Travel is a great experience, and we should all be so lucky to see different parts of the world. But there are probably some places you’ve been that you felt were overrated or just weren’t what you expected.
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Some travel destinations are so legendary, we expect quite a bit out of them, and then we’re confused when they don’t live up to the hype. It’s not to say these places aren’t worth visiting; they just weren’t what you thought they’d be.
This doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, either. Maybe you visited the Eiffel Tower expected to be blown away by the grandeur, but something else took you by surprise, like a nearby park or something you learnt about its history. Or maybe it wasn’t the destination itself but your own experience with it: Did you travel at the wrong time? Were you unprepared?
Whatever the scenario, tell us: What travel destinations have you been to that weren’t what you expected?
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3 responses to “What Travel Destinations Weren’t What You Expected?”
Taiwan; Traveled over on a bit of a whim to ride bikes. Was expecting a crowded concrete jungle, but no it was so much more. Became engrossed with the culture and heritage (it’s more china than china).
The great thing about Taiwan is it’s not a huge tourist destination so it’s not commercialised like one would expect when heading to Bali or Thailand.
Riding down Mt Youshan at 11pm at night in the pouring rain, with mild hypothermia, glasses fogging up and relying on the brake lights of the bike in front of you whilst attacking the twisties is by far one of my favourite experiences. Not to mention blowing out my front brakes and having to cross the mountains through the rain and landslides to get to a village on the other side that could fix them, best adventure.
I ended up loving it so much i went back twice.
Bratislavia (Slovakia). Went there on a whim while intending to go to Berlin and wow what a place! When I stepped off the train I noticed the ratio of women to men was about 15 to 1. Most women were very endowed, tall, gorgeous and very very friendly. The night life is great, the culture was interesting lots of places to party, lots of people, lots of interesting artifacts. Its a small place but worth its salt, very cheap and would recommend it for any boys on a trip together.
Washington D.C. – The Smithsonian(s) are a whole lot larger than expected and cover such a wide range of topics as to be worth a lot more time than the average tourist would allocated (me included). Planning to go back and do them justice. Oh and they’re free.
Have to agree with Washington D.C. Planned 2 days there. Stayed 4. Needed a lot more. One of the cheapest places as you only pay food and accommodation.
Paris – worst city I have been to, couldn’t understand why people called it ‘romantic’ it’s filthy, absolutely everything had graffiti on it, homeless people living in the street, but on the flip side all the French people we met were actually quite nice.