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Anonymous wrote:The thread is a joke. The idea that people living in DC of all places are qualified to pass judgment on their superiors around the globe is hilarious.

Eh, much of Europe is plagued with rampant pickpockets. That simply isn’t the case here.

Much of the world seemingly tolerates littering. And public urination. Eww.

Much of the world has a shortlist of tourist spots, whereas the US is vast and you rarely feel a crush of tourists as you do at the Trevi Fountain or pretty much any tourist spot in Italy during the summer months.

We are very lucky in the US to have so much space and so many places to visit—including off the beaten path destinations.

Plus, American tourists know how to form a line and wait patiently. Apparently the rest of the world never got the memo.

Anonymous wrote:The thread is a joke. The idea that people living in DC of all places are qualified to pass judgment on their superiors around the globe is hilarious.

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Anonymous wrote:I think all of Europe is overrated during high season. It’s awful for those of us with children under 18.

I have adult kids and agree with this. Summer in Europe is awful. Crowds, heat, humidity. Fall is much more enjoyable.

Anonymous wrote:Second Vancouver and Niagara Falls. Brussels was also pretty meh.

Everywhere in France is fabulous just for the eating and shopping alone!

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Anonymous wrote:Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Venice, Florence

Barcelona, Venice, and Florence are just too overrun with tourists. I actually thought Madrid was fabulous—it seemed like a real city with actual locals and I wasn’t tripping over a tourist every two feet.

I found the people in Madrid and Barcelona and Spain in general to be assholish.

The feeling was likely mutual.

It’s OK. Portugal and the Portuguese are way better anyway. Plus Portuguese food is superior. People finally learned Portugal is better destination.

Anonymous wrote:Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Venice, Florence

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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.

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Anonymous wrote:Italy

Where did you go?

Rome and Naples. Total dumps

Anonymous wrote:Washington DC - hands down.

Anonymous wrote: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.

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Anonymous wrote:I would invite everyone to consider the possibility that if you find somewhere overrated, it is because you are doing it wrong. Eg going in peak season, going to see shat all the tourists are seeing rather than quieter bug still interesting places etc.

People who blithely dismiss cities like Rome, which contain some of the greatest treasures of art, architecture, and history that the world has ever produced, as “overrated”…

Exactly we loved visiting Rome and Venice in the fall. Loved seeing the forum lit up at night and visiting small neighborhood bars. And walking down empty alleyways in Venice. Plus best pizza in Naples.

Yes! I loved Venice in the fall. It was so empty, and the whole "city without cars" / canals just felt magical. I wish we'd spent more time there. I could have just walked for hours.

I've been to 9 different countries, and found something to love in all of them.

A whole 9 countries? Wow!!

What a jerk!

Why? Most Americans have been to at least 30 or more, so it was kind of a weird thing for PP to say.

Most Americans, or most DC area nerds?

Let me rephrase. Most educated, upper middle class Americans.

Weird. I'm highly educated, grewa up wealthy, and consider myself pretty well traveled, but I am still only coming up with about 20 countries in my 45 years (although some of them I've been to several times each). That feels like a lot, and I feel like I've done a lot (or at least similar amount) of travel relative even to my DC wealthy, well educated peers. The only people I know with 30, 40+ countries are the stunted immaturity DC types who got "masters in international relations" and are only marginally employed in their 40s with less developed social networks because they focus so much on travel. That's fine that they made those choices, but they hardly reflect the average well educated American who only has two weeks of vacation to use a year, because of that pesky job thing that they are using their degree for.

NP here. You should probably just not consider yourself well traveled, really. There are almost 200 countries--some one can't visit. So you've been to probably 15% of the world's countries. Eh.
I don't have Master's in IR (STEM degrees instead), but even I've been to more than that. Sometimes the job requires travel, sometimes you grew up with wealthy parents who like to travel, etc. There are many reasons why you might have been to more places without being"stunted". I don't know who you consider the average American, but the only person I know who only has 2 weeks of vacation is my DS who just graduated in May and started his first job.

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Anonymous wrote:Tokyo
Seychelles
Mexico City
Phuket
Nepal
Prague
Martha’s Vineyard
Jackson Hole
Dubrovnik
Marrakech
Antarctica
Easter Island

I have the feeling this poster is likely insufferable in real life.

Tokyo is one of the most amazing places in the world. It's a lot, but I'd go back in a heartbeat. There's something for everyone.

This is what happens to people who are wealthy and either grow up traveling extensively or travel very extensively relatively early in life (20s/30s). I have a number of friends from both college and grad school who are like this and I think it's the result of having never been limited in terms of travel. I also think they got incredibly used to traveling with a lot of money and therefore missed out on the experience of traveling on a tight budget in your 20s, which I think teaches you how to appreciate simple pleasures in traveling, especially abroad. I still have such fond memories of eating picnics of bread, cheese, and wine in the parks in Paris when I was a broke backpacker at 22, or becoming fast friends with Australians (always the Australians) I met at a run down hostel in Greece. I also had to learn to how to find the cheap but amazing places for food and entertainment.

A person who could say that every one of those places is overrated is someone who has lost the capacity to travel well and, honestly, I feel sorry for them. I don't know how you get that back. It's like someone who destroyed their taste buds and now everything tastes bland. It's a shame.

I agree. That person with the enormous list of disappointments sounds jaded and unimaginative and I feel sorry for them.

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Anonymous wrote:Tokyo
Seychelles
Mexico City
Phuket
Nepal
Prague
Martha’s Vineyard
Jackson Hole
Dubrovnik
Marrakech
Antarctica
Easter Island

I have the feeling this poster is likely insufferable in real life.

Tokyo is one of the most amazing places in the world. It's a lot, but I'd go back in a heartbeat. There's something for everyone.

This is what happens to people who are wealthy and either grow up traveling extensively or travel very extensively relatively early in life (20s/30s). I have a number of friends from both college and grad school who are like this and I think it's the result of having never been limited in terms of travel. I also think they got incredibly used to traveling with a lot of money and therefore missed out on the experience of traveling on a tight budget in your 20s, which I think teaches you how to appreciate simple pleasures in traveling, especially abroad. I still have such fond memories of eating picnics of bread, cheese, and wine in the parks in Paris when I was a broke backpacker at 22, or becoming fast friends with Australians (always the Australians) I met at a run down hostel in Greece. I also had to learn to how to find the cheap but amazing places for food and entertainment.

A person who could say that every one of those places is overrated is someone who has lost the capacity to travel well and, honestly, I feel sorry for them. I don't know how you get that back. It's like someone who destroyed their taste buds and now everything tastes bland. It's a shame.