Our Favorite & Least Favorite Countries to Visit
Hey there, fellow travelers! Today, we’re talking about some of our travel experiences around the world. We’ve been traveling as a family for nearly 20 years, and have found some countries are friendlier than others. So we’re sharing what we think are the friendliest countries in the world, as well as the least friendly, plus our number one country and three places we won’t travel.
Top Nine Friendliest Countries
Of course, we haven’t been everywhere in the world, but we have visited many diverse destinations on many continents. And these nine countries stand out in our travel memories as some of the friendliest countries in the world.
- Ireland has the friendliest people from all walks of life. Whether you’re talking to people at the pub or hiring a driver for the week, the Irish are fantastic. They will come right up and start a conversation while I’m filming videos, and it’s great!
- Iceland is a small island nation with the happiest locals. Although they’ve been bombarded with tourism over the last 20 years, they have managed to keep their warm and welcoming personalities. They want you to enjoy their country and their culture.
- Rwanda really blew us out of the water with friendliness. Our kids had a blast playing soccer with local kids and we loved meeting local tribes. They were so excited to have tourists visiting, especially when they saw we brought our kids.
- Mark studied and lived in Brazil so we visit often, and no matter where we go, it’s one of the friendliest countries. Brazilians know how to have a good time, and they want their guests to have a good time, too!
- It’s a common joke about the politeness of Canadians, but it’s true. Canada has some of the friendliest people in the world. Sometimes it’s unnerving how friendly they are, and the more cynical travelers might be suspicious. But it’s authentic! Canadians are lovely.
- It’s not just the nonnas that are friendly in Italy! I have made so many lifelong friends in Italy. Once you make a friend in Italy, they wrap you into their friend group. If you’re visiting Italy with kids, expect to be enveloped by friendly grandmas who want to feed them! Even when I’ve taught Italian exchange students, they would insist on inviting me out with them.
- Another spot where you are immediately welcomed like family is Greece. They are even more laidback than Italians, and they love to kick back and chat. And they will feed you until you explode. Food is love in Greece, and there is plenty of both to share with visitors.
- I’ve heard cruise ship passengers complain about aggressive sales tactics in Jamaica, but that’s their job! We found Jamaicans to be incredibly friendly and welcoming. Jamaica is our favorite island in the Caribbean because of its people.
- We may be biased, but Americans are also some of the friendliest people you will meet while traveling. Of course, the level of friendliness may vary by region, but overall we are very welcoming to travelers visiting the United States.
The Best & Worst of Visiting Ireland
Of course, there are many more countries where we have found friendly people, but these countries are always at the top of our list when it comes to friendly locals.
Five Least Friendly Countries
Now, when people ask us about the least friendly countries that we’ve visited, the list is much shorter. We have learned to enjoy our travels no matter the destination, but if you notice that we don’t mention the people of a certain country, that’s a pretty good clue that they weren’t super friendly.
- I joke about Brussels being boring, but I do enjoy the beer and some of the smaller cities of Belgium. However, in all my years of taking students abroad, this is the only country where my Asian or African American students were targeted with racism.
- I spent a summer teaching in China and found the people to be ok in one-on-one situations. However, once we were in a larger group, all manners are out the window. They will push you aside to get the last piece of food or to get a seat or board the bus.
- Interestingly, Denmark is often cited as one of the happiest countries, but they are not super friendly. They are happy to live their lives and not have anything to do with tourists. If you have Danish friends, they can be a blast, but they aren’t going to draw strangers into their circle.
- Not all of Argentina is unfriendly, but there’s definitely an air of snobbery in Buenos Aires. Once you leave the capital city, the locals are much friendlier.
- Last but not least, the people of Luxembourg will make you feel like they are doing you a favor by allowing you to exist in their country. It’s a wealthy country with beautiful scenery; they don’t care about tourists.
Don’t get me wrong, I would go back to most of these places, but when I’m asked about the least friendly countries, these are the ones that come to mind.
Three Places We’ll Never Visit
We’ve traveled to many places that might be considered dangerous. We’ve received some comments and concerns when taking our kids to El Salvador, Rwanda, and Rio de Janeiro. We do our research and follow travel safety tips that keep us from being targets when traveling. However, there are three places we will not go, with or without our kids.
- War Zones are a no-go for us. It’s not worth the risk, and we won’t even fly over active war zones, just in case.
- Countries with politically unstable situations are also on our “no” list. These places can change over time. Rwanda would have been on this list 30 years ago, but it turned out to be one of our favorite countries.
- We also avoid overly dangerous places like North Korea or Somalia. This changes as well, which is why we recently visited Colombia, which would have been on this list in the 80s and 90s.
Again, we do our research and don’t take unnecessary risks with the safety of our family. However, just because a place is rumored to be bad, we don’t make assumptions or rely on reputations that are decades old.
Travel Safety Tips Everyone Should Know
Another question we are often asked is our favorite country. That’s a tough one, but if there were only one country I could visit for the rest of my life, I can’t even answer that one. But if I narrow it down to just European countries, I can confidently say Italy is hands-down the best. France is a close second because both countries have fantastic food, culture, history and locals. But once you learn a bit of Italian, everyone is your best friend in Italy! Additionally, the geography of Italy is so diverse, from mountains to farmland to the Mediterranean coast. We never, ever tire of visiting Italy!
Grab Some Wolters World Travel Gear!
We have met good people in every country we have visited, so that’s not to say there aren’t friendly folks everywhere. But some places are just more welcoming than others.
Want more family travel tips? Check out some of our other blog posts: