A travel expert who has been exploring the world for over 30 years has revealed the five cities he would never return to – one of them is a capital city boasting renowned landmarks. With summer upon us many Brits will be jetting off on holiday or considering where to book their long awaited getaway.
Carlos Lavilla, a professional travel agent, has been travelling the world for three decades, witnessing some incredible places along the way. However, there are five cities in particular that failed to live up to expectations with the expert vowing to never visit them again. In a now viral video on TikTok he said: “These are the five cities where, as a professional travel agent, I have felt most uncomfortable due to their little or non-existent tourist appeal.”
5. Reykjavik, Iceland
Reykjavik Iceland’s capital and largest city is home to the Blue Lagoon and the incredible Northern Lights. However despite it boasting out-of-this-world natural sites Carlos says that “if stealing is ugly, Reykjavik is even uglier than stealing”.
He adds: “There’s barely a lake and two ducks that work there part-time, and the rest of the city you could take, wrap up in gift paper, put a little bow on it and give it to the first person you meet.”
4. Malé, Maldives
Fourth on the blacklist is Malé, the capital of the Maldives. Located on the southernmost tip of the North Male’ the capital teems with high rises and narrow streets. Calling the city “extremely ugly” Caros says “Malé is like a blackhead on the face of a supermodel”.
He adds: “ You can’t stop looking at it and thinking that, if you could, you’d immediately remove it with your own hands. Fortunately, it’s such an extremely ugly city that it actually manages to highlight even more the beauty of the rest of the country.”
3. Las Vegas, USA
Over 40 million tourists visit Las Vegas annually to try their hand at some of the best casinos in the world.
Carlos was not convinced by the tourist hotspot, he said: “Although it’s popularly known as Sin City, the truth is that it’s a sin of a city. It’s as if they took the city to a plastic surgeon to stick on various bits from other beautiful parts of the world.”
2. Nairobi, Kenya
The second least attractive city for tourists, according to this travel agent, is Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. During this Carlos says his main concern was “constantly confirming that he was actually still alive and hadn’t died and been sent straight to hell”.
He added: “They’d have to pay me to go back there and even then I’d have to think about it.”
1. Jakarta, Indonesia
Jakarta, the world’s most populous island, takes the top spot. The city has extremely poor air quality due to numerous nearby coal-fired power plants, transport emissions, manufacturing, household emissions, construction, road dust, and open waste burning.
Carols says: “Not only is it famous for being one of the most polluted cities on the planet, if not the most, but it’s also sadly known internationally for the enormous and gigantic size of the rats roaming its streets. To give you an idea of how big this problem is: let me just say that Mickey Mouse retired many years ago and moved to Jakarta.”