I make a lot of lists on all kinds of things, from the best street food in a town, to hotels and even the best kebabs. What I really do though is shit lists.
Well thus all changes today in homage of a new site I am involved with “Shit Cities”, with me producing the Street Food Guy 11 Global Shit Cities list.
Table of Contents
11 Worst Shit Cities in the world
As always the rules are that I have to have been to the cities that I list. This is OK as while I have not been to every country and city in the world, I have been to a bloody lot.
OK, shall also be counting from 11-1 thus saving the shit until last.
Click to see the worst cities in Asia.
11) Civitavecchia, Italy
If you think Italy is all gelato and piazzas, think again. Civitavecchia is basically a port for cruise passengers to escape from Rome, and it feels like a concrete parking lot shoved against the sea. Nothing really happens here except bad pizza and a smell that makes you question your life choices. I was there for less than a day and I still needed a week to wash my brain.
10) Bradford, UK
I’ve been all over the UK, and Bradford is a grimy, industrial hangover of a city that refuses to die. The only thing it does well is curry, and even that is a consolation prize. Everywhere else smells faintly of kebab shops and cheap lager, and the streets have the personality of wet cardboard.
9) Omuta, Japan
Japan usually wows, but Omuta feels like the version of Japan nobody advertises. Empty factories, grey streets, and a kind of hopelessness that creeps into your bones. I was here for a week, and the local population made me genuinely ask why I even exist in this world. Not even ramen saved me.
8) Wewak, Papua New Guinea
Wewak is beautiful from a distance if you like the idea of beaches and jungle, but the town itself is chaos. Roads are mostly dirt, power cuts are constant, and everything smells of diesel. I got robbed and smoked with a gun here.
7) Krasnodar, Russia
Russia is full of amazing cities, but Krasnodar is not one of them. Concrete sprawls, grey skies, and a sense that the town is still waiting for someone to notice it exists. I walked around thinking, “Who the fuck decided this was a city worth living in?” Not me, that’s for sure.
6) Sorong, West Papua
Sorong is the jump-off for Raja Ampat and that’s really the only reason anyone bothers. Otherwise it’s chaotic, ugly, and smells like the harbour has been rotting for a decade. Street food is minimal, accommodation is grim, and the locals are resigned to being ignored by everyone except backpackers like me who are too dumb to stay on the boat.
5) Taiyuan, China
China has some amazing cities and some truly terrible ones. Taiyuan falls firmly in the latter. Smog so thick it feels like walking through wet ash, endless grey concrete blocks, and a sense of hopelessness that no amount of hotpot or dumplings can fix. I spent three days here and had to take a respirator just to leave the hotel.
4) Lashio, Myanmar
Myanmar is stunning, but Lashio is not. It’s dusty, hot, and smells like burnt rubber mixed with despair. The markets are depressing, the food is overcooked, and every taxi driver is trying to screw you. I left here feeling genuinely angry at the world for existing.
3) Suva, Fiji
Yes, Fiji is paradise in the postcards. Suva is not. It’s sweaty, crowded, and feels like someone forgot to maintain the city for fifty years. The only thing going for it is cheap beer, but that only dulls the reality that there’s nothing interesting here unless you’re on government business.
2) Nouadhibou, Mauritania
This is what happens when you leave a city to rot. Nouadhibou smells like the ocean died and left its corpse on the sand. Cars rust in the streets, the port is full of decaying fishing boats, and the whole place seems like it’s waiting to be forgotten. I was genuinely scared here. Not of crime, just of the hopelessness.
1) Siliguri, India
And finally, the crown jewel of shit cities. Siliguri is chaos incarnate. Endless traffic, dust, pollution, and people pushing you in every direction. The food is edible, the hotels are grimy, and every taxi driver will lie to your face without shame. I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere so exhausting, depressing, and utterly pointless. Siliguri is the city you visit to make yourself grateful for literally anywhere else.
