Friendly/Unfriendly Countries

[SailingOnAWave]

Really interested in other people's experiences.

I have always found Ireland and Portugal super friendly. And recently Tunisia.

In comparison I was surprised to find Greece, Norway and Sweden unfriendly.

Is it just pot luck who you happen to bump into?

I have found Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Senegal, Gambia, and Morocco very friendly. West Africa in particular extremely friendly.
France, UK, Austria, Holland not very friendly.

I’ve travelled a lot, and a lot of it comes down to cultural norms I think 🤷🏻‍♀️

I always feel that people are a lot more chill about life in general in the Mediterranean. Italy, Spain, Portugal etc - as a culture it just feels a lot more relaxed. Friendly people who seem happy to just go with the flow of the day and interact with people they come into contact with.
I’m a Brit, but married to a US serviceman and a lot of our friends have spent time at two large US bases in Germany and most have said how unfriendly and cold the people are…..I don’t think they are, I just think as a culture Germans are very “to the point”. Small talk isn’t really a thing, especially among strangers, which can come across as unfriendly to an American who’s used to overly friendly small talk from everyone!

I still think one of my favourite places I’ve ever holidayed was Greece. I’ve been several times, to different areas, but in every place I felt like the people were so welcoming and it felt like a very family-friendly environment. Children are included in every aspect of Greek culture, and it’s lovely to experience. We found a beautiful little family-run taverna on our 2nd night in our last holiday, and went back almost every night for 2 weeks. The brother’s who ran the bar and restaurant had lost their mum recently, and their very elderly dad (who they’d inherited the business from) would always be sitting at the bar, chatting with all the customers and playing the board games with their children. We really felt like part of their family while we were there.

Oh yes, Greece I found friendly, and Turkey.

I found people in southern France extremely friendly. In northern France people were unfriendly.

The only other country I've found general hostility was Slovenia.
USA in my experience takes some beating for friendliness, except for New York City and Albany, NY, where I didn't meet anyone pleasant.

I have never really found anywhere "unfriendly" but I think it sometimes depends on how you are, rather than how they are. Especially since I have frequently cringed at the behaviour of British tourists abroad. And I don't mean the drunken rabble. I mean the "nice people" who, for example, declare quite loudly that they are shocked that the hotel allows black people in as guests (too loud, play music, have children with them????), which would have been awful in any circumstances, but since they were actually in a country that is 85% black....

USA friendly except for some customer facing staff in New York (who expected tips of course)
Ireland (south coast) unfriendly
France - as above south very friendly, the rest not so much.
friendly - Netherlands, Austria, Spain

My family are Welsh, so we used to go to Wales a lot as kids… the Welsh are some of the most unfriendliest people I’ve met 😂 they do not like the English. Even when I was stood there (half-Welsh) with my Welsh Mum it was like they could smell the English in me!

Yes, let’s make wild generalisations about whole nations. 🙄

I’m surprised you found Greece unfriendly. Personally I’ve never met an unfriendly Greek.

Cambodian and Malaysian people in particular we thought were SO lovely and friendly. The Japanese are very reserved but many have hearts of gold and we experienced such kindness from total strangers there.

Really really didn't enjoy Vietnam, we were so excited to go but the people just seemed to despise tourists on a whole new level. It totally spoilt the trip.

Stayed in a resort in Egypt once years ago and all the staff (99% male) were obscenely rude to the female guests. Lovely to the blokes. A real shame.

Poland. Recently went to Krakow which was brilliant but they were SO unfriendly and grumpy!
Argentina is very friendly, everyone chats, and they are well chuffed if you stand with them and join in.

It's all a massive generalisation really, but I'd say I usually find Spain friendly and helpful (have been to lots of different places north, south and Madrid in the middle). Only been to Portugal once, but found the same. Rome and Venice both rather hostile, which is a pity as obviously they're both amazing places but I've been rather put off going back to them or elsewhere in Italy as a result.

I've found Parisians at worst to be professionally civil and at best to be delightfully helpful and friendly. Southern France, said a polite bonjour to someone in a village and she muttered something about us not being from around there.

Morocco: Essaouira was laid-back, friendly and welcoming, but I really didn't like Marrakesh (been twice). Got seriously pressured by a group of teens to give them money for giving us directions, and it's the only time I've been anywhere and genuinely thought this could get nasty.

Costa Rica, I found people largely friendly, relaxed and jokey.

Slovenia I found very friendly, Ljubljana in particular (surprised to read that somebody found it hostile). Croatia not so much; there was still something a bit Soviet and surly about a lot of people I've come across, although TBF I've only been to quite heavily touristed places and this might just be people who work in the service industry and are heartily sick of foreigners. I did find Pula to be friendly by comparison.

Sweden and Norway I generally found people quite reserved, probably quite like the British really! Not impolite or unhelpful at all though. Denmark similar, maybe a little warmer.

I probably found the Baltic countries the most variable; went to them on one holiday and encountered everything from Soviet-era frostiness to super sweet, friendly and relaxed.

India, I found pretty friendly and helpful. Japan, very polite and helpful and cheerful. One man, we asked him directions and he actually led us to where we wanted to go. Only realised that he'd come way out of his way when we all nodded and bowed goodbye and he set off back in the opposite direction!

I think it depends where you go in the country (and obviously who you meet). For example, maybe they’re just sick of tourists in Rome and Venice? I found the Swedish friendly and the Danes extremely friendly. I also found people in Poland friendly too and keen to help despite me mangling their language via a phrasebook!

The only country where I’ve come across slightly unfriendly people is Switzerland.

I think there's different versions of friendly. In some countries like Morocco and Cuba 'friendliness' is a pretext for hustling (or in the US, getting a big tip). You can think you're having a nice connection and then suddenly it's 'get your cash out or we'll call you a racist'. It's social norms, I suppose and it's unwise to think some countries' social norms are inferior / superior to our own.

Weirdly, I found Serbia really friendly and chatty. It might be because of Brexit though - they love the UK for giving two fingers to the EU.

I don't disagree about Rome and Venice. It's just sad though when they're such lovely places. And I very much strive not to be an obnoxious Brit abroad!

The vibe was like this in Marrakesh as far as I'm concerned. Essaouira was genuinely much more laid-back and not at all hassly though.

I think so much depends on our attitude.

Greet someone with a smile, & they'll usually smile back.
Even the notorious Passport Control staff in St. Petersburg,
but with the exception of Dallas Immigration & Customs staff.

Vietnam & Egypt were mentioned, but I found both countries to be friendly.

In many places in the world people are much nicer and friendlier away from the tourist centres. Re Morocco, I agree Marrakech can be full on. Go anywhere away from the tourist centres in Morocco and you'll experience real friendliness and hospitality. I stayed two weeks in a small village and came away imagining myself living there it was so nice

The smiling thing didn’t work with the toilet attendant at Riga bus station 😄
Or our Riga taxi driver, actually.
There were some friendly people in Riga though.

Probably irrelevant but as someone mentioned soviet era unfriendliness , I think the most hostile place I have been to was east Berlin in 1988. Everyone had a scowl on, impossible to find a table in a restaurant ( you’d go in, it was empty, and they’d tell you all the tables were reserved). I took refuge in a public toilet, only to have a terrifying matron burst in on my
cubicle and ask me what I was doing. What did she think I was doing? Dreadful time and place.

The swedes and Dane’s aren’t unfriendly as such - having lived there they tend as a nation to be quite reserved with people they don’t know, but once you know them are very sociable and friendly and genuine . Same goes for me with Dutch and Germans - I find Greeks incredibly friendly and many Spanish too - USA like Uk and France , a very mixed bag - Canadians tend to be friendly .

The friendliest countries I’ve been to are Indonesia, Laos and Greece.

The least friendly were Russia and Portugal.

Gambia is so friendly.
I found some local people in Venice to be so rude.

@LittleBitofBread

Croatia was never a Soviet country. I had a Croatian colleague who was constantly correcting people about that (including me!).

USA definitely away from the tourist hotspots. We had a tent and a bus pass so were absolutely fine but so many people insisted we had to stay with them. Just inviting us in to their house having met us half an hour before, such kindness.

Whenever I see Trump being an idiot I remind myself how wonderful the USA is and he does not represent the people I met over many states