
After returning home from a trip, many tourists may find themselves wishing that they could go back as soon as possible.

That may not be the case for some of those who visit these not-so-happy holiday destinations.

In the modern socialist-capitalist town of Huaxi Village, China, 300 families now live in row upon row of identical houses after the village was turned into a private company.

Although all the villagers have shares in the company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, there is little professional opportunity in the town and only one member of each family can take a holiday each year.

The slums of Bossaso, Somalia and Calcutta, India offer residents - and visitors - a similarly bleak reality, albeit in a different way.

Unsightly urban sprawl is plaguing the city centres of Detroit, Michigan, Houston, Texas, and Brisbane, Australia.

And overcrowding in cities like Sao Paulo, Brazil, is guaranteed to frustrate tourists almost immediately.

From Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, voted the ugliest town in Britain by Crap Towns Returns, to the desolate wasteland of Pripyat, Ukraine, these are the cities you will want to avoid.

Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire was voted the ugliest town in Britain by Crap Towns Returns

Guayaquil, Ecuador claims to be one of the country's 'economic powerhouses' and is complete with loads of concrete and pollution

The slums of Bossaso, Somalia are rampant with piracy, drug smuggling and people-trafficking

Traffic in Tijuana, Mexico, home to the busiest border crossing with the US, is an absolute nightmare

In the densely populated socialist-capitalist town of Huaxi Village, China, all 300 families live in identical houses

Papua New Guinea's capital city, Port Moresby, is known for its lawlessness and frequent gun battles

The desolate urban sprawl of downtown Detroit, Michigan, is anything but appealing

The Caranavi province in Bolivia is the epicentre of cocaine production

In Tegucigalpa, Honduras there is so much crime that residents and tourists alike are advised not to walk on the streets after dark

Brisbane, Australia, developed very quickly - and with poor city planning - resulting in a city of ugly skyscrapers and expressways

In Guatemala City, the fume-filled capital of Guatemala, buildings look on the verge of collapse

The capital city of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, is anything but idyllic. The beach is mediocre and the architecture unsightly

The abandoned Ukrainian town of Pripyat was evacuated following the Chernobyl disaster

Bangui in the Central African Republic has almost non-existent roads and infrastructure

The overcrowded city of Sao Paulo, Brazil regularly experiences massive traffic jams, as well as flooding and blackouts

Houston, Texas, may be the fourth largest city (by population) in the United States, but its cityscape has no formal zoning regulations