Man, I agree. What a strange, strange little city. I remember I was very, very relieved we didn’t have to stop there for gas because regular unleaded was $2.57/gallon. This was when gas prices all over So Cal had finally started to drop back down to the $2/gallon range. But I suppose if you’re the “Gateway to Death Valley” you can charge whatever you want.
I was in Peru on business and therefore only in Lima. It’s a dirty place (a lot of Central/South American large cities are similar) but it does have a couple of nice spots. There is a museum with old mummies and artifacts in it, that date to pre-Incan culture. There are a couple of nice, pretty neighborhoods, but also a lot of poverty. Sometimes it seems like every economically disadvantaged person in the country lives there, which might be true. There are also a lot of Japanese or Japanese-Peruvians. When I was there it was during the hostage crisis at the Japanese embassy, which may have exacerbated this perception, plus all of the guns around because of jitters due to the two main terrorist groups, the Tupac Amaru and the Sendero Luminoso. As I understand it Fujimori, the former ironfisted “president” pretty much destroyed these two groups.
So the danger of terrorism is mostly if not entirely gone, and the countryside outside of Lima is supposed to be very nice. Part of the Amazon jungle is on the other side of the mountains (Lima is on the coast) and Cuzco and Macchu Picchu are regular tourist stops that are probably not too touristy because they can be difficult to get to. And I’m a huge fan of Peruvian food (this is also the new trendy South American cuisine) which can be found in many US cities now, but may be best sampled in the country, just take hygenic precautions.
To add to what ShibbOleth said - don’t let Lima put you off Peru. It is dirty, perpetually foggy and fairly unpleasant, but this is easily dealt with by the simple expedient of designing your itinerary as follows:
- Arrive Lima
- Depart Lima for the rest of Peru.
I spend two months travelling in Peru and Chile four years ago. Lima was a depressing start, but by the time I had been sandboarding in Huacachina I was a lot happier; once you’ve stared down (and up) at the condors in the Colca Canyon, you won’t regret a thing.
Like Ukelele Ike, I can’t say that I’ve ever regretted visiting any city. I will say there have been some disappointments:
Venice–Highly overrated. It’s nothing more than an overpriced, polluted tourist trap.
Bangkok–Although some bits are worth a visit (the Grand Palce, Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Marble Temple, Wat Po), it really is a horrible city, with unbreathable air and dodgy water.
Funny! I had a similiar thing happen to me in New Orleans. We were staying in the French Quarter, and had ventured outside to one of Emeril’s restaurants located… um, somewhere NOT the French Quarter. Disclaimer: This was pre-Emeril TV shows, and thus was before I developed my seething hatred for all things Emeril.
Anyway, as we were leaving, we looked outside, and the block or two around the restaurant was well lit and there was an art gallery or two that looked like they were having openings that evening. We asked the host if it was safe to walk just around that area. He misunderstood, and thought we were asking if it was safe to walk back to the French Quarter. He turned white, and was visibly upset as he pleaded with us to PLEASE get a cab.
We assured him we were only going to walk in the well lit area within a block or two of the restaurant, and he let us out the door. I’m not sure he would have if we’d insisted that we were going to walk to our hotel.
Naples, Italy. A filthy hell-hole! Rats the size of cats, used condoms littering the street sides, aggressive urchin children, insane drivers, drunken sailors, ugly whores accosting you on the street, etc. I had my watch stolen, pocket picked, and was brutally mugged within a week. Og take the foresaken place!
Barstow, Calif. As a friend describes it, “Barstow: Where Lizards Go to Die!”
East Palo Alto
I first visited Palo Alto (where Stanford University is) and was thrilled by the cosmopolitanism, different languages being spoken everywhere, different people and styles of dress and discussions all around that seemed interesting and urbane.
Then I crossed into the “flat lands” of East Palo Alto, where the servant and bluecollar and unemployed classes for the area have traditionally lived.
Mainly two mono-cultures, one Spanish and another poor black people. It was depressing as hell to be brought back to the reality that wealthy towns do not exist in a vacuum, but rely on an infrastructure that includes poor neighborhoods nearby.
New Orleans seems to be in a dead heat here for least desirable city to visit. I’m not sure if I quite disagree since I think it’s a must-visit, but only once. Its culture and history are truly unique to the United States, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s Louisiana. It’s kind of like a country unto itself.
I have relatives who live there, so I visit fairly regularly. You can be walking beside breath taking architecture one block, and crime-ridden poverty the next. Natives pride themselves on knowing the safe areas, and what times they’re safe.
Baidoa, Somalia.
The city of death.
Put me in the “I never regret visiting anywhere” camp.
There is one city that I wished I hadn’t visited when I did, but that I would go back to.
Vancover, B.C.
I went out of my way to go there, spent many hours in construction traffic, couldn’t stay at the campground so I had to pay for a hotel, couldn’t find the sights I wanted to see and got my car searched when I came back to the U.S.
I wish I had just skipped it on that trip, but I’m sure I missed something when I was there.
For all you folks claiming Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, or Utica is the lousiest city–please. I have two words that will strike fear into your heart.
Niagara Falls.
In the 1970’s, the mayor decided to “beautify” the city by tearing out its tourist section. The area still sits forlorn and empty, thirty years later, inhabited only by bums, winos, and the occasional restaurant-in-a-van. Buildings that were bustling only twenty years ago, such as the Wintergardens and the Third Street Tower, sit empty and weed-grown. Governor Pataki let the Falls have a casino out of sheer pity. Really, it has to be seen to be believed.
Other contenders: Lille, France. My ex-wife and I, were trying to describe how bad the city was to some friends. Finally the ex shrieked, “It’s worse than Slough (England)!” Now that’s bad. Also, The Dream Life of Angels, one of the most depressing movies of modern times, is set there, and it fits perfectly.
North Bay, Ontario, Canada. You just wanted to pull people there aside and say, “Listen, you can live somewhere else…”
Johnsonburg, PA, USA. It wins the “small-town” bracket. 90% of the citizens are employed by the local paper mill, which on a good day smells like two-week old eggs, and on a bad day smells like fermented dog crap. The town’s largest “supermarket” is a decrepit Foods Jubilee which offers specials like “Hog Ends, $1.99.” The nearest “city” is Bradford, PA (itself no jewel), 50 miles to the north. Fortunately, I have spent no more time in Johnsonburg than it takes me to drive through it, but I have to on my way between here and the folks’ place.
Actually, I like most “bad” cities (I would give, for example, Orlando, Atlanta, Glasgow, and Baltimore the time of day), but those four are bad.
I’m another member of the “at least I can say I’ve been there” group, so I’ll nominate the city I could least imagine living in. I’ve been through bad parts of Philadelphia, Cleveland, and other metropolises, but those communities also have decent neighborhoods and plenty of attractions. Yet the Illinois town of East St. Louis is just one huge impoverished, run-down, crime-ridden neighborhood.
I admit that I only passed through the city on the Interstate while staying in O’Fallon, Illinois (bland but acceptable) as I visited the St. Louis area for the 2001 NCAA Division I women’s basketball Final Four. However, I’m glad we never had to get off the highway at one of the East St. Louis exits, as I’d assume the sections away from the Interstate were even more dangerous and depressing than the decaying streets and buildings I could see.
Some people in the upscale neighborhoods around Lafayette talk of my neighborhood as being in (or adjacent to) the “ghetto” portion of this community. But it’s 1:30 a.m. now, and my front door is wide open, with only an unlocked screen door providing a barrier to intruders. If I needed food, I could walk a few blocks to the 24-hour Village Pantry without taking my life in my hands. I’d be a fool to think I could get away with such nonchalance in East St. Louis, even in broad daylight.
Gary, Indiana. Very depressing. I’ve been down there taking photographs and one time searched out a Frank Lloyd Wright house, but meanwhile was yelled at for taking a picture of an old theatre that has been converted into a hair salon, and was nagged by both a drug dealer and a prostitute. From what I recall of Detroit, I’d say Gary is like a miniature version.
Davenport, Iowa. There is no reason whatsoever for anyone to go here. I don’t even know why it exists.
St. Louis. I drove through there three different times. Every single time, despite my best map-reading, sign-reading, navigating abilities, I got completely lost. And I was just trying to go through there. Every other street was getting worked on. No one obeyed the speed limit on some of the most dangerous, treacherous highway I’ve ever driven on, and I held my breath, expecting terrible accidents every time. From nowhere could I see the arch. But I did see endless crappy useless faceless ugly late 70s architecture and signage. And I found no reason to stop and linger, except each time when I was lost in run-down parts of town (make that entirely non-photogenic run-down parts of town).
Duluth, Minnesota, in the middle of summer = relentless biting horseflies and seagulls.
Jackson, Mississippi. Just don’t bother.
(I can’t vote for Slough in this thread, because I wouldn’t call it a city (it isn’t a city by UK definition of a city) and because I lived there.)
I vote for NYC as well. I gave it a second chance and hated it then, too. Crowded, smelly, and the people were rude.
I hate Las Vegas as well. My brother lives in North Las Vegas, and insisted on taking me to the strip. BLEH. I think he got the message because we spent the rest of my trip on Mount Charleston and in the Valley of Fire.
We fixed that as part of the Big Dig, so you can come back now. 
But seriously, I love living here, and the trip I made as a tourist before I moved here was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken.
Conversely, a few years ago my mom visited for a weekend in late June, and it was coooold and rainy and miserable the whole time, so I feel your pain.
Danang, 1969.
Living on the Great Lakes as I do, I occasionally have to put up with biting horseflies.
But i’ve never been bitten by a seagull! Were you wearing dead alewife cologne or something? 
I think you must have visited T-A in the wrong time of year and the wrong state of mind!
Tel-Aviv is one of the liveliest cities on earth for its size (1/2 million City, 2 million Metro) - but, at least during summertime, it only really comes alive at night. The beach is great, we’re basicly a friendly bunch 
and it’s almost completely safe to walk alone, anywhere, anytime.
Tel-Aviv is quite interesting architectually if modern architecture does it for you (central TA has been declared a Global Heritage Site [or whatever the term is] by the UN for its unique concentration of Bauhaus architecture); it has several reasonably good museums and quite a few really good places to wine and dine. And it has quite a few historical sites within city limits (Old Jaffa; Tel Qasila), plus it is a gateway to visiting almost anyplace else in Israel on an easy day-trip.
Dani
- Johnstown PA
My parents had relatives there and we visited for a few days each summer.
We didn’t go more than a few blocks from the house, I saw no stores (just a corner one). Totally boring.
2.Lockport, NY
same reason
- Provo, Utah
no reason need be mentioned