So the post about not being able to get excited about Amsterdam got me wondering what place you visited that you weren’t really looking forward to, but ended up enjoying more than you thought.
For me, the last place was Belgium. We went last year and I was so excited about the Netherlands/tulips that Belgium was an afterthought. Well...I loved it. Amazed by Antwerp, charmed by Ghent and Bruges, moved by Ypres and Menin Gate and In Flanders Fields museum...
Berlin - I was not looking forward to going but it was on a Rick Steves tour of Berlin, Prague & Vienna. I loved it and found it to be full of history and culture as well as an interesting, modern city. Truly a highlight of the tour!
I have pretty much loved everyplace I have ever traveled in Europe.
Next week, I'm off to Paris, repeat visit, and Amsterdam, first time, and expect to have a wonderful time.
The Christmas market at Dortmund. Talk about a pleasant surprise at its vastness and festive and fun atmosphere!
Rome. My first visit was just awful. First mistake: it was part of a big bus tour. And they dragged us through too many places in too short a time- no time to really enjoy what we were seeing (but lots of shopping oportunities : ( ). Second : we arrived the day before the Pope was cannonizing 2 new saints. The city was absolutely gridlocked. I hated it.
A couple of years later DH had to be in Rome on business for a week in early spring and wanted me to come with him. And we both loved it! Very uncrowded (for Rome). And we could wander at will, taking our time and enjoying everything at our own pace. Heck, we didn't even need to get advance Colosseum tickets!
Great question, Nicole! I immediately think of 2 countries:
First is China. When I first signed up to visit China, back in 2004, my sense was that “I SHOULD experience and know much more about China, certainly a huge and emerging country, power and influence in the world.” I arrived there with more a sense of SHOULD than a sense of WANT TO or excitement. In fact, every aspect of my trip was wonderful! The ancient sites and history, the bustling and dynamic cities, the diverse regions, the beautiful countryside, the very friendly and open people, the excellent hotels and restaurants cuisine, and so much more made this one of the favorite trips of my life.
Second is Bulgaria. I took the RS Bulgaria Tour in 2016, knowing very little about the country, thinking of it as one of the poorest countries in Europe, emerging from Soviet domination and communism, perhaps slowly. But not knowing much more than that. Thanks to this tour and our excellent guide Stefan, I became excited about Bulgaria and its friendly and very helpful people, and many beautiful sites to visit, although none really world-renowned. The tour offered several opportunities to get to know ordinary people, who do not deal with foreign visitors on an everyday basis. With very few tourists in most areas, Bulgaria is a hidden treasure and a joy to visit.
I never go anywhere I haven't already worked up a significant interest in, but I must say that I did visit Poland on a bit of a whim and was totally overwhelmed by how much I loved this country, spending 8 days there--Krakow, Warsaw and Gdansk. Definitely plan to return.
Caen, in Normandy. I stayed two nights in Bayeux and one in Caen as part of a Normday/D-Day visit a few years back. I had heard how amazing the old town of Bayeux was but that because Caen was mostly bombed out during the war, it wasn't a particularly appealing place. I need to spend that last night in Caen for logistics reasons to catch a train and stayed there only reluctantly.
But as much as I agreed that Bayeux was a lovely old town, it was just dead at night - clearly a tourist town. Caen, on the other hand, was vibrant and lively at night, buzzing with locals, and I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it.
Dusseldorf, Germany. Our flight flew out of there, so we went in a day early. Turned out to be a very pleasant city with great pubs and restaurants. Really liked the Carlplatz market where I had my first (and not last curry wurst). We ended up going back this year for 3 days and still liked it.
Tallinn, Estonia. It was (is) part of one of the RS tours we took a few years ago and of the three, the city I was least looking forward to visiting. I loved, loved, loved it! Sadly, I had done very little research before going. I was so excited to actually see Estonia's significant and poignant history come alive through our exploration of the city, first on our own and later with the local and main Rick Steves guides. The city itself is lovely and intriguing; it captivated me right from the first foot out of the hotel door.
Bretagne, France - specifically the area around Quimper, in the far southwest. Very pretty, very bucolic, not like the rest of France at all - the drink is hard cider, not wine; there are cows everywhere. The small villages which butt up against the ocean are working towns, not touristy. The prices are not high - we stayed in a charming, but not fancy hotel and the highest dinner prices was 31 E - fabulous anniversary dinner.
Sarajevo was also a wonder. Nestled in the mountains, chilly in late October, and still showing the scars from the civil war. We were interested in the stuff about the assassination, but the old town and muslim quarters are fascinating.
Venice. Yes, that Venice.
Hey, I'm jaded. I dislike places with lots of crowds. I do not like being around cruise ships. I distrust places that are heavily hyped and widely known around the world as major tourist magnets.
Venice is certainly all of those. I went expecting the worst. I went mostly because my wife wanted to go. But my defenses immediately crumbled completely and I was totally charmed. Yeah, the crowds, the cruise ships, the crass commercialism, blah blah blah, all true. But it's still Venice. I was wrong.
Prague. We've studied language for most of the places we've visited: Italian, Spanish, French, German. I knew we couldn't possibly learn Czech, so I was worried about the language barrier and the different currency. HA! We loved, loved, LOVED Prague. I even screwed up "Thank you" and realized halfway through our stay that I had been saying "Please" instead. Nobody cared - even me by that point!
We are usually pretty excited about every place we go, so I'd answer your question with cruising. A friend got us a great deal on a Caribbean cruise back in 2011. Believe it or not it was a line dancing cruise. We went along to please some friends who wanted to take advantage of the price. I had a bad attitude about the whole thing. Well every day got better and better and in the end I had more fun than anyone in our group. We cruised the Caribbean again the next year and after that I was hooked.
That said, we did a Transatlantic cruise and although I loved it, I don't know if I'd choose cruising as a primary way of seeing Europe. I missed my European nights. I say never say never though, and if I got the right price who knows.
Some places that exceeded my expectations, which is not to say I wasn't excited to be going there, include Lisbon, Orkney, Madrid, Dordogne, Malaga...
Spain.. I never really wanted to go.. so never went.. for decades.. but my new hubby always wanted to go to Spain.. so since I am the trip planner I included 7 days in Spain during our 4 week trip.. I felt I was being generous.
I was wrong.. I wasnt wild about Barcelona.. but we took a bus and went to the small seaside town of Tossa de Mar and loved it..
Weve since been back to Marjorrca twice and I would go again .
This july a girlfriend and I are going to visit Alicante.. looking forward to it.
The answer to that question is Poland in general, wasn't interested in going, certainly lacked the basic curiosity to visiting the country. . Of course, I was wrong...very wrong indeed.
We went in 2001 with Poland on the itinerary along with France and Germany, basically going from Paris to Warsaw by train. We broke up the ride by staying in Berlin, then went on to Poland. After seeing the first place,. Warsaw, I was eager to see the second place, Krakow, when we took the train from Warsaw to Krakow...very interesting culturally, above all, historically, great food, lovely people.
Two years later, again in the summer, on the next Europe trip, Poland was once more part of the itinerary, this time to Gdansk, again from Berlin, another train ride, even longer, 9 hrs or so from Berlin with two transfers. . While there I had to see Malbork castle plus part of the town.
Mallorca. It never featured on my radar for some time due to my misconception that it would all be a pissed up Brits abroad hell. How wrong I was, Magaluf is easily avoided and the island is magnificent and has, in my opinion, the finest Spanish city.
The Venise Verte (green Venice) in France. A myriad of pretty villages alongside canals with quiet tow paths for walking and cycling. A bit like the English Cotswolds but without the crowds and the stuffy locals with an attitude. Unlike the actual Venice, which was one of my most disappointing.
Ile de Re as part of the same trip, just off the coast of La Rochelle. Relaxed island living and good food.
Berlin was more interesting than I thought it would be with some good museums.
Great question, Nicole.
I have had some surprises at "what the hell" stops. I planned a trip to Prague and Budapest. Since Vienna is nearly in the middle, I thought "WTH", I'll stop for 2 nights . . . and loved it. Last year I planned a long-awaited trip to Krakow and Warsaw, and some folks here recommended Gdansk, so WTH, I went . . . and I enjoyed it much more than anywhere else in Poland.
One of my biggest surprises was last year when I finally went to Greece, after living a stone's throw away for more than 30 years. What drew me were the antiquities (especially after seeing the temples in Sicily) and taking an RS tour. I had a ho-hum attitude to the Mediterranean coast (after all, I see it often enough). By my second day in Athens I was mentally kicking myself for waiting so long. The beaches were gorgeous, nothing like here, the food was terrific, the towns and villages were picture-postcard charming, and the people were wonderful.
For me it was Siena. I just didn't know that much about the city, and from the photos it looked like just a lot of brown brick buildings, nothing terribly exciting. We ended up loving it! There is just such a neat, laid-back, community-centered culture there. I often find that I enjoy the places I am not anticipating more than the ones I do. I guess it has to do with unreachable expectations.
Chani - I am so glad to hear your feedback on Greece. I have previously felt a bit lack-luster about Greece, I think just because I am not a big beach person and I tend to prefer Renaissance type attractions more than ancient ruins. But my husband was really excited about Greece, and I knew it was a place I should see, and he reminded me that I was really wowed by the ruins in Rome, so we decided to join the tour this year. I have heard nothing but great things about the RS Greece tour, so I am sure we will have a wonderful time!
I'm glad to see that about Berlin - it's a place (well, Germany as a whole) that keeps getting pushed down my 'to visit' list, and I can't really explain why. I'm sure we'll spend some time there in the next 10 yrs, but the thought of it doesn't 'excite' me as much as thinking about France or Italy. We did spend one whole night in Augsburg and one in Munich back in 2010.
And yes - I do find the more I think I'm going to love a place, then I'm disappointed (somewhat). In the case of Amsterdam, I thought I'd love the canals and everything - but I ended up with some kind of throat issue that made eating/swallowing painful, and I ended up vomiting one night (I blamed the Burger King food - hey, we needed something fast...don't judge). The weather turned cool and I hadn't packed enough warm clothes (wore 3 layers almost every day, so I felt like a stuffed turkey). And we daytripped 3 of our 4 days, giving Ams itself short shrift. But I'm going to give it another chance to make me love it - but we'll go in Sept some year, with warmer weather and hopefully no throat issues.
Venice was one I guess I had some good vibes about, no strong feelings one way or another (our first trip to Europe in 08 was Rome thru to CT/Genoa/Bologna then Venice) but the second I walked thru the train station doors - it was love at first sight. Like, if you can fall head over heels in love with a city, Venice was it!
Generally, I expect to like virtually anywhere I travel. Sometimes they end up being disappointing. Here are a few that exceeded expectations.
Germany, Bonn comes to mind. I really like that city. Especially Puetzchens Markt; IMO much more fun (and local) than Oktoberfest. I enjoyed Trier's Roman ruins and the city more than expected.
Scandinavia, I liked Copenhagen better than I expected to. Not so much Tivoli Gardens but there is way more to see and do in Zealand than I expected. Stockholm, I liked the Vasa museum more than I thought I would. The ship is a little newer than my historical interests but I liked everything about the museum.
Spain, I really liked Toledo, but I kind of expected to. The surprise was Zamora, so much history in a small package. Olite castle near Pamplona is now one of my favorite castles in Europe. Holy Thursday in Zaragosa was one of the top experiences of my life. Zaragosa is a town with a few sights that most people could see by getting off a train between Madrid and Barcelona for a couple hours. The Holy Thursday celebration, however, was amazing and virtually no tourists in sight. I also thought Tarifa was a much nicer town than expected.
France, Reims and Chartres were both better than expected. I expected great cathedrals but the towns were a pleasant surprise. The prehistoric areas and port towns in southern Brittany were also nicer than I expected.
England, York was the big surprise. I guess I didn't have any real expectations but came away loving the Shambles area.
Ireland, I expected nothing from Blarney Castle and liked it quite a bit. I think I expected a standard tower house, so the ruin was more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Add the cave, dolman, gardens, woolen mill, manor house and it was much more than I thought it would be.
Italy, the surprise was Orvietto. Much more in a relatively small town than you'd expect and very convenient. I also really liked Siena a lot more than expected.
Malaga. It is not Cordoba or Seville, true, but it is much nicer than its image and worth a couple of days.
The medieval town of Gubbio! A number of years ago we took a cooking tour entitled "A Taste of Tuscany." At our first night's gathering in Florence, our guide mentioned we had a change in our itinerary. We were no longer visiting Deruta. Many of us were looking forward to the Ceramics Factory visit. Our guide reported we will be going to her "home" in Gubbio. Little did we know that when the bus arrived in the main square, that her "home" was The Palazzo
Ranghiasci. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that this unpretentious young woman was a Countess. We found out she inherited the "Noble Floor" and frequently takes tour groups there to learn the history of this fascinating town. We also enjoyed one of the best meals we had in Italy.
Needless to say, we never missed Deruta! It was a trip of a lifetime.
Good question. When I was single I would get asked to join on someone else's planned trip. I would think what the hell, even if I wasn't excited about the locale. The first time was Yucatan, Mexico. Well, after my first trip, which I loved I decided that if anybody asked me to go, I would go. I have found that even the places you never had on your radar can be fascinating and amazing to explore. So far with this attitude I have been to Baja California, Costa Rica, Peru and Machu Picchu, Australia, China, New York City and Los Angeles (LOL about that two, had to go kicking and screaming there). I dislike busy traffic and crowds so you can imagine. After my marriage we have had many great trips in the last 10 years with lots of help from my BFFs on this venue and other sources. The last place that I really was not excited about was Zagreb. It was our return to the US after a trip to Croatia and Slovenia. I found the town and people delightful. Just goes to show you can't judge a book (or town) by its cover.
This is a fun thread.
Croatia is our current obsession. We have been there 4 times since 2011. We'll probably go back, may try to find a way to purchase property and stay there. I have professional connections now.
We have stayed in Zagreb several times. On each stay, it gets better. Mostly we have seen the tourist sights - the town is at most a 2 day tourist town. But there is a nice culture there - as I said, I know people now, and that makes a better stay.
We have also stayed in Sibenik, Split, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Plitvice Lakes, and have visited Trogir. It's not expensive to stay there. Wine is good, reasonably priced. Food is fish + mitteleuropa (schitzels, etc), and several things we really love - ajvar (red pepper spread) and polichinta (pancakes similar to crepes). My grandma made those when I was a kid.
Chartres - someone else mentioned this - we stayed 4 nights - very pleasant little town.
Cottbus, Germany - again, we have friends, and they take us to the fun places, like the Polish restaurant and the Cowboy Cafe Restaurant, with the confederate flags and wooden Indians.
Cottbus...now there is a place I would like to see, only stopped there in 2001 on the train back from Krakow. In 1999 I was close to Cottbus in the Spreewald area, only visited Lübben and Lübbenau where I saw historical plaques going back to 1813 when this area was a battle field area.
I love reading everyone's experiences!
For me.....Paris, actually. Went for the first time in 1973, then a few more times in the mid-70's in the summer when it smelled like urine from the pissoirs and doggy-doo and my experience with the people in Paris was that they were rude.
Fast forward to Rick's 21 Best of Europe a few years ago....at the introductory meetup the guide said - Oh by the way if you've visited Paris before and hated it, I will make you love it. Not sure if he just planted the seed or if he gave me the skills and understanding to manage in Paris but now? Can't get enough!
Guernsey. What a beautiful island with a rich history. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we walked all over. Went to Mass at a French church, the people were lovely and we had a wonderful dinner in a small restsurant in the shoppong district. A perfect vacation day for me.
That's a coincidence. My first time in Paris was also in 1973 on TWA, SFO to Orly, landed there Sunday, 1 July ca 0900 hrs. What struck me most upon landing was that I was there, couldn't believe I was really in Paris.once I got off the airport bus.
Funny, Fred! I was on an American Express tour - $600 which included airfare plus hotels for 2 weeks in Madrid, Paris and London and some sightseeing tours. The tour model was kind of like Rick's My Way tours are now.
Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock) in Australia's 'Red Centre'. We visited because it is an iconic location, but also because it was an easy addition to a trip we were already making.
I had low expectations - it's a big rock surrounded by a vast expanse of bugger-all. Or so I thought. Turns out it really does have a weirdly haunting and spiritual feel - first surprise. Second surprise was realising that the empty desert surrounding it is far from empty. The bird life especially was amazing, but also the reptiles.
A seriously good place to visit.
Excellent thread. There's been a lot of surprises, but I agree with others here about 3 big ones - Mallorjca, Berlin, and Venice.
I expected Mallorjca to be a touristy nightmare, but found Palma to be amazing, with a much larger medieval center than Barcelona. It's my favorite Spanish city so far! We totally ignored the resort areas with ease, although I'm returning in May to do the All-inclusive thing, for a hen party, so I'm sure it will be a very different experience.
Berlin - I'd pictured a cold, gray, dull city and only went because my husband wanted to go. I've returned 6 times since then and it's never enough. Easily my favorite place in Germany, and one of my top 3 cities in Europe.
Venice - Again, was afraid it was to touristy, but it knocked my socks off. Although after seeing how crowded it was even in early March, I would never dream of trying to go in the summer, it would probably drive me crazy.
Although pleasant surprise no one has mentioned yet is Belgrade. When planning my Balkan trip, Serbia was just something we had to "get through" to get from Romania to Bosnia, and so we only spent one night in Belgrade. Total mistake, it was a lovely city with nice people. I'd love to return.
I put off visiting Spain because I just wasn't all that interested. Of course, I loved everything about Spain. I am glad that I put it off because now my freshest travel memories are of Spain.
Umeå, Sweden. I'd love to spend an entire year there. I'd love to study the light, get involved in the outdoor nature of this small city, enjoy the picturesque scenery, experience deep winter as I did summer. There's a life to this city even when the students have gone. I'd love to spend at least 6 unconnected months here, preferably the year...but not sure how I am going to fit it in.
@ Pam...My flight over on TWA, if you remember that big carrier of yesteryear, in Economy was $425. In 1973 it was my second trip to Europe as a college backpacker, although I had completed grad school the month before. Needless to say, going to Paris was a thrill, it had been beyond my imagination to get over there.
Hi, Nicole. Great topic. I was surprised by Paris. I went with a friend last year whose lifelong dream was to go to Paris; he agreed to integrate a few days in Normandy into the trip, so I went. My expectations were low because many acquaintances had told me how much they hated it and how rude the Parisians were. I found the city and its people absolutely lovely.
My first trip to Europe was in 1983 on a small bus with a group of 13 of us from Aspen. Forget that the bus driver got lost ALL the time, but we road the bus from Frankfurt, Munich, Austria, Italy, France, and Switzerland, all in three weeks. I REALLY hated Italy. I think as a 25 year old female, I was really uncomfortable with the Italian males, and thought people were rude and dishonest. But I guess that's what we got with zero pre-trip planning or research without the internet.
In 2011 my husband and I went to Italy (Como, Venice, Cortona) and absolutely loved every moment. Than two years later another trip to Italy only from Cinque Terre, Montalcino, Orvieto, Rome, and Sorento. Now we are moving to Italy for a year.
Maybe Italy's like older vintage wines. The Italian experience improves with every sip.
Strasbourg, France - toured the EU institutions and loved the architecture and ambiance in old town and stone bridge and dam.
We only had a very short time in Strasbourg (arrived in the evening, and only had until about 1pm the next day before we moved on) but we really enjoyed it. We lucked into amazing couchsurfing hosts who were in an apartment right on or near (it was 8 yrs ago - it's fuzzy, but I think it was right on) the square where the cathedral is. It's been on my return to list - someday we'll get back to that part of France.
I haven't really had a place I wasn't interested in and ended up loving, BUT - and apropos of your story - the first time I was in Amsterdam I was 21, alone, and overwhelmed by having no information (it was 1991, no internet, and I planned the trip on the fly), being a single girl wandering around Europe, and showing up in AMS at night, and staying in the youth hostel in the Red light district.
I went back two years ago with my 13 yo daughter and we absolutely loved it. It rained almost the entire time (in July), but that was part of the romance. We rented bikes for 4 days and went out every day and rode and rode and got soaked, and then came back to our apartment to change and then went back out into the rain. We rode out along the Amstel, all over the city, from end to end, visited less touristed museums (FOAM, where they were having a retrospective of - ack, can't remember the guy's name but the photos were all graphic nudes and my prude 13yo daughter was :O , but after we left she said "I feel so inspired to take photographs now". It was just magic. And ever since, we have felt like part residents. On our bikes, we roll our eyes at the bumbling tourists stepping off curbs right in front of us! The nerve ;p We hardly spent any time in the center of the city, and after 4 days could ride from end to end without a map.
All that said, we are Dutch, to the extent that half my family is from there, so this was a heritage trip for her, and I always wonder if we love it because of that connection, or that first visit.
So, try maybe again ;) Maybe the city is special and its not just us :)
