There’s nothing quite like packing a bag, hopping on a plane, and jetting off to a new destination full of culture, charm, and overpriced cappuccino. For most of us, traveling is the ultimate mood booster, a temporary escape from daily monotony.
But not every vacation ends with a glowing Instagram post and a heart full of memories. Sometimes, it ends with a half-eaten sandwich, a confused sense of direction, and a city so dull you wonder if joy took a detour.
One Redditor asked folks online, “What’s the most depressing European city you’ve ever visited?” And let’s just say netizens didn’t hold back.
More info: Reddit
#1 Lelystad, Netherlands
There’s probably many worse, but first that comes to mind is Lelystad in the Netherlands. Visited it in around 2004 on a sailing trip, and it was just so …lifeless? Afaik it was basically a pure “sleep city” for people working in Amsterdam. Everything was the same style, everything build out of red Klinker, walls and ground. No cafés, no shops outside of a supermarket.
edit: I did not expect this anecdote from a school trip twenty years ago to make top reply in the thread 🫣 sorry to all Dutchies.
Image source: Acc87, Surinder’s Drone’s Trails
#2 Grimsby, United Kingdom
Grimsby.
Not just the name, the s**t buildings, the rubbish choked city centre that feels like an open air flat top pub but honestly the sheer sense of just hopelessness that permeates the whole place and makes f*****g Cleethorpes seem like the french riviera in comparison.
Image source: Mein_Bergkamp, uk 4k drone footage
#3 Narva, Estonia
Narva, Estonia.
Before WW2 it was the best preserved example of Nordic baroque architecture in Europe. The Soviets bombed it to rubble, bulldozed the remains, forbid Estonians from returning to the city and built commieblocks on the remains of the truly amazing Nordic baroque architecture from Swedish times.
If Narva would be intact then Estonia would have several cities with the most preserved Nordic architecture by time periods. Tallinn remained mainly intact and is a Nordic medieval fairy tale where the street networks in the old town are older than anything in the New World.
Image source: Catsarecute2140, Georgy Trofimov
#4 Blackpool, England
Definitely Blackpool
I went there to see double-decker trams but ended with the sight of a dead city and people without hope. The city looked like it was in a dying state and nothing or no one was able to help it.
A few days later I found an article about unfulfilled dreams from London who are moving to the English seaside. Pretty accurate.
Image source: McFilip7, Francis Heathcote
#5 Chișinău, Moldova
Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. It’s an empty husk of a Soviet planned city. And it’s their capital, the best, largest and most representative city they have.
Zhytomyr in Ukraine felt like that too, but I can let that slide, it’s just a regional centre.
Image source: mediocre__map_maker, abu_doubleu
#6 Milton Keynes, England
Milton Keynes, England. I just couldn’t get on with the layout of the city. To me it looked like it was designed for aliens by aliens.
Image source: tokyo_blues
#7 Almere, Netherlands
When I think of depressing cities I would think of other places, but going by your definition of
>lifeless city without anything noticeable
Almere in the Netherlands would be the closest match. It just appeared very soulless and bland, everything kind of looked the same without any flavor or character and the city was dead quiet in the evening, which felt even more noticeable and weird because I walked around the place tripping on ac*d my way back to my AirBnB from a concert when I visited.
Imagine the stereotypical drawing/mockup design of a new minimalist development that construction companies like to put on websites/posters for new flats being built, but come to life with exactly as much life, individuality and soul as you can see in the drawing and that’s pretty much the vibe of the city.
Image source: karimr, Daria Nepriakhina 🇺🇦
#8 Naples, Italy
Neaples. Camorra criminals glorified, wall paintings of teenagers dead in gang fights, unfinished public works everywhere, concrete, stone, asphalt and almost devoid of green. And topping everything: rubbish and its corresponding smell.
Perhaps the most amazing thing is how high opinion locals have of themselves and the city. Self criticism is not popular over there, so it will stay as it is forever.
#9 Västerås, Sweden
Västerås in Sweden… Depressing and ugly city (apart from the river picture with the little wooden houses by the river, but it is literally just a picture). City is ugly as hell, it has zero life (even for Swedish standards on that) and the people have got to be the most NPC that I have ever encountered in my life.
Image source: m3skalyn3, DontLetMeLeaveMurph
#10 Kiruna, Sweden
Kiruna 100%
It’s a lifeless mining city in the far north, it looks decent in pictures online, but in reality it’s a sad existence
There’s absolutely nothing to do in Kiruna, the buildings are all depressing, and the people are ‘awkward’.
Image source: coeurdelejon, Secret Travel Guide
#11 Didcot, England
Wouldn’t call it a city, but Didcot, a town between Oxford and Reading. It’s basically a collection of run-down houses next to a power station.
The most depressing place I’ve *lived* in in Europe was probably Grenoble. The city centre isn’t terrible (though nothing special) and obviously it’s lovely once you get out into the mountains, but for the most part once you leave the centre it’s just an ugly, polluted LA-style concrete sprawl.
Image source: holytriplem, Mark Chatterley
#12 Duisburg, Germany
Duisburg. I was in the neighbourhood and thought, “why not?”
Turns out, there were plenty of reasons why not.
Image source: lordsleepyhead, Ob5erving
#13 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Ludwigshafen in Germany. The whole city is just boring and ugly. Most of the city is occupied by the BASF factory plant, a big chemical company. And the rest where you can actually go as a civilian is just ugly blocks with absolutely zero personality. Unfortunately, the city is quite depressing, but not lifeless. But considering most of the people walking around there, you wish it were.
Image source: DerHeiligeSpaten, rouen-ds
#14 Bratislava, Slovakia
I apologize to any Slovakian here, but Bratislava just didn’t stick with me. It’s as if I just couldn’t make sense of it. There’s a small, historical core with a lot of tourist traps, and just outside there seems only to be bland housing blocks. Maybe it’s simply because I visited just after spending time in Vienna.
However, this pick is only a testimony to how lovely the cities I’ve visited have been. So depressing isn’t really the right word, just my least favourite European city.
Edit: Also Brussels. I completely forgot I’d ever sat foot there, which kinda tells you how much of an impression that city left.
Image source: WolfeTones456, Leonhard Niederwimmer
#15 Venice, Italy
Venice. Don’t get me wrong it’s beautiful but soulless. The tourism really did a number on the city. The historical center is more like an open-air museum. I really feel for locals who are still trying to live there.
Image source: Visible_Ninja_
#16 Luton, England
Luton. When I lived nearby I used to go for multicultural food- the population is quite diverse so I could find food from Eastern Europe (as it’s where my family is from).
I really enjoyed my food trips, but the city itself is a hole.
It always looks grey as it is heavily built-up and not in good colours, which is more noticeable when the sun isn’t out. There is litter everywhere. The large busy roads cut through the city core in an ugly way. The city core in general is not in any way beautiful, inspiring, creative or interesting. It’s just a bunch of extremely dull random buildings and complex road networks.
Luton has a unique and colourful history but it doesn’t do a good job of showing that AT ALL. There is just zero community pride.
The people are some of the most unhinged my family and I have ever experienced – aggressive drivers, one of whom tried to follow us home.
Google says Luton is considered a market town, but I think it could qualify as a city as the population is over 200,000.
Image source: anon, Catherine Ellis
#17 Saint Pölten, Austria
On the way to Italy circa 30 years ago we stopped in St Pölten, Austria, for a night. The whole place, the hotel, the „Restaurant“ – everything had an eery, spooky, kafkaesque 1950s air of repressive catholic smallmindedness. Being ogled by the locals over dinner (Würstchen mit Kartoffelsalat, the only option) was downright creepy.
Image source: Eimeck, Carlos Reusser
#18 Wuppertal, Germany
I went to Wuppertal, Germany, while driving to Hungary, because the name somehow raised the expectation of some kind of children tv show, a place with very green grass and colourful plushy creatures. So I took the exit and I wanted to see what the city really looked like. Quite a disappointment. 🤣.
Image source: anon, Aleksandr Osipov
#19 Birmingham, England
Birmingham.
Was sent there for work once and I’ve never felt such a strong sense of hopelessness and despair.
Image source: AltoCumulus15, Olga Lioncat
#20 Milan, Italy
Milan (outside of the Duomo di Milano) and tourist attractions was actually quite depressing, saw a lot of high rise buildings when driving from the airport and general homelessness in the area around the main train station (close to my hotel)
Still would absolutely visit again tho 100%.
Image source: anon, Tim Dennert
#21 Ústí Nad Labem, Czech Republic
Usti nad Labem. It’s one of the poorest areas of the Czech Republic and really has nothing of note to see.
My girlfriend says that Karvina is worse. I certainly don’t want to find out if that’s true though.
Image source: rwn115, János Korom Dr.
#22 Klagenfurt Am Wörthersee, Austria
For me it is Klagenfurt. There was barely any trees or green on streets compared to the amount of concrete, the cars did not care if pedestrians live or die, it felt like everything is about the beach and the historical center. To be fair, it is not really depressing, but to me it was not pleasent compared with the other places I visited.
Image source: sleekhairbear, Evangelia Panteliadou
#23 Glasgow, Scotland
Glasgow. When the bus drove in over the bridge I was like wtf? Where am I?? But then I kind of liked it. It was very sketchy but had a fun vibe.
Please don’t take an offence to this, it’s an exaggeration but 1/3 of people looke like they’re ready to stab you, 1/3 were very oversized women in skimpy clothes and lots of make up and 1/3 were happy and celebrating pride day/week/month (?).
Image source: lilputsy, Artur Kraft
#24 Zaragoza, Spain
I visited Zaragoza in Spain. The one good thing about it was I was the only tourist there so it wasn’t very crowded.
Image source: geronika, David Vives
#25 Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva.
Soulless, boring and incredibly expensive city. Not even as glamorous as I expected. Tons of weirdos and [call girls] roaming the streets at night. Totally would not visit again.
Image source: EmotionalStatement, Tom Mascardo
#26 Nicosia, Cyprus
Nicosia for its division
Birmingham because it’s generally pretty meh as the UK’s second city compared to the second city of other European countries.
Image source: Scarecroft, Datingjungle
#27 Dundee, Scotland
Dundee. If you’re not a student at the university, do not waste your time going there.
Image source: spicyzsurviving, Zack Davidson
#28 Athens, Greece
The really depressing places were always smaller towns, but those probably don’t count, so i am gonna say Athens.
Endless concrete, an ungodly amount of traffic, lack of public space, crawling public transport, excessively drab architecture, poverty.
I think its also a lively city with a lot going on, so it never felt too depressing and i had a decent time there, but the aggressive unpleasantness of the whole place really got to me after a while.
Image source: Lev_Kovacs, Swaraj
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