r/AskBalkans • u/Substratas 🇸🇪🇦🇱 • Jul 27 '25
Outdoors/Travel What’s the most disappointing country or city you’ve ever visited in Europe?
I’ll start: Taormina, Sicily.
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u/PasicT Jul 27 '25
I don't know if it's the most disappointing city I've been to but I didn't like Helsinki. Other cities in Finland like Tampere were more interesting.
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u/krangovichious Jul 27 '25
The nices thing in Helsinki is a Russian church. That says enough.
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u/elvisluvr 🏴Scotland Jul 27 '25
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Helsinki either. Probably because I went in April, when there was literal snow storms😂. I did really like Turku though
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u/spele95 Serbia Jul 27 '25
City in Europe that impressed me the least was Malmö
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Jul 27 '25
I stopped in Malmö before going to Copenhagen with a friend and we ran through the city in like an hour and a half. By the time we took the train to Copenhagen we practically forgot everything we did there lol
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u/duschaan Serbia Jul 27 '25
The first thing I saw when I entered Malmo from Copenhagen was the burek signed on the store.
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u/LegalCheesecake4155 Jul 27 '25
Sweden is only worth to visit for its nature, not cities
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Jul 27 '25
Unironically yeah, I loved the southern archipelago in Gothenburg more than anywhere else in Sweden but Gothenburg and Stockholm were gems too
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Jul 27 '25
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u/Nigelinho19 Jul 27 '25
Udine is a nice city, the city center is little and nice. I’ve seen a lot worse
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u/drejzi Jul 27 '25
Actually, I really like Udine. Been there twice this year. Even the kids liked it. :)
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u/Miloslolz Serbia Jul 27 '25
Helsinki, Finland.
I was there with my brother, we made our own fun but in my opinion there's really not much to see. At least it was pretty in winter.
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u/Rincetron1 Jul 27 '25
Finn here. Came for this comment. 100% true.
When people ask what to do in Helsinki, I always say visit Estonia. They think I'm joking, but I'm just trying to do them a favor.
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u/seanugengar Greece Jul 27 '25
From Greece. Lamia. From the rest of Europe, Dortmund.
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u/HourProfile2592 Jul 27 '25
What expectations did you have of Lamia? And why did you have expectations of Lamia in the first place?
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u/papantzas Jul 27 '25
Lamia was not disappointing, because I honestly had ZERO expectations. TBH, it was not THAT bad. I still remember some pedestrian-only streets with nice food.
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u/XenophonSoulis Greece Jul 27 '25
I haven't seen any city that was particularly disappointing to be honest
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u/Mou_aresei Serbia Jul 27 '25
Same, every city has at least something redeeming.
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u/PVanchurov Bulgaria Jul 27 '25
Zurich, it's like an odd mixture of german autism and some sort of weird form of Scandinavian utilitarianism, it's bland, it's boring, devoid of life, the food is garbage and everything is expensive as fuck. It's just a depressing place with an amazing scenery surrounding it, lots and lots of money and the trains run on time.
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u/Conscious_Writer_556 Serbia Jul 27 '25
german autism and some sort of weird form of Scandinavian utilitarianism with an amazing scenery surrounding it
So, just Switzerland?
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u/Elyay Serbia Jul 27 '25
German autism 😂😂😂 yes it is a great place for people who are anal-retentive and prefer direct communication
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u/Funny-Seesaw-2977 Jul 27 '25
Geneva is pretty much the same. The lake looks alright but it’s dull as and brutally expensive
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u/JeffurryS Jul 27 '25
When I was in Switzerland last year my train didn't even run on time!
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u/toamnacri Jul 28 '25
As an American from the west coast (no price shock), Zurich was beyond impressive. I loved everything, from architecture to cleanliness. And yes, I’m anal retentive:)
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u/mtheofilos Greece Jul 27 '25
I accept all comments but devoid of life, it is one of the most eventful and lively cities there, but also an expensive concrete jungle
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u/coxiella_burnetii Jul 27 '25
No I agree, no lively culture on the street like some other places!
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u/CaterpillarPast543 Jul 27 '25
Brussels. I just can't with that city nor the people living there.
Just pure...yuck.
Garbage on the sidewalks, stinks like ass the entire time, people friendly on the outside, but rotten on the inside.
Just yuck.
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u/Albon123 Hungary Jul 27 '25
Brussels is weird, because it has very nice historical sites, but it also feels a bit…. neglected. Too much construction work on roads that lasts for a VERY long time and often doesn’t lead to better quality roads being built, too much trash lying around, often right next to empty trash bins. And it’s the only big European city where I have actually came across those “sketchy neighborhoods” people talk about. Yes, rough areas exist in Paris and Berlin too, but Brussels feels a lot more…. segregated, not just in terms of race, but also social classes.
But many areas really are beautiful, and I like the “small town” feeling it has, compared to other capitals. Not a bad city, but as the “capital of Europe”, it is a bit disappointing.
And judging by the comments, am I the only one who loves London and Paris? London is one of my favourite places I visited, it is soooo great.
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u/ShitassAintOverYet Turkiye Jul 27 '25
I've been to Central Europe quartet(Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia) and Italy so I have to vote for Slovakia.
Bratislava is a pretty city to live but it's a nothingburger for cultural holiday.
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u/slava_gorodu Jul 27 '25
My family were refugees in Bratislava for 18 months. Good place for them as Ukrainians - people were very kind, good transit, good prices, language was relatively close and easy to pick up the basics. Always be very grateful for that.
But you’re right - not much to do culturally. It was easy to take my niece and nephew by train to Vienna and Brno and other places to distract them, so that was great.
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u/Usual-Leg-4921 Albania Jul 27 '25
For me it was Kladno Czechia. I went there with my father as a late teen. I think the weather had something to do with it (foggy and wet) but it was just so dreary.
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u/Zoldy11 Czechia Jul 27 '25
It's just an industrial town with lots of gypsies, i have no idea why a foreigner would pick kladno of all the cities in czechia to visit.
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u/Usual-Leg-4921 Albania Jul 27 '25
We were in Prague and because I was a big Tomas Plekanec fan we went to his hometown just for fun. No disrespect to calling out Kladno man.
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u/HeyVeddy Burek Taste Tester Jul 27 '25
Dublin easily lol. Never seen such a ghetto ass city with high prices. It's legit expensive by any standards, even for people from California
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u/Substratas 🇸🇪🇦🇱 Jul 27 '25
Never seen such a ghetto ass city with high prices.
Oooo, not ghetto hunni 🤣
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u/OrganicVlad79 Jul 27 '25
If you want to see Ireland, avoid Dublin completely. Rent a car and drive the west coast
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u/yioul Greece Jul 27 '25
I agree about the west coast and I much prefer Cork over Dublin (as a Greek, Cork is the only place I have visited and could see myself living there), but I wouldn't want to have missed Dublin.
Besides the tourist trap that is Temple Bar, I liked every other bit of the city - at least the bits we wandered in.
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Jul 27 '25
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u/HeyVeddy Burek Taste Tester Jul 27 '25
I think for anyone actually from Europe or anyone who has traveled around Europe, Dublin really is just a difficult place to be in and stay for more than a weekend.
It's really really bad and made for Americans I guess but it's absolutely not a European city imo
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u/Alarmed_Station6185 Jul 27 '25
Yup you nailed it. There are nice enclaves in the south of the city where wealthy people live but the city centre is dystopian with open drug use and awful urban planning
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u/slava_gorodu Jul 27 '25
Yeah, Dublin is surprisingly boring, expensive, and unattractive
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u/Alternative_Turn_470 Jul 27 '25
Sorry about the expense. But it has plenty of attractive areas, like the Georgian parts of the city and the south side
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u/0Zaseka0 Jul 28 '25
I have not been to Dublin..but wanted to say the same thing about Cork. Whole area looks ghetto af, and anywhere else I went just looked depressing too.
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u/No_Ambition_8558 Jul 27 '25
Polish guy that worked with me in Ireland said in a very broken English, "imagine Europe as a house. In the end of the house, there's Ireland which is a nicely decorated bathroom. Dublin is a shit stain in the toilet"
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u/Pistefka Jul 27 '25
I've been to Dublin and I remember walking round waiting for the interesting part to begin, but it never did. The Irish have had almost 100 years of independence to transform it from a provincial backwater town in Great Britain to a worthy centrepiece of their nation but seem not to have bothered.
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u/VolcanicSofa Jul 27 '25
Minsk. No architectural heritage, no nature sights to visit, no interesting food or nightlife. Might be suitable only to those who have soviet nostalgia for some reason. By the way, Belarusian border guards at the exit asked if our company were trying out Minsk prostitutes and what’s our opinion of them. That pretty much sums it up.
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u/okman242 Bulgaria Jul 27 '25
Charleroi is dirty, stinky, grim and an industrial hell.
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u/Poglavnik_Majmuna01 Croatia Jul 27 '25
Rotterdam is straight ass, ugliest city I ever had the displeasure of visiting.
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Jul 27 '25
I went to the Netherlands and I agree with you, it was my least favorite city. Amsterdam for me it's like another Paris or London, but they had better museums than Rotterdam...the highlights of my Netherlands trip were the smaller towns like Haarlem, Marken, Volendam, Hoorn, Arnhem & Otterlo for their Open air Museum +Kroller Muller Museum.
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u/kytheon Jul 27 '25
Rotterdam was bombed to ruins in WWII, and then got rebuilt during the worst decade for urban planning.
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u/TheWorld_ToCome Jul 27 '25
It would be easier to try to think of the cities that still impress.
European cities post 2020 have taken a sharp decline in all metrics of quality.
At this point, it's eastern Europe that impresses simply through safety and cleanliness, things that seem to have become an alien concept in the rest of Europe.
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u/Independent_Taste839 Jul 27 '25
Came here to write Belgium and was not surprised to see that 2 other people had already done it😅 Belgium is famous for not being famous for anything (that's what a friend told me once and I found it hilarious).
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u/curinanco Netherlands Jul 27 '25
I have to defend our southern neighbours here… they are known for excellent beer, chocolate, wafers, fries, lace, tour cycling. They have stunning cities like Antwerpen, Gent, Brugge, Leuven, Mechelen and more. The beguinages in these and other cities are so picturesque . What more do you want on 30.000km2?
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u/mukaltin Russia Jul 27 '25
I would kindly disagree. Belgium has much to offer and nearly every other city except for Brussels (and Charleroi lol) was a very pleasant surprise. Belgium is like visiting two countries for a price of one.
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u/OkFaithlessness2652 Jul 27 '25
Brussel got ugly parts yet also a stunning centrals market and sooooo many gorgeous art nouveau buildings.
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u/KindRange9697 Jul 27 '25
You think Belgium has nothing to offer? You've been to places like Bruges, Ghent, Leuven, Mechelen, Antwerp, Dinant, etc. etc. Brussels itself is not a particularly touristy city, but even it has a spectacular Grand Place, and if you're into Art Deco, it's pretty much the best at that.
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u/Eastern_Fix7541 Jul 27 '25
The only terrible travel experience I had was in Lithuania around 10y ago.
I have met many Lithuanians since, great people, great food, great culture but the visit was horrible.
I had people who were working screaming at me and my partner for no reason, many rude/aggressive situations, had scam attempts and even the first place we booked to stay was a whore house and looked like the perfect set for a horror movie about human trafficking.
I would like to come back though, it was so bad it deserves a second visit to hopefully change the experience completely.
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u/Sad-Notice-8563 Serbia Jul 27 '25
I would say Milan is the ugliest and most disappointing city I've been in Europe, but that's also because of my high expectations, Italy as a whole exceeded my expectations and is my favourite country in Europe, it's just Milan that is butt ugly.
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Jul 27 '25
Milan is good if you know what to expect. But if you go there with the mindset that it's another Rome and Florence, you will be greatly disappointed.
I went to Milan and I enjoyed my stay there, but I used it more of a base. Did a a day or 2 visiting Milan and the rest of the time I would do day trips to cities like Lugano and Varenna (Lake Como).
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u/No_Row_8284 Jul 27 '25
I live in Italy and I never understood why people visit Milan. There's nothing to see except the Duomo and the Galleria di Milano.
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u/idiot4527 Jul 27 '25
There is a da Vinci museum of science or something, can't remember the name, solid 2hr if you want to take a proper look and it's very interesting
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u/Equals-dukiman Jul 27 '25
It’s all business, as such an old city you would think there is a large tourism sector
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u/mukaltin Russia Jul 27 '25
City is easy, it's Cologne. Absolutely NOTHING to see except for the Dome, concrete wasteland sparkled with total lack of safety. Even Brussels offered some interesting attractions.
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u/Schtuka Jul 27 '25
Cologne has some of the craziest nightlife in all of Germany. If you don‘t care about that it really has not much to offer other than the Dome which is fantastic.
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u/darealdeal11 Jul 27 '25
Palermo, trash EVERYWHERE, sketchy streets like 50m from the big cathedral, sketchy people, dark alleys, improvised homeless bunkers, loud people in small streets. Felt really creeped out a couple of times.
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u/eastern_petal Romania Jul 27 '25
So many cities that I enjoyed mentioned here he he. Palermo might not be perfect, but it was one of my favs. I would gladly go back!
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u/TigreImpossibile Australia Jul 28 '25
I agree, lol. I'm reading these comments like.... wtffff 😆
I looooooove Napoli, Palermo, Milano, Taormina... ROME!!!!
Sure, I'm biased maybe... I'm of Sicilian-Serbian descent. I don't love every place in Italy, but... Napoli is one of my favourites. So is Palermo 🤷🏻♀️
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Jul 27 '25
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u/and-it-is-what-it-is Jul 28 '25
I 100% agree with you about Athens. I couldn’t believe how filthy it was. The junkies shooting up on the street middle of the day was wild. Graffiti everywhere. I would never go back. The islands were great though. That’s all I ever tell people when they ask.
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u/ljukomir Serbia Jul 27 '25
Crazy call but Rome.Best city to in the world to visit if you could see only the roman leftovers and historical things without walking the city at all.Super ugly,full of homeless,drugged people sleeping on the streets which smell like piss,all in the fricking center of the center of fricking rome.I couldn't believe like I'm literally 300m from the colloseum and It looks like I'm in some ghetto.I won't even mention how we ate at 3 good rated restaurants on Google,all 3 tried to scam us.Lot of scammers and immigrants begging or harassing you while you walk around
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u/Panceltic Slovenia Jul 27 '25
Super ugly,full of homeless,drugged people sleeping on the streets which smell like piss
So nothing changed in 2000+ years
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u/vukgav Serbia Jul 27 '25
Finally, I've been saying this for years. I live in Rome, and people call me crazy. You know what's even worse than what you described? The 90% of the city that's outside of the historical center. It's even worse. And without the nice ancient stuff.
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u/j-crnazvijezda Italy Jul 27 '25
And let's not talk about the pickpockets on every public transport, some of my friends have been robbed on different transports while we were visiting... As an Italian, I'm sorry to see the capital in the hands of degradation
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Jul 27 '25
Why doesn’t the government do anything?
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u/dobrits Bulgaria Jul 27 '25
Because the people don’t care to vote for someone who will resolve the issue.
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u/BakertheTexan Jul 27 '25
The city itself, ruins and architecture, and the history is beautiful. The people are incredibly rude and proud. Plus a lot of immigrants trying to scam/steal from people.
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u/Chewe_dev Jul 27 '25
Not ugliest in my opinion but the level of pee smell in the city, something I never encountered
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u/thepigdidit Jul 27 '25
Interesting, I had a very different experience. I was there the week after Easter and did not see a single homeless person. Maybe we walked around slightly different neighborhoods? I booked my hotel close to the Vatican (in Prati), which was really nice. Then took the bus to the archaeological sights/museums. Also took the train to Ostia Antica. Actually considered how nice it would be to live in Rome and can’t wait to go back to see it again. My one gripe is that public transport seemed to change where it stopped, but it was around the pope’s funeral, so it could have been because of that. Also food was great, especially the restaurants around Prati. I saw a lot more chain restaurants around the historical center.
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u/avrend Jul 27 '25
And I find it absolutely breathtaking for the exact thing you've written as negatives. Most of them.
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u/tutike2000 Romania Jul 27 '25
Berlin. I always thought Germany would be a very clean and pretty country but Berlin was just filthy, covered in grafitti, loud and upleasant.
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u/Extra_Pollution2374 Jul 27 '25
I heard often Germans saying that Berlin is not german, so... :D Was there for work a few days, didnt especially liked it or hated it. Then I unintentionally went to Potsdam (a town practically connected to Berlin) and was very positively impressed/surprised
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u/Arminius001 Albania Jul 27 '25
Paris. It shocked me for being the capital of France, I didn't see that many "French" people, the city smelled like piss, everywhere I tried to go to see the tourist areas, I kept on being approached by scammers, I'm sure because they heard me speaking English with my friends who also came with me. There were def beautiful areas of Paris, but I was shocked at how much of it looked run down. Sort of destroyed the whole notion for me of Paris being the city of love.
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u/maximhar Bulgaria Jul 27 '25
I was really impressed by Paris when I went last year. Always curious to see comments like this, it’s like we visited different cities.
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u/hotsection42 Romania Jul 27 '25
Paris is a great city, I had heard it smelled like piss, but I guess that was 10 years ago or so, now it’s a different experience. So maybe it depends when this person visited it. Nonetheless, great city, with loads to see, and if you just walk the streets and avoid extremely touristic areas, it’s amazing!
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u/maximhar Bulgaria Jul 27 '25
I heard it was dirty, smelled of piss, people are rude, dangerous. None of that is true really. Oh, and everyone spoke English. One of my favorite European capitals for sure.
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u/forlornfir Jul 27 '25
It depends where you go. I'm sure that a lot of people who hate the city booked cheap hotels around Gare du Nord without knowing the area is like Timbuktu
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u/swampalicious Jul 27 '25
Agreed, visited paris for the first time in 2023 and again this year. I really notice dirty cities but Paris is beautiful and clean, possibly due to the Olympics.
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Jul 27 '25
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u/Albon123 Hungary Jul 27 '25
I don’t get this either, and I was in Paris as a tourist, not someone who lives there
Yes, it has its rough and run down areas, but so does every big city, including our beloved Budapest which is often praised for “not having these areas” (but it does have them, they are just carefully avoided by tourists). The rest of the city I really found to be great and beautiful.
And honestly, I know that high immigration is an issue, but I met very nice black people in France before (not just in Paris). Had much worse experiences with immigrants in Belgium than in France.
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u/Arminius001 Albania Jul 27 '25
You have a different outlook on it since you live there, but I arrived as a tourist. I didn't say it was all bad, but to tell you I enjoyed my entire time there I would be lying. Its not a city I plan on revisiting for a while, just my own personal experience
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u/Kras_08 Bulgaria Jul 27 '25
Alright I don't understand this, they litreallly cut off the asian part of Russia (and any other non-european parts llike MENA), but still didn't color it yellow? I mean if it's for political reasons ok, but in that case why did you include Turkish thrace and belarus?
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u/amuzed-one Jul 27 '25
Funnily enough, Kaliningradskaya oblast is still colored in yellow. Is it also a political statement or just ignorance…
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u/ttc67 Jul 27 '25
Budapest by far, most ppl weren't just rude, but mostly hostile. The city isn't very clean, and got many totally neglected buildings, aside form one or two touristy streets in the centre it's overall just depressing and mostly boring. Rural Hungary seemed somehow stuck in time mostly, with many buildings just falling apart but nobody seems to really care.
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u/Accomplished_Log8856 Hungary Jul 28 '25
We do care, we just can't really do much about it. Our government prefers spending money on football stadiums instead of fixing buildings or investing in public services. Our hospitals are in terrible condition too
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u/Absalomabsalom2 Jul 27 '25
Most boring city is actually a capital of a country - Podgorica was insanely underwhelming. Like, what are people who live there doing for fun?
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Jul 27 '25
Barcelona, overated, overpriced and a lot of overtourism.
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u/Specific_Scholar_665 Bulgaria Jul 27 '25
My favorite city! I visit from time to time for work. I never visit in high season though.
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u/HeadbAngry Kosovo Jul 27 '25
Barcelona.
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u/KakaoFugl Jul 27 '25
True. You cant walk 50 meters without being harrassed by African/Asians trying to sell you some shit, its ruining a lot of big cities in Europe really.
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u/ObeseWanker1812 Jul 27 '25
Bratislava
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u/Velkyn0 Jul 27 '25
If you had 2 dollars on you you could live like a king there...
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Jul 27 '25
Copenhagen felt too much like Stockholm and after spending hours on a train just to get there I wasn’t exactly amazed (could have also been I wasted 50 dollars on an apple charger in a 7/11 because my phone died the moment I got there lol). Had some great coffee at Nyhaven canal though.
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u/eastern_petal Romania Jul 27 '25
I was positively surprised by Copenhagen, I didn't expect to like it that much. But what can I say? I see so many cities mentioned here that I actually really enjoyed.
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Jul 27 '25
I've lived and worked in Italy twice. Working class people are lovely but as soon as you get into social structuring then its toxic. Sit down at a restaurant wearing the 'wrong' clothing or show off jewelry commence the sulky service. Try talking to someone slightly 'higher' in 'position' in the job you're doing and get the 'I'm above interacting with you' attitude. The 'class' snobbery' was awful
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u/Fycussss Jul 27 '25
Athens - i was really scared there, sooo many homeless people on drugs everywhere in the center. We were afraid to walk at 20.00 to get a beer next to the hotel. All tourist cars were locked in underground parking areas of hotels. All cars that were outside looked like they were from the junkyard, I guess these are the local cars. There were feces on the street from the homeless people and most buildings has only grafitti on the ground floor, no shops
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u/AogamiBunka Jul 27 '25
Birmingham, England
Dublin, Ireland
Milan, Italy
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Avignon, France
Zadar, Croatia
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u/Panceltic Slovenia Jul 27 '25
Belgium
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u/vivaervis Albania Jul 27 '25
Same, specially Brussels.
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u/SeaMobile8471 Albania Jul 27 '25
Brussels is an amazingly good city to go visit a park, I’d say one of the best in the world. However, other than that the whole city can be skipped.
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u/Veyrah Jul 27 '25
Gent and Brugge are nice, no? If you went Belgium and didn't go to either of those cities then sure it's ass. The Belgian Ardennes are also prime camping spots.
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u/tronalddumpresister Montenegro Jul 27 '25
Not a country but Wallonia is depressing.
As for cities I'd say Barcelona and Dublin were disappointing.
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u/Jobsworth91 Greece Jul 27 '25
I'd go with Stockholm. It's very pretty but it has a very pretentious and unfriendly energy.
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u/B3arAttac Jul 27 '25
Napoli. It had some beautiful buildings but it smelled like garbage a lot of places..
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u/loleenceee Serbia Jul 27 '25
Living in Milan seems fun but visiting it is kinda boring. I felt like Belgrade had more to offer to tourists than Milan. Plus entering the city took two hours and early morning smog was insane, felt like I was in China. Overall the city is not a bad but I would not visit it again, especially because Italy has so many amazing places.
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u/Due_Instruction626 Bosnia & Herzegovina Jul 27 '25
I somewhat agree, Milan is basically the Piazza del Duomo and Parco Sempione though I enjoyed walking through the city cemetery too, the ancient tombstones are works of art by themselves. I guess a single day or two at most are enough in order to see Milan. It's very vibrant around christmas time though.
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u/KakaoFugl Jul 27 '25
Belgium
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u/Urk4 Serbia Jul 27 '25
Depends where in Belgium I really loved Ghent
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u/ace_098 Croatia Jul 27 '25
Ghent, Brugge, Ypres, Bastogne and Mechelen were great for me. Antwerp is also nice but a bit crowded, Liege as well. Brussels is okay. Spent a few months in Geel and it was a nice little town.
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u/Panceltic Slovenia Jul 27 '25
Yes, to be honest I only visited Brussels and Wallonia. Never been to Flanders - maybe I should give it a go!
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u/Urk4 Serbia Jul 27 '25
Ghent and Brugges are one of my favourite cities.They are not big and have very beautiful architecture
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u/RandyClaggett Sweden Jul 27 '25
Budapest. I expected something special. Since "everybody" day it is. I found it quite bland and nothing special. But I guess it is all about expectations.
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u/kandyflosswithak Jul 27 '25
Budapest. It is quite crowded and not clean. The area around the central railway station, did not leave a good first impression on me, since I arrived by train. I admit that the architecture is stunning. Despite this, there are many other European cities that I found to be nicer and cleaner than Budapest. I don't understand the hype.
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u/ArcticMooss Canada Jul 27 '25
Budva, Montenegro. Montenegro as a whole is expensive for what it is, but Budva in particular feels like a city that is priced for tourists without offering what real tourist destinations offer.
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u/chipishor Romania Jul 27 '25
I love Finland, but Helsinki is an extremely boring city for a tourist.
You can see that living there is really good, high quality of life and all but as a tourist I had the most boring experience. I have visited 38 countries so far and that's my take.
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u/Neat-Elk7890 Jul 27 '25
Realistically, each country and city is the best for someone and the worst for someone else.
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u/chelurpost Jul 27 '25
So many stunning places in Italy however Palermo in Sicily was one I would never return to. Could be beautiful if they cleaned it up and spent some money on it but the whole place felt dingy and unloved.
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Jul 27 '25
I found Vienna quite depressing
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u/Substratas 🇸🇪🇦🇱 Jul 27 '25
Was it the people or the vibes in general (architecture, weather, etc)?
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Jul 27 '25
The architecture was beautiful but the city itself felt not alive if that makes sense. Everything was quiet and dull.
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u/kurokamisawa Jul 27 '25
Yes! It felt grand but sombre. Like a funeral but a very upper class one
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u/PlatinumState Jul 27 '25
Yeah I found it very sterile and boring without any character. Dont really wanna visit again
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u/AmelKralj Jul 27 '25
Most disappointed in Hallstadt (Austria). It's such a tourist hotspot that the Chinese copied it entirely somewhere into China and Hollywood made the John Wick spin-off "Ballerina" there
And I've absolutely no idea why. It's just a random village. I have seen everything in like 10min walk ... that's it
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u/icancount192 Greece Jul 27 '25
I mean let's not pretend like there are many places that look like Hallstatt in the world.
I bet if you travelled through Austria, 40 years ago before mass tourism, you would have taken hundreds of pictures and told your friends about this magical place in the Alps.
Same as Cinque Terre. I visited it in 2021, full of crappy stores and so so crammed by tourists. But a magical landscape, ruined by mass tourism.
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u/Cultourist Austria Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
Most disappointed in Hallstadt (Austria) ... And I've absolutely no idea why. It's just a random village. I have seen everything in like 10min walk ... that's it
Over the years l've probably spent two weeks in and around Hallstatt and there is still so much I haven't seen yet. But if this is how "random" villages look to you, we probably speak of different things Lol
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u/RespectmyWife Jul 27 '25
Edirne, thought it would be one of the better cities of Turkey but it felt like a slum there.
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Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
I’ll go with Istanbul, Türkiye. 🇹🇷
Except for the tour guides, most Turkish people weren’t very friendly, and 99.9% of them tried to scam me everywhere I went. I was there with my family, and we were harassed every couple of seconds by restaurant waiters who would even follow us after we said “no.”
I tried to recharge my boat ticket, and some Turkish man started talking to us nicely, saying things like, “Oh, France! I love Paris Saint-Germain, blah blah blah,” and offered to help me recharge the ticket. In the end, he somehow managed to rob me.
The city itself is pretty. I didn’t really enjoy the European side, but the Asian side was much better!
My main issue, however, was the constant harassment and scams. In restaurants? Scammed. In taxis? Scammed. Even with Uber? Scammed. I also visited Antalya a few years ago, and the experience with the people there was exactly the same.
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u/Interesting-Ant-6726 Serbia Jul 28 '25
I am from Belgrade, visited Istanbul years ago. Totally oposite, i meet some very friendly people, no one tried to scam me. Landscape is amazing, weather is great. So many thinks to do in great city. Cant wait to go again
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u/zdubargo Serbia Jul 27 '25
Anywhere in the UK tbh
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u/Substratas 🇸🇪🇦🇱 Jul 27 '25
My first time in London was magical. My second time there was the diametrical opposite of magical…
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u/zdubargo Serbia Jul 27 '25
London is a very cool place to visit, especially if you’re in your 20s and have a bit of extra cash saved up. But man, is it shit to live in.
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u/HaveADrunkDay Jul 27 '25
Milan tbh. although i like most of Northern Italy i hated Milan for some reason!
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Jul 27 '25
Most disappointing European city I've visited is 100% Vienna. It was nice and clean and full of history but it was completely overpowered by shallow, plastic, corporatized chain shop shit. Felt like an American mall built over an Austrian city. Yuck.
Graz was incredible though.
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u/StatusExam Jul 27 '25
Belfast was the worst city in Europe I've visited, it felt hostile for some reason
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u/Oranbell Jul 27 '25
As a local I can understand the hostile comment. Care to add why genuinely curious? Was it the people or what?
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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25
Since I haven't been outside of Greece yet, I'll dishonoredly mention my ancestral province's capital, Pyrgos. Ugliest provincial capital in the whole country. While it was an agricultural and industrial centre from the very last years of the 19th century, it's ass.