The friendliest (and unfriendliest) cities in the world
Travel+Leisure magazine has listed the world’s friendliest and unfriendliest cities, as voted for by close to 200,000 readers.
Only one South African city made an appearance out of the 60 cities listed – and fortunately it featured in the friendly column.
Cape Town was ranked by the publication as the 11th friendliest city in the world, with an overall score of 89.02.
According to T+L, the city’s sights, sounds and lifestyle – as well as the “warm, welcoming people” – earned the Mother City a proverbial gold star.
Leading all cities is Galway, in Ireland, which earned the top score of 92.03. T+L readers described the city as hospitable, and full of humour, home to “the friendliest people [they had] ever met”.
Irish cities featured in three of the top five spots on the list.
Galway, Ireland
The 15 friendliest cities in the world
| # | City | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galway | Ireland | 92.025 |
| 2 | Charleston | South Carolina, USA | 91.633 |
| 3 | Dublin | Ireland | 91.342 |
| 4 | Cork | Ireland | 90.840 |
| 5 | Siem Reap | Cambodia | 90.667 |
| 6 | Auckland | New Zealand | 90.517 |
| 7 | Melbourne | Australia | 90.229 |
| 8 | Sydney | Australia | 89.910 |
| 9 | Edinburgh | Scotland | 89.422 |
| 10 | Savannah | Georgia | 89.167 |
| 11 | Cape Town | South Africa | 89.023 |
| 12 | Austin | Texas, USA | 88.456 |
| 13 | Kyoto | Japan | 88.293 |
| 14 | Nashville | Tennessee, USA | 87.609 |
| 15 | Asheville | North Carolina, USA | 87.490 |
No South African cities featured on the unfriendliest list, though a 2014 survey conducted by Conde Nast gave Johannesburg the dubious honour of being titled the world’s unfriendliest city.
According to Travel + Leisure’s rankings, the dishonour in 2015 goes to Moscow, Russia, with a score of 60.25.
T+L readers described the city’s citizens as unhelpful and “aloof”, while the city itself was not tourist friendly, with bad traffic and a poor culinary scene.
Atlantic City in New Jersey, USA, was ranked second worst, with rude, “fast-paced” people.
Moscow, Russia
The 15 unfriendliest cities in the world
| # | City | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow | Russia | 60.250 |
| 2 | Atlantic City | New Jersey, USA | 61.361 |
| 3 | St Petersburg | Russia | 65.419 |
| 4 | Marseille | France | 66.316 |
| 5 | Los Angeles | California, USA | 68.090 |
| 6 | New York City | New York, USA | 63.129 |
| 7 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania, USA | 69.292 |
| 8 | Baltimore | Maryland, USA | 69.380 |
| 9 | Las Vegas | Nevada, USA | 69.462 |
| 10 | Cannes | France | 69.910 |
| 11 | Beijing | China | 70.497 |
| 12 | Miami | Florida | 70.681 |
| 13 | Washington D.C. | USA | 71.411 |
| 14 | Frankfurt | Germany | 71.528 |
| 15 | Boston | Massachusetts | 72.925 |
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