What destinations have you visited that exceeded your expectations & which were perhaps not what you envisaged?

Better- Northern Wisconsin. I discovered a little town in northern Wisconsin when planning our first family vacation over 10 years ago. We originally planned on visiting Wisconsin Dells, but I wanted something a little less touristy. I am so happy I found our little slice of heaven up north. It was everything we were looking for, and more.

Worse- New York City (sorry NYC fans) It was way too crowded for my liking, plus it smelled. :(

My family took a sleigh ride on an elk reservation one winter while we were visiting Wyoming. It was 10 below zero, we were packed in a “sleigh” (more like a hayride trailer) with mountain people, and the elk were spraying pee everywhere. I didn’t enjoy it.

On the other hand… I visited Charleston, SC one summer and loved it. For some bigoted reason I expected the people there to be rednecks but they were super classy and friendly. I would definitely go back :)

A trip to my local zoo. They feature a lot of animals & it’s usually just a nice place to hangout & watch wildlife that I would never get to see in the wild. One season, they featured a new exhibit called Butterflies of the World. I didn’t think it sounded all that great, but when I went, it was something I will never forget. I was expecting to see each butterfly in its own caged in area. I was completely wrong. They had installed a football field sized area, covered in a netting. With waterfalls & wild orchids at ground level, made to look like we were walking in a forest. And literally thousands of butterflies flew around freely. Butterflies from every part of the globe flew around this massive area. From really tiny in size, to ones that had wingspans up to 12inches in size. If they landed on you (which they did) we were told to just stand still until they flew away. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.

San Diego and Chicago.
So disappointing.

Puerto Rico was close.

New Mexico was cool. Right on.

Honestly most places are usually not what I envisaged.

London rules OK!

Sydney. Well. Was a lot more quiet than I thought it would be. But Australia’s unique natural beauty outside the cities astounded me.

Bermuda. Meh. Too hot.

Chicago. It’s OK, but only a few parts of town.

Toronto is a more lively city than I expected.

Niagara Falls, NY needs a tourism board NOW! Such a waste. It’s such a beat-up little hellhole, but Niagara Falls, Ontario is a 10th rate Las Vegas. Wait, 10th rate is much too high.

Woodstock is a tourist hippie joke.

Montreal is lovely.

Detroit is not, but that’s about what I expected.

New York; there’s still parts of this city I’ve never been in, and I’ve lived here for over 15 years. I’ve got my favourite areas and those I don’t like.

Milwaukee’s only redeeming area to me is the lakefront. I know, I was raised there, but was not thrilled to be there.

New Zealand. I loved it so much, I stayed for 15 years.

Norway is NOT what I expected and has disappointed me on many levels as a place to live (as a non-native) and vacation in.

Turkey was amazing. The people, the sights, the food, the atmosphere…It blew me away.

Pine Island, Florida was not what I was expecting. (I did not realize Florida was so built up. I did not know it was a mangrove Island.) Still, I enjoyed it after I adjusted my expectations.

When I first visited LA, I was totally surprised that it was backed right up to the mountains like Denver, summer was not hot, it rained really hard sometimes.

All better than I expected.

New York City I found cheaper than expected (except for hotels) and everyone was really friendly. If you look lost on a subway people compete to give you the best directions.

I was disappointed the first time I went to Las Vegas – back in the ‘family fun’ days. We stayed at Circus Circus, and it was filthy, plus you had to pay extra for everything except watching the entertainers in the center of the arcade floor.

I had read that you could drop your kids off there and go to the adult sections. Silly me, I didn’t realize that meant hiring a ‘kids companion’ to watch them, in addition to the price of each and every attraction was four tokens (= $1).

I adored Ireland; it was as great as I had hoped it would be. New Zealand was another fantastic place – the people, the scenery, the sheep.

After visiting Amsterdam, I determined that I want to die there.

After visiting the Bahamas, I am annoyed at every e-mail I get from their bureau of tourism.

The first time I visited Los Angeles 8 years ago I thought it would be a terrible place. I ended up loving it and moved there soon after.

The Poconos sucked. I cried on my honeymoon because I hated them so much. Our hotel room sucked too, so I couldn’t even just tuck in for the week there. We did find an excellent little restaurant, though.

We stayed the night in a small town in central VA not expecting much at all, but had a wonderful time. The historic hotel had been remodeled, the downtown shops were charming, and there was a Shakespearean theater built like the original Globe where we saw an excellent show.

Hah! Almost anything from South Dakota is a let down. Wait, let me clarify. I’m originally from the eastern part of SD, and took a road trip across the state to Custer State Park. There are tons of things along the way which just plain epitomize “tourist trap,” Wall Drug is probably the best known of them. There were also a lot of things which really exceeded my expectations on the trip. I hiked up Little Devil’s Tower in Custer State Park, not expecting much and then was blown away with an amazing vista at the top. I tried to find a picture online, but none did it justice. Here are my best attempts.

Exceeded Expectatons:

Tulsa, OK
Lulling, TX
San Antonio, TX
Ocean City, MD’
The Beaches of Delaware (I love you Dewey, oh yes I do…)
Nashville, TN
Louisville, KY
Kansas City, MO
Ybor City, FL

Ah, heck….every place I go exceeds my expectations.

Exceeded: The Mayan city of Tulum in Mexico. That place was awesome and I’m never going to forget that trip.

Failed: Hilton Head Island. That place was just weird.

I’m going on an expedition to Antarctica in 2012. I’m hoping that trip exceeds my expectations. It probably will.