39 Mortifying American Tourist Stories That Have Me Wanting To Pretend I'm Canadian Whenever I Travel Abroad

A while back, Reddit user u/Bugginette asked non-Americans about the most disrespectful and inappropriate things they've witnessed American tourists do...and as an American, I felt more than a little embarrassed reading the comments. Here are some of the dumbest, most entitled comments and behavior people dealt with from Americans.

1."We were on a tour in France and saw a group of costumed people with wooden bows and arrows in medieval clothing. One of the fellow American tourists with us asked the guide, 'Are those the Syrian refugees?' 🤦🏼‍♀️"

—PeppermintMel

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2."'Mommy's busy, baby, why don't you go climb on the big rocks?' That was at Stonehenge."

—u/UncleHeavy

ImageBROKER/PHILLIP NEFF / Getty Images

3."While working as a tour guide in London, I had this exchange. American tourist: 'I love your accent, where are you from?' Me: 'Liverpool.' American tourist: 'Oh, have you heard of The Beatles?'"

—x_harriet123_x

4."When I was in Italy, I overheard an American lady say, 'They have better pizzas in Chicago.' Just, lol."

—gattagatta

5."I once overheard an American in Ireland shouting loudly in English…despite English being the first language for most of the country. Like 98% of people speak English. Also, I heard one American in Scotland moaning to their friend that it looked like a 'city' in the middle of Glasgow. They were expecting…what? A village with a singular well or something?"

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—geothegeo

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6."An American talked to me slowly, shouting English as if I didn't understand. He was in western Canada, where everybody speaks English, and I'd even already said something in English to him."

—u/MizElaneous

7."I have seen a very drunk American tourist in his twenties explaining to a Vietnamese bartender in Vietnam how his American grandfather freed Vietnam of communists."

—u/oyloff

8."I was in the American War Museum in Vietnam, a really incredible place which shows the history of the American Vietnam War. There are victims of Agent Orange on the top floor, which was so upsetting to see. There was an American chap going around the museum with a T-shirt with an American flag and loads of guns on it and right in the middle with big bold writing, 'Freedom, the American Way.'"

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—u/SeanEyebrows89

u/ARealHuman / Via reddit.com

9."American here. I once traveled to Peru for my friend's wedding. He married a Peruvian-American woman whose family was still largely in Peru. In Lima, we went to a very nice restaurant near the Rimac River. They cooked using traditional methods, like pot cooking. The groom's grandmother asked one of the servers, 'Is this food going to make us sick, because we're American?' It was chicken."

—drewwrogers

10."I was born and raised in Puerto Rico (technically the USA). I was having dinner at a very popular PR food restaurant in Old San Juan one night, and the Mainland Karen two tables away was upset because 'how could a Puerto Rican restaurant not serve nachos?' The very patient waiter was trying to explain to her that Puerto Rican food is very different from Mexican, but she insisted. Finally, the very patient waiter said, 'I could put cheese on some Doritos and nuke them if you'd like.' Oh, and her Mainland Karen companion complaining that El Morro Castle was 'just a big wall.'"

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—raydaubedab

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

11."One of my favorite stories about an American was when I was in San Francisco about five years ago, and a waiter, upon discovering I am Canadian, asked me if I had my own dogsled."

—Thundermeow

12."I live in Iceland. We get a lot of tourism. ... About half are American. ... There's a ton of people who seem to think we can just flick a switch and have the Northern Lights appear."

—u/IcyVeinz

13."I'm French, I was chatting with an American woman who was visiting (friend of a friend of a family member). At one point, we start talking about the differences between our countries. She said, 'The USA is the only country in the world with true freedom.' I thought she was joking, but she was not. I told her, 'What do you mean? We are also free in France.' She looked at me with a condescending smirk and said, 'Really?', like to make me admit something. I just nodded and left."

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—u/inckalt

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14."I literally witnessed an American college or gap year student complain about the lack of kangaroos. In Austria. I thought they were joking."

—harpejjist

15."At Starbucks in Cusco, Peru, I witnessed a young American woman yelling at the baristas, 'Starbucks is American, you gotta speak English.'"

—audriusstonkus

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

—u/Are-Sole

Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images

17."I live in Canada near the US-Maine border. It's amazing how many US tourists think it's winter here all year long (skis strapped to their roof in August). They also expect to get American change when they use USD."

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—tayandmiatietheknot

18."They did the Nazi greeting in the middle of Berlin (Germany), not far from the Jewish memorial."

—u/Supergamery45

19."Claiming that Ireland isn't 'properly' Irish, and that the only way to experience 'true, traditional' Irish culture is to visit Boston."

—u/MellotronSymphony

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20."I got stopped by an American tourist as I was on my way to a wedding in my kilt. That prick straight-up lifted the back of my kilt to prove I was a true Scotsman. My mate intercepted with the perfect diving headbutt."

—u/Carl_Clegg

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21."Once in the airport, coming back to Australia (where I'm from) in the middle of summer, I saw a dad and his two children wearing full winter coats. The dad said to both of them, 'Try to stay warm, it's going to be cold outside.'"

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—u/ImDaBest_69

22."See them scream and say, 'I'm going to sue you.' New Zealand has ACC, so you basically can't sue for accidents, as it's covered."

—u/rheetkd

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23."Bruges in Belgium is a nicely preserved town with many medieval elements. Apparently, a lot of American tourists ask the locals, 'When does this theme park close?'"

—u/rubenvdheuv

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

—u/am_i-lost

25."I met an American tourist who seemed very confused, so I walked up to her and asked her if I could help. She told me yes and asked me how to get to the famous Alps and cuckoo clock workshops...I had to explain to her that she was in Sweden, not Switzerland."

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—u/Red_Eight_Zero

George Pachantouris / Getty Images

26."As a person from Switzerland, I get asked if I can speak Swedish on the internet, and when I say I'm not from Sweden, they ask if I can speak Swiss."

—thick_mochi

27."I once got told by an American tourist that I spoke English quite well...I'm English and this was in England."

—u/Are-Sole

28."I was in a tour group in Tajikistan, and we were inside a local's house who had invited us in for tea, and he was telling us about his family and how many children they have, etc. The only American in the group piped up and asked, 'What contraception does your wife use? Does she use herbs or something?'…Everyone was just aghast, and he politely avoided the question; then there was a long, awkward silence. And so she asked AGAIN! At that point, another tour member interjected and said, 'Okay, I think it's time for us to leave, thanks for having us.'"

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—u/frankiestree

Fox / Via youtube.com

29."South African here: Americans tend to have this habit where they will climb out of their vehicle in the middle of a game reserve, get attacked by a wild animal because they wanted to get closer or try to pet it, and then cry about it. I thought people who come from a country that has grizzly bears and mountain lions would be a bit more cautious around wild animals. Also, the shock they experience when they realize there are cities here and not everyone is living in mud huts."

—u/AmarulaKilledMe

30."Any time I've seen interactions between Americans and the Queen's Guard [editor's note: now King's]. It does make me laugh, though, when the guardsman yells at them or just ploughs through them when marching. Just leave the lads alone! They have a job to do, and they are professional soldiers."

—u/roddz

New Line Cinema / Via youtube.com

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31."While working at McDonald's, I overheard an American tourist tell his family that they were going to eat some good food, not foreign garbage, while they were waiting in line to order."

—u/GuessImDoingDis

32."An American tourist ordered a turkey dinner at a restaurant, then flagged down the server to let her know that the kitchen forgot the cranberry sauce. The server came back with it in a small dish. After she finished her meal, someone at the table pointed out that she'd forgotten to use the cranberry sauce that she had asked for. She says, 'Oh, I don't like cranberry sauce.' So the person at the table followed up with, 'Then why did you ask the server to bring you some?!' Her answer: 'Because it comes with the meal.'"

—u/Axiah

HBO

33."I saw an American Karen scream at people in London (UK) for stealing America's place names."

—u/Bedlamcitylimit

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

—u/JoeyGold

Stefan Cristian Cioata / Getty Images

35."I used to work for an airline in New Zealand, with flights going to Australia. Sadly, it was always the American tourists who would yell at you when you advised them that they required a visa to travel to Australia, as we are two separate countries. It happened at least five times a day."

—ashjanec81

36."My country has a peace wall used to segregate two warring communities. The oppressed community has a mural on it where they show the human rights abuses they've received and also the human rights abuses of other oppressed nations. Americans complained that the wall was ugly and that it was badly made (extra parts were added to stop people from chucking bombs over it) and that murals weren't happy. This isn't Disneyland."

—stardust271828

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

37."I'm from a small city in Germany, and an American dude in his early twenties insulted me for drinking beer in public because it's illegal. In Germany, you're allowed to drink beer in public at the age of 16."

—u/Prixes420

38."American students came to our university in India to promote studying in their country. One of them asked us if we knew where her university's state was. She was surprised that no one knew where a random state in a country across the world was and proceeded to condescendingly explain it. My friend mumbled, 'Do you know what fucking state you're currently in?'"

—scoobydoobydoo

The CW

39."My friend described a trip to an English tourist spot, one of many places said to be Arthur's Camelot. It required a climb up the picturesque hill to a quiet, tree-filled spot. Nothing of the castle to be seen, of course, but everybody gazed out over the surrounding land, contemplating the magic of the ancient myth. Finally, the American arrives, glances about with irritation, then loudly says in that familiar accent: 'Where's the goddamn castle?'"

—u/Tobybrent

Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.

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