Since we’re talking about maritime Canada I’ll mention Charlottetown, PEI and really all of PEI. People there just aren’t happy if you aren’t happy. You can talk to anyone, and talk to them for hours about whatever.
Kilkenny, Ireland.
I went to the pub on my own, there was a band and everyone joined in (including me), then I got invited back to a local’s house for a party. I know this sounds like a story from a sentimental book about Ireland, but it really was that friendly. The rest of Ireland was too, except Dublin, which was fine too, just not as friendly as the rest. Capital cities tend to be like that though.
Prague was also extremely friendly the three times I went there; this was almost twenty years ago now though and I suspect the influx of British stag and hen parties since then has diminshed their friendliness significantly.
Washington DC was also very nice and welcoming.
I found the locals in New York to be friendly, but in a way that may not necessarily seem friendly to the average Midwestern, white-bread fellow such as myself. One older fellow struck up a conversation with me, and basically told me he liked talking to me because he enjoyed hearing my accent :dubious: . Then there was the guy, later that night, who struck up a conversation with me a strip club (long story). When I told him I was from Illinois, he asked if everybody here drove trucks. :smack:
Also super-friendly, in no particular order:
Tokyo
Torremolinos
Chicago
New Orleans
Sacramento
San Francisco
Also, I’d like to give a shout-out to the locals (myself among them) here in Springfield, Illinois. It’s high tourist season right now, and we are glad to have tourists here, glad to show them around, glad to offer restaurant recommendations, etc.
Minneapolis. Everyone is friendly to everyone. They even have a name for it: “Minnesota Nice.”
I remember riding a bus. Everyone who got on the bus said hello to the driver (who said hello back), then said a loud hello to the bus in general. Freaked me the hell out!
I was eating breakfast somewhere in the south (Florida? Georgia?) and every time someone walked in the door all the waitresses said, “Good Morning!!” It was irritating. I finished my food and got out of there as quickly as possible.
Tehran.
Yes, really.
It is???
Look, I am not a demanding tourist. In general, I’ve found people to be friendly and helpful almost EVERYWHERE I’ve travelled. Surly, rude, uncooperative locals have always been exceptions to the rule.
Except in St. Martin! St. Martin is the only place I’ve ever been where local people who are SUPPOSED to be serving you are openly contemptuous.
There are thousands of jokes about rude, snooty French waiters. But in St. Martin, the French waiters and shopkeepers were wonderful! So were the Dutch! On the other hand, if you ask a local black waiter or desk attendant for some help, you’ll get eye rolls and snarls, as if they were having a wonderful day until a stupid customer came along.
In St. Martin, if you see a smiling black person, RUN- it can only mean they’re about to try to sell you a time share!
Wow. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten to know so many people, but my experience is the opposite. Some who speak no English are shy, but when I break the ice with my poorly pronounced, “comment allez-vous?” I get a smile.
I won’t argue with you. We just had vastly different experiences, that’s all.
I speak decent tourist French, and it put me in good stead with actual French residents, all of whom were very nice to my lady friend and myself. But local black islanders were so obnoxious that, when I finally met one who was really nice, I had to ask if he was from St. Martin.
Nope- turned out he was Haitian.
Yes, before the war. I was there in 2000. It is the only place I have ever been (apart from Hama, Syria on the same visit) where I had people come up to me on the street (old ladies, policemen, 8-year-old boys, shopkeepers etc) saying “Welcome to Syria, thank you for visiting my country.”
The hospitality we found in Aleppo was dumbfounding and I have not come across such a warm welcome either before or since.
No arguments that people can be pleasant and it’s a great city to visit. It’s just not as tourist-friendly as some other places. It has a long way to go. And if you ever do have a problem here, the police are usually worse than useless.
This post makes me sad. I had been planning on visiting Syria a few years back but current affairs superceded my holiday plans.
Very interesting, thanks.
FWIW, a good friend of ours is a Syrian doctor who moved to Spain in the 1980s. About 6-7 years ago he and his wife used their savings to buy a house in Aleppo, because they wanted to retire in what was their favourite city in the world. Makes me sad every time I think about it