Places that were BETTER than you expected?

[Anonymous]

Ashburn.

[Anonymous]

Richmond, VA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Richmond, VA

+1 unexpectedly “cool” city. Same with Roanoke (although smaller), felt like Asheville before Asheville became a bachelorette party Mecca.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Istanbul. I had heard many things, but it is probably my favorite city in the world. Vibrant, and surprisingly accessible.

on my bucket list

My dad taught Greek so he used to take students to Greece fairly often. He loves it there but when he went with my mom to Istanbul---they absolutely lost their minds how much they love it.

I went there twice about 20+ years ago and though I loved the historical aspects of it, I was there in winter and at the time they were burning coal and I was breathing it every day. My face would be filthy when I cleaned it at night. And there was a lot of anti-American and anti-female verbal harassment on the streets at the time. Sounds like it's gotten a lot better. Maybe I need to go back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richmond, VA

+1 unexpectedly “cool” city. Same with Roanoke (although smaller), felt like Asheville before Asheville became a bachelorette party Mecca.

Where do you all stay/what did you do in Richmond? I've been wanting to visit but not sure what areas are good to get a sense of the city, not just the suburbs/malls etc.

[Anonymous]

Taiwan.

Husband has family there, but I was never all that interested in visiting. I was put off by how long the flight is and figured Taipei was just a big city. We have now gone twice and I love it. Taipei is a great city with amazing food and other areas of the island are beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Istanbul. I had heard many things, but it is probably my favorite city in the world. Vibrant, and surprisingly accessible.

on my bucket list

My dad taught Greek so he used to take students to Greece fairly often. He loves it there but when he went with my mom to Istanbul---they absolutely lost their minds how much they love it.

I went there twice about 20+ years ago and though I loved the historical aspects of it, I was there in winter and at the time they were burning coal and I was breathing it every day. My face would be filthy when I cleaned it at night. And there was a lot of anti-American and anti-female verbal harassment on the streets at the time. Sounds like it's gotten a lot better. Maybe I need to go back.

I was there 20 years ago. Loved the history but did not love the verbal harassment on the streets. As a young woman it was constant and totally ruined the trip. Unless you actively enjoy being catcalled every 5 minutes and stared at and being in all-male environments, I’d skip it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Istanbul. I had heard many things, but it is probably my favorite city in the world. Vibrant, and surprisingly accessible.

on my bucket list

My dad taught Greek so he used to take students to Greece fairly often. He loves it there but when he went with my mom to Istanbul---they absolutely lost their minds how much they love it.

I went there twice about 20+ years ago and though I loved the historical aspects of it, I was there in winter and at the time they were burning coal and I was breathing it every day. My face would be filthy when I cleaned it at night. And there was a lot of anti-American and anti-female verbal harassment on the streets at the time. Sounds like it's gotten a lot better. Maybe I need to go back.

I was there 20 years ago. Loved the history but did not love the verbal harassment on the streets. As a young woman it was constant and totally ruined the trip. Unless you actively enjoy being catcalled every 5 minutes and stared at and being in all-male environments, I’d skip it.

Was there ~ 5 years ago and experienced none of this. Also a youngish woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ashburn.

C'mon, this deserves at least a LOL. Good one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by how many people like Pittsburgh

--Pittsburgh hater

NP. I really love Pittsburgh. It's the one city my DH and I have said we could move to.

My new contribution to this thread (maybe it's been mentioned, I haven't read the whole thread yet): Guatemala. Highly recommended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fingerlakes. Beautiful. Delicious wine. Surprisingly Good food.

I so agree.

Ithaca, NY. It’s so beautiful there. The air is different, I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe it’s the negative ions from all the moving water everywhere. It’s bliss.

+1 on Finger Lakes. We also loved Lake Placid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by how many people like Pittsburgh

--Pittsburgh hater

NP. I really love Pittsburgh. It's the one city my DH and I have said we could move to.

My new contribution to this thread (maybe it's been mentioned, I haven't read the whole thread yet): Guatemala. Highly recommended.

Yes on Pittsburgh! I am a pharmacist and spent a year in Pittsburgh doing my residency at UPMC Children’s. It’s a great city - definitely think I could’ve lived there long term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wisconsin is much prettier than people realize esp around here. This is doubly true for Michigan. It's absolutely stunning outside of the cities. Unfortunately lots of people only know about Flint and Detroit

I thought I would like Scotland but the Highlands exceeded my expectations. Edinburgh is one of the most fantastic places I've ever been. I would move there in a heartbeat.

Wales is also underrated-- it's so charming and all the little valleys are just adorable. Check out Hay on Wye-- it's a town full of used book stores!! The Welsh people are more friendly and open than the English and I love to hear their language and read the Welsh road signs.

We loved Wales and want to go back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love Norman, OK

Go Sooners

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Taiwan.

Husband has family there, but I was never all that interested in visiting. I was put off by how long the flight is and figured Taipei was just a big city. We have now gone twice and I love it. Taipei is a great city with amazing food and other areas of the island are beautiful.

Taiwan is beautiful. Formosa--beautiful island. Great food, Taipei is really nice. I go there often for work.