this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2025
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Since we just had the friendliest, let’s look at the opposite. Not exactly the one with the rudest locals but the unfriendliest, be it scams, pickpockets, aggressive touts, unfriendly environment, or bad service.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

I only have experience with European countries, and from those I pick Austria. Very self-centered people; even service staff is very unfriendly (in the rare occasions where the staff is actually Austrian). Pet peeve of mine: I've never seen people skipping the queue as often as in Austria.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (3 children)

America, by far, and that’s from someone living here. I’ve been to England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Iceland, Mexico, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Canada, and probably a couple others I can’t remember. I’ve been treated nothing but friendly, with genuine curiosity, even when I shouldn’t have been.

Every day in the US, someone swears at me.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago

Agreed (as an American). Even Saudi Arabia has more hospitable people

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

As a British dude I hate America the city's are all full of rude self obsessed people

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

Just came back from Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia to LAX. The Saudi airport staff and Saudia airline crew are both very helpful and friendly, and once I landed in lax the mood completely changed, it felt like that the immigration people hated to have me back into their country ;)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

I'm not American, I've visited many countries, and I agree.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 hours ago

I'd say Iraq, but being that I was there as a part of an occupying force, it's my fault they hated me for being there, so I totally get it. That aside, America (as an American) definitely has unfriendly people that one is forced to interact with on a regular basis.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Belgium

Of course, when I went it was part of an school exchange trip when I was 17. I was almost always with a large group of American teenagers with only a few teachers as chaperones. It's 100% understandable why people wouldn't want to be particularly friendly to us.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

I just want to say while not overly friendly, my wife and I were in Belgium last year and as long as you don't insist on trying to speak English at someone who said "no English" it was a perfectly nice place to be... Even when we were off the beaten path

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 hours ago

Utah. Other than the staff at a restaurant everyone was rude. I think a motel manager may have lied about not having rooms, at the very least he made it clear he didn't like us.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

I'm European and never left the continent. I found Copenhagen (Denmark) to be one of the least inviting places I've ever been. That's not to say Denmark is like this or even that I didn't have a good time in Copenhagen. It's just that pretty much everywhere, people seem to be in a hurry.

But my baseline in Europe is that everything is just amazing. People are nice, accomodating, helpful. Especially in the slightly smaller cities. I especially enjoyed Krákow and Gent.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Don't want to discredit your experience but...

Me and my wife visited Copenhagen for a short city break back before we were married (and before we had much money). People were very welcoming. For example, we visited a small wine bar and could only afford the very cheapest option, the owner did not care at all and happily hosted us for the duration. Same at the coffee spot across from the hotel - guy there helped us get our bearings.

Now, that's not particularly noteworthy compared to other places in Europe that we've visited, but we definitely never felt unwelcome. The only issue I had with Copenhagen is a me-issue, I'm not a seafood person at all, and that's a huge part of their cuisine. I'm fact, that's a recurring issue for me. Love food, but not seafood! But then love places that love seafood! Argh!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

Not saying Copenhagen was all in all a bad experience, had loads of good ones too. It's just that in my limited frame of reference, Copenhagen was my least favorite. But it was still pretty good. I've had bad experiences in restaurants everywhere around Europe. But outside of general businesses, I found that I didn't like the vibe in Copenhagen. Sure, in restaurants people are nice. In venues if any kind things are good. It's a prosperous country. But in a way I found that just walking around the city it felt rushed, unkind. Even compared to a larger city like Lisbon.

That said, I didn't really felt at ease in for instance Catania or Rotterdam either.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 hours ago

Rome, dirty place, except for the tourist sites obviously. Lot's people getting pissed when you ask something in English. Drinking water taps in the streets constantly running straight to the drain. Thank f**k our Airbnb host was a great guy and helped us a lot.