25 Beautiful Places You’d Love To Visit— But Probably Not Live In

Ever scrolled through Instagram and thought, “Wow, I’d love to live there”? Well, not so fast. Someone on Reddit recently asked: “What’s a place that most people say is beautiful and a paradise but is actually horrible to live in?”
And as expected, the internet delivered—brutally honest, occasionally hilarious, and definitely eye-opening.

Here are some of the most surprising (and not-so-surprising) answers

#1

Image source: stubbornbodyproblem, Spenser Sembrat Every single cruise location on the planet. The living conditions for the locals are horrible and the only “good” areas are saved for the tourists. I will never cruise. It is the height of consumerist privilege and human trafficking. F**k that.

#2

Image source: coffeewalnut05, Matheus Bertelli Brazil. From England and used to live there growing up for a time due to my parents’ job assignment. My British school peers were jealous of my move because Brazil is portrayed as a tropical paradise, but when I arrived there it was quite bad. To be clear, Brazil does have some of the most beautiful and cool nature, wildlife and beaches you’ll ever see. So it is paradise in that respect. Its people are also extraordinarily warm, friendly and with such a chill attitude to life compared to the semi-Victorian vibes I sometimes get in England. But I’m talking about regular daily urban life in Brazil - it’s just so humid and hot for so much of the year. I felt like I couldn’t breathe the air properly. Also, there were far too many social and economic problems (d***s, trash everywhere, teenage pregnancy, violence and organised crime, inequality, power cuts, unemployment, low education, bad food quality, dirty water, low public sanitation, smelly waterways, dangerous roads, air pollution). All of those above things create a very uncomfortable living situation, and even if you’re rich you won’t be able to escape some of these aspects.

#3

Image source: n6n43h1x, Colin Watts Maldives. It's heaven on earth on the tourist islands. But its a very poor and restrictive hardcore islamist country. It's the country with the highest ISIS suporter rate percentage-wise.

#4

Los Angeles. It’s like if a traffic jam became complex enough to achieve consciousness. Image source: BumblebeeDirect

#5

Image source: Mioc_, Getty Images Dubai… horrible, horrible place, trying hard to improve their image. Kevin-W: It looks great with all of its attractions and shiny buildings., but it's so soulless and is basically a rich person's playground where you'll barely encounter a local emirati with most of the population being from third countries that are exploited for labor.

#6

Image source: Weird-Independence79, Rock Staar Most of the West Indies and Jamaica fit that description. Lots of tourists with wealth going to the poorest places on earth. Locals on those islands are dirt poor. I was invited to a village of one of the locals I met in St Lucia one time. He worked as a water taxi driver at one of the resorts and had managed to save enough money to build a house for him, his wife and their newborn. When we arrived at the village, it was like stepping into a National Geographic film. The village had one well in the center, and one public bathroom which was no more than a large outhouse. His new home was a small 2 room building with dirt floors and no doors or windows and no electricity. I had never seen that level of poverty before. I was stunned by the dramatic difference from the wealthy resorts full of amenities that these poor locals work for. The saddest thing was there was very little chance of him or his family to ever escape the impoverished hell they lived in.

#7

Image source: JosephJohnPEEPS, JF Martin Cuba. It is beautiful and have been little busts of eutopian success there in the past. Then you realize you make 15 dollars a month, a kilo of chicken costs 6, and your rations dont come remotely close to bridging the gap. Then the lights go out for days at a time, and you realize the infrastructure isnt there to assure they don’t go out permanently. Then when you try to leave the country for somewhere else, you realize you would have to save money for 30 years to make a safe and sound move. You stew over the fact that tourists are not just above the authoritarian law, but are totally safe from violent crime while you have to worry about both. Then you turn on the news and you see your people from Miami advocating to further economically wreck Cuba in order for you to cause a revolution - while conveniently forgetting you have no guns. Then you go to the hospital for a broken arm and whoops, no morphine - have a tylenol with codiene. . . I mean a regular tylenol that was produced in the USSR before the Berlin Wall came down with half the stated dosage - oh and they’ll have to make your cast out of paper mache because they’re out of plaster. Oh, and when you complain too much about all this, the Cuban equivalent of a Homeowner’s Association president (who has the backing of the police) goes to your place, bangs on your door, and threatens to ruin your life if you don’t shut up.

#8

Image source: megatronredditorian, Getty Images Greece. The economy is awful, houses are nearly impossible to buy and foreigners are saying it’s an awesome place to live and work but they’re usually influencers with remote or social media jobs, meaning they influence people to come and buy houses, making it impossible for greek people to buy a house themselves bc of pricing. There is quite an unemployment/ low salary problem as well. Basically the only people that benefit are the influencers that live on an island with a remote job from another country that only live there to boast that they’re in santorini or mykonos and make no effort to learn the language and culture :/.

#9

Image source: mysteriousmang0, Getty Images Puerto Rico. I’m Puerto Rican and the people are amazing, the food is amazing, the overall island is beautiful. BUT the economy, the lifestyle issues (no secure electricity or water) and the horrible HORRIBLE job market makes living there not even worth it unless you’re filthy rich… and the filthy rich are ruining the island further.

#10

Image source: Major-Invite-9517, Raphael Nogueira Rio de Janeiro Sure, nice beaches, Carnaval, the Christ statue, and such... But it's also one of the most violent cities in the world and it has extreme social inequality.

#11

Image source: YVRJon, Lee Robinson Vancouver, if you don't have lots of money. Beautiful city, I'd never want to live anywhere else, but rent and real estate prices are ridiculous. I'm lucky, I bought my house almost 25 years ago, but I don't think my kids will ever be able to own a place here, at least until they inherit my house.

#12

Image source: wildkinkyblonde, Sebastian Pena Lambarri Definitely Bali. It’s often marketed as a paradise with its stunning beaches, lush landscapes, and vibrant culture, but living there long-term can be a different story. The traffic is a nightmare, the infrastructure is lacking, and the cost of living is much higher than expected for the local experience. Plus, the expat community can sometimes be cliquey and isolating. It’s a beautiful vacation spot, but not all that great for daily life.

#13

Image source: Mr_Black90, Zhaoli JIN I'm surprised no one has mentioned Japan here yet. It usually tends to make these kinds of lists. I've been there 4 times, speak the language, have worked there for almost 3 months, and have plenty of friends (both Japanese and foreigners) there- but even so, I'm not sure I'd want to settle there long term. Japan is definitely great in many ways, but it's also very much not for everyone. It takes a certain kind of person. Critical_Ad1515: Let me also add this. I have family who live in Japan and they do not recommend coming here to live as a woman. Obviously not all men, but a majority of them are horribly misogynistic. The sexism is insane. Many women also have many problems with sexual harassment. No_Protection_7253: I love Japan but definitely got annoyed by how fake some of it was and just crazy busy in high pop areas. Plus, the xenophobia can be jarring. Compared to some first world places I actually found it low cost, although I know locals don't tend to make much. Still, it's on my short list for possible retirement (I'm okay at the language and learning more every day).

#14

Image source: dardarBinkz, aurora.kreativ Miami full stop sucks a*s unless you're rich. MessiLeagueSoccer: It’s survivable but as a regular person you pretty much are required to live with roommates, a toxic ex or your parents. I wish it was easier to just leave but not having a real safety net or well off parents makes it so much harder. I want to move to Colorado but COL is almost the same as Miami if not more.

#15

Image source: TheSlammed2, Denys Kostyuchenko Florida. Everyone thinks it’s this crazy beautiful beach paradise that’s perfect to retire at. Turns out it’s just an overpopulated, overdeveloped c**p hole that will continue to develop. The people here love to complain about it and then support the people figure heading all of the development so I can’t say we don’t deserve it at least a little bit. It’s not all bad, definitely has its pluses, but it’s not a paradise. Economy_Jeweler_7176: Florida was pretty great 20-30 years ago, but the constant influx of northerners moving from big cities for the “suburban, drivable lifestyle” has resulted in a sprawling mess of identical subdivisions and strip malls connected by 8-lane highways lined with half-dead palm trees and zero walkability. A lot of the natural lands are either paved over or privatized— and the beaches are either privatized or constantly overcrowded. Living anywhere near the beach is only practical for millionaires, and everyone else is looking at 1-2 hours of traffic just to get to the overcrowded beaches. The only real solace is the state parks— which DeSantis is actively trying to develop with condominiums and golf courses.

#16

Image source: LawfulnessMajor3517, Kristina Volgenau They don’t necessarily say “beautiful” and “paradise,” but I think people grossly overestimate how “fun” it is to live in New Orleans. velvet_blunderground: If you love eating, drinking, and wearing costumes, that is 100% your town. It's absolutely stuffed with the best of all of that. But the wages are low, the rent is high, the streets flood all the time, it's usually either hurricane season, tourist season, or termite season, and the potholes will swallow you whole. All that said, I moved away and have a vastly improved standard of living... but i still kinda want to move back. When it's great it's great.

#17

Image source: smellymarmut, RDNE Stock project The "cheap" parts of Mexico. I've known two couples who moved down there had a supposedly great life. Lived in a nice, fully-serviced town surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by hired security, had money for the good hospital, had food sent in from somewhat far away, and had enough money to regularly travel elsewhere. They went three years without ever exploring the area around them, the only locals they talked to were ones hired to work in the town. I wonder why they didn't dare go around the area.

#18

Image source: ClownfishSoup, Kvnga Hawaii is a beautiful place and NOT horrible to live in, but if you don't like mountains or the beach, then it is extremely expensive and many non-rich people have two jobs (mostly a regular job and then Lyft/Uber) to survive there. But aside from the cost of living, it is in fact pretty paradise like. It's like reverse Australia ... NOTHING is trying to k**l you there (Well, aside from lava on Hawaii itself) it's so safe that chickens roam free, and you see baby chicks just hanging around not being eaten. will_write_for_tacos: According to a friend of mine, it's Hawaii. The native population absolutely hates white folk (with good reason) so most of them view you as the bad guy. Food is expensive, and the selection in grocery stores sucks. It's ultra-touristy and the areas that aren't are not really friendly and welcoming places. It's difficult to meet people and make friends. The weather is nice, the views are nice, but if you're not going there for a couple's vacation, it's pretty lonely and boring. Objective_Analysis_3: I'm from Kauai and recently went back for a visit. Did a quick grocery shop and for giggles put the exact same products from the same store (safeway) into my local online store (WA state) and it was 45% higher in hawaii - which is why even though I was born and raised there will sadly likely never be able to live there again.

#19

Image source: nashile, Kirsten Frank Skye, Scotland. Overrun with tourists. Most locals have been priced out of housing so a lot of the island are rich folk from England . The driving is scary with folk trying to over take camper vans at stupid times. Camper vans doing about 20mph all round the island.

#20

Image source: Stunning-Type-3777, Lloyd Alozie Azerbaijan. Tourists are loving it. -the food -the hospitality -tourism opportunities -nature One thing to bear in mind that people are actively trying to flee the corruption and nepotism infested country that does nothing but propogate nationalism and increase its own s*****e rates.

#21

Image source: CitizenHuman, Te Pania ♡ Whenever the question of "if you could live anywhere..." pops up on Reddit, the number one answer is always New Zealand. But then the top response to New Zealand is always something like "I live here and it's expensive and the job market sucks". neinlights90210: I live in NZ. The job market is usually ok (outside of these crazy times) unless you have an overly niche area of expertise and want to work in that area. Unemployment is generally pretty similar to other OECD countries. It is hella expensive. Lots of premium things, like having a whole beach to yourself, are free. Necessities like houses and clothing are insanely priced. Because NZ punches above its weight in many areas like sports and film, that is what people see, and forget it’s an island in the middle of nowhere.

#22

Image source: stcrIight, David Vives Las Vegas. I won't say it's horrible, exactly, but people always told me I was lucky to grow up there and like... yeah, it's fun to visit, I suppose, but it's not really that fun to live in. It's hot, the healthcare is the worst in the country, you don't get holidays off because you have to cater to other people who visit on *their* holidays (I never got a family Christmas or Thanksgiving growing up thanks to them), there's nothing to do unless you're an adult for the most part, etc.

#23

Image source: maineblackbear, Heidi Bruce The Galápagos Islands.  Visitors, tourists see the hotels and the tour guides.  They also see fellow tourists.  The locals working can make enough money to scrape by, but it’s not a ton. But get five blocks off the main drag on Isabela or Santa Cruz or San Cristobal and the locals are living terribly.  Shantys, terrible housing, no cars, expensive food that mostly has to be shipped in from Ecuador. Rent a bike and just ride around and where there is tourist stuff, it’s ok.  But wow, it can get poor in a hurry.

#24

Image source: I_love-tacos, Ricky Esquivel Cancún, paradise if you visit, hell if you live there, expensive cannot even begin to describe the insane prices of some of the services there.

#25

Image source: Haltercraft, Spencer Davis Big Sur. Lived there for many years and it’s a beautiful area but brutal to live in. Between the highway constantly falling in the ocean and the fires and the tourists, it can be hell. psychonaut1938: Yes! I live near Big Sur and love to visit. But I would never live there. So isolated and prone to road problems. It takes a special kind of person to find happiness there on a permanent basis. I am not that kind of person.