The Rudest Countries In Europe, According To Travelers

Kind and hospitable people (like those found in the friendliest European destination) can help make any trip more comfortable. Unfortunately, not all countries are known to have warm and friendly locals. In a Skyscanner survey (via Forbes), travelers named the rudest countries they've been to, and — perhaps unsurprisingly — France took the top spot in the list.

Similarly, Paris was given the title of the rudest city in the world by Insider Monkey based on Reddit posts written by travelers. In one thread, a Redditor with a now-deleted profile wrote, "French people in France cut in line, talk down to you and I often hear insults in French directed at me when I eavesdrop." In a separate thread discussing countries with rude locals, multiple commenters also considered France to be the worst.

A similar sentiment was shared in a Tripadvisor post by traveler 393arthur. The post, titled "French are so rude and arrogant to tourists – WHY ?" detailed accounts of non-French tourists being ignored in restaurants, rude shopkeepers, and other clashes between the author and French locals. While these experiences might not be universal, it seems a lot of work needs to be done before the "snooty Frenchman" stereotype is put to rest.

Though France and Russia are on opposite ends of the European continent, they're both regarded as having rude locals by visitors. Skyscanner's respondents named Russia the rudest destination for travelers after France, which gives the phrase "coldest places in the world" a whole new meaning. Russian people are thought to be blunt, direct, and confrontational by some outsiders. Redditor u/eye_snap explained their take: "Russians will not smile until they know you. This includes customer service or sales people. They are suspicious of everyone, until you become friends, then they are great friends to have."

For tourists who don't have time to earn the locals' trust, this can result in many uncomfortable interactions. However, some insiders suggest that Russians don't intend to be rude. Rather, their culture and communication style is simply different from that found in some other countries. Skyscanner's Russian Market Manager Tatiana Danilova told Forbes, "the Russian language is not as polite as English, so when Russians translate directly from Russian to English, it can sound rude to an English speaker even if they don't mean it to."

In Skyscanner's survey on rude countries, the U.K. and Germany rounded out the top four, each receiving about 10% of the total votes. The U.K. isn't generally stereotyped as harshly as France, and, ironically, 65% of survey respondents were from the U.K. and Ireland. British travelers may just be humble, though some netizens have complained of run-ins with unfriendly Britons. On Reddit, u/Ornery_Context_8797, who visited from the U.S., shared their difficulty socializing with people in Oxford. Other posts suggest the locals are even more antisocial in the capital, something you may want to keep in mind when trying to blend in with the locals in London.

It's also good to be prepared for unfriendly attitudes when visiting Germany. Many travelers have taken to discussion boards and blogs with personal stories of rude interactions with locals in the central European country. "Of all the people I've met so far, old Germans have a bit of a tendency to be the rudest, in a holier-than-thou attitude, but this is all very anecdotal," wrote u/ManaSyn in a Reddit thread. On the blog Following the Wanderlust, writer Alison Haywood goes as far as claiming that "Germans aren't 'direct' — sometimes they are just plain rude," citing a handful of personal examples.

Whether you visit France, Russia, the U.K., Germany, or another country in Europe, remember that rudeness is subjective. What might be considered respectful in one place doesn't always apply in others. Learning about your destination before your trip can help you prepare for uncomfortable culture shocks and, more importantly, ensure that you're not the one being rude in a foreign land.