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In my experiences the friendliest is by far Sri Lanka. Thailand and Nicaragua are also very friendly.
Least friendly: Morocco, Mexico, eastern USA from MD to MA and all states in between.
Agreed with the Morocco one.. I hated it there and could not wait to leave.
I have always found people in Mexico to be very nice.
In my travels, I found people in Poland were very friendly, especially as an American.
At times there are articles and discussion threads on the 'friendliest' places you've ever visited.
Anyone else?
Super Friendly (US): OREGON!
Never felt so loved in our lives. A woman noticed us staring out the windows while creeping down her off-the-beaten-path crush and run road, backed out of her driveway and followed us 2 miles to a stop sign to ask if we were lost. We were - GPS tyvm! Told her what we were looking for and she drove us there and had us follow her.
Yachats, OR specifically also. Multiple instances of friendly, extremely helpful people.
Loved OR.
Super Rude and had no problem telling us to go home: Paris And yes I attempted my French which isn't half bad if I do say so myself. And it was a foreigner in France (island native, French speaking) that was the nicest to us.
I've traveled a lot inside the continental U.S. but not so much overseas.
In America, I've found the South still has the politeness and traditional mannerisms it's often noted for. I encountered that in places like parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi. Even if you just stop in at some rural gas station for a minute, you're more likely to strike up a conversation with a clerk there over anything from the car you drove to a shirt you might have one with your favorite ball team on it. Anyplace with a big population, you're going to probably feel is less friendly though. New Orleans does a good job of hospitality just because the whole city revolves around tourism and that economy.... But get enough people packed into one space, and rudeness tends to rear its ugly head. (EG. I can't say I felt any special warmth visiting Atlanta.)
I did visit the Bahamas before and discovered people were really friendly if you got to talk to them one on one, outside the normal tourist situations. You get a lot of harassment from people trying to sell you things and take your money as you visit their marketplaces and usual tourist traps. But it's a very different experience if you wander into, say, a smaller cafe or restaurant, as one of only a few customers. We even got invited to hang out with some of the locals on a smaller island they actually lived on, after they got off work. (That's how it seems to work there. The big islands with the resort hotels are just where the locals boat in to work during the day. Then they take their boats back to other islands they live on.)
I can also tell you, I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and while it's a great midwestern city -- it also has a stigma as being very unfriendly to visitors and "outsiders". I don't know if that's totally deserved? But I understand it to an extent, just because so many who live there run around in cliques or social circles of people they've known for many years. I think it can be difficult to break through some of that if you're new to the area and trying to make friends. But especially out in the suburbs, I don't think people are overly rude.
Very fascinating replies. I've noticed a trend in terms of unfriendly (our friends to the north), but also interesting to see how some consider one country very friendly, yet another person thinks it very unfriendly (Scotland for example).
The point was made about in some touristy areas, the locals may appear to be friendly but it's more out of trying to get the tourist dollar than genuine affection. I've taken that into account, that is why I have yet to go to a place where I felt the people went out of their way to be friendly.
In my experiences the friendliest is by far Sri Lanka. Thailand and Nicaragua are also very friendly.
Least friendly: Morocco, Mexico, eastern USA from MD to MA and all states in between.
Been to Sri Lanka twice (amazing place) and have to agree with you. Shy but unbelievable people.
Italians have been friendly on every visit. Peruvians are friendly. My recent experience in LA and San Diego was very friendly. British Columbia was very friendly.
Not a great deal of friendliness in the Northeast or in south Florida in my experience.
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And yes I attempted my French which isn't half bad if I do say so myself. And it was a foreigner in France (island native, French speaking) that was the nicest to us.
