What destinations turned out better than expected?

[ilikeanswers]

Someone posed a question about disappointing destinations and it got me thinking about destinations that surprised me or I was expecting to be not great but turned out to  be absolutely amazing.

 

For me there where two countries that surprised me. First was Serbia. We had to stop there on the way to Croatia and since we were coming off such a long flight we figured why not make it a stopover and explore a bit. Everyone told us not to waste our time, that it wasn't worth the effort but we stuck to our guns albeit with low expectations and we ended up having a great time. There was beautiful scenery, interesting history and amazing food🤗

 

The other was Qatar. I thought it was going to be like the UAE which isn't my favourite place but it turned out Qatar has a lot more things I'm interested in with archaeological sites, wacky art pieces, unique natural formations and best of all I finally got to try some peninsular food which is so difficult to find in the UAE. I ended up enjoying this stopover a lot more than I had been expecting . 

 

Anybody else have a better than they expected experience at a destination? 

[sverigecruiser]

 

Barcelona and Valletta.

[cruisemom42]

That's a tough one. 

 

Generally, as I said on the other thread, I pick destinations that I'm already pretty interested in, and most of those neither disappoint me nor delight me more than expected. Also, I think my travel philosophy or mind-set is that most places are going to be enjoyable -- and my expectations are mostly met. 

 

I enjoyed Marseilles more than most people seem to, but then I was expecting to enjoy it despite opinions from others, so I'm not sure that really counts....

 

I enjoyed Avignon MUCH more than I thought, given that it doesn't have a lot of the ancient history that really appeals to me. But there was something about the vibe of the city and the beautiful hotel we stayed in, and the meals we had that definitely "sparked joy".

 

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by cruisemom42

[ldubs]

I think my list might be long because I personally do very little research or pre-planning for trips.     Mrs Ldubs does that, and much better than I ever could.   So I'm often in wide-eyed wonder when I visit a new place.

 

Malta was definitely a pleasant surprise.   Another that caught me completely off guard was Lucca It.   

Edited October 27, 2020 by ldubs

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

Someone posed a question about disappointing destinations and it got me thinking about destinations that surprised me or I was expecting to be not great but turned out to  be absolutely amazing.

 

For me there where two countries that surprised me. First was Serbia. We had to stop there on the way to Croatia and since we were coming off such a long flight we figured why not make it a stopover and explore a bit. Everyone told us not to waste our time, that it wasn't worth the effort but we stuck to our guns albeit with low expectations and we ended up having a great time. There was beautiful scenery, interesting history and amazing food🤗

 

The other was Qatar. I thought it was going to be like the UAE which isn't my favourite place but it turned out Qatar has a lot more things I'm interested in with archaeological sites, wacky art pieces, unique natural formations and best of all I finally got to try some peninsular food which is so difficult to find in the UAE. I ended up enjoying this stopover a lot more than I had been expecting . 

 

Anybody else have a better than they expected experience at a destination? 

Where is the thread about disappointing destinations ? I can fill up a page.

[Roz]

Bulgaria and Serbia -  I agree with @ilikeanswers, interesting history and scenery and delicious food.  I'm still salivating over the sausage I had at a Serbian barbeque.  

[GrJ Berkshire]

Tallinn in Estonia is magical.

Really surprised by Bologna, little in most Italian guide books compared to the more popular cities like Venice, Florence, Rome.

But the unexpected star find was Stockholm, a beautiful city overlooked by many and the sail in and out brilliant.

[Langley Cruisers]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Where is the thread about disappointing destinations ? I can fill up a page.

 

It is the "underwhelmed" thread, and you posted in it.

 

 

[Ashland]

Oh that's an easy answer...Estonia & Malta....I really knew very little about each...what an amazing surprise !!

[dolittle]

Great idea for a thread ,agree on Tallinn heard it was good on this site. It is just the perfect cruise stop walk from the ship, authentic ,great little nooks and amazing town square. Naples also, heard a lot of bad but it was great the city is the real thing tons of energy and not touristy .

[jocap]

It was the Azores for me... I never expected S. Miguel to be so green, with free range cows-  supposed to be the happiest cows in Europe- because the climate is a gentle one, although wet. Not at all touristy; pleasant people and wonderful scenery.

But I have been there when the heavens opened... it felt like home (The Lake District)

[whogo]

I expected London to be great, it was so much better than great.

[Hflors]

For me it was Pompeii.  Seeing the actual name on the side of the house and the painting inside one of the homes really brought the story of what happened there home to me.  I could have spent a week there.

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

Tallinn in Estonia

 

Tallinn was a surprise for me as well. 

 

My visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and to the ports in Vietnam that I visited were surprises as to how I felt about them.  These good people have moved so far along from their memories of the late 1960's and early 1970's that I admire them for being able to do so. 

 

Burnie, Tasmania, Australia:  a delightful community with my tour to a National Park that was more scenic and memorable than I expected.

 

Petropavlovsk, Russia was more interesting to visit than I expected.  More welcoming Russian citizens in that community than I found in St. Petersburg. 

 

Broome, Australia:  a substitute port during the Volendam's 2002 Asia Pacific cruise because of the cancellation of Bali due to the bombing that took place there.  I don't think  there was not a soul on that ship that said:  "Broome"?  Why the h*&l was that port chosen and what's there?  IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE SURPRISE AND DELIGHT!  At least for most of us I think.  Somewhat of a "wild American West" atmosphere in 2002--probably has changed by now.  Surely glad that I had the opportunity to visit this community. 

 

Chattanooga, Tennessee and Savannah, Georgia:  whenever I drive to/from Florida, I try to include visits to both of these cities.  Very good memories of my experiences in both and with the citizens with whom I had contact.  

 

 

[cayman09]

Sailing up the river to Kotar. I couldn't believe a ship as large as  the Nieuw Amsterdam could navigate such a spectacular seaway through beautiful mountains, small villages and islands.

[Cruzaholic41]

Pisa. I read so many reviews expressing disappointment, so I went in with low expectations. I loved it!  

[Markanddonna]

We visited Ostia Antica in Italy in December. We were at Pompeii and lots of other archaeological sites on that trip, and I thought we would be "ruined out."  It is one of the best preserved, most accessible sites we saw. Despite it being a sunny, warm Sunday, we were practically the only ones there, and no areas were restricted. Highly recommended that tourist stay in Ostia instead of an airport location the day before the flight back to the US.  The trip was an easy 10 minute train ride from Ostia and a 20 minute taxi ride the next morning to FCO.  Easy peasy. 

[bbangel74]

15 hours ago, jocap said:

It was the Azores for me... I never expected S. Miguel to be so green, with free range cows-  supposed to be the happiest cows in Europe- because the climate is a gentle one, although wet. Not at all touristy; pleasant people and wonderful scenery.

But I have been there when the heavens opened... it felt like home (The Lake District)

My mom wanted to retire there after our visit and I could definately spend more time there. 

 

I think the place that was the most surprise to me was Assisi. It was on our itinerary for a group member who was more on the religious side but churches have never been my thing so wasn't expecting to really enjoy it. I found myself wishing we were staying longer. The people were wonderful, had some good food, enjoyed just walking around and spotting all the beautiful touches in the city.

[Fergus]

All of Ireland (except Dublin, which I commented on in the underwhelmed thread).  The first morning we woke up and opened the little window in our B&B room and looked out onto a small pasture of sheep.  Their bells were tinkling and the wall around their pasture was stacked stone.  The grass was the greenest green and it was like waking up in heaven.  We had the most amazing breakfast, took off in our car for a week, and every single site we saw was amazing.  Everything in Ireland is green, even the stones on the beach were green.  The ancient sites were so accessible and we never encountered crowds or traffic or unpleasantness of any kind, we just drove and stopped anywhere that pleased us.  Until we arrived in Dublin.....

[Tapi]

Valletta, Malta: I absolutely  LOVED everything about this destination. It was like sailing into a postcard. Loved meandering the streets of Cospicua, Vittoriossa and Senglea. Truly a magical place. 

 

Sitka, Alaska: Before I took this cruise, I was a bit bummed that this itinerary went to Sitka instead of Skagway (which I truly wanted to see). But Sitka turned out to be one of my favorite stops, with its rugged beauty, Russian influence, and quaint feel. 
 

A port that I haven’t visited but that my parents consider their all time favorite surprise is Dubrovnik, Croatia. 

[cruisemom42]

3 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

We visited Ostia Antica in Italy in December. We were at Pompeii and lots of other archaeological sites on that trip, and I thought we would be "ruined out."  It is one of the best preserved, most accessible sites we saw. Despite it being a sunny, warm Sunday, we were practically the only ones there, and no areas were restricted. Highly recommended that tourist stay in Ostia instead of an airport location the day before the flight back to the US.  The trip was an easy 10 minute train ride from Ostia and a 20 minute taxi ride the next morning to FCO.  Easy peasy. 

 

Ostia is a wonderful archaeological site and it is also quite easy to do as a daytrip from Rome proper, for those who might want to spend 3-4 or more days prior to a cruise (or just as part of a land trip). 

 

Although I will quibble a bit with you saying no areas were restricted. Every time that I have been (3x so far), almost all of the decorated houses have been closed and locked, as have most of the mithraea on site (something I am very interested in seeing!).  

 

As opposed to Pompeii and Herculaneum, Ostia was very much a port town, so you'll see different kinds of buildings -- more warehouses, for example, or multi-story apartment buildings. The Piazza of the Corporations is particularly interesting -- a place where representatives of the many guilds would gather to do deals, solicit new business, etc. Each had its own place and there are delightful mosaics still in place showing things like amphorae of wine or olive oil, measures of grain, fish, ship-building equipment and ships, etc.

[HxFx]

14 hours ago, cayman09 said:

Sailing up the river to Kotar. I couldn't believe a ship as large as  the Nieuw Amsterdam could navigate such a spectacular seaway through beautiful mountains, small villages and islands.

I went there for a land vacation and it really is stunning there!

[HxFx]

I always recall Taiwan as a favorite destination in Asia. Taiwan had a great mix of traditional Asian culture with American standards and the food was delicious. I loved visiting places like Thailand and Malaysia but would not drink the water and real poverty was very evident. Singapore was great but definitely Western. Taiwan has a good mix with beautiful architecture.

[ontheweb]

 Another vote for Talinn. I had only read really wonderful things about this port, but was still no ready for how charming a place it was.

 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2020 by ontheweb

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, ontheweb said:

 Another vote for Talinn. I had only read really wonderful things about this port, but was still no ready for how charming and wonderful it was.

I believe the reference is to this thread:

From reading the initial response to me I believed there was a thread specifically 

about places that people were disappointed in.