What countries / places have you been to, and were do you recommend / not recommend?

Chemical Burn

Where have you been to and would go back or warn people not to go to? Where do you want to go to?

I have been to a shit load of places, too many to mention. I would like to go back to Gibraltar, turkey, Luxembourg, Italy and Netherlands. I have not yet been to a place were I would be jumping for joy to return to.

I want to see Greenland, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Japan, Mongolia, Faroe Islands, Svalbard, Kazakhstan, St. Helena (preferably Tristan Da Cunha), Pitcairn Island, Easter Island and Christmas Island.

Has any boardsies been to my bucket list ??

In hindsight, this might be better off in Travel, so I don't get the piss take answers. move if appropriate, Cheers.

Lionel Messy

Mods, leave this here.

Pottler

I went to Syria there last week. Didn't get a wink of sleep. Couldn't recommend.

TheBody

Ireland. Great bunch of lads there.

not yet

Chemical Burn wrote: »

Where have you been to and would go back or warn people not to go to? Where do you want to go to?

I have been to a shit load of places, too many to mention. I would like to go back to Gibraltar, turkey, Luxembourg, Italy and Netherlands. I have not yet been to a place were I would be jumping for joy to return to.

I want to see Greenland, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Japan, Mongolia, Faroe Islands, Svalbard, Kazakhstan, St. Helena (preferably Tristan Da Cunha), Pitcairn Island, Easter Island and Christmas Island.

Has any boardsies been to my bucket list ??

In hindsight, this might be better off in Travel, so I don't get the piss take answers. move if appropriate, Cheers.

Yeah Yeah we fcuking get it you travel a lot.

slim223

Don't go to prison

AnonoBoy

Cardiff. It's full of Welsh people. Avoid.

Longford. No explanation needed.

Lionel Messy

I was in Fermanagh once...

Deadly.

Sky King

Barcelona.. Impossible to get a nice meal there - full of prosties (the fat pickpocketing type, not the Julia Roberts in pretty woman type), con artists and drug dealers. Go to Valentia or somewhere. Much nicer.

power101

Places that stood out above the rest

Excellent:
Island of Elba , Italy
Fraiser Island, Australia
Hamilton Island, Australia

Terrible:
Naples, Italy
Barcelona, Spain

MadsL

I've been to paradise, but I've never been to Meath...

homemadecider

Burundi and Rwanda are beautiful, lots of green rolling hills and sunshine. Sierra Leone has gorgeous beaches and incredible seafood.

I don't recommend visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Banjo String

Cuba, Havana.

Yes, lots of poor people, but those poor people are a happy joyous bunch.
The beat of a song and they're swaying the hips to the music, lovely city (could do with a lick of paint though ) great beaches. Yeah, I liked Cuba a lot.

Russia, Moscow.

Hated it, every minute of it.
Getting by without Russian was tough, lots of things were overpriced, I never felt safe in the place, and the locals were a-holes.

Wouldn't thank you for taking me back tbh.

SEPT 23 1989

avoid Latvia like the plague

a cold place filled with suspicious people

AnonoBoy

Sky King wrote: »

Barcelona.. Impossible to get a nice meal there.

Nonsense. I've had several nice meals in restaurants in Barcelona.

Here's a tip: Don't go to the sh*t touristy restaurants with laminated menus outside them.

OneArt

Went on holiday to this place called Panem. It's mostly a hole because most of the population are dirt poor. It's capital was nice though the waiters are as rude as f*ck, never say a word and don't answer any questions. It's national sport involves children beating each other to death. Barbaric place. Wouldn't go again.

Biggins

I loved being at time incognito - and once I was sent to coventry by an ex-wife.
The former was fun, the latter no so.
Only one I can recommend.

Biggins

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Nonsense. I've had several nice meals in restaurants in Barcelona.

Here's a tip: Don't go to the sh*t touristy restaurants with laminated menus outside them.

LOL Reminds me of Nice, Southern France.
The McDonalds there was always quiet enough yet the street (many) restaurants, day and night, were always busy in business.

The food there alone was exceptional - well recommended (well, except for McDees).

Da Shins Kelly

Berlin. Best city I've ever been to. Hope to go back very soon.

Banjo String

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Berlin. Best city I've ever been to. Hope to go back very soon.

Definitely somewhere I intend to visit.

phoenix999

Chemical Burn wrote: »

Where have you been to and would go back or warn people not to go to? Where do you want to go to?

I have been to a sh[SIZE="2"]i[/SIZE]t load of places, too many to mention. I would like to go back to Gibraltar, turkey, Luxembourg, Italy and Netherlands. I have not yet been to a place were I would be jumping for joy to return to.

I want to see Greenland, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Japan, Mongolia, Faroe Islands, Svalbard, Kazakhstan, St. Helena (preferably Tristan Da Cunha), Pitcairn Island, Easter Island and Christmas Island.

Has any boardsies been to my bucket list ??

In hindsight, this might be better off in Travel, so I don't get the piss take answers. move if appropriate, Cheers.

Loved the complete craziness of Japan. Blew my mind.

phoenix999

SamHall wrote: »

Cuba, Havana.

Yes, lots of poor people, but those poor people are a happy joyous bunch.
The beat of a song and they're swaying the hips to the music, lovely city (could do with a lick of paint though ) great beaches. Yeah, I liked Cuba a lot.

Russia, Moscow.

Hated it, every minute of it.
Getting by without Russian was tough, lots of things were overpriced, I never felt safe in the place, and the locals were a-holes.

Wouldn't thank you for taking me back tbh.

Did you venture to St Petersburg? Far classier place and the people are much nicer.

Canis Lupus

Biggins wrote: »

LOL Reminds me of Nice, Southern France.
The McDonalds there was always quiet enough yet the street (many) restaurants, day and night, were always busy in business.

The food there alone was exceptional - well recommended (well, except for McDees).

Oddly enough I recommend McDonalds in Morocco. Nicest Maccers I've ever had. They actually put effort in and the burger you get actually resembles the picture :P

EDIT: Places I've enjoyed visiting: Israel and Ecuador. Ignore the political side and Israel is full of wonderful people, amazing history and awesome landscapes. Ecuador also has an awesome array of diversity in landscape. You can be deep in the amazon fishing for piranhas one day, be in something out of a wild west village the next day or in Quito....dying from the altitude and the air pollution

Further edit: Country to avoid. Mauritania. It's sandy and fupping miserable.

Banjo String

phoenix999 wrote: »

Did you venture to St Petersburg? Far classier place and the people are much nicer.

No, and I'm fuming now that we didn't. You're not the first person to say this to me, I've been told ours much more cosmopolitan.

Denise2012

Went to Zakynthos and hated it!

Banjo String

Denise2012 wrote: »

Went to Zakynthos and hated it!

You obviously didn't stay in tsillivi?

Went there in 05, beautiful place, I liked it a lot.

phoenix999

SamHall wrote: »

No, and I'm fuming now that we didn't. You're not the first person to say this to me, I've been told ours much more cosmopolitan.

Oh it's wonderful. I went to Moscow to see the Faberge eggs, but St Petersburg is where it's happening. It's a mix of Paris and Amsterdam. The palaces are a sight to behold. And the imperial art collections are jaw droppingly good. Hermitage easily rivals the Louvre in Paris. I've been there several times.

Biggins

Once spent a day in Marrakesh and the markets there.
Seemed absolute chaotic and the then girlfriend was hassled somewhat by blokes.
(I was told later that her red hair was a bewildering factor related to local fellas trying to grab her attention).

It might be wrong to put the whole place down but would be hesitant to return there.

Denise2012

SamHall wrote: »

You obviously didn't stay in tsillivi?

Went there in 05, beautiful place, I liked it a lot.

I think I stayed in Argassi! Was a long time ago. The place could have changed now! I wouldn't go back there again anyway

My name is URL

Chemical Burn wrote: »

I would like to go back to Gibraltar,

That's one of the places I've been to which I would be happy never to return to.

If I were to choose 2 cities I've been to and want to see again they'd be Amsterdam and San Francisco... they're both like tiny villages spread out over a huge area, which I like.

collie0708

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Oddly enough I recommend McDonalds in Morocco. Nicest Maccers I've ever had. They actually put effort in and the burger you get actually resembles the picture :P

EDIT: Places I've enjoyed visiting: Israel and Ecuador. Ignore the political side and Israel is full of wonderful people, amazing history and awesome landscapes. Ecuador also has an awesome array of diversity in landscape. You can be deep in the amazon fishing for piranhas one day, be in something out of a wild west village the next day or in Quito....dying from the altitude and the air pollution

Further edit: Country to avoid. Mauritania. It's sandy and fupping miserable.

Well if they put effort into McDonalds it must be worth the trip...

Overheal

Coastal Maine was pretty amazing. Went for a few days in 2010, the seaside towns were just something else, and you could fish right off the bridges for trout and see absolutely everything in that water, it was cleaner than tap.

Atlanta, on the other hand, only leaves the impression of a city in decay and I don't really like it. Homeless people panhandle the streets all day and decomissioned bridges have been converted into above-ground parking lots and locations for new buildings. It's kind of neat that they have done this and theres an entire sub-city underneath all of that new construction (the entire undergound district is where all the original city roads are preserved) but it's also kind of sad. I only spent a few hours in Savannah but it was much nicer, so is St. Augustine if you're down that way.

Parsandeman

Chemical Burn wrote: »

Where have you been to and would go back or warn people not to go to? Where do you want to go to?

I have been to a shit load of places, too many to mention. I would like to go back to Gibraltar, turkey, Luxembourg, Italy and Netherlands. I have not yet been to a place were I would be jumping for joy to return to.

I want to see Greenland, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Japan, Mongolia, Faroe Islands, Svalbard, Kazakhstan, St. Helena (preferably Tristan Da Cunha), Pitcairn Island, Easter Island and Christmas Island.

Has any boardsies been to my bucket list ??

In hindsight, this might be better off in Travel, so I don't get the piss take answers. move if appropriate, Cheers.

I have been to Kazakhstan, Armenia and azer. I have no idea why you want to go to these places. Truly awful places

Digs

collie0708 wrote: »

Well if they put effort into McDonalds it must be worth the trip...

The maccers in Kingaroy in the back ar*e of Australia was the best I've ever eaten but definitely not worth the trip to Kingaroy

New Zealand north island is stunning, Plenty to do in rotorua, Napier, taupo etc. it reminded us an awful lot of Ireland but a lot cleaner and prettier!

Canis Lupus

Biggins wrote: »

Once spent a day in Marrakesh and the markets there.
Seemed absolute chaotic and the then girlfriend was hassled somewhat by blokes.
(I was told later that her red hair was a bewildering factor related to local fellas trying to grab her attention).

It might be wrong to put the whole place down but would be hesitant to return there.

It's overrated and full of hassle. Try riding a fully loaded touring bike through the medina twice for an 'experience'. It's full of young lads trying to sell you hash but Chefchaoun is one of the nicer towns up in the Riff but a touch more difficult to get to. Essaouira (sp?) is Marrakech lite. Everyone I spoke to reckoned it was nicer.

Biggins

Canis Lupus wrote: »

It's overrated and full of hassle. Try riding a fully loaded touring bike through the medina twice for an 'experience'. It's full of young lads trying to sell you hash but Chefchaoun is one of the nicer towns up in the Riff but a touch more difficult to get to. Essaouira (sp?) is Marrakech lite. Everyone I spoke to reckoned it was nicer.

Worth remembering around next time if the chance arises. Cheers.

Canis Lupus

collie0708 wrote: »

Well if they put effort into McDonalds it must be worth the trip...

I was cycling. Trust me, a maccers dinner is something on the level of divine when you're living off pasta and sauce/stringy meat tagines.

ToxicPaddy

Good:

Berlin - Fantastic city, so much to see and do.
Prague - Beautiful city, avoid the touristy stuff and you'd be surprised how much more to the city there is. Very friendly people too.
Seychelles - Paradise (Mahe not too nice, but Praslin and La Digue, pure paradise)
Kenya - Amazing country, very friendly people (deperate poverty in some places tho)
Stockholm - Amazing city, built on a serious of islands, friendly people, stunning women everywhere but very down to earth. Bloody expensive tho.
Norway - Great country, unbelieveable scenery especially up along the west coast, fjords, glaciers, huge valleys with beautiful lakes etc. Again, expensive but worth a trip, Bergen is lovely, smallish city with friendly people.
Vanvouver - Very chilled out city, well worth a visit. But a lot of poverty in the East Hastings area.
Anywhere in the Canadian Rockies - Stunning scenery, especially when it starts to snow.
Zurich - Small but nice city, way over priced, but so is almost everyhwere in Switzerland. Great night life, some great clubs and beautiful scenery around it.

Not So Good:

Montreal - Very over rated. Nothing bad, was just was expecting more. Been there once, saw it, wouldn't be rushing back to it.
Agadir - Basically the same as any tourist resort in Spain.. Very Meh!!
Genoa - Not very impressive. Kinda dirty and didn't find the people that friendly.

I have more, but too tired to type atm

Biggins

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

Good:

Berlin - Fantastic city, so much to see and do.
Prague - Beautiful city, avoid the touristy stuff and you'd be surprised how much more to the city there is. Very friendly people too.
Seychelles - Paradise (Mahe not too nice, but Praslin and La Digue, pure paradise)
Kenya - Amazing country, very friendly people (deperate poverty in some places tho)
Stockholm - Amazing city, built on a serious of islands, friendly people, stunning women everywhere but very down to earth. Bloody expensive tho.
Norway - Great country, unbelieveable scenery especially up along the west coast, fjords, glaciers, huge valleys with beautiful lakes etc. Again, expensive but worth a trip, Bergen is lovely, smallish city with friendly people.
Vanvouver - Very chilled out city, well worth a visit. But a lot of poverty in the East Hastings area.
Anywhere in the Canadian Rockies - Stunning scenery, especially when it starts to snow.
Zurich - Small but nice city, way over priced, but so is almost everyhwere in Switzerland. Great night life, some great clubs and beautiful scenery around it.

Not So Good:

Montreal - Very over rated. Nothing bad, was just was expecting more. Been there once, saw it, wouldn't be rushing back to it.
Agadir - Basically the same as any tourist resort in Spain.. Very Meh!!
Genoa - Not very impressive. Kinda dirty and didn't find the people that friendly.

I have more, but too tired to type atm

After walking around all those places - I'm not surprised!

ToxicPaddy

Biggins wrote: »

After walking around all those places - I'm not surprised!

Smart ass!!! :pac::D

michellie

Chicago - loved it there, will definitely return some day. My boyfriends brother lived there , he moves around America with his job, we need to visit him more often!

Berlin - was a lovely city, we were there February a few years back and it was freezing and snowy, I'd love to go in summer.

Cyprus - amazing part of the world

Paris - dive

Conchir

Places I'd recommend are London, Vienna and Amsterdam. They're all great cities, really cool and plenty to see and do. Amsterdam in the Summer, Vienna near Christmas to catch all the markets (and some snow maybe). London is good whenever.

If I never see Brussels again I'll be happy. A really depressing city, and the locals weren't very nice.

seenitall

Loved:

Rome - it's smoggy, crowded, congested but dam all it's spectacular

Florence - one-of-a-kind city, the birthplace of Renaissance, the only place that, for me, rivaled its you-could-cut-it-with-a-knife atmosphere of genteel history was Prague

Venice - and I go a long, long way back, been there so many times now because I'm in love with it, and always will be

Paris - need I say more?

Vienna - I love Vienna; Vienna I love you, please forget what I wrote about Venice and let's get together again soon

Salzburg - an absolute jewel, a gem of a cute, compact little historic city, surrounded by magnificent nature and scenery; all the mountains, all the snow in winter, all the pretty little lake towns and villages

Budapest - because I'm just an old, die-hard, Central European by birth and by inclination, so that's that

Prague - see above, but also for so much more; Prague is so beautiful and kind

Islands of the Adriatic - yes, always

French Riviera; Nice, Cannes, Antibes - yes again

Andalucia, Spain - a bit of an 'edge of the world' feel to it all, or is it just the limitations of my Central European mind playing tricks on me (but then I feel this here in Ireland as well!); but worth visiting nonetheless, liked Gibraltar too

The Loire Valley, France (around Blois and Amboise) - lovely people, amazing castles

Strasbourg, France - it's fine and nice-looking, but don't expect too much excitement

Oxford - I like it

Stratford-upon-Avon - yes, because I like Shakespeare so much; really atmospheric

Derry - really liked Derry; pretty in a composed and sober kind of way

Sligo - I've personal reasons to love Sligo, but also I do think that it is the most atmospheric (that word again!) of all the Irish cities/towns I've seen

Connemara, where do I begin or end? - Roundstone, just lovely and enchanting, the beaches, Kylemore Abbey, the lakes, and yes, I even love Clifden, I think it's nice and quaint, and the roads around there have some fantastic views

Galway - no objectivity here when it comes to Gaillimh, the height of bias etc, ; use your imaginations

Wicklow - stunning

Santiago, Chile - you're looking at the snow-capped Andes on one side, and at the Pacific on the other; cool, and the city is kind of good-looking too

Islands of the South Pacific - yes

Saving the best for last, my absolute favourite city so far: LDN, the ancient Londinium, the original Big Smoke, mwwwwahhh I love you London



"Meh" effect:

Padua, Verona, Klagenfurt, Graz, Munich, Grenoble (felt kinda 'walled in' in that city, but I guess I just don't like mountains that high), Lake Balaton (Hungary), Coventry (UK), Dublin (Eire), the Easter Island (there's really not much to see there, OP; just those giant head thingys)



Didn't love:

Marseille - the pushy, Arabic element is really strong in the streets, which was a bit scary and a hassle travelling as a lone woman; it's a weird thing but I just felt this undercurrent of violence in that city; which is a damn shame because parts of it are just beautiful


Still on the list:

Central and Southern Italy, Capri, the southern islands, that sort of thing

the Black Forest, Germany

lots more Alps; LOTS more Alps

Scotland, Edinburgh, the Highlands

Sweden

the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, Cambodia

parts of China

certain parts of Turkey, including Istanbul

Athens, Greece

the North Pole

perhaps a cruise up the coast of Norway

Canada, amazing nature

Grand Canyon

New England (drop me anywhere around there, I'll be happy)

LA, California

Yellowstone

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Egypt

Morocco

Kenya


Not too pushed about ever seeing:

most of South America (ok, maybe it would be fun to explore the Amazon a bit)

Australia

most of Africa

countries of Benelux

Iceland

Anything that was comprised in the old USSR, really (ok, someone did give me an idea about St. Petersburg on this thread, but that's as far as it would go)

most of the Middle East, excluding the countries I mentioned previously

India, Pakistan, etc: no thanks

Ruudi_Mentari

Oz / UK / Cyprus you like nightlife? all good.

shanec1928

Dubrovnik Croatia. The old city is pretty cool. And some great views too

Not a fan of Manila or Colombo as a tourist..

Witchie

Loved for their architectural beauty: Bruges, Arras (France), Beaugency (France), Delft (The Netherlands), Charlestown (USA).

Natural beauty: Banff (Canada), Hope (Canada), Dover Beach (Barbados), Yalikavak (Turkey), Grand Canyon.

Atmosphere: Paris (always feel like I'm in a movie when there), San Francisco (a bigger warmer Galway) Brighton (a smaller colder San Francisco but bigger warmer Galway) and Galway!

Fun Fun Fun: Las Vegas and Liverpool.

Meh: Edinburgh, London (other than Camden Market which I love), Dusseldorf and Amsterdam.

Shryker

On the continent, I recommend Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, Krakow and Prague.
I recommend especially anywhere in Germany. Switzerland is far too expensive to ever recommend over Germany.

Vienna is great for quiet nightlife. I loved being able to go out at any hour and order a nice meal and a drink outside and have a smoke while I was doing it.

Amsterdam is great for reasons everyone knows. I'll say this. I met a lot of tramps that went out of their way to warn us against thieves and everything else was pretty great. If you plan on the center of town then it's every third place is going to be a place to buy weed or a cake shop.

The tour of Auschwitz while I was in Krakow was one of the most memorable things I've ever done on holiday. It was a beautiful sunny day in July. The sky was blue and clear with not a cloud in sight. Everyone seemed slightly energised from such an unusually good day. Just over 30 degrees. There was a breeze. It wasn't very persistent but it was there just enough to keep everyone cool.
It was one of the nicest summer days I've ever experienced. Just a beautiful summer on the continent. But then we saw the room full of spectacles, the room full of crutches and walking sticks. The place where gas canisters were thrown through the ceiling.
Such tranquil blue sky, and beautiful green countryside made a huge impression on me. To think that in such wonderful weather conditions that in the time of my own grandparents such a great amount of people could have suffered so much.. didn't mean to go on.

Places not to visit: Rome. Italians are the rudest people on earth. Their traffic is homicidal. The streets were littered with rubbish, the people were rude and the streets were full of vagrants, some of them in wheel chairs or children.
There was rubbish all over the place and I could not understand the predominance of white pance or the scooter. Cultural craphole. The rest of Italy seemed really nice. The only nice place I found in Rome was inside a few of its restaurants.

Captain Graphite

I'd highly recommend China as a good country to travel around. There's so much to see and do, everything is cheap outside the big cities and people, in general, are really friendly. I wasn't a big fan of Beijing (bit too dirty and full of scammy taxi drivers) but it is worth going to the Forbidden City. Shanghai, on the other hand, is an incredible city; only spent 5 days there but would love to go back there. It's a bit manic but it's a perfect mix of Western and Eastern cultures.

Of the other cities I saw:
Nanjing was pretty cool and has loads of interesting historical sites, being the former capital. Also has a good nightlife district.
Suzhou is full of interesting sites, pretty Chinese gardens and canals. Also it's pretty small for a Chinese city so it's handy enough to walk around.
Chengdu was the most laid back city I was in; less about nightlife, more about relaxation. But it has spicy food and pandas so it's certainly not boring.
Would love to go back to China some day. In fact, I wanna travel around Asia in general; Japan, Malaysia, Thailand......and then Jordan and Iran on the other side. Maybe India too.

One of my favourite places in Europe is Luxembourg City; maybe not the most exciting place in the world, and quite expensive, but very, very beautiful. There's a wonderful atmosphere around the place. Also wanna go back to Amsterdam; two nights was not enough time there.

Don't think I've ever been anywhere I hated or would outright refuse to go back to. I wouldn't be in a rush to go back to Geneva (found it a bit dull), Ghent (pretty but lifeless) or Coventry (grim place; has ruins of a cathedral and nothing else going for it) but can't say any of them were dreadful places either.

Seaneh

Excellent:
Bolivia, La Paz is a dump but Cochabamba and Santa Cruz are both lovely,

Peru, I spent most of my time in Trujillo and Huanchaco and some time in Aeroquip and Puno and Cusco, all gorgeous, especilly Aeroquip. Lima looked cool but was only there for like 3 days so can't really say what it's like.

Ecuador, I spent most of my time in Manabi and the food there is, honestly, the best I have ever eaten. The most amazing fresh fruits all year round, amazing seafood, brilliant spices and herbs, was just the freshest, tastiest most natural food I've ever had. And every lunch and dinner you get a glass of chilled Jugo de piña so cold it's got ice crystals floating around in it, it's amazing. Me and chifles also became best friends. Quito is beautiful too, the people are awesome.

Argentina, Only really been around BA but it's a beautiful city, felt like being back in Europe after spending months on the pacific coast of South America, people are awesome, weather is amazing and everything is super cheap when you're converting from Euros. On my "must go back" list.


Basque Country in Spain, I adore the triangle of San Sabastian - Bilbao - Pamplona, it has just about the most beautiful views and landscapes I've ever been to and Basque people are just a joy to be around. Probably the best part of Southern Europe.

I'll post more later, bedtime now.