The four iconic destinations I’d be happy never to visit again

I’ve left many places with an immediate promise in my mind to visit again. A pact to walk the streets and eat the food once more. It’s far less common for me to depart somewhere thinking, “Yup, that’s enough for me. I don’t need to come back here.” 

Although it’s not the norm, there have certainly been a few cities around the world that I wasn’t enamored with. Surprisingly, they’re all well-known and receive millions of eager visitors every year. 

Based on personal experience and preferences alone, these are four iconic destinations that I’d be happy never to visit again.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Whenever I meet European travelers who want to visit the U.S., they almost always say they want to see Las Vegas. After spending time there myself, the only question that involuntarily comes to mind is… why? 

Shun me if you must, but Las Vegas is the most overrated destination in the world in my opinion. It’s just like any other tourist attraction that sells its soul on a city-wide scale. It might’ve been cool at one point, but now it’s just a giant cash grab. 

Between the smoke-filled casinos, dirty streets, and intoxicated people everywhere, I was ready to leave after a day. I felt unsafe in many parts of Las Vegas as well, which isn’t a common experience for me, and I’ve traveled everywhere from Colombia to Malaysia. 

I visited Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart immersive art installation in Las Vegas and was completely underwhelmed. At $54 a ticket, I was expecting to be blown away and it just didn’t reach that anticipation. Expensive disappointments were a major theme of Las Vegas for me. 

Cancun, Mexico

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and mine is that I dislike Cancun with a passion. I traveled all over Mexico and even lived in Mexico City for a while, but Cancun feels completely separate from all that. 

There are plenty of overly touristy places that lose their authenticity, but rarely does it overtake a whole city like it has in Cancun. It felt super artificial. 

I’m really not a big chain resort person, so I stayed on the outskirts of the city and I found some cute neighborhoods there. But, the main resort strip of Cancun where most travelers stay was draining for me. 

The food was plain bad compared to other destinations around Mexico. The beaches cost way too much money and they weren’t even extraordinarily pretty. It was palpable that the thing to do around here was drink at your hotel and waste away. Not for me. 

If you’re set on the Yucatán peninsula, I’d recommend spots like Tulum or Playa Del Carmen instead of Cancun. They have all the nightlife without the overly commercialized feel. 

Coimbra, Portugal

Out of all the places on this list, I have the least beef with Coimbra. It’s quaint, fairly charming, and it could even make a good day trip on a Portugal itinerary. It’s just not the most entertaining place for tourists to stay longer than that in my opinion. 

I set up shop here for a few days to work and relax a bit but quickly regretted that decision. Coimbra is famed for having the oldest university in Portugal. That frat-feeling energy is still going strong more than 700 years later. 

Coimbra was crowded in the evenings and I could always hear the bars from my room. I’d wake up in the morning to find the streets covered in an unseemly layer of trash. It was totally missing all the things I usually love about staying in a less-touristy area. 

The other issue is that there isn’t much going on in the city besides the college scene. You can see most of the attractions in about a day and the main event here is students partying on the weekends. I found myself feeling a funny mix of bored and overwhelmed in Coimbra. 

Phuket, Thailand

Phuket was one of the last places in Thailand that I visited, following weeks of traveling. After falling in love with the country, Phuket was just lackluster for me. Truthfully, the only reason I even ended up there is because its airport had the cheapest flight to Malaysia. 

I knew that Phuket wouldn’t be my favorite city ever, but it somehow still fell short of my very low expectations. The heat was unbearable and the streets were crawling with people, making it feel even more sweltering outside. 

Phuket’s beaches paled in comparison to other shores around southern Thailand. The temples were nice, but not as grandiose as the ones in the north. Even the nightclubs weren’t as fun as they all appeared from the outside. 

All in all, Phuket felt like a more touristy, lower quality version of the Thailand experience. I was eager to move on to the next place, which is never a good sign. 

***

There are a few things that my ‘one-time-only’ destinations have in common. These places are all extraordinarily busy and the nightlife scene has overtaken every aspect of the city in many ways. It’s just not the right energy for me. Key words being: for me. 

My ideal place has an aura of serenity and a wide range of outdoor and cultural activities to do. It can have great nightlife but isn’t limited to just that. However, somewhere I like could be a boring nightmare for someone else. It all depends on your preferences. 

That’s why introspection is such an important part of travel. It allows you to figure out which environment works for you and saves you from wasting time visiting destinations that don’t quite fit your style. 

One place I do adore is Japan. Check out how I spent my first day in Tokyo to learn more about my time there. 

(Featured Image Credit: randy andy / Shutterstock)