Have you ever been under- whelmed by a place that is great ,mine was Paris .How about you.

[dolittle]

We have been lucky enough to visit many cities in Europe and loved every minute of it. So when  we got off the ship for a two night stay(the ship was staying over night)  in Paris I was  ready for one of the worlds  greatest cities.It was beautiful and we walked the river from the faux statue of liberty to Notre Dame . We stayed out late and got up early to be first in line for the eiffel  tower and had another nice fall day in Paris. The people were nice there were  not to many crowds . We liked it BUT I don't know why it just did not move me like other cities in Europe . I almost felt guilty but that is silly something either moves you or it does not. Has this ever happened to you and  where was it . Be honest I think this has happened to most of us. B.T.W. I did love the tower I find most things that are cliches like it is ,are not worth it . The tower was it was great. 

[navybankerteacher]

Wow - I suppose any city can be disregarded -- but you really have to deaden your senses to be unmoved by Paris.  

[Cruzaholic41]

Vancouver. I heard it was beautiful but frankly, I thought it was kind of a dump. 

[Sue Do-Over]

Jamaica - Falmouth, I think. (Unless I've mixed it up with Ohco Rios).  The small shopping area at the pier had a very high brick wall, sturdy gates, and plenty of armed personnel at said gate.  Tours were loaded inside the zone and left quickly.

We opted to venture out on foot, thinking we'd spotted a straw market from our balcony.

Mere steps outside the gate, DH was solicited for sex, weed or 'whatever else he wanted'.  We walked maybe 3 blocks, being harassed every step of the way.  Grabbing at my sleeve, pulling on my arm... crazy.

 

We're not timid travelers, and usually head out on our own anywhere - felt safe in Rome and Barcelona, known for their pickpockets, and dozens of other cities all over the Caribbean, Med and Baltic - including the other port on the other side of the island.   Never felt that creepy 'something is bad here' vibe like that place in Jamaica.

[ldubs]

Responding to the OP's question, it is St Petersburg.   Cannot really put my finger on it.  It just didn't have good vibes for me.   

[Silver Sweethearts]

Honolulu.  It really doesn't seem a part of Hawaii.  Too crowded.  Too busy.  Too much like the mainland.

[cruisemom42]

I think I understand what the OP is saying -- it's not a matter of not appreciating a city or place, it's just that it doesn't pull at your heartstrings. Sort of like having a lot of friends -- you may like all of them, but some are dearer to you than others. 

 

I can't think of too many places that I felt didn't really live up to my imagination. I'd have to say Singapore is one. Just too clean, too new, for the most part. I haven't been to Vienna in a long, long time but I can't say it lived up to what I was expecting -- however, I'll go back one of these days and give it a second chance.

 

[neverbeenhere]

Charleston, SC-  Not our kind of history.

[whogo]

I wasn't underwhelmed by Paris, but I was surprised that Parisians do not curb their dogs. I could not walk a block in Paris without seeing a dog's calling card on the sidewalk, usually with a shoe print in it. One could make the argument that Paris is just a big dog toilet.

[ontheweb]

Not an entire city, but the Little Mermaid in Amsterdam. After having trouble finding it, when we finally did it wasdefinitely underwhelming. Maybe I should not have been surprised as Rick Steves has called it the most overrated tourist attraction  in the world. (Might not be his exact words.)

 

We did love Amsterdam, though, a truly fascinating city.

[d9704011]

Rio de Janeiro.  Difficult and time-consuming to get around, generally unsanitary and unsafe, even in the more affluent areas.

 

As an afterthought..... Barcelona is great but stay clear of that cablecar sightseeing gizmo that runs above a portion of the city!

Edited October 21, 2020 by d9704011

[John Bull]

9 hours ago, Sue Do-Over said:

Jamaica - Falmouth, I think. (Unless I've mixed it up with Ohco Rios). 

 

Sue - I'll agree with you about  Ocho Rios and/or Falmouth (your description suggests it's Falmouth), but I'm not sure why you mentioned them, because they're not iconic places that  anyone would consider "great". 

 

I don't think that any iconic city that I've visited has under-whelmed me, despite some negatives here and there like crime, value-for-money, over-crowding.

But two world-renown places that seriously disappointed were ...............

- the Great Barrier Reef - it was dead and grey, with very little marine life. I just hope that's only in the small areas into which we tourists are funnelled. There's waaaaay better snorkelling elsewhere in the world, like the Red Sea, South China Seas, even the Caribbean.

- South Africa's Garden Route. We chose that route to get from Natal to Cape Town - very little to see, despite a couple of diversions, because the road was tree-lined.

- and perhaps not world-renown, but the Blue Ridge Parkway thro' Virginia etc. Drove it one time in early spring - brilliant, mile after mile after mile of panoramic views both sides. Automatically repeated it a few years back - but in high summer, so the same problem as the Garden Route. Poor research 

C'est la Vie

 

JB 

[John Bull]

16 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Not an entire city, but the Little Mermaid in Amsterdam. After having trouble finding it, when we finally did it wasdefinitely underwhelming. Maybe I should not have been surprised as Rick Steves has called it the most overrated tourist attraction  in the world. (Might not be his exact words.)

 

We did love Amsterdam, though, a truly fascinating city.

 

Yes, Amsterdam's Little Mermaid is exceptionally well-hidden - I've not found it despite years of searching.

But Copenhagen's Little Mermaid is a lot easier to find  

(but yes, very small)

 

JB 

[ontheweb]

3 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Yes, Amsterdam's Little Mermaid is exceptionally well-hidden - I've not found it despite years of searching.

But Copenhagen's Little Mermaid is a lot easier to find  

(but yes, very small)

 

JB 

OOPS, thank you for pointing out my mistake. I should change that to Copenhagen, but unfortunately too late as the edit function is now gone. early in the morning, but that really is no excuse, my bad.

 

I will still maintain that Amsterdam is a fascinating city. And Copenhagen is also, though we were disappointed when we found out that many things would be closed as our post cruise day there was on a Monday.

[John Bull]

3 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

OOPS, thank you for pointing out my mistake. I should change that to Copenhagen, but unfortunately too late as the edit function is now gone. early in the morning, but that really is no excuse, my bad.

 

I will still maintain that Amsterdam is a fascinating city. And Copenhagen is also, though we were disappointed when we found out that many things would be closed as our post cruise day there was on a Monday.

 

 

Yes, we loved both cities.

Especially Amsterdam. Stayed in a canal-side apartment conversion, tall & very narrow building with a front wall which, like most canal-side buildings, leaned forward enable furniture & such to be hoisted to the upper windows.

 

JB 

[Aquahound]

I agree with many answers.  I too was underwhelmed by Vancouver, Honolulu, and all 3 Jamaican ports I've been to.  Then again, I don't think any of those places are meant to be particularly impressive. 

 

My big one was Barcelona.  Maybe because it was at the end of a 2 week cruise and I was getting tired, but I was turned off by all the begging.  I caught a pickpocket in action and pointed it out to a couple cops, but they didn't care.  One said "was it your wallet they took?"  I enjoyed touring La Sagrada Familia, but that was about it.  

[sanger727]

Mine was Pisa. Coming from Rome I was expecting something similar. A modern city with landmarks tucked away here and there. Instead it was just a giant mall of landmarks. Got some nice photos but wouldn't go back. 

[ilikeanswers]

I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for this but my most underwhelming city was New York City😳. We were there for week and we enjoyed our visit, saw the sights had some great food however everyone prior to our visit was talking the place up telling me it has the most amazing vibe but I never really felt that vibe and to be honest it just seemed like any other city with some interesting sights. I guess it just wasn't for me🙁.  At least I did enjoy NYC Dubai on the other hand I would be happy to never visit again but unfortunately to Europe it ends up being a stop of necessity. It just seems to be a city of shoping centres and I'm no shopper

 

My most disappointing place however was Bled in Slovenia. It is marketed as this magical place but to me it came of very commercialized and feeling of artificiality. I think sometimes one of the problems might have been that we had already spent nearly a week in Slovenia prior to Bled so we had a certain expectation about Slovenian towns and Bled was incredibly  what I call "touristfied😜". Also it probably didn't help that we felt a bit ripped off at the castle. We had visited two castles before Bled and they were quite large had great displays and exhibitions whereas Bled Castle was three times the price with a tiny exhibit and really just the view point. It did make me think what are we paying for😬?

 

Most overrated tourist attractions IMO there is two, I agree with the other poster Copenhagen Mermaid, it is small, in the middle of a rather industrialised harbour area and it is not even particularly insteresting as a work of art. I don't understand why it is so popular. Is it a Disney thing? The other was Mount Rushmore. I was expecting it to be more grand and with so much rubble I thought the place looked like a quarry site. Not appealing to me at all.

Edited October 21, 2020 by ilikeanswers

[Blondilu]

ilikeanswers:  Totally agree with you about New York City.  I just didn't "get it" I guess.  We went to a Broadway show and that was great, as was the pizza place across the street where we had lunch.  It was inside of an old church.  Good food and it was a really cool building

 

Times Square was the worst.  You couldn't pay me to got there again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[c-boy]

Alaska, we did the bus and train tour and it did not trip any switches. 

[cruizergal70]

When traveling, one must have realistic expectations going in. Expecting a transcendent experience will only lead to disappointment. 

[ilikeanswers]

6 minutes ago, cruizergal70 said:

When traveling, one must have realistic expectations going in. Expecting a transcendent experience will only lead to disappointment. 

 

I am not expecting anything transcendent but there are destinations where you just find yourself loving it more than others. There isn't always a specific reason that you can put your finger on but it just happens that certain places spark more joy when visiting. And I guess especially in my case when a place is talked up to you and you don't get that spark of joy it is not surprising to feel underwhelmed.

[navybankerteacher]

49 minutes ago, Blondilu said:

ilikeanswers:  Totally agree with you about New York City.  I just didn't "get it" I guess.  We went to a Broadway show and that was great, as was the pizza place across the street where we had lunch.  It was inside of an old church.  Good food and it was a really cool building

 

Times Square was the worst.  You couldn't pay me to got there again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think this identifies how someone’s general impression of a place can be formed.  If an icon - such as NYC’s Times Square - hits you precisely the wrong way, your over-all memory can be impacted.  I was born in and spent much of my life in NYC - love the place -especially Central Park - but hate Times Square.  The Eiffel Tower turned me off as an over-the-top cliche of Paris, as was Rome’s Collisseum — the rest of both cities struck me as magical.  I think there are some trigger aspects in all places which color memories one way or the other.

[keywest1]

Rome for me.  I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't what I experienced.  Nothing bad happened, there was lots to see, but to borrow from another poster, it just didn't tug at my heartstrings.

Loved Barcelona and NYC--funny how different we all are when it comes to travel.

[John Bull]

I'm so glad that several members have mentioned NYC.

So now I can have my say without being pilloried 

 

Many years ago we finished a coast-to-coast road trip in NYC, five days before our flight home. We booked the first night into a hotel at Newark airport. A bus was due to go to Times Square, so we hopped on for a preview of NYC.

Had to climb over deadbeats & drunks to get out of the bus station, walked up one side of 42nd Street & down the other side with her hanging onto me and me hanging onto her handbag.

Then back over the deadbeats & drunks & caught the next bus back to the airport.

We had two unused tickets for Delta flights (for the flight Newark to LA at the start of our trip it was cheaper to buy a 3-flight pass than a simple one-way ticket) so we went to the Delta desk and asked what was the first flight out in the morning.

 

The clerk said Boston, but once he realised our situation he suggested Orlando - early March was too cold for Boston, and spring-break had just finished so Orlando wouldn't be crowded. First visit to Florida, thoroughly enjoyed it. Have been back to Florida a few times - flights to Orlando are cheap, and it's a decent start point for exploring SE USA. But nowadays Orlando is way too crowded & commercialised.

Have since also been to Boston - loved the place, even though we're not city-lovers..

 

We really didn't give NYC much chance - brief first-impressions & all that - so we're being more than a bit unfair.

But we've never been tempted to go back

 

JB