- Food and travel blogger Sooyeun, 22, backpacked from Porto to Paris to Prague
- A year on, she shared which three of the 17 cities she would not visit again
- Though she stressed this was just opinion, she was not let off in the replies
A female solo traveller has revealed the three European countries she wished she had skipped.
Food and travel blogger Sooyeon, who goes by @soos.foods online, travelled to 17 different cities – backpacking from Porto to Prague and Seville to Salzburg.
But some of the biggest cities on her whistle-stop tour left her disappointed
Her list began with Spain’s capital: ‘First is Madrid – the main reason is because I went to both Madrid and Barcelona on the same trip and I feel like Madrid didn’t have as many things to do, for me at least, other than the palace and museums.
‘If I were to do this trip again, I would probably skip Madrid and spend more time in Barcelona.’
Second on Sooyeun’s list was he Sicilian city of Catania.
‘I went into it hoping it would be a nice Italian vacation,’ she recalled, ‘but the city just felt a little run down and not the safest.’
The 22-year-old traveller explained she was stared at by locals and it made her feel uncomfortable.
Finally, and possibly most divisively, was Berlin, where she admitted she ‘would love to live’.
Sooyeun was particularly impressed by the ‘cool cafes, shops and roads’, however, she was put off the city by its abundance of museums – especially history – relative to other tourist opportunities.
She also admitted that at this stage of her European tour she was ‘getting severe museum fatigue’.
The other issue the food blogger had with Germany’s capital was its lack of ‘authentic local food options’ compared to a burgeoning international food scene.
Sooyeun was documenting what she ate in many of the cities in seperate vlogs, so had focused on sticking to traditional cuisine.
One comment suggested that ‘if you didn’t like Berlin it means you didn’t know where to go’, while someone else said it was a ‘must see’.
Others insisted: ‘Berlin has so much more than history museums.
‘Skip Berlin? You have got to be joking it is one of the best cities in Europe, so much to do.’
‘Berlin? There is so much to do and see and I didn’t spend all my time at the museum. I feel like you missed a lot!’
The backpacker did reply to say that while she knew Berlin was supposed to have excellent night life, she did not try it out as, being a lone female tourist, she felt unsafe going out late clubbing.
There were also plenty out in the comments coming to the defence of Madrid, with the mention of Barcelona seemingly rattling a few nerves too.
‘Madrid is so much better than Barcelona, there is so much to do!’
‘Madrid is way better than Barcelona people are just not ready for it.’
‘Barcelona better than Madrid?’
Fewer people came to the defence of Catania, perhaps just as it is a smaller place and a less popular tourist hotspot than the other two.
However, one comment joked: ‘Never been to Catania, but adding it straight to the top of my list if you don’t like Berlin and Madrid.’
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
