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-   -   Most-Least Tourist-Friendly Vacation Destinations (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/most-least-tourist-friendly-vacation-destinations-169196/)

Alex Mar 6th, 2002 05:32 PM

Most-Least Tourist-Friendly Vacation Destinations
 
Most Friendly - I felt like a relative:<BR><BR>Atlantic Canada, especially Newfoundland.<BR>Big Island of Hawaii {except for one ill-tempered bum in Hilo}.<BR>Chincoteage, Virginia.<BR><BR>Washington DC.<BR>San Francisco.<BR><BR>Least Friendly - O.K. people, message received. I won't be back!<BR><BR>Ocracoke Island, N. Carolina - lovely, but the locals forget that when traveling,they become tourists just like us; or perhaps they're happy never leaving their little piece of heaven.<BR>New Jersey<BR>Manhatten<BR><BR><BR>

me Mar 6th, 2002 05:36 PM

I love it but the people there probably wish we [tourists] didn't...Savannah Georgia.

njgirl Mar 6th, 2002 06:15 PM

MOST-Montreal/Las Vegas<BR>Least-I can't think of any......but Alex,give NJ another try :o)

alex Mar 7th, 2002 06:36 AM

O.K., NJ Girl, I will! My bad experience was largely based on driving!I was almost run off the road {and I was driving above the speed limit at the time}, given the finger for no real reason I could see, etc. Maybe if I stay off the highway .... <BR>"Me", Savannah is a place I've always wanted to visit. Thanks for the imput!

ncgrrl Mar 7th, 2002 06:44 AM

Most friendly: <BR>Oregon (after the locals knew I had a plane ticket back home). <BR>Key West. <BR><BR>Least friendly: <BR>Newport, RI 'cottages' staff. If they could figure out a way to have my money without me there, they would. However, I met a local working on his boat at a marina and he was very nice and took his time to answer my bizarre questions.

x Mar 7th, 2002 06:46 AM

Hey Al, maybe they weren't friendly in Manhattan because they realized you didn't even know how to spell it correctly.

Alex Mar 7th, 2002 11:45 AM

I too like Oregon!<BR>x, My spelling is "atroiuous", sorry!<BR>{I gather that "x" is from Manhattan - I rest my case!}

ricky Mar 7th, 2002 12:34 PM

Most friendly - Texas & Oklahoma. Minneapolis/St. Paul, too.<BR><BR>Least - Agree with Savannah, and I'd add Charleston.<BR><BR>As for Manhattan, they act arrogant because they have reason to be. So much to see, so much to do. I'll be back.

njgirl Mar 7th, 2002 12:40 PM

There ya go! Alex, people that live here hate driving here too!<BR>If it isn't the teenage hotrodders,the too old to turn their head drivers,the people from out of the country who really shouldn't be behind a wheel drivers, then you have the trucks...so, you are thinking like us if the driving got you crazy :)<BR>Now as for MAnhAttAn...we are there a lot, every weekend and a couple of nights aweek, my husband works there, like any city with millions of people, there are gonna be some good ones and there are gonna be some that you could put on a boat and send off to sea.But-you have to admit, it wasn't boring being in New York City -was it:)

Rachel Mar 7th, 2002 12:44 PM

Too many places that have been great to name one- Have found friendly people everywhere-if you're nice, so are most people. If you start with an attitude, expect one back. I did encounter an incredibly rude clerk at Macy's at Herald Square in NYC. Of my travels, I found Cape Cod to be the place where we felt unwelcome. there seemed to be a real preference for the residents and those from around there.

Boricua Mar 7th, 2002 01:16 PM

Best Vacation Destination in the world: <BR>PUERTO RICO BABY!!!!!!!!!! and not just because I'm a native!!LOL

tj Mar 7th, 2002 01:31 PM

I believe its hard to generalize but here goes:<BR><BR>Friendliest and the quotes heard there that put them in this category:<BR><BR>1) North Carolina - y'all come back now!<BR><BR>2) Wash DC - any spare change for a fired Author Anderson executive, can you vote for me? (one is a bum, the other is a homeless person)<BR><BR>3) NYC - want a fresh kielbasa from my vendor stand?<BR><BR>4) Quebec City - Bon jour!<BR><BR>5) San Fran - Do you know the way to San Jose?<BR><BR>6) Chicago - How about that Kielbasa!<BR><BR>7) Des Moines - Its DES (with a S) Moines, nice to meet you!<BR><BR>Un-friendliest<BR><BR>1) Falls Church, VA - Hey you with the Yankee plates, go back where you came from and stop blocking the road! <BR><BR>2) Highway 101 near SFO - while driving slow in right lane due to use of little spare tire on rental car, some guy in a fan insisted on riding my bumper and did not respond kindly to my hand signals asking him to back off or go around on one of the two passing lanes<BR><BR>3) I am sure there are others, but I try to remember the good times more than the bad<BR><BR>Every place has its good and bad people, a lot of their attitude is a reflection of your approach to their culture.<BR><BR>In North Carolina, slow down to local pace and y'all have a good time.<BR><BR>In NY, speed up a bit and you fit right in.<BR><BR>In Quebec say Bon Jour before you start talking American<BR><BR>

chuck Mar 7th, 2002 01:35 PM

Made me think . . . <BR><BR>Trying to come up with a balanced response based on the places I have been, I realized I have felt welcome nearly everywhere I've been (mostly the US)--<BR><BR>from the West, California/New Mexico, to the East, NYC--yes, Manhattan was good to me, and everywhere inbetween that I've been.<BR><BR>By comparison, I felt utterly and completely unwelcome in Paris (as opposed to the Champagne region just Northeast--?--of Paris, or Scotland, or London).

Gary Mar 7th, 2002 04:32 PM

Most friendly destination: Vancouver,B.C. Least friendly: Astoria,Oregon

Hawkeye Mar 7th, 2002 04:47 PM

No one in Des Moines pronounces the first "s".

Mae Mar 7th, 2002 05:30 PM

Had no problem in Paris-people were actually very nice<BR>Found areas of NO & So carolina not so nice to Northerners

Marlena Mar 7th, 2002 05:38 PM

Friendliest:<BR>Montreal Canada<BR>Sanibel Island Florida<BR><BR>Least Friendly:<BR>ANY huge city (montreal doesn't count, too small)<BR><BR>Although I live in Manhattan and think we NYers get a bad rap sometimes -- as for Rachel's([email protected]) comment about Macy's - I think they specifically train them to be nasty. Will never, ever go in there again if I can help it.<BR>Marlena<BR>NYC<BR>

Marlena Mar 7th, 2002 05:39 PM

Oh, and I forgot a big one in the most friendly category: Ireland!!<BR><BR>Marlena

mjh Mar 7th, 2002 05:43 PM

We were in Manhattan about a month ago and everyone was super friendly -- even offering directions before we asked. I got the feeling they love having the tourists -- so different from the times when they had ad campaigns to convince NYers to be friendlier.<BR><BR>I also have always found New England (including Cape Cod) very friendly and welcoming.<BR><BR>Pennsylvania is full of friendly, unpretentious people.<BR><BR>I, living now in Maryland, put from the Northeast always feel uncomfortable and out of place in the traditional Southern strongholds.

lucretia319 Mar 7th, 2002 05:52 PM

This is an excellent question. The most UNfriendly place by far would be BELGIUM. Everyone had such a bad attitude not only towards Americans but they also despise the French. I was given nasty looks just because I was wearing jeans and sneakers. I think Belgians just hate the fact that their home country is so overlooked. The truth is that the country is boring, overpriced, and thus deserves to be overlooked by tourists.


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