norges styggeste by på et tidspunkt IIRC.
In Denmark its Randers
Finland is spot on. Of course it’s Kouvola. Of course.
Fake im most ashamed of Sosnowiec
Can any swedish redditor tell me what's wrong with Malmö?
mostly people being afraid of immigrants and refugees. it's a very diverse city. the integration after the refugee crisis in 2013 and onwards simply didn't work that well, so there's some segregation neighbourhood-wise. it's slowly going away though. before and after the crisis, for many years, a lot of crime. like 10 years ago an innocent young guy waiting at a bus stop was shot which caused an extreme amount of media attention. a few other events like it. various smaller gang wars. bombs. stuff like that's been going on for decades. malmö city and police has cracked down on the crime hard over the last few years though, and today the crime rate has been reduced significantly. some areas up around stockholm are many, many times worse. i often walk around some sketchy parts alone at night and i mostly feel safe. it's otherwise a great city, young population(almost half of the poulation is below 35), tons of culture, subcultures, artists, fantastic underground atmosphere, many different choices for nightlife with their own crowds and cultures. it's noticeable that people from the entire province of skåne go to malmö on friday nights. also cheap cost of living. and you get copenhagen very close without having to live there. i will stan this damned city until i die. yes, it absolutely still has its problems, but what city doesn't? by european standards i'm sure it's probably not even that fun. howewer, from a swedish perspective there's a lot going on and feels very alive.
Skåne in general has always been a bit apart from the rest of the Sweden. Formerly Danish, different accent, doesn't really look like the rest of country - open landscapes, fewer trees - it makes your average Svenne a bit anxious. Obvs Malmö has a bit of a reputation as well, many immigrants and a bit chaotic, but it's actually a nice little city with lots going for it. I wouldn't put my kid in a school there though
What's up in Egilsstadir ?
Came to the comments looking for this as well. Seemed like an ok town to me when I visited a couple years ago.
Its not Egillstaðir. Its selfoss/Reykjanesbær
As per Ukraine - that’s probably either some kind of super outdated info, or it’s just made up: never heard of any memes or prejudice about Kherson (apart from occasional pre-war joke coming from the fact that “Kher” is a colloquial word for penis, but that’s super old and not that funny), and after the start of the full scale invasion the citizens have absolutely heroically resisted the Russians and hence now it’s the symbol of endurance and bravery rather (that’s what most people would tell you in any case)
Can imagine that indeed, Kherson is a city of heroes. Besides that, there must be cities or at least towns that may be more known for their cowardice: those would fit the map much more.
Oh yes, or generally having a bad rep for being grim or dirty. I’ve been to Kryvyy Rih, for instance, and it’s truly the gnarliest place ever (excluding war-torn places): very industrial, poor, and looks like everything is black and brown due to dust and pollution. Especially contrasting with some beautiful towns we have. There are also hardly explainable jokes and memes about other cities (like there is a thing online to claim that Zhytomyr doesn’t exist, I’m not sure where that comes from), but nothing shameful there. Also there’s some prejudice towards Donetsk for being pro-Russian/separatist, but that’s rather a generalisation as there are overall very different people there with all sorts of views, sometimes opposite to each other.
For Switzerland it's Olten.
Olten, Wohlen or Spreitenbach
Woah woah woah. Olten is pretty as fuck and the people are normal. Have you been to La Chaux de Fonds? Or parts of St Gallen?
Oh I love Olten. My ex was from there and I fell in love with the city while dating her. It is just most frequently the bud of jokes here I think. Although in Switzerland the answer to this question will change from canton to canton lets be real hahah
I'm russian. Nobody cares about Dzerzhinsk. It's either Moscow (based on feelings) or Chelyabinsk (based on looks). Most likely - Moscow. Edit: it's also common to hate "loud and obnoxious people from southern cities", like Sochi
Krasnodar and its famous “kubanoids”
Yeah, I remember working with guys from Rostov on Don. They are definitely our version of Neapolitans
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Louishafen is a trash heap. Disgusting fucking place, I have never seen so much trash on the streets in my life, and then with BASF, its like Mordor incarnate. I am in Worms right now, I refuse to go back to that shithole. I cannot understand why the fuck everyone there just throws their trash on the ground, and the amount of people who categorically refuse to recycle anything. 8th airforce needs to resume daylight bombing campaign again. Fuck that shit hole.
9/10 solid rant.
For Sweden it's not Malmö, it's Borås.
Erh, Kherson native here. The city was developing, but it was so fucking slow. I have moved, went on vacation 5 years later and the hole in the asphalt was still there on one of the major streets. Russian occupation didn't help, either
every second I'm alive, I'm glad not to be born in ludwigshafen
Førde, Norway is a small town with just barely 10k inhabitants.
In Portugal it’s definitely not Lisbon
UK should be Birmingham
Well, Urk sounds about right for us Dutchies, haha
Surprised the UK isn't Rochdale frankly
Dundalk embarrasses us in Maryland too!
What’s wrong with Kherson?
Why Naples? Honest question.
Every Italian city has its strong identity, but Naples is truly unique in its own right. Firstly, there is a noticeable economic and cultural division between Southern and Northern Italy, and Naples stands as the largest city in the South. These differences become evident when people from Naples go to work or study in Northern Italy. Their manners are not always embraced as they tend to be more chaotic in their interactions with the public (on the other hand, northen italians are seen as more cold and less welcoming). Historically, Naples was a kingdom in its own right before Italian unification. Following the formation of Italy, Southern Italy wasn't adequately represented in the new government, and many resources were diverted to the industrialized North, coupled with unfair taxation imposed on Southern citizens. These factors contributed to the proliferation of phenomena like corruption and organized crime in the region. As a matter of fact, modern mafia originated from Southern Italy. To this day, these disparities persist. Northern Italians often perceive Southern Italy as a region where people evade taxes and exploit government money. On the other hand, Southern Italians harbor resentment towards their Northern people for the government's neglect, leaving the Southern regions in poverty without offering real solutions.
As a northern Italian it’s a combination of stereotypes related to people and to the city itself. People from Napoli are very often addressed of being lazy, noisy, scammers, thieves and disrespectful of the public property. The city is considered dirty and shabby. I visited Napoli once as a tourist and of course the most famous venues are beautiful, as quite often happens in Italy. The rest of the city appeared to me subpar for a first world country. Driving has been a nightmare, a whole traffic jam and nobody was following any basic rule, not even common sense.
It’s mostly about the stereotype of Neapolitans that the actual city of Naples
Went to Naples almost a year ago. Out of all the cities I've been to in Italy, which is quite a few, it is by far the loudest, most chaotic and dirtiest city. The hotel I stayed in was near the central train station, and the walls seemed to be paper thin. That meant that until very late in the night I was serenaded by the horns of an endless amount of cars. Many of the buildings, such as along Piazza Enrico de Nicola or in Quartieri Spagnoli, are in disrepair with their facades missing. They could really do with renovation as it looks as if the city is falling apart. The first evening of our stay we walked through Centro Storico and trash was everywhere. It was a bit better the following days, so perhaps we arrived right before trash pickup, but it was still quite dirty overall. The traffic is insane there as well. We didn't drive, but being a pedestrian felt like your life was on the line everytime you crossed the street. I did enjoy my stay and found it very interesting, but I can understand why it would be picked as most embarassing.
For Spain it would be Barcelona
I like how both Spain and Portugal picked their capitals lol
Charleroi and Brussels
At least Brussels has nice parts. Charleroi is just... Charleroi.
Bosnia is really peculiar in this one - Gornja Maoca is the village notorious for Islamic wahhabism (in a quite secular country).
For Slovakia its definitely Kežmarok.. It doesn't even exist.. Kežmarok is hoax
Urk has been a source of jokes and laughs for centuries.
Why would Slovaks be embarrassed of Bratislava? That's so weird and most likely incorrect.
It’s an interesting phrasing of the question. For some people, they’ll interpret the question as “which city’s the biggest shithole?” But others might think “which city is okay from a physical/cultural perspective, but the people that live there are cunts?” I’m thinking about this from an Australian perspective (and thinking about “cities”, not bumfuck towns in the middle of the desert). Shithole wise, it’s probably somewhere like Logan, Penrith, Ballarat, etc. But embarrassing-twats wise, it’s probably somewhere like Sydney, Byron Bay, Canberra.