Jacki shared five destinations she claimed were rated more highly than they deserved. Photo / 123rf
Jacki shared five destinations she claimed were rated more highly than they deserved. Photo / 123rf
A young Australian woman has filmed herself giving a savage review of some of Europe’s most popular destinations, claiming they were dirty, underwhelming and dangerous.
Jacki, who shares videos on TikTok and Instagram under the name jetsetting_jacki, shared the video about popular spots she was most disappointed by.
“So many European destinations are hyped up excessively,” she wrote in the caption, adding it was just her opinion and others were free to have different experiences.
First on the list was the iconic city of Paris. The city of love sees more than 44 million visitors each year, but Jacki would not be one of them again.
“I absolutely hate Paris,” Jacki said, explaining she had visited three times and she did not enjoy her time there.
“I felt usafe, it was dirty, the people weren’t very nice,” she said, adding that, for this reason, it was on her list of overrated Europe places.
She isn’t the first person to be disappointed by the French city. Other visitors have been brought to tears after arriving in a response that has been coined “Paris Syndrome”.
Coined in the 1990s, Paris Syndrome describes the physical responses tourists have when their romantic vision of the city meets an imperfect reality. Photo / Unsplash
The second destination on the list was Amsterdam. Jacki said calling the city overrated “might be controversial”, but she was disappointed after her visit.
“It was just not as good as people hyped it up to be,” she said, saying she knew certain substances were legal there but it didn’t make up for the average party scene.
The next spot she claimed was “totally overrated, wouldn’t even bother going” was Mykonos in Greece.
Jacki admitted she may be biased because she was “so in love with Ios”, another Greek island, but found Mykonos to be expensive, busy and full of rude people.
“The music was also s*** and the guys were so creepy,” she said.
No 3 on the list was Magalauf, a municipality in Mallorca, Spain.
Jacki said she knew Magalauf was popular among younger travellers, but didn’t realise how young the crowds would be.
“I have never felt older in my life,” she said, describing it as “the trashiest, most disgusting place I have ever been”.
However, Jacki had heard good things about the rest of Mallorca, so she would consider returning.
Magaluf has long been primarily regarded as a resort for young revellers. Photo / Creative Commons image by Flickr user Effervescing Elephant
Finally on the list was the island of Capri, which Jacki said she liked and had visited twice because it was so beautiful.
However, its popularity with fellow tourists and high prices ruined the experience.
“It’s so busy and so tiny and all the shops and things are just so expensive,” she said, adding it would be amazing “if you were rich and had a sugar daddy”.
To counter the critiques, Jacki also shared a list of underrated European destinations.
One spot she couldn’t wait to return to was Sicily. “I can’t wait to go back, it was cheap, it was beautiful, way less tourists,” Jacki explained.
Other top spots included Malta, which had beautiful beaches and a great party scene without being overcrowded, and San Sebastian, where Jacki said she ate the best food of her life.
Despite not having travelled to Iceland, Jacki added it to the list because she knew many people don’t travel there but had heard glowing reviews.
The video received more than 430 comments from viewers, many of whom agreed with Jacki’s list, and others who said they had loved certain spots she deemed “overrated”.
Many agreed Magaluf was a destination favoured by very young travellers looking to party, but people appeared divided over whether Amsterdam was worth visiting.
“Amsterdam is the best city I have been to,” one person wrote, while a resident said they agreed it was overhyped.
Several viewers commented to defend Paris, suggesting it was one of the most important cities in the world and it helped if you tried speaking French.
“Paris is not overrated,” one person wrote, adding it was one of the most important and interesting cities in the world.
Another viewer said Iceland was overrated and Jacki should have put the Baltics on her “underrated list”.
