When you walk down the street, how likely are you to smile at a stranger? How likely are they to smile back? Little things like that can really change how you experience a place, especially when you’re on holiday.
A warm welcome is up there with good food and nice weather as a big motivator for wanting to revisit a destination. Cities might get a bad rap for being inhospitable, but these vast urban centres are made up of a diverse spectrum of communities. Once you get to know a city’s neighbourhoods and make an effort to chat to locals, you’ll find there are friendly faces in abundance.
Recommended: The underrated European country named the friendliest on the continent
Earlier this year, we polled 18,500 residents of cities across the globe and asked them a series of questions about their hometowns. Their answers helped us compile our list of the 50 best cities in the world right now, and they also gave us insight into stuff like which cities offer the best green spaces, where to go for arts and culture, and where people are happiest.
In order to discover the planet’s most amiable destinations, we also asked locals how likely they were to describe their hometown as ‘welcoming and friendly’.
Recommended: The 39 coolest neighbourhoods in the world in 2025
We discovered that those from Porto, Portugal, were more likely to call their city friendly than anyone else in the world. A whopping 85 percent of locals in Porto told us that their neighbours were nice, making it the official friendliest city on the planet.
Porto also came fourth for beauty, twelfth for happiness, and eighth in the overall ranking, so clearly its residents rate it pretty highly all around. As Time Out writer and local expert Mariana Morais Pinheiro put it, ‘Porto just keeps winning awards’ – only this week it was named ‘Best City Destination’ at the prestigious World Travel Awards.
In second place was Bilbao, where 71 percent of natives that we surveyed said their city was welcoming, but it wasn’t the only Spanish city to make the cut. In fact, four places in Spain made it into the top 20, which is more than any other nation on the list. Maybe there’s something about the warm climate and delicious tapas that keeps Spanish people so genial.
In third was Medellin, the second biggest city in Colombia. This vibrant, bustling town is full of brilliant food, buzzing nightlife, and happy people – in fact, it’s the second-happiest city in the entire world. No wonder 69 percent of people reckon their city would greet you with open arms.
The friendliest cities in the world in 2025
Here are the 20 friendliest cities in the world, based on the percentage of locals who would describe their hometown as such.
- Porto, Portugal
- Bilbao, Spain
- Medellin, Colombia
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Brighton, UK
- Madrid, Spain
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Chicago, USA
- Belfast, UK
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- New Orleans, USA
- Valencia, Spain
- Glasgow, UK
- Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Montreal, Canada
- Seville, Spain
- Brisbane, Australia
- Dubai, UAE
These are the best places to travel in 2026, according to Lonely Planet.
Feeling chilly? This is Europe’s best destination for guaranteed winter sun this season.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out Travel newsletter for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.