World's Friendliest and Unfriendliest Cities Aren't What You'd Think!

Caroline Morse Teel is the Managing Editor for SmarterTravel Media. Follow her on Instagram @TravelWithCaroline.

Caroline joined Boston-based SmarterTravel in 2011 after living in Ireland, London, and Manhattan. She's traveled to all seven continents, jumped out of planes, and bungeed off bridges in the pursuit of a good story. She loves exploring off-the-beaten path destinations, anything outdoorsy, and all things adventure.

Her stories have also appeared online at USA Today, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Yahoo, Boston.com, TripAdvisor, Buzzfeed, Jetsetter, Oyster, Airfarewatchdog, and others.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: "Earplugs. A good pair has saved my sleep and sanity many times!"

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro.

Travel Motto: "Don't be boring."

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: "Aisle (when the first class private suite isn't available)."

E-mail her at cteel@smartertravel.com.

See recent posts by Caroline Morse Teel

If you want to mingle with some welcoming locals on your next trip, what city should you visit and which should you avoid? Conde Nast Traveler aims to help, with their new survey on the most and least friendly cities in the world.

Readers were polled, and the most people voted Newark, New Jersey as the world’s unfriendliest city. Of course, people who have only flown in and out of Newark on their way to New York City, might be biased against this city! The second unfriendliest city was further afield—Islamabad, Pakistan ranked number two. Oakland (California), Luanda (Angola), and Kuwait City rounded out the top five unfriendliest list.

If you want to be embraced with open arms, visit Florianopolis, Brazil, voted the number one friendliest city in the world. The city’s airport even got high praise by readers—and impressive feat! The U.S. barely broke the top five—Hobart (Tasmania), Thimpu (Bhutan), Queenstown (New Zealand); and Charleston, South Caroline were voted the most friendly after Florianopolis.

Where do you think are the world’s unfriendliest and friendliest cities? Tell us in the comments!

You Might Also Like:

We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.