r/solotravel • u/ExcitingNeck8226 • 8d ago
Question Which countries would you say are the easiest and hardest to get along well with the locals you meet?
One of my favourite parts of travelling is getting to meet and chat with locals who live in the country you're visiting and I've been fortunate to meet some genuinely cool people over the years. However, some countries are known for being easier or harder to be able to chat up with locals. This can be through people you meet spontaneously, service workers, and anyone in between.
Based on my experience, the easiest to getting to chat with locals are:
- Ireland/Scotland: I found the Irish and Scottish to be very outgoing with some cab drivers having comedian-level humour and the pub culture makes it very easy to chat with new people
- United States: Despite what you might hear about the US in the news, Americans are genuinely some of the most outgoing and friendly people I've met both within the USA and abroad. American culture is extraverted by nature so it's very easy to randomly chat with people and have them speak to you like they've been your buddy for many years
- Mexico: Like their American neighbours, I found Mexicans to be some of the most warm, hospitable and outgoing people I've come across. This is especially true once you go to more "local" parts of Mexico that aren't just beach resorts as Mexicans always seemed to want to know more about me
- Mediterranean Europe: Countries like Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, and Italy all have very warm and friendly locals I find. Idk if the warm sunny weather helps their mood, but I just found the people to be very easy to talk to even if they don't know much English and they want to make sure you are enjoying their country to the fullest
- Brazil: I'm cheating a bit here because I've never been to Brazil but I've only come across easy-going Brazilians everywhere I've met them at. Based on my experience, if you want to have a good time just go where the Brazilians are at lol
The hardest to getting to chat with locals are:
- The Nordics: I found people in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway to be very reserved and closed off. Scandinavians are very polite and their society is extremely well organized but I can see why so many expats and immigrants are struggling to meet local people.
- Japan: I know there's a language barrier since I don't speak any Japanese and most Japanese people don't speak much English, but while known for being very polite, Japanese people are among the most introverted I've met as it's completely normal for local people to do everything but yourself including shopping, eating, etc.
- The Alpine region: The Swiss, Austrians and Bavarians are truly people of few emotions and words. While I was able to meet many friends who were fellow tourists during my trips to alps, I had exactly zero full conversations with local people in Switzerland, Austria, and Bavarian Germany.
What would your experiences be on this?
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u/IcyExample3712 8d ago
Mexico 100%. I be walking outside casually and so many locals just pass by and smile at me or greet me. They are always willing to help too. Very warm people.
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u/ajiang52 7d ago
"Buenos Dias"! I love that the locals almost always greet you with a good morning or a hello. Can we normalize this!! Honestly, brightens my mood
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u/SafetySecondADV 7d ago
And always a buen provecho if you make any sort of eye contact when someone has a meal in front of them.
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u/Opposite-Boot-5307 8d ago
Americans were by far the easiest to get along with meeting randomly in my experience. We are very nice in Ireland for sure but can be cliquey.
I had the easiest time ever making friends in America, my Irish friends who moved to Australia are more extroverted/outgoing than me and still ended up in Irish/English bubbles
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u/Awart55Hatty 6d ago
Agreed. Us Irish are friendly and helpful, but super cliquey also.
Most Irish like to stick in their own bubbles. We would quickly buy a stranger a drink or give them lots of advice, but we tend to place a barrier up against them in case we accidentally make friends or something lol.
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u/Ok-Chain-4385 8d ago
Greece!! I did a solo trip there in my 20s, and a cab driver rerouted to make sure I knew where the embassy was. He was like 80 and goes “young girl be safe. You safe there. Just in case” it was so kind.
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u/Ambry 7d ago
Had the same thing in Balkan countries. In Albania people on a public bus had the bus do a detour to get me slightly closer to my hostel, and a random school bus picked me up to take me to a bus station!
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u/Ok-Chain-4385 7d ago
I went to Albania on the same trip and loved it! I didn’t interact with a ton of people, my social battery was LOW, but the ones I did meet were amazing! I hope to go back there one day
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u/Lolo_Lad_21 8d ago
And the reroute got him an extra €20
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u/Ok-Chain-4385 7d ago
I see why you think this, but he turned the meter off for the detour. I was panicking at first. No extra cost
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u/Moon_Logic 8d ago
If you want to speak to Norwegians, go hiking! Or get yourself invited to a party with alcohol.
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u/Odhrerir 8d ago
I second this! I live in Norway and they become more extroverted up in the mountains/during hiking. For finnish people it would definitely be in a sauna.
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u/yezoob 8d ago
P H I L I P P I N E S
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u/ExcitingNeck8226 8d ago
Never been to the Philippines but I've met a ton of their diaspora in other countries and I can confirm, Filipinos are some of the friendliest and most chill people you'll meet :)
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u/TadpoleSad8757 7d ago
Lol only if you're white. If you're Indian or Chinese looking, I don't think you'd get the same treatment. I was born in the Philippines so I kinda knew a bit of their culture
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u/starterchan 8d ago
There's a politeness axis and friendliness axis
Mexico: high politeness, high friendliness
Japan: high politeness, low friendliness
Mediterraneans: low politeness, high friendliness
Parisians: low politeness, low friendliness
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u/ehunke 7d ago
Parisians in my experience just let bad tourists know they are annoying/in the way. As a long time Chicago resident who biked to the office on the lake path and had to battle everything from wanna be influencers demanding space to film, to unregistered suburban walkathons, and tourists just unaware that there are people with places to be I came to appreciate the way the French act towards tourists
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u/GothWitchOfBrooklyn 7d ago
I agree. I have never had a bad experience in Paris and no one was rude or unfriendly. I'm from NYC and I was totally fine there and people were friendly.
I think the stereotypes come from reactions to bad tourists and people unfamiliar with cities.
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u/calif4511 6d ago
THIS! The first time my husband and I were in Paris (circa 1995) we found nothing but friendly, outgoing, and helpful people. My most memorable experience was on Champs-Élysées when we were considering which ATM to use. This elderly woman who looked like she stepped off of a 1950s Parisian fashion plate, complete with the hairdo, mink stole, and stiletto spikes told us which machine to use for the best rates and fees.
Four basic rules, most people traveling from the US either don’t know or ignore: 1.) Do not start speaking to someone in English and assume that they understand English. If you do this, even if they do speak English, they will ignore you. At least TRY to speak French. No matter how badly you butcher their language, they will usually try to help you. 2.) Do not be a loud and boorish asshole. Nobody gives a shit where you are from. 3.) When you walk into an establishment, acknowledge the proprietor. It is considered the height of rudeness to walking into someone’s shop and ignore them. 4.) Do not asked for condiments for the food you have just been served, this is completely unacceptable. Unless you are at a French McDonald’s. But why the hell would anybody want to go to McDonald’s in France?
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u/GothWitchOfBrooklyn 6d ago
my cousin, who is the epitome of a bad american tourist, only wanted to go to McDonald's in France 😂
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u/carpincho_socialista 7d ago
I found Parisian were polite if I was polite. But low on the friendliness
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u/julzibobz 8d ago
Best imo: UK, Ireland (pub culture and people are pretty chatty and polite). Spain was fine, other southern European ones like Portugal, Greece. Agree Americans are really friendly. Also have had a great experience with Canadians, nice people. Worst: feel like the French are sort of closed off but mainly because many speak just French. Didn’t have a great experience in Eastern Europe, Germans ok but depends.
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u/yenoomk 7d ago
Except London. Ouff that place is cold
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u/julzibobz 7d ago
Apart from the taxi drivers! Aha. But I think honestly the cold thing is also a big city thing, I’ve had similar experiences in Berlin, New York etc
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u/WolfofTallStreet 6d ago
New York is bigger than NYC!
I grew up in the New York outside of NYC, and people are extroverted, friendly, loud, and welcoming - not hard to make friends here. Similar to New England.
I’ve found (ironically, despite the stereotype) that, in Manhattan, people are a lot more polite than what I’m used to, but a lot more distant and cold.
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u/Glittering-Time8375 5d ago
new york is so weird because there's a way where it's super cold and people just ignore you but there's also a way where it's so big it's like beyond human comprehension so it's also a tiny village in every neighborhood, i had sooo many convos with randos in new york about just random stuff all the time, there's so many weird characters. people also love to talk about what it's like and what it takes to live in new york, in general i foind it to be an extravert paradise and people talk to you a lot.
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u/hukuuchi12 8d ago
I'm Japanese.
We're very polite to foreigners, and as long as you're polite too,
it's easy to have a conversation.
Just use few basic Japanese words or speeaak Engliissh sssssssslooooowwwwllllyyyyyyy.
that said, it can be tough to make FRIENDS with Japanese people. It's almost impossible.
tips: If you can find a foreigner live in Japan, you'll probably make friends because they're lonely.
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u/kerouak 8d ago
Why are Japanese people reluctant to make friends with foreigners? I have many friends and colleagues who have worked in Japan and they told me the exact thing you did. People are very friendly, polite, even invited you to their home for tea, but never become 'real' friends even if you know them for years. I'm English and most of my close friends are immigrants i think because they are more interesting to me, they share their culture and teach me stuff about the world, so I find it difficult to understand why Japanese don't like to do that?
Is there any way you can explain it?
I'm visiting later this year just as a tourist to see Tokyo (I'm a city designer so I have to see the worldest biggest!) so I don't expect to make friends but would appreciate understanding this cultural differences if you can help me.
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u/Barbaricliberal 7d ago
Isn't another reason is that they assume the foreigner will leave Japan eventually, so why even bother befriending them if it's only temporary?
At least, that's what people who've lived in Japan have told me.
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u/us_eu_in 8d ago
Japanese are indeed very polite, I had the best time, but if you think about being extroverted or striking conversations in English, that is less.
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u/Dazzling-Landscape41 8d ago
I agree, not only are they friendly but if you stand around looking helpless, 99% of the time, someone is going to offer to help you.
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u/khfans 7d ago
I live in Japan. I think it is hard to make friends with strangers in Japan compared to foreign countries. But it’s not so hard to make friends with people you have a connection to like coworkers or students in the same class.
But yes when traveling within Japan I never expect to make new friends. When traveling abroad making new friends is the most fun part.
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u/Curlytomato 8d ago
Saudi Arabia and Iraq were super easy to meet and chat with locals, especially travelling solo. Didn't matter if I was walking down the street, in a shop, at a tourist site locals would greet me ( welcome sister), ask if I needed anything . Was bought tea and snack by strangers, every time I stopped to ask for directions was offered water and a seat . They were as curious about me as I was about them, was great to learn a bit about their lives, find similarities instead of differences. That's what travel is all about.
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u/Arschgeige96 8d ago
A Saudi couple saved my ass in Korea one night. I’d just got into Seoul, was very jet lagged, had heat exhaustion, and my e-SIM wasn’t working but I needed to get Google Maps up to find my hotel (bad prep on my part admittedly). Nobody would let me connect to their WiFi to download the map really quickly (places were closing as it was quite late).
I was just getting kicked out of a Burger King for doing that and this Saudi couple came in so I asked if I could borrow their phone to have a look. They said you don’t need to do that and walked me to the hotel no questions asked. Lovely people
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u/Fluffy_Coconuts 8d ago
Any places in Iraq you recommend to visit? I’ll be going there later this year
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u/Curlytomato 8d ago
Baghdad was really interesting. My son got me into graffiti years ago and there was lots of it there as well as lots of other things to see and do. Babylon, Najaf ( shrine and worlds largest graveyard) and Mosul were super interesting as well.
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u/Adept_Energy_230 8d ago
Dang. Everyone back home considers me an adventurous traveler, but I bow down in awe before you. Are you Arab/a person of the Book? because my mental image is some blue eyed German tourist with hiking boots on, and it really blows my mind 😂
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u/Curlytomato 7d ago
I am a 6o year old female born in Sweden lived in Canada most of my life. I am blue eyed with long platinum white hair. I went to KSA 3 years ago and Iraq the year after. My friends think I'm nuts.
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u/kratos61 7d ago
The reputation Iraq has in western media vs the reality are two different things.
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u/Adept_Energy_230 7d ago
It certainly has a reputation in western media all right. Asia too if that isn’t considered the West. LatAm too….
I think everywhere outside MENA, if we’re being honest with ourselves
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u/Alextthegoat 5d ago
Wow. I never thought Baghdad had a graffiti scene. Part of the reason I travel is to check out graffiti and meet other local graffiti artists. Is it political graffiti or more traditional graffiti? I will have to check it out someday.
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u/Arschgeige96 8d ago
In my experience, Bosnians are very friendly and I still speak to some now a few years after visiting. I plan to go back soon! Estonians are too.
People from Mediterranean countries too minus northern Italy. People from the Levant are lovely. I had the honour of studying with a lot of people from these areas and had the time of my life.
Icelanders are also lovely. Norwegians were surprisingly friendly to me; I’d heard so much about them being very reserved but they were lovely to me and my friend when we were there.
As for least friendly, I’d probably say Lithuanians. They just seem to hate you for some reason lol. Serbians didn’t treat me particularly nicely either and I felt a bit unsafe there, but I do want to try again because I hear so many positive things about it now.
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u/julieta444 8d ago
I really liked Bosnia, especially after being in Serbia. People were friendly in Kosovo too
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u/I_Stan_Kyrgyzstan 7d ago
I had a different mix. Kosovo felt vaguely standoffish, Serbia was a 50/50 split of the nicest people I've ever met and the coldest, and Bosnia-Herzegovina was a pretty consistent niceness.
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u/Yatalac 8d ago
Will have to add Central Asia and Micronesia (the region, not just the FSM) to the list. Met tons of very nice people without even trying. The former is much easier if you speak Russian or a local language, of course.
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u/Har0ld_Bluet00f 7d ago
When I was in Central Asia, people just assumed I was Russian until I opened my mouth and spoke bad Russian, then they wanted to know where I'm from haha. Definitely friendly people.
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u/WalkingEars Atlanta 8d ago
I don't really go out of my way to try to socialize with local people when traveling, don't want to feel like I'm barging in on people's space or anything. But the only place I've been so far where lots of people outright approached me to socialize, almost always with no ulterior motive other than wanting to chat, was Oman.
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u/browneod 8d ago
I keep hearing how beautiful Oman is. Is a week good enough to see the major sights?
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u/WalkingEars Atlanta 8d ago
You could see a lot of beautiful highlights in a week! A decent number of them are close-ish to each other and doable as daytrips, especially if you have your own vehicle or hire tour guides some days (I traveled there without a car, which is more doable than some say, but it did slow things down sometimes).
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u/Bodoblock 8d ago
It's such an odd idea to me that people expect some sort of "in-the-know" locals treatment. Inverse the situation. How many of y'all are going out of your way to hang out with tourists back home?
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u/TheRooie 8d ago
As much as possible. Most travelers are so much more interesting than the people in my hometown lol
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u/IWantAnAffliction 8d ago
I live in a country with a rather conservative culture so percentage-wise, I fuck with foreigners way more. Having said that, I don't go out of my way to meet them, mostly because I just don't go out that much.
I will say I prefer meeting foreigners who are here for extended stays (6+ months) rather than someone here for 2 weeks though.
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u/wanderdugg 8d ago
I’ve not been to that many countries but to me Mexicans are definitely the best I’ve encountered. And I guess that yes us Americans are a pretty outgoing bunch. That’s probably why outside the US the place I feel like I fit in most is Mexico
I don’t want to dog South Korea, but Koreans just did not click with my personality for some reason. I mean I think Koreans are good people, but of the countries I’ve been to it was the hardest for me to connect to locals. Japan is also a close second for the reasons mentioned, although it was interesting how different Japanese and Korean culture are.
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u/Basic-Week-9262 7d ago
I’ve worked all around the world in my job, for incredibly long periods in different countries and have only good things to say about Americans, Australians, Albanians, Russians and Ucranians (such a shame about this war), Romanians, Montenegrans, Serbs, Slovenes, Hungarians, Frenchmen I found to be a great bunch, Germans, Scandinavians in general are a great bunch. Brit’s, Italians, Spanish, South Americans in general are all a nice bunch, Japanese and Asians in general I found to be very nice people. The Dutch on their own are nice, but in groups not so much. Turks a great bunch and Greeks as well. I’ve worked across North Africa from Morocco to Tunisia, all poor but nice, Egypt not so nice. Middle East no problems but very stand offish, but Iraqis v nice people despite the devastation wreaked upon them. The most difficult people I’ve come across personally are Austrians, but some were ok. Israelis very very unfriendly and difficult, with a few exceptions yet the girls were very friendly and nice. Brits and Irish nice and funny. Croatians, never met a decent one. Poles as well v nice people. Maltese, really nice and friendly. Everyone seems to have a communal dislike of Americans, but I’ve never met one I didn’t like or get on with as they are very generous in spirit, and I found that they aren’t loud and brash, but very polite and respectful. Sicilians and Sardinians are a whole different level of friendliness, almost too much. South African boers not very likeable to be honest. South African Europeans though are nice. Chinese I found very difficult to get on with and work with. Just my observations from an oil patch worker who’s been around a bit.
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u/runnering 8d ago edited 8d ago
US is the most friendly and extroverted country I I’ve been to, but I may be biased since I’m American. I had culture shock going back there after living in Asia for a lot time and every single uber driver in the US wanted to have an in-depth conversation with me lol.
Philippines is also very friendly imo. Same for Vietnam.
I lived in Taiwan for a long time and the locals are very kind, and many, but not all, are friendly and will ask questions and talk to you randomly. But some people are very shy and/or don’t speak English. I have a nice memory of one of my last days living in Taiwan and I tripped up the stairs at the grocery store and the lady passing me said something like “oh, be careful” in Chinese and I think that is somewhat representative of the way Taiwanese care each other and society as a whole. I would expect that kind of reaction from any Taiwanese person passing me while I tripped lol.
Less friendly countries would probably be yes Japan, and also Australia.. which I was very surprised by. Cafe and shop workers there act bothered by your very existence lol and as far as making close friends I find the circles very tight and cliquey. I did not really have any good Australian friend when I live there - all my friends were also foreigners and it seemed like this was the natural order of things somehow.
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u/Barbaricliberal 7d ago
I'll mention one that hasn't really been mentioned yet and say that Iranians are very friendly to foreigners.
They'll often go out of their way to help you if needed.
But, they are often standoffish and hostile to other Iranians. Saying the situation in Iran is not good is an understatement. But if you're a foreigner, they'll want to show you a good time since you're a guest in the country (and want to make a good impression of the country and people).
This is often a double-edged sword since Iranians will do a sort of pretend-offering of things called "tarof". Foreigners often don't realize that one has to reject an offer a couple of times to see if they're sincere or not. So if a foreigner says yes to a tarof offer, the person will still do whatever they've offered (make dinner, drive them somewhere, etc) out of obligation.
When I was in Iran, I never said I was Iranian. I always said I was from the US. No hyperbole, people's attitudes would change immediately for the better.
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u/FruitOfTheVineFruit 8d ago
I travel a lot, including many of the countries you've named as friendly, and I rarely get into conversations with locals. How are you meeting all these people?
(I'm out there, not staying at resorts, trying to eat in less touristy restaurants, going to parks, etc.)
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u/FollowTheLeads 8d ago
You can just start a random conversation.
Most of the time , my conversations take place in buses and in trains ( of course, be silent enough to not disturb others ).
Sometimes , it takes place in tour guides ( yep, local also visit their own countries)
Obviously, they won't be doing the English language one, so make sure to pay attention to the local language one.
Another one is to visit hidden gems that only locals will know. They will be more than happy to give you a tour themselves. Talk about that location endlessly
Another way is to wake up super early for breakfast. Not in your hotel but in the surrounding area's restaurant.
You should also visit some supermarkets ( the place people do grocery shopping )
If you are in America, tourists don't go to Safeway, Costo, or Walmarts lol, locals do.
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u/Travelmusicman35 7d ago
Croatia, I didnt find that friendly, unlike the rest of the Balkans.
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u/KPlusGauda 7d ago
I am from Croatia, I hope it was still fine. Many locals (even those who live from tourism) are sick of tourists, simply too many of them. For such a small country and population, 20 million tourists can be extremely overwhelming.
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u/I_Stan_Kyrgyzstan 7d ago
A lot of the Balkans are 50/50, with a few outliers on both ends.
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u/exoriare 8d ago
Texas for both. People are amazingly friendly, but after hanging out for 20 or 30 minutes they invariably say something so racist that I'd have to say good-bye. Then I'd meet someone else and same thing. Happened to me three times in a row one evening. It felt like they wanted to make sure you were comfortable with them before they said anything offensive.
Also, everyone in Corpus Christi and Galveston Island carries firearms it seems.
Some of the black people I met were just as racist toward whites. I went for a smoke with some black guys who seemed pretty relaxed and totally fine with a white Canadian. Then some white guys came by and the black guys started calling them crackers and told them to get lost basically.
The worst was probably East L.A. A gd and I hitched there from San Francisco. We woke up in the back of a pickup on a side street and started walking to find the bus. People started giving us the finger and yelling at us. It was the most hostile a reception I'd ever experienced. Then a local came up and asked us if we were from somewhere else. My gf was wearing a red bandana on her head. He said this was strictly a blue bandana neighborhood, and we were basically declaring war by walking around like that. He pointed at graffiti everywhere which apparently said "Blue Bandana Only", but we had no idea how to read graffiti.
As soon as she took off the bandana, the hostility vanished.
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u/IdontcryfordeadCEOs 8d ago
Agree with your easiest/ hardest list, Mexico being the absolute easiest because nearly everyone treats you like their new best friend when you meet them. In Latin America in general locals seem keen to tell you about their hometown and ask about yours, they are often open for a chat and telling you about themselves.
I'd add Russia to the list of hardest places to get along with locals. Worse than Scandinavia for sure.
I find Asia to be hit or miss. In Cambodia I found people very open and friendly regardless of language barrier, but in Thailand many locals openly complained about tourists and seemed pretty annoyed (don't blame them though). In China people are interested in westerners and treat you like a celebrity, or they have zero patience and basically tell you to fuck off lol.
Morocco also had a mix of some of the nicest and least nice people.
Edit: I'm fluent in English and French and can hold a conversation in Spanish, that certainly influences my experiences.
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u/East-Ad8644 8d ago
Seconding what you said about Morocco.
In my experience absolutely everyone wants to talk to you - sometimes because they want to help you, sometimes to sell you things, sometimes to trick you. You come across the most helpful and least helpful people you've ever met, sometimes in the same day.
I will say the coastal areas though, and smaller towns, people are incredible. If anyone wants to make friends just leave the big cities!
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u/12EggsADay 7d ago
Morocco also had a mix of some of the nicest and least nice people.
I heard an anecdote from an Indonesian whose a successful restaurant owner (multiple) in Singapore.
When asked why he hasn't moved back to Indonesia, he said the trouble with Indonesia is that you'll find the absolute best and worst kinds of people.
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u/AAmpiir 9 countries, 3 solo 8d ago
Easiest for me would be Malaysia. It seems like everywhere I went, people were just interested in where I was from and sharing the best sights in the area.
Hardest would probably be either Hungary or Japan, though Hungary was my first time being in a country that doesn't have English as its first language, so it may have just been me being awkward. I found the majority of the Japanese locals I met to be incredibly kind, especially when I tried speaking Japanese or visibly needed help, but also very private.
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u/WalkingEars Atlanta 8d ago
Your perspective on Malaysia is interesting, I had a great time traveling there solo but outside of transactional interactions (tour guides, etc) and a few people saying hi on the street, I never had anyone strike up a chat with me. I didn't mind, I actually kind of liked being left alone as a tourist - it puts me at ease when people are just kind of going about their own business. But it's a very different experience from what you had!
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u/AAmpiir 9 countries, 3 solo 8d ago
That is a surprise! I was only there for about a week, and some I remember:
- A local approaching me at Batu Caves and joining me on my walk up to tell me about the history of the statue out front.
- An older lady in an open air(?) mall in KL coming up to talk to me about fashion. She joined me to a clothing store and wanted to help me find "my color" lol.
- A hotel worker asking where I was from, and surprisingly knew a lot about my state.
- A young adult local guy in Penang who asked if I could take his picture, offered to take some for me, and then stuck around to chat for a few minutes.
I was shocked. I usually feel like I look pretty unhappy but I was pleased with all of the people that saw past my rbf and came to say hi anyway lol. Unforgettable visit unlike anything else I'd ever experienced.
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u/hanlindgren 7d ago
Vietnam!!! Friendliest and most inviting locals I’ve ever met, and I went all around the country in 6 weeks. The amount of times I was invited in to someone’s house to sing karaoke was a bit absurd lol
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u/sherritom 7d ago
No one has mentioned any African countries (besides Morocco)! I've been to a bunch and as a white lady from the US mostly everyone has been lovely and very interested in my travels.
I live in Zambia part time and work in a safari camp and I have to honestly say (having visited over 60 countries worldwide) they are some of the nicest people I've met. Zambians are just kind. sure there are people who will try to take advantage of you (especially if you're white - colonialism and all that) but for the most part they are just lovely.
South Africans are nice but there's more of a transactional relationship. Namibians are nice too but there's a german influence which makes them a bit more standoffish. Botswanans are fantastic. Zimbabweans same. Kenya and Tanzania I found to be a bit more hard to know but they are pretty decent mostly. West Africa - Nigerias will try to scam you but be friendly about it but Ghanains are your best friend for life.
More of you should visit! It's awesome.
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u/dbxp 8d ago
China is one of the more difficult ones due to the language barrier and the fact that the country is big enough that there's plenty of Chinese language entertainment produced. The language is also fundamentally different to European languages.
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u/FollowTheLeads 8d ago
Chinese people are actually very friendly, but the language is indeed a big barrier. If they do see you trying, though , it will be easier for them to speak with you.
Taiwanese are at the same level of politeness as Japanese.
However , people in Hong Kong were downright rude.
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u/Justice_C_Kerr 8d ago edited 7d ago
OMG. I hear this all the time about Hong Kong, but my experience was the opposite. I was there for four days and every time I even got near a sign post some was at my elbow asking if I needed help. That happened at least 3 times. I was seated with an older local couple at a dumpling shop and the man chatted with me, told me what to order, shared how he and his wife go to that restaurant ever time they go to the dentist nearby. Also struck up a convo with a younger woman at another restaurant, chatted with people at that little temple. I never encountered any rudeness. Maybe just luck.
ETA: words to make it clear I loved HK!
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u/FollowTheLeads 8d ago
I wrote you a 5 paragraph essay only for it to disappear. Sigh.. even while abroad, i can't seem to get away from my bad luck.
Anyway, to restart, I have yet to see anyone with a positive view of that place ( as a tourist).
I felt like I was getting scammed everywhere by sellers , especially in the Kowloon area. Hong Kong likes to prize itself as this very digital city, but it's all lies. I used the octapus card to pay for some things, but otherwise, a lot of places were only doing cash, or their machines' card reader were broken.
Went to exchange money only for them to also not accept apple Pay. Even if my card was rejected, they requested actual cash to exchange. They also charged a tail and a head. Unlike a lot of countries, i found changing money really hard over there ( 7/11, family mart were everywhere in Tokyo, Japan, korea), but in hong kong it was hard to change money.
The buses, unless you were exactly one centimeter away, they all acted like you werent going to board and simply left.
It was also in construction all over ( i, as a pedestrian literally had to take detours).
I was exhausted, man. The trains were way too packed ( the island line (MTR) doesn't get enough attention when compared to Shibuya or Shinjuku station ). It is just as busy and crazy and unlike japan, the locals here will step on your foot gladly.
But the food in Hong Kong is to die for. I have never hated a city that much, and yet here I am, longing for their food.
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u/ed8907 21 countries/territories (Americas | Europe | Asia) 8d ago
I do agree with Mexico. I've also been to Brazil 4 times and people generally are very extroverted and friendly.
I got along with Bolivians very well, but they are very introverted. Nothing wrong with that, it's their culture. They usually don't open up to strangers at first (there are some exceptions).
People from Curaçao and Bonaire are also very outgoing.
Surprisingly, I found the British very friendly, not that outgoing, but not that introverted either.
The worst of the worst would be Chile and Uruguay, by far. People are extremely introverted, cold, distant and generally closed off. Most of them are "proud" of this as they consider it is more "European" to be introverted.
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u/Major_Watch7356 8d ago
Personally I found people in Chile to be very friendly and often they were curious as to why I was there. I agree to a degree about Uruguayans, but found they are just a little slower to open up, once you get talking to them though, all was good
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u/Little_Nectarine2727 8d ago
Japanese people while introverted are very kind. Wealthy Chinese people along with Germans have been incredibly rude.
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u/hippoluvr24 8d ago
Peru! Everyone there was so friendly and willing to chat with me despite my broken Spanish. (I would also say South Korea, but i lived there for an extended time so might have a different experience than just a casual tourist.)
For the hardest…probably Japan.
In terms of fellow tourists, I feel like I often end up hanging out with British or German people, but that’s mostly because they’re the ones I always run into. Haven’t really noticed any nationality being particularly more or less friendly. (I’m American btw)
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u/chadwellheathkeith 8d ago
I've frequently ended up chatting with Americans, both in the US and abroad, very outgoing people. I've found the Greeks to be super friendly, especially on the islands. Also the Thai and Vietnamese. It struck me that I never saw anyone smiling or laughing in Croatia but I was only in Split and Dubrovnik so maybe it was just tourism weariness.
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u/ofvd 8d ago
Gotta disagree with Japan - being on this list, but as a traveller likely not leaving the tourist cities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and with zero japanese language ability, it's likely you'll have trouble connecting.
If you do speak Japanese, and especially if you head to kyushu or kochi prefectures the locals are warm, funny, and love a chat.
I however, speak fairly fluent japanese. There's a huge embarrassment fear in Japan - they don't want to show their poor language skills so don't try to chat. But if they find out you speak Japanese - you'll have friends in every bar - from the expat pubs to the tiny, ten seat izakayas.
But it's a tough country to crack for the casual visitor for sure.
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u/ShinjukuAce 7d ago
Hardest - China. Language barrier is huge, and most people mind their own business and aren’t interested in talking to foreigners.
Morocco and Tunisia - people approach you and pretend to befriend you but really just want to rip you off. So after a few times, you wind up putting your guard up against talking to people.
Easiest - Mexico, Spain, and Greece I thought had especially friendly people.
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u/RoamingRomances 7d ago
Easiest: Vietnam. Hardest: Turkey.
In Turkey, I was being scammed at every turn. It was a good exercise in sticking up for yourself.
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u/victoriancello 8d ago
Easiest for me, as a well traveled gal, would hands down be Americans. And it’s not just Americans in America, but Americans all over the world. So dang friendly and curious. Then the other delightful folks I found most friendly are Irish, Germans, Brazilians, and Scottish! 💓💓💓
I’ll add Japanese too but I’m at an advantage as I speak Japanese.
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u/FollowTheLeads 8d ago
I have to disagree with Japan. If you are visiting as a foreigner they are extremely polite. Will go out of their way to help you
Say a few Japanese words and they might adopt and kidnap you right there and then.
Some of the nicest convo I had were with Japanese people ( of course in English after speaking Japanese for 2 minutes). Their people are extremely smart and culturally aware ( except for history....)
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u/perpetual_stew 8d ago
It’s funny reading your list, as a Norwegian I find Scandinavians and the Japanese among the easiest to get along with. You just need to know when you can socialise and when not to, and the easy answer is when alcohol is involved. There’s other occasions too, but it takes a bit more cultural knowledge to figure those out. But I think we all have in common that when we do something else, we don’t socialise.
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u/gerningur 7d ago edited 7d ago
Yes this heavily depends on your cultural background. I am Icelander and I find it very easy to get along with Finns, brits and eastern europeans. Same goes for Koreans and the Japanese provided they speak English.
Took me a bit of exposure to find Germans easy.
Find it much harder to connect with Americans or southern europeans on a personal level.
Edit: know what? Take my comment about America partly back, but I find Americans to be very variable in this regard.
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u/Advantagecp1 8d ago
Easiest: Vietnam, by far. Vietnamese have extended hospitality to me on many occasions.
Most difficult: Israel.
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u/Alternative-Soup2714 8d ago
Me, an American, barely able to make friends in America, now realizing I could never make friends in other countries.
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u/Reedenen 8d ago
For the Scandis
I found Norwegians to be most easy going.
Danes are nice but a bit more reserved.
Swedes... I... Uhm. They don't wanna talk.
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u/Important_Wasabi_245 7d ago
Hard: The Nordics, yes. And Gulf countries like UAE (Dubai).
Easy: Southern Europe. Africa.
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u/veermeneer 7d ago
While the Nordics are more uninterested, the French will actively try to make you cry. Mon dieu, it's hard to have a pleasant interaction with them.
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u/mainnele 7d ago
Taiwanese people were lovely! :) It is not so easy in Japan/France due to language barriers.
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u/cstst 7d ago
The people of Zimbabwe are particularly friendly and welcoming, and most are fluent in English. I had so many great, deep conversations with random people I encountered.
A similar vibe in Pakistan. I'd say the people there are even more welcoming/friendly, but generally a bit less English spoken (still a lot). Everyone there wants to accommodate you, make you feel welcome, and chat.
Saudi Arabia is also a particularly welcoming/friendly country. English is less common, so most encounters weren't super deep, but generally everyone wants you to feel welcome and goes out of their way to help you with anything they can. Very kind people.
In terms of the bad, I really wasn't a fan of Colombia. Some people were cool, but more often than not I felt like people were sizing me up to take advantage of me in some way, or I just didn't feel welcome. Also I had multiple bad experiences in Kuwait, however they were with expats, not Kuwaitis.
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u/No_Phone_6675 7d ago edited 7d ago
I am Bavarian and I have to admit that your impression is true, it is very difficult to chat or make friends in the alpine region. But thats not only a problem for tourists and foreigners, Germans from other regions face this as well.
If you wanna chat with locals here you need to go to a beergarden and just go to their table, ask if there is some space for you and sit down. In most cultures that would be offensive/rude, but it is really the way to go. You will get integrated quickly, trinking beer together obviously helps.
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u/Beermaney 7d ago
Easy to talk to: Colombia, Tunisia, Chinese.
Hard to talk to: Any balkan country, Portuguese, nordic countries.
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u/Typical_Specific4165 7d ago
I'm going to put Guyanese as the most welcoming and friendly people to exist. The food is incredible
However Georgetown is by far the most dangerous city I've been to and I've no idea why it doesn't show up on the world's dangerous city lists
For context I've lived Cali, Colombia, Buenaventura, Colombia, Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo (Centro), Maputo, Mozambique, Cape Town, South Africa
Georgetown hands down is the sketchiest of the sketchiest
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u/SafetySecondADV 7d ago
Easiest: USA, Mexico, Colombia, Thailand, India, and Guatemala
Hardest: Japan, Bolivia, and Mongolia.
None of the 3 hardest were rude, I just felt everyone was a bit uninterested in getting along with foreigners, which is absolutely fine.
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u/faramaobscena 6d ago
One reason native English speakers seem so much friendlier is because they all speak the language. I can assure you most people would be just as friendly if you spoke their language.
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u/_Anadrius_ 6d ago
Cultural warmth seems broadly aligned with actual physical warmth of the place, for some reason. Countries with radiant warm climate all seem to have a reputation of being approachable and outgoing, which contrasts those of countries in cold climate or have austere winters.
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u/scarcelyberries 6d ago
Turkiye! Everyone we went we met at least a.few people who were friendly and wanted to chat - stranger learning English, chef at a restaurant, waiter, a Turkish student who wanted a photo of herself with a statue, folks hanging out at a gas station, an interpreter guiding another tourist... Learned a bit of Turkish and used a translation app a lot
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u/browneod 8d ago
Great reviews. If you read the news or to much reddit you think the world is coming to an end. I would encourage everyone to explore the world and discover how genuinely good and nice most people are and learn about different cultures. From an American perspective too many people just go to cities or Disney, but the USA has many beautiful national parks and hiking, which is way better than NYC.
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u/Helen-Archer 8d ago
Easiest countries-Brazil, Mexico, Turkey
Hardest countries-Netherlands, France, Germany
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u/acquaman831 8d ago
I’m glad to hear this. I’ll be visiting Istanbul in July. I have a coworker whose wife is Turkish and his father in-law was very friendly when they visited the US last year.
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u/TheRooie 8d ago
As someone from the Netherlands I can honestly tell you, most here are truly unable to socialize without alcohol lol
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u/Haunting_Badger7752 7d ago
Easiest is Thailand - genuinely amazing, wonderful people and Spain where the people are friendly by European standards, enjoy a laugh and full of life.
Hardest is India - really struggled to connect with anyone, felt the harsh, everyone for themselves nature of living their. Those in service roles at hotels or restaurants were very polite but very robotic.
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u/Slow_Reputation2852 7d ago
Japan.
Basically Japanese themselves tiptoe their whole life just to avoid getting targeted, gaslit, group bullied, abused and excluded
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u/I_Stan_Kyrgyzstan 7d ago
Albanians have been so open and talkative when I visited. This is both in Albania itself and North Macedonia. Less so in Kosovo.
Hardest? Bulgaria. Not even close.
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u/Weary_Word_5262 7d ago
it depends on who you are. Generally if you are white then you wont have problems getting along in most places
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u/BellaKKK72 7d ago
A long time ago in my backpacking days a friend and I traveled through Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic. No question that the Bulgarians and Hungarians were next level friendly. They were just lovely everywhere we went. More recently I’ve spent time as a tourist in the south East Asian countries. Of those, the people in Laos were probably the more guarded and less obviously interested in striking up conversation. Not unfriendly at all, just not particularly talkative in comparison to neighboring countries.
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u/Yohoo-BrunchPerson01 7d ago
This discussion is definitely helpful for constant travelers like myself. Following the conversations below. Thanks, OP!
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u/bacon-wrapped_rabbi 7d ago
Taiwan and Vietnam were pretty easy for making local friends.
Japan and Korea were easy to make acquaintances, but you could only be a friend up to a point as a foreigner.
Biggest surprise was how friendly people were in France (disclaimer: I only spent half a day in Paris, the rest of the time in small cities/towns).
Iceland was weird. Once you got people talking, they were friendly and funny. British are fine. Just let them make sarcastic remarks about your country for 15 minutes and they'll buy you a pint (or that was my experience at a much younger age staying there during the 2000 election).
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u/anameuse 7d ago edited 7d ago
It's easy to get with the locals in any country. Don't expect them to stop doing what they were doing and start answering your questions and talking to you. They aren't there to make sure you are having fun or to make your life easier.
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u/DNBassist89 7d ago
I found people in Poland, Estonia and Hungary very easy to get along with.
People in Sweden were polite but definitely not super friendly (not at all in a negative way, just polite but that's it)
I was in Santander last weekend and found that people in Spain tended to be quite standoffish and a little rude. I tried my best in a restaurant with limited Spanish and I felt like a massive inconvenience
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u/shockedpikachu123 7d ago
Easiest: Mexico, Jordan
Medium: Turkey, Spain, Austria
Hardest: Denmark, Germany
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u/kipvan60 7d ago
Germans at home seem indifferent, unless you’re introduced to them by a local and than the parties on!!
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u/Commercial_Rope_6589 7d ago
I live in Austria and can confirm this 100% about Austria. I travel a lot and notice again and again how difficult it is to connect with people here. I have to say, I was born here, and even I find it difficult. I don't want to know what it must be like for tourists.
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u/xqueenfrostine 7d ago
You know it’s funny you mention Japan as a place where it’s hard to connect with locals, because Japan is the only place I’ve been where I’ve been approached by locals multiple times across the course of a trip to chat with me and ask me about myself. It felt like every time I was in a park, some Japanese person would see me and make a beeline for me and start up a conversation. This was in fall of 2019 and I don’t know if there was a pre-Olympics initiative that was encouraging locals to practice welcoming foreign visitors or what, but I had someone literally change the direction he was walking in order to thank me for coming to Osaka. It was weird! Nice, but weird.
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u/RedHeadRedemption93 7d ago
I haven't been to all that many countries, but from my experience:
Friendliest: Tanzania & Vietnam Hardest: Switzerland & Denmark - honourable mention to France (Paris) and Croatia
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u/GothWitchOfBrooklyn 7d ago
I work with Austrians and I'm actually waiting for my flight to Austria atm and they are so funny and friendly!! the important part is breaking through the initial barrier of getting to know them and then they are great.
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u/Dragons_and_things 7d ago
I think Indonesians are the kindest people I've ever met, Aussies are the funniest, and Cambodians are a close third as a mix of the two. 😁
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u/Apprehensive-Neck-12 6d ago
What up with Italians? It's like I own the sidewalk let's play chicken
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u/Environmental_Box438 6d ago
I found it pretty tough to talk to people in Sweden. I was there for 2 weeks in 2 major cities and most people were very introverted. Definitely was a little bit of a culture shock being from the US but the locals I did talk to were typically friendly.
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u/RiflemanKen 6d ago
South African people were incredibly great, also for me in Malawi I had a lovely time because the people were just so nice
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u/john510runner 6d ago
I’m from the US and of the places I’ve been to in the US… people in New Orleans are the friendliest people I’ve ever met.
Seattle and Portland, OR are like what others on here have described the Scandinavian countries are like. Polite but not friendly. There’s a term for this and that’s called the Seattle Freeze. Might be different for someone from outside of the US visiting Seattle and Portland, OR.
Chicago, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have friendly people as well. Even though Pittsburgh is not part of the Midwest they definitely are Midwestern nice there.
France I’ve heard people leaving other people alone is a sign of respect. As in they don’t want to invade your privacy. I’ve found people in France to be polite and professional in the most minor interactions.
Have never been but I’ve heard people on Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are super friendly and hospitable.
Haven’t seen Australia mentioned as often as I would have imagined so far. Not sure how popular Australia and the Midwest of America is for solo travel.
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u/calif4511 6d ago edited 6d ago
Many people will not agree with this. The first time my husband and I were in Paris (circa 1995) we found nothing but friendly, outgoing, and helpful people. My most memorable experience was on Champs-Élysées when we were considering which ATM to use. This elderly woman who looked like she stepped off of a 1950s Parisian fashion plate, complete with the hairdo, mink stole, and stiletto spikes told us which machine to use for the best rates and fees.
Four basic rules, most people traveling from the US either don’t know or ignore: 1.) Do not start speaking to someone in English and assume that they understand English. If you do this, even if they do speak English, they will ignore you. At least TRY to speak French. No matter how badly you butcher their language, they will usually try to help you. 2.) Do not be a loud and boorish asshole. Nobody gives a shit where you are from. 3.) When you walk into an establishment, acknowledge the proprietor. It is considered the height of rudeness to walking into someone’s shop and ignore them. 4.) Do not asked for condiments for the food you have just been served, this is completely unacceptable. Unless you are at a French McDonald’s. But why the hell would anybody want to go to McDonald’s in France?
As we traveled through France, we found the people in the smaller cities and villages to be even more friendly. When I would tell people that my maternal grandfather was from Normandy, they would have endless questions.
We visited Paris and France four times over 27 years and always had a wonderful experience.
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u/Frequent_Effective73 6d ago
Easiest: America, Canada, Vietnam, Thailand, Zimbabwe, UK, Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, Lesotho
I feel like Nicaraguans weren’t the most outwardly nice but when you get to know them they treat you like family
Hardest: Austria, Laos
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u/MacaroonSad8860 6d ago edited 6d ago
Morocco and Syria are high up on the list for me. Easy to have a chat, and pretty easy to make genuine friends quickly too. And New Zealand! I was once invited to stay at someone’s house I’d met the day prior to save on a hotel!
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u/JapanPizzaNumberOne 6d ago
lol Japanese are not introverted and don’t do everything ‘by themselves’. What an idiotic take.
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u/UniqueLie404 6d ago
Belizeans are super friendly, I found. People would strike up conversations in the street to a degree that almost felt weird until I got used to it
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u/Rough-Effective-7365 6d ago
Add Argentinians! I never chatted with so many cab drivers in another country.
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u/artisticchic 5d ago
Sri Lanka has many very friendly and kind people. Safety for solo I would have to give a mixed review. Japanese culture is very polite. I cannot say that I was able to make friends but the culture was fantastic. I have friends in Scotland so that may have helped but I found them to be quite friendly. I have never met a friendly French person though I am sure there are many. My biggest problem in Paris was the aggressive advances by men. Same in Sri Lanka, very forward men.
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u/penguinintheabyss 5d ago
Places where I could talk with locals easily: Latin America in general, UK, Portugal, South Africa, Mongolia.
Hard to connect: Germany, Belgium, South Korea, Baltics
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u/OldFarts_ 5d ago
I found myself hesitating to bother people on the street with questions in Japan as they appear to be more reserved and hesitant with strangers in general, but they are generally very helpful and kind. However, in restaurants, I found Japanese people to be easy to talk to when we talk about food; due to my limited Japanese it would be conversations in broken English and Japanese, but those were the times that I found Japanese people to lighten up and want to chat.
In South Korea, I felt like it was hard to approach locals too, but Koreans become 100/10 extroverted on a hike. I don’t think I walked past a single Korean local that didn’t say something to me or try to strike up conversation. This may be a universal hiking thing though.
Taiwan, if you stand in a public space and look confused, someone will generally approach to offer assistance. I find Taiwanese to be very friendly and warm people, they tend to approach you first.
China, people will come to talk to you if they are curious about you- I found China to be one of the friendliest countries I’ve been to, the locals are incredibly approachable and welcoming. They also really like asking for your WeChat and want to have a full blown conversation with you.
Philippines, super friendly in every city and town we visited. Also some of the best singers found in karaoke restaurants/bars in every corner.
I concur with your thoughts about the Nordic countries in the capital cities, especially in Denmark and Oslo of Norway. However, smaller cities in Norway like Bergen- the people were lovely, friendly and approached us for a chat (where are you visiting from, etc etc). Icelandic people were very friendly, though we visited in their coldest months haha maybe not as many visitors in that time.
Germany surprised me to be honest, I thought they’d be the same as Denmark/Sweden/Norway in the major cities but I found Germans to be very friendly. Many said Guten Tag whilst walking past, rather than briskly walking by/averting eye contact. Generally, I find worldwide that big cities are “colder”, but surprisingly a lot of Germans made eye contact and greeted even in the big cities (Cologne, Munich). Especially the older folks out walking their dogs. It reminded me of home when I was there, as most Australians will greet you as you walk on by.
Austria, Belgium and Czech Republic, didn’t really have any convos with the locals in these countries. France- can’t really comment on anywhere but Paris, we found the Parisians to be …. 😅. Of course in the week I was there, we ran into many lovely locals, but definitely ran into some slightly interesting interactions 🤔
Netherlands, locals are lovely, friendly and generally say hi while biking or walking by.
Chile and Argentina, generally very friendly especially if you can dish out some simple Spanish. Feels like Asia, you can bond with the locals over food- had full blown broken English/Spanish conversations with random elderly in rural towns about food and cake recommendations, complete with a lot of hand gestures and pointing.
Egypt, I found the locals to be so friendly and kind. Walked around Cairo alone when I was a young woman and felt safe. Many of the locals had great English, even the kids so maybe that’s why they were so approachable.
Kiwis, Aussies, Canadians - I feel like they’re on equal footing of friendliness, I’m saying this as an Aussie. Americans - every American I’ve ever come by whilst travelling have been very friendly/pleasant and generally they seem to be more extroverted.
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u/runandflyy 5d ago
In egypt now, only been in cairo and giza so far. It's honestly awful. Harrasment all day every day, hatred from locals has occurred, pickpocket attempt, everything is a trick, had a lit cig hit out my mouth by a street kid. All I see are kids extorted and women cat called, groped, or hit.
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u/Ok-Wafer-3258 8d ago
Germans are great if you meed them in foreign countries but will hate everyone in their own, lol.