Holidays Destinations to be Avoided - Updated with Top Four

[eagletower]

...and with the added benefit of not have to mingle with the unwashed locals. Priceless.

Last one I went to was Lux in Maldives so you really didn't have the option but with two very young kids it's easier to hang around a resort then venture out for dinner all the time. Hence spending more time in resort style Holidays now than ones where I would book a hotel and explore the area.

[eagletower]

Well the idea was to have a chill out to finish the honeymoon. Obviously that didn't really work out - the budget hotels we used on our tour were more relaxing....





Too many assumptions. This was not "£300 for 4".

A "fine dining restaurant" where the only thing fine dining was the pretentious service. A Mexican restaurant which had the distinction of serving the worst food we'd eaten in Mexico. A "breakfast buffet" where they didn't know the difference between variety and quality... I could go on.

But hey, the burger bar was always busy...

http://www.dreamsresorts.com/en_us/r...ico/tulum.html

Foam parties and disco music. In the main swimming pool. FFS. "Resort and Spa" - don't make me laugh. Awful.

I didn't assume yours was a £300 one for a family of 4 but just saying that I wouldn't write off all all-inclusives as they're not all the same.

[deejay]

Agree with the one other poster that mentioned Bulgaria. Food is simply awful and even the most expensive bottle of wine I could buy still tasted like rats pi$$

[Mr Curta]

One of the reasons that I simply put 'Bhutan' in the Bestest Ever Holidays Ever Ever thread is because it is one of the few countries and territories that we've been to that had no negative points whatsoever from our perspective. That said, if you are the kind of person who expects a full English breakfast and seamless WiFi then you are going to be disappointed. We loved visiting the Falklands but Stanley on Cruise Ship day wasn't particularly enjoyable.

We had a fabulous time on our most recent visit to Tunisia but did do a lot of research in advance. We self-drove and very much enjoyed finding the old Monty Python and Star Wars filming locations between Monastir and Matmata, stopping off to see the spectacular Roman amphitheater at El Jem. The only unpleasant part of the trip was during a two night stay a Hammamet resort, and that was entirely down to the arrogant attitude of the mainly retired British tourists staying there.

I don't think that you should write an entire country off due to a bad experience in a small part of it, poor research or an unlucky decision on where to stay. Getting off the beaten track is usually very rewarding anywhere providing that you stay safe.

[kultschar]

We loved visiting the Falklands but Stanley on Cruise Ship day wasn't particularly enjoyable.

Lol - tell me about it. The population doubles for the day and I cant even drive on the road since the tourists / passengers seem to ignore the pavements!!

[mowflow]

Paris. Dirty, smelly place with huge groups of north African yout's roaming around certain areas fighting with each other and trying to rip people off. And the police seem to be terrified of them. Its pretty, but its a hole.

Dubai. Horrible soulless furnace.

[Chris H]

Another vote for avoiding Egypt, glad to have seen the Pyramids but I could never see myself going back, ever.

[Byron]

Sol, Cape Verde.

[PipPip]

Paris. Dirty, smelly place with huge groups of north African yout's roaming around certain areas fighting with each other and trying to rip people off. And the police seem to be terrified of them. Its pretty, but its a hole.

Dubai. Horrible soulless furnace.

Paris has good and bad areas. Sounds like you mostly saw the bad, which is a shame. I lived there for three years and saw both. The Western suburbs where I lived and worked were truly beautiful and extremely civilised. Very much for the wealthy and expats though.

[china]

Paris. Dirty, smelly place with huge groups of north African yout's roaming around certain areas fighting with each other and trying to rip people off. And the police seem to be terrified of them. Its pretty, but its a hole.

Dubai. Horrible soulless furnace.

I unfortunately have the same experience from Paris, it’s the west European city where I’ve felt most unsafe just riding the metro and walking around.

[Carlton-Browne]

Is that a holiday?

It's always a holiday when I'm involved.

and that was entirely down to the arrogant attitude of the mainly retired British tourists staying there.

You've been warned about hanging around in expat bars

[Wild Rumpus]

I wouldn't go back to Paphos in Cyprus, no horror stories, the locals were nice, the weather was good, but too many Sun/Daily Mail/Express readers there for my tastes (every shop sold those 3 papers). It was telling that there were more people at the mid-day pool karaoke than at the World Heritage Sites nearby....

[Rossmore10]

Egypt for me. Never again.....


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[Mr Curta]

It's always a holiday when I'm involved.

That's the spirit.

You've been warned about hanging around in expat bars

I have indeed, and they are an absolute last resort in any resort.

At Hammamet tourists behaving like spoilt children seemed to be at every turn. I recall a particularly obnoxious British retiree berating a waiter because breakfast ceased to be served at 10am.

[VDG]

I absolutely love expats bars, any s.hole is never complete without them I tell ya, and how else one would get invited to all those swinger parties

[Mr Curta]

I’ll list Dubai as one of my holiday hells in a bid to bump it up the rankings. Can’t speak for Egypt but it’s much worse than the other two in my experience.

[BadgerUK]

Any destination that is both Arab and Muslim, the combination produces truly horrible people.
Egypt is a sh1thole but the scuba diving is good and relatively cheap, plus the locals cannot bother you while you are under water.

Rome - dirty place with smaller monuments and larger piles of rubbish in the streets than Cairo.

London - too many foreigners making you feel like an outsider in your own country.

[Matt68]

Labuan/Indonesia.

We (3 adults and two children) rented a boat for a five day diving cruise. The captain drunk himself into coma and when he woke up, asked for our money and threatened us with a huge knife. We managed to de-escalate the situation after long negotiations and asked him to ship us back into the harbour. Local police wasn't bothered, kept us for a full day and later demanded we sign some papers in Indonesian.

We later found a newspaper article about a similar incident in the region which ended fatally.

Never again.

Jeez Raffe,

I'm sure i watched a movie that went something like that!


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[TheFlyingBanana]

We put a load of emotional and financial investment into holidays.

But, any places you recommend avoiding, and travelled back home wondering why you ever decided to go in the first place.

My holiday room 101 is the Costa Del Sol, and especially Puerto Banus/Marbella area - yuk.

Edit : so based on the responses, and my statistical Monte Carlo analysis, i.e. finger in the air based on the replies, you craphole holiday destinations are;

1. Tunisia
2. Egypt
3. Morocco
4. Dubai

That looks about right...

[VDG]

Jeez Raffe,

I'm sure i watched a movie that went something like that!


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Jurassic Park?

[yogi bear]

Egypt

Yes!
Especially the Nile cruisers with the resident dose of Stomach upsets...


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[Raffe]

i recall a particularly obnoxious British retiree berating a waiter because breakfast ceased to be served at 10am.

Mick?

[Mr Curta]

Mick?

You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.

[eagletower]

Shocked that Egypt came 2nd. I thought it was a contender for number 1.

[Broussard]

I must have been incredibly lucky to have enjoyed every single one of the half dozen trips I've taken to Egypt, whether on land, river or sea. Morocco too. Hey ho.

[draftsmann]

I don't think that you should write an entire country off due to a bad experience in a small part of it, poor research or an unlucky decision on where to stay. Getting off the beaten track is usually very rewarding anywhere providing that you stay safe.

Indeed.

For the record, I have no sympathy for the countless Brits who congregate in the low-grade tourist areas of Malta swilling lager down their sunburned necks as they sit shirtless flaunting their tattoos.

[Kingstepper]

Indeed.

For the record, I have no sympathy for the countless Brits who congregate in the low-grade tourist areas of Malta swilling lager down their sunburned necks as they sit shirtless flaunting their tattoos.

Why would they need sympathy, they're probably having a great time?

[draftsmann]

Why would they need sympathy, they're probably having a great time?

“In reality very little was known about the proles. It was not necessary to know much. So long as they continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern. They were born, they grew up in the gutters, they went to work at twelve, they passed through a brief blossoming period of beauty and sexual desire, they married at twenty, they were middle-aged at thirty, they died, for the most part, at sixty. Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbours, films, football, beer, and above all, gambling, filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.”

[Raffe]

“In reality very little was known about the proles. It was not necessary to know much. So long as they continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern. They were born, they grew up in the gutters, they went to work at twelve, they passed through a brief blossoming period of beauty and sexual desire, they married at twenty, they were middle-aged at thirty, they died, for the most part, at sixty. Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbours, films, football, beer, and above all, gambling, filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.”

If there ever was a fitting quote... You won today!

[markbannister]

I'm sorry but I think that is a dreadful thing to say.

Any destination that is both Arab and Muslim, the combination produces truly horrible people.

[Raffe]

I'm sorry but I think that is a dreadful thing to say.

What do you expect from HoneyFB/BadgerUK, our racism troll-on-duty?

[markbannister]

It also offends me being a white Anglo-Saxon muslim. Thankfully people like that are the minority. Inshallah.

What do you expect from HoneyFB/BadgerUK, our racism troll-on-duty?

[Matt68]

Jurassic Park?

Why Raffe's not that old is he?

I always had him down for a bit of a youngster! :)

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[Raffe]

Why Raffe's not that old is he?

I always had him down for a bit of a youngster! :)

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Thanks for the flowers. If I am reading your user name correctly, I am two years older than you.

[eagletower]

Any destination that is both Arab and Muslim, the combination produces truly horrible people.
Egypt is a sh1thole but the scuba diving is good and relatively cheap, plus the locals cannot bother you while you are under water.

Rome - dirty place with smaller monuments and larger piles of rubbish in the streets than Cairo.

London - too many foreigners making you feel like an outsider in your own country.

With views like that, where do you not feel like an outsider?

[Matt68]

Thanks for the flowers. If I am reading your user name correctly, I am two years older than you.

See, I knew you was only a youngster!

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[snowman]

With views like that, where do you not feel like an outsider?

UKIP Party conference?

M

[Saint-Just]

UKIP Britain First Party conference?

M

FTFY

[snowman]

FTFY

I was trying to be kind

Not much difference, except that UKIP wear suits, though...

M.

[Saint-Just]

[eagletower]

[Rossmore10]

Yes!
Especially the Nile cruisers with the resident dose of Stomach upsets...


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A terrible holiday I had there - although the best flash diet I ever had! Nearly and stone and a half shed in 2 weeks....


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[Rossmore10]

It also offends me being a white Anglo-Saxon muslim. Thankfully people like that are the minority. Inshallah.

It should offend anyone with a shred of decent and half a brain!


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[snowman]

Seems Egypt (and especially Sharm) is unpopular, but I've been there a couple of times and my experiences were quite different.

First trip, I got hassled left, right and centre, including almost being forced into a shop and held there until you bought something (I can be quite blunt when pushed, but it felt a bit tense at times, I'm sure others would just roll over and buy something).

On my second visit, I went with my wife and warned her of the hassle, but, whilst they still encouraged you to come into their shops and restaurants, they did back off if you said you weren't interested and certainly didn't intimidate in the same way.

I found out that the authorities had cracked down on it as, clearly, tourists were complaining it had gone too far and voting with their bookings!

Sharm has some cracking dives in easy reach and Egypt is full of amazing archaeological sites if that sort of thing appeals and it's a real shame you can't get their safely and easily any more.

I wouldn't recommend Sharm to anyone who doesn't enjoy diving (anymore than I'd recommend Malaga to anyone!) but I didn't find the people unfriendly (the Egyptians associated with the dive centres I used were universally friendly and helpful) on the whole, just (in some cases) out to make money and seeing all pale faces (I was going to say Westerners, but do Russians count?) as rich people with more money than sense.

I know a couple of Egyptians through work, too, and they're thoroughly nice people - Not something I'd say of everyone I know through work!

I hope they sort their country out and can welcome back tourists again, there's plenty to see there.

We visited Jordan last year, where people were really friendly to tourists on the whole, and some people joined us from a trip around some of the ancient sites of Egypt - All commented on two things 1) How expensive Jordan was after Egypt and 2) How unhassled they felt in Jordan (we walked around in Amman, for example, one afternoon and weren't once hassled to buy ANYTHING).

M

[dougair]

Not suprised.
They don't even have a proper sewerage system.
All very clever on the outside, but behind the scenes it's medieval.

They've got Waitrose though?!

[wildheart]

For me unfortunately its Egypt, loved diving there 25 years ago but its hell now among the Russians. Cape town was beautiful but very scary as was Corsica (there was Civil War while I was there). Dublin's not a place I will rush back to in a hurry either.

[ronnie3585]

Dublin's not a place I will rush back to in a hurry either.

Dublin's a complete dump but please don't let it put you off the rest of the country which is rather lovely!

One of the worst places I have visited is Athens. A concrete sh*thole. I was there for the Olympics when it should have been looking it's best and it was horrible. The people were very unfriendly, food was rubbish and the amount of dying/dead dogs lying around was appalling.

[snowman]

Cape town was beautiful but very scary as was Corsica (there was Civil War while I was there).

To be fair that MUST have been a long time ago!

M

[MST]

Mrs. MST and I came to the conclusion some years ago that it doesn't matter how far you travel, how much you spend and/or how exclusive the destination may be (within reason) there is ALWAYS, unquestionably, that [British] family.

We dispare...

[Neil.C]

Mrs. MST and I came to the conclusion some years ago that it doesn't matter how far you travel, how much you spend and/or how exclusive the destination may be (within reason) there is ALWAYS, unquestionably, that [British] family.

We dispare...

Or in fact despair.

Live and let live is my motto.