Paris, New York and Istanbul's status as mini-break capitals have been dragged over the hot coals of criticism by a group of mums.
The commenters of Mumsnet have come together to try and decide which popular destination is in fact no good for a short trip.
The conversation was prompted by a poster looking for travel advice for 2023, having not enjoyed her time in Rome and being concerned about her safety in Amsterdam.
"Where’s overrated, and why?" she asked.
As popular as the Dutch capital is generally considered to be among Brits - with two million people travelling from the UK to the Netherlands each year - Amsterdam came in for a bit of a kicking.
"I didn't enjoy Amsterdam. I found it seedy, smelt like weed and food was a bit c**p," one mum wrote.
"Three hour wait to get into the Anne Frank museum made worse by pouring rain and Van Gogh's sunflowers had been lent to another museum so didn't even see them."
Another added: "Amsterdam. Cold, wet, not at all how it looks in the tourism snaps. The Van Gogh (my reason for visiting) wasn't at the museum as it was out on loan, the cafes were full of young pot-heads and the train was over crowded.
"To me, it felt like Birmingham in January."
The two commenters were outliers however, with the vast majority of mums agreeing the city was well worth a visit.
Another city which attracted some ire was Paris.
"Paris is so dirty and smelly," one person wrote.
Another chimed in: "I think I would only go back if I could afford luxury everything (which I can't) - it smelt and was dirty last time I was there."
A third wrote: "I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but a city I really don't think I'll go back to again having been there maybe 4 or 5 times over the years is Paris. It's just not that special."
One mum suggested that Paris often failed to live up to the hype if you're there as a tourist without instruction.
"Paris is great but everyone needs tips from a local to truly enjoy it as its miserable if you end up having all your meals in tourist traps - this is probably true for every city but even more so for Paris I think," they said.
Perhaps the highest number of mums agreed that New York "wasn't for (them)".
"(It's) too built up. Even Central Park had roads through it," one noted.
Not beating around the bush, another added: "New York. Horrible place, Horrible people."
Personal grudges were also directed at San Francisco ("Went in June, very cold, but just couldn't see the appeal"), the Polish capital ("I really enjoy Eastern Europe but couldn't wait to leave Warsaw"), and Dublin ("Felt like London (on my doorstep) just really expensive").
Perhaps the most furious criticism was reserved for Istanbul, which is regularly rated highly for its beautiful architecture and delicious food.
"I went there expecting to love it," one mum wrote.
"The taxi from the airport crashed on the way to the hotel - driving the wrong way down the motorway (and yes it was an official taxi).
"I stayed at the Hilton. The room was nice but everything else about the place sucked.
"Robbed by another taxi driver. Someone tried to rip my (modest) engagement ring off my finger. Everywhere I went men grabbed me (I was wearing linen trousers and a long sleeved top)."
She also claimed that a nightclub she'd been to was subject to a bombing the following night, and that she spotted plenty of live animals "in tiny cages with no water in markets".
She added: "Got the worst food poisoning ever - 15 days on the toilet. And I was there with a girl from Istanbul who was in tears at the end of the trip as it had been so blooming awful."
It's fair to say the mum's experience in Turkey was an outlier.
The equivalent of one in every 22 people in the UK will have visited Turkey by the end of the year, it is estimated.
The country's tourist board say it is on track to welcome three million visitors from the UK in 2022 - the highest number since records began.
