Travelers Who Realized They Made A Mistake Visiting These Places

No matter how much you plan for a trip or how many hours you spend researching your next destination, there are going to be times when it simply doesn't live up to your expectations.

For whatever reason, you get there or you get yourself into a certain situation somewhere where you think, "Wow, it was a mistake to come here," and then you're left trying to figure out how to get out of there as fast as possible. Learn from fellow travelers' mistakes so you don't have to go through it yourself.

How Creative Can A City Planner Really Be?

the pearl island qatar
Photo Credit: Reddit / afriacnus2020
Photo Credit: Reddit / afriacnus2020

"Qatar. I had a 24-hour or so layover in the ad-hoc Doha airport on my way to Tanzania. It's a very cool looking city, but it reminds me of something someone would build in Minecraft when they're playing on creative with no stakes." — Reddit / ConneryFTW

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The Beach Day Is Canceled

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independence day at daytona beach 2019
Photo Credit: Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo Credit: Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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"Daytona Beach. It was pretty disgusting, with garbage all over the beach, people smoking in the public bathroom, and a really creepy guy in a speedo that wouldn't stop staring at my kids. We spent 10 minutes there, packed up and left." — Reddit / higbee77

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The Magic Has Faded

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people meeting goofy at disney world
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Photo Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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"Disney World with my grandkids. I practically grew up there but hadn't been in over 20 years. I had no idea it would be nothing but a huge traffic jam of strollers and screaming children." — Reddit / convextech

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Maybe This Was More About Poor Hotel Choice

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hollywood boulevard
Photo Credit: Flickr / Nicholas Cole
Photo Credit: Flickr / Nicholas Cole
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"The biggest let-down was Hollywood, California. It was...seedy. The whole place was just this false, sickening, soulless mess. I stayed in a grotty hostel—I slept clutching my possessions—and got up and got to the Greyhound station as early as I could. My only memory of LA was just wanting to be anywhere else. I hated everything about the city." — Reddit / mrcchapman

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Time To Hike Your Way Back

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soldier at PLA forces hong kong building
Photo Credit: ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images
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"I once took a wrong turn in Hong Kong and ended up hiking up this long, winding road into the hills that led to a Chinese Army base. Walking up to the gates for directions did not get a friendly response." — Reddit / mrcchapman

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No Hike Is Worth A Potential Disappearance

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garbage in streets of cordoba
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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"Cordoba, Argentina. I was stranded there for a week due to a bus strike. Packs of wild dogs everywhere. Dirty streets. Tried to go on a hike at one point, but an old lady stopped us because people had been disappearing on that trail. We ended up staying in our hostel most of the time, and actually had some great times with the Israeli travelers that were stranded with us." — Reddit / pumpkin_pasties

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Stick To The Beaches, Not The City

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Photo Credit: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
Photo Credit: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
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"Avoid Manila at all costs. If possible, stay in the airport until your connecting flight to someplace else." — Reddit / DeluxeTea

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"I've been to the Philippines about 5 times and must say the people are lovely and I've always had a good time... but the first time I landed in Manila, I wanted to go back to the airport and leave ASAP..." — Reddit

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Not The Roman Holiday You Planned

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aerial shot of rome
Photo Credit: PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP via Getty Images
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"We just visited Rome and while I wouldn't say it was necessarily a mistake, I was very surprised at the amount of people trying to swindle tourists. Even if you indicated you weren't interested they were still scarily persistent and I was constantly afraid we'd get pickpocketed or mugged." — Reddit / narwhalambassador

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Bermuda, Jamaica, I Wanna Take You... Home

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streets of bermuda
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Photo Credit: Werner OTTO/ullstein bild via Getty Images
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"Bermuda. I went last year for work and was there for about a week. I saw most of the country (it's small), ate at a lot of different places, interacted with most of the culture.

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"I found it to be nothing more than a boring watering hole for rich British tourists. There is literally nothing to do on that island except drink and eat subpar overpriced food." — Reddit / elizabeaver

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The Waffles Aren't Motivation Enough

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streets of brussels belgium empty
Photo Credit: Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Photo Credit: Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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"Brussels. I have a friend who works there at the European Parliament so go there relatively often. Each time I think I might have misjudged it the last time and we try other places, both touristy and local. Nope. Expensive, dirty almost as much as Naples without the charm." — Reddit / michaelisnotginger

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The Reviews Are There To Help You

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greek restaurant in plaka near acropolis
Photo Credit: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images
Photo Credit: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images
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"I was at a restaurant in Athens and me being naive ignored the Google reviews warning tourists to stay away. I ordered the chef special and started to regret it when I heard the familiar beeping of microwaves from the kitchen. I was hungry enough to not care, but what I was served will forever remain burned into my brain.

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"It was an abomination of food resembling a face with paprika for cheeks, tomato slices for eyes and a lemon slice for a nose, all above a small piece of meat buried underneath molten cheese." — Reddit / TheOnlyZ

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No Love For You, Poipet

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thai cambodia border to poipet
Photo Credit: TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images
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"Poipet, Cambodia. It's basically an awful trap that was built to milk cash out of anyone trying to enter Cambodia by land from Bangkok. In my case, I was taking a bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap en route to Angkor Wat. I got trapped in Poipet for a few hours and I can't remember a lot of angrier days in my life." — Reddit / ebimbib

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If You Feel Like You Should Turn Around, You Probably Should

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mexican federal police drving through juarez
Photo Credit: OMAR TORRES/AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: OMAR TORRES/AFP via Getty Images
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"Crossing over into Juarez from El Paso. Well, I should back up, El Paso was that first mistake, that city is just dirty.

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"Now, we walked over to Juarez to simply say we went to Mexico. The scary part was the graffiti everywhere that said 'Kill Whitey.' Immediately turned around. It took us two minutes to walk into Mexico and an hour to walk back into the States." — Reddit / zidanetribal

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Trust Your Gut

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shanghai dance club magenta
Photo Credit: Flickr / Micah Sittig
Photo Credit: Flickr / Micah Sittig
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"I went to Shanghai on business, and met up with an ex-pat to have some drinks. Three beers later, we are off to find a new place that had great beer, so says the ex-pat. We end up going to this sewer/basement that is obviously a dance club/Russian drug den. I remember thinking to myself, '... and he was never seen or heard from again.' I noped, and left to find a cab to go back to my hotel." — Reddit / Insert_Coin_P1

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Grab Your Pizza To Go

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streets of naples italy
Photo Credit: Flickr / Güldem Üstün
Photo Credit: Flickr / Güldem Üstün
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"Naples, Italy. It's literally a pile of trash. Like, trash piled three feet along every road and sidewalk. It’s just a mountain of trash. We noped out of there immediately and went to Sorrento." — Reddit / mostlyemptyspace

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Explore The City Or Go See A Movie?

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glasgow street shot
Photo Credit: Flickr / Metro Centric
Photo Credit: Flickr / Metro Centric
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"Glasgow is really dumpy. I went on a two-week trip to several places in the British Isles without doing a whole lot of research. Just booked the travel, accommodations, and a few things I really wanted to do. But generally, I like to travel without too much of a plan so I can explore.

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"In Glasgow I wound up just going to see Spider-Man: Homecoming." — Reddit / ONE_GUY_ONE_JAR

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Nothing Says "Relaxing Vacation" Like Scientology

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east hollywood scientology building
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Photo Credit: Epics/Getty Images
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"I accidentally wandered into a Scientology-backed psychology psychiatry museum in LA. I knew I had to escape as soon as the video at the start of the tour began." — Reddit / gomiyade

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Thanks For The Vote Of Confidence

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kenyatta international airport in nairoibi
Photo Credit: SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images
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"Initially, Kenya. When we arrived at the airport, after security, we wanted to see if we can order an Uber, but there was no Wi-Fi from the airport, as we had hoped. There were military guys around it and one came and asked us what is the problem, seeing we walked around searching for Wi-Fi.

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"Told him we try to get a cab to the city and he said something like 'you don't have an arrangement for the transportation? Big mistake,' and left." — Reddit / HowToFlyForDummies

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It's Tiring To Always Be The Scam Target

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bangkok street vendor woman buying food
Photo Credit: MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images
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"I live in Tokyo and my company sent a team of us to Bangkok for some business. We had a few days to ourselves and ended up going on a few highly rated tours.

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"I was the only non-Japanese and the only English speaker. So I was constantly bombarded and singled out by hucksters and street vendors. The tuk-tuk drivers were the most aggressive. It ended up being mentally exhausting getting singled out and targetted for 7 days." — Reddit / TCsnowdream

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You Should Have Kept Driving

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cobble stone streets pothole
Photo Credit: David Burrows/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images
Photo Credit: David Burrows/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images
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"Flint, Michigan. Drove through on our way to Indiana, and wow, that place is in dire straights. The main road? Was a potted cobblestone street more akin to driving over a pile of bricks than a road. Every business along this street was closed save maybe two, and a group of day drinkers had set up chairs on the lawn of what looked like a government office." — Reddit / Daenkneryes