25 Locals Share What Tourist Activities They Hate The Most

In the vast world of cultural diversity, understanding and respecting local customs can be the key to a positive travel experience. However, as Reddit user Potato_Warrior420 discovered, not all visitors adhere to these unspoken rules, leading to a fascinating discussion about the most detested behaviors exhibited by travelers in various countries. In a quest for cultural insights, the Reddit user posed the question to the global Reddit community, prompting users to share their grievances about the annoying habits of visitors. Let's dive into the top responses that shed light on the faux pas that locals wish tourists would avoid.

#1

Image source: chasing-me, Brian Yurasits / unsplash (not the actual photo) Litter

#2

Image source: Thatwierdhullcityfan, Lorena Kelly / unsplash (not the actual photo) Harass the queen’s guard. It’s s**t pay, they’re in a baking hot costume and some jackass wants to be “funny”. Just don’t do it.

#3

Image source: Monotonegent, David Clode / unsplash (nott the actual photo) Cut lines. People aren't queueing up for the fun of it.

#4

In Finland we have thing called "jokamiehenoikeus" which means that everyone has a right to walk around any forest, no matter who owns the land, government or private people or company. We are allowed to swim in the lakes, collect berries, hiking, sleep in tent and so on without asking permission as long as we don't do any harm to the nature. But there is a very big rule of "kotirauha", which means respecting other people homes. It is absolutely forbidden to go to anyone's yard or garden, pick apples or berries from garden, go to a beach which is part of someones yard and so on. Nowdays quite lot of tourists know about jokamiehenoikeus, but they misinterpret it and may come to someone's yard, use their patio furniture, steal berries from garden and so on. And when tenants try to get them leave they start to argue. Most absurd one I've heard is tourist coming to ask someone to move their sheep away from their own yard because they wanted their wedding photos taken in their yard and didn't want sheep in the background. They couldn't stop laughing and asked the happily wedded tourists to kindly to get the f*ck off. We are happy if you want to enjoy our peaceful forests and swim in our lakes, but please respect people living here. Image source: GeekyWandered

#5

Interact with wildlife. No, it's not safe to go up to the elk and take a selfie. It's not funny or safe to feed bears. You might not die, but the bear you habituated will, and we can only hope it's before it [ends] someone else. Image source: Oishiio42

#6

Image source: willmcl01, Jumpei Mokudai / unsplash (not the actual photo) Walk through the vineyards, past the signs saying please DO NOT ENTER OUR VINEYARDSs. in 4 different languages...

#7

Image source: redditwossname, Ethan Elisara / unsplash (not the actual photo) Go swimming when they don't know how to swim and/or don't understand how rips work.

#8

Image source: ImReadyToEndThings, Kyle Mackie / unsplash (not the actual photo) Smuggle contaminated food in. Biosecurity laws matter here! (Australia)

#9

Image source: Capital_Dinner_3406, Max Andrey / unsplash (not thw actual photo) Tell me everything thats wrong about where I live and how much better it is where they live.

#10

Image source: varthalon, Alice Triquet / unsplash (not the actual photo) We get tons of tourists at the huge national parks in the west. Every year a couple of tourists wander off the established trails to explore... These parks are larger than many countries. It takes a lot of time and resources and luck to find and rescue them.

#11

Chinese tourists try to touch my kids hair. She’s a cute little redhead with curly locks. Kinda like strawberry Shortcake. They do this all the damned time. I had to physically smack some of their grubby hands away and threaten to beat their asses. I’m not small either. 6’4” 230. If they don’t approach they take hundreds of pics. I’m in the US. Image source: alczervikslumberyard

#12

Image source: Symnestra, Sébastien Goldberg / unsplash (not the actual photo) Please stop trying to go hiking in the summer. They have to send the helicopters every time. When it's 80F at *sunrise*, know that it is only going to get worse. We're not staying inside because we're lazy Americans, it's because the sun is a deadly laser. Love, The Southwest.

#13

Say how cheap it is as we experience massive inflation and a cost of living crisis. Easy to say when you earn 3x or 5x local salary and stay for a week. Image source: -Agent-Pierce-

#14

Image source: Harmalin, ibuki Tsubo / unsplash (not the actual photo) In Albania , the British and Australian tourists are always drunk and annoying. And sometimes they start fights. It’s always the brits and Australians.

#15

Feed the seagulls Image source: Weagle308

#16

Image source: Noclassydrops, Joey Csunyo / unsplash (not the actual photo) I dont hate this per se but some visitors making plans to visit several states during a weeklong vacation not realizing the size of the united states its make me laugh mostly.

#17

Image source: No_Tradition6695, Mayer Tawfik / unsplash (not the actual photo) I’m in DC. People get in the water like it’s a water park at the monuments and memorials. Especially the WWII Memorial. This is not allowed. There are signs. But it’s not enforced.

#18

Rudely shove you out of the way to get pictures of literally everything Image source: SweetQeet

#19

Image source: SkinnyObelix, Isabella Mendes / unsplash (not the actual photo) Just the Brits, they can't drink with moderation, and have no shame about everything that comes with that.

#20

Americans wanting to pay with $US, complaining about the exchange rate, angry that their change wasn't in $US. Image source: djauralsects

#21

Asking or expecting people to fund their travels. Begpackers. Image source: Dread-it-again

#22

Call everything here by the location name in Lord of the Rings. It was decades ago folks, maybe come to NZ to learn our culture including Te Reo Maori. You're not climbing Mount Doom, it's called Ngauruhoe and it's immensely sacred to the local Iwi (tribe). You're in a UNESCO dual world heritage site and our oldest national Park. Appreciate the place for all the things it is, not just Peter Jackson's choice of film locations. Image source: chullnz

#23

Image source: RoboftheNorth, Todd Cravens / unsplash (not the actual photo) Whale watching is a huge tourist industry where I live, however we have strict laws and guide lines for whale viewing to keep from disturbing their transit and feeding habits, as well as to keep viewers safe. Yes, the photos in ads and on websites show the best moments from other tours, but that does not mean [or entitle you to] having the same experience. I hate tourists getting upset that the whales aren't jumping out of the water for them and in some cases getting angry or even ask for a refund when the whales don't put on a show. If you want to have them do tricks for you then go to a country that allows the capture and abuse of marine animals and give them your money instead. If you want to see them undisturbed in their natural habitat, then you can either take a whale tour and hope for the best, or move to where the whales are and spend everyday on the water and accumulate experiences. I've been here for 15 years and on the water most of the summers, and have only seen whales breach a handful of times, but regardless of their activity it has always been a cool experience seeing them.

#24

Image source: sprknl, Murillo de Paula / unsplash (not the actual photo) Ride bikes. People come to Amsterdam and rent a bike even though they haven’t been on a bike for years, or have never biked through busy city traffic, and then they go biking through our busiest streets during rush hour. It’s horrible.

#25

Everything. I'm in Tromsø and especially the asian tourists. They lay down in the streets to get a glimpse of the Northern lights. Everyone knows to let the people off the bus before entering it, but not the tourists. They just push themselves on, stand in the middle so that nobody can get off or get ro a free seat. Europeans, the italians and spanish call friends etc with facetime and use speaker. That annoys the hell out of me. Also we dont have a single store in the city centre, everything is tourist shops that sell trolls and other stupid s**t. Image source: kvaloysletta