Every city has its own unique smell. And some places smell a lot worse than others.

Take the city of Naples, Italy, where tourists flock to see Mount Vesuvius and the Roman ruins. In 2007, travelers saw — and smelled — a very different site: The town was drowning in heaps of trash. In a local dispute with the city, the mafia-controlled garbage service refused to do its job and left the city smoldering in mountains of garbage.

 

Other times, a city’s smell says something about its economy. Williamsburg, Michigan is one of the largest producers of Maraschino cherries in the world. You’d expect cherries to smell good, but the chemicals used to process the cherries covers the town in a rancid odor.

 

But it’s not always people who are the culprit of bad odors. Hereford, Texas, is known as the beef capital of the world. With close to 2 million heads of cattle, the odor of manure is overpowering even to seasoned Texans.

 

A city’s smell adds to the experience of any visit. Sometimes it’s the most memorable part. And other times, the smell will make you want to forget about a place altogether.