Life

Locals shared the unwritten rules tourists should never break – 21 top travel tips

It’s always handy before visiting another country – remember then? – to know the unwritten rules tourists really shouldn’t break.

We only mention this after someone called Skinnysaif had a question for Reddit.

“What should tourists NEVER do in your country?”

And we’ve read all the replies – well, quite a few of them – so you don’t have to and here are our 21favourites.

1.

‘Please don’t walk on the bike lines.

‘With kind regards,

‘Everyone in the Netherlands.’
languagepotato

2.

‘Australia. For f-ck sake. DON’T GO NEAR THE CROCODILE, DON’T TOUCH THE SNAKE, AND DON’T F-CKING TRY TO EAT THE RED BACK SPIDER. These are all true things stupid tourists have done here, including some American picking a fight with a kangaroo. (The Kangaroo won).’

Rumplestiltskin1254

3.

‘In England, respect the queues and do not cut. We will stare at you passive aggressively with the fury of a thousand suns.
Thatweasel

4.

‘In South Africa when you go on a “safari” (we call it a game drive), you must never ever get out of your vehicle or get close to any big animals because that is how there are stories of people dying to animals here.’
the10starpotato

5.

‘Germany here, and this mostly goes out to Americans. You should never assume you can talk privately anywhere in public Germany, just because you speak English.

‘I don’t know if this is different in the US, but here, almost anyone can speak at least 2 languages, and very well. Pretty anyone can speak english, even more so in the cities.

‘I usually try to join in to any conversation americans have in the subway about how weird “those Germans” are!’
MomoLittle

6.

‘Yellowstone is not a f-cking amusement parks the wild animals are extremely dangerous and will kill you in an instant. Do not step into the hot springs they will melt your flesh completely off your bones and you will die an agonizing death.’
hhr577ggvvfryy66rd

7.

‘In Vietnam, commit to crossing the road. It looks scary with the endless scooter stampedes, but if you just cross at a steady pace, they’ll avoid you. Do not try to dodge or make sudden movements. Just simply walk across.’
ricehatwarrior

8.

‘In Finland, don’t get too close to strangers. We really value personal space.’
-manabreak

9.

‘Spain. Please dont jump off a balcony to the pool, then injure yourself (if not die) and say “”HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE A SYSTEM TO PREVENT THIS???!!!””. This is a real thing that happens a lot.’
ElDoil

10.

‘When you sit down to eat in a restaurant in Portugal, the waiter will bring you bread, olives, or some other snacks. If you eat it, expect to pay for it. If you don’t touch it, they’ll take it away and pretend like never existed.’
BaiRuoBing