The title alone in this piece is going to be enough to cause some uproar amongst viewers, and we aren't pretending like we don't know why. Ancient ruins are scattered throughout the world, and the definition of what we're talking about probably isn't all that clear in the eyes of many. With that being said, we're going to go ahead and explain ourselves a little bit.

The title is a bit of an exaggeration by default, as you can probably imagine. Essentially we're going to list some cities that we personally feel have some major issues, but they aren't all going to be the same issues by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, we're going to sit back, relax, and calmly explain the ins and outs of our thought process.

Many readers aren't going to agree with our entries here, and that makes sense. Everyone has different experiences in different locations, and we aren't here to try and convince you to agree with us one way or the other. However, we do still feel our reasons are valid - even if you can't see it.

So with all of that being said, we feel like it's time to get down to business. Of course, we'd like to think that we're slapping a big, invisible warning sticker on this article for the sake of the more sensitive readers out there, but they'd probably ignore it anyway.

P.S: We understand that pretty much every destination we're going to list is unique in some way, shape or form.

25 Kiev, Ukraine - Some Big Issues

Every single time that we’ve seen or heard about Kiev on the news over the course of the last few years, it feels as if it’s always been in a negative context. We aren’t here to suggest that the reports are 100% accurate or 100% false, but either way, it seems like there are still lingering concerns from pretty much every corner of the city.

It’s one of those destinations where you never truly feel like you can be yourself 24 hours of the day, and that’s a shame.

There’s a lot of culture to be found in Kiev, but that’s where our intrigue begins and ends.

24 Douala, Cameroon - Just Not For Us

It kind of seems as if Douala is a city that is trying desperately to improve and enhance their image, but they aren’t quite ‘pulling it off’ so to speak. One of the primary issues associated with the city is the astonishing growth in terms of population, and it only takes one glance to realise that they just don’t know how to handle it.

Their services are stretched beyond belief and they need some kind of financial input to deal with it, and it’s just not happening. The people seem happy enough and they get a lot of people coming over from local countries, but the problems are there for all to see.

23 Harare, Zimbabwe - Lost In Their Ways

We head over to Zimbabwe for our next country, which is another nation we’d describe as historically happy. Alas, while they may have some financial strengths through local businesses as well as a thriving success in the sport of cricket, that isn’t nearly enough to salvage their fledgling reputation.

Harare is consistently ranked as one of the last liveable cities in the world, and it’s been that way for years now. The government is considered to be a bit shaky, and their general infrastructure seems to be worsening as time goes on. That’s not an exaggeration, either, it’s just the truth.

22 Mexico City, Mexico - Nope, Nope, Nope

The main point that we want to make in regards to Mexico City is the false propaganda that seems to spread throughout the nation, as a direct result of this city. From an economical standpoint things appear to be going pretty well, but because of that, foreigners seem to think the same story applies across the entire country.

It’s that kind of false image that leaves us not realising just how much help they need in certain areas of Mexico. Mexico City takes up a large chunk of the resources available to the country, and that’s a shame in our eyes.

21 Venice, Italy - You All Know It’s True

It’s a city that is quite literally sinking into the ground. I mean come on, if that isn’t on the verge of becoming an ancient ruin in itself, then what is?

This fabricated idea that Venice is a really humble, romantic and enjoyable city to visit really annoys us. It’s an overrated hub for rip off tourist attractions, bad smells courtesy of sewage, and mistreatment of tourists.

We don’t have many good things to say about Venice, and if you’re interested in going for a romantic weekend away, there are dozens upon dozens of better alternatives – and that’s a fact.

20 Lagos, Nigeria - Bad Vibes All Around

File this one under “the people don’t deserve the city”.

The Nigerians are known for being a passionate bunch, and they’re also known for being the source of many different spam emails that we’ve all experienced at one point or another. Even with that in mind, though, we want to talk about something a bit different.

We want to talk about the unfriendly atmosphere of Lagos as a city, and how you just can’t feel anything other than a sense of uneasiness wherever you go. It’s a real issue, especially as it’s not got much in the way of tourist attractions anyway.

19 Amsterdam, The Netherlands - A True Waste

You can all like what you like and that’s absolutely fine, because we aren’t here to tell you what to do one way or another. However, one thing that we will always protest is that Amsterdam is one of the greatest cities in the world.

It is built off of the idea that it’s incredibly fun to visit and while that’s true, it’s virtually impossible to wake up feeling anything other than incredibly unwell. Plus, and we can’t quite stress this enough, it’s not even that picturesque.

One or two of the streets are quite pretty, but the majority of them look exactly the same. It’s massively underwhelming.

18 Cairo, Egypt - Another True Waste

Aside from being really, really unsafe, Cairo is just a bit underwhelming.

The lack of effort the locals have put in to make it feel special is pretty staggering, especially when you consider the history of Cairo and Egypt as a whole.

If you had a time machine and wanted to visit a historical city from back in the day, we’d almost certainly suggest going to somewhere like Egypt. Unfortunately, the final product that we all see before us today just isn’t up to scratch.

Perhaps we’re being harsh, but either way, you should test it out for yourself.

17 Dhaka, Bangladesh - Immensely Crowded

With Dhaka, you’ve got a city in which the great areas really are great, but the bad areas are some of the worst to be found throughout the entire planet. It’s one of the most densely populated cities on earth, and that soon becomes evident upon a quick visit.

It’s not quite on the same level as somewhere like Manila, but then again, quite literally nothing is.

You just can’t even begin to get around and enjoy yourself in all the ways you desire, and that’s a shame.

If you could get a helicopter ride above the city, you’d understand what we’re talking about.

16 Kingston, Jamaica - Not What It Seems

It doesn’t do what it says on the tin, folks.

Jamaica is not this magnificent paradise that it’s made out to be, and we hate that people continue to fall for this charade. It’s a dangerous country and Kingston is a particularly dangerous country, which anyone who comes from there will tell you. Sure, they’re proud of their roots, but they certainly wouldn’t be proud of the misinformation given to you upon deciding where to go on holiday.

It feels like they need to hit the reset button with Kingston and start over, for the sake of everyone – not just the locals.

15 Plymouth, Montserrat - Nobody Around

Montserrat isn’t the biggest place in the world, to the point where some of you may never have even heard of it. Alas, that may have been a good thing, as the image of their capital city is pretty haunting.

Plymouth was abandoned back in 1997 after the entire city was burned and buried by pyroclastic flows and lahars stemming from a volcano eruption. It’s officially the only ghost town that is the capital of a territory, and in truth, it’s really quite ominous.

Intrigue is probably one of the only reasons why people would ever go there, because in truth, Plymouth is nothing more than a reminder of the terrors that follow us around every day when it comes to natural disasters.

14 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Ugh

The current state of Rio is pretty embarrassing for the majority of Brazilians, and there’s just no way of getting around that. There’s a certain mood that seems to be in the air and has been for over a decade now, and it doesn’t appear to be getting rectified anytime soon.

Rio has gone from a place full of colour and love to a place where you never really know which corner to turn next.

It sounds extreme but there are no exaggerations at play here, and there needs to be some kind of recognition from the powers that be regarding what’s happening.

13 New Orleans, United States - No Good Times Here

Just don’t go to New Orleans.

Or, at the very least, only go for a maximum of 24 hours. If you go for any longer then we can all but guarantee you’ll be exposed to the truth behind a city that quite literally does not sleep.

The party town seems to rest on the shoulders of Bourbon Street, and it’s not exactly hard to see why. That’s the big money maker and that’s one of the primary reasons why people go there.

However, while it may thrive as a tourist destination, it fails in pretty much every other department. Why? Because it’s so unhealthy.

12 Pripyat, Ukraine - The Ghost Town

Pripyat is an official ghost town, which should tell you all that you need to know regarding the rise and drastic fall of the city.

In short, Pripyat was one of the locations that suffered from the lasting effects of the Chernobyl disaster back in 1986. The population went from 49,360 all the way down to 0, and it happened in an extraordinarily short period of time.

The folks that lived there are still affected from what happened, and understandably so. The Chernobyl disaster is something that will forever be a big part of the history of Ukraine, as proven by Pripyat.

11 Cape Town, South Africa - An Odd Place

Cape Town may be perceived as a really gorgeous place, and in some ways it absolutely is. Unfortunately, the beautiful views and the amazing beaches can only take you so far when you’ve got a reputation like Cape Town’s.

Without going into too much detail the issue of crime is the big red flag here, and there’s no way of getting around it. Sure, you could try to put it to the back of your mind, but that doesn’t really work when you’re actually there for yourself.

It’s a dark area over in South Africa, and rightly so, we believe.

10 Baghdad, Iraq - Problems All Around

The sad story associated with Baghdad is one that has been told and re-told many, many times over the course of the last 15 years, and we don’t want to drag that on.

For years they’ve taken one step forward and two steps back in the battle against their past, but even now it’s considered to be one of the least hospitable places to live in the world. In fact, a ranking by Mercer legitimately put it down as the worst of 221 major cities when it comes to quality of life.

We aren’t trying to pointlessly parade all of this information around for the sake of an article, because we want to see some legitimate change.

9 Karachi, Pakistan - The Impossible Scent

The locals of Karachi and Pakistan as a whole are incredibly proud to call the city their home. Of course, the same can be said of many, many different cities around the globe, but they kind of take things to a whole new level over there.

Plus, the stark contrast between the rich areas and the poor is pretty startling. One minute you’ll be driving along and enjoying the great views, then things turn dark pretty quickly as you’re met with the harsh reality of their poverty issues.

It makes you wonder whether or not they’re putting too much of an emphasis, and a priority, onto the wrong things. Perhaps we’re blowing things out of proportion, but that’s just our perspective.

8 Los Cabos, Mexico - Avoid At All Costs

When you’re off on holiday to somewhere like Los Cabos, you don’t want to be looking over your shoulder every two minutes. It was once a pretty rural and normal location, until the late 20th century in which they began developing it up to be a more tourist-centric location.

But through all the smoke and mirrors you still can’t hide the truth, and that’s a very, very important thing to remember. Mexico is great as long as you have a holiday in which you encounter quite literally no problems, but we’re going to go out on a limb here and suggest that’s fairly unlikely.

7 Santiago, Chile - Be Very Careful

Santiago may be viewed as a ‘nice’ city, but a quick look into how legitimate that is soon unveils some real problems. Firstly the public transport is insanely high when you consider just how many people live there, and it’s a shame that they don’t show their locals a little bit more respect.

On top of that, you’ve got the overwhelming issue of smog, which stems from the Andes Mountains. There isn’t all too much that can be done to combat that in comparison to some of the other issues we’ve noted on this list, but still, every point matters.

6 Detroit, United States - Go For The Pistons, That’s It

For a city that is located in a country perceived to be full of opportunity, there doesn’t seem to be much of it in Detroit. They’ve really suffered over there courtesy of a massive economic decline, and on top of that, you’ve got the negativity that you just wouldn’t expect to see being quite so prominent in the States.

The population decline has been pretty considerable over the course of the last few decades, and they don’t seem to know or even understand what they need to do in order to fix it. Sometimes you just can’t piece these things back together, but it’s not like Detroit is beyond help.