Cities you'd never return to

major bill

bear1 wrote: »

I'd say it would, if the Irish themselves can see Dublin in a different light then I imagine foreigners can too.
It's not all bad, some dodgy parts but like every city. I actually don't mind Dublin at all.

We are selling Temple Bar as the tourist go to spot which is wrong.

Most peoples opinions of a city are based on two things, the cost and the people and Temple Bar is negative on both.

Yamanoto

roro1990 wrote: »

The Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng prison are two of the most interesting and potentially life changing sites you could ever visit.

Struck me as tourist traps and not much else tbh.

I walked around Tuol Sleng and came upon a room at the end of one of the upper floors packed full of decaying rubbish (which had clearly been accumulating for some time). Not ten yards away, sombre exhibits entreated visitors to reflect and honour those who'd been tortured and killed on the site.

thegreatgonzo

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Riga. A cold post soviet paranoid unwelcoming kip

I loved it:) Went with a friend back in 2002, we got a great welcome from some of the local lads we met The only unfriendly people we met were two girls from Cork who seemed annoyed to not be the only Irish in Latvia anymore.

RahenyD5

+1 for Brussels. Bruges & Ghent are much nicer places and only short train rides away. Brussels is only good for the Eurostar or coaches to/from London, no more than that.

Agree about Budapest, great city but has a slight tense air about it still lingering after 1989 especially in the metro. The metro seems to operate Soviet-style with aggressive ticket inspectors manning access to the escalators, woe betide you if you accidently have yesterday's ticket on you!

Is Marseille really that bad? Especially in the centre? I know of the suburbs having unsavoury reputation but the centre? Is it any worse than Dublin 1? I will be holidaying in the south of France in late Aug and hope to visit Marseille, so...

Have to say Lyon is overrated. Not very much to see there other than the tiny old town. Having been misled by glossy photos of the city giving it a better impression than Paris but after having visited Lyon it was not that brilliant in reality but some parts are OK to see such as the shopping street and the city park. It was a bit grubby with litter and graffiti in most places and alleyways stank of urine and local lads seem unfazed to pee away in public.

The public toilets in Lyon cost €2 to use, I found the ones off the shopping street very dirty with no attendant around then paid on my way out so I handed over a €5 note expecting change but the lady gave me a fixed smile saying "merci" repeatedly with the hope I will go away without challenging her so I did because I couldn't be ars*d to argue.

Cienciano

Milan. Take every positive point away from Rome but leave all the negative and you get Milan.

fleet_admiral

I know its not a city but cork is an awful kip

SimonTemplar

bear1 wrote: »

I'd say it would, if the Irish themselves can see Dublin in a different light then I imagine foreigners can too.
It's not all bad, some dodgy parts but like every city. I actually don't mind Dublin at all.

Yeah, but the problem with Dublin is that the dodgy parts are right in the city center close to tourist attractions

wilser

Cienciano wrote: »

Milan. Take every positive point away from Rome but leave all the negative and you get Milan.

What positive is there to take away from Rome?

McGrath5

Miami - Apart from the beach, I really did not enjoy my time there, a lot of homeless and dangerous looking thugs hanging around everywhere I went.

Larianne

roro1990 wrote: »

I know it's a matter of opinion but I'm shocked you say this about BKK. Probably the most diverse, interesting an exhilarating city on the planet in my view. Beautiful architecture, magnificent skyline, brilliant food and a great night life. If I could go there tomorrow I would.

It can take a while to take to Bangkok. It's usually people's first experience with Asia and can be overwhelming. First time I was there I wasn't a huge fan, mainly due to the culture shock I guess (also add horrible jet lag/hungoverness). But on the 2nd and 3rd visit, I thought it was great.

roro1990 wrote: »

What's wrong with a city being poor? And feck all in it? The Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng prison are two of the most interesting and potentially life changing sites you could ever visit. I've enormous respect for the citizens of Phnom Penh. The amount of **** they have went through and yet they all still smile way more than your average person in Dublin or any other first world city. Puts things in perspective and gives you a new outlook on life. well it certainly did for me anyway.

I went to both those places. Not a pleasant experience tbh.
The people were very friendly indeed but definitely not a place I would ever rush back to, nor advise people to go to.

MonstaMash

RahenyD5 wrote: »

Is Marseille really that bad? Especially in the centre? I know of the suburbs having unsavoury reputation but the centre? Is it any worse than Dublin 1? I will be holidaying in the south of France in late Aug and hope to visit Marseille, so...

Just stay away from Bouches-du-Rhône & the Vieux Port after dark & be wary around Gare De Marseille-Saint-Charles train station.

thegreatgonzo

bear1 wrote: »

Here is my list:

Riga - People are extremely rude (especially the men who think foreign men are there to take their women)
QUOTE]

The women there are gorgeous though if I remember right.

DubVelo

Glasgow has got to be the worst I've been to. The whole place has an on-edge mental vibe to it and I couldn't walk down the street for junkie head cases trying to scam money or cigs out of me. The only other place I've had nearly as much random hassle in the street is Dublin but there it was just constant. Newcastle-upon-Tyne might be rough as f**k but down to earth decent people too. Glasgow is just f***ed.

cloud493

Geneva is quite a dull place. There was nothing very wrong with it but there was nothing there that would bring me back.

Brussels felt a bit intimidating to walk around at times but I wouldn't tell people not to go there; keep your wits about you and you'll almost certainly be safe. The architecture in the Grand Place is stunning and there are plenty of cool pubs around. And the Magritte museum is definitely worth a visit. I wouldn't go back to Bruges - it's lovely but it's the kind of place I'd only go to once.

I saw China mentioned a few times. I loved my time over there but I wasn't too keen on Beijing. It' somewhere that got a lot of investment and growth in a very short space of time (around the time of the Olympics) and I don't think think it has adapted fully to it yet. It seemed very polluted and sprawling, and it's impossible to get a taxi without being ripped off unless you speak Mandarin.

On the other hand I loved Shanghai (crazy mix of east and west), Suzhou, Nanjing and Chengdu. I'd definitely go back to China and see more of it if I had the time and/or money.

cloud493 wrote: »

Bristol
Nottingham
New York
Boston
Florida

I loved Nottingham. Very laid back, good shops and good nightlife (if you're a student, at least).
Heard about it being a bit rough before I moved there but in over a year living there I didn't really see any evidence of it at all. See plenty more scobes/chavs/scumbags around Cork than I ever did around Nottingham. In the UK I wouldn't be in any rush back to Coventry (a bombed cathedral is about the only thing it has going for it) or Leicester (doesn't even have a bombed cathedral going for it). Lincoln is lovely but I'm not sure I'd go back 'cause I pretty much saw the whole place in a day.

kenmc

Hanoi. rest of Vietnam was lovely, Hanoi just didn't do it for me.

not a city, but pak beng on the slow boat from Thailand to luang prabang, couldn't get out of there fast enough....

johnnykilo

Definitely Brussels. Not too much to do there, but the thing that really got me was how awful the people were, everyone I met from taxi drivers to shopkeepers, even the people in the tourist office were incredibly rude. French people are fine in real life but people in Brussels are exactly like how French people are portrayed in films; arrogant and rude.

La_Gordy

This thread is very funny. I lived in Glasgow for 3 years and with all my heart I miss it every day. But the complaints here I know what people are talking about, there's just A LOT more to it than that.

For me the worst is Singapore. The most boring and claustrophobic society I've ever lived in. I'd have to be heavily sedated to ever go back there.

Panda_Turtle

Birmingham, seemed a bit rough

Amirani

questionmark? wrote: »

Copenhagen. Overpriced, dirty, noisy, hookers all around train station, run down hotels, people were rude etc... only thing that worked was public transport! First place I've gone too and couldnt wait to leave.

Train Stations everywhere in mainland Europe are pretty bad for attracting the dregs of society. I've always found Copenhagen to be pretty great (prices aside).

JRant

kenmc wrote: »

Hanoi. rest of Vietnam was lovely, Hanoi just didn't do it for me.

not a city, but pak beng on the slow boat from Thailand to luang prabang, couldn't get out of there fast enough....

Ah the slow boat. 2 days of beer Lao and sitting on a mini church pew for 8hours a day. Absolutely loved it, especially the overnight stop in the middle of the jungle.

Schwiiing

Dublin. Complete ****hole.
Ballinasloe. Happy to accept in an influx of nackers every year into it's already burgeoning nacker population.
Ahascragh Co Galway. Famous for Monica Looley Philip Treacy and Fr Kevin Reynolds. A grey soul destroying kip.

For what it's worth I thought Paris was lovely.

lufties

La_Gordy wrote: »

This thread is very funny. I lived in Glasgow for 3 years and with all my heart I miss it every day. But the complaints here I know what people are talking about, there's just A LOT more to it than that.

For me the worst is Singapore. The most boring and claustrophobic society I've ever lived in. I'd have to be heavily sedated to ever go back there.

Initially I thought singapore was really nice, after 2 nights couldn't wait to leave.

Sir Chops

Luxembourg and Limerick

Cool_CM

SpaceTime wrote: »

For me its Zurich. I can't even remember anything about it! It was pretty but sooooo boring.

It takes a while to warm to Zürich, not recommended for a weekend city break but living there long term was pretty fun!

lufties

Sir Chops wrote: »

Luxembourg and Limerick

spent six years in limerick and loved it there.

Jonny7

dan1895 wrote: »

Agree with Nairobi. Constant intimidation and harassment and can't walk down the street once the sun goes down.

Much like Waterford so

lufties

Jonny7 wrote: »

Much like Waterford so

true that..

ElChe32

sugarman wrote: »

Stockholm - CRAZY expensive. 8quid for a pint ..that wasnt even a pint! Theyre 400ml! And that was standard price everywhere. They have government run offo's that only open like 10-5 and sell max 3% beers. They have police come bar to bar making sure people arent drunk. Places are very hesitant to give you anymore than 4 pints. A side from drinking, Meals too were extortionate, €12 odd for a Big Mc Meal.. Other than the Money, its a beautiful city with plenty to do and see. Generally very friendly people too. prob would go back if it wasnt for money, same can be said for all the Nordic countries.. Denmark/Norway/Finland are all the same.

That's not true, yes the stores have ****e hours (depending on store locations) but you can get beers with any alcohol % in them. The MAX you can get in supermarkets is 3%. Stockholm is expensive as balls, I'd advise you to go to Goteborg. Smaller, cheaper, friendlier people. Lived there for 3 years and am thinking of moving back.

lufties

ElChe32 wrote: »

That's not true, yes the stores have ****e hours (depending on store locations) but you can get beers with any alcohol % in them. The MAX you can get in supermarkets is 3%. Stockholm is expensive as balls, I'd advise you to go to Goteborg. Smaller, cheaper, friendlier people. Lived there for 3 years and am thinking of moving back.

What about the wimmin? at the end of the day thats the main thing that matters

orangesoda

Maybe soulless auld places like Coventry, Leeds and Birmingham but they weren't overly bad either