Cities you'd never return to

sryanbruen

Well I'm kinda contradicting the title in this but I haven't gone to cities I felt of never returning to again as they were all good. However, a place I would never go to is NORTH KOREA.

First Up

sryanbruen wrote:

Well I'm kinda contradicting the title in this but I haven't gone to cities I felt of never returning to again as they were all good. However, a place I would never go to is NORTH KOREA.

I would love to see it.

Always say I would go anywhere for a week. That should strike a balance between curiosity and durability.

feargale

anncoates wrote: »

Drunshambo.

And I wouldn’t much care for Sierra Leone,

If I hadn’t seen Killenaule,

And the man that was never in Mullinahone

Shouldn’t say he had travelled at all”

Mister Vain

You'd probably find an Irish bar in North Korea somewhere.

I've heard the food is terrible though. It's mainly fermented spice paste served with various animal penises.

Cienciano

First Up wrote: »

I would love to see it.

Always say I would go anywhere for a week. That should strike a balance between curiosity and durability.

Kabul? Mogadishu?

AckwelFoley

Anywhere in Egypt. Absolute kip

sryanbruen

I wouldn't go near Africa. I feel very sorry for the people who live there though in the very poor countries such as Mali. Africa is way too hot for my liking as well as the conditions of living in the continent.

deisemum

I've no intention of going back to Rome again, went there last April and couldn't wait to leave it. My husband feels the same.

Zaph

deisemum wrote: »

I've no intention of going back to Rome again, went there last April and couldn't wait to leave it. My husband feels the same.

What was wrong with it? As far as I'm concerned Rome is one of the most amazing cities in the world and I'd happily go back there any time.

sryanbruen

Zaph wrote: »

What was wrong with it? As far as I'm concerned Rome is one of the most amazing cities in the world and I'd happily go back there any time.

Yeah. I remember back when I was 10, I wanted to go to Rome very badly but because of our budget, we couldn't afford to.

Cienciano

sryanbruen wrote: »

I wouldn't go near Africa. I feel very sorry for the people who live there though in the very poor countries such as Mali. Africa is way too hot for my liking as well as the conditions of living in the continent.

Jesus, that's an entire continent you're sticking on the list. If poor conditions of living is a reason not to visit, add half of south america, asia and limerick to the list too.

sryanbruen

Cienciano wrote: »

Jesus, that's an entire continent you're sticking on the list. If poor conditions of living is a reason not to visit, add half of south america, asia and limerick to the list too.

What's bad about Limerick?

AckwelFoley

sryanbruen wrote: »

What's bad about Limerick?

It's too close to Cork

TheShow

Galway.
was there earlier in 2015 for the first time in c15 years. no atmosphere. pubs and clubs full of stag and hen parties. Just found it boring.
Nothing to bring me back.

Poughkeepsie in New York, apart from a view of the Hudson the place has nothing going for it. Boring spot, worse than Midleton :pac:

Hopeful2016

Cienciano wrote: »

Jesus, that's an entire continent you're sticking on the list. If poor conditions of living is a reason not to visit, add half of south america, asia and limerick to the list too.

Plenty of people live very nice lifestyles in Limerick. I know I certainly do. Well paying job, zero debt, multiple foreign holidays a year, short commute to work, no crazy traffic, good quality well constructed housing that passes it's fire inspections. Just to name a few things.

As if the living conditions are any worse, or even as bad, as many parts of Dublin.

Hopeful2016

TheShow wrote: »

Galway.
was there earlier in 2015 for the first time in c15 years. no atmosphere. pubs and clubs full of stag and hen parties. Just found it boring.
Nothing to bring me back.

Well if you spent your time in the pubs and clubs that's hardly surprising. There's plenty to see and do in Galway.

Ally Dick

deisemum wrote: »

I've no intention of going back to Rome again, went there last April and couldn't wait to leave it. My husband feels the same.

Completely agree. Shocking amount of graffiti in it. Everything dear. North African beggars at epidemic proportions. You can't even enjoy a meal in a restaurant without them coming in to stand over you begging. Staff don't care. Trevi Fountain wrecked by a beggar insisting on "giving" my wife a red rose then demanding money. When I offered him a euro, he got annoyed. My wife handed him back the rose and we left. I dunno. It has some nice sights but there are too many problems with enforcement and things not working

brianp20

Brussels has to be the worse place I've ever been. I hated every minute of it and would never want to return.

wakka12

sryanbruen wrote: »

I wouldn't go near Africa. I feel very sorry for the people who live there though in the very poor countries such as Mali. Africa is way too hot for my liking as well as the conditions of living in the continent.

You sound like you know as much about africa as the average Irish 5 year old, it is a continent with a population twice the size of the european unions, a landmass as large as China, India, europe and USA put together, with thousands of different ethnic groups, climactic variations, cultural variation, wealth and quality of life variations between regions, thousands of cities that are as about as alike as Dublin and Beijing, and all you can say about it is that its poor and hot..sad really that we can put down an entire continent like that due to media brainwashing our views of it with destructive trocaire ads

wakka12

deisemum wrote: »

I've no intention of going back to Rome again, went there last April and couldn't wait to leave it. My husband feels the same.

Care to enlighten us as to why you feel this way??

Hopeful2016

Cienciano wrote: »

Jesus, that's an entire continent you're sticking on the list. If poor conditions of living is a reason not to visit, add half of south america, asia and limerick to the list too.

Also, having been to South America and Asia, I can safely say it would be your loss not to visit. So many amazing places you would be missing out on.

uck51js9zml2yt

First Up wrote: »

A bit harsh on Estoril. Its a suburb of Lisbon and I can think of worse suburbs.

True, Alfrigide is probably worse:)

turnikett1

Kaunas, Marijampole - both in Lithuania. I heard Vilnius is meant to be a great city but unfortunately I didn't get to see. Kaunas and Marijampole though, my god what sh1tholes. I probably wouldn't go back to Bialystok (Poland) either, full of neo-Nazis. I probably wouldn't go back to Hyderabad in India, in fact I wouldn't go back to many cities in India (though I would most definitely go back to many places in India).

Oh yeah and Birmingham, fvck Birmingham.

turnikett1

Kaunas, Marijampole - both in Lithuania. I heard Vilnius is meant to be a great city but unfortunately I didn't get to see. Kaunas and Marijampole though, my god what sh1tholes. I probably wouldn't go back to Bialystok (Poland) either, full of neo-Nazis. I probably wouldn't go back to Hyderabad in India, in fact I wouldn't go back to many cities in India (though I would most definitely go back to many places in India).

Oh yeah and Birmingham, fvck Birmingham.

Ruu

Nashville, Tennessee, awful lot of hype about the place but didn't find it very interesting or much life about the city at all.

bilbot79

Tangiers. There's never been a more wretched hive of scum and villainy

deisemum

Ally Dick wrote: »

Completely agree. Shocking amount of graffiti in it. Everything dear. North African beggars at epidemic proportions. You can't even enjoy a meal in a restaurant without them coming in to stand over you begging. Staff don't care. Trevi Fountain wrecked by a beggar insisting on "giving" my wife a red rose then demanding money. When I offered him a euro, he got annoyed. My wife handed him back the rose and we left. I dunno. It has some nice sights but there are too many problems with enforcement and things not working

Yep this was our experience too. The place was overrun with North Africans blocking and surrounding tourists and they wouldn't take no for an answer. They were very threatening and the police didn't care. If you tried to side step them they'd keep blocking you and their mates would surround you. This was before all the migrants started crossing the meditterranean in huge numbers, I'd hate to see what it's like now. Then we had the Roma gypsies targeting tourists at the train stations. Others in our group had the same experiences.

wakka12

deisemum wrote: »

Yep this was our experience too. The place was overrun with North Africans blocking and surrounding tourists and they wouldn't take no for an answer. They were very threatening and the police didn't care. If you tried to side step them they'd keep blocking you and their mates would surround you. This was before all the migrants started crossing the meditterranean in huge numbers, I'd hate to see what it's like now. Then we had the Roma gypsies targeting tourists at the train stations. Others in our group had the same experiences.

Think you're too polite to them, Id curse at them if they were to be that rude to me. But maybe they were ruder to you because you're female (Im guessing by your username). Also don't make eye contact with them if you see them, they only really approached me if I looked at them (accidentally) I noticed.

Hopeful2016

yermanoffthetv wrote: »

Brussels Belgium.I know im not alone on this one. I thouroughly hated every minute I was in this city. It was blanketed in fog the whole time I was there making it unbareably humid as the heating in every building was set to 11. Food was the worst I have ever had anywhere in the world and to top it off I found many of the locals to be rude and unhelpfull.

Cologne Germany, apart from the impressive (if rather dank) cathedral I found little else of interest there. It felt like I was walking around in the 80's, everything had a dull concrete vibe.

Phnom penh Cambodia, frightfull bleak place.Just have to look out over the city at night to know what I mean. Cambodians themselves where lovely friendly people but the only reason anyone goes there is as a stop off while heading on to Siem reap.

Canberra Australia, It looks and feels like a larger version of the Shannon Industrial estate if you got rid of the airport and replaced it with the Australian Parliament building (which is not particularly impressive either) There is absolutely no reason to visit here.

The killing fields museum in Phnom Penh is a must see if you're in Cambodia in my opinion, the only reason to stop in Phnom Penh and what brings most people there I'd imagine. The river looked nice but we had so many warnings from the locals of how dangerous that area was that we didn't venture near it. The tuk tuk spin to the killing fields was fecking hilarious tho, through dirt roads etc.

Hopeful2016

rodge68 wrote: »

Can't say I was ever scared in Rio and I thought the city was full of good looking women !!
London has nice areas but does contain alot of knobs and is soo expensive..
Not a big fan of Paris...qu'elle attitude ..

Thought Rio was fab and apart from one rainy day, it was nearly 40 degrees c every day.

BuilderPlumber

Nomis21 wrote: »

Mashad in Iran.

Stopped there overnight before crossing into Afghanistan following the 'Hippy Trail' to India in 1975.

Me and a Canadian backpacker were caught up in a crowd of people that was heading for the third holiest Mosque in Islam. So many people crowded in a small passage that we were just pushed along and straight into the Mosque. Then someone noticed that we were tourists and started screaming and shouting and beating us. We were lucky to get out alive.

Avoid Mashad and just about anywhere else in that country.

Mashhad is actually spelt in an unusual way. Yes, the two 'h's is correct. Was iin Tehran and other Western parts of that country and found it pleasant and a LOT different to the negativity we hear from the media. This was in the Khatami era, pre-Iraq war times. I was informed to avoid Mashhad and other places in the East especially Sistan-Balochistan area. The Afghan war was on and there was a significant threat from separatists there.

Judging any country tends to be based on experience and I cannot say anything only positive things about Iran itself, its people and how I was treated. Of course one can criticise how it is or was governed and how there is a massive rich/poor divide. The East of the country where I did not get to is very poor I'd say but even the West of the country has major class divides. Just go to the rich part of Tehran which is like any Western city really and then go to the smog-infested poor part and it is almost like a totally different country/city.

Now, the other country you mention (Afghanistan) is a place I would not go to at all. Yet back then it was a lovely place by all accounts and totally different to today. Perhaps the Iran of 1975 was a different country to the version I was in in 2002. As of 2016, Iran would probably be the only Middle Eastern country I would go to and feel relatively safe in to be honest.

BuilderPlumber

Ruu wrote: »

Nashville, Tennessee, awful lot of hype about the place but didn't find it very interesting or much life about the city at all.

Was never there. If it is full of awful contemporary country music of the type the media are fond of here, then definitely it is a no no. If I could go there and totally avoid that, then it may be okay.

First Up

Cienciano wrote:

Kabul? Mogadishu?

Well war zones might be the exception.

First Up

sryanbruen wrote:

I wouldn't go near Africa. I feel very sorry for the people who live there though in the very poor countries such as Mali. Africa is way too hot for my liking as well as the conditions of living in the continent.

Some parts of Africa are truly delightful.

yermanoffthetv

Hopeful2016 wrote: »

The killing fields museum in Phnom Penh is a must see if you're in Cambodia in my opinion, the only reason to stop in Phnom Penh and what brings most people there I'd imagine. The river looked nice but we had so many warnings from the locals of how dangerous that area was that we didn't venture near it. The tuk tuk spin to the killing fields was fecking hilarious tho, through dirt roads etc.

True, that is worth a visit and is quite a sombre experience. The tuk tuk rides down the back streets were the highlight I'd say, great fun waving to all the locals and getting a picture of what life is like. The city itself though was bleak concrete. tenements and I always felt on guard. I just thought north Vietnam offered a similar experience while feeling safer and more freedom to explore.

Magico Gonzalez

Frankfurt is a bl00dy awful place. There's more character and soul in a used car battery.

Brussels should be walled off and only politicians let in & out.

Magico Gonzalez

Frankfurt is a bl00dy awful place. There's more character and soul in a used car battery.

Brussels should be walled off and only politicians let in & out.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

First Up

Fred Swanson wrote:

Brussels I can totally agree on.

I've had some good times in Brussels. Great food.

sryanbruen

First Up wrote: »

Some parts of Africa are truly delightful.

Like who....?

First Up

sryanbruen wrote: »

Like who....?

Zambia (especially along the Zambezi), the Ethiopian Highlands, the game reserves in Tanzania, Botswana and South Africa - just for starters.

sryanbruen

First Up wrote: »

Zambia (especially along the Zambezi), the Ethiopian Highlands, the game reserves in Tanzania, Botswana and South Africa - just for starters.

Well I can see why Zambia is probably delighted. My school fundraises for holidays to Zambia every two years and then they help them in Zambia such as building things or having fun with them.

kupus

i must be the only one that likes brussels and paris. jesus tough crowd here.

First Up

kupus wrote: »

i must be the only one that likes brussels and paris. jesus tough crowd here.

No, I like them both too.

sryanbruen

kupus wrote: »

i must be the only one that likes brussels and paris. jesus tough crowd here.

I haven't been to Brussels but Paris was nice yeah.

jester77

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

He's not really. I lived there for a few years and it really is an awful city, especially around the main train station and finance area. You have junkies shooting up in broad day light and the police just ignore it. I'll never forget the first time I saw this, walking down the steps into the underground and a guy was sitting on the steps with his arm strapped up, upside down beer can with what I presume was heroin in it and he proceeds to shoot up. People just walked around him on the way up and down, and the worst part was at the bottom a group of children standing there watching him. And that is not a one off, the city tried to clean up the problem but only spread. So now they just control it in this area and leave the junkies to it.

The only redeeming thing about Frankfurt is the night life. It has some of the best clubs I've ever been to.

Squeeonline

Anyone else get nothing but a smell of pi55 in Brussels? The whole city reeked of stale urine.

I liked the city otherwise and would go back again.

Mister Vain

First Up wrote: »

I've had some good times in Brussels. Great food.

The food is amazing. I love the old town square and the people are very friendly. It's not exactly the most exciting place but its definitely worth a visit.

siblers

bilbot79 wrote: »

Tangiers. There's never been a more wretched hive of scum and villainy

Was there when I was 13, very, very unfriendly. Street sellers everywhere too and it was quite headwrecking. The actual city was quite cool, the Medieval feel to the place was interesting.