Even though Philadelphia was listed as a place I do not plan on visiting again, the people at Philadelphia Tourism's Twitter account had a pretty good sense of humor about it.
Wow…why so angry? Actually I loved all the comments left on last week’s post about “Cities I Do Not Want to Visit Again” so much that I wanted to share some of the more “colorful” with you.
First though, the reason I wrote this post was to show people that yes you can be travel obsessed and yes you can either not like a destination or simply not want to visit it again. Nothing wrong with being critical of a certain destination.
A good friend of mine that works in the travel industry once told me, “people that like every place they visit do not travel often.” I agree. So here are some highlights from the nearly 200 comments left about places that just did nothing for you.
Dakar, Senegal is the top one on my list. We began our visit of the city by checking into a hotel that doubled as a brothel. Fortunately our rooms were in the pay by day, not by hour section. but going to reception was not much fun. Having unpacked and just read that we need to look out for pickpockets, guess what happened, wallets were stolen by some guys who grabbed our arms and distracted us while someone else did the lift. We then tried to drown our sorrows in a bar over some G&Ts, only to find some dirty old European men in there getting it on with some hookers. Needless to say we left the next day! - Joanne Lane (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
I could do without Detroit ever again. That city is going thru some tough times, but still–scary! – Diane Elefson
Casablanca, Morocco. It was just kind of a big dirty city. It didn’t have the interesting culture of other Moroccan cities, like Fez or Marrakech, but it still made me feel just as on edge! – Sarah
I detest Clearwater and St. Pete, Florida. – Marie
I was suitably disappointed by Cairo – tourist-ridden, dirty, traffic-from-hell, lots of harassing. – Clare Appleyard
Agree 100% w/ Philly and I currently live there. – Kim
Places I’d happily not return….Albuquerque, San Antonio, Toledo, Orlando, and Costa Rica. – Katie Hammel
Here’s a city for your list: my own hometown of Vicksburg, Mississippi. It maybe home of the civil but it’s the most boring place to live. Nothing to do. – Chuck
Paris – Rude, tourist unfriendly and living in a time warp of its own.People ignore english-speakers, which is what most non EU tourists will be. The restaurants are over priced and serve with a smirk to budget travelers. Beautiful and all, but hey, why compromise on basic expectations? – Aashish
For us Singapore was one of the worst – a big soulless shopping mall of a city with only Chinatown providing even a glimmer of personality. It’s boring, oppressed, expensive and did i mention boring? - Duane & Sheryl (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
I actually just got back from Buenos Aires & can safely say: never going back (if I can help it). While the trip was great because of the company I was with, the city itself left me really turned off. Too big & too crazy for us to settle in to & really get comfortable.
Sofia, Bulgaria. Our nickname for it – Ugly Sofia. – Josie
I’ll never go to Toronto again, never. it was very boring and had the same atmosphere you described from Rome. I also won’t be back to Rome, just had too many bad experiences there in the short time i stayed there. – Cynt
Alexandria, Egypt – As one of the oldest cities in the world, it looks like it. It was just so dirty and unclean. – Angela
Valparaiso, Chile. I thought it was just a wretched place. – Adam
I don’t ever want to visit Sarajevo again. Although a lot of recent history there, it is very depressing, not much to do, and not comfortable for a woman traveling alone. – Constance Crowley
My once and done is Athens. Kind of how you feel about the Rome ruins, seen the Parthenon, ok not much else and it’s the filthiest city I’ve ever been to. - Laurie DePrete (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Aww I’m a Rome fan but I would add Tampa and Baltimore to the cities I’d be quite content to never see again. – Stephanie
Algeciras, Spain…the armpit of Europe. Spent one night there waiting for the ferry to Morocco and was scared for my life (and health) the entire time. – Ryan Tomko
I have to say I wasn’t that into Venice when I went – and might not go back. It was so touristy and crowded and over-priced. While beautiful, I’d rather go off the beaten path when traveling. – Gillian
That is just a sampling of the great comments left over the last few days. Feel free to add more if and when you visit a city that is not worth revisiting.
The city that was mentioned the most was Casablanca for being extremely dirty. Not a lot of love either for Athens, various cities in Florida, Texas and Italy. I found it funny that many people from or around the city of Philadelphia did not defend it and simply agreed with me or told me they could see why I did not like it. Where is the love in the City of Brotherly Love?
The winner of the Lonely Planet Guidebook is Matthew from Adventure-Some. Matthew has won the Lonely Planet USA Travel Guide. Thanks to everyone that entered & be sure to check out “The Brooklyn Nomad” all summer long for more travel giveaways!
