Americans often fear travelling abroad to foreign countries because they believe that most countries aren’t very friendly to the American tourist. This is simply not the case. In fact, most countries are quite American friendly…
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Most American friendly countries that you should visit.
Here is a list of the most American-friendly countries that you should check out. Especially if this is your first trip abroad, you’ll want to have the best chances of having a great holiday in a foreign country.
The best way to do that as an American is to visit countries that are friendly to Americans.
These most American friendly countries are in alphabetical order:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, China – Hong Kong / Macau, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo, Democratic Republic of (DRC), Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador. Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Republic of The’ Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Territories, Italy, Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Republic of (South Korea), Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan), Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldova, Republic of, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar/Burma, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Republic of, Norway, Oman, Pacific Islands, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovak Republic (Slovakia), Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor Leste, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks & Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America (USA) there’s no place like home, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (UK), Virgin Islands (US), Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
As you can see I’ve listed just about every country on the planet, because believe it or not, most if not all countries are friendly to the American tourist.
However number 1. Always check the State Department’s Travel Advisories or the State Department’s Travel for the country or countries you may want to visit.
Bottom line, although the citizens might be friendly to Americans, doesn’t mean their governments are. Diplomatic relations between countries can have a dramatic impact on your trip.
This can mean that you may not be allowed to travel there i.e Cuba, Iran, North Korea or that relations could be strained i.e. Russia whereas even though you may be allowed to travel there, if you get into trouble they might not be so understanding…
Number 2. Please keep in mind that although most countries are friendly and genuinely like Americans, the same can’t be said to their feelings about the US government.
Number 3. Just because a country’s citizens are friendly to American tourists doesn’t mean you should always feel free to visit.
Some of the countries may be in the midst of a war, civil war or civil unrest, famine or be experiencing some other conflict or strife and may not be the best places to visit at the moment.
So again, check the US State Department’s travel advisories (links above) before you plan your trip to have the latest up-to-date information.
So first rule, don’t talk politics. Don’t even let the conversation drift into politics, especially if there is drinking involved. Nothing good will come of it. Not even a mutual understanding…
What country has the most American expatriates?
According to the US government’s Federal Voting Assistance Program’s Overseas Citizen Population Analysis Report, Canada seems to have the largest American Expatriate population followed by the UK.
Some, however Wikipedia has Mexico having the most American Expatriates living there, followed by the European Union, then Canada.
There is just no way of knowing the exact amounts since neither the US nor many other governments require American Expatriates to formerly register their living status.
Many American Expatriates can live in one country for up to 6 months to a year on a simple tourist Visa or Visa Waiver Status. In fact, here is a list of 19 countries where Americans can do just that:
- Albania – 1 year
- Antigua and Barbuda – 6 months
- Armenia – 180 days
- Bahamas – 8 months
- Barbados – 6 months
- Belize – 180 days
- Bermuda – 6 months
- Canada – 6 months
- Cayman Islands – 6 months
- Central African Republic – 180 days
- Dominica – 6 months
- Georgia – 1 year
- Gibraltar – 180 days
- Jamaica – 6 months
- Mexico – 180 days
- Montserrat – 6 months
- Panama – 180 days
- Peru – 183 days
- United Kingdom – 6 months
Always check the Embassy of the country you wish to travel to for the most current information regarding Visas, length of stays, etc.
Which countries do American tourists visit most?
The top two countries that American tourists visit most according to a 2019 study by the ITA National Travel & Tourism Office of the US Department of Commerce were Mexico and Canada. No surprises there. Here’s a link to U.S. CITIZEN TRAVEL TO INTERNATIONAL REGIONS data page.
What countries are safe for American tourists?
Countries that are safe for American tourists normally include those mostly of the developed world. If a country is considered first world, then they are generally considered safe for American tourists to visit.
However, don’t take that to mean that they are safe. The same way you don’t want to be discouraged from visiting less developed and poor countries of the planet as well.
Although you should check the US embassy in the particular country you plan on visiting just to get a general idea of the possible risks and safety measures you should be aware.
But sometimes the American government can be a bit out of touch with the realities on the ground.
If I heeded to every US embassy warning about a country I was traveling to, I would never have left the continental United States.
This does not mean that you shouldn’t pay attention to Embassy warnings, etc. but you also have a wide range of other information that you should be consuming about the country you plan on visiting as a tourist. Check out the forums on Reddit, Quora etc.
Also you might want to check some facebook group groups of the country you are visiting as well. This should give you an overall general idea of what to expect as far as safety concerns are and not just official warnings from the US embassy.
Countries most like America.
This is a difficult question to answer. But in general, you have to consider language and communication issues first and foremost.
So countries that are most like America in that aspect are the UK, Canada , Australia and New Zealand for the most part.
There are also British Commonwealth countries where English is an official language, but many of these are in sub-Saharan Africa as well as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan etc. These are definitely places that aren’t like America.
But if you’re looking for countries that are most like America, the above 4 in my opinion are the most like America.
Most American friendly countries, summary.
As you can see, despite what you hear on the news, not all countries are anti-American, flag burning, Yankee go home types.
Quite on the contrary. Unlike many Americans themselves actually, most countries in the world can distinguish between the foreign policy of the US government and American citizens themselves.
American citizens do have specific stereotypes that you may have to overcome especially if you will be staying in a country longer than a typical tourist visit.
These typical American negative stereotypes:
- Friendly, but actually overly friendly to the point of coming off as insincere.
- Loud.
- Childlike and naive.
- Big spenders.
- Idiots with money.
- Refuse to learn another language and only speak English.
These are just a few, but they are the main ones that you will need to overcome, if you want to be taken seriously by the people you come in contact with. Even in American friendly countries.
Nobody likes a loud, arrogant and inconsiderate tourist no matter which country they come from. So don’t be the ugly American, but the nice, friendly one that they see on TV.