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

G_R · 05-02-2013 03:44AM

the Seychelles are amazing. Utterly breathtaking. There is a nature reserve on either Praslin or La Digue island (I can't remember which) and I have never been to a more peaceful or beautiful place.

The beaches are just the definition of what a perfect beach should be, the diving is fantastic, the scenery is amazing (coming into land looks like the scene from King Kong where they see the island for the first time) the locals are friendly and once you get there it's incredibly good value for money.

I will definitely have to return there at some point in my life.

snotboogie · 05-02-2013 04:05AM

Captain Graphite wrote: »

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.

If, and its a big if, you avoid the pollution during your trip to Beijing, I'd say it destroys Shanghai as a tourist destination. The Forbidden City and the Great Wall are two of the most impressive tourist sites I have ever visited, Tienanmen and the Olympic area are great too. The nightlife is also far more centralized, the prices are more reasonable, the people are far nicer and the food is better. You could make a point for Shanghai being a more livable city but as a tourist destination Beijing has far more to see and do. Also dont get a black taxi and you'll be fine and even at that your only taking a maximum €2 loss....

Recommended from me:
Hong Kong: Perfect mix of East and West, feels like a genuine combination of London, New York and Mainland China. Great weather, English friendly with world class food and nightlife at reasonable prices.
Vegas: Does what it says on the tin.

Not Recommended:
Singapore: Want to spend €15 for a beer in sweltering 35c humidity with no sun? Go to Singapore
Milan: Sells itself as Italy's answer to Paris or Barcelona, in reality its dirty and industrial.

Oranage2 · 05-02-2013 08:12AM

South India.

I couldn't unrecommend that country enough!

DainBramage · 05-02-2013 08:20AM

Berlin and Munich are both great cities well worth checking out. Hamburg kind of sucks though.

Didn't like Copenhagen either, expensive and kind of grim. Maybe its nicer in summer.

CruelCoin · 05-02-2013 09:30AM

Places i've been:

Wales x 1
Scotland x 1
England x 2
Portugal x 1
Spain x 4
France x 2
Belgium x 1
Holland x 20+
Germany x 2
Switzerland x 2
Austria x 1
Italy x 4
The Ukraine x 2
Russia x 1
Tunisia x 1
Kenya x 4
Egypt x 5
The Gambia x 1
The USA x 3
Cuba x 1
Dubai x 1
Malaysia x 1
Thailand x 1
New Zealand x 1
Australia x 1

I would recommend them all OP.

Franticfrank · 05-02-2013 09:30AM

Ended up visiting the small Romanian town of Făgăraș. Not recommended. Hotel came complete with a shoilet (though that speeded things up in the morning, it was quite unpleasant), a techno "discoteque" right across the road blaring music all night and wild rabies infected dogs that roamed the streets. Horrendous place...only good point was that the hotel cost €5 per night.

BillyMitchel · 05-02-2013 09:46AM

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.

Agreed! The place is insane. I seen a monkey trying to rape one of the natives who was selling photos with it. This monkey was the size of a toddler!!

Did manage to get some nice hash though!

Assassin saphir · 05-02-2013 09:55AM

Recommend
Barbados-stunning best hol ever
Berlin-so much to do great city
Madrid-great night life and food, avoid in Aug 40c
Fuerteventura-great wind swept beaches
London
Nord see islands

Avoid
Majorca
Gran Canaria
Hamburg

BraziliaNZ · 05-02-2013 10:55AM

This is basically a big **** fest of a thread. Does anyone really give a sh*t where anyone's been or what their opinion is of these places? No I don't think so.

Aglomerado · 05-02-2013 10:58AM

Shryker wrote: »

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.

I'm off to Krakow next week, and this is a must-see for me.
I love Amsterdam too, really fun city.

The Black Sea coastal resorts in Bulgaria (Golden Sands, Sunny Beach) are a bit meh, but the surrounding areas and cities (Nessebar, Varna) are gorgeous.

leonidas83 · 05-02-2013 11:45AM

For nightlife the best cities I’ve been to have been London, Budapest, Edinburgh, Ibiza. All great craic, proper clubs & bars. Loads of places to go.

For culture the best were Rome, Paris, Mexico City, Cairo. Had the best museums, historic artifacts, monuments I’ve ever come across. Could spend days & days walking around & learning about them

The nicest & friendliest places were Phuket, Stockholm, Poznan. People were extremely down to earth & willing to help you with anything.

Dullest & most forgettable places would have to be Zurich, Fuerterventura, Alicante. Very little to do day to day, people were a little on the dry side.

Places where I got the most hassle from the locals, Egypt, (both Cairo & Hurghada), Cancun, Bangkok, don’t know when to take no for an answer, especially Egpyt, for a finish you’d feel like telling them to f**k off.

Best places overall would have to be NYC, Mexico City, Edinburgh & Budapest. Would go back to those places in a hearbeat

ronjo · 05-02-2013 11:55AM

Parsandeman wrote: »

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

I was in Uzbekistan working about 10 years ago and it was the longest 19 days of my life....... I would certainly avoid that region.

seenitall · 05-02-2013 05:08PM

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

This is basically a big **** fest of a thread. Does anyone really give a sh*t where anyone's been or what their opinion is of these places? No I don't think so.

Well, I do. Following the thread for some light reading and future travel/destination tips, if you kindly don't mind that is. :rolleyes:

BraziliaNZ · 05-02-2013 05:15PM

seenitall wrote: »

Well, I do. Following the thread for some light reading and future travel/destination tips, if you kindly don't mind that is. :rolleyes:

It's been doing about 100 times! And yes I do mind, so stop it.

leonidas83 · 05-02-2013 05:20PM

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

It's been doing about 100 times! And yes I do mind, so stop it.

buddy your under no obligation to keep reading the thread, if you dont like it, your free to leave, people that go to the bother of posting that a thread is rubbish, its a bit sad tbh

smurgen · 05-02-2013 05:28PM

as far as small towns Annecy in France is unreal,so is Florence in Italy. As far a big ones- Paris is a sh1thole, L.A is and so is NY. San Diago is class,Las Vegas is good also and London is my favourite big city.

Katy89 · 05-02-2013 05:31PM

worst place I'v ever been was egypt. maybe it was due to us being backpackers, any organised traveling might be ok.
problem was the constant hassle from the locals. for money or just for fun. and we could feel the underlying hate many locals send off towards us tourists.

a few weeks after our visit there was the massacre of tourists at the temple of hatshepsut and the bombing of a tourist bus in front of the kairo national museum...

Balmed Out · 05-02-2013 05:37PM

Katy89 wrote: »

worst place I'v ever been was egypt. maybe it was due to us being backpackers, any organised traveling might be ok.
problem was the constant hassle from the locals. for money or just for fun. and we could feel the underlying hate many locals send off towards us tourists.

a few weeks after our visit there was the massacre of tourists at the temple of hatshepsut and the bombing of a tourist bus in front of the kairo national museum...

That would have been 2000? I spent 5 weeks backpacking around it he next year and loved it and the people. True about the hecklers but not everywhere and not as bad as say India.

leonidas83 · 05-02-2013 05:38PM

Katy89 wrote: »

worst place I'v ever been was egypt. maybe it was due to us being backpackers, any organised traveling might be ok.
problem was the constant hassle from the locals. for money or just for fun. and we could feel the underlying hate many locals send off towards us tourists.

a few weeks after our visit there was the massacre of tourists at the temple of hatshepsut and the bombing of a tourist bus in front of the kairo national museum...

yes i fully agree, its a beautiful country in some ways but they've got to get much better at how they handle tourists. I felt that underlying sense of hate too, maybe I was just being paranoid but it turned me off the middle east altogether

Katy89 · 05-02-2013 05:52PM

Balmed Out wrote: »

That would have been 2000? I spent 5 weeks backpacking around it he next year and loved it and the people. True about the hecklers but not everywhere and not as bad as say India.

was 1997.
I truly believe there are always worse places to go, it was our experience to that day and my response to the OP.

theRB · 05-02-2013 09:29PM

Saudi Arabia is a crazy place, felt surprisingly safe there though. Actually enjoyed it a lot.

Peregrine · 05-02-2013 09:29PM

Hmm, I wasn't actually born in Ireland so... bar from home countries:

Switzerland - It was all beautiful but there's nothing that makes me wanna go back there.
Dubai - One of the best cities I've been to. Given the choice, I would live there.
Bahrain - It's typically Middle Eastern but there's once again, nothing special. It's gone to the dogs recently too.

People seem to have covered the rest

THEZAPPA · 06-02-2013 10:26PM

Places I recommend:
Portugal-lovely place, quiet and cheap

Fuerteventra-been there a few times now on cheap holidays, it's a nice getaway

Pitsburgh-went when I was young and loved it

New orleans-went back in 1999 so yeah..

Ohio-lovely place

Canada-simply beautiful

murcia, spain-very quiet buy enjoyable

Luxembourg-gorgeous place but I didn't care much for the people

Belgium-expensive and wasn't planning on actually having a holiday there but had to after what happened at pukkelpop what with the storm. Still had a great time

Lanzarote-my choice for sun holidays, although last time I was there it wasn't the best

France-great cheese and lots to see and do

Ibiza-good when you are young although we weren't staying on the clubbing side of the island but rather the family side. So it was nice and quiet

Mallorca-pretty place and Cheap. Lots of stray cats that are always friendly

I would not recommend:
Morocco- I had a horrible time there. I was simply harassed, my family were offered money, camels for me and I was 11 at the time. Lots of ruin down areas with very poor people around. Ended up staying in hotel room the whole 2 weeks as I couldn't hack it.

Places on my to-go to list:
Seattle-going there in a few weeks

Sweden

Japan

China

Canada-again

New Zealand

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

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