You hear that, every other city in the world? Melbourne is the world’s friendliest. So shove that right up your jumper, which you’ll need because it’s a bit chilly here. What’s that? You didn’t bring one? Oh, no worries. Borrow one of mine! Totally fine. Actually, you can keep that, it looks way too good on you to only be temporary. What’s that? Pay? Nonsense! It’s a gift from me to you, friend!
The 2014 ranking of the World’s Friendliest (and Unfriendliest) Cities by Condé Nast Traveler is out, and the Victorian capital is squarely entrenched at the top of the list. The ranking allows readers to rate a city’s friendliness not just on the manners of its citizens, but a range of factors that influence how welcome a visitor feels in a particular city.
Melbourne was praised for its “abundance of parks and fabulous public art,” and Melburnians in particular praised for being a “friendly bunch… famous for their wonderful sense of humour.” Along with world class hotels, food and nightlife, the southern capital of the land was a runaway (tied with Auckland – but that’s neither here nor there) winner for World’s Friendliest City.
Though all is not lost for Sydney, however, with the Harbour City grabbing fifth place on the rankings; an acheivement attained due to it being “the most beautiful large city in the world” that was home to the world’s best food.
The fact is, though, that if you wind up in either city you’re probably going to have a good time. Much like if you wind up in one of the other cities rated as being among the top 10 friendliest in the world.
THE WORLD’S TOP TEN FRIENDLIEST CITIES
1 (tied). Melbourne, Australia
1 (tied). Auckland, New Zealand
3. Victoria, Canada
4. Charleston, USA
5 (tied). Dublin, Ireland
5 (tied). Sydney, Australia
7. Siem Reap, Cambodia
8. Cape Town, South Africa
9 (tied). Savannah, USA
9 (tied). Seville, Spain
11 (tied). Budapest, Hungary
11 (tied). Salzburg, Austria
But on the other hand, if you find yourself in one of the world’s unfriendliest cities, you might want to keep your wits about you. The list rates a bunch of towns that have an air of being a bit too cool for you, and really goes quite a long way towards confirming that the French have precisely zero fucks to give when it comes to welcoming strangers.
THE WORLD’S TOP TEN UNFRIENDLIEST CITIES
1. Johannesburg, South Africa
2. Cannes, France
3. Moscow, Russia
4. Paris, France
5. Marseille, France
6. Beijing, China
7. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Milan, Italy
9. Monte Carlo, Monaco
10. Nassau, Bahamas
Photo: Scott Barbour via Getty Images.
