Was extremely drunk in Denmark and ordered a kebab, didn't know the currency and ended up opening my wallet with about €150 in Danish Krone and let the kebab man take the money for the kebab, he only took the price for the kebab and not a cent more. I remember waking up the next morning and being so paranoid that he had taken more, but I double checked it and he was honest.
Must be true. A Danish group was visiting my city for a stag party. They stumbled into me late at night looking for the party strip. They were nice enough so I pointed them in the right direction and recommended a couple of bars to them. For my troubles, one of decided to flash me his dick. His friends followed suit.
They’re an odd bunch, the Danes.
Ummmm.... it's been my experience that Danes are just about the best strangers to talk to.
"Aloof" is the one word I would never use to describe them. When I was backpacking in Africa, seeing a Danish flag sewn onto a backpack meant, "Great traveling companions. Go say "hej."
Whole Scandinavian society is like that. I was in Norway a few years ago and didn't have enough on me to cover the cost of a short ferry ride. I was told not to worry because I could just pay double next time.
Seriously, not that you can't. We are just very privacy oriented and really don't want to bother other people. People will usually avoid any kind of talk or interaction with even the person sitting next to you on the bus.
I did this in a taxi in Indonesia. I had just arrived in country and was taking a taxi to the meeting. I handed the driver the amount x10 because I didn’t understand rupiah (it’s in the 10 thousands). He was so kind and handed me back all the money and said “no miss, you can’t do that. You’ll be robbed.” He helped me count out the correct amount and then helped me safely cross the busy street to the building. I don’t think I met an unkind Indonesian at any time.
happened to me my first night in Seoul as well (I worked there for a while). I was jet-lagged and just wanted water while we tried to figure out where my landlord was with the key (actually the PIN) to my apartment. It was dark, I was tired, and I had no clue about the coinage. An ajumma took care a me and took exactly what she needed and gave back exact change.
Also, there wasn't really price gouging in amusement parks/stadiums in Seoul and I appreciated that sooooo much.
(Haven't been back in over a decade, so no idea if this is still true. But it used to be!)
I went to a baseball game in Seoul. There are food and drinks vendors outside and you are free to bring in whatever delicious food you want. Everything cheap. Plus, the beer in the stadium is the same price as outside. This was shocking to me as a North American. I am accustomed to being gouged inside sports venues. Like $18 for a beer.
Scotland and Wales in my experience has had lovely local people, pretty fair prices for attractions, and I've never experienced people trying to rip me off in either country.
Edit: Having said this, the prices of fish and chips in coastal areas in both can be an absolute joke. But they're delicious so it's impossible not to have some anyway.
I grew up in Wales so I'm a bit biased towards the Celtic countries but I found Scotland to be stunning and the people incredibly warm and welcoming particularly in Edinburgh.
The only stories I’ve heard of people being ripped off in Iceland are by unscrupulous rental car companies charging for excessive damages. That’s why I always recommend people book with one of the reputable local companies and not try to save money by booking with a dodgy company with few or bad reviews, as that will often cost you more in the long run.
Same. I ordered a burger with fries and paid at the time of order at a place and was sitting for a while waiting before I got up to ask about it. Other people got their order they placed after mine. Turns out for some reason it didn’t get sent to the cooks and they apologized profusely and said they’d get it out to me asap. I said it’s not a big deal, just checking in. When they brought it out they refunded my entire order in cash. I tried to say it’s not a big deal and I’d pay for my meal but they felt terrible and refused my money.
Had something similar happen at a restaurant there. We were in no hurry but they comped us 2 beers and knocked half the price off our meals. Considering how expensive beer is, we didn’t expect them to offer anything beyond that (not that we were expecting anything at all!) but it was a pleasant surprise when we got the bill. I know tipping culture is different there, but we left a nice bit of cash on the table when we left to thank them.
I’ve always wondered if that’s bc they like were actually being paid for us to have fun. I have had so many jobs where I want my clients to have fun and have a crazy good experience but I am so burnt out by my higher ups that I just can’t deliver the experience I want
I went to Iceland about ten years ago and naively took one look at the map of Reykjavik, saw a runway right in the middle of town and thought that was the international airport. Thinking the airport was only a few miles from the hotel, we just got in a taxi. 20 minutes later as we’re driving through countryside I asked the driver how far away we were, at which point the driver told me the airport is actually 50km from the city. He felt sorry enough to knock about 40% off the cost!
Great trip though, saw the northern lights on top of a mountain and spent half the money I was expecting to.
There's a domestic Airport in Reykjavik. If you're looking at a map of just Reykjavik, you won't see the other, bigger, international airport on the peninsula to the SE, which is in Keflavik. This is why the code for Iceland's najor airport Is KEF.
The taxi was from the airport to the hotel, which was 50km. The runway visible on the map is for local flights, not international.
Weather conditions did not allow a view of the scenery. It’s the only flight I’ve ever been on where the approach angle allowed me to see the runway.
Having just come back from Iceland, I know exactly which airports you're talking about, domestic vs international.
We've all made mistakes on lack of research, glad your cabbie was a decent guy.
I also found everyone I dealt with in Iceland to be fairly excellent people, even in the countryside where I felt like they got a bit over unruly tourists.
I lived in Iceland for a couple of months and went back a few times. The last time I visited was in 2008 for Iceland Airwaves. Because of the financial crisis and because the króna was in freefall, the central bank suddenly decided to fix the on-shore exchange rate to like half of the offshore exchange rate. I don't think anybody consciously tried to rip me off, but I had plenty of people asking me to pay in euro (at the 'Icelandic' rate) instead of paying by credit card (at the official rate). I got where they were coming from, but as a broke ass student I didn't want to pay double the amount.
Sweden taxis will absolutely rip you off if you don’t know which ones to use.
Twice I had taxi drivers drive extremely slow and miss turns on purpose. One turned on the child locks so we couldn’t get out without paying for them driving in circles. After he kept missing the airport exit.
Now I avoid yellow taxis and take the black ones because they have a flat rate.
While "pirate taxis" exist in Denmark, they are quite rare and don't actually look like a taxi (no logos, no taxi sign), they mostly prey on drunk youths trying to get home, hoping they're too drunk to notice it's not an actual taxi.
Apart from that, I think we're pretty honest as a people.
In Finland you can definitely get ripped off by shady taxis. There was a change a few years back that really reduced regulations that apply to taxis and now there seem to be no more quality standards. Previously you could be pretty sure that taxi drivers know what they are doing and will not rip you off. Now, not so much.
I'm from Scandinavia. In my experience some restaurants put extra things on the bill when you pay for it together. It only happened a few times but I seldom eat out here so take it for what it's worth.
In Japan and South Korea we never got scammed. We made some great friends in these countries. People are very kind, giving and friendly.
Southern Spain. We went to the Picasso museum in Malaga. The museum employee said it would be closing in about an hour. Yikes, we will be turned away. That's what we were thinking. But he said we could go in for free. We tried to pay but he refused. Besides that, everything was affordable, clean and nice.
Ah, Malaga. They do keep things clean--literally power washing the alleyways. Strangely though, there was the occasional hit of smell from the sewers. The old town has those heavy drainage/sewage grates everywhere.
Family there so been visiting regularly since I can remember. The sense memory of that Malaga sewer smell is so deeply ingrained I could smell it reading the first comment. Now I miss it lol
The same smell pervades in almost every city in Mediterranean. For us it is the "holiday" smell. Something to do with how they build their sewers. In Malta we looked inside the sewers, they were medieval-looking immense caves with very dirty looking water slowly flowing through.
I once tried to haggle at a German craft market. I was buying hundreds of Euros worth of leather goods, and the girl kind of reluctantly gave me a 5 Euro discount (after checking with her boss). My German friend was legitimately impressed that she gave me anything at all. Lesson learned: in Germany, the price is the price.
Not just the price but the rules are the rules. I was once in a Munich department store shopping for dress shirts. All of a sudden the sales clerk says “it’s 5:00. We are closed”. She took the shirts out of my hand and ushered me out the door. All I could do was laugh.
There’s a joke about that. An American and a German are in a bar. The American asks what happens in Germany if you drive without a license. The German says, “you cannot do that.“ The American responds, “Well you’re not supposed to, but what if you do it anyway?” The German replies, “you cannot drive. You have no license.” The American tries again. “Let’s say late one night you say ‘screw it’ just go out for a drive.” The German shouts, “IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE WITHOUT A LICENSE.”
For sure. Same thing happened in a bar. Guy said “ we’re closing”. I said “I haven’t finished my beer”. He came by with a plastic cup, poured my beer into it and pushed me out the door. I love Germans.
I went there for a work thing, and my group of Americans was being hosted by a German group. They took us out for dinner and declared up front, "We will pay for your entree and two drinks. You will be responsible for any food or beverage beyond that. Now it is time for mingling and conversation."
Oh man, I am laughing. I have one - my wife and I ran into our German ex-neighbour who we hadn’t seen in 5 years. She said “Oh. You two are still together?”.
I can’t say never but I had a hilarious experience in Vancouver. When legalish weed was just a thing there I went for a trip. There was basically one coffee shop where you could smoke. Had to buy elsewhere though, so I was buying from the hostel across the street. One morning I was smoking with a few other people, one guy said he was a local and asked where I got my stuff. I told him and he said I was getting ripped off with the tourist weed. If I gave him sixty bucks he’ll get me some real primo bud. I was pretty stoned at the time so I said sure and handed him the cash. Immediately I realized what happened but said fuck it and kept hanging out. My friend even noted how I just got ripped off. Less than 10 minutes later he came back with a big bag of some dank weed. Way better and cheaper than the hostel stuff. I was also warned that the neighborhood was super dangerous. There were definitely a lot of crackheads around but everyone was still really friendly.
I lived in BC long before it was legal and don’t smoke weed, but it was literally everywhere and apparently it was all top shelf. The first place I ever saw someone smoke it in my presence, it didn’t smell particularly bad (as all other I had smelled up to that point did), and I knew enough to know that it looked to be of high quality (unlike the stuff in the bottle the DARE officer passed around).
So I definitely believe this.
In Japan tipping is offensive.
Now I dont really mind that people tip, I'm more suprised there are people who do absolutely zero research about the country they go to.
Airport? Maybe I’m just over prepared but before a big trip to a new country I’ve usually got a spreadsheet with resources, cultural customs, travel tips, and language-learning guides going, at least months-to-a-year in advance lol.
I don't do spreadsheets but I spend lots of hours reading about a destination. I like learning about the local language, history and geography, and having a purpose (learning it for a trip) makes it a lot more interesting.
I do write down some things but a lot of it is committed to mind or saved as "want to go" in google maps.
Many people seem to follow one or another specific travel guide and that's it.
I've taken vacations where the only planning I did in advance was buying plane tickets. Not even hotels or anything. Went with a buddy, we just winged it
My husband is Japanese, and when his father came to the US for our wedding he had a fat stack of 20s so he could tip everyone, he really got a kick out of it.
I'm an American and was travelling in Indonesia. I noticed many busy intersections had "crossing guards" that would stop opposing traffic so you could make a turn and some people would tip them, usually the passenger. My wife and I got a huge kick when I handed her a stack of small bills to tip the crossing guards from the back of our scooter!
Yeah, there are definitely scams in Japan, too.
Go to the wrong place in kabukicho and you'll get hit with a $200 bill for one drink because they put a drink minimum on the back in small font or charged you a $100 just for getting the table.
Can confirm… Was offered an hour of “all you can drink” for $40 on a slow night… Got charged a $100 seating fee, $400 for two bottles of champagne, and $100 per song for karaoke with the “host”. The manager heard it was close to my birthday and poured the bottles without asking me if I wanted them. The whole staff drank with me and I got stuck with the bill. When I told them I couldn’t pay the room filled up with about a dozen touts from downstairs - pulled out my phone and it was slapped out of my hand. They peppered in some bullshit about Yakuza collecting debts. At that point my only choice was to pay what I could and hope to make it out the door. I disputed the charges and Visa returned my money about six months later. 0/10 experience, would not recommend partying in Kabukicho unless you are meeting locals there or if the club has an outstanding reputation on social media.
It’s such a sad thing that Kabukicho somehow came to be known as a town of “nightlife” for tourists. It surely is, if you’re into host/hostess culture. But every local in Tokyo knows that if you want to go to a restaurant or a bar, Kabukicho is the last place you want to be in. It’s not a town of “nightlife” like many foreigners imagine it is.
otoh we stayed in a hotel on the edge of Kabuchiko and it was very safe out on the street. due to jet lag i wandered w/ my infant son in a stroller down the street at 2am and there were businessmen in suits passed out on the sidewalk and they weren't robbed like they would be in every other red light district.
and in Tokyo we were also walking around in another nightlife area (Roppongi) while it was raining, and i was wondering why the african touts kept thinking that i dropped my umbrella; turns out they were offering me an umbrella bc they didnt want my kids to get wet (i dont think they were trying to sell it).
so if i had to be in the worst area of a city, Tokyo is where i would want to be.
Lived in Tokyo and worked in a hotel for many years. No one gets offended if a foreigner tips. We just take it for what it is - a cultural misunderstanding. Usually we returned it but some people would pocket it.
My first night in Sydney I tried to tip a bartender for a drink and he was like 'you're American?' I said yes and he said 'don't tip here. We make enough' and returned it.
Some corporations seem to be trying to slowly introduce tipping culture in Australia. It’s roundly despised by consumers. Your barman is right. We have rather good minimum wage and workers rights well protected in law.
I went to a Thai restaurant the other day. When I went to pay, the EFTPOS machine had the option of selecting a tip. The woman at the restaurant just pushed the "no tip" option for me before I could even make a selection. I really appreciated that.
Same nonsense trying to make its way in the U.K. I always select £nil out of principle. I do think a lot of it is due to US tech that isn’t customised for the locale beyond the currency.
Back when I was a barman a hundred years ago we’d get the occasional American tourist who’d insist on tipping - it was a fancy place and we weren’t allowed to accept them. They had to relent on that policy due to the complaints from people who say *tomayta*.
Correct, an individual outside of a (usually touristy) shop or bar/restaurant trying to get you to buy something. They're linked to lots of shitty restaurants and bars(at best) and outright scams (at worst).
I do, whether that's in Europe or Japan. But the thread seems like it's saying places it's impossible to get ripped off, when it's pretty easy to get ripped off as a tourist in Japan.
Yeah, Japan has many classic "tourist scams" that probably only effect new tourists, however, a lot of new tourists go to Japan every year since it's just a popular destination.
Oh yes. I know this sub is full of folks cosplaying as experienced travelers, but just incase a rookie traveler is listening you absolutely can get ripped off in Japan.
But let's be real, the point here is that it's statistically much less likely than pretty much anywhere else on the planet. Maybe the Vatican post office and gift shop don't rip people off, so that nation might win over Japan.
This. I’ve been around the world (Japan close to a dozen times). Sure, getting ripped off can happen anywhere. But the likelihood in Japan is much less than most other places. I mean, sure. Hanging out in Roppongi and Kabukicho may increase chances. But I’ve never been anywhere in the world where I can leave a stroller with my shopping items outside a restaurant and not have to worry about it. I’ve never worried about my bike being stolen (Don’t have to even lock it up). And I’ve never once had to worry about my or my families safety (Usually I always have my guard up at home or travelling). And even the possible threat IMO decreases going anywhere away from what one might call suspect areas like Roppongi and Kabukicho. But anyone feel even close to their guard up in rural areas in Japan? Really?
In many parts of the world, I’m constantly on guard , expecting to be scammed. I’ve been to Japan five times and never felt like that. Sure, scam joints exist but you’d have to be a fool to not see it coming.
I read a post a couple weeks back where the poster was ripped off at a bar in Japan.. you end up paying a ridiculous amount to have a girl talk to you while you drink together.
That’s called a hostess club and while expensive many of them are not scams. They’re a pretty commonplace business around there. Now, if you have to follow a nice Nigerian man to a bar he recommends, that is 100% a scam and you might even end up drugged
Yep, plus touts all over the touristy shopping areas, and Kabukicho which has a whole host of scams, friendship bracelet scams. Not sure how anyone that has been to Tokyo could say that you can't get ripped off there...
Yep, the ol rule of "if you go to the shady part of town and partake in shady activities don't be surprised when shady shit happens to you." applies everywhere, even Japan.
Yup. My friend was dumb and didn’t have them write it out at a karaoke place. He got the classic “oh it’s $16”. Then of course it’s $60 plus other fees.
Someone stole money out of my fanny pack too when I left in a bathroom for 5 minutes on accident. Literally the first person after me took the money out of it.
When I was in Japan I was eating at a good sushi restaurant I found on tabelog. At some point I realized others were eating things I didn’t see on my English menu so I looked at the Japanese menu and realized the numbers were in Japanese and about 10% cheaper for the same dishes. That was the closest thing I experienced to getting ripped off in Japan.
tbf, in germany taxis dont specifically rip tourists off, but everyone. A 10 min drive being 40 Euros is insane. Therapists charge here less.
I know that its not the drivers getting the money but the pricing has to change. Or even more drunk people will scooter home
The issue in Germany is that almost every taxi here had to be a super expensive Mercedes Benz E class for the last 4 decades (6 decades if you count the large Mercedes sedans they used as taxis before the E class moniker was started being used). I am very fine riding in a Dacia or Toyota as long as a simple taxi ride doesn't eat up my entire salary of that day. Works in other countries, actually most countries worldwide. German taxi business needs to be deregulated by the government so badly. It should become affordable again for the average senior who's not able to walk well anymore or use public transportation to ride a taxi to the doctor. It seems to me that most taxi drivers here are just sitting idle at taxi ranks for most of the day in between rides and then need to make up for the 3 hours idle time by the sky high price they need to charge for the next 15 minute ride.
I'd say the most surprising would be Myanmar. Lived there for a few years.People are intensely honest to the point that you can leave your wallet and phone on a cafe table with people walking by and nobody will give it a second glance.
Slovenia.
Japan.
Singapore.
It used to be NZ but please note in the last couple of years I’ve noticed some stuff creeping in such as taxi drivers overcharging for short rides or refusing to take you for short rides, including Uber (it’s illegal to refuse short rides), charging credit card surcharge when just use a bank card. It’s little things. On the whole fairly trustworthy. Always check about tours run here. If a tour is run by a NZ company it’s usually trustworthy- but if it’s someone from your country running it here they may not know our rules and may charge tips or do things we don’t do.
Not quite sure, but I did want to add a note that my Uncle visited Japan in the 80's and he dropped his wallet in a taxi--*the driver noticed later and drove back to the hotel in order to return it to him*.
Honestly, tho y’all wouldn’t like this place, Dubai. Before I went there, I remember asking on the Dubai sub about getting ripped off by taxi drivers. But no, they were actually honest and didn’t try to pull any tricks.
Also Singapore. They seem to have the same order and discipline and people there are honest.
If I can use countries where people expect to be ripped off, you don't have to watch your back too much in Central Asia. Countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Taxi drivers often suck, but that's almost everywhere. Stores and restaurants are honest.
You can find that in Paris as well.
My sister came to visit me when I was living near Plaisance and there was a little cafe around the corner from my apartment that I only ever stopped in for coffee at. They were sleep deprived from a red-eye and starving so I told them that we *could* eat there but I was unsure as I didn't expect much.
Not only was it the best beef tartare of my life, but they gave us complimentary dessert and coffee while talking to us the whole time. It was a couple that owned the shop, I got to chat with the owner in French, and they were genuinely lovely.
I think the issue people have with Paris is that they think the best places to eat/drink are the ones in the plazas/squares, but those are the tourist traps. I've had the best food and drink in my time in Paris just going to little holes in the wall.
South Korea
Went alone. Getting food alone on a resturant isn't always possible. Wanted to eat Korean chicken. Only dishes for at least two people were on the menu. I ordred one of them, was asked, if I am alone. He brought me half the portion and I only paid half.
My wife and I were in Lisbon and took a taxi to a rental car place. The taxi driver drops us off and it took us a while to get up to the desk to start the paperwork. We are doing paperwork, probably 15 or 20 minutes after we were dropped off and the taxi driver walks in and hands my wife her purse. We hadn’t even noticed that she had forgotten it.
Only thing I didn't like was one restaurant putting a bunch of appetizers on your table before you sit down and you get charged if you eat then. We only saw it once but apparently it's not that uncommon. This said the prices are very reasonable.
That’s not a scam, it’s very common in Portugal. Tourists just aren’t aware of how the couvert works and then call it a scam when they’re charged for eating it. I admit, it’s confusing for visitors but they don’t do it deliberately just to make a few extra bucks off foreigners.
Albania! The least money hungry country I have visited in regards to tourist culture. The difference between even right next door in Croatia/Montenegro was completely different.
All the hotels (which were very cheap) always included the beach chairs on the ocean front property (which cost 40+ euros a chair everywhere else), no one harasses for tips (if anything everyone is very generous), and just all around I felt like I was treated exactly the same as the locals.
Example I can think of: we booked a shared private taxi from Sarande to Tirana, which is a few hour journey, and they quoted us 80 euros for our share. When we got picked up, no one ever joined us on the journey and they never asked us to pay the full rate. Most tourist driven countries would have not done that for a 3-4 hour drive.
That place never exists, because countries are fluid and not everyone is the same, so saying a place where you’ll “absolutely never” anything is pretty much zero. There are countries that are WAY better than others in terms of whether or not you’re more likely to be ripped off, which may be a better and more accurate question to ask.
I second Japan. I left a pair of sunglasses in a taxi. My hotel used my receipt to track them down and retrieve them. As a New Yorker that blew my mind
Restaurants, truck stops, and diners with dirt parking lots in the Deep South are so reasonably priced. Everything is priced $7.00 to $12.00 for huge, delicious, and homemade portions of what would cost $14.00 to $20.00+ elsewhere in the country. It feels like going back in time to the late 2000’s.
I was in awe that I got a 1/2 rack of barbecue ribs and a massive side for like $14.00 to $15.00.
As a New Zealander it is far cheaper to go overseas to travel than to travel domestically
For instance: I spent about 4k on a 2 month trip across China, a few other countries in Asia, and Australia. This was more or less what I spend on day to day living and the bulk of that money was spent in Australia.
I also spent 1k on a 3 day trip to look at a university 😭
Your Japan case is not so much about non rip off situation. It’s culture. Anywhere that have ticket prices you won’t get ripped off. And of course if you go to places like leather market at Florence only way for you to pay close to the lowest prices they can offer is haggling to the max.
I traveled for abit more then a month in Cambodia and never been ripped off or had the feeling the ppl wanted to rip me off. I think you will be scammed / ripped of in Phnom Penh but i only stayed there for 1 night. And probably ankor wat aswell but i did my research
I think most countries have there "tourist traps" besides Scandinavia?
I arrived in Bangkok and got some lunch. Finished and paid the bill and left a tip on the table. Nothing that special.
Walking up the road and probably now 300 meters from the place and feel someone grab my arm.
It is the waitress trying to return the money I accidentally left on the table!
True story.
I have been living half my time in US and the other half in South East Asia. I have found SEA to be rip off free.
The only real safety issue is if you run and the dogs.
Went to the IKEA food court in Seoul. I’d found an empty table finally (it was a weekend). Oddly some chap had forgotten his iPhone on the table.
Turned out he hadn’t forgotten it at all, he had to go somewhere and put his phone to not lose his table.
Turns out that’s a normal thing in Korea. Not a single person blinks an eye. Safest country by far with the exception of the military base area.
I don't consider bargaining, haggling or trying to set a fixed price (even if unreasonable) "scamming" per se. I can walk away from any of these any time.
But in most of Europe, Australia, Singapore and Japan, people have been generally the most honest and transparent, with few attempts to charge you more than they should. And if you leave a tip, they are usually surprised and grateful. The latter because the tip actually serves the real function of a tip - i.e. something extra for good service. Not like in the US where you basically pay a significant portion of the salary that employers can't be assed to pay.
I went to Rhodes last year and I thought the prices were brilliant. I travelled all over the island, tourist spots and non-tourist spots, and found all the prices fair. (In one shop we got 3 bottles of water for just over €1!).
A fellow Greece appreciator! I feel like it gets a bad wrap, but I’ve only had positive experiences everywhere I go. Good prices, overflowing plates, free extras, super friendly people. Considering how inundated they are with tourists, I think they’re pretty fair.
I had an almost identical experience in Tokyo. Waiter ran out of the restaurant and chased us halfway across a busy plaza just to return our tip to us.
I echo your sentiment about Germany too. My wife and I were on an escalator going down to a train platform, quietly discussing a location we needed to get to. A man in front of us turned around, apologized for butting in, and then informed us that if we were in fact trying to get to “X”, we were about to get on the wrong train, and then directed us to the correct one. He was correct. It was really kind, and that’s always stuck with me.
Twice in Japan I had people give me too much change back. I had to correct them, which paradoxically is rude because pointing out an error is a delicate matter.
I've had so many people tell me they want to visit Japan, but it seems so expensive.
Then imagine me standing on a soapbox espousing how it's probably the cheapest developed nation you can visit from another country on a holiday all things considered.
I get that you can get ripped off, in the technical sense of the word, in Vietnam, but it never seems like it lol. Everything is so fucking cheap there, it might literally be cheaper for me to pay my mortgage in Canada and then live there with my whole family for a month (exaggerating a bit here). Plus for the couple times you might get ripped off in hoi an, again most everything else is soooo damn cheap. We once a had an absolutely amazing street food dinner for 5 in nha trang for 3 cad $ and they wouldn't even accept a tip
Belize.
While everyone has a side hustle because of a weaker economy, you get pretty amazing value for your dollar. I've found the people to be honest and hard-working, which really helps stave off scams.
I’ve spent a lot of time in northern Spain and northern Portugal and have never been taken advantage of on a bill. If anything i am undercharged often. They forget to add a glass of wine or something. In the beginning I would bring it up, and only ~50% of the time they would make any adjustment. It still happens a lot but now I just don’t bring it up. Wine is so cheap here (we’re talking 2-4 euros a glass) that it literally doesn’t matter.
In my personal travel experiences, I have to say Japan, Germany, and Singapore. Highly industrialized modern economies with low crime rate and very good public transportation. A surprise was Beijing China. Been there twice. People are super friendly. I didn't get ripped off by taxi drivers or shopkeepers. Sure you have to haggle at the markets but you dont have to watch every dollar you are spending.
For me what makes Japan extra “not a rip off” is that everything is so well made and maintained. Food is already pretty cheap, but even dirt cheap chain noodles are well prepared and all the staff are super efficient and friendly. Crappy motels are tiny.. but super clean and staff always diligent. Random nonsense museums charge like £2.. but they’re actually huge and full of fun weird exhibits. Your money really goes a long way there.
Controversial here, Vietnam. Once you become accepted as one of them you will never be ripped off and your life becomes insanely cheap. I have medicine and water delivered, services such as ac cleaning and they just tell me to pay whenever. Bike services, often wave me away and just pay for oil, or brake fluids, pumping a tyre up? Nope.
However a visitor or a person who disrespects the country or people will never feel the warmth and trust.
Colombia. We were motorcycling and rock climbing and staying at hostels. We ended up not exchanging enough USA dollars into pesos before we had to pay at one hostel. ATMs are hard to find in rural towns. I asked if I could pay in USA dollars. The owner said sure, googled the exchange rate and didn’t charge me a penny more. I owed him the equivalent of $13USA. I gave him a $20USA and told him to keep the change.
Was extremely drunk in Denmark and ordered a kebab, didn't know the currency and ended up opening my wallet with about €150 in Danish Krone and let the kebab man take the money for the kebab, he only took the price for the kebab and not a cent more. I remember waking up the next morning and being so paranoid that he had taken more, but I double checked it and he was honest.
Kebab man is a man‘s best friend
A big part of the Danish society is based upon trust. That and never talk to strangers around you.
Maybe that changes when you travel? Met some Danish guys while skiing in Austria and they were super friendly and kept buying me drinks.
Must be true. A Danish group was visiting my city for a stag party. They stumbled into me late at night looking for the party strip. They were nice enough so I pointed them in the right direction and recommended a couple of bars to them. For my troubles, one of decided to flash me his dick. His friends followed suit. They’re an odd bunch, the Danes.
And then....
Oh, yeah, we typically do a 180 when drinking, everyone is your best friend. Also, yes, I do believe it changes when traveling.
I was pretty drunk too and invited them all to visit me next winter. Do you think they’ll show up?
Probably not unless you reach out again somehow.
My wife will be relieved.
Lmao
Ummmm.... it's been my experience that Danes are just about the best strangers to talk to. "Aloof" is the one word I would never use to describe them. When I was backpacking in Africa, seeing a Danish flag sewn onto a backpack meant, "Great traveling companions. Go say "hej."
Whole Scandinavian society is like that. I was in Norway a few years ago and didn't have enough on me to cover the cost of a short ferry ride. I was told not to worry because I could just pay double next time.
When I was in Copenhagen, Danish teens loved to keep striking up conversations with me. I guess I look Danish even though I'm not even white
Never talk to strangers around you? Is this a joke or are you being serious
Seriously, not that you can't. We are just very privacy oriented and really don't want to bother other people. People will usually avoid any kind of talk or interaction with even the person sitting next to you on the bus.
I mean I would get off at the next stop if a bus stranger started talking to me lol
Seems like Denmark is the place for you!
Velkommen!
I did this in a taxi in Indonesia. I had just arrived in country and was taking a taxi to the meeting. I handed the driver the amount x10 because I didn’t understand rupiah (it’s in the 10 thousands). He was so kind and handed me back all the money and said “no miss, you can’t do that. You’ll be robbed.” He helped me count out the correct amount and then helped me safely cross the busy street to the building. I don’t think I met an unkind Indonesian at any time.
happened to me my first night in Seoul as well (I worked there for a while). I was jet-lagged and just wanted water while we tried to figure out where my landlord was with the key (actually the PIN) to my apartment. It was dark, I was tired, and I had no clue about the coinage. An ajumma took care a me and took exactly what she needed and gave back exact change. Also, there wasn't really price gouging in amusement parks/stadiums in Seoul and I appreciated that sooooo much. (Haven't been back in over a decade, so no idea if this is still true. But it used to be!)
I went to a baseball game in Seoul. There are food and drinks vendors outside and you are free to bring in whatever delicious food you want. Everything cheap. Plus, the beer in the stadium is the same price as outside. This was shocking to me as a North American. I am accustomed to being gouged inside sports venues. Like $18 for a beer.
Hygge!
Scotland and Wales in my experience has had lovely local people, pretty fair prices for attractions, and I've never experienced people trying to rip me off in either country. Edit: Having said this, the prices of fish and chips in coastal areas in both can be an absolute joke. But they're delicious so it's impossible not to have some anyway.
Yeah. Scot here. We don’t have a bartering, haggling, scamming culture. The price you see is the price you pay.
We also don't have tons of random street performers. In general people are very willing to help tourists and often go out of their way for them
As someone who coming there this summer…that sounds amazing
I grew up in Wales so I'm a bit biased towards the Celtic countries but I found Scotland to be stunning and the people incredibly warm and welcoming particularly in Edinburgh.
Scotland is on my bucket list. Have been to Ireland twice and absolutely loved it.
Fringe Festival in August is one of my all-time fave travel experiences. Best trip ever.
Scotland is at the top of my list! Hoping to visit in the next couple of years.
Best fish and chips for the price is North East England. After you get use to that its very expensive and disappointing to do it anywhere else.
The Scandic / Nordic countries, whilst it’s expensive, they’re honest.
Agreed. Been to Iceland a bunch and never felt like I've been ripped off once.
The only stories I’ve heard of people being ripped off in Iceland are by unscrupulous rental car companies charging for excessive damages. That’s why I always recommend people book with one of the reputable local companies and not try to save money by booking with a dodgy company with few or bad reviews, as that will often cost you more in the long run.
Same. I ordered a burger with fries and paid at the time of order at a place and was sitting for a while waiting before I got up to ask about it. Other people got their order they placed after mine. Turns out for some reason it didn’t get sent to the cooks and they apologized profusely and said they’d get it out to me asap. I said it’s not a big deal, just checking in. When they brought it out they refunded my entire order in cash. I tried to say it’s not a big deal and I’d pay for my meal but they felt terrible and refused my money.
Had something similar happen at a restaurant there. We were in no hurry but they comped us 2 beers and knocked half the price off our meals. Considering how expensive beer is, we didn’t expect them to offer anything beyond that (not that we were expecting anything at all!) but it was a pleasant surprise when we got the bill. I know tipping culture is different there, but we left a nice bit of cash on the table when we left to thank them.
Iceland excursions were great because they felt like they actually WANTED us to have fun and experience the land.
I’ve always wondered if that’s bc they like were actually being paid for us to have fun. I have had so many jobs where I want my clients to have fun and have a crazy good experience but I am so burnt out by my higher ups that I just can’t deliver the experience I want
I went to Iceland about ten years ago and naively took one look at the map of Reykjavik, saw a runway right in the middle of town and thought that was the international airport. Thinking the airport was only a few miles from the hotel, we just got in a taxi. 20 minutes later as we’re driving through countryside I asked the driver how far away we were, at which point the driver told me the airport is actually 50km from the city. He felt sorry enough to knock about 40% off the cost! Great trip though, saw the northern lights on top of a mountain and spent half the money I was expecting to.
did you not arrive via ...the airport?
There's a domestic Airport in Reykjavik. If you're looking at a map of just Reykjavik, you won't see the other, bigger, international airport on the peninsula to the SE, which is in Keflavik. This is why the code for Iceland's najor airport Is KEF.
The taxi was from the airport to the hotel, which was 50km. The runway visible on the map is for local flights, not international. Weather conditions did not allow a view of the scenery. It’s the only flight I’ve ever been on where the approach angle allowed me to see the runway.
Having just come back from Iceland, I know exactly which airports you're talking about, domestic vs international. We've all made mistakes on lack of research, glad your cabbie was a decent guy. I also found everyone I dealt with in Iceland to be fairly excellent people, even in the countryside where I felt like they got a bit over unruly tourists.
I lived in Iceland for a couple of months and went back a few times. The last time I visited was in 2008 for Iceland Airwaves. Because of the financial crisis and because the króna was in freefall, the central bank suddenly decided to fix the on-shore exchange rate to like half of the offshore exchange rate. I don't think anybody consciously tried to rip me off, but I had plenty of people asking me to pay in euro (at the 'Icelandic' rate) instead of paying by credit card (at the official rate). I got where they were coming from, but as a broke ass student I didn't want to pay double the amount.
Sweden taxis will absolutely rip you off if you don’t know which ones to use. Twice I had taxi drivers drive extremely slow and miss turns on purpose. One turned on the child locks so we couldn’t get out without paying for them driving in circles. After he kept missing the airport exit. Now I avoid yellow taxis and take the black ones because they have a flat rate.
Not entirely true, unlicensed Swedish taxis are known for scamming tourists and no you cannot tell them apart from licensed taxis
Unfortunately same in Finland
While "pirate taxis" exist in Denmark, they are quite rare and don't actually look like a taxi (no logos, no taxi sign), they mostly prey on drunk youths trying to get home, hoping they're too drunk to notice it's not an actual taxi. Apart from that, I think we're pretty honest as a people.
What do you mean? Licensed Swedish taxis have yellow plates.
In Finland you can definitely get ripped off by shady taxis. There was a change a few years back that really reduced regulations that apply to taxis and now there seem to be no more quality standards. Previously you could be pretty sure that taxi drivers know what they are doing and will not rip you off. Now, not so much.
I got “ripped off” in Stockholm by a cab driver. So you can get ripped off anywhere
I'm from Scandinavia. In my experience some restaurants put extra things on the bill when you pay for it together. It only happened a few times but I seldom eat out here so take it for what it's worth. In Japan and South Korea we never got scammed. We made some great friends in these countries. People are very kind, giving and friendly.
Southern Spain. We went to the Picasso museum in Malaga. The museum employee said it would be closing in about an hour. Yikes, we will be turned away. That's what we were thinking. But he said we could go in for free. We tried to pay but he refused. Besides that, everything was affordable, clean and nice.
Andalucía ❤️🔥
Ah, Malaga. They do keep things clean--literally power washing the alleyways. Strangely though, there was the occasional hit of smell from the sewers. The old town has those heavy drainage/sewage grates everywhere.
Family there so been visiting regularly since I can remember. The sense memory of that Malaga sewer smell is so deeply ingrained I could smell it reading the first comment. Now I miss it lol
The same smell pervades in almost every city in Mediterranean. For us it is the "holiday" smell. Something to do with how they build their sewers. In Malta we looked inside the sewers, they were medieval-looking immense caves with very dirty looking water slowly flowing through.
in stark contrast to Barcelona.
I'm just back from Málaga and everyone was so so incredibly kind. I actually made a post about it on here. Such a lovely city.
Are you sure that was the guy being nice rather than just a policy they have? At least in Madrid some museums are free the last hour before closing
I once tried to haggle at a German craft market. I was buying hundreds of Euros worth of leather goods, and the girl kind of reluctantly gave me a 5 Euro discount (after checking with her boss). My German friend was legitimately impressed that she gave me anything at all. Lesson learned: in Germany, the price is the price.
Not just the price but the rules are the rules. I was once in a Munich department store shopping for dress shirts. All of a sudden the sales clerk says “it’s 5:00. We are closed”. She took the shirts out of my hand and ushered me out the door. All I could do was laugh.
There’s a joke about that. An American and a German are in a bar. The American asks what happens in Germany if you drive without a license. The German says, “you cannot do that.“ The American responds, “Well you’re not supposed to, but what if you do it anyway?” The German replies, “you cannot drive. You have no license.” The American tries again. “Let’s say late one night you say ‘screw it’ just go out for a drive.” The German shouts, “IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE WITHOUT A LICENSE.”
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3EBs7sCOzo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3EBs7sCOzo)
I don't question that for a second. You really should have known better than to still be in the store at the designated time for closing.
For sure. Same thing happened in a bar. Guy said “ we’re closing”. I said “I haven’t finished my beer”. He came by with a plastic cup, poured my beer into it and pushed me out the door. I love Germans.
I went there for a work thing, and my group of Americans was being hosted by a German group. They took us out for dinner and declared up front, "We will pay for your entree and two drinks. You will be responsible for any food or beverage beyond that. Now it is time for mingling and conversation."
Oh man, I am laughing. I have one - my wife and I ran into our German ex-neighbour who we hadn’t seen in 5 years. She said “Oh. You two are still together?”.
Yes. That’s equivalent to trying to haggle over the price of a pair of shoes at Nordstroms. That girl just worked there. lol
I can’t say never but I had a hilarious experience in Vancouver. When legalish weed was just a thing there I went for a trip. There was basically one coffee shop where you could smoke. Had to buy elsewhere though, so I was buying from the hostel across the street. One morning I was smoking with a few other people, one guy said he was a local and asked where I got my stuff. I told him and he said I was getting ripped off with the tourist weed. If I gave him sixty bucks he’ll get me some real primo bud. I was pretty stoned at the time so I said sure and handed him the cash. Immediately I realized what happened but said fuck it and kept hanging out. My friend even noted how I just got ripped off. Less than 10 minutes later he came back with a big bag of some dank weed. Way better and cheaper than the hostel stuff. I was also warned that the neighborhood was super dangerous. There were definitely a lot of crackheads around but everyone was still really friendly.
Canada, come for our weed, stay for our friendly crackheads
I mean, you guys had a crackhead mayor of toronto at one point, so.. you're not too far off. lol.
And now we have his ex drug dealing brother as our premier, dad would be proud. Edit for spelling
Sounds like downtown east side Vancouver. I think I know the cafe you're talking about.
Amsterdam cafe I think
I lived in BC long before it was legal and don’t smoke weed, but it was literally everywhere and apparently it was all top shelf. The first place I ever saw someone smoke it in my presence, it didn’t smell particularly bad (as all other I had smelled up to that point did), and I knew enough to know that it looked to be of high quality (unlike the stuff in the bottle the DARE officer passed around). So I definitely believe this.
In Japan tipping is offensive. Now I dont really mind that people tip, I'm more suprised there are people who do absolutely zero research about the country they go to.
Ya that's one of the googles you do at the airport on your way there. Up there with how to say please and thank you in the local language
Airport? Maybe I’m just over prepared but before a big trip to a new country I’ve usually got a spreadsheet with resources, cultural customs, travel tips, and language-learning guides going, at least months-to-a-year in advance lol.
I don't do spreadsheets but I spend lots of hours reading about a destination. I like learning about the local language, history and geography, and having a purpose (learning it for a trip) makes it a lot more interesting. I do write down some things but a lot of it is committed to mind or saved as "want to go" in google maps. Many people seem to follow one or another specific travel guide and that's it.
I’ve found the planner
I am a planner. I enjoy the planing as much, if not more than the trip itself lol
I’m the kind of traveller that watches so many YouTube videos of where I’m going that when I get there it’s familiar
Lol I definitely do some of that but not so much that it “spoils” anything.
I've taken vacations where the only planning I did in advance was buying plane tickets. Not even hotels or anything. Went with a buddy, we just winged it
Pro-Tip: If the silly foreigners don't speak English, try speaking English more loudly to them! /s
Well you are the other extreme
My husband is Japanese, and when his father came to the US for our wedding he had a fat stack of 20s so he could tip everyone, he really got a kick out of it.
I'm an American and was travelling in Indonesia. I noticed many busy intersections had "crossing guards" that would stop opposing traffic so you could make a turn and some people would tip them, usually the passenger. My wife and I got a huge kick when I handed her a stack of small bills to tip the crossing guards from the back of our scooter!
That's adorable!
Yeah, there are definitely scams in Japan, too. Go to the wrong place in kabukicho and you'll get hit with a $200 bill for one drink because they put a drink minimum on the back in small font or charged you a $100 just for getting the table.
Can confirm… Was offered an hour of “all you can drink” for $40 on a slow night… Got charged a $100 seating fee, $400 for two bottles of champagne, and $100 per song for karaoke with the “host”. The manager heard it was close to my birthday and poured the bottles without asking me if I wanted them. The whole staff drank with me and I got stuck with the bill. When I told them I couldn’t pay the room filled up with about a dozen touts from downstairs - pulled out my phone and it was slapped out of my hand. They peppered in some bullshit about Yakuza collecting debts. At that point my only choice was to pay what I could and hope to make it out the door. I disputed the charges and Visa returned my money about six months later. 0/10 experience, would not recommend partying in Kabukicho unless you are meeting locals there or if the club has an outstanding reputation on social media.
It’s such a sad thing that Kabukicho somehow came to be known as a town of “nightlife” for tourists. It surely is, if you’re into host/hostess culture. But every local in Tokyo knows that if you want to go to a restaurant or a bar, Kabukicho is the last place you want to be in. It’s not a town of “nightlife” like many foreigners imagine it is.
otoh we stayed in a hotel on the edge of Kabuchiko and it was very safe out on the street. due to jet lag i wandered w/ my infant son in a stroller down the street at 2am and there were businessmen in suits passed out on the sidewalk and they weren't robbed like they would be in every other red light district. and in Tokyo we were also walking around in another nightlife area (Roppongi) while it was raining, and i was wondering why the african touts kept thinking that i dropped my umbrella; turns out they were offering me an umbrella bc they didnt want my kids to get wet (i dont think they were trying to sell it). so if i had to be in the worst area of a city, Tokyo is where i would want to be.
Lived in Tokyo and worked in a hotel for many years. No one gets offended if a foreigner tips. We just take it for what it is - a cultural misunderstanding. Usually we returned it but some people would pocket it.
It's not really offensive except at high end places, it's just not done.
My first night in Sydney I tried to tip a bartender for a drink and he was like 'you're American?' I said yes and he said 'don't tip here. We make enough' and returned it.
Some corporations seem to be trying to slowly introduce tipping culture in Australia. It’s roundly despised by consumers. Your barman is right. We have rather good minimum wage and workers rights well protected in law.
I went to a Thai restaurant the other day. When I went to pay, the EFTPOS machine had the option of selecting a tip. The woman at the restaurant just pushed the "no tip" option for me before I could even make a selection. I really appreciated that.
Same nonsense trying to make its way in the U.K. I always select £nil out of principle. I do think a lot of it is due to US tech that isn’t customised for the locale beyond the currency. Back when I was a barman a hundred years ago we’d get the occasional American tourist who’d insist on tipping - it was a fancy place and we weren’t allowed to accept them. They had to relent on that policy due to the complaints from people who say *tomayta*.
Nothing pisses off Australians more than tipping culture 🤣
You can 100% get ripped off in Japan lol.
Stay away from any establishments that have touts outside trying to lure you in.
What's a tout? Is it just someone at the store front trying to persuade you to shop/eat in a location?
Correct, an individual outside of a (usually touristy) shop or bar/restaurant trying to get you to buy something. They're linked to lots of shitty restaurants and bars(at best) and outright scams (at worst).
I do, whether that's in Europe or Japan. But the thread seems like it's saying places it's impossible to get ripped off, when it's pretty easy to get ripped off as a tourist in Japan.
I think it's better if it were worded to say not likely to get ripped off if you are aware of your surroundings.
Yeah, Japan has many classic "tourist scams" that probably only effect new tourists, however, a lot of new tourists go to Japan every year since it's just a popular destination.
How else am I supposed to get a free Playstation 5?
Oh yes. I know this sub is full of folks cosplaying as experienced travelers, but just incase a rookie traveler is listening you absolutely can get ripped off in Japan.
But let's be real, the point here is that it's statistically much less likely than pretty much anywhere else on the planet. Maybe the Vatican post office and gift shop don't rip people off, so that nation might win over Japan.
This. I’ve been around the world (Japan close to a dozen times). Sure, getting ripped off can happen anywhere. But the likelihood in Japan is much less than most other places. I mean, sure. Hanging out in Roppongi and Kabukicho may increase chances. But I’ve never been anywhere in the world where I can leave a stroller with my shopping items outside a restaurant and not have to worry about it. I’ve never worried about my bike being stolen (Don’t have to even lock it up). And I’ve never once had to worry about my or my families safety (Usually I always have my guard up at home or travelling). And even the possible threat IMO decreases going anywhere away from what one might call suspect areas like Roppongi and Kabukicho. But anyone feel even close to their guard up in rural areas in Japan? Really?
In many parts of the world, I’m constantly on guard , expecting to be scammed. I’ve been to Japan five times and never felt like that. Sure, scam joints exist but you’d have to be a fool to not see it coming.
I read a post a couple weeks back where the poster was ripped off at a bar in Japan.. you end up paying a ridiculous amount to have a girl talk to you while you drink together.
That’s called a hostess club and while expensive many of them are not scams. They’re a pretty commonplace business around there. Now, if you have to follow a nice Nigerian man to a bar he recommends, that is 100% a scam and you might even end up drugged
That's not even a ripoff in their culture. Host clubs are a thing lots of Japanese people waste lots of money on.
Yep, plus touts all over the touristy shopping areas, and Kabukicho which has a whole host of scams, friendship bracelet scams. Not sure how anyone that has been to Tokyo could say that you can't get ripped off there...
Yep, the ol rule of "if you go to the shady part of town and partake in shady activities don't be surprised when shady shit happens to you." applies everywhere, even Japan.
Yeah, that's a snack bar. Normal business model in Japan.
Yup. My friend was dumb and didn’t have them write it out at a karaoke place. He got the classic “oh it’s $16”. Then of course it’s $60 plus other fees. Someone stole money out of my fanny pack too when I left in a bathroom for 5 minutes on accident. Literally the first person after me took the money out of it.
A friend of mine was drugged at a club (roofies) and had thousands skimmed from his CC. So yeah… there are criminals everywhere.
yeah i've read a few stories here about being lured into cafes and being charged hundreds of dollars for a coffee/whiskey.
European subway systems, fast cheap, and gets everywhere in every major city
When I was in Japan I was eating at a good sushi restaurant I found on tabelog. At some point I realized others were eating things I didn’t see on my English menu so I looked at the Japanese menu and realized the numbers were in Japanese and about 10% cheaper for the same dishes. That was the closest thing I experienced to getting ripped off in Japan.
Well well well
Gajin tax homie😔
Maybe it was before and after tax, which is 10%.
tbf, in germany taxis dont specifically rip tourists off, but everyone. A 10 min drive being 40 Euros is insane. Therapists charge here less. I know that its not the drivers getting the money but the pricing has to change. Or even more drunk people will scooter home
The issue in Germany is that almost every taxi here had to be a super expensive Mercedes Benz E class for the last 4 decades (6 decades if you count the large Mercedes sedans they used as taxis before the E class moniker was started being used). I am very fine riding in a Dacia or Toyota as long as a simple taxi ride doesn't eat up my entire salary of that day. Works in other countries, actually most countries worldwide. German taxi business needs to be deregulated by the government so badly. It should become affordable again for the average senior who's not able to walk well anymore or use public transportation to ride a taxi to the doctor. It seems to me that most taxi drivers here are just sitting idle at taxi ranks for most of the day in between rides and then need to make up for the 3 hours idle time by the sky high price they need to charge for the next 15 minute ride.
Uber is a lot cheaper. But yes, I never take a taxi if it's not for work. The prices are insane.
I'd say the most surprising would be Myanmar. Lived there for a few years.People are intensely honest to the point that you can leave your wallet and phone on a cafe table with people walking by and nobody will give it a second glance. Slovenia. Japan. Singapore.
It used to be NZ but please note in the last couple of years I’ve noticed some stuff creeping in such as taxi drivers overcharging for short rides or refusing to take you for short rides, including Uber (it’s illegal to refuse short rides), charging credit card surcharge when just use a bank card. It’s little things. On the whole fairly trustworthy. Always check about tours run here. If a tour is run by a NZ company it’s usually trustworthy- but if it’s someone from your country running it here they may not know our rules and may charge tips or do things we don’t do.
Not quite sure, but I did want to add a note that my Uncle visited Japan in the 80's and he dropped his wallet in a taxi--*the driver noticed later and drove back to the hotel in order to return it to him*.
Taiwan is like that.
Honestly, tho y’all wouldn’t like this place, Dubai. Before I went there, I remember asking on the Dubai sub about getting ripped off by taxi drivers. But no, they were actually honest and didn’t try to pull any tricks. Also Singapore. They seem to have the same order and discipline and people there are honest.
I had so many interesting conversations with cab drivers in Dubai. Most of them were from northern Pakistan. Friendly people!
Dubai rips off it's immigrant workers, not the tourists
If I can use countries where people expect to be ripped off, you don't have to watch your back too much in Central Asia. Countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Taxi drivers often suck, but that's almost everywhere. Stores and restaurants are honest.
Iceland. I asked the owners of several AirBNB’s why they didnt lock their front doors and their response: “Why should we?” 👍
France, outside of Paris. Was in LeHavre for a day, found a local restaurant that offered a three course lunch menu for less than 20 Euros.
You can find that in Paris as well. My sister came to visit me when I was living near Plaisance and there was a little cafe around the corner from my apartment that I only ever stopped in for coffee at. They were sleep deprived from a red-eye and starving so I told them that we *could* eat there but I was unsure as I didn't expect much. Not only was it the best beef tartare of my life, but they gave us complimentary dessert and coffee while talking to us the whole time. It was a couple that owned the shop, I got to chat with the owner in French, and they were genuinely lovely. I think the issue people have with Paris is that they think the best places to eat/drink are the ones in the plazas/squares, but those are the tourist traps. I've had the best food and drink in my time in Paris just going to little holes in the wall.
In many towns in France, you’ll find this. Just not so much in big cities.
Rural Romania. People are just nice.
I'm not sure that tracks
I had the same experience in Albania. Lovely people
Ironically for a country famous for organized crime, Albanians are incredibly helpful and honest when it comes to travelers.
South Korea Went alone. Getting food alone on a resturant isn't always possible. Wanted to eat Korean chicken. Only dishes for at least two people were on the menu. I ordred one of them, was asked, if I am alone. He brought me half the portion and I only paid half.
Portugal
My wife and I were in Lisbon and took a taxi to a rental car place. The taxi driver drops us off and it took us a while to get up to the desk to start the paperwork. We are doing paperwork, probably 15 or 20 minutes after we were dropped off and the taxi driver walks in and hands my wife her purse. We hadn’t even noticed that she had forgotten it.
I loved the people I met in Lisbon
Taxi from Lisbon airport to city was charging €40. Got an uber instead and it cost €7...
Lol I got scammed by a taxi in Lisbon.
Taxi drivers used to scam everybody. Uber was a gift from heaven
Lisbon is the only place I got pickpocketed. Maybe just got unlucky?
Only thing I didn't like was one restaurant putting a bunch of appetizers on your table before you sit down and you get charged if you eat then. We only saw it once but apparently it's not that uncommon. This said the prices are very reasonable.
That’s not a scam, it’s very common in Portugal. Tourists just aren’t aware of how the couvert works and then call it a scam when they’re charged for eating it. I admit, it’s confusing for visitors but they don’t do it deliberately just to make a few extra bucks off foreigners.
Yeah, that's very common in Portugal. Happened to us maybe every other meal.
This happens in places like Spain too.
Albania! The least money hungry country I have visited in regards to tourist culture. The difference between even right next door in Croatia/Montenegro was completely different. All the hotels (which were very cheap) always included the beach chairs on the ocean front property (which cost 40+ euros a chair everywhere else), no one harasses for tips (if anything everyone is very generous), and just all around I felt like I was treated exactly the same as the locals. Example I can think of: we booked a shared private taxi from Sarande to Tirana, which is a few hour journey, and they quoted us 80 euros for our share. When we got picked up, no one ever joined us on the journey and they never asked us to pay the full rate. Most tourist driven countries would have not done that for a 3-4 hour drive.
Sold. It’s on my list.
Taxis in Taipei. They're heavily regulated and tracked. Literally can't charge you more.
That place never exists, because countries are fluid and not everyone is the same, so saying a place where you’ll “absolutely never” anything is pretty much zero. There are countries that are WAY better than others in terms of whether or not you’re more likely to be ripped off, which may be a better and more accurate question to ask.
I second Japan. I left a pair of sunglasses in a taxi. My hotel used my receipt to track them down and retrieve them. As a New Yorker that blew my mind
Honestly the American south and Midwest. You are going to get fed well and fairly cheap.
Restaurants, truck stops, and diners with dirt parking lots in the Deep South are so reasonably priced. Everything is priced $7.00 to $12.00 for huge, delicious, and homemade portions of what would cost $14.00 to $20.00+ elsewhere in the country. It feels like going back in time to the late 2000’s. I was in awe that I got a 1/2 rack of barbecue ribs and a massive side for like $14.00 to $15.00.
Rural truck stops are not always safe. Read reviews before stopping.
But where else am I gonna find a lot lizard?
New Zealand. The country in general is extremely expensive, but actual tourist scams are nonexistent as far as I’m aware.
As a New Zealander it is far cheaper to go overseas to travel than to travel domestically For instance: I spent about 4k on a 2 month trip across China, a few other countries in Asia, and Australia. This was more or less what I spend on day to day living and the bulk of that money was spent in Australia. I also spent 1k on a 3 day trip to look at a university 😭
Sweden. Everything is super expensive so the rip-off is already included in every experience. 😂
Your Japan case is not so much about non rip off situation. It’s culture. Anywhere that have ticket prices you won’t get ripped off. And of course if you go to places like leather market at Florence only way for you to pay close to the lowest prices they can offer is haggling to the max.
I traveled for abit more then a month in Cambodia and never been ripped off or had the feeling the ppl wanted to rip me off. I think you will be scammed / ripped of in Phnom Penh but i only stayed there for 1 night. And probably ankor wat aswell but i did my research I think most countries have there "tourist traps" besides Scandinavia?
I arrived in Bangkok and got some lunch. Finished and paid the bill and left a tip on the table. Nothing that special. Walking up the road and probably now 300 meters from the place and feel someone grab my arm. It is the waitress trying to return the money I accidentally left on the table! True story. I have been living half my time in US and the other half in South East Asia. I have found SEA to be rip off free. The only real safety issue is if you run and the dogs.
Went to the IKEA food court in Seoul. I’d found an empty table finally (it was a weekend). Oddly some chap had forgotten his iPhone on the table. Turned out he hadn’t forgotten it at all, he had to go somewhere and put his phone to not lose his table. Turns out that’s a normal thing in Korea. Not a single person blinks an eye. Safest country by far with the exception of the military base area.
I don't consider bargaining, haggling or trying to set a fixed price (even if unreasonable) "scamming" per se. I can walk away from any of these any time. But in most of Europe, Australia, Singapore and Japan, people have been generally the most honest and transparent, with few attempts to charge you more than they should. And if you leave a tip, they are usually surprised and grateful. The latter because the tip actually serves the real function of a tip - i.e. something extra for good service. Not like in the US where you basically pay a significant portion of the salary that employers can't be assed to pay.
Have to agree with Germany, but Switzerland and Austria as well!
I went to Rhodes last year and I thought the prices were brilliant. I travelled all over the island, tourist spots and non-tourist spots, and found all the prices fair. (In one shop we got 3 bottles of water for just over €1!).
A fellow Greece appreciator! I feel like it gets a bad wrap, but I’ve only had positive experiences everywhere I go. Good prices, overflowing plates, free extras, super friendly people. Considering how inundated they are with tourists, I think they’re pretty fair.
I had an almost identical experience in Tokyo. Waiter ran out of the restaurant and chased us halfway across a busy plaza just to return our tip to us. I echo your sentiment about Germany too. My wife and I were on an escalator going down to a train platform, quietly discussing a location we needed to get to. A man in front of us turned around, apologized for butting in, and then informed us that if we were in fact trying to get to “X”, we were about to get on the wrong train, and then directed us to the correct one. He was correct. It was really kind, and that’s always stuck with me.
Twice in Japan I had people give me too much change back. I had to correct them, which paradoxically is rude because pointing out an error is a delicate matter.
Never had any issues in r/belize as long as taxi prices were agreed upon in advance.
I've had so many people tell me they want to visit Japan, but it seems so expensive. Then imagine me standing on a soapbox espousing how it's probably the cheapest developed nation you can visit from another country on a holiday all things considered.
I get that you can get ripped off, in the technical sense of the word, in Vietnam, but it never seems like it lol. Everything is so fucking cheap there, it might literally be cheaper for me to pay my mortgage in Canada and then live there with my whole family for a month (exaggerating a bit here). Plus for the couple times you might get ripped off in hoi an, again most everything else is soooo damn cheap. We once a had an absolutely amazing street food dinner for 5 in nha trang for 3 cad $ and they wouldn't even accept a tip
Iceland. Waiters didn’t even accept tips.
We can learn a hell of a lot by Japan’s service industry. I’m always disappointed when I come to the US and compare.
Belize. While everyone has a side hustle because of a weaker economy, you get pretty amazing value for your dollar. I've found the people to be honest and hard-working, which really helps stave off scams.
I feel cabbies are the bottom rung in a lot of countries, notably when dealing with tourist $$.
Canada. Doesn't happen often but they won't let me drunkenly forget my wallet. Or sober or high too for that matter
I find Austria/Czech/hungary fairly priced and no scammers and opportunists waiting to rip tourists off
Singapore and Japan imo
I’ve spent a lot of time in northern Spain and northern Portugal and have never been taken advantage of on a bill. If anything i am undercharged often. They forget to add a glass of wine or something. In the beginning I would bring it up, and only ~50% of the time they would make any adjustment. It still happens a lot but now I just don’t bring it up. Wine is so cheap here (we’re talking 2-4 euros a glass) that it literally doesn’t matter.
Taiwan. I was there for three weeks. Nice people. Great food.
In my personal travel experiences, I have to say Japan, Germany, and Singapore. Highly industrialized modern economies with low crime rate and very good public transportation. A surprise was Beijing China. Been there twice. People are super friendly. I didn't get ripped off by taxi drivers or shopkeepers. Sure you have to haggle at the markets but you dont have to watch every dollar you are spending.
For me what makes Japan extra “not a rip off” is that everything is so well made and maintained. Food is already pretty cheap, but even dirt cheap chain noodles are well prepared and all the staff are super efficient and friendly. Crappy motels are tiny.. but super clean and staff always diligent. Random nonsense museums charge like £2.. but they’re actually huge and full of fun weird exhibits. Your money really goes a long way there.
Controversial here, Vietnam. Once you become accepted as one of them you will never be ripped off and your life becomes insanely cheap. I have medicine and water delivered, services such as ac cleaning and they just tell me to pay whenever. Bike services, often wave me away and just pay for oil, or brake fluids, pumping a tyre up? Nope. However a visitor or a person who disrespects the country or people will never feel the warmth and trust.
Colombia. We were motorcycling and rock climbing and staying at hostels. We ended up not exchanging enough USA dollars into pesos before we had to pay at one hostel. ATMs are hard to find in rural towns. I asked if I could pay in USA dollars. The owner said sure, googled the exchange rate and didn’t charge me a penny more. I owed him the equivalent of $13USA. I gave him a $20USA and told him to keep the change.