Most unexpectedly good tourist destination you’ve been to?

Kazakhstan several yrs ago ,a women's pow camp stuck in the middle of nowhere about 60 miles from the capital.Nowhere to run to if you escaped as it was table flat land and bloody freezing.
 


Darlo1973 said:
Belfast unexpectedly good
Dublin unexpectedly bad
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Agree with this completely.

Belfast was great, loads of great pubs. Me and the lads did a black cab tour of all the murals and the bloke doing it was fantastic, probably the most interesting "sightseeing" I've ever done.

Because of our age (30ish) most of history of the Troubles was before our time so it was a real eye opener.
 
Paddy O'Dors said:
Kandy. Was more looking forward to Galle before I went out there but while the fort looks nice it's a bit dull after about an hour. The new town of Galle is a dump. Wasn't expecting much in Kandy but it was a lovely little British colonial town with lots of history.

Bordeaux. Jumped on a train at Royan to go down for the day on the spur of the moment but a nice little place to wander.

Another shout for Malaga. Also wasn't expecting much in Seville but it was a cracking place.
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Disagree with Kandy, however, I basically had the turbo-shits when I was there. Ruined it somewhat.

You're right about Galle, the old town is great but only consists of about 4 streets (or so it felt like). The new town was a dump. Cracking cricket ground like.
 
Redandwhitedust said:
Tirana - Albania
People were really friendly and welcoming and over the moon to have a tourist. Its not on the stag/hen map yet, and while not one of the worlds most attractive cities, it was lovely for a weekend.

Felt really safe too, apparently all the gangsters and criminals are in the rest of Europe making their fortunes, so only the decent folk are left (or so the hotel barman told me!)
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Couldn't agree more, the people were unbelievably friendly. Quite a few women in the markets in National dress.
People selling bagfuls of baccy on the pavement.
A bunch of wandering musicians turned up at a local bar, hoyed a blanket on the floor, when enough people chucked money on it, they started to play. Accordion, guitar and singer. Not for tourists, we were the only foreigners in there. The people were the most friendly and helpful I've come across in Europe.

Never went to Tirana but went to Shkoder then through to Kosovo via Lake Komani car ferry. I'd never heard of it, but you take (from memory) a 3 hour ferry ride through astounding scenery ( loads of 2500m mountains). Narrow river. Basically like going through a huge never ending fjord.
 
pablo casals said:
Spain is full of great cities you wouldn't hear much about
Caceres
Cordoba
Vitoria
La Coruna
Gijon
Pontevedra
Cadiz
Segovia
Salamanca
Toledo

To give you ten unexpectedly great places of the top of my head
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Cordova is absolutely fabulous. I sat at the very table in the bar featured in a scene from the Trip to Spain fillum
 
Belfast & Glasgow. Overshadowed by Dublin and Edinburgh but absolutely belter cities. Great people, great pubs and beautiful surroundings. Also unexpectedly good to be English because no one's trying to guess which side you're on
 
Buzzer said:
Agree with this completely.

Belfast was great, loads of great pubs. Me and the lads did a black cab tour of all the murals and the bloke doing it was fantastic, probably the most interesting "sightseeing" I've ever done.

Because of our age (30ish) most of history of the Troubles was before our time so it was a real eye opener.
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Yes, did a stag weekend in Belfast a few years ago and it was fantastic. Got to be a little careful in a few pubs talking politics or religion so stick to football and you'll be fine.

Dublin is just an overpriced tourist trap.
 
Darlo1973 said:
Yes, did a stag weekend in Belfast a few years ago and it was fantastic. Got to be a little careful in a few pubs talking politics or religion so stick to football and you'll be fine.

Dublin is just an overpriced tourist trap.
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I lived there for 2 years. Worked off the Falls & the Markets for most off it. No bother at all. Beautiful city with amazing scenery within an hour. Great colleagues, mental what we used to get away with.
 
Vienna.

Most underrated capital city in Europe imo.

Stunning architecture both old and new, some of the best museums in Europe, lovely huge public parks for walking through, amazing scran and drink.

The locals there are a lot more friendly and warm towards tourists than in most other Central/Western European capitals (at least in my experience).

Might not be as cheap as the likes of Budapest, Prague or Bratislava but having been to all those places too I still would pick Vienna over them.
DieselBert said:
Belfast & Glasgow. Overshadowed by Dublin and Edinburgh but absolutely belter cities. Great people, great pubs and beautiful surroundings. Also unexpectedly good to be English because no one's trying to guess which side you're on
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I much preferred Glasgow to Edinburgh too.
 
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Singapore - booked it as it was dead cheap flights, and we could then fly onto Langkawi from there. Ended up loving the place. Stayed in marina bay, lush food and some good breweries

Thessaloniki - didn’t really know what to expect as just used to the islands with Greece. Lovely place, food was amazing and cheap.

Macedonia - went to Skopje and Ohrid. Skopje was an interesting city, statues bloody everywhere but it was dirt cheap and friendly people. Ohrid was beautiful. Had some really good food there. Did a trip on the lake and stopped off at some small beach and photos looked like somewhere in Thailand. Amazing place
 
HoxtonMackem said:
Vienna.

Most underrated capital city in Europe imo.

Stunning architecture both old and new, some of the best museums in Europe, lovely huge public parks for walking through, amazing scran and drink.
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Love Vienna, been there quite a few times, I used to have a girlfriend who lived just outside the city, flights with whizz air from Luton for less than £50 return sometimes.
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Buzzer said:
Agree with this completely.

Belfast was great, loads of great pubs. Me and the lads did a black cab tour of all the murals and the bloke doing it was fantastic, probably the most interesting "sightseeing" I've ever done.

Because of our age (30ish) most of history of the Troubles was before our time so it was a real eye opener.
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Going next year with the bairn. I've seen a walking tour where you get to talk to ex-political prisoners from both sides of the wall. Think it'll be a good way for her to learn about The Troubles.
 
HoxtonMackem said:
I much preferred Glasgow to Edinburgh too.
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Surprising that Glasgow doesn't get more attention as a weekend break destination. In July I did a few days each in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Edinburgh is OK but quite expensive and very touristy. You don't meet many locals in the city centre. Glasgow is an eye-opener, lots of history, locals who are welcoming and cheaper than Edinburgh too.
 
Namibia, including Swakopmund, but more especially the desert (camping) and the waterholes of Etosha.
The Bolivian desert south of the salt flats, driving towards the Chilean border, smoking volcanoes all around and, small lakes coloured red, green and blue by the mineral salts leaking from below - incroyable.
 
Darlo1973 said:
Surprising that Glasgow doesn't get more attention as a weekend break destination. In July I did a few days each in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Edinburgh is OK but quite expensive and very touristy. You don't meet many locals in the city centre. Glasgow is an eye-opener, lots of history, locals who are welcoming and cheaper than Edinburgh too.
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Love Glasgow, and spent a long weekend there last month.

But it's the place I have paid the most for a pint in the UK....and it wasnt city centre. Was the Dirty Duchess pub in Finnieston!
 

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