Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Foreigners Describe The Most Disrespectful Thing They've Seen An American Tourist Do In Their Country

Foreigners Describe The Most Disrespectful Thing They've Seen An American Tourist Do In Their Country
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Why are Americans so stubborn in our behaviors when we travel? Would you go into a stranger's home and just put your feet up on the coffee table? Apparently the answer for many of you is yes.

When I am preparing for foreign travel I do a ton of research first. I want to make sure I know as much as I can, as to have the safest and most enjoyable experience possible. I also want to understand customs and the culture as to not be rude or leave a lasting bad impression.

And from the sounds of it, I'm an American minority on this topic.

Redditoru/Bugginettewanted Americans to listen up so that the next time we travel, we leave a better impression. So they inquired:

Non Americans of Reddit, what is the weirdest thing you have seen an American tourist do that would be considered very disrespectful/inappropriate in your country?

The only time I really caused a scene while traveling was when I was with a theatre troupe. We went to Amsterdam to tour a show. And let's just say we might have "indulged" in some cannabis, and run amok in the towns square for a bit. You could feel the disdain from the locals. Sorry, y'all. We'll do better next time.

Thieves...

Jurassic Park Dinosaur GIF by VidiotsGiphy

"When I was in France a couple of American tourists tried to sneak out of the Paris Catacombs with a bone they had stolen."

- Quack_Candle

Cheapskate...

"Not buy their round. In a pub in Ireland. When the pub round system had been explained to them. And they had happily taken drinks from everyone. And when it was their round, and everyone had empty glasses and it was mentioned that "Think it's your round..." and they responded " I think I'm good now thanks" Mortified for bringing them with me!! (and yes I bought the round for everyone else on their behalf.)"

- Siriusly_no_siriusly

NO!!

"I'm an American but I was visiting England and touring the Tower of London. There was a cannon behind a rope with a "Do not touch or climb" sign. This American woman lifted the rope and told her kid (maybe 7 years old) to go sit on the cannon so she could take a picture. The KID protested and said the sign said no... The woman said she didn't care, and ordered her kid to do it or she'd ground them."

- misterkittybutt

Hush up Karen!!

Karen GIF by moodmanGiphy

"I overheard the guy standing in front of me in the queue at mc D's having a meltdown:"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T ACCEPT AMERICAN DOLLARS. THIS IS A MCDONALD'S!!!" This was in Poland, Europe."

- YoungDiscord

U Crazy Girl!

"An American exchange student who complained to me in anger that book stores in Germany have so many books in German. I mean, it's not unusual here for every book store to even have a small section of books in other languages including English so it's not like she never got to buy a book here she could read."

- AnEmptyCarPark

How do you not research the currency? It's literally the FIRST thing you should be doing. For the love of God. There really should be a bad behavior travel ban list. It's not that arduous a task to not act like a fool. Oof.

Take It!

Megan Mullally Lol GIF by Will & GraceGiphy

"I was in Rome and a lady was confused why the confectionery stand man wouldn't take her dollars."

- am_i-lost

Crazy Bird

"I was working a bar in Scotland. There was a woman one night with her daughter and she refused to pay with anything other than American cash. It was a super uncomfortable situation, me trying to explain how stupid it all was, her daughter (who I think was living in Scotland) was trying to calm her down and trying to pay but the mother kept pulling the her hand away from the card machine saying "you people love our money, our money is more important than yours."

"She kicked on for a solid 5 to 10 minutes, her daughter ended up paying and leaving. Then she had a go at me for embarrassing her daughter and she even left a review on trip advisor explaining the situation, she explained it perfectly literally wrote herself as the bag guy in the review. Freaking mind boggling how delusional this bird was."

- jaxxie04

"Haven't you planned your trip?"

"Probably only weird but when on a flight back to the UK from the US, the American lady sat next to me, started asking questions about England about 40 minutes before landing and not just like any "local recommendations" but really basic stuff like what currency do we use. It seemed like she had got on the plane knowing absolutely nothing about the UK, which blew my mind."

"Not just from a "haven't you planned your trip?" POV but having the confidence to do that. She seemed to think it was a small place and everything she wanted to see would be in front of her hotel. She was very polite and lovely about it in a naive way though."

- skiporovers

To what end lady?

"In Canada some stores will accept American cash as payment, but by law have to still give Canadian change. I worked in a city that got a lot of American tourists, and it was crazy how often someone would get really frustrated with us for not giving them American change. I had someone even accuse me of lying about it being the law. To what end lady?"

"It's been pointed out that this may not actually be a law, it may just be the rules at the store or some accounting thing. It's been like ten years so the details are fuzzy."

- OneSmoothCactus

Moron!!

Unimpressed Loop GIFGiphy

"In Australia, shook a koala out of a tree at a wildlife park."

- Istealpotatoes

Lavender Lady

"I was at a lavender farm in the South of France a few years ago. Two coach loads of American tourists pull up, they all got out on the standard "you won't get long enough to really see this place" type tour. One lady very proudly states she is an expert on lavender and that this place was "cute but it's all fake, the lavender isn't the right color." There were bees and other insects all over it, the whole farm smelled amazing and there was a harvest taking place! It was very real."

- Suspicious-Comment39

Sensible Shoes People

"I live in Norway and 30 minutes from my house there is this mountain called Pulpit Rock. It is the biggest tourist attraction nearby. It is not the most difficult trail, but it is pretty steep, and every year (before covid) I would see American women struggling because they were wearing flip flops or high heels."

- JoeyGold

Hot/Cold

"Not offensive or inappropriate, but I really want to talk about it. Once in the airport, coming back to Australia in where I'm from in the middle of summer, I saw a dad and his 2 children, all 3 of them wearing full winter coats. The dad said to the both of them "try to stay warm, it's going to be cold outside."

- ImDaBest_69

Slower

GIF by Brett EldredgeGiphy

"Repeat themselves over and over more slowly and more loudly each time. No witch, it's not we're thick or hard of hearing. We speak a different language, here."

- MercyChalk

Just Gross

"German here. Never go to visit any concentration camp museum without understanding that in less than 10 minutes your blood will start to boil because of how disrespectful tourists can be. It's unbelievable."

- v10_dog

"I remember seeing photos of "influencers" doing yoga and interpretative dance in places like Dachau. Like, WTF? How does that occur to you to do? So inappropriate and disrespectful."

- BxGyrl416

Stay Home

"I used to work in a high end restaurant. Five or six course meals are the standard. So people take their time to eat, chat and enjoy the evening for at least two to three hours. It is normal to have half an hour in between meals. If we would serve faster the guest would complain about the food being served too fast."

"Anyway, this table of mostly local people plus one American woman being very loud with a thick, i guess, New York accent was complaining after three minutes after every course where her food was. First i explained the above. The rest of the table was also getting a bit awkward about her behavior. She kept complaining though. Telling how incredibly disappointed she was."

"I kept explaining that the food we serve is freshly made, it takes time to prepare. And that the whole idea is to enjoy the evening in with the people you are. She just would get concept and react with so much disbelieve. Lady you are abroad, if you want to stuff your face with food in under five minutes go to a fast food chainboy even better stay at home."

- Puppie00

Not the Worst

"Not exactly dumb but just being a**holes. My mom's job is to deal with tourists. Every other person from other countries at least tries to be either nice or neutral. The American guy asked if she understood him. She answers in english (better than my own) and the guy just asked that question a few more times with a shit eating grin. Apparently not the worst American she had encountered. Not weird but disrespectful as hell."

- TuShen

Herbs?

"I was in a tour group in Tajikistan and we were inside a locals house who had invited us in for tea and he was telling us about his family and how many children they have etc. The only American in the group piped up and asked 'what contraception does your wife use, does she use herbs or something?"

"Everyone was just aghast and he politely avoided the question, then there was a long awkward silence. And so the she asked AGAIN! At that point another tour member interjected and said 'ok, I think it's time for us to leave, thanks for having us."

- frankiestree

Too Far

eugene levy comedy GIF by Schitt's CreekGiphy

"The best one I've heard was the American tourist complaining that they built Edinburgh castle so far from the train station."

- Are-Sole

"But where is the summit?"

"When I came down from the Fuji summit after a 8 hour climb and 4 hour descent with 3 layers of clothing to protect myself from the weather, an American with a selfie stick, in t-shirt and shorts asked me where mount Fuji was. I told him we are on mount Fuji, it's a big mountain/volcano. "But where is the summit?" I pointed to the summit and told him it's about 8 hours that way. This guy thought he could just come in with his selfie stick, grab a few quick selfies on the summit and return to Tokyo lol."

- vivachris

American Karens are just running a global mess. I mean who thinks this is decent, human behavior? Y'all need some serious discipline. And Americans are the first ones to point out bad behavior of visitors here. Help it make sense Lord.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Kimberly Landry Coates; chemtrails
WVUE Fox 8 New Orleans/YouTube

MAGA Lawmaker Tries To Explain What 'Chemtrails' Are After Proposing Bonkers Ban—And It Doesn't Go Well

MAGA Republican lawmakers in the Louisiana House of Representatives passed state bill 46 (SB46) on May 29 to ban "chemtrails" in Louisiana airspace.

One of the bill's major proponents, MAGA Representative Kimberly Landry Coates, claimed SB46 was necessary because "chemtrails" are altering the weather. Speaking on the House floor, Coates said she is concerned about the white streaks she has seen in the sky, claiming they create clouds and affect weather patterns.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bert and Ernie from "Sesame Street"
Lennart Preiss/dpa (Photo by Lennart Preiss/picture alliance via Getty Images

MAGA Is Melting Down After 'Sesame Street' Shared A Sweet Post About Pride Month

Sesame Street was attacked by homophobic conservatives after the program took to X to celebrate the start of Pride Month by stressing that "everyone is welcome."

The beloved children's program published the following message to accompany a picture showing Sesame Street characters' clasping each other hands to represent its commitment to inclusivity:

Keep ReadingShow less
Lindsey Graham; Greta Thunberg
Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images; Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images

Lindsey Graham Slammed For Posting Casually Cruel Threat Aimed At Greta Thunberg

South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was widely condemned on X after he tweeted a threat aimed at Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who is part of a flotilla that's attempting to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The vessel, named Madleen, is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a nonprofit known for organizing maritime missions to challenge Israel’s control over Gaza’s coastal access. Organizers of the effort described it not as a charitable delivery but as a form of nonviolent protest against what they called “Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Man whispering 'Shh' with a finger pressed against his lips
Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash

People Reveal Their Biggest F**k Ups They Refuse To Admit Until Their Death Bed

Everyone makes mistakes, but sometimes we make a mistake that we'd rather take at least to our deathbed, if not even our grave.

Already cringing at the possibilities, Redditor deadend-decendant asked:

Keep ReadingShow less
The Fifteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa attending the 2025 Met Gala celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”
Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

Ncuti Gatwa's Emotional Exit

Haydi ama!

Ncuti Gatwa’s stint as the groundbreaking Fifteenth Doctor has come to a surprising end in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The Rwandan-Scottish actor was first announced as the next regeneration of the Time Lord, marking the first time an African-born and openly queer actor had been cast in the role.

Keep ReadingShow less