Underrated places to visit

greenbicycle · 18-04-2021 2:11pm

I think everyone should experience things for themselves in order to make their own mind up so would not be advising against any country.

But....

I have the same opinion of Istanbul as those negative reviews above. And I have heard SOOOO many positive things about it which is great for the city. However, I felt that constant low level harassment like I have never felt anywhere else and I consider myself well travelled.

Its not the same as "harassment" I have felt elsewhere that can be waved off. I definitely did not feel safe as a woman being there and it sounds silly and extreme but I never felt safe there and always had a small bit of fear in my head. I have been around the world as a solo traveller, have had plenty of little negative experiences which I got over fast, nothing that would turn me off a whole country or city. But despite not having a stand out negative experience there I really didn't like how I felt in Istanbul and I was not travelling alone when there. Lots of interesting things to see but I wont ever be going back unfortunately, my money and time will be better spent elsewhere and I wouldn't even go there for free to feel like that again.

snowstorm445 · 18-04-2021 2:29pm

Valencia in Spain is a lovely city, far less busy than Barcelona, filled with history, and very walkable. The entire river was diverted after a flood in the last century, and the old riverbed is now a park that runs right through the city. It's the home of Paella obviously, so well worth a try, but there's lots of restaurants and stalls selling Horchata as well, a nice local drink which is very refreshing in the heat. There's also the Albufera lagoon south of the city and plenty of beaches just a short bus ride away.

Utrecht in the Netherlands is nicer than Amsterdam imo. Not as big and maybe not as much going on but has the exact same Dutch character, easily walkable and less crowded with tourists/hen nights etc. And its in the centre of the country so pretty reachable from everywhere.

Slovenia as well is a gorgeous country, Ljubljana was very nice but its a pretty small city so you can cover everything in a weekend tbh.

Hamachi · 18-04-2021 2:33pm

greenbicycle wrote: »

I have the same opinion of Istanbul as those negative reviews above. And I have heard SOOOO many positive things about it which is great for the city. However, I felt that constant low level harassment like I have never felt anywhere else and I consider myself well travelled.

Haven’t been to Istanbul before, so can’t comment. However, I have been to a Turkish coastal resort (not Kusadasi) with an ex-girlfriend of mine. She felt very intimidated there the entire time and was subject to a fair amount of harassment whenever I wasn’t with her. The worst scenario we encountered was when we went into a clothes shop and the owner tried to bring her into a separate room to have a ‘private’ conversation. Needless to say, I told him to get f**ked and we got out of there immediately.

Our holiday was booked for two weeks, but my -ex wanted to return to Germany after a week. She’s German and we both lived in Munich at the time. I convinced her to stay on, but the second week of the holiday was a bit of a downer because she just wanted to go home.

I wouldn’t write Turkey off completely and might return one day. However, it’s definitely not a great destination for a solo female traveler, particularly if you’re young and obviously foreign i.e. blonde.

Anesthetize · 18-04-2021 2:39pm

snowstorm445 wrote: »

Utrecht in the Netherlands is nicer than Amsterdam imo. Not as big and maybe not as much going on but has the exact same Dutch character, easily walkable and less crowded with tourists/hen nights etc. And its in the centre of the country so pretty reachable from everywhere.

I've only been to Utrecht on a day trip, but I agree with this. It's a nice city with a genuine Dutch feel to it. And it's nice to walk alongside the canal which snakes it's way through the city centre.

Only about 25 minutes away from Amsterdam by train. Definitely worth it.

supernova5 · 18-04-2021 2:42pm

definitely Liechtenstein

VG31 · 18-04-2021 2:52pm

wolfyboy555 wrote: »

Also Georgia (The country). Cheap as chips with plenty to see and do especially if you are into nature and hikes as there are plenty of mountains. Tblisi is a great mix of old and new.

Georgia is near the top of my places to visit. Georgian cuisine is also very underrated. Georgian food is extremely popular in Russia and it's easy to see why. There's a wide range of dishes and the flavours are very unique (Khmeli Suneli in particular). I liked Georgian food so much I've started cooking Georgian meals myself.

snowstorm445 wrote: »

Slovenia as well is a gorgeous country, Ljubljana was very nice but its a pretty small city so you can cover everything in a weekend tbh.

I was meant to go the Slovenia last year. I'm hoping to go later this year. Looks like a fabulous country. I've been to Austria and Germany a lot so the alpine landscapes are familiar but still different.

18-04-2021 3:14pm

Slovenia is a lovely country, Ljubljana is a great, small city, out around lake bled is gorgeous and they also have amazing caves, not far from Ljubljana.
Its good value too.

notsoyoungwan · 18-04-2021 4:02pm

greenbicycle wrote: »

I think everyone should experience things for themselves in order to make their own mind up so would not be advising against any country.

But....

I have the same opinion of Istanbul as those negative reviews above. And I have heard SOOOO many positive things about it which is great for the city. However, I felt that constant low level harassment like I have never felt anywhere else and I consider myself well travelled.

Its not the same as "harassment" I have felt elsewhere that can be waved off. I definitely did not feel safe as a woman being there and it sounds silly and extreme but I never felt safe there and always had a small bit of fear in my head. I have been around the world as a solo traveller, have had plenty of little negative experiences which I got over fast, nothing that would turn me off a whole country or city. But despite not having a stand out negative experience there I really didn't like how I felt in Istanbul and I was not travelling alone when there. Lots of interesting things to see but I wont ever be going back unfortunately, my money and time will be better spent elsewhere and I wouldn't even go there for free to feel like that again.

Yeah like I said, I felt a constant threat there and was afraid. I’ve travelled solo quite a bit and haven’t had a similar experience anywhere, though I don’t tend to go off the beaten track much. But in Istanbul it really was horrendous. Three days in we cut our losses and got out of there before something bad happened. I’ve never ever even remotely considered that anywhere else I’ve been.

The ‘hard sell’ I referred to was so different to the “oh special price for you, lovely lady” patter you get in markets elsewhere, it was being brought to a shop I hadn’t asked to be brought to, being ushered in without any explanation, the door closed behind me and two men there pressuring me to buy and speaking among themselves presumably about me, with no obvious means of exit for me as the taxi driver was blocking the door, and a general seedy/creepy vibe in the atmosphere.

alchemist33 · 18-04-2021 4:33pm

Antwerp. Small, walkable, beautiful, has a great zoo and museums. Easy daytrips to Brussels or other Belgian cities.

Hamsterchops · 18-04-2021 5:07pm

Wales.

... and it's on our doorstep.

Das Reich · 18-04-2021 5:20pm

Molise, the last region in Italy by number of tourists, with the beautiful coast city of Termoli, and many pictoresque mountain towns like Pietrabbondante, Pescopennataro and Bagnoli del Trigno. The region have many Roman building and a lot of castles.

Das Reich · 18-04-2021 5:33pm

And why not the state I am from in Brazil called Mato Grosso do Sul. Have 350.000 km2 so the size of Germany and less than 3 million people. Relatevely rich and safer than the rest of the country, home to the Pantanal, a unique biome with a very big biodiversity. Here is a video in English (there are better ones in Portuguese on youtube) of Bonito:

Bummer1234 · 18-04-2021 5:52pm

Was in tunisa a year before the terrorist attack on a holiday,found the resort lovely and great that it was so cheap, definitely different than Spain, but the Men where a little creepy to the misses walking down the street plus you would struggle to find a decent beer out and about as of course it was a dry area.

A lovely city I was before was Bratislava,architecturally it is a lovely city and everything is so so cheap,would recommend it for people to do for a weekend with cheap ryanair flights and can always get a train to Vienna or Budapest easily.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 18-04-2021 5:56pm

Colombia is a great place to visit, but suffers from a very bad reputation.

18-04-2021 5:56pm

notsoyoungwan wrote: »

Yeah like I said, I felt a constant threat there and was afraid. I’ve travelled solo quite a bit and haven’t had a similar experience anywhere, though I don’t tend to go off the beaten track much. But in Istanbul it really was horrendous. Three days in we cut our losses and got out of there before something bad happened. I’ve never ever even remotely considered that anywhere else I’ve been.

The ‘hard sell’ I referred to was so different to the “oh special price for you, lovely lady” patter you get in markets elsewhere, it was being brought to a shop I hadn’t asked to be brought to, being ushered in without any explanation, the door closed behind me and two men there pressuring me to buy and speaking among themselves presumably about me, with no obvious means of exit for me as the taxi driver was blocking the door, and a general seedy/creepy vibe in the atmosphere.

My sister's kept getting sexually harassed and assaulted every night.

According to some on here they were probably overreacting to having being grabbed all over their body on a nightly basis.

18-04-2021 6:04pm

Probably not too underrated anymore, but Montenegro is a great place to holiday.
Same as Croatia and quarter the price.
Kotor Bay is one of my favourite places, beautiful.

Das Reich · 18-04-2021 6:08pm

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Colombia is a great place to visit, but suffers from a very bad reputation.

It is not "bad reputation" and any statistic figures proves that.

bubblypop wrote: »

I spent a lot of time in Istanbul, I'm a single woman but I didn't get any of that behaviour at all.
The 'hard sell' is something everybody gets in Turkey, if you just ignore it, it stops, you don't have to engage. I have spent days walking around markets and a simple headshake was enough for them to ignore you!
I never felt any fear and I have stayed in the city as a single woman.
Coastal resorts are much worse and not somewhere I would go to as a single woman, unless you were just planning on staying in a hotel for the whole time.
Friend of mine is very dark, actually looks foreign and not at all Irish, she doesn't get a second of hassle, she's totally ignored

It's a pity you didn't like Istanbul, I think it's an amazing city with so much to do and see.

She is definately not darker than me, 1,90 metre big muscled Brazilian man with beard. And you know what? Was follow by some insistent man.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 18-04-2021 7:00pm

Das Reich wrote: »

It is not "bad reputation" and any statistic figures proves that.

It has a worse reputation than other countries in the region which are equally dangerous, or have a similarly violent history.

18-04-2021 7:08pm

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

It has a worse reputation than other countries in the region which are equally dangerous, or have a similarly violent history.

It's like comparing Ted Bundy to John Wayne Gacy.

Did you smash it · 18-04-2021 7:11pm

Salisbury for it’s cathedral

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 18-04-2021 7:11pm

Deleted User wrote: »

It's like comparing Ted Bundy to John Wayne Gacy.

Brazil, for instance, has a higher homicide rate than Colombia. Peru is a country that a vicious civil war like Colombia. But Colombia's reputation is much worse than either of them. Funnily enough, when I first came to Colombia older Irish people were appalled and younger people didn't know anything about the place. That changed because of a certain Netflix show.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 18-04-2021 7:12pm

I agree with the people mentioning Korea here. There's a lot to see there, but it doesn't seem to get so many tourists.

Zaney · 18-04-2021 7:22pm

Hamsterchops wrote: »

Wales.

... and it's on our doorstep.

We’ve nearly booked to go to Wales many times, but have never found good value accommodation. Doesn’t help that we’ve kids and are restricted to school holidays and we can’t go away in July because of my husband’s work. Any suggestions?

pauliebdub · 18-04-2021 7:30pm

Deleted User wrote: »

My sister's said the same. Sounds like a horrible country.

Your sister is right the harassment is a real nuisance and it occurred frequently while I was there. There was also a bit of an edge about the place as it was around the time of the attempted coup. Stunning city but I wouldn't go back.

NSAman · 18-04-2021 7:31pm

Internationally, Istanbul. I love the city, it’s a shame Irdogan is there but as a city it’s like New York in Asia. La Digue in Seychelles paradise with nothing there except beaches and beauty. Rwanda in Africa. Fantastic country, beautiful and the people are wonderful. Seoul Korea, while the business district is dead after hours, the side streets,,,,wow!

At home, Caherciveen just love the calmness the local walks the beaches, quieter than Waterville and less tourists that portmagee, it also has a sense of community.

pauliebdub · 18-04-2021 7:37pm

snowstorm445 wrote: »

Valencia in Spain is a lovely city, far less busy than Barcelona, filled with history, and very walkable.

Great call. It's a fabulous city that doesn't get a huge number of visitors like Barcelona or Madrid but I think it's nicer than either. Malaga is another great underrated city, many people fly to Malaga and completely skip the town in favour of the resort's.