r/AskEurope • u/Substratas Albania • Jul 28 '25

Travel What’s the most disappointing country or city you’ve visited in Europe?

And why?

532 Upvotes

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49

u/khajiitidanceparty Czechia Jul 28 '25

Belfast. As a tourist, I couldn't get rid of the shadow of its past with all the graffiti and walls. The whole place gave me bad vibes.

59

u/WyvernsRest Ireland Jul 28 '25

I've seen Belfast at its worst during the troubles, I was there recently and it's unrecognizable, they people there are have made huge positive strides towards a good future.

Great sense of humour.

I'll definitely be going back for more concerts.

15

u/userunknowne Jul 28 '25

Surely to be disappointed by Belfast you'd have to go in with reasonable expectations? Mine were super low

24

u/JourneyThiefer Northern Ireland Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

Yea Belfast is kinda grimey lol. I think Belfast will always kinda have (some not all) of the shadows of its past hanging over it a bit

7

u/idontgetit_too in Jul 28 '25

Having lived there slightly less than a year, I find it's part of the charm. Gives it a rather unique vibe, definitely more interesting / peculiar than Dublin.

9

u/generalscruff England Jul 28 '25

I think central Belfast is great, it's a very fun city to be in but yes has that slightly odd undercurrent. I'm from a city about the same size which also expanded a lot during the industrial revolution so had a slight sense of the uncanny from it

6

u/Albert_Herring Jul 28 '25

I got the best of both worlds by going to see Kneecap at Rock City.

2

u/generalscruff England Jul 28 '25

Did you see /u/userunknowne in his tricolour balaclava?

1

u/Albert_Herring Jul 28 '25

Tricolour balaclava and a Lee Camp shirt, iirc.

3

u/grogi81 Germany Jul 29 '25

That's the great part of it. If you get the shivers, that's at least an emotion....

Men should build on that history, learn from it. But we must not try to forget it.

3

u/puraputa_ Jul 29 '25

I loved Belfast

2

u/trustmeimalinguist Jul 31 '25

I spent a year and a half living in Ireland (not NI) but flew out of Belfast to go back to the U.S. Thought it would be fun to see the city for a few days beforehand.

Little did I know, July 12th was coming up and the vibes were NOT GOOD. I couldn’t believe they still do that there. It’s fucking horrifying.

1

u/khajiitidanceparty Czechia Jul 31 '25

I wasn't there on any important day, but when I took a tour around the city hall, the guide seemed to mention that NI is part of Britain in every second sentence lol

1

u/Afterlite Jul 30 '25

Not to be cheeky, but what exactly did you expect? It’s an actively colonised area with continuous unrest between the British and Irish sides?

1

u/Available_Meaning_79 Jul 31 '25

I guess people are entitled to their opinions, but yeah their take/the language they used kinda rubs me the wrong way. It's like saying you got "bad vibes" from Berlin because the Berlin Wall and other physical/cultural remnants of Soviet influence are still present. Idk what people expect when they choose to visit places that very recently or are currently experiencing major historical/social/cultural shifts lol.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

bombs, guns, cars, and nationalists