Anonymous wrote:Anyone who goes to Bali for the beaches will be disappointed. But how can you go to Ubud and the Ayung River Valley and not love the culture and natural beauty? The palaces, gamelan, dances, food, local Buddhist/animist customs. You won’t experience the true beauty of Bali if you stay at a beach resort.

Hmm...mmm.... I spent two weeks on Bali and it was more disappointing than not. Good food, yes, some nice scenery, yes. But crowded, traffic jams everywhere, Ubud was overbuilt and definitely more touristy than local. The water at the beaches was lovely even if most beaches were rocky. But on the whole I found Bali overrun with Australian rednecks and tattooed Europeans looking for cheap parties.

The advantage of Bali is that compared to the rest of Indonesia, the infrastructure is much better. After having travelled in more pastoral parts of Indonesia you can appreciate the upsides to Bali, but that was having good coffee, Starbucks, and diet coke and more reliable food. Not "local culture" which seemed to be gimmicky for the tourists.

By the way, Bali is a predominately Hindu island, not Buddhist and especially not animist. Maybe that was what some local person's spiel in order to get tourist dollars out of your misplaced sympathies.

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.

Anonymous wrote:Twenty-five years I lived in Europe for 3 years and traveled extensively. We traveled with family for years since. Our recent trips ~5-8 years have been very different. Just back from a trip this year and the difference between as shocking - trash, lack of maintenance upkeep, old construction, poor transit.

All that said, Iceland has been the only place I would say I was underwhelmed. Though I have had many people tell me 1) we went at the wrong time, and 2) tried to see two much in our 4 days. It was interesting but I’ll take a return trip to either Switzerland, Norway or Alaska first.

Agree 100% on all counts.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who goes to Bali for the beaches will be disappointed. But how can you go to Ubud and the Ayung River Valley and not love the culture and natural beauty? The palaces, gamelan, dances, food, local Buddhist/animist customs. You won’t experience the true beauty of Bali if you stay at a beach resort.

+10000
We didn’t ho near the beach resorts but LOVED ubud.

Paris. Filthy city, frequent public urination and even defecation, and some of the major tourist attractions like the Louvre are overrated. I had a great time and would certainly go again but I’ve enjoyed other European cities more.

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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.

That's why we do Northern Europe in summer -- Scandinavia, Scotland. Copenhagen is a great city for little kids. Swedish countryside and the Norwegian fjords are beautiful and comfortable in summer with kids who like being outdoors. Scotland is a wonderful mix of a terrific city, gorgeous countryside, and some fun/interesting history -- great for tweens and young teens, especially if they are outdoorsy.

Though I personally also think the rest of Europe can be great with kids. Mine love pastries, riding trains, river tours, spectacular architecture. I'm a museum person but am realistic about what that's like for kids, so we try to arrange that so it's not the focus for them but I still get some time there. Most European capitals have pretty good infrastructure for families, in terms of playgrounds, lots of discounted tickets and free access to things for kids even if you don't live there, and plenty of places to eat that are welcoming of families (pub culture in the UK can be very kid friendly, for instance).

It's also nice that Europe is not a super long flight from the East Coast, and there are lots of direct flights.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: All my life I dreamt of Bali- boy, was that a disappointment!
Ok the beach was a total disappointment nut thats what Bali is “famous” for.
However the rice fields, mountains, sceneries were very beautiful!

Maldives - gorgeous water beach….but cant go in water at the beach, too dangerous - another teaser.

Might as well stick to Caribbean.

Why couldn’t you go in the water in the Maldives?

Undercurrents.

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Anonymous wrote:

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.

You are a tourist!!! Wtf

Yes, and I hate other tourists.

Anonymous wrote:Share your most overrated international destinations, something you were excited about but didn’t quite live up to expectations.

Obviously the Amalfi coast!!!! The beaches are a joke unless you like walking on a few feet of "stretch" with rocks under your feet. Almost every American beach blows theirs away. Sorry, its true!

Anonymous wrote:Twenty-five years I lived in Europe for 3 years and traveled extensively. We traveled with family for years since. Our recent trips ~5-8 years have been very different. Just back from a trip this year and the difference between as shocking - trash, lack of maintenance upkeep, old construction, poor transit.

All that said, Iceland has been the only place I would say I was underwhelmed. Though I have had many people tell me 1) we went at the wrong time, and 2) tried to see two much in our 4 days. It was interesting but I’ll take a return trip to either Switzerland, Norway or Alaska first.

+1, thank you. Iceland was not for me although some natural things are impressive (eg blue lagoon, golden triangle) but I just found the whole place kind of depressing, especially reykjavik

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who goes to Bali for the beaches will be disappointed. But how can you go to Ubud and the Ayung River Valley and not love the culture and natural beauty? The palaces, gamelan, dances, food, local Buddhist/animist customs. You won’t experience the true beauty of Bali if you stay at a beach resort.

Stop giving good tips, PP. Bali is awful. No DCUM people should ever go there. Go to your house at the Delaware beach instead. Stay away from Bali.

Should say - 25 years ago, I lived in Europe for three years

Twenty-five years I lived in Europe for 3 years and traveled extensively. We traveled with family for years since. Our recent trips ~5-8 years have been very different. Just back from a trip this year and the difference between as shocking - trash, lack of maintenance upkeep, old construction, poor transit.

All that said, Iceland has been the only place I would say I was underwhelmed. Though I have had many people tell me 1) we went at the wrong time, and 2) tried to see two much in our 4 days. It was interesting but I’ll take a return trip to either Switzerland, Norway or Alaska first.

Why do people hate Costa Rica? Haven't been since 2008 but loved it.

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.