My least favorite places I’ve visited (and why)

I love using this platform to inspire people to travel more — but, as any seasoned traveler knows, not every trip is the dream vacation that you hoped for.

I was thinking about my least favorite places I’ve visited recently and figured I’d share a list, including my reasons why. That said, I think it’s important to note that even though these are the places I’ve enjoyed visiting the least, there is only one destination that I actually regret visiting (details below). For every other place mentioned, even though I may not have loved my trip, I am grateful for the experience — I just likely won’t visit again.

With that, below is my list of my least favorite places that I’ve visited:

Giza, Egypt

This one was a huge surprise to me, as I’m very into Egyptian history and it was a bucket-list destination of mine for years. I was also especially excited as I was staying at the Marriott Mena House, with a view of the pyramids from my balcony.

But all of my excitement was no match for the bad experiences I had throughout my stay. Below are just a few examples:

• I landed late in Cairo and booked a stay at Le Méridien Cairo Airport, as I read there was a walkway connecting the hotel to the airport. I couldn’t find the walkway and asked someone at a help desk for assistance finding it. They told me there was no walkway, but I could be driven to the hotel for $10. This seemed a bit fishy to me, but as I had been searching for the walkway and couldn’t find it, I agreed. After getting in the car and driving for about 30 seconds, I could see the walkway and realized I had just been scammed — not a great way to start the trip.
• I decided to pay extra for a Town Car to drive me from Le Méridien Cairo Airport to the Marriott Mena House and a Kia showed up. When I showed them that I booked a Town Car, they tried to convince the Kia was a Town Car. With what felt like two scams in only a few hours of being awake in Egypt, this put me on edge for the rest of my trip.
• The big reason I didn’t enjoy Giza: every time I left the hotel, I was hassled and pressured for money, even from my hotel-provided tour guide. There wasn’t a single moment where I really felt like I could relax when I was outside of the hotel property.

While I was very glad I got to see the pyramids and am glad I went, I was also very happy to leave.

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

I really did not enjoy my trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Like Egypt, I was very excited for this trip — not because of my love of the country’s history though, but because this was my first trip after getting vaccinated for COVID and I was really looking forward to leaving the country again.

I think the reason I really didn’t enjoy my stay was the hotel I picked, the Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana. While I know Punta Cana is generally a party-type of destination, the pool area was full of very loud music and drunk people (moreso than I’ve experienced at any similar destination, like Cancún). On top of that, the beach was full of people trying to hassle me to buy stuff. There wasn’t a single area I could go to outside of my room where I felt I could put my guard down and relax.

I also ran into a few issues with the hotel. Before my visit, I let them know that I’d be working remotely and needed reliable WiFi. They assured me they had great WiFi, which turned out to be far from true (my WiFi dropped repeatedly during a few important meetings, and I was actually afraid I was going to lose a client because of it). Additionally, I booked a room with an outdoor bath tub, but when I showed up the tub was rusted and the water was only lukewarm at best.

Punta Cana is the one destination on this list where I actually regret visiting. That said, I have a feeling that if I stayed at a different hotel on a different beach, my experience may have been very different.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

A good friend of mine lives in Australia and we used to try and meet up once a year. He was planning on visiting Ho Chi Minh City with his family, so I decided to tag along for the trip.

While I absolutely want to visit Vietnam again, Ho Chi Minh City was just not my scene. The streets are so hectic that I didn’t feel safe or comfortable either in cars, on busses, or walking on the sidewalk (as motorbikes would ride on the sidewalks to avoid traffic). Additionally, the sound of honking was persistent pretty much 24/7 — when I checked into my hotel room, I asked the front desk if I could be moved to a room where I wouldn’t hear as much honking and they politely let me know that a room like that didn’t exist at the hotel. I’m very noise sensitive, so the constant sound really got to me.

There were things that I loved about my visit — particularly the food and the people — but the next time I visit Vietnam, I’ll opt for a beach destination.

Mostar, Bosnia

I was spending a week in Croatia with a friend and we didn’t have a set itinerary. One morning, I woke up late and my friend told me that he booked us a night in Mostar, Bosnia. I knew nothing about the city, but was excited for the adventure.

While Mostar was beautiful, it was a very difficult city for me to visit as, even in 2014, they were still recovering from the Bosnian War. There were bullet holes in buildings and large cemeteries around the city that constantly reminded me of the horrors of war. It was a beautiful but depressing excursion, and I was happy to get back to Dubrovnik the next day.

What’s your least favorite place that you’ve visited? Let me know in the comments.