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Most boring places you've visited

snowstorm445

While we're all reminiscing about places we'd like to go back to after COVID subsides, is there anywhere you've been to that you found totally forgettable?

My own contender is Hannover in Germany - stopped there once out of curiosity on the way from Amsterdam to Berlin and I was pretty familiar with the name from history etc. Apart from an impressive city hall, and some nice palace gardens outside the city (pretty modest by German standards though), it was basically just filled with shopping streets. A few Germans I've talked to since told me it's a big hub for people travelling around Germany by train, but there's pretty much nothing there. And like a lot of German cities, it's historic parts were gutted by bombing in the war, and only some reconstructed facades remain.

Closer to home, I was in Sligo for the first time about two years ago. The county is lovely (Ben Bulben, Strandhill etc.) but Sligo town is pretty unremarkable tbh. Not shockingly boring, but not very memorable either. Plenty of Midland towns have a reputation for being fairly forgettable as well, but then that's fairly well known. :pac:

Any other nominations?

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Phat Cat

gmisk wrote: »

Oh I would also be tempted to change my answer to Bratislava...nothing to do...dreary....dour people, cheap beer was about only positive.

Porklife wrote: »

I agree with Bratislava. I remember ordering baked fish and potatoes in some dank restaurant and being handed a full fish on a plate with a dollop of cold potato salad by some sourpuss waitress.

Another vote for Bratislava, aside from the Old Town and Castle, which are nice for a day visit, there is literally nothing else to do there. It's very rundown, the people are dull and depressing plus the national past time seems to be ripping tourists off at every opportunity.

[Deleted User]

Sam Quentin wrote: »

Funniest post/reply of this thread :pac:

For a daily mail reader, perhaps.

[Deleted User]

snowstorm445 wrote: »

Honestly I can't think of any ferry town that I've been to which felt memorable. Larne in Northern Ireland, Troon in Scotland, Roscoff in France - they were all pretty dull as far as I can remember.

I suppose Dun Laoghaire is an exception but I've never taken a ferry from there and I think they stopped running it a few years ago?

You'd think Holyhead would embrace an opportunity where there is potentially one. To market itseld as a destination for Irish weekend trippers/hens and stags.

Instead they seem to detest everything about us.

Sheep Shagger

Luxembourg- no wonder 400k people commute in and out daily for work.

Everything is expensive there too as everything is imported.

Kaybaykwah

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Luxembourg- no wonder 400k people commute in and out daily for work.

Everything is expensive there too as everything is imported.

None of the "natives, lol" want you to stick around.

LawBoy2018

Mad_maxx wrote: »

sounds like Knock without the tinkers ?

This made me lol.

Porklife

The idea of lockdown in Warsaw makes me shudder. What a ****hole full of miserable looking people and horrible food. There's nothing to do and even the old town is just a facade. Our airbnb host was drinking vodka in the apartment with his mates when we arrived to get the keys. He offered us some and got really offended and borderline aggressive when we said no thanks so we ended up joining him and his mates in a bizzare session.
I remember the atmosphere being so tense and I worried we wouldn't get out alive!

fryup

I see sheep wrote: »

Perth is very boring. And full of Australians

personally i loved it, lovely skyline, clean for the most part, great transport system and great beaches with Cottesloe being my favourite

btw - is The Brass Money still going??

Witchie

4Ad wrote: »

I was only in Kerala..wouldn't be rushing back to India, noise and dirt.
Veggie food was lovely..dhosas for breakfast, hmmm !!

Kerala is beautiful but disgustingly dirty.

Hamachi wrote: »

I’m afraid I don’t know anybody who really loved India. I have an acquaintance who wanted to go there for his entire life, so much so that he took a 6-month sabbatical from work to really explore.

He had great plans to get immersed in Yoga retreats and visit the holy cities like Varanasi. Not only was he robbed of his belongings, he also had the misfortune to contract typhoid and was forced to return to Ireland after a few months to recuperate. Left him feeling very disillusioned with the place.

I’ve never had any desire to visit India, but I work in an industry in which India is a crucial player. I’ve been to Bangalore, which as another poster mentioned, is awful. Hyderabad is slightly better, but I’d happily never set foot there again. Indians are mostly fine, but I always feel very uncomfortable with how deferential they are because I’m European. I’ve also seen the caste system in action in the workplace. One of the most talented engineers was from the Dalit or ‘untouchable’ caste. The way his ostensibly higher caste colleagues treated him, was simply disgusting.

I’ve heard that Southern India, particularly Goa is supposed to be quite pleasant. Frankly, I have no interest in going back there to discover for myself. The squalor, filth, and poverty I’ve seen with my own eyes is not something I wish to experience again.

My sister and her husband love India. They have been twice and last time they bought a motorbike and travelled around.

They can't understand how I hate it. Even Goa, which is beautiful is so dirty. I just hate the dirt and overcrowded feeling. Being followed in shops having things shoved in my face, tuktuk drivers slowing down beside me shouting at me even though have told 4 other drivers seconds before that I don't want one, no sense of personal space etc. The noise. It's just too much chaos.

luketitz wrote: »

I normally try and make some kinda fun happen wherever I go and don't bore easily but have been obliged to visit Penang for 3/4 days on various visa runs over the years and it's an incredibly dull place.

The Indian/Chinese food is its only saving grace.

They even have Asia's only Guinness brewery, and that's not even fun.

I love Penang. Wandering around Georgetown looking at the street art, going to the Chew Jetty and seeing living history all over the place. Fascinating place. Then taking the funicular train up Penang hill and watching the monkeys and lizards. Stunning views.

Muah wrote:

-Malaysia and especially Kuala Lumper I found boring though that was probably because having just come from a month of hedonism in Thailand anything would be boring. We stayed on the Perhentian Islands and they wouldnt serve us beer after 10pm so we didnt stay long. A few people have said Singpore but I loved it for 3 days after the bore that was Malaysia.

I get you. I was the opposite. I came to KL from months in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal and felt like a relief to be in a "real" place again. Less noise, chaos and dirt. I'll in love with it and consider it home. But as a tourist city it's not the best. There are a few great things like the Batu Caves, the Botanical Gardens and of course, as I call them, my babies, the Petronas Towers. Shopping, food, nightlife and climate are amazing. Friendliest people, almost all speaking good English and with an almost Irish sense of humour.

It's like Singapore only has more soul, not a rip off and people enjoy the craic.

whisky_galore

Muahahaha wrote: »

Milan, once youve had your strict 15 minutes to view da Vincis Last Supper theres really is feck all else to do. We were so bored we got tickets for the famous La Scala Opera House but because it was an opera that was boring too.

What did you expect at an opera?
A magic show and midgets riding motorbikes in a wall of death?

Brian?

Witchie wrote: »

Kerala is beautiful but disgustingly dirty.

My sister and her husband love India. They have been twice and last time they bought a motorbike and travelled around.

They can't understand how I hate it. Even Goa, which is beautiful is so dirty. I just hate the dirt and overcrowded feeling. Being followed in shops having things shoved in my face, tuktuk drivers slowing down beside me shouting at me even though have told 4 other drivers seconds before that I don't want one, no sense of personal space etc. The noise. It's just too much chaos.

I love Penang. Wandering around Georgetown looking at the street art, going to the Chew Jetty and seeing living history all over the place. Fascinating place. Then taking the funicular train up Penang hill and watching the monkeys and lizards. Stunning views.

I get you. I was the opposite. I came to KL from months in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal and felt like a relief to be in a "real" place again. Less noise, chaos and dirt. I'll in love with it and consider it home. But as a tourist city it's not the best. There are a few great things like the Batu Caves, the Botanical Gardens and of course, as I call them, my babies, the Petronas Towers. Shopping, food, nightlife and climate are amazing. Friendliest people, almost all speaking good English and with an almost Irish sense of humour.

It's like Singapore only has more soul, not a rip off and people enjoy the craic.

I completely agree about Malaysia. My favourite country in Asia. KL is a great city, it's a real melting pot of cultures.

Penang is a great spot too.

new92

Ajo, Arizona. Some cool architecture from the old West days, pioneers, mexican/spanish and other than that there's absolutely nothing there.
A fun experience for a grand total of 15 seconds.

Cosmo Kramer

I've read the whole thread so I might as well chime in with my own ones. Most boring would be:

Copenhagen - very bland for a capital city. Reminded me of Dublin in that it was a largely expensive, dull and ugly place but you got the impression the locals had notions and really rated it for reasons I couldn't understand. I did at least feel safer there than you would in parts of Dublin, to be fair.

St. Gallen, Switzerland - like all of Switzerland it was mind-blowingly expensive, but once you had visited the church and library there was honestly nothing else to do.

Milwaukee - a deserted downtown with a rundown appearance that didn't feel too safe late at night - to be fair there are probably loads of US cities like it but Milwaukee is one I have experienced first hand.

Valletta - for a European capital city there just seemed to be little of interest at all.

I usually love to visit new places but those ones stick out as ones where I seemed to have more time than needed to see the places of interest, which almost never happens.

I've been to some of the others listed on this thread - Malmö, Vienna, Brussels and Bratislava have all come up a few times. None of those four were spectacular but I enjoyed my visits to each of them.

In the interests of balance places like Chicago, Rome, Krakow, Bruges, Prague and obviously New York I found to be fantastic and would return to tomorrow if I could.

Glasgow, which has also been mentioned, is where I live. It's a great city to live in but it probably wouldn't be the first place I'd recommend for a city break, it's better as a place to immerse yourself in for a longer period than as a weekend destination I think. Although the shopping and night life are both excellent if that's what you're after.

As for Ireland my usual advice to visitors is that if you ever find yourself more than 20 miles from the coast, you're probably not somewhere that you would ever particularly want to be.

Being honest, our built environment is mostly poor almost everywhere, so the 20 mile thing is mainly because almost all of our natural scenery and attractions are within 20 miles of the sea.

As for the Galway thing, I actually think Galway is a contradiction by Irish standards. Most coastal counties have beautiful scenery, but the towns and cities are a bit drab. Galway as a town/city I actually quite like apart from the traffic, mainly because the centre has a positive, lively atmosphere almost all year round that most towns lack. But I think the city actually does a lot of heavy lifting for the rest of the county, which is actually surprisingly drab compared to most counties along the western seaboard - towns like Tuam, Headford and Ballinasloe seem particularly depressing by Irish standards and the coastal scenery is strangely bland compared to other coastal counties - Kerry, Clare, Mayo, Sligo etc.

cagefactor

Bad Boyo wrote: »

Lockdown life must be like living in strict Muslim country. No drinking, no fun, no music etc.

I did 9 months in Riyadh, was grand, nothing much to do (apart from walking the shopping malls) but really can become a food connoisseur due the large amount of great restaurants - cheap to super expensive.

Lockdown life is worse than strict muslim countries imho.

Hulk Hands

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

As for the Galway thing, I actually think Galway is a contradiction by Irish standards. Most coastal counties have beautiful scenery, but the towns and cities are a bit drab. Galway as a town/city I actually quite like apart from the traffic, mainly because the centre has a positive, lively atmosphere almost all year round that most towns lack. But I think the city actually does a lot of heavy lifting for the rest of the county, which is actually surprisingly drab compared to most counties along the western seaboard - towns like Tuam, Headford and Ballinasloe seem particularly depressing by Irish standards and the coastal scenery is strangely bland compared to other coastal counties - Kerry, Clare, Mayo, Sligo etc.

While I definitely agree on the drabness of those towns mentioned and much of east Galway in general, I find that people exclude Conemara as if it's its own entity when talking about Galway county. Surely the scenery there holds its own with anything in Mayo and Sligo at least. Technically if you're including Achill in discussions you should be including the Aran Islands also. I think Donegal beats everything for scenery personally

Definitely agree with your point about Copenhagen as a destination. Expensive and dull are apt

Many US cities are quite boring in the normal sense due to their layout. I found that moreso on the west coast, LA and San Diego in particular. Chicago and obviously NY in contrast seem to have a great buzz and energy.

ZX7R

Hajuenau alsace in France borning boring boring,
best part of that trip was the taxi drive to the airport across the border in Germany, taxi driver told great stories about the War and
How German troops constructed the road so straight as it could be used as runway during the cold war.

EmmetSpiceland

Hulk Hands wrote: »

While I definitely agree on the drabness of those towns mentioned and much of east Galway in general, I find that people exclude Conemara as if it's its own entity when talking about Galway county. Surely the scenery there holds its own with anything in Mayo and Sligo at least. Technically if you're including Achill in discussions you should be including the Aran Islands also.

I think the “issue” with Connemara is more to do with its inhabitants than the scenery. A dark, scowling, people.

Mistrusting of “outsiders” so don’t turn your back on them. And be sure to avoid investigating and thin streams of smoke you see rising up behind any hills you pass, the last thing you want is some moonshiner hunting you down.

Stick to the main roads and enjoy the “sights” but head back to civilisation before it gets dark.

breezy1985

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

I think the “issue” with Connemara is more to do with its inhabitants than the scenery. A dark, scowling, people.

Mistrusting of “outsiders” so don’t turn your back on them. And be sure to avoid investigating and thin streams of smoke you see rising up behind any hills you pass, the last thing you want is some moonshiner hunting you down.

Stick to the main roads and enjoy the “sights” but head back to civilisation before it gets dark.

Poitin distiller it's the Wild Atlantic Way not the Wild West. The Clare hills have been known to have a few too

Muahahaha

breezy1985 wrote: »

Milan on a Sunday was the biggest ghost town I've seen. It's cultural I think and they just don't work on Sunday even the corner shops and cafes. Even after the match in the San Siro the place was dead

We were in Milan just walking the city early on a Sunday morning and yeah it was like an absolute ghost town- except for one thing- models and photographers out doing fashion shoots up against classical buildings. We saw about four or five modelling shoots within a few hundred metres, they must always do it early Sunday morning to avoid crowds because there was no one else about.

[Deleted User]

AdrianBalboa wrote: »

Honestly as someone born and raised in SoCoDu I never really got the appeal of visiting “down the country.” Like it’s just fields and that horrible smell from those fat cylindrical bags of plastics and their accents oh my god they’re terrible.

I prefer to “staycate” within the confines of County Dublin where there’s actually things to see and do and some actual history.

There’s probably history down the country. I’ve heard tales of castles.

EmmetSpiceland

breezy1985 wrote: »

Poitin distiller it's the Wild Atlantic Way not the Wild West. The Clare hills have been known to have a few too

Apologies, if these are your “people” but it’s not like they’re the guys who built the railroads here. They’re illicit distillers, or smugglers, of liquor. Moonshiner fits the “bill” quite well.

Sure, I’ll drink their “hooch” but I’d prefer to procure it from a middleman, if it’s all the same to you.

wpd

anywhere in Ireland over priced food and drink, crap weather, drunks everywhere, dirt and litter thrown all around

screamer

Inis bloody mor. Stuck there on a school day trip and unless you wanted to cycle to dun aonghus there was literally sfa to see or do except will away the time till the ferry arrived to bring us back.

NSAman

screamer wrote: »

Inis bloody mor. Stuck there on a school day trip and unless you wanted to cycle to dun aonghus there was literally sfa to see or do except will away the time till the ferry arrived to bring us back.

See this is why play-stations ruined the world..:)

Mister Vain

I thought Rome was boring. Sights like The Colosseum are actually very underwhelming when you see them up close. Apart from the pizza the food is horrible.

Lisbon is another dull dreary place.

For Forks Sake

whisky_galore wrote: »

What did you expect at an opera?
A magic show and midgets riding motorbikes in a wall of death?

[Deleted User]

Mister Vain wrote: »

I thought Rome was boring. Sights like The Colosseum are actually very underwhelming when you see them up close. Apart from the pizza the food is horrible.

Lisbon is another dull dreary place.

Jaysis..........

[Deleted User]

Mister Vain wrote: »

I thought Rome was boring. Sights like The Colosseum are actually very underwhelming when you see them up close. Apart from the pizza the food is horrible.

Lisbon is another dull dreary place.

All this post is wrong.

chosen1

Mister Vain wrote: »

I thought Rome was boring. Sights like The Colosseum are actually very underwhelming when you see them up close. Apart from the pizza the food is horrible.

Lisbon is another dull dreary place.

Ah here!

For Forks Sake

Mister Vain wrote: »

I thought Rome was boring. Sights like The Colosseum are actually very underwhelming when you see them up close. Apart from the pizza the food is horrible.

Lisbon is another dull dreary place.