Have you ever visited somewhere and found it very different from what you expected?

[Clifton Tesh]

The Alamo. I had no idea it was going to be surrounded by modern buildings; but my biggest disappointment was that there was no basement.

But I bet you never forget it!

 

[Clifton Tesh]

I visited Afghanistan when I was 20. It was a lot different than I expected.

There was nowhere near as many people trying to shoot me or blow me up as I expected there to be.

It was quite the contrary. Most of the people I met over there were extremely nice and very accommodating.

 

[NAB]

Time Square. The New Years ball looks so much bigger on tv. Someone had to point it out to me or I would have missed it.

 

[DCLMP]

Paris. People were friendly. I had always heard they weren’t, but that’s not what I experienced. .

 

[kdonnel]

Paris. People were friendly. I had always heard they weren’t, but that’s not what I experienced. .

I have found that people are generally proud of where they live and are happy to show it off. That has been true for every city I have visited all across the globe.

 

[China Expat]

All the time. THat is why I love travel.

 

[Rogue1677x]

Casablanca....wasn't entirely sure what I thought it was going to be like, probably more like Marrakech. It's not like Marrakech though. The Hassan II mosque was interesting.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. It was a far cry from the pristine beach strolling solitude while watching a lone surfer riding the waves. Not that we expected to be the only ones there on a wide expanse of fine, clean sand, but not really expecting a narrow strip of dirty sand jammed with people like maybe here back at home on Downtown Chicago Oak Street Beach. Years of watching TV and advertising do sort of set a person's expectations, haha.

100% agree! We were there in May of 23', thankfully for only one night. We even stayed a nice hotel, but it insanely touristy and I honestly didn't feel all that safe leaving the hotel to walk around.

 

[bsmcneil]

Funny - I felt the same about Niagara Falls. Also - Boston. I was 110% positive I'd love Boston and for some reason, every experience there is the worst.

 

[bcla]

I've visited national parks in Asia where I was thinking it might be similar to what we might have in the United States. They're highly commercialized with stuff being sold almost everywhere. And honestly with quite a bit less care taken towards preserving natural resources, but more for providing tourist services.

 

[RangerPooh]

Salem, Mass. I was thinking there be more historical buildings and sights.

Dollywood. It’s beautiful and clean, but not much for someone who doesn’t do rollercoasters. Plus it rained/lightning the entire day which meant just about everything was closed.

 

[Karin1984]

Nothing hugely different from expected, but there have been places I loved more or less than I thought I would.
LOVED: Ghent, Sevilla, Granada. They looked nice and I was excited to visit each of them, but absolutely fell in love once there. I would happily live in any of the three.

I had that with Shanghai. Not that I would want to live there, but it was so much better than I had expected. I thought there were so many people, it had to be a dirty city, it will be hard to get around, to make people understand what we mean.
But it was clean, people were friendly and helpful. Would definitely want to go back and explore more.

 

[tony67]

Most places don't live up to the hype. Its important to not buy what the influencers say.
We recently visited Portugal and had very high expectations based on all the research we had done. We had been waiting for travel to Europe to open back up so we watched a lot of travel stuff. When we got there it was nothing like we expected and we were very disappointed. Still we ended up going back again. Since we knew what to expect we had a much better time.

Another issue is the various tourist boards are doing a good job keep problems quiet. Dublin is a good example of this. O'Connell street is risky in the middle of the day, let alone at night. It is shocking how bad it got between 2019 and 2023. Even 2022 to 2023 was a very big change. We go to Dublin to visit family so we are stuck with it. In future I am not sure what we will do.
I cant imagine going there on a vacation. It's nothing even close to what the tourist board is trying to sell people. What people think Dublin is and the reality are very very different. I still cant get some of the things I saw out of my head - it was that bad.

 

[bcla]

I had that with Shanghai. Not that I would want to live there, but it was so much better than I had expected. I thought there were so many people, it had to be a dirty city, it will be hard to get around, to make people understand what we mean.
But it was clean, people were friendly and helpful. Would definitely want to go back and explore more.

I've been to Shanghai. I found it kind of dirty depending on where. A lot of people have no qualms about spitting on the street or just tossing trash everywhere. And then there's the quality of any kind of construction, which can range from high standards to barely adequate. I remember seeing sidewalks made with maybe a half centimeter thick piece of granite over a drainage channel. That will eventually break.

Then there's the air pollution. I remember one trip we arrived in Shanghai the first day and flights were delayed based on the visibility solely from the pollution. But we transited through Shanghai when leaving and it was remarkably clear. On our ride to the airport the taxi driver apparently said (I think since my Mandarin is poor and only from dealing with friends who tried teaching me) that it was incredibly clear that day and we were lucky.

The one large city in China known for being clean is Hangzhou. Our tour guide explained it as a high profile foreign visitor coming and being asked what he thought, and he was blunt, calling it "dirty". They apparently took that as a call to make it the cleanest big city in China.

 

[mousefan73]

20 years ago I was on a business trip with colleagues in Philadelphia and we decided for the fun of it. Let’s drive to Atlantic City. I heard about the boardwalk and I pictured some quaint beachy type city on the beach. When I got there, it was hell on earth and I’ve never been so happy to see a city in my rearview mirror.

Positive note Athens, Greece was always a place. I just simply never wanted to go to because all the images I see it is just smog and heat and people and.Dirty. I’ve been there three times within the past two years and I simply love it. Granted you couldn’t pay me to go during a heat wave in summer. I spent the past New Year’s Eve and now in May for a cruise. For two or three days it’s a great city for historical stuff and Great food. It’s also compact and walkable.

 

[mousefan73]

100% agree! We were there in May of 23', thankfully for only one night. We even stayed a nice hotel, but it insanely touristy and I honestly didn't feel all that safe leaving the hotel to walk around.

I have to say, though I was pleasantly surprised on how nice Waikiki Beach is for a city Beach. I’ve been there twice within the past two years and I love it nice sand and the water is great. There are much better beaches in Hawaii, but for beach on a major city it’s actually really good - I think of beaches by Barcelona or outside of Rome forget it compared to Waikiki

 

[bsmcneil]

Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. It was a far cry from the pristine beach strolling solitude while watching a lone surfer riding the waves. Not that we expected to be the only ones there on a wide expanse of fine, clean sand, but not really expecting a narrow strip of dirty sand jammed with people like maybe here back at home on Downtown Chicago Oak Street Beach. Years of watching TV and advertising do sort of set a person's expectations, haha.

100%. I went from a few days completely alone on the Big Island to Oahu and started with Waikiki. The culture shock was massive - I couldn't get out of it fast enough. Enjoyed the north shore, got some snacks, and made my way over to Aulani ... all in time to cancel my next leg (a hostel in Maui) mid-March 2020 ...

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Another issue is the various tourist boards are doing a good job keep problems quiet. Dublin is a good example of this. O'Connell street is risky in the middle of the day, let alone at night. It is shocking how bad it got between 2019 and 2023. Even 2022 to 2023 was a very big change. We go to Dublin to visit family so we are stuck with it. In future I am not sure what we will do.
I cant imagine going there on a vacation. It's nothing even close to what the tourist board is trying to sell people. What people think Dublin is and the reality are very very different. I still cant get some of the things I saw out of my head - it was that bad.

I live in Dublin and I agree. Ive been booted out of travel groups as I try to tell people about this, but no one wants to know, as Irish Tourism pump huge amounts of money into keeping the Darby O'Gill image of Ireland alive. Another issue is that there have been a huge amount of nice new hotels built in not so nice parts of Dublin city centre, again which are heavily promoted.

If you are observant in Dublin you will see the great escape of locals out of the city from 4pm every day. Students, office workers, tradespeople, retail, and people doing business and shopping all leave the city centre by 6pm every day.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. It was a far cry from the pristine beach strolling solitude while watching a lone surfer riding the waves. Not that we expected to be the only ones there on a wide expanse of fine, clean sand, but not really expecting a narrow strip of dirty sand jammed with people like maybe here back at home on Downtown Chicago Oak Street Beach. Years of watching TV and advertising do sort of set a person's expectations, haha.

I should add that we also were on Maui and Hawaii (the big island) and they were beautiful, just like the ads.

 

[mousefan73]

I should add that we also were on Maui and Hawaii (the big island) and they were beautiful, just like the ads.

Yeah, but Waikiki Beach is much better than Oak st. Beach even North Avenue or Montrose. I was on the Chicago beaches in summer in Waikiki in October day and night. Not that Chicago beaches are bad They’re actually good for what they are. This was Waikiki in October right by the Moana Surfrider.