Paris. I went there in my early twenties and got groped on their subway by a mentally unwell individual so that didn’t set a great tone to start with. My older cousins were with me and we went to a Michelin star restaurant overlooking the Eiffel Tower and that was probably the most marvelous part of the trip despite being outrageously expensive. The following few days were marked by long line ups, watching a tourist get hit by a car at the arc de triomphe and then being hassled relentlessly by vendors at most of the major sites to the point where one man spat on me for ignoring him after I already said No. Call it bad luck, but its the one place I’ve never had any desire to go back to. I’d love to see more of France, but not Paris.
These are likely going to be anecdotal, so if you had a good experience in that place, other peoples answers don’t have to take away from that.
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Syracuse, NY. Freezing. Worst food of my life.
Las Vegas. Just depressing.
Aruba. The most entitled Americans in all the land apparently flock to Aruba to talk down to locals and go to the local TGIFridays. Blech.
Los Angeles
Honduras. It was a service learning trip focusing on underserved populations, so definitely not a resort trip. I’m sure the resorts there are nice, but the abject poverty and crime rates/cartel situations outside of those resorts is astounding.
Cancun I felt harassed everywhere I went either by someone selling drugs, drunk frat boys or pushy ladies selling jewelry.
LA/Hollywood (Disneyland/Anaheim was good) I couldn’t even enjoy any of the “Hollywood” sights and touristy spots because of all the homeless, people openly doing drugs, vomit and shit all over the Hollywood stars walk.
Parisians are the most condescending people on the planet. I have ok French and no matter where we went, what we tried to order, we were scoffed at; food was slammed on the table, waiters dismissive and surly. Try to speak in English? Fuck you for not knowing French. Try to speak in French? Fuck you for not having native fluency, speak English instead.
Southern France was lovely: Marseille, Provence, Avignon. 11/10 would go again.
Tulum. Wildly overpriced and scammy. Very much geared towards trend chasers who don’t care the price as long as it looks good on IG
Dubai. I went knowing it would probably not be my thing but a friend was working out there so used that as an opportunity to see.
Not for me at all, a problematic place in many ways
Similarly to you, OP – Paris, Rome, Athens, and Madrid. I liked the smaller cities and countryside of the Southern/Western Euro countries, but the big, bustling metropoli were just not great. I also got sexually harassed, and people kept trying to guess/question my cultural background (as I’m POC). I’m glad I visited them (some already more than once, just due to circumstance), but they don’t entice me to make a return trip.
I also have no interest in returning to Lagos. I went for a work trip and needed security. The team we were working with there was suuuper nice, but yeah – there’s a reason the city (or Nigeria generally) has the travel advisories that it does.
India. People don’t understand personal space, they’ll be breathing down your neck/bump you. They run up to you and take pictures of you for no reason. I felt unsafe and harassed even though I was with male friends (men follow you for no reason and stare at you undressing you even if you dress modestly). It was chaotic in the city and it was very dirty. It smelled and saw cow feces on the streets everywhere. It was bad. I travelled a lot and this is the only place I felt like it was hell. No disrespect to anyone.
Honestly I’ve enjoyed basically everywhere I have traveled to thus far. Although I wouldn’t want to drive through Tennessee again, has some bad experiences doing that
I wouldn’t go back to the Bahamas. To be fair, I went on a cruise so it was a closed section, but it felt really manufactured and like I could have been anywhere. I wouldn’t cruise again either, generally speaking. It’s not for me.
I wouldn’t go back to Universal Studios/Disney either. I realised that theme parks weird me out; instead of being a magical experience, I felt like I was in uncanny valley.
The other place is Phuket in Thailand. There are some awesome bits around there, but I’d rather go to north Thailand (eg Chiang Mai) if I went back.
Pakistan.
As a woman, I would never go there again. There’s no such thing as equal rights over there, automatically you’re looked as a second class citizen, you might as well be the dirt on the ground.
I thought it was extremely overwhelming… so many people coming up to you asking “money for prayers” and also so so so many men dressed up as women coming up to your car, staring you down also asking for prayers and money… a lot of deceptive/cunning people!!
I felt also it was dirty, so many times you go to the bathroom and there isn’t soap…. Food hygiene doesn’t exist.
Not to mention the traffic… essentially everyone makes their own rules, tons and tons of honking for no damn reason!! People will honk when they back out of their driveway… they will honk when changing lanes like seriously? and everyone is just out for themselves (which is a major mentality of everyone there). Also! People just stare at you and it’s just super uncomfortable. You could be dressed like a local and yet they’ll still stare you down… just very creepy.
I love Paris. My mom used to take me with her on work trips as a teen. I’d just explore the city. I’d probably walk 20 miles a day around all parts of Paris. I knew “secret “ ways to get into the Louvre to avoid the lines.
I got sick and tired of being in museums so I’d just explore the city.
After many trips to New Orleans and LA in general I have no desire to go back.
Any red state in the USA.
Capitol riot.
West Virginia. I’m a POC and my family looks like they just landed in the US yesterday 🤣. But we don’t have issues at all in the places we’ve travelled. My parents were helping me move from IL to NC and we passed through WV. Holy crap. I’ve never felt so unsafe in my life. And I’ve gotten lost in skid row in the middle of the night.
Everyone at the gas station we stopped at would not stop staring and it wasn’t a curious stare. It was a “you better get the heck out of here” stare. And people started to gather around our car. My parents just said let’s just leave. I’ve always wanted to explore WV but after that, I no longer wish to go back.
Oh my god I hate Paris so much. Been twice. The people are awful. And I’m a global nomad. I’ve seen some assholes in my lifetime and they take the cake.
Beacon, NY. It’s commonly listed as a popular getaway for people on the AskNYC sub. It’s a cute walkable town with a nice museum. But I disagree with the people who recommend it for a long weekend getaway, which is what I did. It’s a day trip IMHO.
Burning Man. The art was wonderful, but the people were posers. The Radical Self Reliance is a joke with preset camps and more RVs than you could count. I can deal with the dust, heat, and buying ice. But those rich fucking tech bros and female counterparts made me sick. Never again.
Las Vegas
Looks absolutely nothing like you see in movies or TV. Only nice thing was the big fountain outside the Bellagio. Otherwise it’s shabby.
We were unable to find anything of interest to do. Good if you’re a gambling addict. Good if you’re wealthy and can afford $$$$ for tickets when a good show comes to town. Otherwise, meh.
They built a monorail to help tourists get around. Great idea, right ? Except the stations are only in the bowels of a few casinos. It took forever to find out way out of the gambling floor to get to the street. Monorail was designed for chronic gamblers, not everyone else.
Kansas. Lol
Disney World. It was really a trip for my sister-in-law’s family, but I’m never going to fly all the way across the country to wade through crowds and wait in long lines again. In the Florida humidity, too.
Paris is the one city I want to go back to. But we didn’t stay much in the touristy parts of town so that may be why.
I have no desire to go back to Los Angeles. It’s just not my vibe. People there weren’t very friendly and the city had a cold dead feeling.
Paris is overrated. Montreal is better.
Any cruise, anywhere. Trapped in a floating casino with a tiny room to go back to, surrounded by crowds of people anywhere else you go. No thanks!
Marrakesh. Stayed in a riad with the most obnoxious owner ever. No working air con, no locks on the room doors and no key for the external door. I didn’t feel safe. One night he arranged for his wife (who was lovely) to cook for us but then it didn’t happen so we were trapped inside all night with no food.
Out of the riad, you couldn’t do ANYTHING without being harrassed. I was with my boyfriend at the time and I got hissed at, followed and cat called constantly. I was dressed modestly. Men literally grabbing my hand and trying to pull me into their cafes and restaurants. A woman squirted henna on me and then tried to get me to pay. You couldn’t even take a photo without someone wanting money as they were ‘in your photo’.
I was meant to be there for 5 nights and left after 3.
Cairo – dirty, unkind and restrictive af.
Vegas – expensive, fake, soulless
New York City, the smell was terrible;South side of Chicago, safety; Florida in the summer. Too fu$#456 hot, fire ants, black widow spiders and snakes.
Egypt. Unfortunately because this country has such an amazing history but no, besides the harassment, the little hygiene, they sold you three pieces of „toilet paper“ at the airport at the loo doors and left no toilet paper inside the cabins. That was like the bad cherry on the top of a horrible vacation.
Barcelona – I dreamt of going there; the reality was much different. Other than loving the architecture, I couldn’t get into the food – constipated all day.
I also didn’t enjoy Paris.
Nashville. I always said I wouldn’t go anywhere in the south but my friends wanted to go. I did like the Johnny Cash museum but I felt so unsafe.
Istanbul
Which is a shame, because there were a lot of things about Istanbul that I liked. I liked the history, the food, and there’s a lot to see
Unfortunately, I did not like the constant hands reaching for my stuff. No. I didn’t feel safe.
Dubai and Miami. Both felt very shallow and sleazy albeit in differing ways.
Paris is the only place that I’ve been to so far that I’d never visit a second time. I’m glad I saw it, but I’ll never willingly go again. I absolutely loved Bordeaux though, so like you OP, I’d go back to France and explore other places. But zero desire to go back to Paris.
I’m not going to say I’d never go back, but I have zero interest in going to the USA until they’ve straightened out their politics. I don’t want to contribute to that economy.
Chicago specifically I just did not enjoy. The antisocial behaviour on the train was unreal and everything smelled like piss.
Multiple times I had my purse almost stolen in Paris. One particular time I remember seeing the guy’s hand outstretched for it and I did some ninja move swinging the purse over his hand and kept walking. It was crazy how common it was there. This was 2005, but as you can see, I’ve had no desire to return in the last 20 years so I have no idea if that’s different.
Morocco. The men are disgusting.
Spanish Wells in the Bahamas. It had some of the most beautiful beaches and sand flats I’ve ever seen. But it was creepy AF there. The majority of the island population is one family, and the racist vibes were strong. During the museum tour they showed us a painting of the islands white savior, painted in the style of Jesus with arm muscles bulging through a white dress shirt. The docent told us that after they arrived, all the native black people who already lived there just decided to leave. When I pressed her on this, she said they “wanted to” move to an infertile rocky part of the island, and then decided to leave bc they were “too lazy” to work hard and farm the land. Suuuuuuure. It’s the only majority white district in the Bahamas and they clearly want to keep it that way. The only people friendly to me (I’m brown) were other tourists. It felt like the island version of Get Out.
Same, I would say Paris too, it is not what it used to be. But the French Riveria, Alsace, Normandy, and the countryside are so beautiful and have lovely people.
Vegas too. I saw a gun pulled out by a guy sitting in traffic on the strip and then I didn’t leave my hotel room until it was time to go back to the airport lol. I know that can happen anywhere but still.
Never been to Greece but a friend of a friend was SAed on her first day there in broad daylight in public. So that’s scary.
Edit: I’m sad to see Egypt, India, and Morocco mentioned, I always wanted to see those places. I actually had amazing experiences in Cancun and Barcelona (as opposed to some commenters). Southern Italy was so beautiful with kind people but it definitely can get dirty and ghetto pretty quick. I would love to visit again one day though
Washington, D.C.
…when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Made that mistake my first time visiting, came home with a pollen allergy I didn’t have before and still have 8 years later! 😂
Florida lol. So boring.
I’m sad about all the Paris mentions. I’ve been there 4-5 times and never experienced the negative things mentioned. I can speak a little French poorly but never had anyone be rude about it.
Fiji
As an American who is aware of the fact im white it was pure cringe all the time but Aussies seemed to love it. Every time a new tourist showed up, who are overwhelmingly white Aussies and Americans the staff would have to scramble to shuck and jive for them, singing and dancing, clearly hating it, even people who are actively working like a woman who was cleaning or someone putting out the breakfast buffet would have to stop what they were doing to come miserably sing and dance for the new white people. I felt so embarrassed all the time. Also the people work like 8+ days straight, so it’s a bad working environment on top of making you feel like a racist asshole for being there. It just felt gross and exploitative to be there. Jamaica was similar but more from the perspective of the island being extremely poor and you clearly taking advantage of it, I also wouldn’t go back there. I do understand tourism dollars are very important to these economies and all that but it’s just not for me, I’d love to go and visit but not if I can’t do it in a way that makes me feel like a colonizer, and maybe I am, so even more of a reason to not visit, leave them alone, buy products made there instead or donate to international aid programs or something but there’s no joy in visiting a place with black or brown people and feeling like they’re at my beck and call even if they’re miserable for doing it.
Egypt.
Paris is on my list too. My daughter almost got trafficked there. I found people rude, the smoking drove me crazy and it honestly wasn’t all that great.
New Orleans is also on the list, dirty, run down, it smelled, I felt in safe and the weather has been bad every time I went. Roaches were literally EVERYWHERE. One actually crawled out the ATM card slot when I went to put my card in. That didn’t for me, I was out.
Branson. Just…. No.
Russia. Do I really need to explain myself?
I got groped twice in Paris, by different men and in different places. I was eleven at the time. I’d be happy to not go there again.
Mississippi – ’nuff said.
l lived in Mexico for four years and traveled throughout Latin America as a woman alone. I’ve been to ~25 countries, but I’ve never felt as unsafe or unwelcome as I did traveling with my husband in Morocco.
In many places no one would speak to me because I was a woman. Even if I asked a question, they would address my husband. We were harassed repeatedly, a police officer said racist things about me to my husband in front of me (I’m latina, my husband is white). But the worst was when we stayed in Todra Gorge. We had a lovely hostel run by a Japanese woman. After a long hike, we were very tired, excited for dinner, and relaxing. One of the local teens started telling us in great detail about the murders of two Scandinavian women who’d been camping in the area a few days before. He was gloating & telling us how stupid we were to hike.
The women were killed for being westerners. The murderers were still at large, according to the kid, in that area.
If that wasn’t enough, a man whose family owned the hotel (I guess the woman was a manager?) came up and drunkenly tried to pick a fight with my husband. He wasn’t making a lot of sense and the manager kept trying to get him away, but he made some threats, so we went up to our room. He tried to break in. We had to push furniture against the door. After he couldn’t get in, he paced the hall by our door for hours. We had no way to leave the area or even get out the door. We waited till an hour before dawn when all was quiet and tried to sneak out, but he was sleeping in the lobby and the door was locked. We shoved money at him and made an excuse about needing to catch a bus. He followed us out but let us go.
Between the murders and having a belligerent man try to get into our room, I was terrified. Even when traveling alone in south America, I never felt so vulnerable. There were many lovely people and places we saw in Morocco, but it’s impossible to remember those without the rest.
Chattanooga Tennessee, we stopped there on a trip to the Smokey Mountains, and had an awful experience.
We will never return.
I don’t think I’d go back to Cartagena. It was a beautiful city but we got followed and harassed kind of a lot. At one point I got groped while someone was trying to ‘help’ my boyfriend carry our groceries back to the hotel. Medellin and Bogota were great and I loved Jardin and Santana Marta
I don’t think my heart could handle India again. Such abject poverty and filth, toddlers and children without eyes and limbs begging. Men constantly staring/ogling, feeling of relentless danger, dead animals and feces in the streets and rivers. I’ve been twice for extensive stays and am so grateful for the experiences, but it’s a brutal place.
Tunisia. I went there on a family holiday when I was 11 and my sister was 13 and we received so much sexual harassment. Constant cat-calling and grown men coming up to talk to us when they couldn’t see our parents. My dad caught one man filming my sister’s arse as she walked down the street.
We also went out one evening, just me, my sister, and my mum, and were treated appalingly – vastly different to when we were out with my dad.
I studied in Paris in my early twenties and had an equally similar experience. It was during a heatwave and we had to trek across the city on 3 different metro lines to travel to class.
-it was hot AF and we were wearing shorts. Everyone catcalled us. People were dying every day it was so bad. We barely could sleep and slept in our underwear it was so bad and our host mom always walked in to steal cigs from us bc she quit
I watched a man taking a shit, like mid dump walking down the metro stairs. It is still engrained in my mind. I’ve seen some horrible accidents/people bleeding out from stabbing etc and stuff too living in Philly but man this traumatized me for some reason. And does to this day, 15y later
a man had his hand down his pants on the metro waiting bench and was fondling himself. My friend noticed so we walked down further. He kept looking. We board the metro as we’re pulling away, he is staring with a visible CUM STAIN on his pants
the buses went on strike and we couldn’t make it to class on time bc metros were so jammed and the French professor actually penalised us
the World Cup was on and they were in the semifinal. The whole city went nuts, it was an incredible atmosphere…until someone jumped into an oncoming metro and died..those got shut down. And entire crowds descended on the city. The police came out with riot gear and we were tear gassed. We couldn’t make it home and had to stay in a Scottish bar open until 7am and went to class next day still in those clothes and with no books. Reeking of alcohol.
I spoke ok French. But they hated Americans so much at the time bc of the war/Bush. I’d ask for directions in French (they’d ignore you if English) and then they’d tell us to go THE WRONG WAY ON PURPOSE! We didn’t figure it out until the third time thinking we really didn’t comprehend French at all.
i ended up in a French hospital in the Loire Valley, where no one spoke English. I passed out from exhaustion and heat and just woke up there.
I’d love to go back and do it right though. This just was not it!! 😂😭 and we thought we had a great time at the time too
Edit- I also got pickpocketed by a 10 year old little girl (gypsy) and at least 2 men put their hand between my legs (in shorts) while walking up the crowded metro stairs
The United States. For threatening to annex my country.
Cabo. It’s pretty but you can’t sit on the beach without people coming up to you trying to sell something every 5 seconds. Not an exaggeration. We sat there for 10 minutes and had to leave because it was too much.
I’ve traveled through Europe. Paris wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t too bad either. What shocked me the most was Brussels. There were so many thugs, graffiti, homeless tents on the canal bridges, most stores were boarded up, and the city was dirty! I was supposed to stay there for several days but decided to skip it completely and stay in Ghent and Bruges instead.
I’ve never been but heard from several friends that Egypt is one of the worst places for women to travel to, especially if traveling solo/with other women.
I went to Aruba and was majorly underwhelmed and would never go back lol
I won’t be racing to the USA anytime soon.