Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bali.

I have never understood the appeal -- it's such a long flight and there are so many other tropical destinations that are closer. It's just resorts. If I'm flying to that part of the world, I want to actually experience local culture a bit more than that. Just go to Hawaii.

Why didn't you experience the local culture?
My kids and I went on local tours and they took us around the mountains, rice fields, we saw their traditional kecak dance, went to local restaurants, all very memorable.

PP did it wrong. Bali is twice the size of Rhode Island. PP also could've gone to Lombok.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Munich. It’s so boring and corporate. (I lived there though, probably fun enough for a weekend.)

Venice. I found it gross.

Do people talk about Munich? I always think of it like one of those very staid European capitols focused primarily on boring industry and/or government -- Munich, Brussels, Zurich. I found the latter two better than expected because I expected so little of them, though I've never been to Munich.

Yeah, people hype up the Biergartens and overall Bavarian experience. Compare to eg Frankfurt which no one has ever hyped up for anything.

In contrast to you I managed to be disappointed by Zurich despite my low expectations. Soooooo boring.

I was there in June on my way somewhere else and I think I scored the most perfect Swiss weather possible. I just remember it being extremely pretty and going swimming and hiking and having a nice meal. So not groundbreaking, but I had assumed it was just banks and hotels and not much else, so when it was at least very pretty and the weather was amazing, it was a nice surprise. I'd stop over there again, but I have no idea what you do there for a week.

Seeing the Mona Lisa IRL was a letdown.

I would agree with Rome, but there are other parts of Italy I loved, so I wouldn’t say the entire country is overrated. Smaller towns in central Tuscany were wonderful.

I was just in Munch and liked it for a couple days. It's not a destination city, but it is a pleasant place to spend a few days, isn't as hot as many other parts of Europe in the summer, has nice art museums that aren't crowded, is safe and there are people biking everywhere. There are also other appealing destinations a couple hours away by train.

Another vote for Rome. Just felt icky everytime I went back to my apartment. I found Naples ¿quaint? Or sorta charming but Rome is just a dump.

Anonymous wrote:Zanzibar. Another resort town, despite the presence of Stone town.

Absolutely. No way would I ever suggest anyone to travel to Zanzibar on its own, but it was a nice break after a long (and overrated) safari. It’s great for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bali.

I have never understood the appeal -- it's such a long flight and there are so many other tropical destinations that are closer. It's just resorts. If I'm flying to that part of the world, I want to actually experience local culture a bit more than that. Just go to Hawaii.

Why didn't you experience the local culture?
My kids and I went on local tours and they took us around the mountains, rice fields, we saw their traditional kecak dance, went to local restaurants, all very memorable.

NP. I did all that and it was fine, but nothing you couldn't do pretty much anywhere in SE Asia. I was living in Vietnam at the time and traveled all over the region. The beaches in Bali were extremely disappointing compared to many other places. The tourist scams were also worse.

You couldn’t pay me to go back to Mexico. Shudder.

Anonymous wrote:Bali.

Hard disagree- Bali was awesome, especially the interior of the island, rice paddies etc. and tons of culture.

I was already in Asia so didn’t fly 24+ hours to get there specifically.

Vancouver. Pretty setting but so dull.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bali.

I have never understood the appeal -- it's such a long flight and there are so many other tropical destinations that are closer. It's just resorts. If I'm flying to that part of the world, I want to actually experience local culture a bit more than that. Just go to Hawaii.

Why didn't you experience the local culture?
My kids and I went on local tours and they took us around the mountains, rice fields, we saw their traditional kecak dance, went to local restaurants, all very memorable.

Naples isn’t the prettiest city but I found it to be very interesting.

The best peach i’ve ever had I bought off of a street vendor in the Spagnolli, the juice was running down my arm.

I wandered down some alleys and found a cafe and sat under lines of laundry and enjoyed a cheap pizza and some cheap wine.

And took in the local flavor. Fascinating people watching.

I bought some birkenstocks for my aching feet and then wandered over to the port and checked the ferry schedule and bought a ticket to the next one leaving, bound for one of the islands, where I went to the beach and took a dip in the med.

The next day I headed back to Naples where I’d booked a nice hotel, which was well appointed, reasonably priced and had a great roof top pool and jacuzzi.

The next day I took the high speed train to Rome, 1st class tickets were like 20 Euros.

I rather enjoyed Naples.

Anonymous wrote:Zanzibar. Another resort town, despite the presence of Stone town.

I'll second this. Was in Zanzibar last fall, and didn't love it. We had a beautiful private villa, which was nice, but I got bored and the beach was not nice at all.

Zanzibar. Another resort town, despite the presence of Stone town.