I saw a thread like this on Twitter and thought it would be interesting to sort of recreate here. The original descended into a load of people just naming crap towns but that's too easy, anyone can visit Stoke and say it's rubbish. So what is the place, attraction etc you have visited that you expected to be good and were left disappointed? And as a bonus what is a place you expected to be rubbish but actually quite liked?
I'll start with Paris. I love France, in terms of big or biggish French cities I've visited Montpelier and Marseille and loved both, particularly the latter which was just mental. I'm going to Nice in just over a month too so it's not some Francophobic bias on my part. Paris just didn't do it for me at all, it was pretty dirty, didn't feel particularly safe at night, it was expensive even by the standards you expect for a city like Paris and everyone, tourists and locals alike, looked miserable. There are obviously museums and galleries and the like but they were all rammed and it was hard to enjoy them when some tool with a camera was elbowing past you every 2 seconds. I like to wander on holiday and never really felt at ease doing that in Paris, it was either too busy or you wandered into somewhere that just felt a bit sketchy.
I'll also add the Spanish Steps in Rome. Rome is my favourite city (maybe joint top with Berlin). The Spanish Steps are some steps, the backstory is of course interesting but they are ultimately still just some steps that in appearance and design aren't all that interesting to look at. The appeal of standing or sitting on them for hours baffles me. Time would be better spent in the Trinità dei Monti church at the top which is pretty stunning and arguably a bit overlooked because of the competition it faces for OTT religious building in Rome.
On the flip side I had to visit Bradford with work a few years ago and had a surprisingly good time. It's not going to win any beauty awards and the social issues are clear for all to see but I had a spare day and had a look around and found plenty interesting things to do. The Bolling Hall museum was interesting, the City Hall is a fine looking building as are the Wool Exchange and the Alhambra Theatre. The National Science and Media Museum was also interesting. I found a few nice pubs to have a drink in and people seemed friendly. It's not ever likely to usurp Paris as a tourist destination but I enjoyed it for a day. I felt quite sad that was once clearly a big important city had been reduced to what it is now.
