Where to leave off the itinerary when travelling around Europe
It may just be me having defective taste, but I often find myself liking European cities that everyone else slags off, while the places that you’re supposed to fall in love with leave me somewhat cold. I’m not a huge fan of Florence, for example, but found myself loving Turin – a city that most people don’t bother visiting because they’ve heard it’s an industrial dump.
At least I can see what people like about Florence though, whereas some others just perplex me. So, at the risk of being called every name under the sun, here are the three main cities that I just don’t get. And, quite frankly, I’ll be delighted if I never have to go back to any of them.
Dublin
I once saw a fake advert that had the tagline: “Come to Dublin – there’s nothing to see, but you’ll be too pissed to care.” And that’s spot on. It sums things up when Dublin’s only half-decent tourist attraction is a brewery.
Most people just come to get absurdly drunk in the hive of ugliness known as Temple Bar. It’s not even as if the beer is cheap or particularly good – for that sort of trip, the Czech Republic is a way better bet
More to the point, even most of the Irish don’t like Dublin. Why the hell should we?
Milan
There’s just something unpleasant about Milan. It’s clearly a city of business, but it’s the slavish devotion to fashion and general attitude that makes it seem distinctly unwelcoming. For some reason, I always feel that I’m being sneered at because I’ve not got incredibly expensive shoes, a designer jacket and ludicrously greased hair.
Oh yes – aside from Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper at the Santa Maria delle Grazie and the train station, there’s nothing worth seeing either.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is supposed to be beautiful, but I just don’t see it. Those canals are frankly filthy and too cramped in to be remotely pretty.
There are some worthwhile attractions, such as Anne Frank’s house, but mostly the city is grimy and seedy. It also attracts the sort of person I’d usually run a mile to avoid (and I’m fat – I don’t like running). Personally, I can’t imagine much worse than spending a trip surrounded by moronic Englishmen who only want to drink in English pubs and laugh at prostitutes, or 18-year-old rich boys who suddenly think they’re both fascinating and incredibly daring because they’ve spent the whole day puffing special cigarettes.
Do you agree with David? Or do you think there are even more overrated cities in Europe? Share your thoughts below. This blog post was originally written for Ninemsn in 2008.
