“Awful, Awful Place”: 28 Tourists Share Cities They Will Never Visit Again
Interview With Expert
Traveling can be a magical, eye opening experience, but not all locations are made equally. From tourist traps to just plain old boring and tacky cities, some places are not worth it.
Someone asked “In your travels, which city was the biggest letdown?” and netizens shared their worst experiences. We also got in touch with Macca Sherifi from An Adventurous World and he was kind enough to answer some of our questions. So get comfortable as you read through, upvote your favorites and be sure to comment your own experiences below.
More info: An Adventurous World
Image credits: ElisaBelloo
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Dubai. It's like Vegas with no soul. I never thought Vegas had a soul, then I visited Dubai.
Dewthedru:
It’s like Vegas but 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. It's just a big, bright, and expensive facade. No soul at all.
Cairo without a doubt. Anyone who hasn't been just Google and the horror stories will keep you away.
emmadilemma:
My disappointment when I got to the Pyramids…and directly across the road was a Pizza Hut. Dafuq?
Niagara Falls, Ontario. Not the falls themselves. They're spectacular. The town is awful.
veebs7:
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.
Imaginary_Airport_43:
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.
This happens to a lot of places once people realise they can make some money.
Bored Panda got in touch with veteran traveler Macca Sherifi from An Adventurous World and he was kind enough to answer some of our questions. First, we wanted to know what travel advice he would give a younger self.
“Don't stress about money. It's always better saying yes to the experiences you want to do, even if they cost a lot of money, than saying no and regretting it for the rest of your life.” It’s also important to get one’s priorities straight, as the internet is littered with people who end up with underwhelming experiences.
Hollywood. "Who hurt you" - the city.
EmeraldIbis:
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.
AnjoonaToona:
I live near Hollywood, and trust me, it's one of the sh**tier parts of LA.
It would be really challenging for me cause my favorite part during trips is just wandering, walking in a city. Yeah i am european obviously.
Las Vegas, all fun for 2 nights, but we made a mistake and stayed for 4 nights. Couldn't wait to leave.
ositola:
You arrive bright-eyed and full of energy. You leave dehydrated and don't open any banking apps until you get paid again.
I used Vegas as a base once. Stayed off the strip and toured the surrounding sights and had an amazing time. Vegas itself had plenty of soul if you know where to look and the people were great too.. Many places have bad areas and tourist tat but It really does depend on your attitude and outlook. As for Vegas well, sometimes you've got to see and experience more than the neon and gambling...
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!).
TheBigC87:
I grew up in Ft. Worth. This is so accurate. DFW is a huge suburban sprawl where the character has been sucked dry. San Antonio is the best city in Texas for tourism.
r0n0c0:
For all of its hype and local pride, Dallas is a disappointment. I went there for business once. It’s historic and fun, people said. They were wrong.
I lived in Dallas most of my adult life, and would never have thought of it as a tourist destination. It's a business city. San Antonio is the place to visit for tourism.
We also wanted to hear his thoughts on what things are worth splurging on. “If you've got the money then great. By paying a premium, it can save you a lot of time in travel time or when planning a trip. However, I love the planning element of a holiday, so I wouldn't want to take that away!” he shared with Bored Panda.
Tel Aviv as a teen Christian thinking they were our allies and friends. Israelis spit on my mother, called us goyim, and everyone ripped us off. The men were perverted and rude. I’ve also never been to a city where people argue amongst themselves so much. We got scammed for dinner, our airbnb tried to overcharge us, we got scammed at markets and stores, and laughed at for being christians and americans on several instances. They say Tel Aviv is famous for hospitality but thats only true if you are hebrew. Also most outwardly racist place I’ve been. Another family with our church was mexican and the israelis thought they were arab, so the way they were treated was disgusting. They got spit on twice. .
As an arab looking french and atheist.... oh dear boy what a ride... i can understand the geopolitical context and i totally respect different religion but damn Israel as a country is so racist, far right politics and a DNA of perpetual conflict and heavy communatarianism that spoils every relation.
I live in Korea but not in Seoul. I've been to Seoul many times and I had this feeling that it's all a front. Ppl are miserable. Housing crisis. Over worked zombies. Underpaid zombies. A city of zombies. They smile robotically and wave around their Samsung phones in elation to their leaders - Kpop and Instagram. This city is designed for Instagram and social media. There's no restaurant with soul. (no pun). There's no business that seems true to itself.
Sochi, Russia.
An absolute hellhole, no flair, no atmosphere apart from "give us all your money and then f**k off." Also swelteringly hot.
Awful, awful place.
Lastly, from unwritten rules to extra tips, Macca left us with these parting thoughts. “Research research research. I think the more you know about the destination - the culture, the history, the food - then the better prepared you are. Just by having a bit of knowledge can really change your trip, and you'll find it a lot easier talking to locals and having a more authentic experience.”
Little Rock Arkansas
I expected nothing and somehow got even less than that.
Would not recommend.
The town is named for a large boulder that was a landmark for boats coming upriver. At some point the town permitted a railroad to hack about half of the boulder away to make room for a bridge over the river.
Nashville. Unless you can't get enough of country music, felt like you ran out of stuff to do very quickly.
This makes me sad. I spent a lot of time there as a teen and it has been stripped of it's soul. Used to be lots of fun little shops, boutiques, quaint restaurants, and a few honky tonks scattered around, and The Underground (an awesome little dance club in the basement of a building on Broadway). Now it's hucksters, big bars, chain restaurants, and drunk bachelorettes. And don't even get me started on the parking!
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.
LA is terrible if you don’t have a local to show you around.
Billymillion1965:
Los Angeles is a horrible place to visit but a wonderful place to live. Beach and snow-capped mountains that can be driven to in the same day. Everything a big city can offer and the best weather on earth. I miss it so much.
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 cr**py time for the few days we were there.
It's a city built on the stilts in the middle of the marshy area. Of course, it will get hellish in the summer like all the other swamps around the world. Consider it as a Loisiana of Europe. Just because it's in Italy doesn't mean that its built with rainbows and puppies.
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.
Sippinonjoy:
Daytona is the trashiest city in America. Florida has many beautiful beaches, but Daytona is the absolute worst place I’ve ever been.
Austin. For all its “keep Austin weird” c**p it’s simply not weird. The best thing I saw there was a “keep Houston ugly” sticker. This was ten years ago.
tadhg555:
Austin in the early '90s was still fun. Now it’s all glass high rises.
Houston
It was just concrete and roadways. I did a bunch of the highlights and unique things there.... But it just didn't have a personality.
New York, LA, Atlanta, Dallas, Vegas, Miami, New orleans, Jackson, baton rouge, Kansas City etc. they all have a feel to them. But Houston just feels like a place people go to exist and work.
Maybe because I have a lot of local family in Texas and visited a lot as a child, but Houston can be fun due to the food (especially the hole in the walls and hidden gems) and the stuff that’s not so concentrated in the city but just on the outskirts, and when they have events like rodeos and concerts can be pretty cool. So Houston’s probably a good place to live actually but not to visit unless you’ve got a local showing you around 😅
San Jose, CA.
I think it actively tries to be as boring as humanly possible.
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.
Not so much of a letdown but I wasn't able to enjoy Kyoto as much as I wanted. I already knew that it would be crowded especially during cherry blossom season when I went but holy f**k the number of situationally unaware tourists blocking others' path for the 'gram (Tiktok hadn't been invented yet when I went). Kanazawa ended up being more enjoyable for me.
A trip to Kyoto during cherry blossom season? The only thing you'll see a plenty of is tourists. Kyoto is breathtaking, just choose your timing wisely.
Panama City. S****y weather, s****y beaches, s****y aquarium, it's where white trash with a little bit of cash congregates.
Edit- the one in Florida.
Naples. Rome had a reputation for being messy and smelly for decades, which I saw first hand. They've since cleaned it up, and it's as beautiful as you'd hope. Naples, on the other hand, feels like a slum for the most part. It's messy, unwelcoming, and doesn't honour its history the way much of Italy does .
Damn two times in a row ? For such an amazing city... I wonder where people disgusted by Napoli are from ? As south east french dude i feel it's a perfect city. For example I was bored as f**k in Vienna the anti napoli.
Gonna be a bit different, but Singapore.
I get the hype and I'm sure it's paradise for a lot of people, but you won't get to fully enjoy your time unless you have money.
Like, I've been to expensive European cities and even splurged in big cities in Japan (esp eating A5 steak), so grabbing ye Olde credit card half the time isn't an issue. However, these cities all have ways to be enjoyed for cheap or free!
But because of how small Singapore is as a city, almost every thing you can do there needs money, and the value of the attractions are...well I guess most are not for me.
Again, I love the city and the vibe, but fck it's so expensive.
I once visited Singapore right after a 2 months trip in Vietnam and Cambodia. That felt like a jump in the future but yeah so damn expensive !
Napoli was foul. The streets stank of a horrible Lysol-type cleaner and the poverty levels were startling.
Naaah that's my favorite city in the world. What a place ! Napoli is alive, pulsing, yelling, singing and yeah dirty. The absolute opposite of Texas cities, pure vibrant place with a real soul. And the food oh boy... Napoli is like Diego Maradona, genius and devil at the same time.
Berlin. Most unfriendly place I have been in my entire life, and I’ve been to Paris.
To an American, Berlin may seem unfriendly but it is really a great city--incredible museums, very walkable, great shops, and terrific restaurants.
Istanbul.
I expected hospitable people & a city bursting with culture. I was greeted with extremely unpleasant people who go out of their way to make your stay as miserable as possible. The mosques are impressive, but you couldn't pay me to go back there. Truly horrible experience.
Rome was such a massive letdown after Florence and Venice. I still think some of the sights are incredible, but the city was a lot dirtier than I expected and public transportation really let me down. Rome was the first European city where I genuinely didn't feel safe at night.
Reykjavik, I loved Iceland, but Reykjavik is very touristy. The rest of the country, absolutely amazing.
I think some people need to remember something when they travel with regard to experiencing rudeness. You may be on holiday, but you're visiting a place where people have to live and work. They have actual lives and troubles, and aren't just there to somehow make your vacation "magical". Remember good manners and respect, and you'll likely have a better time.
Yes, thank you - glad it isn't just me. I don't get the complaint that some places/people aren't "friendly". Nah, they just have their own lives. I don't travel much, but when I do I mostly keep to myself or entertain myself with parks, museums, etc. I hardly notice if the people are "friendly" because the vast majority of people everywhere are doing their own thing.
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Seems to me they're all tourists going to tourist places and then being upset that it's so very touristy. Well yeah... duh...
I agree. But the same goes for people complaining that it’s too “commercialized.” Like, duh, the locals want to make money on the millions of visitors who come to the city.
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Tourists go to touristy places only to be disappointed and complain that they are *gasp* touristy!
I think some people need to remember something when they travel with regard to experiencing rudeness. You may be on holiday, but you're visiting a place where people have to live and work. They have actual lives and troubles, and aren't just there to somehow make your vacation "magical". Remember good manners and respect, and you'll likely have a better time.
Yes, thank you - glad it isn't just me. I don't get the complaint that some places/people aren't "friendly". Nah, they just have their own lives. I don't travel much, but when I do I mostly keep to myself or entertain myself with parks, museums, etc. I hardly notice if the people are "friendly" because the vast majority of people everywhere are doing their own thing.
Load More Replies... Seems to me they're all tourists going to tourist places and then being upset that it's so very touristy. Well yeah... duh...
I agree. But the same goes for people complaining that it’s too “commercialized.” Like, duh, the locals want to make money on the millions of visitors who come to the city.
Load More Replies... Tourists go to touristy places only to be disappointed and complain that they are *gasp* touristy!
