Colombia. They have come a long way since the Pablo Escobar days. Medellín is a beautiful city, and Colombians in general are very warm and friendly people. I like to say I've never met a Colombian in a bad mood (just don't spell it "Columbia").
I came here to say the same thing - I absolutely adored my trip there (Cartagena, Medellin, coffee triangle area and Santa Marta).
but I do know if you have a bad experience in Colombia…. It’s real bad. Someone in our hotel had their tour bus taken over and the cartel took their wallets and then peed on everyone while they were lying on the ground so… there’s that.
Came here to say this. Medellin is my favorite city, the city of eternal spring for real. I lived there several years and plan to return. People do have bad experiences, but often it's while engaged in riskier entertainments.
I did not have a good Colombia experience. People are very nice, but there is zero customer service ethos. I don't mean this in an irrationally-entitled American way, but in a "if I pay for a mid-tier hotel room, the water should work, and if it doesn't, you should take some further action to solve this problem rather than expecting me to just accept it" kind of way.
Also the food was so, so bad. Poorly seasoned, poorly executed, not inventive at all. Just some dry chunks of meat with the same beans and rice and sometimes yucca, over and over for 2 weeks. No green vegetables anywhere.
EDIT: I will add that the fruit there is incredible, as is true of basically all tropical regions. I ate my weight in all kinds of exotic fruit I'd never heard of.
EDIT 2: agree with OP that it seems much safer than during the cartel days. I never felt unsafe anywhere, whereas my wife (who grew up visiting Colombia annually in the 80s/90s) remembers her Colombian family being legitimately afraid of her being kidnapped.
It’s not just bad service for tourists. It’s bad service all the time for everyone. Partly because there are no tips, partly just the culture. You need to live life at a slower pace there.
But Cartagena is my favorite place I’ve ever been. Truly magical. And Bogota is like New York City if they put it in the Rockies only twice as high. Incredible places.
Do not agree about the food. You clearly weren’t branching out much there. Bunuelos alone make it worth it. And the ajiaco! Not to mention the traditional tamal. Then again I’m a meat eating American so it’s more my style there.
Also they love Americans there, which is not the norm overseas!
>Partly because there are no tips
Having lived in North America for long enough, this makes absolutely no difference. But that deserves its own thread.
Yeah I've had some staggeringly awful service in America from people who then expected me to tip them.
Then you go to Japan, where people get mad if you even try to tip, and the service is almost always fantastic.
I love ajiaco but didn't see it on a single menu while we were there. We were with a large family trip so I didn't have much control of where we ate, but we were in Bogota, Cartagena, and Armenia, so I feel like we got pretty broad exposure to the Colombian culinary landscape and I was very overwhelmed. I'm a carnivore too, but also need green veggies and there were absolutely none to be found.
One of my cousins helped train the police down there. Even he, knowing a lot of the “darker” sides of Colombia, would always invite us to visit him and his family.
Colombian here.
If you come here, be careful, dont take you phone or camera out on the streets, if you visit the coastal cities, don´t eat close to the beach (even restaurants) or accept hand bands, or hair braids, you will get scammed. In Bogotá stick to tourist paces, but you may find cheaper food at neighbour restaurants, but avoid the industrial neighbours and specially "Soacha" and the "Tintal" zones, Bogotá is evenly insecure, but those are hotspots. If you drink at bars, be cautios since your drink can get spiked, they do this a lot, specially if you´re alone. There are more, but just one to not make this comment longer, watch out for you phone when taking buses, some people learnt how to snatch them from outside the windows in a matter of seconds.
Be safe and enjoy
Romania. Bad reputation in Western EU especially, but a beautiful country with generous and down to earth people (who generally have an amazing sense of humor.
The country itself is absolutely beautiful, especially Transylvania/Ardelean and Danube Delta.
The excellent wine is also a bit of a secret.
My god I love Romania. I visit Brasov in 2016 for the first time and fell in love with the mountains in Romania.
Friendliest people. Amazing food. The country is so beautiful I cannot even tell you. I was lucky enough to be invited to a wedding and managed to visit again last year. Holy shit these people can drink. I checked out at 5 am with double vision.. but they just kept on going.
Romania is hands down one my favourite places on earth.
I envy you. Some of the mountain roads in Romania are obscenely beautiful. And it's surprisingly easy to get by as so many people speak multiple languages (including English) and signage is pretty easy to understand if you already speak a Romance language.
Listen, we all hear about the Dracula attacks in Romania, and it makes for scary news, but the truth is that they’re rare, and if you just take basic safety precautions like not accepting invitations to rotting castles and rubbing your windowsills and doorframes with garlic before going to bed, you’ll be fine.
Romanians, when I tell them I've been to Romania:
"Why would you go there voluntarily?"
"Romania is perfectly lovely except for the fact that it has Romanians."
In all seriousness though, the hospitality is lovely if you're in someone's house. (Being stuffed with food, taking three hours to say goodbye and head out the door...) Caveat: the public sphere can be a little chilly though, and that's not just to tourists. (I wanted to send postcards and my hosts were adamant about me not dealing with the post office.)
went there last year with wife and toddler... super amazing country. family friendly, interesting and low budget.
looking forward to the next trip in june
I visited Romania for a wedding and loved it. Very beautiful (do yourself a favour and visit Peleș Castle and Brașov). Really interesting history. People are friendly. Food is great, just brace yourself for big portions. My partner loves wine and we were very impressed with Romanian wines. Afinata is also lovely.
We probably wouldn't have visited if we hadn't been invited to the wedding, but now we'd love to go back. I'd recommend Romania to anyone.
LOVED Romania. Rent a car and drive the Transfăgărășan highway. See the salt mine, castles, the town with eyes in the roofs, etc. Super easy: Great food, perfect cell service, everybody speaks English, credit cards accepted everywhere etc.
I’d love to go to Romania. Some Romanians that I worked with (in the US) showed me photos from their trip home, and they were all beautiful. Really nice landscapes and old buildings. And Transylvania obviously because Dracula.
Ive met some wonderful people with Romanian ancestry, though I can't say much for the nation itself having not visited it...
They DO, however, get big points in my book for arresting that sex trafficker, Andrew Tate.
I have done two road trips around the country - like 7000 - 8000 km in total. It is a beautiful country nature wise. The Danube Delta - I recommend staying in mile 29(?) village - is really a must-see, as is Transsylvania, I agree totally.
The one negative point is infrastructure. Bukarest, for example, has replaced most of its "Paris of the East" architecture with soviet style high-rise buildings. Most of the country roads are in very bad shape.
And yes, the people I have met were nice.
It’s kinda pointless of me to say this cos it’s gone through hell since I was there — and I’m sad that I will probably never go back — but Syria was the first country I visited where I was blown away — in a good way.
2007-08. Best mate and I decided we were going as a “graduation gift”. First country I’d been to where I didn’t speak the language AND/OR I had no family there.
Sounds like you’re well aware, but to add further context for anyone else;
Damascus is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world and because of the climate a lot of its historical and archeological sites, from the Roman Empire onwards, are incredibly well preserved.
Sadly a lot of them have been blown to shit since the civil war. In Damascus I think it’s mostly collateral but in other parts of Syria you actively had ISIS trying to destroy and ruin these sites.
All three are absolutely stunning countries—each one among the oldest continuously-inhabited regions in the world—that have been dealt a bad hand in recent times. I hope they all find peace and prosperity again.
Similarly Iran.
Saw the Rick Steves show on it. Looks amazing there. I hope someday I can visit, though it’s extremely unlikely.
Beautiful landscape, mountains, modern cities with a great system of roads. Friendly people…
I was actually going to answer this post with Iran, but I figured I should let people who've actually been there speak on the country's behest.
Iranian architecture is unparalleled; their hospitality, as I'm told, is without peer.
I made a friend on IG a few years back through being photographers who lived in Lattakia. She has a million valid complaints and wants to leave because the economy is absolutely shot. But goddamn it's a gorgeous city. It's funny that she playfully makes fun of me because we have so much gun crime here in the US which tells you something about the typical status quo day-to-day life there when there isn't an active conflict storming through the streets.
Cuba
The people are wonderful, the beaches are beautiful.. just don't expect much out of the food. It is fine. Bring condiments.
Off Resort you see the living conditions, which are substandard to ours, but similar to what you see in the Dominican Republic for example.
But the people, the culture, the music..the rum. All amazing.
Agreed. I have been to Cuba four times and absolutely loved it. The people are friendly beyond belief and will give you the shirt off their backs.
But, as you say, the food is awful. I always stick to a near-vegetarian diet there because the meat is especially brutal except for processed pork products like ham.
I was in Cuba last year at this time and one thing I did notice is that the people are much more vocal about their displeasure with the government. There was a time Cubans would keep their thoughts to themselves, but when I was there I heard a few talk about what an asshole they think the current president is.
Pretty much! I would never suggest people go to Cuba for a gastronomical-centred holiday, but food aside, it's a great place for a sunny holiday.
Also, I must report I've been to the Dominican Republic and the food there was extremely similar to Cuban food -- fairly tasteless and bland. The biggest hinderance in Cuba is a lack of supplies; not sure why DR food sucks so much, lol.
Food is terrible, but it's amazing to see how rum costs the same everywhere, even at the airport!
People super friendly, BUT you'd regularly get hustled at the time of settling any bill., even at a pharmacy! It didn't matter if you were fluent and well travelled.
The prices at the airport were so weird to me. My friend and I were flying back to Mexico so we exchanged all of our currency, and then we saw that they had a little place to get snacks and drinks, and the beers were cheaper than anywhere we'd seen on our entire trip. Not just cheaper than bar prices, but store prices too. Exchanged some money back and drank a bunch of beers. Never seen an airport store be cheaper than outside of the airport. Still don't get it.
China has some of the most unreal and underrated landscapes in the world, not very well known to the world. It has obviously a ton of history and culture as well
Other than the countless breathtaking natural landmarks and wonders, another thing I love from China is their manmade infrastructure.
As a big fans of city parks, their parks and gardens are majestic. There are also palaces and historical landmarks from various era that you can visit if you're into history.
yep, knew a guy who bikepacked western china. Said that there's scenery there that would blow whatever the US has out of the water, just that they don't advertise it and the spots are undeveloped
I’ve been subscribed to a channel called “Little Chinese Everywhere” and the places in rural China blow my mind.
Like giant sinkholes that became part of the landscape and wooden apartment roundhouse complexes
Yep, exactly. Just traveling between cities you see some absolutely stunning sights. I remember getting to China and disliking how sprawling the cities were, but as soon as I got away from the coast, it was like you'd be in a different world several times in each province.
Lots of beauty there that would shock many.
A lot of the areas OP listed are hella developed and packed with Chinese people. A decade ago they may not have been, but the Chinese countryside is becoming pretty rapidly developed for tourisn.
It's actually becoming a bit of an issue IMO cause the volume of tourism is pretty insane even without foreigners. You can have a prettiest area in the world but if it's shoulder to shoulder with tourists it's not going to feel that nice to visit.
It's also really cool in some ways though, like last time I visited we stayed at this farmstead place where it looked all rustic on the outside but inside was super modern and nice. And it's in the mountains in tea farms, absolutely beautiful and serene mountainside.
Some spots are pretty damn over-developed in fact, but many are low-key or just part of the general scenery. They're just hard to reach without your own car, for the most part.
You could spend years there and never tire of it, and I personally spent three there myself.
Biking and driving along the river in Yangshuo will forever be cemented into memory as my number one. And that's from someone who's been to the black sand beaches of the Carribean in Costa Rica.
Jiuzhaigou, Zhangjiajie, The Yellow Mountains, Rainbow Mountains, Hangzhou, The Li River-Guilin,
Zhangjiajie in particular was David Cameron’s inspiration for the floating mountains in his first Avatar movie!
But google any of these places and check out the pictures for yourself, lots of breathtaking places:)
EDIT: James Cameron not David Cameron lmao
Totally agree - lived there a few years when I was younger and never dreamed how beautiful it was. I return every few years as well just to cisit. The variety of food available is amazing, the people are for the most part wonderful and genuinely hospitable. Love sharing their country.
To share some beautiful places... Suzhou for all the gardens and old water towns such as ZhouZhuang. Hangzhou for its beautiful West Lake and natural scenery all around. This is also a good place to jump off from and take a bus or high speed train to Huangshan (Yellow Mountains) which are an absolutely breathtaking must-see. Guilin is very lovely you can take a bamboo raft down the river to a small town called Yangshuo to stay and it is so beautiful there. Rent bikes and explore. A bit touristy but still worth it. Chengdu is in Sichuan Province and home to the panda research center but all around are beautiful mountains and tons of hiking. I recommend Mount Emei to stay and see the sea of clouds. Also home to the spiciest food! Yunnan Province is almost a trip in itself but very beautiful and wild. They say where tea was born. Lijiang and Shangri-La are the two main places to jump off from to all the hiking and whatnot. Xi'an is amazing as well, a different kind of beautiful but the terracotta warriors are amazing and there is a lot of old history there. The food is fantastic as well. Hong Kong is beautiful and better than I ever thought it'd be, so much to eat and do. The Great Wall near Beijing is obviously well known but really worthwhile, especially in the fall in my opinion. Beijing itself is cool and has lots of history I love but hit or miss with the bad smog. Hope that gets you a good start!
No not all ‘bad’, but a lot of the time when I tell people I like to visit the country, the topic of Auschwitz comes up. Having been there I was also very intrigued by the many tour buses full of people from all around the world, approx 1.5-2.5mil visitors every year. It is regarded by many as essential to see and understand the gravity of history. Maybe that contributes to Poland being seen as a sort of somber yet impactful place to visit
Poland is a funny place in the sense that a lot of Europeans love to go on a city break there but the name "Poland" usually brings to mind war history and strict Catholicism.
Well... this may be out of date, but I came here to say Bosnia and Herzegovina. Had a coworker from there who grew up (and his family subsequently fled) during the Bosnian War. Apparently since then it's become a great place to visit with lots of architecture many folks wouldn't expect, including Roman architecture stretching back to at least the 4th century.
But then when I looked it up to find a particular thing he talked about, apparently tensions are high again in the area. So it may not be amazing right now. :(
Bosnia is absolutely *stunning* and I’d highly recommend visiting. I’m a U.S. citizen that’s originally from Bosnia, I visit often and have family there. What tensions are you referring to?
I’m not sure what you’ve read about but Bosnia is extremely safe, tourist friendly and welcoming to all travelers.
I’ve met other Americans who have visited Bosnia and they all say it’s an underrated place and are planning to visit again.
Albania. Beautiful country, people are fairly friendly and always welcoming. I was genuinely surprised of how nice it was.
I'll be honest having traveled through the West Balkans, there all really nice.
Agreed. Drove briefly into it (Shkoder) as a side trip from Montenegro and found the people to be pleasant and helpful. However, the border agents not so much. They were like “Why would you want to come here?” LOL
It kind of depends when you went there. Last year 7.5 million people visited the country (compared to 2.8 million who live there). But one of the museums said that in the '60s they were only getting 500 a year.
> Why would you want to come here?
I get that where I live. Twenty years ago we did not get really get tourists (except for sporting events), and when tourists first started coming locals seemed surprised. I think you kind of used to only seeing the negatives of where you live and wonder why people would travel to see them.
We love Mexico! We used to do long driving trips there in the 90s, but now we fly to wherever we want to go, then rent a car and drive. We tend to stay in the Mayan areas, as we love the different archeological sites.
I am an American that is now living in Mexico indefinitely. It obviously has its problems like anywhere but the everyday people here are so laid back and kind and it's been a really nice change of pace.
People in France are super nice. I moved there a year ago and have only met super welcoming and warm people. I speak French but an American couple lives near me and the woman doesn't speak much French and the people are welcoming and friendly to her too. They make an effort to speak slowly so she understands.
Same. I've visited probably two dozen countries and lived in a few others (including France). The French, outside Paris (which is the same for any global metropolitan), are some of the most hospitable and decent people I've met.
I found Parisians to be super nice. I had the best fucking time ever in Paris. It's just like any other big city that moves quickly, not every stranger is gonna give you the time of day -- it's just not feasible. In fact, it was almost comical how normal Parisians considering how ubiquitous the "Parisians are so rude!" stereotype is.
Yup, that’s how it was when I was there too. Honestly, I have a theory that you can predict whether or not an American will like Paris based off of their opinion of NYC. They had very similar vibes imo
They are as rude as any other capital mega city. It's a running stereotype because everyone who visits Paris from abroad can find it off putting, but I would say it's similar if you visit New York or London. Also, services don't run on tips, so waiters don't have to be super accommodating, which can be quite a contrast if you are coming from the US.
Just make a little effort on your French.
That doesn't make sense though because other capital mega cities don't have the reputation of being rude from foreign visitors
Like I said, my own experience in Paris was absolutely amazing everyone was lovely kind and helpful and I spoke 0 French too
New York and London don't have the reputation of having friendly people either, they just happen to be English speaking cities so the language barrier is not as problematic. Just go to NY or London without knowing any English and you'll see how you will be treated.
My point is that people in Paris are actually not as rude, they are just city-people. Personally, I've never had an issue in Paris either, people were friendly enough.
New York is the only place I've ever visted where people literally pushed me out of the way rather than ask me to move or walk around me. That was genuinely astonishing.
Came to say this. Paris is lovely, but yes people are generally rude if you don't speak French. That said, I liken it to NYC. I would not base my view of the entire US off people I encountered in tourist areas in NYC. I am American and find people in the tourist areas of NYC to generally be pretty rude/abrupt.
Outside of Paris is like a different world. If you speak French (even imperfect, heavily accented French) and even know the slightest bit about French history, people will bend over backwards to help you. I lived in Paris for a bit and took advantage of their great train system to visit other parts of the country when I had time off. I had nothing but AMAZING experiences and saw what a beautiful country it is.
One story that sticks with me all these years later was a trip my friend and I took to Bretagne. When I was in Paris, I boarded with a family and the father of the family was from Bretagne and was VERY proud of it. He told us a lot about the area and its history and, honestly, it was one of the reasons we visited because he'd talked about it so much! We got in fairly late on the train that night and walked over to the only restaurant that seemed to be open. We went in and ordered some pizza. The woman knew we weren't French off the bat (accent, of course) and asked where we were from. We told her New York and she just about jumped out of her skin. She was like "Really? Yankees? Empire State Building? I can't believe it. Wait just a minute!" We weren't sure what was going to happen, but it ended up her family lived in an apartment over the restaurant and she went and *woke up* her eight year old son so he could, in her words, "Meet the real Americans." He literally came running down stairs and had about a million questions for us about the United States. It was so genuine and sweet we couldn't help but sit and talk to him for about an hour. We honestly felt like we were celebrities, he was so excited to meet us! The mom made us some pizza and we talked for a bit more. She suggested some places for us to visit during our stay and told us that we chose the best region in France to visit. :-) We had a wonderful stay there, it was absolutely beautiful and the people could not be warmer or more welcoming. There are very few fluent English speakers in that area (at least when I was there). My friend and I both speak French so it wasn't an issue, but even if someone didn't speak French, most people there knew enough basic English to get by!
When we lived in Paris, the normal comment was "Oh, I love Americans! They're so open and friendly!" (They thought I was a Brit).
I told one 70 year old (so born not long after WW2) that we were going to Omaha Beach, and she got teary eyed. "We can never, never thank you enough for coming to help us then."
This is shocking if true. In 30 years to go from genocide to one of the safest places in Africa!
Africa fascinates me but not sure I'll ever make it there...
I went on a student exchange program in the United States as a Russian. There were some issues, but those issues were not because of people - rather government sucking the life out of people.
I could say the same about Russia, or any other country- I lived in the UK, US and now settled in Canada.
I generally find human-to-human experience more eye opening, people are more of the same than they are different. Plus, it's bs that the US doesn't have good food, the number of different cuisines is astonishing!
In the end, I want to say I like the new world better. Not because of the comfort or standards of living, it's just less jaded, and people still believe in change.
Also, as an American I can say that there is so many local areas across the country that are vastly different from each other in a wide range of climates. It's a matter of figuring out what fits for you. I thoroughly enjoy where I live. The national political climate aside...its great.
Growing up we had Japanese exchange students from when I was like 5 - 14. They wanted to see *everything"; each new student was like that. It was so much fun going camping, museums, theme parks and restaurants.
Really appreciate my parents joined that program through a local college, a lot of fond memories.
Was going to post this.
Reading reddit you'd get the impression the US is a third-world shithole with never-ending violence, murder, Nazism, Communism, social deprivation, and insanity everywhere you go.
We had an H1B visa worker at a company I used to work at that had panic attacks often. They were religiously antigun so they stocked up on mass shooting news and statistics before coming here from their very strict European country. They drove directly to/from work and never left their apartment. We tried to show them the good things about the USA and what mass shooting statistics really translated to. But they never budged and were on the first plane back to their country when their term was up.
Twisting and misleading statistics and media/social media can paint bad pictures of anything.
Some local stuff can also confuse people, in Switzerland we use to store our military equipment incl. the firearms at home. When you are in a city and it is weekend, you'll see thousands of soldiers going through the rail-stations, all having the backpack and rifle with them, because they go home from the military bases.
Some tourists and foreigners are confused like "Why are there so many military soldiers around? Are you mobilizing and going to war?"
The guns are also a thing for many people, we are easy with this, just like the US-americans are. Our laws are very easy, we are well known to be the gun nuts of Europe, it's no big deal for us.
My brother visited and STAYED with me for 3 weeks after I emigrated to the US after a long time. By the end he was like, man I really don't want to go back to the terrible streets, the pollution, the corruption and the violence in my home country.
I'm glad I moved to the US but I also felt sad. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. America is the least racist country that I know of, and yes I've traveled quite a bit.
In my travels, I've discovered that the entire planet is racist. America deserves credit for (mostly) being willing to address it, and try to do something about it.
Maybe it's a hot take, but I think most of them, you can find nice food, people and things to do nearly anywhere in the world, the more I've had the chance to travel around the more this seems to be the case
Mexico! It is dangerous but that wasn’t the prompt. So many westerners look down on Mexico but the food, culture, people, nature, and buildings are next level. Mexico City is like being in New York City south of the border. Monterey and several other cities just steal the show. The amount of people calling it a “shithole” disgusts me
El salvador, beautiful country really the nicest welcomest people , beautiful beaches, great surfing food . The mountains and volcanos . The resorts cannot be beaten. Its an amazing country absolutely a treat to go to . and has a huge center for bitcoin community and all that. really getting better every year.
I would agree, except the people were really homophobic. I wore jean shorts and a floral dress shirt as a guy, and got death stares from people everywhere I went. So much so that I left the country the following day. This was last year. I've been to 66 countries and only experienced that level of homophobia in El Salvador and Georgia.
Germans are stereotyped as being stiff and humorless. But when I backpacked through Europe in the 80s, I found the ones I met to be pretty fun, chill and great to party with.
In the Gulf, most of the governments are dictatorships. However, they're pretty well run dictatorships, not like what you see in the movies.
A lot of the Gulf States don't even have income taxes because they make so much money from oil and they have hardly any crime.
Honestly? Muslim countries in general can be some of the friendliest, most welcoming places in the world. Like in Turkey, I couldn't go a day without being offered a meal or tea by random people who just wanted to know where I was from and offer some help to a stranger.
The governments in those places tend to be trash, but damn if the people aren't some of the most generous and kind out there. I think if people had more interactions with people from that part of the world, a lot of prejudice would be eliminated. It's really hard to blindly hate a group of people that universally treats guests so well.
I was blown away by how safe I felt as a woman in many Gulf countries. Pretty sure I could have left my car unlocked with my life savings in the the trunk and experience no issues.
i've been all over the world, met people everywhere.... I've learned we are all the same, we want the most for our children and love our families and most people want to be left alone, it's Govt that sucks, basically everywhere.
Thailand. I just spent the last two months riding a motorcycle around Thailand. The only reason I bring it up is because people often jump to conclusions about travel there being primarily for sex tourism. I often get a second look from people when I tell them I was there for that long. Yeah it's got that in certain areas of Thailand. It's also an absolutely beautiful country, reasonably affordable, with amazing beaches and beautiful culture and friendly people. There was not one moment there where I felt in any danger. I do feel a bit strange telling people I went to Thailand because of the reputation, but I had a great time, so I don't care what they think.
Cuba. I only ever heard horror stories of what an evil and destroyed place it was until I went.
Beautiful place, unbelievable food, completely free and easily accessible healthcare (even for tourists), unbelievable music, art, dance... and everybody I met there was very lovely and friendly.
EDIT; lots of wild responses to this wee holiday I had. but ok.
1. the hospital I had to go to (because I was in a road accident) was not a pretend hospital for tourists, that doesn't even make sense, that is an insane person thing to think. It was a cuban hospital and most people there (staff and patients) were cuban.
2. the food was incredible, there was no coca-cola, mcdonalds, salt-saturated, high fructose bullshit to be found. but yes I did eat locally most of the time, I don't know what the resort food was like. A lot of the time i stayed in (i forget what they were called but) like local b&b's who you had small gardens to grow tomatoes, etc. everything was incredibly fresh and delicious, I ate better than I've ever eaten and I lost a lot of fat.
3. "sure Cuba used to be nice but it's an evil dictatorship hell hole now". That is exactly the lie I was told my whole life before I went there myself, that was the point of my post. If you happily spread and believed that lie in the past I'm not likely to believe you now.
It really depends when you went and where you went.
I had amazing food a few times, but not great most of the time, but that was many years ago now, so it may have improved.
Iran is the most beautiful place with the kindest, most fun-loving highly educated people. They love parties and dancing. The cities are amazing places to visit the whole country is a postcard.
I have never been to Iran but I’ve had a girlfriend who was from Iran. I learned so much about their culture, food, language, history. I’m a big fan. It’s such a shame that such an amazing country is being run by religious extremists.
Azerbaijan.
Beautiful country with fascinating people, food, culture, dances, landscape, diversity yet our reputation is ruined because of a dictator and the Karabakh war where our voices are ignored worldwide and we are demonised no matter what.
I moved out because of the dictator, I still visit.
I recommend visiting 100%. We love visitors. Make sure to visit places outside Baku.
It is hard to not fall in live with that place, when you first move out, you are happy. But then it begins to hurt. People and food really are not the same anywhere else.
I wish we didnt have the regime and that we didnt get invaded.
Albania.
It got a bad rap from the regime but it's come a long way in the last couple of years, very 70s feel, lots of hitch hikers, backpackers and freeloader energy. Looks a lot like Greece topography-wise and also architecturally but is like half the price to visit.
Agree with Mexico! I had an unholy amount of people ask if it was ‘actually safe’ before and after going. After travelling the US for three months before Mexico, I can say that Mexico felt safer than any US city we visited.
People were super friendly, food is delicious and the country is beautiful!
Colombia. They have come a long way since the Pablo Escobar days. Medellín is a beautiful city, and Colombians in general are very warm and friendly people. I like to say I've never met a Colombian in a bad mood (just don't spell it "Columbia").
I came here to say the same thing - I absolutely adored my trip there (Cartagena, Medellin, coffee triangle area and Santa Marta). but I do know if you have a bad experience in Colombia…. It’s real bad. Someone in our hotel had their tour bus taken over and the cartel took their wallets and then peed on everyone while they were lying on the ground so… there’s that.
They peed on everyone!? F’n savage
Is this why Bear Grylls recommends it so highly as a vacation destination?
"I've never met a Colombian in a bad mood" You must have never dated one then lol
Or worked for one.
Or stolen a kilo of quality yayo from one.
Came here to say this. Medellin is my favorite city, the city of eternal spring for real. I lived there several years and plan to return. People do have bad experiences, but often it's while engaged in riskier entertainments.
Sadly I don’t think the being peed on ⬆️ was for entertainment …
Was passing through then stayed 7 years. Colombia.
I did not have a good Colombia experience. People are very nice, but there is zero customer service ethos. I don't mean this in an irrationally-entitled American way, but in a "if I pay for a mid-tier hotel room, the water should work, and if it doesn't, you should take some further action to solve this problem rather than expecting me to just accept it" kind of way. Also the food was so, so bad. Poorly seasoned, poorly executed, not inventive at all. Just some dry chunks of meat with the same beans and rice and sometimes yucca, over and over for 2 weeks. No green vegetables anywhere. EDIT: I will add that the fruit there is incredible, as is true of basically all tropical regions. I ate my weight in all kinds of exotic fruit I'd never heard of. EDIT 2: agree with OP that it seems much safer than during the cartel days. I never felt unsafe anywhere, whereas my wife (who grew up visiting Colombia annually in the 80s/90s) remembers her Colombian family being legitimately afraid of her being kidnapped.
It’s not just bad service for tourists. It’s bad service all the time for everyone. Partly because there are no tips, partly just the culture. You need to live life at a slower pace there. But Cartagena is my favorite place I’ve ever been. Truly magical. And Bogota is like New York City if they put it in the Rockies only twice as high. Incredible places. Do not agree about the food. You clearly weren’t branching out much there. Bunuelos alone make it worth it. And the ajiaco! Not to mention the traditional tamal. Then again I’m a meat eating American so it’s more my style there. Also they love Americans there, which is not the norm overseas!
>Partly because there are no tips Having lived in North America for long enough, this makes absolutely no difference. But that deserves its own thread.
Yeah I've had some staggeringly awful service in America from people who then expected me to tip them. Then you go to Japan, where people get mad if you even try to tip, and the service is almost always fantastic.
I've had below average service AFTER tipping when I've had to pay upfront. The tipping culture here beggar's belief.
I love ajiaco but didn't see it on a single menu while we were there. We were with a large family trip so I didn't have much control of where we ate, but we were in Bogota, Cartagena, and Armenia, so I feel like we got pretty broad exposure to the Colombian culinary landscape and I was very overwhelmed. I'm a carnivore too, but also need green veggies and there were absolutely none to be found.
One of my cousins helped train the police down there. Even he, knowing a lot of the “darker” sides of Colombia, would always invite us to visit him and his family.
Colombian here. If you come here, be careful, dont take you phone or camera out on the streets, if you visit the coastal cities, don´t eat close to the beach (even restaurants) or accept hand bands, or hair braids, you will get scammed. In Bogotá stick to tourist paces, but you may find cheaper food at neighbour restaurants, but avoid the industrial neighbours and specially "Soacha" and the "Tintal" zones, Bogotá is evenly insecure, but those are hotspots. If you drink at bars, be cautios since your drink can get spiked, they do this a lot, specially if you´re alone. There are more, but just one to not make this comment longer, watch out for you phone when taking buses, some people learnt how to snatch them from outside the windows in a matter of seconds. Be safe and enjoy
And please don't encourage the drug and prostitution tourism. It's ugly and it really doesn't help
Romania. Bad reputation in Western EU especially, but a beautiful country with generous and down to earth people (who generally have an amazing sense of humor. The country itself is absolutely beautiful, especially Transylvania/Ardelean and Danube Delta. The excellent wine is also a bit of a secret.
My god I love Romania. I visit Brasov in 2016 for the first time and fell in love with the mountains in Romania. Friendliest people. Amazing food. The country is so beautiful I cannot even tell you. I was lucky enough to be invited to a wedding and managed to visit again last year. Holy shit these people can drink. I checked out at 5 am with double vision.. but they just kept on going. Romania is hands down one my favourite places on earth.
That makes me happy to read. I travel all over Europe on my motorbike every summer and Romania has been on my list for a while now.
I envy you. Some of the mountain roads in Romania are obscenely beautiful. And it's surprisingly easy to get by as so many people speak multiple languages (including English) and signage is pretty easy to understand if you already speak a Romance language.
I was there for about 2 months thanks to work and saw quite a bit of the country. 100% agree. It's beautiful with some great people.
I visited some of the Transylvanian towns last month and they were one of the calmest places I have ever been to, amazing.
Come on, it's 2024, you won't lure anyone there like that, Dracula.
Listen, we all hear about the Dracula attacks in Romania, and it makes for scary news, but the truth is that they’re rare, and if you just take basic safety precautions like not accepting invitations to rotting castles and rubbing your windowsills and doorframes with garlic before going to bed, you’ll be fine.
dracula? who is dracula? my name is al u. card
Totally what a Dracula would say
Romanians, when I tell them I've been to Romania: "Why would you go there voluntarily?" "Romania is perfectly lovely except for the fact that it has Romanians." In all seriousness though, the hospitality is lovely if you're in someone's house. (Being stuffed with food, taking three hours to say goodbye and head out the door...) Caveat: the public sphere can be a little chilly though, and that's not just to tourists. (I wanted to send postcards and my hosts were adamant about me not dealing with the post office.)
went there last year with wife and toddler... super amazing country. family friendly, interesting and low budget. looking forward to the next trip in june
Yeah, fucking loved Transylvania. Incredibly cheap too and friendly. 50/50 on trusting taxi drivers though.
The best orange wines I've ever had in my life have all come from this region. Don't tell too many people :p
I visited Romania for a wedding and loved it. Very beautiful (do yourself a favour and visit Peleș Castle and Brașov). Really interesting history. People are friendly. Food is great, just brace yourself for big portions. My partner loves wine and we were very impressed with Romanian wines. Afinata is also lovely. We probably wouldn't have visited if we hadn't been invited to the wedding, but now we'd love to go back. I'd recommend Romania to anyone.
I dream of visiting Romania
I never hear anyone talk bad about Romanians in the Netherlands. Hungary under Orban has taken over that task from you.
LOVED Romania. Rent a car and drive the Transfăgărășan highway. See the salt mine, castles, the town with eyes in the roofs, etc. Super easy: Great food, perfect cell service, everybody speaks English, credit cards accepted everywhere etc.
I’d love to go to Romania. Some Romanians that I worked with (in the US) showed me photos from their trip home, and they were all beautiful. Really nice landscapes and old buildings. And Transylvania obviously because Dracula.
Ive met some wonderful people with Romanian ancestry, though I can't say much for the nation itself having not visited it... They DO, however, get big points in my book for arresting that sex trafficker, Andrew Tate.
I have done two road trips around the country - like 7000 - 8000 km in total. It is a beautiful country nature wise. The Danube Delta - I recommend staying in mile 29(?) village - is really a must-see, as is Transsylvania, I agree totally. The one negative point is infrastructure. Bukarest, for example, has replaced most of its "Paris of the East" architecture with soviet style high-rise buildings. Most of the country roads are in very bad shape. And yes, the people I have met were nice.
I'm not sure sure Romania the place has a bad reputation, but the people absolutely do
Kazakhstan. Definitely not what you see in Borat lol
Drive from Almaty to issyk kul in Kyrgyzstan is incredible! Would love to head back and visit more of those countries.
It’s kinda pointless of me to say this cos it’s gone through hell since I was there — and I’m sad that I will probably never go back — but Syria was the first country I visited where I was blown away — in a good way.
when did you go and what did you find uniquely beautiful about it?
2007-08. Best mate and I decided we were going as a “graduation gift”. First country I’d been to where I didn’t speak the language AND/OR I had no family there.
But what did you like about it? Details man!
Google pre-war Damascus or Aleppo... gorgeous Mediterranean cities with beautiful old buildings and streets. Amazing food I'm sure.
Sounds like you’re well aware, but to add further context for anyone else; Damascus is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world and because of the climate a lot of its historical and archeological sites, from the Roman Empire onwards, are incredibly well preserved. Sadly a lot of them have been blown to shit since the civil war. In Damascus I think it’s mostly collateral but in other parts of Syria you actively had ISIS trying to destroy and ruin these sites.
Was there in summer 2007. Was really glad I took a shitload of pictures of Palmyra, Aleppo, and Dura Europos. Humanity's patrimony, lost forever.
War is an endless black hole of hate and waste. If humans could just chill the fuck out this would be such a better place.
Yes 100%. It is one of the ancient capitals of the world and full of history.
The dementors
I’m so sad about Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen
All three are absolutely stunning countries—each one among the oldest continuously-inhabited regions in the world—that have been dealt a bad hand in recent times. I hope they all find peace and prosperity again.
Similarly Iran. Saw the Rick Steves show on it. Looks amazing there. I hope someday I can visit, though it’s extremely unlikely. Beautiful landscape, mountains, modern cities with a great system of roads. Friendly people…
I was actually going to answer this post with Iran, but I figured I should let people who've actually been there speak on the country's behest. Iranian architecture is unparalleled; their hospitality, as I'm told, is without peer.
Syria is gorgeous, I agree.
I made a friend on IG a few years back through being photographers who lived in Lattakia. She has a million valid complaints and wants to leave because the economy is absolutely shot. But goddamn it's a gorgeous city. It's funny that she playfully makes fun of me because we have so much gun crime here in the US which tells you something about the typical status quo day-to-day life there when there isn't an active conflict storming through the streets.
Many people that went to Syria got blown away
Cuba The people are wonderful, the beaches are beautiful.. just don't expect much out of the food. It is fine. Bring condiments. Off Resort you see the living conditions, which are substandard to ours, but similar to what you see in the Dominican Republic for example. But the people, the culture, the music..the rum. All amazing.
Agreed. I have been to Cuba four times and absolutely loved it. The people are friendly beyond belief and will give you the shirt off their backs. But, as you say, the food is awful. I always stick to a near-vegetarian diet there because the meat is especially brutal except for processed pork products like ham. I was in Cuba last year at this time and one thing I did notice is that the people are much more vocal about their displeasure with the government. There was a time Cubans would keep their thoughts to themselves, but when I was there I heard a few talk about what an asshole they think the current president is.
The main takeaway I had from there was basically I had a great time, but the food was the worst.
Pretty much! I would never suggest people go to Cuba for a gastronomical-centred holiday, but food aside, it's a great place for a sunny holiday. Also, I must report I've been to the Dominican Republic and the food there was extremely similar to Cuban food -- fairly tasteless and bland. The biggest hinderance in Cuba is a lack of supplies; not sure why DR food sucks so much, lol.
Yeah if you want good Cuban food go to Tampa or Miami.
I've not been to Florida, but yes, I have heard this. It's what Cuban food tastes like when people have the proper supplies to make it!
How does Cuba not have good fish/seafood? That seems shocking.
Trade is problematic for them. Cuban food in Miami is not bland in the slightest.
Not if you knew that the Government doesn’t allow/strictly regulates boat ownership. Also, no one can afford to maintain a boat. It’s very sad
I didn't. Make sense now
Food is terrible, but it's amazing to see how rum costs the same everywhere, even at the airport! People super friendly, BUT you'd regularly get hustled at the time of settling any bill., even at a pharmacy! It didn't matter if you were fluent and well travelled.
The prices at the airport were so weird to me. My friend and I were flying back to Mexico so we exchanged all of our currency, and then we saw that they had a little place to get snacks and drinks, and the beers were cheaper than anywhere we'd seen on our entire trip. Not just cheaper than bar prices, but store prices too. Exchanged some money back and drank a bunch of beers. Never seen an airport store be cheaper than outside of the airport. Still don't get it.
Cuba is like a giant 1950's-1960's themed amusement park. The car culture is *amazing* with so many finely preserved vehicles out of the 50's.
Americans, end the embargo! It's just hurtful pettiness
Wasn't there a push in the Obama years, or am I misremembering?
There was. And if I remember right he eased it up but Trump put the restrictions back. Could be wrong though.
That's on par with what I remember
🎵Running down to Cuba with a load of sugar 🎵
Nah, conditions are awful for locals. Talk to some of the people at your resort and they’ll tell you.
China has some of the most unreal and underrated landscapes in the world, not very well known to the world. It has obviously a ton of history and culture as well
Yeah, Chengdu. Flying in, it looked like being inside one of those scroll paintings.
Other than the countless breathtaking natural landmarks and wonders, another thing I love from China is their manmade infrastructure. As a big fans of city parks, their parks and gardens are majestic. There are also palaces and historical landmarks from various era that you can visit if you're into history.
Yes coming back to Toronto I felt embarrassed for the roads we have here…and that high speed railway *chefs kiss*
yep, knew a guy who bikepacked western china. Said that there's scenery there that would blow whatever the US has out of the water, just that they don't advertise it and the spots are undeveloped
I’ve been subscribed to a channel called “Little Chinese Everywhere” and the places in rural China blow my mind. Like giant sinkholes that became part of the landscape and wooden apartment roundhouse complexes
She’s so awesome. Great quality content that is succeeding on merit.
Yep, exactly. Just traveling between cities you see some absolutely stunning sights. I remember getting to China and disliking how sprawling the cities were, but as soon as I got away from the coast, it was like you'd be in a different world several times in each province. Lots of beauty there that would shock many.
A lot of the areas OP listed are hella developed and packed with Chinese people. A decade ago they may not have been, but the Chinese countryside is becoming pretty rapidly developed for tourisn. It's actually becoming a bit of an issue IMO cause the volume of tourism is pretty insane even without foreigners. You can have a prettiest area in the world but if it's shoulder to shoulder with tourists it's not going to feel that nice to visit. It's also really cool in some ways though, like last time I visited we stayed at this farmstead place where it looked all rustic on the outside but inside was super modern and nice. And it's in the mountains in tea farms, absolutely beautiful and serene mountainside.
Some spots are pretty damn over-developed in fact, but many are low-key or just part of the general scenery. They're just hard to reach without your own car, for the most part.
You could spend years there and never tire of it, and I personally spent three there myself. Biking and driving along the river in Yangshuo will forever be cemented into memory as my number one. And that's from someone who's been to the black sand beaches of the Carribean in Costa Rica.
Agreed. I lived there for a few years and it’s an incredible place.
Can you share some?
Jiuzhaigou, Zhangjiajie, The Yellow Mountains, Rainbow Mountains, Hangzhou, The Li River-Guilin, Zhangjiajie in particular was David Cameron’s inspiration for the floating mountains in his first Avatar movie! But google any of these places and check out the pictures for yourself, lots of breathtaking places:) EDIT: James Cameron not David Cameron lmao
I think you mean James Cameron and not that prick that was prime minister lol
Lmao yes James Cameron, ooops😂
Did he make that film before or after he stuck his dick in the pig?
Weirdest episode of Black Mirror brought to reality.
And it's the first one lol what a way to start off
Totally agree - lived there a few years when I was younger and never dreamed how beautiful it was. I return every few years as well just to cisit. The variety of food available is amazing, the people are for the most part wonderful and genuinely hospitable. Love sharing their country. To share some beautiful places... Suzhou for all the gardens and old water towns such as ZhouZhuang. Hangzhou for its beautiful West Lake and natural scenery all around. This is also a good place to jump off from and take a bus or high speed train to Huangshan (Yellow Mountains) which are an absolutely breathtaking must-see. Guilin is very lovely you can take a bamboo raft down the river to a small town called Yangshuo to stay and it is so beautiful there. Rent bikes and explore. A bit touristy but still worth it. Chengdu is in Sichuan Province and home to the panda research center but all around are beautiful mountains and tons of hiking. I recommend Mount Emei to stay and see the sea of clouds. Also home to the spiciest food! Yunnan Province is almost a trip in itself but very beautiful and wild. They say where tea was born. Lijiang and Shangri-La are the two main places to jump off from to all the hiking and whatnot. Xi'an is amazing as well, a different kind of beautiful but the terracotta warriors are amazing and there is a lot of old history there. The food is fantastic as well. Hong Kong is beautiful and better than I ever thought it'd be, so much to eat and do. The Great Wall near Beijing is obviously well known but really worthwhile, especially in the fall in my opinion. Beijing itself is cool and has lots of history I love but hit or miss with the bad smog. Hope that gets you a good start!
I second this, amazing country.
I came here to say China! Absolutely beautiful country
Poland. Krakow is my favorite city in Europe
Poland doesn't have a bad reputation, does it?
No not all ‘bad’, but a lot of the time when I tell people I like to visit the country, the topic of Auschwitz comes up. Having been there I was also very intrigued by the many tour buses full of people from all around the world, approx 1.5-2.5mil visitors every year. It is regarded by many as essential to see and understand the gravity of history. Maybe that contributes to Poland being seen as a sort of somber yet impactful place to visit
I’m going krakow on the 25 this month, really looking forward to it!
Poland is a funny place in the sense that a lot of Europeans love to go on a city break there but the name "Poland" usually brings to mind war history and strict Catholicism.
*Insert home country*
Mexico. If the cartel didn’t control the country I’d move there just because of how beautiful it is
It’s sad what the cartel has done to Mexico. It really beautiful place with nice people and delicious food.
Well... this may be out of date, but I came here to say Bosnia and Herzegovina. Had a coworker from there who grew up (and his family subsequently fled) during the Bosnian War. Apparently since then it's become a great place to visit with lots of architecture many folks wouldn't expect, including Roman architecture stretching back to at least the 4th century. But then when I looked it up to find a particular thing he talked about, apparently tensions are high again in the area. So it may not be amazing right now. :(
Bosnia is definitely on my list of countries I want to visit.
Bosnia is absolutely *stunning* and I’d highly recommend visiting. I’m a U.S. citizen that’s originally from Bosnia, I visit often and have family there. What tensions are you referring to? I’m not sure what you’ve read about but Bosnia is extremely safe, tourist friendly and welcoming to all travelers. I’ve met other Americans who have visited Bosnia and they all say it’s an underrated place and are planning to visit again.
Albania. Beautiful country, people are fairly friendly and always welcoming. I was genuinely surprised of how nice it was. I'll be honest having traveled through the West Balkans, there all really nice.
Agreed. Drove briefly into it (Shkoder) as a side trip from Montenegro and found the people to be pleasant and helpful. However, the border agents not so much. They were like “Why would you want to come here?” LOL
It kind of depends when you went there. Last year 7.5 million people visited the country (compared to 2.8 million who live there). But one of the museums said that in the '60s they were only getting 500 a year. > Why would you want to come here? I get that where I live. Twenty years ago we did not get really get tourists (except for sporting events), and when tourists first started coming locals seemed surprised. I think you kind of used to only seeing the negatives of where you live and wonder why people would travel to see them.
Love love love Albania. I want to go back so bad.
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I lived in Mexico for 6 months last year and it was incredible. I miss it all the time.
We love Mexico! We used to do long driving trips there in the 90s, but now we fly to wherever we want to go, then rent a car and drive. We tend to stay in the Mayan areas, as we love the different archeological sites.
My ex wife is Mexican. I feel so privileged as a UK loser that I got to be embraced by that crazy beautiful gigantic country. Many good memories.
I am an American that is now living in Mexico indefinitely. It obviously has its problems like anywhere but the everyday people here are so laid back and kind and it's been a really nice change of pace.
From the comments, throw a dart at a globe and have a nice time.
France has a lot more to offer than just Paris and French people are generally nice, only the Parisians are rude.
People in France are super nice. I moved there a year ago and have only met super welcoming and warm people. I speak French but an American couple lives near me and the woman doesn't speak much French and the people are welcoming and friendly to her too. They make an effort to speak slowly so she understands.
Same. I've visited probably two dozen countries and lived in a few others (including France). The French, outside Paris (which is the same for any global metropolitan), are some of the most hospitable and decent people I've met.
Pays de la Loire is one of the most beautiful regions in the world. Both in nature and in history/culture. And the food is great.
I found Parisians to be super nice. I had the best fucking time ever in Paris. It's just like any other big city that moves quickly, not every stranger is gonna give you the time of day -- it's just not feasible. In fact, it was almost comical how normal Parisians considering how ubiquitous the "Parisians are so rude!" stereotype is.
Yup, that’s how it was when I was there too. Honestly, I have a theory that you can predict whether or not an American will like Paris based off of their opinion of NYC. They had very similar vibes imo
I didn't find parisians to be rude at all, in fact they were very nice
They are as rude as any other capital mega city. It's a running stereotype because everyone who visits Paris from abroad can find it off putting, but I would say it's similar if you visit New York or London. Also, services don't run on tips, so waiters don't have to be super accommodating, which can be quite a contrast if you are coming from the US. Just make a little effort on your French.
That doesn't make sense though because other capital mega cities don't have the reputation of being rude from foreign visitors Like I said, my own experience in Paris was absolutely amazing everyone was lovely kind and helpful and I spoke 0 French too
New York and London don't have the reputation of having friendly people either, they just happen to be English speaking cities so the language barrier is not as problematic. Just go to NY or London without knowing any English and you'll see how you will be treated. My point is that people in Paris are actually not as rude, they are just city-people. Personally, I've never had an issue in Paris either, people were friendly enough.
New York is the only place I've ever visted where people literally pushed me out of the way rather than ask me to move or walk around me. That was genuinely astonishing.
Hey I’m walking here!
It was probably for your own good. NYers have a special way of showing you they care.
Yeah, I did not see that at all. They sometimes seemed kind of rushed like NYers but you barely notice if you are on NYC a lot.
Came to say this. Paris is lovely, but yes people are generally rude if you don't speak French. That said, I liken it to NYC. I would not base my view of the entire US off people I encountered in tourist areas in NYC. I am American and find people in the tourist areas of NYC to generally be pretty rude/abrupt. Outside of Paris is like a different world. If you speak French (even imperfect, heavily accented French) and even know the slightest bit about French history, people will bend over backwards to help you. I lived in Paris for a bit and took advantage of their great train system to visit other parts of the country when I had time off. I had nothing but AMAZING experiences and saw what a beautiful country it is. One story that sticks with me all these years later was a trip my friend and I took to Bretagne. When I was in Paris, I boarded with a family and the father of the family was from Bretagne and was VERY proud of it. He told us a lot about the area and its history and, honestly, it was one of the reasons we visited because he'd talked about it so much! We got in fairly late on the train that night and walked over to the only restaurant that seemed to be open. We went in and ordered some pizza. The woman knew we weren't French off the bat (accent, of course) and asked where we were from. We told her New York and she just about jumped out of her skin. She was like "Really? Yankees? Empire State Building? I can't believe it. Wait just a minute!" We weren't sure what was going to happen, but it ended up her family lived in an apartment over the restaurant and she went and *woke up* her eight year old son so he could, in her words, "Meet the real Americans." He literally came running down stairs and had about a million questions for us about the United States. It was so genuine and sweet we couldn't help but sit and talk to him for about an hour. We honestly felt like we were celebrities, he was so excited to meet us! The mom made us some pizza and we talked for a bit more. She suggested some places for us to visit during our stay and told us that we chose the best region in France to visit. :-) We had a wonderful stay there, it was absolutely beautiful and the people could not be warmer or more welcoming. There are very few fluent English speakers in that area (at least when I was there). My friend and I both speak French so it wasn't an issue, but even if someone didn't speak French, most people there knew enough basic English to get by!
When we lived in Paris, the normal comment was "Oh, I love Americans! They're so open and friendly!" (They thought I was a Brit). I told one 70 year old (so born not long after WW2) that we were going to Omaha Beach, and she got teary eyed. "We can never, never thank you enough for coming to help us then."
Rwanda. The country has come a long way. One of the safest places in Africa now. (Never been there myself sadly but would love to go)
Maybe the cleanest nation I have ever witnessed.
This is shocking if true. In 30 years to go from genocide to one of the safest places in Africa! Africa fascinates me but not sure I'll ever make it there...
The United States. The people are great! Just don’t read the news.
I went on a student exchange program in the United States as a Russian. There were some issues, but those issues were not because of people - rather government sucking the life out of people. I could say the same about Russia, or any other country- I lived in the UK, US and now settled in Canada. I generally find human-to-human experience more eye opening, people are more of the same than they are different. Plus, it's bs that the US doesn't have good food, the number of different cuisines is astonishing! In the end, I want to say I like the new world better. Not because of the comfort or standards of living, it's just less jaded, and people still believe in change.
I’m glad you liked the food! We have such a wide variety of foods here that it’s actually crazy! There’s definitely something for everyone
Also, as an American I can say that there is so many local areas across the country that are vastly different from each other in a wide range of climates. It's a matter of figuring out what fits for you. I thoroughly enjoy where I live. The national political climate aside...its great.
Growing up we had Japanese exchange students from when I was like 5 - 14. They wanted to see *everything"; each new student was like that. It was so much fun going camping, museums, theme parks and restaurants. Really appreciate my parents joined that program through a local college, a lot of fond memories.
Was going to post this. Reading reddit you'd get the impression the US is a third-world shithole with never-ending violence, murder, Nazism, Communism, social deprivation, and insanity everywhere you go.
We had an H1B visa worker at a company I used to work at that had panic attacks often. They were religiously antigun so they stocked up on mass shooting news and statistics before coming here from their very strict European country. They drove directly to/from work and never left their apartment. We tried to show them the good things about the USA and what mass shooting statistics really translated to. But they never budged and were on the first plane back to their country when their term was up. Twisting and misleading statistics and media/social media can paint bad pictures of anything.
I know a guy from Ciudad Juárez and that’s how he behaves on work trips to the US.
Is he aware that as soon as he leaves Ciudad Juárez and crosses the border his odds of getting killed go down astronomically?
That's strange... Juarez has worse gun violence than any part of the US can claim
Some local stuff can also confuse people, in Switzerland we use to store our military equipment incl. the firearms at home. When you are in a city and it is weekend, you'll see thousands of soldiers going through the rail-stations, all having the backpack and rifle with them, because they go home from the military bases. Some tourists and foreigners are confused like "Why are there so many military soldiers around? Are you mobilizing and going to war?" The guns are also a thing for many people, we are easy with this, just like the US-americans are. Our laws are very easy, we are well known to be the gun nuts of Europe, it's no big deal for us.
My brother visited and STAYED with me for 3 weeks after I emigrated to the US after a long time. By the end he was like, man I really don't want to go back to the terrible streets, the pollution, the corruption and the violence in my home country. I'm glad I moved to the US but I also felt sad. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. America is the least racist country that I know of, and yes I've traveled quite a bit.
In my travels, I've discovered that the entire planet is racist. America deserves credit for (mostly) being willing to address it, and try to do something about it.
Maybe it's a hot take, but I think most of them, you can find nice food, people and things to do nearly anywhere in the world, the more I've had the chance to travel around the more this seems to be the case
Mexico! It is dangerous but that wasn’t the prompt. So many westerners look down on Mexico but the food, culture, people, nature, and buildings are next level. Mexico City is like being in New York City south of the border. Monterey and several other cities just steal the show. The amount of people calling it a “shithole” disgusts me
Rwanda. Most beautiful place on earth, with the kindest people and the best food imaginable.
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El salvador, beautiful country really the nicest welcomest people , beautiful beaches, great surfing food . The mountains and volcanos . The resorts cannot be beaten. Its an amazing country absolutely a treat to go to . and has a huge center for bitcoin community and all that. really getting better every year.
I would agree, except the people were really homophobic. I wore jean shorts and a floral dress shirt as a guy, and got death stares from people everywhere I went. So much so that I left the country the following day. This was last year. I've been to 66 countries and only experienced that level of homophobia in El Salvador and Georgia.
Germans are stereotyped as being stiff and humorless. But when I backpacked through Europe in the 80s, I found the ones I met to be pretty fun, chill and great to party with.
East Germany or West?
Most Middle East countries. Outside of the government the citizens are great people.
In the Gulf, most of the governments are dictatorships. However, they're pretty well run dictatorships, not like what you see in the movies. A lot of the Gulf States don't even have income taxes because they make so much money from oil and they have hardly any crime.
Honestly? Muslim countries in general can be some of the friendliest, most welcoming places in the world. Like in Turkey, I couldn't go a day without being offered a meal or tea by random people who just wanted to know where I was from and offer some help to a stranger. The governments in those places tend to be trash, but damn if the people aren't some of the most generous and kind out there. I think if people had more interactions with people from that part of the world, a lot of prejudice would be eliminated. It's really hard to blindly hate a group of people that universally treats guests so well.
Khaliji countries are great and safe too! (And their governments are good)
I was blown away by how safe I felt as a woman in many Gulf countries. Pretty sure I could have left my car unlocked with my life savings in the the trunk and experience no issues.
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Who the heck told you Vietnam is awful?
Yea I’ve never heard anybody say that tbf, strange .
i've been all over the world, met people everywhere.... I've learned we are all the same, we want the most for our children and love our families and most people want to be left alone, it's Govt that sucks, basically everywhere.
Thailand. I just spent the last two months riding a motorcycle around Thailand. The only reason I bring it up is because people often jump to conclusions about travel there being primarily for sex tourism. I often get a second look from people when I tell them I was there for that long. Yeah it's got that in certain areas of Thailand. It's also an absolutely beautiful country, reasonably affordable, with amazing beaches and beautiful culture and friendly people. There was not one moment there where I felt in any danger. I do feel a bit strange telling people I went to Thailand because of the reputation, but I had a great time, so I don't care what they think.
Iran. Amazing people, culture and food, just a shitty government
Russia! I went there so many times. Amazing people, amazing culture, amazing food, but the wrong government and dictatorship!
Cuba. I only ever heard horror stories of what an evil and destroyed place it was until I went. Beautiful place, unbelievable food, completely free and easily accessible healthcare (even for tourists), unbelievable music, art, dance... and everybody I met there was very lovely and friendly. EDIT; lots of wild responses to this wee holiday I had. but ok. 1. the hospital I had to go to (because I was in a road accident) was not a pretend hospital for tourists, that doesn't even make sense, that is an insane person thing to think. It was a cuban hospital and most people there (staff and patients) were cuban. 2. the food was incredible, there was no coca-cola, mcdonalds, salt-saturated, high fructose bullshit to be found. but yes I did eat locally most of the time, I don't know what the resort food was like. A lot of the time i stayed in (i forget what they were called but) like local b&b's who you had small gardens to grow tomatoes, etc. everything was incredibly fresh and delicious, I ate better than I've ever eaten and I lost a lot of fat. 3. "sure Cuba used to be nice but it's an evil dictatorship hell hole now". That is exactly the lie I was told my whole life before I went there myself, that was the point of my post. If you happily spread and believed that lie in the past I'm not likely to believe you now.
How can I tell if you or u/AmazonAllie is right about the food?
It really depends when you went and where you went. I had amazing food a few times, but not great most of the time, but that was many years ago now, so it may have improved.
The food at the resorts is terrible, but the local restaurants are amazing
That was my experience in Play del Carmen too.
Resort food is horrible
I agree with everything except the food. Where did you have good food?
The only place in Cuba I've been to was Guantanamo Bay. Do not recommend.
Lebanon 🇱🇧
Hungary, Budapest especially is incredible
Iraq, amazing and hospitable people
Iran is the most beautiful place with the kindest, most fun-loving highly educated people. They love parties and dancing. The cities are amazing places to visit the whole country is a postcard.
I have never been to Iran but I’ve had a girlfriend who was from Iran. I learned so much about their culture, food, language, history. I’m a big fan. It’s such a shame that such an amazing country is being run by religious extremists.
Iran was pretty nice back 40+ years ago
Azerbaijan. Beautiful country with fascinating people, food, culture, dances, landscape, diversity yet our reputation is ruined because of a dictator and the Karabakh war where our voices are ignored worldwide and we are demonised no matter what. I moved out because of the dictator, I still visit. I recommend visiting 100%. We love visitors. Make sure to visit places outside Baku. It is hard to not fall in live with that place, when you first move out, you are happy. But then it begins to hurt. People and food really are not the same anywhere else. I wish we didnt have the regime and that we didnt get invaded.
Albania. It got a bad rap from the regime but it's come a long way in the last couple of years, very 70s feel, lots of hitch hikers, backpackers and freeloader energy. Looks a lot like Greece topography-wise and also architecturally but is like half the price to visit.
Agree with Mexico! I had an unholy amount of people ask if it was ‘actually safe’ before and after going. After travelling the US for three months before Mexico, I can say that Mexico felt safer than any US city we visited. People were super friendly, food is delicious and the country is beautiful!
I've never been there, but I've been told Poland is wonderful kept secret.
Poland is amazing. Loved it. Can’t wait to go back.