The 10 overrated cities I just don’t get, no matter how many times I visit

This isn’t a decision I’ve made lightly. I have spent a good amount of time in each of the cities below, giving them a fair go to reveal to me the attraction that everyone else seems to understand instantly.

I’ve been to Bangkok probably 10 times or more; the same with Osaka. Santiago is a frequent stopover. Dubrovnik has featured heavily in past travels.

So you may disagree with the below entries, and you probably will. These are some of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, cities loved by the masses, places that don’t even need to try to attract visitors because they’ll keep pouring in on reputation alone.

But I have put a lot of work into loving them, and still, they have never made sense.

In this column recently I have listed the cities I loved immediately and wholeheartedly, and the places that took me a while to warm up to. The following, however? I’m still trying to get there.

This isn’t an overtourism thing. Obviously Dubrovnik gets extremely busy in peak season, but so does Rome, and I love Rome. I just don’t understand what everyone is doing in Dubrovnik. Yes, it’s a pretty city with plenty of medieval charm, but does anyone actually have a great time in Dubrovnik? Do you ever feel truly inspired or overjoyed? And what are the locals like? Because I’m not sure I’ve ever met one.

Again, it’s not as if I don’t like Osaka. I like it just fine. But do I love it? Do I understand why this city forms part of the triumvirate of destinations – with powerhouses Kyoto and Tokyo – that every visitor to Japan seems to go to? I do not. Osaka is supposed to have the best food in the country, but I’ve never found anything better than Tokyo or even Kanazawa. It’s not visually spectacular, and its most popular area, Dotonbori, tends to feel very tourist-heavy in ways much of Japan doesn’t.

I have found parts of LA that I enjoy spending time in. I love the Sunset Strip, for all its tackiness and glam. I love Santa Monica for that iconic Californian flavour. Los Feliz is an enjoyable place to hang out. But LA as a whole is still a puzzle to me, with its vast expanses of endless suburbia, its awful traffic and high prices.

It’s always stinking hot in Bangkok, an oppressive heat that my Nordic genetics just do not cope with. Traffic is a nightmare in the Thai capital, plus I’ve been scammed – sometimes successfully, sometimes not – on multiple occasions, and also hit with food poisoning (don’t eat the street-food oysters, friends). Aside from that though, great place.

I feel like I’m not alone here. Almost every Australian visitor to South America