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My trip to Tokyo last November was kind of below expectation.
It was very bland and crowded, a great city in many regards but not a nice place for vacation.
Phuket, Thailand was definitely above expectation.
I didn't know a third world destination could be so wonderful. The beaches are great, foods are great and people are pretty nice. There were many old white guys looking for sex there, prostitution was everywhere but that really doesn't bother me too much once I'm accustomed to the scene.
From my limited travel experience here are my towns/cities that have exceeded my expectations and also those which have dissapointed me.
Exceeded expectations:
1. Katoomba, Australia: Only a 2 hour direct train ride from central Sydney..magnificent scenery and mountainous! Definitely a must if visiting Sydney!
2. Singapore: one of my favourite cities, I love how safe and modern it is and a lot of tourist attractions, I also liked the tropical forest and climate!
3. Gatlinburg, Tennessee: My favourite town in US by far! I loved the alpine village feel and plenty of tourist attractions..
4. Sydney, Australia: So much to see! The ferry is awesome and you get a great view of the opera house and harbour bridge...rail network is the best and most efficient that I have seen also!
Dissapointed:
1 NYC: I found it too big and overcrowded, I had high expectations and felt let down, also I didn't like the subway.
2 Perth, Australia: My home town, I do not like the isolation being so far away from other cities...lack of things to do, great if you like sun, beach and a relaxed city feel!
It has been interesting catching up on the posts in this thread since I last posted in August.
One of the great things about CD is the wide range of perspectives. I love to travel and like to get as many opinions of places as I can. This forum is great for that.
As far as this topic, I suspect one part of the travel experience is the actual versus the expected. Some seem to have some unrealistic expectations when they travel. Also, when someone is spending a lot of money to visit some place, unexpected delays or screw ups can quickly become stressful situations.
For example, one of the posters listed Dubrovnik Croatia as a city that was liked more than expected. I recently visited Dubrovnik as part of a cruise, but the visit started with a some very poorly executed service by the cruise line that had an impact on how much I was able to enjoy my visit. Another example was losing most of a days travel on a trip to Rome, because Al Italia is such a poorly run airline. I may never be able to revisit either of these cities, so those issues were really unfortunate. Fortunately, I still was able to enjoy my time in both cities, especially Rome.
Also, the converse is also true. A good day or even a single exceptional service person can positively impact a visit somewhere. We did a day in Ephesus Turkey with one of the best travel guides I have ever dealt with. I will now always remember Turkey with fondness (and hunger..... we really, really ate well).
To get back to the question of the thread. Like I noted in my original post, I really like London. I also ended up really liking Rome and was disappointed some of the other posters did not.
I think that London and Rome are probably the two of the best cities in the world for the number interesting things to see and do.
Venice was better than I expected, but my expectations were set pretty low. It did not smell, did not seem dirty and the people were very nice. Also, I ended up enjoying the gondola ride a lot more than I had expected.
Royal Caribbean cruise from Vancouver to Seward
We were forced to stand in line for over 2 hours to board the cruise. Food, lodging were fine. The last night was horrible due to high seas I thought we might tip over but having attended a talk by the captain talking about the ship's systems it gave me faith. But the last straw was docking in the wee hours and the incredible noise of the unloading and banging ruining what little sleep we hoped to get. Later on the sunset train to Anchorage (fantastic!) a woman from a smaller "boutique" cruise said the noise woke them up too in their hotel dockside.
Much better than expected:
Arches National Park
Yellowstone NP
Bryce Canyon NP
Monument Valley
Vancouver BC
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