Most boring places you've visited

Patsy167 · 10-04-2021 8:08am

rossie1977 wrote: »

New Zealand, Vienna, Malmo, Norway, Bratislava... what in the flying f**k are these places being mentioned for

If you find any of them boring that's mostly on you. Queenstown is one of the best towns its size anywhere on Earth and that's just one place in NZ.

A lot of the places being mentioned on the thread fall into the overrated category, rather than outright boring.

Having expectations that are set too high in advance is common. Doing too much research on a place in advance with lonely planet books, reviews, and pictures is a recipe for disappointment.

Best approach is often to do the minimum research needed and be open to anything that turns up

PerryB78 · 10-04-2021 8:20am

Canberra

10-04-2021 8:25am

I love museums, of all sorts, I really do, but the pleasure I get in them withers to inconsequential beside the obsessive passion himself has for them, from the most glorious packed with fascinating treasures to the humblest folkiest establishment. Many is the time I have been reduced to incapacitating boredom after hours spent moving slowly from room to room, so that I have to flee and take refuge sitting alone, spent, impatient, tired, footsore, on hot cobbles in some dusty courtyard waiting for his ecstasies to subside. Christ, have I been bored.

10-04-2021 8:28am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I love museums, of all sorts, I really do, but the pleasure I get in them withers to inconsequential beside the obsessive passion himself has for them, from the most glorious packed with fascinating treasures to the humblest folkiest establishment. Many is the time I have been reduced to incapacitating boredom after hours spent moving slowly from room to room, so that I have to flee and take refuge sitting alone, spent, impatient, tired, footsore, on hot cobbles in some dusty courtyard waiting for his ecstasies to subside. Christ, have I been bored.

Sounds like that type of boredom travels with you wherever you go.

10-04-2021 8:41am

Dav010 wrote: »

Sounds like that type of boredom travels with you wherever you go.

It always starts out so well. We enthuse equally. I am thrilled, he is thrilled. But 5 or 6 hours of winding corridors and backlit glass displays later he is still thrilling and I am an apathetic wreck who could not muster a single grunt for our mysterious past.

10-04-2021 8:42am

Tyrone212 wrote: »

I never really noticed much racism anywhere I've been in the world but Australia was a different planet in my experience. I'm not counting some anti Irish comments in that. Witnessed lots of occasions were Asian people were on the receiving end of it. It didn't even shock me anymore towards the end of my year there.

Funny think about the thick as **** Ozzies that make such comments are they are only a few generations off the prison ships.

Encountered similar attitudes amongst some.

Mad_maxx · 10-04-2021 9:03am

Galashiels in Scotland which is very close to the English border

went from Belfast to Stranraer on the ferry about eleven years ago to the Lake District and drove through Dumfries and Galloway which is very nice rural part of Scotland, stayed in a B+B near English border in Galashiels as too late to see anything in Cumbria.

Went out for something to eat in Galashiels and afterwards checked out what pubs were doing

They were all dead as dillinger, weird vibe about the place

steamsey · 10-04-2021 9:06am

Athens - complete kip. Sights are underwhelming. Got the trots. Was expecting Rome level of sights but everything in Athens was in bits. Saw the sights in about 3 hours and was done. Massive disapointment.

Vienna - nightlife was hard to find. Incredibly boring place, museums etc are nice, but I'll never go back. Sterile. Rude-ish.

Philippines - worst food and drink I've seen in a country. Had a terrible time. No craic. Manila was ****e, islands can be jammed with tourists during day but still no nightlife.

Riga - but for the cheap flights, there's no reason to go there. Rude, dodgy. Friend was mugged.

Brussels - again there was a little bit of mugging. Gangs of scumbags hanging around looking for tourists to rob. Doubt I'd ever return. Nothing of interest there.

St Louis Missouri. Jesus what a kip. Dodgy too. Nothing to do. City is largely derelict. Massive abandoned NFL stadium in the city, left there after the Rams got so bored, they fecked off to the west coast. Watching crack heads wandering around the abandoned stadium grounds was the most exciting part of the trip. Nearly got mugged but assailant's flip flop came off which provided an escape route.

Caracas - love Venezuela but this city lacks anything at all for visitors. Very dangerous, very dirty. Nothing on the shelves in shops. Massive problems. Life here is largely confined to malls with armed security guards. Lovely people though. Barely enough in the city to entertain you for an afternoon. No reason to stay there.

whisky_galore · 10-04-2021 9:12am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

SSSShhh people that live in dublin think its better than new york or tokyo

For a tourist dublin isnt too bad as long as you know where to go

Top attraction is a fake brewery tour that's just a massive walk-in advertisement.
Oh and a cringe Leprechaun Museum.

sheepondrugs · 10-04-2021 9:15am

PerryB78 wrote: »

Canberra

Yes indeed . Had to spend 6 weeks there while working with Telstra years ago.
legged it back Sydney every weekend to alleviate the tedium.
The surrounding hills and countryside was quite pleasant though.

is_that_so · 10-04-2021 9:15am

jmlad2020 wrote: »

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.

It's on the DART and easy to get to!

Rustyman101 · 10-04-2021 9:19am

Frankfurt for me wouldn't return also agree with Vienna on hard to find nightlife.

marialouise · 10-04-2021 9:19am

Pisa

The Nal · 10-04-2021 9:24am

Rochester, New York. As someone once said to me "I never knew hell could be so cold."

Dallas. As someone from Houston once said to me "That ain't Texas man".

San Diego. Not boring really but apart from a few bars theres nothing going on. Not really into thousands of homeless people either.

Milan. Apart from a museum or two, dullsville.

10-04-2021 9:25am

whisky_galore wrote: »

Top attraction is a fake brewery tour that's just a massive walk-in advertisement.
Oh and a cringe Leprechaun Museum.

Guinness Factory is absolute horse****, I agree. Jameson tour is good. What I like about Dublin and Ireland as a whole is the amount of history and culture that exists among us. Something that lacked from my time living in Sydney.

Some nice parks, good treks and trails about. Coastal Dublin has some really underrated scenery.

7 days a week nightlife is probably the best thing about Dublin although that's ****ed now.

I agree Canberra is a dreadful soulless city.

is_that_so · 10-04-2021 9:25am

Rustyman101 wrote: »

Frankfurt for me wouldn't return also agree with Vienna on hard to find nightlife.

Would disagree on Frankfurt, great for music and cultural stuff -Mannheim though. I'd also include the grim industrial city of Katowice in Poland.

RoscommonTom · 10-04-2021 9:30am

Waterford, nothing to do there and you can hardly understand any thing they say with the accents,

Montage of Feck · 10-04-2021 9:34am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Vienna, next level boredom

Surely one of the most historic cities in Europe would have something interesting to see?

Riesen_Meal · 10-04-2021 9:35am

RoscommonTom wrote: »

Waterford, nothing to do there and you can hardly understand any thing they say with the accents,

Not much in Roscommon either Tom to be fair, at least Waterford has a coastal scenic route...

Sharpyshoot · 10-04-2021 9:38am

Fieldog wrote: »

Not much in Roscommon either Tom to be fair, at least Waterford has a coastal scenic route...

They ride their sisters in Waterford during the Angelus.

10-04-2021 9:44am

Sharpyshoot wrote: »

They ride their sisters in Waterford during the Angelus.

One of the more evocative sentences I have thus far read on boards.

AdrianBalboa · 10-04-2021 9:44am

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.

Sharpyshoot · 10-04-2021 9:46am

Deleted User wrote: »

One of the more evocative sentences I have thus far read on boards.

You had some cul de sac old boy back in the day?

Riesen_Meal · 10-04-2021 9:46am

Sharpyshoot wrote: »

They ride their sisters in Waterford during the Angelus.

Sure in Dublin we sacrifice our first born for the Claire Byrne show, horses for courses...

harr · 10-04-2021 9:49am

Found Toronto boring, not bad to walk around during the day but come night time we found very little to do and found the night life very tame . I suppose it’s like a lot of big city’s at night.
I found Perth the same , nice restaurants and enough to do during the day but found it boring at night and the people seem very serious.

flange888 · 10-04-2021 9:53am

Holyhead without a shadow of a doubt!

10-04-2021 9:54am

Sharpyshoot wrote: »

You had some cul de sac old boy back in the day?

We can't all be as lucky as you, I'm afraid.

Fritzbox · 10-04-2021 9:57am

harr wrote: »

Found Toronto boring, not bad to walk around during the day but come night time we found very little to do and found the night life very tame . I suppose it’s like a lot of big city’s at night.
I found Perth the same , nice restaurants and enough to do during the day but found it boring at night and the people seem very serious.

I liked Peter Ustinov's quote on Toronto: "New York run by the Swiss".

afkasurfjunkie · 10-04-2021 9:59am

Edmonton in Canada. Utterly soulless city.

jackboy · 10-04-2021 10:06am

Darmstadt Germany. Spent two nights wandering around looking for an ok bar. Failed.

Pauliedragon · 10-04-2021 10:08am

LA. Complete kip I thought. Hollywood is filthy and full of wannabe actors dressed up as movie characters harassing tourists for money just to get a picture taken with them.

Mad_maxx · 10-04-2021 10:17am

josip wrote: »

Adelaide on a Monday
Linkoping Monday to Sunday

I've relatives in Adelaide, viewed as the most British of Australian cities, very reserved, extremely dry climate

Mad_maxx · 10-04-2021 10:21am

MyLove4Satan wrote: »

Galway (the city). Not only the most over rated tourist destination in the world, but a place you can see and do everything there is to do there in about 15 to 25 mins.

IT IS CRAP. To the point whereby if someone tells me 'Galway is amazing' I assume that they have either never been anywhere else, or think that the totality of human experience revolves around a few pubs and not much else.

Galway is actually a national embarrassment and no one wants to admit it. Like a family member we all know is a loser but service their self-delusions out of kindness.

Fully agree, the city is bad enough but the county is even worse, **** weather, clannish folk beyond belief and not one decent town in the entire place

I much prefer Mayo

Mad_maxx · 10-04-2021 10:27am

Valencia in Spain is a strange place

It's quite beautiful but the people are not nice at all , hardly any foreigners visit the place, rude staff , tourist offices hidden from site, city of arts and sciences a real let down despite being it's flagship attraction, aquarium filthy, great zoo though

Did majorca the following year and faith was restored in Spain, palma is fantastic

Mad_maxx · 10-04-2021 10:32am

rossie1977 wrote: »

New Zealand, Vienna, Malmo, Norway, Bratislava... what in the flying f**k are these places being mentioned for

If you find any of them boring that's mostly on you. Queenstown is one of the best towns its size anywhere on Earth and that's just one place in NZ.

Queenstown offers nothing whatsoever if you're not into extreme sports , I threw myself off a bridge back in 98 but the place had nothing otherwise

4Ad · 10-04-2021 10:33am

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Valencia in Spain is a strange place

It's quite beautiful but the people are not nice at all , hardly any foreigners visit the place, rude staff , tourist offices hidden from site, city of arts and sciences a real let down despite being it's flagship attraction, aquarium filthy, great zoo though

Did majorca the following year and faith was restored in Spain, palma is fantastic

I agree with Palma...lovely.

Mad_maxx · 10-04-2021 10:37am

4Ad wrote: »

I agree with Palma...lovely.

Very vibrant and feels bigger than it is

JimmyCorkhill · 10-04-2021 10:38am

Burtonport in Donegal before getting a boat to Arranmore off Donegal.

Burtonport was dead & very depressing.

I believe years back there used to be a bit more activity in the place.

completedit · 10-04-2021 10:38am

Bari Italy. I liked the place but there's nowhere to go in the city, it has the least amount of green areas of any Italian city and it shows. Even being beside the sea doesn't save it. There's a small beach but nobody goes there to swim(why would you when you have more beautiful places 1 hour away) I liked the town and the vibe to the place but a boring city with very little nightlife to speak of.

Calahonda52 · 10-04-2021 10:39am

This thread

JimmyCorkhill · 10-04-2021 10:41am

steamsey wrote: »

Athens - complete kip. Sights are underwhelming. Got the trots. Was expecting Rome level of sights but everything in Athens was in bits. Saw the sights in about 3 hours and was done. Massive disapointment.
.

Thought Athens was a kip myself, was there around 3 years after the Olympics - expected it to be a bit nicer. The constant beeping of the cars is one thing I remember still.

10-04-2021 10:42am

jackboy wrote: »

Darmstadt Germany. Spent two nights wandering around looking for an ok bar. Failed.

It is a dormitory town for Frankfurt. It is well known as a place where nothing happens but Mathildenhöhe is lovely.

Stovepipe · 10-04-2021 10:43am

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.

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:

Been there.Closes at 6 when the office workers go home and you will essentially be idle until 9 pm,when the restaurants get busy and the bars fill out. Those three hours, silence.

Ger Roe · 10-04-2021 10:43am

jayjay2010 wrote: »

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.

Due to various ferry and London train mis-synchronisation events in the days of avoiding very expensive air travel, I spent too many hours in Hollyhead. Anglesea Island was literally just used as a gangplank connection to mainland Wales and it made no effort to have any purpose in its own right - the very little that was there in Holyhead was always closed and neglected looking. Dun Laoghaire at least made an effort to attract and entertain any tourists that strayed across in the other direction.

Even on ridiculously cheap Dun Laoghaire ferry day trips, best bet was to find the nearest bus stop and get out as quickly as possible. Usually we would go to Bangor.... mainly just because we could sing the song ..'Didn't we have a lovely time, the day we went to Bangor'.

We actually just had a slightly better time.

Stovepipe · 10-04-2021 10:44am

Gamergurll wrote: »

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

the locals call it Llanfair (pronounced Clanfair).

gmisk · 10-04-2021 10:45am

Pauliedragon wrote: »

LA. Complete kip I thought. Hollywood is filthy and full of wannabe actors dressed up as movie characters harassing tourists for money just to get a picture taken with them.

I spent about 6 weeks there and really enjoyed it.
I was in west hollywood which is party central, near sunset boulevard and two amazing shopping centers (I saw a lot of free gigs in the grove, and amoeba records is terrific). Went to a few free test screening and the food is good too.
Oh and lots of places to see bands too.

But LA in general is a bit of a sprawling grubby but up the pacific coast highway, beaches in laguna etc are lovely.

AMTE_21 · 10-04-2021 10:55am

Found Australia very quiet. We drove from Melbourne to Brisbane stopping in a couple of places on the way, absolutely nothing to do after 9 o’clock. Was disappointed with Sydney nightlife. Couldn’t find a decent restaurant. Disagree about Athens was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I was there in the 80s and thought it had improved a lot and I found the people very friendly.

New Zealand was a bit better than Australia.

Hard to beat some of those small towns in Australia, so boring. Wouldn’t go back to Australia only we have family there.

10-04-2021 10:57am

Calgary in Canada.

The Nal · 10-04-2021 11:11am

Pauliedragon wrote: »

LA. Complete kip I thought. Hollywood is filthy and full of wannabe actors dressed up as movie characters harassing tourists for money just to get a picture taken with them.

LOVED LA. Can't wait to go back. So much to do and see and its full of weirdos and great food.

mojesius · 10-04-2021 11:13am

Manchester, New Hampshire was pretty forgettable. The bridge going over the river was probably the most interesting thing about the place.

Most boring places you've visited

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