Most boring places you've visited

snowstorm445 · 09-04-2021 9:42pm #1

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?

Gregor Samsa · 09-04-2021 9:54pm

snowstorm445 wrote: »

is there anywhere you've been to that you found totally forgettable?

None that I can remember.

Andrewf20 · 09-04-2021 10:10pm

The state of Texas. Considering its size, there is almost nothing in it. Some of the cities are nice like San Antonio but its a fews hours drive through totally flat plains between cities.

Dallas was a particularly banal place. I drove up on a Sunday and it was like a ghost town. Like alot of american cities, there no shops downtown. Its more a business district. At one point, I was standing on the block corner & took a photo up a few blocks without a single person in view in the heart of the city.

Heres what it was like, almost no cars or people out walking:

bigar · 09-04-2021 11:03pm

Most boring was a very long stretch of road that all American Petrolheads and Bikers regard see as the holy grail: Route 66. There is nothing to see or do for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

Dr. Bre · 09-04-2021 11:04pm

Singabore

Balmed Out · 09-04-2021 11:06pm

Andrewf20 wrote: »

The state of Texas. Considering its size, there is almost nothing in it. Some of the cities are nice like San Antonio but its a fews hours drive through totally flat plains between cities

Houston, Austin, San Antonio all great cities but get what you mean though think Australia a better example of this.

dd973 · 09-04-2021 11:26pm

Westbury in Wiltshire for two weeks, God it was dull.

FintanMcluskey · 09-04-2021 11:28pm

Stoke-on-Trent

Never seen the likes

09-04-2021 11:32pm

Amsterdam

GT89 · 09-04-2021 11:33pm

Galway last summer during covid restrictions utter bore fest only went there because my OH wouldn't go on a foreign holiday. Other places that stuck as very boring were Roscoff in France, Berlin and Manchester.

Uncle Mclovin · 09-04-2021 11:34pm

Enniskillen.

GT89 · 09-04-2021 11:35pm

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is also very boring one street with a supermarket, a train station and a shop selling tourist tat.

jmlad2020 · 09-04-2021 11:36pm

Dortmund is up there.

I also found Howth to be incredibly underwhelming when I visited... I grew up on the west coast, beautiful scenery etc.. I just thought it didn't deserve the amount of Tourists it was getting in comparison to some other places in Ireland.

It's all personal preference.

Gamergurll · 09-04-2021 11:39pm

GT89 wrote: »

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is also very boring one street with a supermarket, a train station and a shop selling tourist tat.

No one wants to live there, they would never remember how to spell their own address!

BanditLuke · 09-04-2021 11:43pm

Ireland : Salthill

Europe : Stockholm

UK : Norwich

America : Buffalo

Australia : Perth

Asia : Osaka

alchemist33 · 09-04-2021 11:46pm

Ipswich. On a visit to London I spent a night with a friend out in the sticks. We went to the cinema and I have never seen more dead streets outside of a zombie film.

Oh, and Holyhead. If you're overnighting there before the ferry home, get in as late as you can.

Del.Monte · 09-04-2021 11:47pm

The Corlea Trackway in County Longford is without doubt the most boring place I ever set foot in. https://heritageireland.ie/places-to-visit/corlea-trackway-visitor-centre/

I see sheep · 09-04-2021 11:49pm

BanditLuke wrote: »

Ireland : Salthill

Europe : Stockholm

UK : Norwich

America : Buffalo

Australia : Perth

Asia : Osaka

Perth is very boring. And full of Australians

joeysoap · 09-04-2021 11:49pm

Derby deserves a mention.

Lewis_Benson · 09-04-2021 11:50pm

snowstorm445 wrote: »

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?

I get you with sligo town, I was there for a couple of nights in 2007, its got nothing going for it.
Out around Rosses Point etc is lovely though.

smokie72 · 09-04-2021 11:51pm

boards.ie

Lewis_Benson · 09-04-2021 11:51pm

We used to pass through Clonmellon on the way to Belfast years ago, talk about a place with nothing in it.

EmmetSpiceland · 09-04-2021 11:52pm

Malmö.

Holyhead wasn’t great either. Thankfully, wasn’t stuck there for too long.

Roadtoad · 09-04-2021 11:54pm

Boring, Oregon.

I win.

Porklife · 09-04-2021 11:56pm

Unless you're into surfing, I found San Diego really boring.

Got stuck in Oslo on my own one New Years eve and couldn't wait to leave. There's nothing to do and a pint cost about 12 euro in a soulless bar. Even the Christmas markets were lame.

Often though a place is what you make of it and who you're with, your frame of mind and general disposition plays a part too. Anywhere can be interesting if youre with the right person or in a happy mood. Anywhere except Oslo..that place just sucks!

castletownman · 09-04-2021 11:57pm

Medjugorje.

Only a whistle-stop visit out of pilgrimage season on the way to Mostar, but it just seemed void of anything to do apart from commercialised Catholic merchandise shops. I know a few people who go over every year (in normal times), and I just cannot see how you could stay any longer than the length of a mass there.

I was impressed by the toilets at the grotto though.

jayjay2010 · 10-04-2021 12:04am

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

None that I can remember.

...I see what you did there

For me, Holyhead. Pretty sure we went there on a Sunday and everything was closed..... even the bloody beach!! Ended up sitting in a pub all day waiting for the return ferry to Ireland. Awful trip.

My other half would say Ottawa was boring. Personally, I liked it, absolutely spotless and pleasant to walk through. Not much going on there though. We did end up in a nice Irish bar in the end.

silliussoddius · 10-04-2021 12:06am

I see sheep wrote: »

Perth is very boring. And full of Australians

Ah now Cottesloe

Fr Tod Umptious · 10-04-2021 12:06am

BanditLuke wrote: »

Ireland : Salthill

Europe : Stockholm

UK : Norwich

America : Buffalo

Australia : Perth

Asia : Osaka

Salthill used to be lively on Thursday night back in the '80s and '90s.

I'd agree with you on Buffalo, the downtown area has not much going for it.
But that's pretty much the same with a lot of midsized US cities as you head away from the older places on the coast.

GT89 · 10-04-2021 12:12am

alchemist33 wrote: »

Ipswich. On a visit to London I spent a night with a friend out in the sticks. We went to the cinema and I have never seen more dead streets outside of a zombie film.

Oh, and Holyhead. If you're overnighting there before the ferry home, get in as late as you can.

Saying Holyhead is just boring is being very fair. It's an absolute sh1thole.

Sharpyshoot · 10-04-2021 12:15am

COVID test centre Limerick.

indioblack · 10-04-2021 12:18am

dd973 wrote: »

Westbury in Wiltshire for two weeks, God it was dull.

You might want to stay there to use it as a base to visit more interesting parts of the county - but not for the town itself. It's one of those old market towns that has been changed by increased population and housing estates. Wasn't so bad 40 odd years ago when it was a reasonable size - even had a cinema back in the day. Ruined by the horrendous volume of traffic passing through.
Bratton Castle, [The White Horse], the Iron Age hill fort, is about the only reason I'd go there now. So many of the old market towns in the district have been blighted by housing estates and traffic.

Larbre34 · 10-04-2021 12:20am

I'll be shot for this, but..........New Zealand.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

standardg60 · 10-04-2021 12:21am

Uncle Mclovin wrote: »

Enniskillen.

Second that, built a whole cruising trip up upon finishing there and it was complete sh1te, closed at 1am and everyone went home, had more fun in Lisbellaw.

NI in general is no craic at all, which in fairness is understandable.

Holyhead though, i've no sympathy for anyone waiting for anything other than the ferry blowing the horn for the return trip.

Hamachi · 10-04-2021 12:27am

Porklife wrote: »

Got stuck in Oslo on my own one New Years eve and couldn't wait to leave. There's nothing to do and a pint cost about 12 euro in a soulless bar. Even the Christmas markets were lame.

...Anywhere except Oslo..that place just sucks!

Have to agree with this. I spent two weeks on my own in Oslo with work several years ago. It’s one of the most sterile cities I’ve ever visited. It honestly felt like being in purgatory.

I was so bored by the middle of the second week I practically begged one of the Norwegians in the office to go drinking with me. We ended up pretty wasted in a nightclub. My credit card bill was horrendous after deciding that we needed shots to get the night going. Still it was worth it as a temporary break from the tedium.

johnnykilo · 10-04-2021 12:30am

The two places that spring to mind are

1) Brussels: horrible people and apart from the Grand Place and that big atom shaped building there basically nothing else to see there, unless you fancy being served Belgian Beer by rude, disinterested staff.

2) Podgorica, capital of Montenegro: Literally nothing of note there. It's actually known as the most boring capital city in Europe/the world, and for good reason. I think 5 of the top 10 things to do on Trip Advisor are rent a taxi because they have the cheapest Taxi's in Europe

Also they seem to have a strong anti-West vibe going on there (think there was a referendum on joining the EU and Russia pumped lots of money in on the no side), I was only there for about 24 hours and twice got verbally abused on the street and in a shopping centre for absolutely no reason. Can't think of anywhere else I've been where anything like that has happened.

monkeysnapper · 10-04-2021 12:30am

alchemist33 wrote: »

Oh, and Holyhead. If you're overnighting there before the ferry home, get in as late as you can.

We missed our ferry in Pembroke in South Wales and it was just as bad ... 12 hours till next ...

But just when you think there's no hope in the world of something interesting happening we went for drive and stopped on side of road watching a small tiny airport resting against a gate.... large man approaches us ..... we thought he was going to clear us.....

We get talking and he offers to take us up in his cesna and we do a flight over Pembroke coast..... it was a local flying school and my wife was in front flying plane on duel controls while I sat in back shyting myself cause I'm afraid of height but wow .... brilliant...!!!

You just never know what genius there is in the most boring place on earth....

Noo · 10-04-2021 12:32am

Larbre34 wrote: »

I'll be shot for this, but..........New Zealand.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Ive been to NZ many times, its so beautiful with so much to do. However, some of the filler towns between all the fabulous places are dull as shìt, so I wont disagree with you.

NSAman · 10-04-2021 12:34am

Eindhoven... to say I was bored is an understatement.

10-04-2021 12:35am

The locals in Holyhead are not keen on Irish folk. Maybe because thousands off us pass through it and some have socialised a bit too much and caused trouble in their bars. Irish folk need to watch their ass in Holyhead.

touts · 10-04-2021 12:38am

Larbre34 wrote: »

I'll be shot for this, but..........New Zealand.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

100% The dullest place on the planet with equally dull people. Only so many mountains you can look at. I'm convinced tourists who go there come back and say how great it was because they don't want to admit to themselves and others that they blew a few grand on a glorified version of the holiday in Father Ted. But I'll say it. I wasted my fecking money.

Mulbert · 10-04-2021 12:39am

Birr, Tullamore, Clara, Ferbane, Edenderry.

10-04-2021 12:40am

Vienna, next level boredom

NSAman · 10-04-2021 12:41am

Mulbert wrote: »

Birr, Tullamore, Clara, Ferbane, Edenderry.

Why not just say Offaly?😀

Mulbert · 10-04-2021 12:42am

NSAman wrote: »

Why not just say Offaly?ðŸ˜€

I wouldn't paint all Offaly people with one brush.

10-04-2021 12:43am

Mulbert wrote: »

I wouldn't paint all Offaly people with one brush.

That’s Offaly nice of you

Hamachi · 10-04-2021 12:44am

Only spent a few days there, but I found Brisbane quite dull when backpacking up the east coast of Australia. We couldn’t really find anything to do there.

The highlight of my stay there was getting the shift off a somewhat rotund English girl in the backpackers hostel. I remember my buddy saying, well you’ll never see her again anyway. Which of course meant that we continually ran into her over the course of the next several months traveling around SE Asia..

khaldrogo · 10-04-2021 12:45am

Cork

Mulbert · 10-04-2021 12:45am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That’s Offaly nice of you

Ah here, there towns let the place down not the people. Right folks!

gmisk · 10-04-2021 12:45am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Vienna, next level boredom

Surprised to see it mentioned, I suppose it depends what you are into.
Some of the best museums and art galleries I have ever been too. Really beautiful especially the hofburg, couple of stunning palaces as well.
It also has some brilliant restaurants.

feargantae · 10-04-2021 12:45am

Athens

A smelly kip of a city with cockroaches at tram stations and plumbing so old you can't flush toilet roll in many buildings. Just a bin beside the toilet full of shıt-covered tissue in 40°C weather

The city peaked thousands of years ago

Most boring places you've visited

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