# Cities around the world you loved and hated. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2014, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261 "2014-06-07T09:47:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/21 "2014-06-11T15:13:58Z")
Off the top of my head, New York City, Honolulu, Albuquerque (loved living in Albuquerque) and Santa Fe. Kathmandu. Tokyo and Kyoto. Singapore. Beijing. Luang Prabang (the old royal capital in Laos). Poipet, Cambodia and Plains, Texas are tied for asshole of the universe. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/22 "2014-06-11T15:17:55Z")
Loved: NYC Istanbul LA (sorry, guys, but I think it’s a fascinating city and I love driving challenges) San Antonio (current hometown) Liked: Washington DC (speaking of driving challenges!) Rome (well, this is really between “like” and “love”) Atlanta GA (Great city to live in, but I can’t understand why the city “fathers” wanted to make it a tourist attraction) Seattle (had 2 beautiful days there, lovely city and environs) Dislike: Athens, Greece (very depressing, though our stay was short. Probably should give it more time.) Knoxville, TN (personal reasons) Would consider suicide if I had to move there\*: Bridgeport, CT (possibly the ugliest city I’ve seen in the US) Buffalo, NY (nice city, but damn I hate the cold!) Portsmouth, NH (a great place to live if you like the smell of fish) \*Leaving out the standard responses of “East St Louis”, “downtown Detroit”, etc ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/23 "2014-06-11T15:26:33Z")
I’m another Venice hater, picturesque yes, but the entire city just exists to separate the lowest class of stupid lumbering tourist from their money. Literally the only place in Italy you can get bad food. You can see eveything cool from the front door if the train station, so get back on the train and go somewhere better. Domestically I dislike San Francisco, expensive, dirty, ugly, and the people are sanctimonious dicks. Beautiful area … Once you are out of the city! I’d take Cleveland over SF any day of the week. London is very eh to me, nothing wrong with it, it’s just too much like NYC (which is where I live) to make an impact on me. I love Florence. It’s been years since I traveled in Eastern Europe so I have no idea what it’s like now but in the 90s I loved Budapest (Hungary) and Plovdiv (Bulgaria) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/24 "2014-06-11T16:02:51Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Cities that have surpassed my expectations include London, Paris, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, and Hangzhou. > > Cities that underwhelmed me include Venice, Los Angeles, Macao, and Suzhou. I think that’s a good way of putting it. You love a city or not partly based on your expectations of it. I didn’t like New York because it was all too fucking big and confusing. I live in London, btw. I did get robbed in NY, but that was partly due to it being big and confusing. And even less friendly than London. I really liked some aspects of the city and would try it again, but it was not fun. Paris was a dirty anglophobic hellhole the one time I went there in 1995 or so. In both of those cities I was expecting something similar to London, but better in some ways and worse in others. NYC was much, much more confusing than London and Paris was much dirtier, and those are things that I’d expected to be similar. My expectations were confounded, and that coloured the whole experience. Los Angeles I went to becausse friends of mine lived there. Because we were with friends, we saw the good side more. However, I still didn’t even glimpse the nasty things I’d expected about LA when we were out and about on our own. Washington DC we basically picked because it was on the flight path which made it good place to stop over for four days, but it was much more interesting than my expectations had lead me to believe and it’s on my list of places to revisit. Naples, Italy, I had always heard was horrible. Natives always told me to avoid it. I didn’t really get why till I went there. God, the squalor right next to the main museum. Venice is probably lovely if you’re rich. If you’re not, don’t go. The ice-cream is fabulous, though. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/25 "2014-06-11T16:14:27Z")
If you can love and hate a city at the same time, I’d nominate Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). It is NOT pretty. Impossible to put any positive spin on that. Apart from some decaying French colonial architecture and boulevards, it is as ugly as a hat full of arseholes. And it’s filthy. However, it is full of energy, vibrant, and awesome. And the food is incredibly good. Hong Kong is possibly my favourite place, in terms of energy and vibrancy. It has the bonus of also being quite pretty, although it can be dirty and squalid up close. The geography is wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/26 "2014-06-11T16:17:37Z")
Love: NYC Love/hate: London. So many wonderful things to see but dirty, expensive, and people are generally unfriendly. Hate: I thought Houston was awful. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/27 "2014-06-11T16:19:40Z")
I love New York. I’m from there, but I love going back. I also love London, and our plans are to live there for six months after I retire, just to see everything. Love Copenhagen and Stockholm and Berlin. Like Helsinki and Talinn, but need more time there to be sure. Like New Orleans to visit. Like a good northern Californian, I hate L.A. Not too thrilled about Rome. Cairo is a place I don’t ever want to go back to. Number one worst city is Kinshasha which was Leopoldville when I lived there 52 years ago. It was awful then, I can just imagine what it is like now. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/28 "2014-06-11T16:41:17Z")
I love Orlando, Muscat, London, Milwaukee, Mumbai and Tokyo. I hate Newark, Miami, Frankfurt, Riyadh and Aberdeen. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/29 "2014-06-11T16:50:04Z")
Love - Zurich Savannah, Georgia Zanzibar City, Tanzania (I would walk for days, just looking at the architecture) Amsterdam Love and dislike all in one New Orleans - I tell people I want to find a way to spend 5 days and 1 night in this town. Dislike - Sparta, Greece (Might have been because of the cold weather, but I found it to, well, spartan) Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (Dirty and chaotic, although there are some interesting pockets) Phoenix, AZ Most of Florida ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/30 "2014-06-11T16:50:51Z")
I love a bunch of cities: 1. Paris 2. New York 3. San Francisco 4. London 5. Chicago – just visited last week and loved it. 6. Montreal 7. Boston 8. Washington, DC 9. Fredericton, NB – charming, laid back, with a small town feel. I don’t really hate any cities, but the ones I found least impressive are: 1. San Diego. Nothing particularly interesting other the the Midway and the zoo. 2. Miami Beach. Hot and ugly. 3. Atlanta. Just meh. Very little of it sticks in my mind. 4. Freeport, Bahamas. Nothing there. Las Vegas is in the middle. I don’t hate it, nor do I love it. I went there once and decided it was worth the trip, but the trip wasn’t worth repeating. Then I went a second time. I definitely don’t need to go again. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/31 "2014-06-11T16:55:16Z")
I’ve been trying to think of cities I dislike just because I found nothing redeeming. Most places I’ve disliked have been because of circumstance and not because the city was crappy. If I had to choose a few: Geneva, Switzerland: it’s just a boring place full of concrete. Sofia, Bulgaria: its redeeming feature is that it’s a short drive to Istanbul, which I loved Los Angeles, for all the usual reasons Miami, FL: hot, muggy, dirty, buggy Dallas/Ft. Worth: more and more concrete and Texans Helsinki: Nice place if you like to drink a lot Cities I like or love: How much time do you have? London, Paris, Prague, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna, Strasbourg, Marseilles, Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam, The Hague, Luxembourg, Madrid, Seville, Lisbon, Porto, Rome, Sienna, Florence, Bamako, Kampala, Guatemala City, San Diego, Santa Barbara, New York, Boston, WDC, Anchorage, Portland, Seattle, Tokyo, Misawa, NOLA, and a whole lot more. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/32 "2014-06-11T17:24:12Z")
20 years in the Navy, over 50 countries. The city which I like the most has not been mentioned yet: Brugges, Belgium. The city center is maintained in a permanent medeival setting. Whenever a building is repaired, it must be done using period methods. Cars are not allowed in the city center, and it has many canals. The canals actually do not stink (I am looking at you, Venice!). More of my list in no particular order: Love: New York (Home!) Washington DC Los Angeles(more specifically Santa Monica and Venice Beach) London Rome(I could spend a week at the Vatican) Amsterdam Glasgow Reykjavik Lisbon Xania, Crete Sydney Meh: Naha Brussels Kiel Gdynia Brest Portsmouth, Eng Plymouth, Eng Boston Dover, DE Hong Kong Darwin, Australia Townsville, Australia Klaipeda, Lithuania Ventspils, Latvia Cebu, Phillippines San Juan, PR Rota, Spain Willemstad, Curacao St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada Koper, Slovenia Dislike: Dakar Tokyo Naples Naples Did I say I dislike Naples? Venice Sasebo, Japan Iwakuni, Japan ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/33 "2014-06-11T17:59:07Z")
**LOVED** Beijing, China-History, smiles, food, fun. The culture is so wonderfully different. Istanbul, Turkey-If only more Muslim countries looked to Istanbul for inspiration. It’s cautiously western and just the right balance. Tallinn, Estonia-A hug straight from a fairy tale. Jaisalmer, India-The city most haven’t heard about. This oasis near the Pakistani border is something everyone should experience. Alexandria, Egypt- Even on the Nile, Egypt feels like a dusty place. Alexandria washes this all away. Rome, Italy-It’s hard not to feel smarter walking around. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico-Crashing waves, delicious food, liberal feel. This is how Mexico tourism is done right. **HATED** Negril, Jamaica-Really, the whole country’s a shithole. Amsterdam, Netherlands- I used to like it ok, but the central area is like an overtired frat party. It’s sad what the city has become. Puquio, Peru-There’s a reason a city this large isn’t in any guide books. Orlando, FL USA-The stupidest toll roads ever. Cancun, Mexico-This is how Mexico is done wrong if you’re over the age of 22. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/34 "2014-06-11T18:00:37Z")
**Favourites:** Budapest Sarajevo New York Sydney Tallinn Venice (I really don’t understand the hate for Venice, unless everyone on this thread visited in August and followed the mooing herds past the arrows from Santa Lucia to San Marco and back again) **Over-rated (“hate” is too strong a word) :** Berlin Amsterdam Prague Miami Wellington (actually I’m not sure that it’s even “over-rated” as everyone seems to think it’s dull!) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/35 "2014-06-11T18:15:14Z")
I’m the homebody in my family. The rest of my family goes everywhere. My retired parents absolutely adore Prague. They go there at least every other year or more and will be there again in August. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/36 "2014-06-11T19:51:11Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > 20 years in the Navy, over 50 countries. The city which I like the most has not been mentioned yet: Brugges, Belgium. Psst: look at the post before yours. 🙂 I’m not surprised that you didn’t like Rota: it’s a military town without much to redeem it. I like it because of all the places you can get to easily from there. As a Seabee, we had opportunity to travel a bit on our one day off a week. I saw Seville, Grenada, Torremolinos, Ronda, Cordoba, and Malaga, just to name a few. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/37 "2014-06-11T20:50:03Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Negril, Jamaica-Really, the whole country’s a shithole. My honeymoon was in Jamaica, and unfortunately I must agree with the above sentiment. The resorts are nice enough, but you have to drive past mile after mile of squalid shanty towns to get there. You’re advised not to leave the resort unless you’re with a tour group. I really have no desire to ever go back there. I found Las Vegas to be kinda disappointing. I don’t enjoy gambling, and the glitz was only interesting for about a day & a half. It was more useful as a jumping-off point for a trip to the Hoover Dam (I’d already been to the Grand Canyon). OTOH, I did see the Blue Man Group there, and it was awesome 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/38 "2014-06-11T21:01:20Z")
I almost moved to Boston, Ma when my then-wife was attending school there. _Almost_…good thing, 'cause I hated that place. I also do not like San Francisco, and not just because they have the Giants there. I loved Niagra Falls, Seattle, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Cincinnati, and the entire state of Montana. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/39 "2014-06-11T21:11:07Z")
Love: London Paris Florence Venice Hate: Copenhagen Manhattan Of course, I haven’t been in Venice longer than 36 hours a time, but it’s definitely a place where you need to sit, settle in, and just be. It’s best if you’re staying in the old town overnight. Wait till the tourist hordes leave, then come out and enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261/40 "2014-06-11T21:17:04Z")
Hated: Virtually every city in Hawaii, I’ve been to about 40 of them. It’s almost like they know what will make it harder specifically for you and you alone and then make you pay extra for it. Seoul, S. Korea was a pain to move around in, especially at night. There’s so many people clogging the sidewalks and streets it takes about 30 minutes per block by foot. Pusan, S. Korea has open sewers, so the entire city smells like doody. In the winter, you can see shit steam rising from them. In both cities, the drinking culture is to keep going until you throw up, so every morning there’s massive pools of vomit up and down every street. Washington D.C. is essentially a city-sized prison. 3/4 of the city is underground and nearly every room has at least one security guard in it to give you shit about your backpack. When I was there, 2/3 of the National Mall was roped off. On average, I got searched 3 times a day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-around-the-world-you-loved-and-hated/690261.md?page=3)