No matter how many hours you spend scouring blogs and Googling statistics, there’s no way of knowing exactly what your experience will be like in a different country until you arrive. The language barrier might be more challenging than anticipated, you may be surprised by the way drivers treat pedestrians, and the weather could catch you entirely off guard.
For the most part, these surprises won’t ruin your travel experience. In some cases, they might even enhance the journey! But occasionally, tourists end up in places that they never want to set foot in again. Globetrotters on Reddit have been recalling the most depressing cities they’ve ever visited, so we’ve gathered some of their shocking stories below. While it’s unlikely that these destinations were at the top of your travel list, you might want to remove them completely after finding out what’s in store for those who visit.
#1
Dubai.
When I got back, a friend who had lived there for a few years asked me what I thought and I said well I’ll be honest it lacked soul to me, it was depressing and materialistic and soulless to me. It genuinely made me a worse person somehow. But I’m a tourist, you lived there, surely you experienced the *real Dubai,* and he said no you summed it up.
Image source: bqzs, Nextvoyage/Pexels
#2
Unpopular, but Las Vegas. It looks very nice but the entire city is a well designed scam to separate people from their money. Extremely tacky with no authenticity.
Image source: anon, David Vives/Pexels
#3
Karachi, Pakistan.
I saw malnourished children wandering a field of garbage, eating whatever was edible from the multi-acre pile of waste.
I saw all manner of crippled children, teenagers, adults, and the elderly begging for the equivalent of $.20 on the streets to stay away from starvation. More than one cried when I gave them money.
I heard of my aunt’s friend whose life savings were stolen from her as she walked out of the bank (she was making a deposit on a flat). She was robbed at gunpoint, then chased the thieves for a mile down busy streets screaming and crying for someone to help her, as people made room for them to pass.
My cousin there worked as a reporter for a brief period, and did an article on the Hijra. They were essentially transsexuals who begged and extorted money basically to get them to stop following/harassing you. There was a man who was kidnapped by the hijra, locked in a basement to a chair for 3 days, and repeatedly beaten with a board with nails in it. He was given a choice, to have his manhood cut off and to become a Hijra, or to be [ended] there in the chair. He eventually befriended one, who allowed him breaks without supervision, and he escaped through a window. He then ran to the nearest rickshaw driver, got him to drive away, and then broke down and told him his story. The rickshaw driver then gave him a free ride to the hospital.
I saw a basic lack of any city planning. Highways interlaced neighborhoods, so the only way to get to your house from a bus stop was to jaywalk across a road with a speed limit of 65 km/h. I had to engage in this myself a few times when visiting relatives.
I saw an unrivaled level of pollution and littering. During rush hour the streets downtown had a visibility of 20-30 ft. The streets stank of smog, and burned your eyes. The streets themselves were littered with all manner of plastics, human filth, and miscellaneous detritus. People didn’t seem to use garbage cans, it was commonplace to throw garbage on the streets. There was also no visible form of garbage disposal. Garbage was piled at street corners and burned. The stench, I will never forget that stench.
I could go on for a while. I stayed there for a period of 2 months while I was 13. My parents were with me the first two weeks, but had to get back to their real lives. I elected to stay with relatives I had never met before, and really soak up the culture. It was a blast, but I will never go back to that terrifying city.
Image source: HinkHall, HM hamza/Unsplash
#4
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Saddest and most depressing place I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to Afghanistan.)
Bywater:
Port-au-Prince or Mogadishu, both were terrible but starving kids eating “mud pies” (mud with a little salt and honey) in Hati was really something that is hard to walk off.
gradualpotato:
I went to Haiti in 2016 shortly after the hurricane to take part in some of the relief efforts.
I still can’t find the words to describe just how eye-opening of an experience it was to see people trying to live their best in absolutely just…unimaginable conditions. Video and photos cannot do it justice.
Whenever I feel short-changed by life I think back on my trip there and try to tell myself that things on my end really aren’t all that bad.
USANorsk:
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I was there right after the earthquake and worked on a medical team. We were transported in a locked cage in back of a truck to decrease the likelihood that we would be kidnapped. It was a paradise then compared to what it is now. Such a tragedy. The people have no hope of change from within or anyone coming to help them.
Image source: UJMRider1961, Robin Canfield/Unsplash
#5
I (an east-coaster) recently went to Silicon Valley for work:
* Everything is stupid expensive
* Everything is super spread apart, and there’s no convenient public transit
* Pithy Elon Musk quotes emblazoned on random buildings
* Everyone is on-the-surface cordial, but also actively hostile and entitled:
* Uber driver told me people in nice cars will actively try to drive into you or brake-check you because they know they can cover the damages.
* A guy during our business meeting introduced himself by taking 8 minutes to chronicle his entire working life and resume. It was a weird flex.
* Waiter at a restaurant was giving me and my coworkers the stink eye for staying at our table a little long enjoying our food and drinks.
It may not be dirty or crime-ridden, but instead it’s cold, sterile, and exclusionary. I couldn’t wait to leave.
Image source: plasma_dan, Zetong Li/Pexels
#6
Controversially, Rio de Janeiro. I was there 4 days, got robbed IN MY HOTEL, robbed on the street, got eaten by bed bugs, a few friends got robbed on the beach by the police, another robbed in the street at knife point, and a guy in the hotel got kidnapped in a car at gun point and then kicked out of the car as it was still driving. We got caught in a riot between police and football fans and got pinned against a wall while the police shot rubber bullets at us and I nearly got beaten up by local girls who took offence at their men trying to dance with me. As somewhere that is apparently famous for its nightlife, we couldn’t find a decent bar/club anywhere 3 out of the 4 nights,
For balance, I really enjoyed the lapa street party and football game, but it genuinely felt like the shadiest place I’ve ever been to.
In case anyone thinks I’m just a rubbish traveler- the stuff in the hotel was locked in a locker- so it was staff that robbed me, on the street I made sure my money was stashed in my bra so they only got a few quid, we didn’t go anywhere dodgy, stuck to the tourist stuff and travelled safely.
Image source: StrategyKindly4024, Florencia Potter/Pexels
#7
Cairo. Harassment and scams at every step of the way.
Limp-Initiative-373:
Travelled as a solo 35 year old female back in 2009, and visited 277 cities with virtually no problems – until I got to Cairo. 99% of the people you meet there (men, women and children) will try to [scam] you and no one bats an eyelid or will try to help you. A place crawling with filthy feral people with no moral conscience. I once described walking through the city as feeling like you’re [bare] in a prison bathroom which happens to be several kilometers long.
Image source: coffeegrindz, Alex Azabache/Pexels
#8
My lungs still haven’t forgotten my six weeks in Beijing over a decade ago.
It’s great from a historical standpoint, but that pollution is no joke.
Image source: anon, Magda Ehlers/Pexels
#9
This might be controversial and get downvoted to oblivion, but for me, it was Jerusalem. It was unclean and dirty, and if you’re going there to get in touch with your spiritual side, you might find yourself disappointed. I will say the actual holy sites themselves are well maintained, but as soon as you’re one street down it’s unpleasant.
It proved to me that peace in the middle east is possible though, because I saw Jews and Arabs come together to try and scam tourists.
Image source: tsarslavyan, Haley Black/Pexels
#10
I probably didn’t get a fair impression just going to a gas station off the freeway at 4 a.m., but the place I got the worst impression of was West Memphis, Arkansas. Swarms of mosquitos hit me the instant I got out of the car, and the plaza was full of police cars because a car full of skinheads had just followed and attacked (with baseball bats) a car full of Black guys. The proprietor at the gas station rather cheerfully said “yeah, I got off a few shots at them (the skinheads) when they were drivin’ away.”.
Not_A_Bucket:
Memphis TN looks like a literal battlefield in some parts.
LadyHelfyre:
Memphis, Tennessee. It’s the only place I’ve ever been where I thought I was going to be robbed in broad daylight in front of several cops.
Image source: Reatona, Nick8282
#11
I’ve never been more terrified than when traveling into Johannesburg, South Africa. Our business partner drove us into town and she started removing her earrings, wedding band, etc. I asked her why and she said that the bandits would cut jewelry off of you if they stopped your car, so it’s better to put it in the glove box.
Our client was a major bank; to enter, you had to stand in a tiny plexiglass airlock where the guards (with machine guns) could inspect you before letting you inside. Once in, it was just like any other business anywhere – cubicle farms and conference rooms.
Image source: gecampbell
#12
Decatur Illinois, it’s a dirty nasty depressing rustbelt hell hole. The best the town council can do to describe its unique smell is the Burnt Toasty smell. CNN sent a reporter to cover some event and he described it as the rancid vomit of a drunk man. It’s safe to eat two fish a year. Unless you are pregnant. And avoid tap water if you are pregnant. In fact, just avoid Decatur.
Image source: enigmaunbound, Gil Lebois
#13
Gary, Indiana is so sad.
levieleven:
I got attacked by a pack of loose dogs there. Not even in a rural area, at a gas station. Ended up stuck my car while a group of people just looked on. Nobody lifted a finger, made a move, called the police, nothing. It was an average day.
juniperberrie28:
Did the classic “nahhh I’ll avoid the toll skyway and go the scenic route” as a young poor college student traveling into Michigan
Got lost in Gary. I will never forget that place. I didn’t know how bad it was in America until then.
Image source: RefrigeratorSalt9797, Mike Norris/Pexels
#14
Rhyl in North Wales. I’ve been all over the world but never seen such depravity. I was like 8 or 9 & waiting with my mum for my dad to pick us up & we saw a group of chavs following a guy with Down’s syndrome & telling him they were going to follow him home & burn his house down while he slept.
Probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen, even as a child I knew it was incredibly [messed] up.
Image source: Jamaqius, Lisa from Pexels/Pexels
#15
Guayaquil, Ecuador. I have never felt more unsafe in my life. Reports of express kidnappings and “scoping” pretty much anywhere in the city, at any time of day. Was also warned not to use ATMs on the street, because you’ll just get stabbed and robbed on the spot. “Scoping” is [roofing] people with scopolamine, making them into obedient zombies. Said zombies were then taken to a bank to empty out their account. Best case scenario was then just being dumped on the sidewalk. Worst case was being stabbed and dumped in an alley.
PS: This was a Navy ship during a port visit. We were pretty much advised to just consider hanging out onboard the ship for the duration of our stay.
Honorable Mention:
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. Couldn’t figure out why tour bus rentals were so expensive until the company explained that the price included a guard who carried a sub-machine gun and had the legal authority to use lethal force to defend the bus and its passengers.
Image source: Oni_K, Danielcampoverde99
#16
Kaolack, Senegal.
From wiki:
Kaolack is considered one of the dirtiest cities in Africa: Garbage is often left lying around on the streets, and a regulated garbage disposal system is still under construction. Sewers are mostly clogged or barely exist, and the brackish water in them is a strong source of infection for malaria and cholera contamination; however, the drinking water supply has improved significantly. Unemployment is extremely high. The city is surrounded by a blue ring of hazy waste stench from the landfills that surround it. Especially during the hot and humid months of the rainy season, the situation is difficult to bear for humans and animals. Epidemics such as malaria, yellow fever and cholera break out almost every year. Only a few years ago, a wave of leprosy emanated from here and many people fell victim to it. Only in the western parts of the city is the situation a little better. However, this cannot hide the fact that in the other districts, such as Léona (Senegalese: Lewna), the worst environmental conditions prevail.
Image source: polypet, Usman AbdulrasheedGambo/Pexels
#17
Tijuana. I got pulled over. Accused of being drunk. Arrested and sentecened to year in prison in less than 48 hours.
It took the USN a month to find me and get me out.
dorpotron:
Tijuana.
Let me dip my paintbrush in [excrements] and paint you a picture. It’s actually difficult to determine where the city ends and the dump begins (hint: the dump has burned horse carcasses). There is dust and trash everywhere. Peoples houses are made out of scavenged garbage. Most of the buildings look like the builders got fired halfway through the job. There’s so much dust that even the sky has a brownish hue. On every barbwire fence, there must have been thousands of raggedy plastic shopping bags just flapping in the wind.
Image source: powerofcheeze, Victor Roque/Pexels
#18
Manila (capital of the Philippines).
A third of the population lives below the poverty level… and that’s the Manila poverty level, which is pretty poor. It’s enough to give you nightmares if you leave the rich parts.
You can insulate yourself from the rest of the city, be staying in the fancy parts, like the Makati, but you can’t escape the air pollution or the trash.
There was a storm last time I was there. Cubic miles of trash had washed out of the city, into the river, and into Manila Bay. Along the fancy-hotels path at the edge of the bay, there were waves washing up against the wall… but the trash was floating a foot thick on the surface, and so the waves were TRASH WAVES.
Well, maybe there are historic Asian things? Nope, sorry, the city was bombed to rubble and the end of World War 2. All that’s left are the foundations of the Intramuros, which are interesting, but not worth the walk through the slums.
Ugh.
Image source: reggie_fink-nottle, Marfil Graganza Aquino/Pexels
#19
Memphis, Tennessee. Everything is super run down and it doesn’t really feel safe walking around. There also isn’t much to do, unless you’re a big fan of Elvis or Blues music. Unfortunately, I am neither, so…
The Bass Pro Pyramid was cool though.
Image source: yapoyo, Vasilis Karkalas/Pexels
#20
Baghdad. The sad thing was you could tell that it used to be nice. I flew in by helicopter and saw that a lot of houses had swimming pools. They didn’t use them for swimming anymore though, they filled them with their household garbage.
Image source: blanchasaur, waqed walid/Pexels
#21
Sinhaloukville, Cambodia.
I’ve been to third world cities before, and this place wasn’t the dirtiest or most dangerous. What it was, was horribly creepy.
The place is filled with ‘compounds’ containing Chinese-owned casinos – what I saw was like a building site, with new compounds being built everywhere (the shiny newness of these places contrasted with the general grubbiness outside of them). The place is really two cities in one: the hidden parts owned by the casinos, and the rest.
I knew nothing about the city – I was only there because it was the port for ferries going to the islands off the coast of Cambodia (the one I went to was lovely). However, these places gave me the creeps, even though I knew nothing about them. I just put that down to hating casinos.
Only later did I learn that these places were centres of slavery and extortion rackets, run mostly by mainland Chinese gangsters. They entice people from elsewhere (many from China itself, Thailand or Viet Nam) with promises of good jobs, but once there they are enslaved and forced to work in various kinds of online rackets. If they complain or try to escape, they risk all sorts of nasty punishments.
The local authorities are basically in the pay of the scammers … basically, China itself cracked down on criminal gangs engaged in such scams, so many of them moved here. The locals don’t like it, but are powerless to prevent it; these “compounds” essentially rule themselves, and their owners have enough cash to be immune from consequences.
Image source: Malthus1, Christophe95
#22
Karachi, Pakistan. The harbour was disgusting and the city itself absolutely filthy. If you ever get a chance to visit Karachi, don’t.
Image source: Sir_Lemming, Muneer ahmed ok/Unsplash
#23
New Delhi. The city has history, food, culture but all of that is overshadowed by the literal haze of pollution that sits above it. Flying into the airport you literally cross from sun soaked blue skyes through a dense smog. You can’t breathe and the sky is constantly dim. Its really a shame.
My recommendation is if you travel to India just get out of New Delhi ASAP. The rest of the places I visited were amazing.
oilman300:
New Delhi, India. crowded, dirty, smelly, people trying to sell you overpriced souvenirs on the street & won’t take no for an answer.
Image source: Guiac, Fuzail Ahmad/Pexels
#24
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. So much money wasted on empty white marble building. So much poverty.
Image source: kinda_alone, Eziz Charyyev/Pexels
#25
Alexandria, Egypt, the most squalid place I’ve ever seen, shocked me.
Image source: jael001, hassan elrefa3e/Pexels
#26
Port Arthur -Beaumont-Orange Texas. Just swamp, chemical plants/refineries, and jails. Not much other industry, unending humidity and mosquitoes, and no real decent food that I ever found visiting there.
Image source: wastedpixls
#27
Raxaul, Bihar, north-east India. Been there for more than a month working in a hospital. Electricity around 6 hours a day, rivers are black and contain more plastic than water, you weren’t allowed to visit anything on your own (including the surrounding villages) because they would kipnap or rob you with home-made firearms. Almost everybody lived in filth. Involuntary electrocutions coming into the hospital every day because everybody would just try to steal electricity with live wires hanging around everywhere. Every rain would flood the streets and the filth would come out of the rivers (there were no sewers). Nice people though. Except those that would threaten to [end] our midwifes or doctors because they claimed that their wife gave birth to a son, not a daughter, which happened several times in 5 weeks.
You go over the border to Nepal, just 1 mile away, voilà, paradise (not compared to anything else, but Raxaul). Concrete streets, cars, nice shops (only replica though of course), GARBAGE DISPOSAL!
Edit: Oh, and the villages around Raxaul looked like straight out of a “help hungry African children” commercial. 20 clay and straw huts, some oxen, some paths, some rice fields, children in various states of nakedness everywhere. The hospital staff sent out three or four doctors and nurses on tour each week to try and teach their children basic reading and math. Most of the inhabitants, certainly all the women had never in their life been as far away from their village as Raxaul, which was around 5-10 miles. In some villages the girls were supposedly married at 14 and had to stay in their clay hut until they gave life to their firstborn, although that’s just what the veterans there told me, they didn’t speak English and my Hindi was rudimentary, so I couldn’t ask them.
Another edit: Extremely corrupt government and clerks in general in this State. When the Indians (very friendly and communicative, like almost all Indians, although they really seem to like lying without bad intents) on our flight to Delhi asked us where we’re headed and we told them “Bihar”, they were shocked and tried to convince us otherwise. We did see some of Nepal and Northern India after our visit to Raxaul and it indeed was generally much more civilized, although experiencing something like this, even for just a month, really changes your perspective on humans and what matters in life in general.
Image source: Brzelius, Saddam19
#28
Kandahar, Bagram, Mogadishu.
Dennis_Duffy_Denim:
The State Department or Home Office travel warnings about Somalia in general and Mogadishu in particular are wild. They actually tell you to leave DNA samples with your doctors so that your body can be identified, and they tell you to appoint a single point of contact for hostage negotiations.
Image source: skyrider8328
#29
I haven’t visited many terrible places, so my answer is likely tame compared to others listed already, but:
Waco Texas. Brutally hot, nothing to do at all besides go to the “downtown” area which is just tourists basically worshipping at a shrine for the HGTV people that fixed up some of the houses in the area. Horrible city.
Image source: paultheschmoop
#30
Georgetown, Guyana.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Image source: Personal_Neck5249
#31
Stockton, CA.
Bankrupt, ugly city full of tweakers and violent gang members. I don’t even like stopping there for gas.
Image source: staylifted024, Quintin Soloviev
#32
I say this as somebody who has never left the US. Dallas is the worst city I have been to. A lot of US cities are filled with potholes, crime, etc. but at least there is something redeeming about their cities. Take my native New Orleans. It floods, has constant storm issues, political corruption, and both the white collar and street crime are bad here, amongst the worst in the country. But then you have the culture here: the cuisine, the festivals, the parties, neighborhood cohesion, the want to burn down AirBnBs, everything that makes it somewhat worth it to live in New Orleans. The “Laissez les bons temps rouler” of it all. Cities like Chicago, Philly, Detroit, yes, even Atlanta have something like these going for them.
Dallas is different. Dallas is a sanitized, milquetoast bore of a city. It has a bunch of crime and all the other city problems, but nothing of value to add to the culture. Every time I have to go to Dallas I am bored out of my mind. There is nothing to do there, the city exists to facilitate Oil and Electronic company’s offices. If they didn’t have the Cowboys, I bet that city would create a black hole of boredom that would engulf the entire south. Sure it has art museums, music venues, but does anyone actually know what they are or somebody famous coming out of that scene? Yeah, Dallas might be a “great place to live,” but it is so boring, and that’s why its the worst city I have ever been to.
Image source: Xuelder
#33
St Louis is both the best and worst city I’ve ever seen. The Delmar divide is real. You literally go from nice houses and buildings to dilapidated ghetto in the blink of an eye.
Image source: Jaydeeem89
#34
Can I say Hyderabad in India? Unpleasant foul smell and trash everywhere on roads.
Image source: anon
#35
Not a very well thought out take, but I once stepped outside on a bus that made a stop in Shreveport Louisiana and thought right away “Hmm, I wouldn’t mind if I never saw this place again”.
Image source: mooimafish33
#36
Midland / Odessa, TX. Both are just straight up ugliest places I’ve ever seen. Scars on the face of the earth.
Image source: CabotRaptor
#37
Luton, UK.
ALA02:
Luton honestly looks like a 1960s urban planners convention that was [destroyed], leaving random pile of concrete
Image source: darkniven, Altaf Shah/Pexels
#38
Naples, Italy was the dirtiest most trash filled city I have ever been to.
Image source: PineapplePaladin, Moben Lens/Pexels
#39
I live in Louisiana. Anytime I go to New Orleans I’m having to look over my shoulder nonstop, make sure I’m not hitting potholes anywhere I drive, and it smells most terrible in most areas.
But the food and music are great!
Image source: Gmatter41
#40
Jakarta, the air pollution makes your throat sore, traffic is ridiculous, slums and trash. Extremes of wealth and poverty in the one city. It’s good points do outweigh the bad though.
Image source: Gloorplz, Tom Fisk/Pexels
#41
I travel a LOT for work, and often work in [worst] parts of town. I have seen some bad places everyone knows. East St. Louis, Camden, Detroit, New Orleans, Oakland. Many places.
The weirdest one was Youngstown, OH. I had a job downtown at their new library. As I drove in I saw two houses being resided. They were log houses. Like literally log houses being resided. And there was literally no one downtown. I thought I might be in an apocalypse movie. Not one person, not one car. A bunch of buildings with no employees. Literally no one for blocks and blocks. Wild.
#42
Doula, Cameroon.
Whole place seems ready to implode at any time.
Image source: Tonysaiz
#43
Flint, Michigan.
My door got in and said he’d stab me if I didn’t give up the car. I got out reluctantly because I was on the return trip of a cross country trip so my whole life was in that car (I lived in it at the time by choice).
Tethala:
Luckily he didn’t know how to drive a manual. The dude stalled it and bystanders stepped up to help me get the guy out my car. They told me to just GTHO and not look back and that’s exactly what I did. I got to Illinois and stopped there for the night.
Image source: eatingstringcheese
#44
Houston Texas. The traffic was unbearable and drivers were careless.
Image source: Only_Taro8408
#45
Gallup, New Mexico.
Never go there. Trust me. If you’re on a cross country road trip, do not stop there. Just keep going to the next closest city. I’ll never forget that place. A good story to have in the record book though.
Image source: top_shelf_goals
#46
Montgomery, Alabama. Just depressing as [hell].
Image source: GoDeacs7
#47
Someone stole the catalytic converter off of my moving truck in Amarillo during the ice storm of 2021. It took the rental company 3 days to bring a new truck and transfer my belongings. It was dark when they finished so I opted to leave the next morning when the roads would be safer instead of starting off at 9 pm. The bastards returned for a second catalytic converter before I could leave. All told I was stranded 9 days in that hotel. So for me the answer is Amarillo, Texas.
Image source: HopeDeferred
#48
Blackpool, England.
Whilst driving through i got my windshield smashed by a 10 year old hoodie.
Image source: Indydegrees2
#49
Kirkuk, Iraq. Talk about a dump.
Image source: anon
#50
Los Angeles, CA.
Superficial and fake. It’s not about who *you* are, or what *you can do*, but how many names you can drop in a conversation. Even the janitors brag about whose toilets they’ve cleaned.
Image source: MAVP
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