Hey Pandas, Which Travel Destination Totally Surprised You? (Closed)

Roatan Honduras! I've been around the world, and no beach/water can compare! Better than Hawaii, Italy, Greece, etc. Water was so turquoise, yet clear. Beautiful!! Not crowded at all...

Sweden! A friend and her family invited me to their holiday home there and I was fascinated by the nature, the pretty villages and the old towns. The people were very polite and courteous. I love the supermarkets there because everything is sold in large quantities because the towns are so far apart. I will definitely go to Stockholm again.

Slovenian forests. I crossed the country while driving to Croatia, and was literally mind blown by the beauty of Slovenian forests, and globally the countryside. forests everywhere. as far as your sight can reach, trees. i didn't think such gem could be plausible in old Europe where growth is often the rule. I hope Europe will protect that gem. (be careful of Lyme disease if you decide to go there tho)

Israel. I was in Haifa. I was told it was steep because it was on the side of Mt. Carmel. But when I started walking it, it helps if you're half mountain goat. I literally lost 10lbs doing that uphill walk all the time. Uphill both ways! Security at the airport is interesting. I had a reason for having to hang out for 13 hours before my plane. The airport is incredibly clean. Man rides the floor washer all the time. Ladies always cleaning something. They're Israeli security. At one point I was sitting reading and a cleaning lady came up beside me and just stood there for about 90 sec and then left.. Later going through another security check the man asked me if my suitcase was in my possession THE WHOLE TIME YOU'VE BEEN HERE! THE WHOLE TIME?. Because somebody could have put a bomb in it. My answer: its never been further away than 1 ft. The question he asked and the way he asked it, I had been being closely watched the entire time. Also, I'm a people watcher. Israel is the best place to do that. And in Haifa the Baha'i Shrine of the Bab and gardens are incredibly beautiful.

Canada! It’s actually nice and hot in the summer and there’s a converse store and it has an entire wall of shoelaces. Very fun place.

Egypt.... Heard so many wonderful things about the red sea area, but it was scary

The last time I went to Hong Kong. It was my 4th time visiting and I wanted to go to places I've never been to on my previous visit.

It's very surprising that you can still find gems on places been to.

One I like best, is the hike to the sunset peak with exit to the big buddha. I was hiking alone and the experience was tiring, scary, fun and with awesome views. I almost run from the peak to the buddha because it's getting dark and I need to catch the last bus. I would love to comeback.

Brussels-dark and dirty, this city is just not beautiful and the Manneken Pis is soooo tiny!

Spain surprised me so positively, Mallorca in particular is a little paradise on earth.

When i was 9 my parents went to Europe for easter break and we spent a few days in London then a few days in Paris then Brussels. But what i was so shocked about was the amount of homeless people. I literally saw someone 10 o’clock in the morning sleeping on the sidewalk. And a lot more sad things like that. Another thing that surprised me was that you cant trust a lot of cab drivers in paris. (Im not picking on paris but...)

Hong Kong. Overseas trips from Australia used to give a stopover in either Singapore or Hong Kong. I always seemed to get Singapore which was lovely but I thought I was missing out on something regarding Hong Kong. People raved about bargain shopping etc. When I finally went to Hong Kong I found it more expensive than Australia, full of knockoff products at the price of the genuine article and very dirty.

Central Asia (along the Silk Route: Samarkand, Bukhara, Tashkent, Dushanbe) all old Soviet town

Montepulciano, Cinque Terra and Sienna are a few of the places I've visited in Italy and would love to revisit. The food, the sights and the people were all wonderful.

The Big South Fork National River and recreation area in Tennessee and Kentucky. It’s a national “dark sky “ area because of the lack of light pollution. Way less crowded than the Great Smoky Mountains national park. Great hiking with beautiful vistas. There’s a scenic railway trip that originates in Stearns,KY that is one of the most beautiful trips imaginable in the fall with all the beautiful leaves changing colors. Beautiful views of the plateau created by the Smoky mountains. Way under rated and cheap vacation.

Palestine.

Brussells. Being from postcommunist central European country I grew up in "religion" that everything in the West is better, nicer, cleaner and more decent. It wasn't horrible or anything, just not what I expected in "civilization". Bags of trash on the streets without trash cans, hookers in the streets, whole district with half naked hookers in shopping windows, people in public transport absolutely don't understand the concept "first going out, then going in" and "don't f*****g stop walking while you are still in the middle of the door". And everything is so expensive.

Wakatobi ( Indonesia )
At first i thought it was sucks.. but believe me, the coral reef was the most amazing thing i've ever seen in my whole life

Las Vegas. I don't drink and have no desire to gamble, but it was like spending time in a really exotic alternate universe that took me completely out of my boring everyday life. Just watching my friends gamble was fascinating; the whole culture of it is like some alien ritual. You walk into a hotel and there are lions lounging on a piece of glass right over your head. Totally unexpected enjoyment.

New York City. The first time I went I was just so enthralled with the fact that I, a naive southern girl was even there. I was so happy to be there nothing could ruin it for me. The second time I went, hoping to relieve that fantasy, wasn’t as great. I guess the rose colored glasses came off bc I noticed the entire city was disgusting. We went to the metropolitan museum of art and just across the street down the block there was garbage just piled high. I can emphatically say I will not go back.

Cave tubing in Belize. When we got off the ship, and saw the city we docked in, it was not very nice. The countryside was just ok and I wrongly assumed the tubing was going to s*ck. The state park we went to was beautiful. The river was pretty and the caves were stunning. The tour guides made everything informative and fun. Never ASSume anything….

Winnipeg! Total shocker. Very diverse inhabitants and tourists from around the world, terrific museums, parks, blues bars, and the best Indian food I ever had.