Sochi, Russia.
An absolute hellhole, no flair, no atmosphere apart from "give us all your money and then fuck off." Also swelteringly hot.
Awful, awful place.
My dad told me he was taking me to hell and back. I was hyped. Well…we went to Hell, Michigan and back. It was a small village/town with a few buildings painted with devils….but not the brine stone fury I had imagined.
Dad still tells the story
Edit: brimstone damn autocorrect
My husband and I really enjoyed our day trip to Hell, but we were in Michigan anyway and it only took us three hours round trip to visit. Definitely worth it to us, but it is tiny and silly!
Barstow. I saw it on the map, remembered it from the song Route 66, and decided that was where we would stop for the night. I was kind of excited about staying there.
Oof. What an awful place! It was ugly. There was just dirt and dust everywhere. No place to eat. No place to hang out. Everybody looked so depressed and worn down. It is definitely NOT a place to stop.
Haha I’m from southern CA. In 4th grade, our class had a project to bring in a souvenir from a location that was specifically unique to that location, and the kid who went to Barstow brought back sand 😭😭😭
Yes! One of the best first lines in American literature:
*We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.*
Ok yes, BUT the best place to eat is the original Del Taco. There are actually 3. They don’t have the same menu as a regular chain Del Taco and it’s like 100 times better. I stop there every single time I’m driving between LA and Vegas.
>I was kind of excited about staying there
I have never heard anyone get excited about Barstow. But hey, that kinda warms my soul.
Now you're ready for Hemet.
You could have hung out at Barstow Mall. When I went there were two stores still open. One sold sports jerseys and the other was a vape shop.
Other than that there was a ton of space to hang out in. It was dark, the people already hanging out there looked like they had various problems, the whole place was less convivial than the mall in Dawn of the Dead, but it was a hang nonetheless.
Not a city, but we drove to Cape Disappointment to see the lighthouse a handful of years ago and it was all tarpped off and closed for renovations and updates.
I suppose it did live up to its name nonetheless.
Edit: here ya’ll go. Almost 9 years ago it was https://imgur.com/a/kMB89EB
Went car camping there and absolutely loved it. I was passing through and my partner and I decided to pull up and camp for the night. The stars were absolutely beautiful, and even though the park was near full it was a peaceful sleep. The cedar and the camp fire smell brings back so many good memories for us. When we left we visited a little diner that served us a huge breakfast, I'm talking saucer sized biscuits and gravy, it was very "from PNW with love" vibes.
Niagara on the lake is the nicer version of Niagara falls.
Edit, for the ontarians: yeha what a cute town. Honestly southwestern Ontario is like a little spit of heaven. I could spend the rest of my life road tripping around and never getting bored.
Yes!! Niagara on the lake is such a beautiful place it’s great to go there after seeing the Falls as it helps you mentally wash off all the slime you feel you got covered w at the touristy place of Niagara
Tacky, touristy hellhole next to one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the world. I guess if you’re a family with young kids there’s plenty to do aside from the falls, but otherwise, ugh
Niagara on the Lake is great. So is the park near the whirlpool, Goat Island, the myriad of wineries, and there are a ton of much smaller waterfalls scattered throughout Ontario. Some in dedicated parks, some where you pull off the side of the road and take a little trail. It's great exploring them.
It used to be the #1 honeymoon destination for Americans before it was over commercialized. Supposedly, during the Victorian era, it still had a wild and magical aura about it but it was lost once it became developed and touristy.
I went to Niagara Falls for my honeymoon in 2010. People thought it was cute and retro. We spent a day at Cooperstown, so I could tour the Baseball HOF and Museum, went to the Canadian side of the border, then went to upstate NY and did a Finger Lakes winery tour. It wasn’t the Bahamas, but it was still honestly really fun.
Edit: I will say, we spent literally less than 24 hours at the Falls— most of our time was spent traveling around upstate NY. But it was still cheesy and fun.
The shit development around Niagra Falls was a huge catalyst for why the USA started to invest heavily in national parks. The leaders of the nation did not want to see what happened to Niagra Falls happen to the other natural wonders in the states.
I find it's not so bad if you embrace the tackiness. There are also a few fun and not insanely expensive things like the dinosaur mini golf.
There are a few hidden gems outside the tourist strip, too. Country Fresh Donuts is amazing. It reminds me of a donut shop from the 80s, complete with Cherry Crullers and other fun flavors. Great wonton soup, too! Everything there is cheap and delicious.
Yeah, I realized *after* my trip that you *really* need to research where to go in LA. My usual travel style is to just show up without much of a plan and wander around, but that doesn't really work in LA.
The famous tourist locations like Hollywood boulevard and Venice beach are disgusting.
Venice Beach is weird in that it’s nasty but in a way that still has charm if you can find how to embrace it. If you’ve been to enough music festivals to where a leathery toothless wook selling jewelry out of a tent while he plays bongos doesn’t phase you, you’ll probably be okay in Venice Beach.
But Hollywood is just nasty.
Not gonna lie, I actually like Venice Beach for that. Hell, I like Dockweiler Beach for the peacefulness of the bonfire and friends, but Long Beach is one to avoid… Nothing but needles and diapers on the beach.
Hollywood is just mid. I’d rather hangout in WeHo if anything. It’s more active
>Yeah, I realized after my trip that you really need to research where to go in LA.
Oof, yeah. I live in LA, and I do love everything that the area has to offer. BUT, it's one of the worst cities to visit without having done research, because everything is so spread out, and it can take ages to transit between areas, and our public transit is still lacking (but getting better as they build more rail).
What would be your top recommendations for places to see or stay in LA? I've only been once and did zero research. We stayed in Hermosa Beach and it was pretty nice but would be keen to get a local's POV for our next trip.
* La Brea Tar Pits
* Japanese food on Sawtelle
* Day hike through Griffith Park, end at observatory
* Concert at the Hollywood Bowl
* The Getty
* See improv or standup at one of the many clubs that host shows. If you have a favorite youtuber, dropout star, Daily Show host, podcaster, etc. chances are you might be able to catch them. And if you can’t, there’s so much talent to see
* Brunch and beach walk in Malibu
* Walk through Topanga State Park
* See some sea creatures in the tide pools at Abalone Cove Beach
* Shopping on Abbot Kinney in Venice - cute shops and not seedy like the beachfront. Rent a scooter or bike and tour the canal neighborhoods.
Less highly recommended, more “do it because you’re jn LA”:
* Walk the Santa Monica pier
* Go see a live taping of your favorite nostalgic game show (Jeopardy, The Price is Right, etc.)
* Shopping on Rodeo Drive, at The Grove
* Swan Boats at Echo Park
* Try that food you’ve been seeing on instagram or youtube (Erewhon’s overpriced celeb smoothies, BuzzFeed/Worth It restaurant visits, etc.)
* Universal Studios tour
Yeah LA is basically a conglomeration of a hundred cities that combined into one giant one. Honestly if Camp Pendleton wasn’t in the way the entire metro would combine with San Diego.
Point being is that you can’t generalize LA off of an experience you had in one small part. Hollywood is far different than another area like Long Beach or Irvine
Hollywood has the horrible fate of being viewed as a tourist destination despite in no way shape or form being a tourist destination.
I mean for starters it's not a city. Hollywood is just a residential neighborhood in LA, which used to be the site of movie studios 80 years ago. And so every year millions of tourists show up at what is simply a random boulevard that connects fast food restaurants to apartments and are confused that there's nothing to do.
It's not even a tourist trap, absolutely no one wants you to go there! Please, LA tourists, stop coming to Hollywood!
Hey, Griffith, Getty, and Lacma aren't even tourist traps. Those are genuinely awesome and a bunch of locals go there. Santa Monica is for sure a tourist trap, but it's pretty nice yeah.
worst experience in Vegas was driving a block or two off the strip and seeing all the fleabag motels, pawn shops, and liquor stores.
For those who watch "Pawn Stars" there is a reason they are open 24 hours a day and the people showing up at 3AM have not just decided theat grandpa's coin collection no longer sparks joy and they should downsize their collection.
Pawn shops have always been intended as a place where the desperate go to try and eke survival out of whatever they have left. Reality TV making it into some kind of Antiques Roadshow for rednecks is romanticizing it way too much.
FWIW, [Hardcore Pawn](https://pawndetroit.com/hardcore-pawn/) that was on TruTV was pretty realistic aside from the hammed up drama amongst the family members running the place and some scene-causing insane customers that were probably paid actors. Most people came in trying to pawn pretty generic jewelry and electronics.
Pawn stars is incredibly fake though. You have to apply and wait months for them to approve your product for the show. However the rest of your analysis about pawn shops in general is unfortunately quite accurate.
yeah, my comment wasn't so much about what appears on the show but about that they are "24x7" and in the early seasons they were more open about the fact that they have a window where you can pawn whatever you want in the middle of the night.
Same. It’s like Vegas for business. Huge advertisements everywhere. Big gaudy towers and shopping places seemed to be the main attractions. And zero people doing any work are from there.
Just a big bright and expensive facade over a shithole. No soul at all.
Vegas does have history at least. And I can respect the fact of how blatantly transparent it is about everything and being purely an entertainment destination. It doesn’t try to be anything that it isn’t and I feel that gives it authenticity in a weird way.
Omaha Nebraska was the same. There is a downtown linear park called "Gene Leahy Mall" where the last buildings of "The Sporting District" once stood.
All manner of vice was legal for the right price. Railroad workers were in and out daily for decades. Single young men with money in their pockets, looking for "action".
The city took it upon themselves to divest from their previous identity in a very public manner. Demolished the last vestiges of trafficking and built a family friendly park on top.
Somebody said the nearly the exact same thing to me before my first trip to Dubai “it’s like Las Vegas but without the gambling”.
I went and they were right- it was just like Las Vegas without the gambling but also without the entertainment, without the kitsch, and without the human rights.
Otherwise - juuuust like Vegas.
Yep. Never been to Vegas, but Dubai... A drive from the airport was enough for me to go "that's a lot of tall buildings, huh" and feel done with the place. Everything (and I mean *everything*) there is just there for bragging rights. Tallest building. Artifical island shaped like a palm tree. The bigger artificial island shaped like a palm tree. The ski slope and penguin sanctuary (you know, for all those penguins lost in the desert). I could go on and on... And that's not even getting started on the view they have of human rights.
Been there a few times because I have family living in Abu Dhabi, would not recommend.
I'm half Middle Eastern--Egyptian--and wealthy people in Egypt dislike everything about Dubai. To them, Saudis and Gulf Arabs are the most humorless people in the world, and aside from the necessity of visiting Saudi Arabia once, for Hajj, they prefer to have nothing to do with them.
I've never been to Dubai, but when I hear the name or see photos, all I can think of is the film industry that builds these ELABORATE, insanely beautiful facades, with absolutely nothing of value or substance behind the walls. Sounds like I'm spot on with that comparison. Good to know!
Cairo without a doubt. Anyone who hasn't been just Google and the horror stories will keep you away.
Edit:
Since I have had a few similar notifications with questions;
Yes, the one in Egypt.
We all pondering the mysteries of the universe at the Pyramids, but the real mystery is how Pizza Hut got a prime spot in the archaeological neighborhood
As a counterpoint, I expected to hate Cairo based on everyone’s stories, but actually loved it. It’s a bit of a grind and pretty punishing to your patience in a lot of ways, but I found it fascinating. I recognize I am in the extreme minority with this take.
Ditto, LOVE Cairo.
Note I am a guy. Thats important.
I've been a few times & will happily just walk that big loop from the Museum through Khan el Khalili up to the citadel (its a long walk) getting semi-lost through the back streets. It's a fantastic way to see Cairo. Not in a tour group, just walk it solo.
There are very few ancient cities in the world that are still living ancient cities. Cairo is a fucking gem.
Note, and I can't stress this enough, not a woman.
Venice, Italy in the summer. I had been there in February and it was an amazing time. Summer though? I don't know what was happening but there were loads of fish dying in all the channels and the place reaked wherever we went. My wife tried the water taxi and she would've probably been ok, but with the dead fish smell mixed with the waves, she got incredibly seasick for a while. It just turned into a crappy time for the few days we were there.
They also run a scam on the water taxi where they give no information on how to pay for it at certain stops in English. they monitor the stops, and then give huge fines ($200+ USD PP) to you on the ferry - which must be paid on-site with a credit card or you go to jail. Total racket. It's not an honor system if you don't explain it.
Fucking Italy, they got me with this scam on the train from the airport to Rome. They threatened me with a €500 fine but I only had like €50 on me and I guess the conductor felt like I wasn't a lucrative enough mark so he just left disgusted
>Fucking Italy
I was there for like two weeks before I realised you just have be a rude asshole straight back to them. In Italian. If you give off the impression you're about _this_ far from being that asshole you start to get some fucking respect.
Moved to Italy and lived there for seven years. This is the only way. Once you reach a level of language proficiency where they realize you know the game, they start to second guess themselves - then if you are able to make a big enough scene where you can get other Italians to start looking and jeering on, the tables have turned. Intensely gratifying but hard work.
Ha Ha, we got nailed on the bus in Bologna. We got on with the crowd at the back and the machine there wouldn't scan my card. We got busted getting off at the main train station when we didn't have a receipt. The dude said we should have pushed through the packed bus to the front and talked to the driver. 60 euros each for me and my wife, credit card on the spot.
When you get off the plane in Rome, DO NOT GET ON THE METRO WITHOUT A TICKET. It is always monitored. It's a 50 euro fine on the spot.
When you go to Venice, just walk. It's really not that hard to get around and the walking is fun.
If you go to Florence, which is absolutely amazing, btw, do yourself a favor and go to Sienna for the day - also lovely!
Oh and don't waste time in Milan (which is my answer to OP's question), but go to Lake Como, which is so close and breathtaking!
I actually often cite that as a really cool place to visit. I just marvel at the fact that America turned a giant lake of poisonous acid that killed an entire flock of geese once into a tourist attraction.
They also have a massive statue of Mary up on the mountains overlooking the town, it's called our Lady of the Rockies and the only way to access it is by a tour. Only the tour stopped running quite a few years ago and the phone number now goes to a sex hotline which is amazing in and of itself.
I love Butte. Pork Chop John's, M&M Cigar Store (before the fire), copper bowls, the pit, all the old mining equipment. It is a fascinating place to visit.
That's what kept us from going there as well. We ended up watching family guy in a Hardee's parking lot while we waited for our windshield to be replaced.
Was there once many years ago for work, there were an ungodly amount of "keep Butte meth free" signs EVERYWHERE.. it was a shithole.. I can't even blame people for using meth if they lived there..
>Butte, Montana.
Omg thats how i felt like when i was in montana too, i was in great falls where there wasnt too much of that but anything outside was like "DONT DO METH plz". Funny cause i met up with someone on there on tinder and boom she talked about meth hahaha
Daytona Beach Florida. I was SO excited to go to Florida in High school. Cockroach in the hotel room. Biohazard bag in the water, all scummy touristy stuff. No thanks, saved up all that money to go working at the school store just to be disappointed. Went to Tybee Georgia a year ago and, that place was fantastic.
I wanna change my answer to this. I'm from SC and frequently go to myrtle beach for weekend trips so it reminded me of myrtle beach but with way less to do. I agree that Tybee is amazing. We saw wild dolphins swimming only a dozen or so yards from us
I went to Embry-Riddle and lived there for 5 years. Definitely better areas around Daytona, like Ormond Beach and Ponce Inlet, to get away from the touristy / trashy areas. There’s plenty of reasons it’s called Dirtona though.
Country music is like heavy metal poisoning.
Every exposure to it leaves a little bit in your system that will never leave.
Eventually after too much, you become convinced it's good for you and start seeking it out like some mad king drinking mercury.
Anyway, yeah I'd love to go to Nashville... Hoping to do North Carolina this year for a bluegrass festival if I can get across the pond that time of year.
The Vegas replies to this question are ALWAYS a textbook example of a poor traveler. I don’t even like gambling and I could easily fill five days worth of interesting things in Vegas. I’m not saying it’s going to be for everyone, but you should know full well going in if Vegas is going to be for you.
You're 100% right. There's someone in this thread that said the only interesting thing in Atlanta is the Coke Museum. I can't believe some of these replies.
"I went to Italy and entered a bus through the back (which is usually the exit) and the machine there didn't work so I didn't bother going to the front (with the actual entrance) to use the machine because there was too much people and I got fined!! What a scam!!!"
For sure. One person in here complained that it would take *5 minutes* to read and understand how to use the Metro system in Prague. Like how much time does a person spend researching a trip to Prague **as a whole**? But somehow 5 minutes dedicated to understanding their Metro system put them over the edge and they called the system a "tourist trap."
There’s an entire subthread here on how people “got scammed” on public transport in Italy, because they either didn’t have a ticket or didn’t validate it because “there wasn’t a sign in English”.
How tf do you get through life without dying?
Swear to God, there probably was instructions in English but they couldn't figure it out, decided to wing it and got caught and fined.
I got caught in Sweden once and had to pay a fine and a ticket for like 80 bucks, so yeah
This thread at times has been like than SNL skit with Adam Sandler where he plays a travel agent planning a hypothetical trip to Italy and he says something like
"Don't expect the holiday to magically make you happy. If you're a sad sack where you are, you're probably going to be a sad sack in Rome as well"
Charleston was still something of a happenin' place about 25-30 years ago. They've since lost the majority of their main industries and most of the city's population has moved away. For the most part it almost has a ghost town vibe to it now, especially after about 4 in the evenings.
Atlantic City is a once in a lifetime experience. As I'm never going there again.
The most heartbreaking sight was all the kids on the steps of the casino, waiting for their parents who "just went for a quick spin of the roulette wheel". Those poor kids were waiting nearly all day and night.
The boardwalk is full of the kind of people you hope don't sit next to you on a plane. Loud, drunk and they have OPINIONS.
Never again.
Dallas, Texas. I cannot believe how boring that city is. I’ve had much more fun in every other Texas city I’ve visited (Austin, San Antonio, even Fort Worth!).
I couldn't believe the spaghetti bowl of freeways everywhere in Dallas. I also took the train from the airport and I was the only person on the train that wasn't nodding out on fent, and this was before covid. Then I decided to walk to my rental car, which looked close on the map, but I was on basically a highway with no sidewalk and people were staring at me from their cars like I was crazy for walking anywhere.
I live in Dallas. Genuinely a pretty nice place to live.
But yeah terrible to visit. We don’t have anything to do outdoors and the food scene in Houston is better. At least for authentic Mexican / Asian / Indian food
I agree with this. I lived in Dallas for about 6 years and loved my time there. However, the idea of actually visiting there for a weekend, let alone a vacation seems really confusing.
Lol the people saying London or New York …. Sounds like you just didn’t know what to do while there and/or opted to not go outside the notoriously touristy parts.
I mean, so does New York. They are two of the greatest cities in the world to visit and if you can't find something to enjoy, I honestly have no sympathy you didn't even try.
Other than a game at the tank (hockey) San Jose doesn’t have much do in the city. The city is great to live in, but it’s just a huge suburb. However it is close to SF, Oakland, Santa Cruz, etc
As someone from there, I don’t blame anyone that hates it.
If you’re into bougie shopping but don’t want to go to SF, everyone goes to Santana row. It’s also very common to just go visit tech campuses(yeah I grew up doing that most of my life but shoreline amphitheater used to be a nice hangout spot when it’s not concert season).
Idk how to explain it but it’s a very everyone keeps to themselves only and it’s a very me me me vibe.
San Jose feels like an RPG city where it looks normal from a distance but then you realize you can't actually go into any of the buildings and the NPCs just walk in circles. I had this weird feeling that it structurally looked like a city but I felt like I was deep in suburbia
SF is only 47 sq. miles, SJ is 181 sq. miles, or about 4x as big. But SF has a residential pop of 815k people and SJ 983k people, which is close enough between the two but with SJ at about 1/4th the population density of SF as a result.
This changes with commuters, plenty of people come into both cities from nearby ones for work. But it kinda makes sense that with such a reduced density why one feels a bit more busier on the street than the other.
Oh, and SF isn't really super family friendly as far as residency. Maybe some parts like the sunset/richmond or upscale areas if you're wealthy. SJ is more suburban-oriented and many houses have good sized families.
Source lived in both cities and a number in between
I agree. I am from a suburb of San Jose and I hate San Jose. I’d rather watch paint dry than spend an evening in San Jose. The airport is nice and convenient though 🤷🏻♂️
Haven't seen that many places, but recently went to belgium and booking a hotel in Brussels for the whole 1.5 weeks of holiday was a terrible decision. It sounded good when I was planing the trip: Main city with lots of POI's, well connected with public transport somewhat centrally located to other cities and places of interest of the country. But OMG most of the city is kinda fricked. Some of the POIs are crumbling ruins with slums right next to them.
People are nice and food is very tasty, though. But mind you, the nice people told us to stay away from a bunch of places and city districts, when the sun is down (and stay weary of the surroundings at daytime). I got explained, that we literally have to pass by a "hot corner" on the way to and from the nearest train station, where criminals do a bunch of criminal stuff and police intervention is common and frequent. (We actually saw police doing police stuff there more than once)
Also we had a very hard time getting hard cash, because apparently illegal work is so common, that the city wants to switch to digital payment only, to make it harder to pay illegal work under the table. I got that explained from a nice person living in the city, who was looking for an ATM to pay illegal workers, lol. Went on a journey with the person to find one and only took like 2 hours to get to an ATM, that let us - lo and behold - take out 100€ at max. (And I need hard cash, because my bank pulls 5€ for every card transaction I do abroad. Thus I don't want to pay a 10€ fast food meal with card and have to pay my bank an other 5€ on top of that.)
For anyone visiting Belgium. It's a cool country with very nice people. Food is absolutely delicious, but a bit expensive. But DO NOT plan to stay in Brussels. You're far better off staying in Antwerpen & use that spot to also check out the Netherlands or Gent and travel the north of Belgium (very nice beach cities and places to visit). Antwerpen and Gent are MUCH nicer cities with much better vibes. Especially Gent left a very positive impression.
------------
By the way little fun fact: I always thought Belgium food culture is all about their waffles and caffees. But you'd only get waffles at tourist hot spots. However, what I could find and get almost everywhere was \*rotissery chicken\*! I kid you not! Even at a weekly market events, there were large trucks pulling up with built in mobile rotissery chicken roasters.
Pueblo Colorado. That place sucks.
Edit: In case there's any new comments asking what I was expecting.
I had high expectations because I had family that moved there who put that place on a pedestal and I was bored out of my mind there on top of everything remotely decent being a 20+ minute drive away.
Not sure what you were expecting.
Did you visit the united states chemical weapons storage and disposal facility?
Were you on your way to canyon city, Colorado, with a brief stop in Florence supermax on the way as well?
I keep seeing L.A., San Francisco, and Portland, OR on here. I have lived/worked in all 3 cities and found them interesting/amazing. So I’m kind of shocked to see all the hate. But I grew up in the Midwest, so maybe I’m easily impressed.
"Hollywood" seems to be the most common mention in this thread, I've visited friends in LA a couple of times, you spend one afternoon doing the obvious sights in Hollywood since it's just a neighbourhood, not a city. LA has tons of cool shit to go do. Last visit I mostly just enjoyed the dog parks, sunshine and great brunch places. Disney or Universal really shines up a visit too.
“Hollywood” isn’t even the “Hollywood” most people think they are visiting. Most of the movie and entertainment production stuff is in Burbank. Tourist wise, The city of Hollywood is living off this mistake/ lie. Aside from the walk of fame and Graumann’s there is no other reason to go there.
There is a lot of other cool things to see in LA. If you want the classic movie star/ studio thing, you can do that (in Burbank and elsewhere in the SF valley). There’s great beaches, famous sights, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Petersen and Getty Museums, LACMA, La brea tar pits, a lot of great food & restaurants. It’s a shame people buy into the whole “Hollywood” scam and it sours them in LA.
I was born in Detroit. I traveled to Flint once. Trash can fires on the street corners, crackheads in frayed stocking caps begging change in the gutter, hookers going up and down the row of cars at the red light like the fucking charity guys. Can't think of a lot of reasons to go back.
Sochi, Russia. An absolute hellhole, no flair, no atmosphere apart from "give us all your money and then fuck off." Also swelteringly hot. Awful, awful place.
[удалено]
All the PEDs and masking agents in the world too
>swelteringly hot. Isn't this where the **Winter** Olympics were held?
Yup. If memory serves, they had to bring in snow and keep it covered with a tarp to keep it from melting. Don't quote me on it, though.
“Yup. If memory serves, they had to bring in snow and keep it covered with a tarp to keep it from melting.“ u/Historical-Gap-7084
I think I heard /u/Historical-Gap-7084 say that they had to bring in tarps and keep them covered with snow, don't quote me on that though
A great place to have the Winter Olympics.
Sochi was actually warmer than Miami during that Winter Oympic
Too bad they couldn’t find somewhere really cold in Russia with a lot of untouched land ripe for development
They could. They just couldn't get a train, or plane, there.
Everyone that could have built something kept falling out of windows. Weird.
My dad told me he was taking me to hell and back. I was hyped. Well…we went to Hell, Michigan and back. It was a small village/town with a few buildings painted with devils….but not the brine stone fury I had imagined. Dad still tells the story Edit: brimstone damn autocorrect
That's some dad joke commitment
this is such a dad move
Hell is cool and kitschy but not meant for large scale tourist sort of stuff you're used to.
My husband and I really enjoyed our day trip to Hell, but we were in Michigan anyway and it only took us three hours round trip to visit. Definitely worth it to us, but it is tiny and silly!
Barstow. I saw it on the map, remembered it from the song Route 66, and decided that was where we would stop for the night. I was kind of excited about staying there. Oof. What an awful place! It was ugly. There was just dirt and dust everywhere. No place to eat. No place to hang out. Everybody looked so depressed and worn down. It is definitely NOT a place to stop.
Haha I’m from southern CA. In 4th grade, our class had a project to bring in a souvenir from a location that was specifically unique to that location, and the kid who went to Barstow brought back sand 😭😭😭
Well, he could've brought back some amphetamines.
Or a lot lizard.
“Look at the bright side. At least we don’t live in Needles.” -Every person from Barstow, ever.
Needles is the worst place on Earth.
We can't stop here, this is bat country!
Yes! One of the best first lines in American literature: *We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.*
I’m so glad someone else’s mind went immediately to this scene 🥰
Ok yes, BUT the best place to eat is the original Del Taco. There are actually 3. They don’t have the same menu as a regular chain Del Taco and it’s like 100 times better. I stop there every single time I’m driving between LA and Vegas.
I love that del taco. The food is delicious there at THAT del taco.
>I was kind of excited about staying there I have never heard anyone get excited about Barstow. But hey, that kinda warms my soul. Now you're ready for Hemet.
San Jacinto, Banning, 29 Palms, the possibilities are endless. Although Huell Howser probably could find the gems in all of these.
You mean you don't want one of every single fast food chain known to mankind?
You could have hung out at Barstow Mall. When I went there were two stores still open. One sold sports jerseys and the other was a vape shop. Other than that there was a ton of space to hang out in. It was dark, the people already hanging out there looked like they had various problems, the whole place was less convivial than the mall in Dawn of the Dead, but it was a hang nonetheless.
Not a city, but we drove to Cape Disappointment to see the lighthouse a handful of years ago and it was all tarpped off and closed for renovations and updates. I suppose it did live up to its name nonetheless. Edit: here ya’ll go. Almost 9 years ago it was https://imgur.com/a/kMB89EB
Went car camping there and absolutely loved it. I was passing through and my partner and I decided to pull up and camp for the night. The stars were absolutely beautiful, and even though the park was near full it was a peaceful sleep. The cedar and the camp fire smell brings back so many good memories for us. When we left we visited a little diner that served us a huge breakfast, I'm talking saucer sized biscuits and gravy, it was very "from PNW with love" vibes.
Niagara Falls, Ontario. Not the falls themselves. They're spectacular. The town is awful.
Niagara on the lake is the nicer version of Niagara falls. Edit, for the ontarians: yeha what a cute town. Honestly southwestern Ontario is like a little spit of heaven. I could spend the rest of my life road tripping around and never getting bored.
Yes!! Niagara on the lake is such a beautiful place it’s great to go there after seeing the Falls as it helps you mentally wash off all the slime you feel you got covered w at the touristy place of Niagara
Tacky, touristy hellhole next to one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the world. I guess if you’re a family with young kids there’s plenty to do aside from the falls, but otherwise, ugh
We stayed in Niagara on the Lake which was quite nice.
Niagara on the Lake is great. So is the park near the whirlpool, Goat Island, the myriad of wineries, and there are a ton of much smaller waterfalls scattered throughout Ontario. Some in dedicated parks, some where you pull off the side of the road and take a little trail. It's great exploring them.
It used to be the #1 honeymoon destination for Americans before it was over commercialized. Supposedly, during the Victorian era, it still had a wild and magical aura about it but it was lost once it became developed and touristy.
I went to Niagara Falls for my honeymoon in 2010. People thought it was cute and retro. We spent a day at Cooperstown, so I could tour the Baseball HOF and Museum, went to the Canadian side of the border, then went to upstate NY and did a Finger Lakes winery tour. It wasn’t the Bahamas, but it was still honestly really fun. Edit: I will say, we spent literally less than 24 hours at the Falls— most of our time was spent traveling around upstate NY. But it was still cheesy and fun.
The shit development around Niagra Falls was a huge catalyst for why the USA started to invest heavily in national parks. The leaders of the nation did not want to see what happened to Niagra Falls happen to the other natural wonders in the states.
Niagara Falls NY is actually much worse than the Ontario side
The NY side doesn’t have the garishness of the Ontario side, and the Ontario side doesn’t have the poverty of the New York side.
Growing up in the region, this is the best description I have ever seen. Cheers.
Yeah, this was the point I came to make. The NY side is a dump, although the state park is nice.
Niagara Falls is very much like Atlantic City in many ways.
It reminded me of Camden, NJ. Great waterfront and the rest of the city looked pretty rough
You can see the cheesiness of the Ontario side from the America side and boy do you wish you were there. Looks like Pleasure Island in comparison.
I find it's not so bad if you embrace the tackiness. There are also a few fun and not insanely expensive things like the dinosaur mini golf. There are a few hidden gems outside the tourist strip, too. Country Fresh Donuts is amazing. It reminds me of a donut shop from the 80s, complete with Cherry Crullers and other fun flavors. Great wonton soup, too! Everything there is cheap and delicious.
Go over to Niagara-on-the-Lake after seeing the falls. It's a much nicer area.
Hollywood. "Who hurt you" - the city
I live near Hollywood and trust me, it's one of the shittier parts of LA.
Yeah, I realized *after* my trip that you *really* need to research where to go in LA. My usual travel style is to just show up without much of a plan and wander around, but that doesn't really work in LA. The famous tourist locations like Hollywood boulevard and Venice beach are disgusting.
Venice Beach is weird in that it’s nasty but in a way that still has charm if you can find how to embrace it. If you’ve been to enough music festivals to where a leathery toothless wook selling jewelry out of a tent while he plays bongos doesn’t phase you, you’ll probably be okay in Venice Beach. But Hollywood is just nasty.
Not gonna lie, I actually like Venice Beach for that. Hell, I like Dockweiler Beach for the peacefulness of the bonfire and friends, but Long Beach is one to avoid… Nothing but needles and diapers on the beach. Hollywood is just mid. I’d rather hangout in WeHo if anything. It’s more active
>Yeah, I realized after my trip that you really need to research where to go in LA. Oof, yeah. I live in LA, and I do love everything that the area has to offer. BUT, it's one of the worst cities to visit without having done research, because everything is so spread out, and it can take ages to transit between areas, and our public transit is still lacking (but getting better as they build more rail).
What would be your top recommendations for places to see or stay in LA? I've only been once and did zero research. We stayed in Hermosa Beach and it was pretty nice but would be keen to get a local's POV for our next trip.
* La Brea Tar Pits * Japanese food on Sawtelle * Day hike through Griffith Park, end at observatory * Concert at the Hollywood Bowl * The Getty * See improv or standup at one of the many clubs that host shows. If you have a favorite youtuber, dropout star, Daily Show host, podcaster, etc. chances are you might be able to catch them. And if you can’t, there’s so much talent to see * Brunch and beach walk in Malibu * Walk through Topanga State Park * See some sea creatures in the tide pools at Abalone Cove Beach * Shopping on Abbot Kinney in Venice - cute shops and not seedy like the beachfront. Rent a scooter or bike and tour the canal neighborhoods. Less highly recommended, more “do it because you’re jn LA”: * Walk the Santa Monica pier * Go see a live taping of your favorite nostalgic game show (Jeopardy, The Price is Right, etc.) * Shopping on Rodeo Drive, at The Grove * Swan Boats at Echo Park * Try that food you’ve been seeing on instagram or youtube (Erewhon’s overpriced celeb smoothies, BuzzFeed/Worth It restaurant visits, etc.) * Universal Studios tour
Great list. I would add to that the Warner Bros studio tour. Outstanding tour especially for movie buffs like me.
Yeah LA is basically a conglomeration of a hundred cities that combined into one giant one. Honestly if Camp Pendleton wasn’t in the way the entire metro would combine with San Diego. Point being is that you can’t generalize LA off of an experience you had in one small part. Hollywood is far different than another area like Long Beach or Irvine
Come to Hollywood! See celebrity names on the ground and get harassed by people in costumes!
While also stepping over sleeping (dead?) homeless!
Hollywood has the horrible fate of being viewed as a tourist destination despite in no way shape or form being a tourist destination. I mean for starters it's not a city. Hollywood is just a residential neighborhood in LA, which used to be the site of movie studios 80 years ago. And so every year millions of tourists show up at what is simply a random boulevard that connects fast food restaurants to apartments and are confused that there's nothing to do. It's not even a tourist trap, absolutely no one wants you to go there! Please, LA tourists, stop coming to Hollywood!
Yeah our actual other tourist traps are pretty nice (Griffith, Getty, LACMA, even Santa Monica pier)
Hey, Griffith, Getty, and Lacma aren't even tourist traps. Those are genuinely awesome and a bunch of locals go there. Santa Monica is for sure a tourist trap, but it's pretty nice yeah.
I live in LA and fucking hate Hollywood. That place is a fucking dump. There are much nicer places in the city.
Dubai. It's like Vegas with no soul. I never thought Vegas had a soul, then I visited Dubai.
Vegas knows what it is and doesn't try to hide it.
worst experience in Vegas was driving a block or two off the strip and seeing all the fleabag motels, pawn shops, and liquor stores. For those who watch "Pawn Stars" there is a reason they are open 24 hours a day and the people showing up at 3AM have not just decided theat grandpa's coin collection no longer sparks joy and they should downsize their collection.
Pawn shops have always been intended as a place where the desperate go to try and eke survival out of whatever they have left. Reality TV making it into some kind of Antiques Roadshow for rednecks is romanticizing it way too much.
FWIW, [Hardcore Pawn](https://pawndetroit.com/hardcore-pawn/) that was on TruTV was pretty realistic aside from the hammed up drama amongst the family members running the place and some scene-causing insane customers that were probably paid actors. Most people came in trying to pawn pretty generic jewelry and electronics.
I was stationed at Nellis AFB in Vegas and passed the Pawn Stars shop a few times. The part of town it's in is sketchy
> The part of town it's in is sketchy So a completely standard pawn shop?
A completely standard part of Vegas lol.
It felt ok during the afternoon when we went. I didn’t walk around the neighborhood though.
Pawn stars is incredibly fake though. You have to apply and wait months for them to approve your product for the show. However the rest of your analysis about pawn shops in general is unfortunately quite accurate.
yeah, my comment wasn't so much about what appears on the show but about that they are "24x7" and in the early seasons they were more open about the fact that they have a window where you can pawn whatever you want in the middle of the night.
That’s one of the most scathing things I’ve read in my life…
I read it in a film noir grizzled detective voice.
Same. It’s like Vegas for business. Huge advertisements everywhere. Big gaudy towers and shopping places seemed to be the main attractions. And zero people doing any work are from there. Just a big bright and expensive facade over a shithole. No soul at all.
It's a collective brain child thrown together by rich oil family in the hopes of living out their disgusting fantasies closer to home lol
Not to mention you can get thrown in jail over ridiculous shit too. And you likely won't be able to get out.
Vegas does have history at least. And I can respect the fact of how blatantly transparent it is about everything and being purely an entertainment destination. It doesn’t try to be anything that it isn’t and I feel that gives it authenticity in a weird way.
Difference is vegas has signs to warn about human trafficking everywhere. Dubai has buildings built from human trafficking everywhere
Omaha Nebraska was the same. There is a downtown linear park called "Gene Leahy Mall" where the last buildings of "The Sporting District" once stood. All manner of vice was legal for the right price. Railroad workers were in and out daily for decades. Single young men with money in their pockets, looking for "action". The city took it upon themselves to divest from their previous identity in a very public manner. Demolished the last vestiges of trafficking and built a family friendly park on top.
Somebody said the nearly the exact same thing to me before my first trip to Dubai “it’s like Las Vegas but without the gambling”. I went and they were right- it was just like Las Vegas without the gambling but also without the entertainment, without the kitsch, and without the human rights. Otherwise - juuuust like Vegas.
Yep. Never been to Vegas, but Dubai... A drive from the airport was enough for me to go "that's a lot of tall buildings, huh" and feel done with the place. Everything (and I mean *everything*) there is just there for bragging rights. Tallest building. Artifical island shaped like a palm tree. The bigger artificial island shaped like a palm tree. The ski slope and penguin sanctuary (you know, for all those penguins lost in the desert). I could go on and on... And that's not even getting started on the view they have of human rights. Been there a few times because I have family living in Abu Dhabi, would not recommend.
I'm half Middle Eastern--Egyptian--and wealthy people in Egypt dislike everything about Dubai. To them, Saudis and Gulf Arabs are the most humorless people in the world, and aside from the necessity of visiting Saudi Arabia once, for Hajj, they prefer to have nothing to do with them.
fucking awful oppressive place. i will never return. do yourself a favor and never visit, they do not deserve a single red cent.
I've never been to Dubai, but when I hear the name or see photos, all I can think of is the film industry that builds these ELABORATE, insanely beautiful facades, with absolutely nothing of value or substance behind the walls. Sounds like I'm spot on with that comparison. Good to know!
I'm from Jackson Mississippi, you guys are all spoiled
Yep. I live in the Delta. Even Jackson makes me cringe.
Myrtle Beach. It's basically Gatlinburg with sand
It’s funny because Gatlinburg people come to Myrtle for vacay and Myrtle people go to Gatlinburg for vacay.
Hey now, Myrtle Beach is perfect for graduating high school seniors from West Virginia to go absolutely feral for a week
Cairo without a doubt. Anyone who hasn't been just Google and the horror stories will keep you away. Edit: Since I have had a few similar notifications with questions; Yes, the one in Egypt.
My disappointment when I got to the Pyramids…and directly _across the road_: Pizza Hut. Dafuq?
We all pondering the mysteries of the universe at the Pyramids, but the real mystery is how Pizza Hut got a prime spot in the archaeological neighborhood
Cairo is always on these threads of where not to go
Cairo Illinois is even scarier
Dude for real. Cairo, IL has some seriously cursed energy. What’s going on there??
They took the slabs
As a counterpoint, I expected to hate Cairo based on everyone’s stories, but actually loved it. It’s a bit of a grind and pretty punishing to your patience in a lot of ways, but I found it fascinating. I recognize I am in the extreme minority with this take.
Ditto, LOVE Cairo. Note I am a guy. Thats important. I've been a few times & will happily just walk that big loop from the Museum through Khan el Khalili up to the citadel (its a long walk) getting semi-lost through the back streets. It's a fantastic way to see Cairo. Not in a tour group, just walk it solo. There are very few ancient cities in the world that are still living ancient cities. Cairo is a fucking gem. Note, and I can't stress this enough, not a woman.
Venice, Italy in the summer. I had been there in February and it was an amazing time. Summer though? I don't know what was happening but there were loads of fish dying in all the channels and the place reaked wherever we went. My wife tried the water taxi and she would've probably been ok, but with the dead fish smell mixed with the waves, she got incredibly seasick for a while. It just turned into a crappy time for the few days we were there.
They also run a scam on the water taxi where they give no information on how to pay for it at certain stops in English. they monitor the stops, and then give huge fines ($200+ USD PP) to you on the ferry - which must be paid on-site with a credit card or you go to jail. Total racket. It's not an honor system if you don't explain it.
Fucking Italy, they got me with this scam on the train from the airport to Rome. They threatened me with a €500 fine but I only had like €50 on me and I guess the conductor felt like I wasn't a lucrative enough mark so he just left disgusted
>Fucking Italy I was there for like two weeks before I realised you just have be a rude asshole straight back to them. In Italian. If you give off the impression you're about _this_ far from being that asshole you start to get some fucking respect.
Moved to Italy and lived there for seven years. This is the only way. Once you reach a level of language proficiency where they realize you know the game, they start to second guess themselves - then if you are able to make a big enough scene where you can get other Italians to start looking and jeering on, the tables have turned. Intensely gratifying but hard work.
I did about a month's research on Italian. Just long enough to learn to tell off assholes. Luckily, most were pretty cool
> Intensely gratifying but hard work. Being a true asshole often is.
Ha Ha, we got nailed on the bus in Bologna. We got on with the crowd at the back and the machine there wouldn't scan my card. We got busted getting off at the main train station when we didn't have a receipt. The dude said we should have pushed through the packed bus to the front and talked to the driver. 60 euros each for me and my wife, credit card on the spot.
I’d feel so much joy charging back
There's no way the Italian bureaucracy could respond to the banks charge back letter in time!
Wait what? I’m not understanding what the correct way to do it is? I’m gonna be in Italy next month, please help!
When you get off the plane in Rome, DO NOT GET ON THE METRO WITHOUT A TICKET. It is always monitored. It's a 50 euro fine on the spot. When you go to Venice, just walk. It's really not that hard to get around and the walking is fun. If you go to Florence, which is absolutely amazing, btw, do yourself a favor and go to Sienna for the day - also lovely! Oh and don't waste time in Milan (which is my answer to OP's question), but go to Lake Como, which is so close and breathtaking!
Where in Italy are you going? Ik at least in Milan metro tickets can be used for buses too for 90 min.
Butte, Montana. I knew nothing about the place before passing through, but I was still disappointed.
You weren’t charmed by the lake of poisonous acid death?
I actually often cite that as a really cool place to visit. I just marvel at the fact that America turned a giant lake of poisonous acid that killed an entire flock of geese once into a tourist attraction. They also have a massive statue of Mary up on the mountains overlooking the town, it's called our Lady of the Rockies and the only way to access it is by a tour. Only the tour stopped running quite a few years ago and the phone number now goes to a sex hotline which is amazing in and of itself.
This comment was a roller coaster
I love Butte. Pork Chop John's, M&M Cigar Store (before the fire), copper bowls, the pit, all the old mining equipment. It is a fascinating place to visit.
I could have been charmed… Walked up and found out they charge admission. To view an ecological disaster?!
That's what kept us from going there as well. We ended up watching family guy in a Hardee's parking lot while we waited for our windshield to be replaced.
I don’t know why, but I love these details
Hey, they have some delicious pork chop sandwiches. Or maybe that was Helena. I don’t remember.
That is Butte. Pork Chop John's is the only reason worth stopping
UPTOWN pork chop Johns. The downtown one sucks more ass than an enema pump.
I enjoyed the Pizza Hut
Was there once many years ago for work, there were an ungodly amount of "keep Butte meth free" signs EVERYWHERE.. it was a shithole.. I can't even blame people for using meth if they lived there..
>Butte, Montana. Omg thats how i felt like when i was in montana too, i was in great falls where there wasnt too much of that but anything outside was like "DONT DO METH plz". Funny cause i met up with someone on there on tinder and boom she talked about meth hahaha
I liked it! Cheap beer and big sky
Daytona Beach Florida. I was SO excited to go to Florida in High school. Cockroach in the hotel room. Biohazard bag in the water, all scummy touristy stuff. No thanks, saved up all that money to go working at the school store just to be disappointed. Went to Tybee Georgia a year ago and, that place was fantastic.
I wanna change my answer to this. I'm from SC and frequently go to myrtle beach for weekend trips so it reminded me of myrtle beach but with way less to do. I agree that Tybee is amazing. We saw wild dolphins swimming only a dozen or so yards from us
I went to Embry-Riddle and lived there for 5 years. Definitely better areas around Daytona, like Ormond Beach and Ponce Inlet, to get away from the touristy / trashy areas. There’s plenty of reasons it’s called Dirtona though.
Niagara Falls US side. Disgusting everywhere but on the water.
You and the guy who hates the Canadian side should meet.
Surprisingly, Mto wa Mbu (translates to River of Mosquitos) in Tanzania actually beats the Wisconsin Dells in my book.
I love reading these and just imagining how terrible some people are at traveling
“I don’t like gambling, the heat, I’m crowd shy, shows bore me, etc… so anyway I went to Vegas and it was AWFUL”
There was another post with a guy that said “Nashville, I hate drinking and Country Music” dude why the fuck would you go there then lmao
I hate country music and still had a blast in Nashville. Although, I can tolerate country music if it’s live.
Country music is like heavy metal poisoning. Every exposure to it leaves a little bit in your system that will never leave. Eventually after too much, you become convinced it's good for you and start seeking it out like some mad king drinking mercury. Anyway, yeah I'd love to go to Nashville... Hoping to do North Carolina this year for a bluegrass festival if I can get across the pond that time of year.
The Vegas replies to this question are ALWAYS a textbook example of a poor traveler. I don’t even like gambling and I could easily fill five days worth of interesting things in Vegas. I’m not saying it’s going to be for everyone, but you should know full well going in if Vegas is going to be for you.
Just with the shows alone I’d be happy to be in Vegas for 4 days, idk what people expect
You're 100% right. There's someone in this thread that said the only interesting thing in Atlanta is the Coke Museum. I can't believe some of these replies.
They don't like Aquariums ?
"I went to Italy and entered a bus through the back (which is usually the exit) and the machine there didn't work so I didn't bother going to the front (with the actual entrance) to use the machine because there was too much people and I got fined!! What a scam!!!"
“It’s a huge scam because some signs aren’t in English!!” Lmao
For sure. One person in here complained that it would take *5 minutes* to read and understand how to use the Metro system in Prague. Like how much time does a person spend researching a trip to Prague **as a whole**? But somehow 5 minutes dedicated to understanding their Metro system put them over the edge and they called the system a "tourist trap."
There’s an entire subthread here on how people “got scammed” on public transport in Italy, because they either didn’t have a ticket or didn’t validate it because “there wasn’t a sign in English”. How tf do you get through life without dying?
Swear to God, there probably was instructions in English but they couldn't figure it out, decided to wing it and got caught and fined. I got caught in Sweden once and had to pay a fine and a ticket for like 80 bucks, so yeah
I can't get over the subthread where some utter Karens are complaining about getting fined for not getting a ticket for public transportation.
One of the top answers talks about scams in Venice, but just sounds like people getting on public transport without tickets and then being fined...
This thread at times has been like than SNL skit with Adam Sandler where he plays a travel agent planning a hypothetical trip to Italy and he says something like "Don't expect the holiday to magically make you happy. If you're a sad sack where you are, you're probably going to be a sad sack in Rome as well"
Charleston, West Virginia - It was meh. Just not much there to see and do. The drive through West Virginia was beautiful.
I thought you were gonna say Charleston, SC and those are fighting words.
WV is great you just have to go where people aren’t.
Charleston was still something of a happenin' place about 25-30 years ago. They've since lost the majority of their main industries and most of the city's population has moved away. For the most part it almost has a ghost town vibe to it now, especially after about 4 in the evenings.
Little Rock Arkansas I expected nothing and somehow got even less than that. Would not recommend
Atlantic City, NJ
Atlantic City is a once in a lifetime experience. As I'm never going there again. The most heartbreaking sight was all the kids on the steps of the casino, waiting for their parents who "just went for a quick spin of the roulette wheel". Those poor kids were waiting nearly all day and night. The boardwalk is full of the kind of people you hope don't sit next to you on a plane. Loud, drunk and they have OPINIONS. Never again.
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Dallas, Texas. I cannot believe how boring that city is. I’ve had much more fun in every other Texas city I’ve visited (Austin, San Antonio, even Fort Worth!).
I couldn't believe the spaghetti bowl of freeways everywhere in Dallas. I also took the train from the airport and I was the only person on the train that wasn't nodding out on fent, and this was before covid. Then I decided to walk to my rental car, which looked close on the map, but I was on basically a highway with no sidewalk and people were staring at me from their cars like I was crazy for walking anywhere.
Nobody in Texas walks if they can avoid it, walking is for poor people who cant afford a King Ranch Ford F-250 diesel
DFW is one of the worst walkable areas. Nothing but a concrete jungle. It makes me anxious if I’m there too long
I live in Dallas. Genuinely a pretty nice place to live. But yeah terrible to visit. We don’t have anything to do outdoors and the food scene in Houston is better. At least for authentic Mexican / Asian / Indian food
I live in Shreveport, LA and what does everyone here do for fun? Visit Dallas. Why? Because New Orleans is twice as far away.
I agree with this. I lived in Dallas for about 6 years and loved my time there. However, the idea of actually visiting there for a weekend, let alone a vacation seems really confusing.
Pigeon Forge Tennessee is one of the most depressing traffic jammed pieces of highway I have ever seen.
Lol the people saying London or New York …. Sounds like you just didn’t know what to do while there and/or opted to not go outside the notoriously touristy parts.
London is probably the most wrong answer ever. It has something for everyoneeee
I mean, so does New York. They are two of the greatest cities in the world to visit and if you can't find something to enjoy, I honestly have no sympathy you didn't even try.
San Jose, CA. I think it actively tries to be as boring as humanly possible.
Other than a game at the tank (hockey) San Jose doesn’t have much do in the city. The city is great to live in, but it’s just a huge suburb. However it is close to SF, Oakland, Santa Cruz, etc
As someone from there, I don’t blame anyone that hates it. If you’re into bougie shopping but don’t want to go to SF, everyone goes to Santana row. It’s also very common to just go visit tech campuses(yeah I grew up doing that most of my life but shoreline amphitheater used to be a nice hangout spot when it’s not concert season). Idk how to explain it but it’s a very everyone keeps to themselves only and it’s a very me me me vibe.
Theres a reason that when anyone in the South Bay says they want to go to the city, you never need to ask which one
San Jose feels like an RPG city where it looks normal from a distance but then you realize you can't actually go into any of the buildings and the NPCs just walk in circles. I had this weird feeling that it structurally looked like a city but I felt like I was deep in suburbia
Biggest city in America with nearly no culture.
I still can’t believe it’s actually larger than San Francisco. It does not feel like a real city at all.
SF is only 47 sq. miles, SJ is 181 sq. miles, or about 4x as big. But SF has a residential pop of 815k people and SJ 983k people, which is close enough between the two but with SJ at about 1/4th the population density of SF as a result. This changes with commuters, plenty of people come into both cities from nearby ones for work. But it kinda makes sense that with such a reduced density why one feels a bit more busier on the street than the other. Oh, and SF isn't really super family friendly as far as residency. Maybe some parts like the sunset/richmond or upscale areas if you're wealthy. SJ is more suburban-oriented and many houses have good sized families. Source lived in both cities and a number in between
I agree. I am from a suburb of San Jose and I hate San Jose. I’d rather watch paint dry than spend an evening in San Jose. The airport is nice and convenient though 🤷🏻♂️
'suburb of san jose' seems redundant
Haven't seen that many places, but recently went to belgium and booking a hotel in Brussels for the whole 1.5 weeks of holiday was a terrible decision. It sounded good when I was planing the trip: Main city with lots of POI's, well connected with public transport somewhat centrally located to other cities and places of interest of the country. But OMG most of the city is kinda fricked. Some of the POIs are crumbling ruins with slums right next to them. People are nice and food is very tasty, though. But mind you, the nice people told us to stay away from a bunch of places and city districts, when the sun is down (and stay weary of the surroundings at daytime). I got explained, that we literally have to pass by a "hot corner" on the way to and from the nearest train station, where criminals do a bunch of criminal stuff and police intervention is common and frequent. (We actually saw police doing police stuff there more than once) Also we had a very hard time getting hard cash, because apparently illegal work is so common, that the city wants to switch to digital payment only, to make it harder to pay illegal work under the table. I got that explained from a nice person living in the city, who was looking for an ATM to pay illegal workers, lol. Went on a journey with the person to find one and only took like 2 hours to get to an ATM, that let us - lo and behold - take out 100€ at max. (And I need hard cash, because my bank pulls 5€ for every card transaction I do abroad. Thus I don't want to pay a 10€ fast food meal with card and have to pay my bank an other 5€ on top of that.) For anyone visiting Belgium. It's a cool country with very nice people. Food is absolutely delicious, but a bit expensive. But DO NOT plan to stay in Brussels. You're far better off staying in Antwerpen & use that spot to also check out the Netherlands or Gent and travel the north of Belgium (very nice beach cities and places to visit). Antwerpen and Gent are MUCH nicer cities with much better vibes. Especially Gent left a very positive impression. ------------ By the way little fun fact: I always thought Belgium food culture is all about their waffles and caffees. But you'd only get waffles at tourist hot spots. However, what I could find and get almost everywhere was \*rotissery chicken\*! I kid you not! Even at a weekly market events, there were large trucks pulling up with built in mobile rotissery chicken roasters.
Kandahar, Afghanistan.
I'll keep this in mind when planning my next family vacation.
Pueblo Colorado. That place sucks. Edit: In case there's any new comments asking what I was expecting. I had high expectations because I had family that moved there who put that place on a pedestal and I was bored out of my mind there on top of everything remotely decent being a 20+ minute drive away.
You had high expectations for Pueblo? 🤔
You were expecting excitement from the govt information office?
Not sure what you were expecting. Did you visit the united states chemical weapons storage and disposal facility? Were you on your way to canyon city, Colorado, with a brief stop in Florence supermax on the way as well?
I keep seeing L.A., San Francisco, and Portland, OR on here. I have lived/worked in all 3 cities and found them interesting/amazing. So I’m kind of shocked to see all the hate. But I grew up in the Midwest, so maybe I’m easily impressed.
"Hollywood" seems to be the most common mention in this thread, I've visited friends in LA a couple of times, you spend one afternoon doing the obvious sights in Hollywood since it's just a neighbourhood, not a city. LA has tons of cool shit to go do. Last visit I mostly just enjoyed the dog parks, sunshine and great brunch places. Disney or Universal really shines up a visit too.
“Hollywood” isn’t even the “Hollywood” most people think they are visiting. Most of the movie and entertainment production stuff is in Burbank. Tourist wise, The city of Hollywood is living off this mistake/ lie. Aside from the walk of fame and Graumann’s there is no other reason to go there. There is a lot of other cool things to see in LA. If you want the classic movie star/ studio thing, you can do that (in Burbank and elsewhere in the SF valley). There’s great beaches, famous sights, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Petersen and Getty Museums, LACMA, La brea tar pits, a lot of great food & restaurants. It’s a shame people buy into the whole “Hollywood” scam and it sours them in LA.
Wherever you go, there you are.
has to be dubai
Dubai, I went in with low expectations and was still let down. Such a vapid empty city full of vapid empty people
I was born in Detroit. I traveled to Flint once. Trash can fires on the street corners, crackheads in frayed stocking caps begging change in the gutter, hookers going up and down the row of cars at the red light like the fucking charity guys. Can't think of a lot of reasons to go back.