When you’re travelling, the people around – whether locals or fellow explorers – you can make or break your trip. No amount of brilliant architecture or delicious food can make up for feeling unwelcome, but good chat can do a lot of heavy lifting for a mediocre destination.
As it turns out, one of the friendliest cities in the entire world is right here in the UK, according to the readers of Condé Nast Traveller (CNT). The travel site’s Readers’ Choice Awards come around once a year, ranking destinations according to reader surveys.
One of the factors that CNT readers voted on was friendliness. To determine the world’s friendliest places, each city was given a score out of 100, which represents the percentage of respondents who found the local communities welcoming during their trip.
Edinburgh was the UK city which made it into the top 10 in the world, coming eighth overall. A very impressive 93.04 percent of travellers thought that the residents of Scotland’s capital were good company, with CNT describing them as ‘some of the friendliest around’.
Everyone knows that Edinburgh is full of gorgeous architecture, and that attending its world-famous Fringe Festival is on every up-and-coming actor/comedian/creative’s bucket list, but according to CNT ‘what really brings Edinburgh to life is the warm spirit of its people’.
The magazine also praised the city’s atmosphere, calling it ‘good-humoured, open-minded, and pulsing with creative energy’. Plus, staff across Edinburgh are eager to provide ‘superb standards of hospitality’, making your stay special from start to finish. CNT recommends you ‘join the cheery crowds as they spill out of pub doors’, where ‘you may just find yourself forming friendships for life’.
Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, was named the world’s friendliest city, with 98.75 percent of visitors praising the local hospitality. Not only did it get the gold, it was also the only South American city to make it into the top ten, with CNT lauding the ‘ground-breaking charisma’ of its people.
The friendliest cities in the UK
In Condé Nast Traveller’s separate ranking of the UK’s friendliest cities, Edinburgh came in third place, beaten by Manchester (93.33) and Glasgow (97). Of Scotland’s eight cities, three were in the top 10.
Here are the top ten friendliest cities in the UK according to the readers of CNT.
You can have a look at CNT’s friendliest cities in the world here.
Two more supermoons will be visible in Britain in 2025: here’s when to see them
ICYMI: This is the best island in Britain
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.