{"id":533238,"date":"2025-10-28T12:38:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/533238\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T12:38:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:38:24","slug":"three-of-time-outs-friendliest-cities-in-the-world-for-2025-are-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/533238\/","title":{"rendered":"Three of Time Out\u2019s Friendliest Cities in the World for 2025 Are in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cities have a reputation for being unfriendly. There\u2019s a sense that everyone seems hurried and impatient, no one makes eye contact and no one has any interest in making\u00a0small talk with a stranger. But we\u2019re here to debunk that myth.\u00a0Once you\u00a0get to know a city, you\u2019ll quickly find that its full of friendly faces, welcoming communities and warm hospitality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As part of Time Out\u2019s annual best cities survey<\/a>, we asked city natives across the world whether they would describe their\u00a0hometown as \u2018welcoming and friendly\u2019.\u00a0We collected answers from more\u00a0than 18,500 urban residents and used them to compile our list of the top 20 friendliest cities on the planet<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and three\u00a0UK\u00a0cities\u00a0were among them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brighton\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brighton<\/a>\u00a0came out as the sixth friendliest city in the world in our survey.\u00a0The coastal city is particularly known\u00a0for its LGBTQ scene (it\u2019s not called the UK\u2019s Gay Capital for nothing) and as local Liv Kelly\u00a0puts it<\/a>,\u00a0for having an ethos of \u2018ensuring people feel welcome, and most essentially, have fun\u2019. Brighton\u2019s geniality is probably helped by the fact that it\u2019s also one of the\u00a0most content\u00a0cities out there. Our survey found that it\u2019s the 11th happiest city in the world right now and the\u00a0number one happiest in the UK<\/a>,\u00a0as well as\u00a0the world\u2019s third\u00a0most diverse and inclusive city<\/a>\u00a0and the only British city named one of the best on the planet for nightlife<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Explore\u00a0the all of the best restaurants, bars, hotels and more that Brighton has to offer here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Brighton
\nPhotograph: Shutterstock <\/p>\n

Belfast\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can always count on good old Irish charm \u2013 Belfast<\/a>\u00a0was voted the 10th\u00a0friendliest city in the world.\u00a0Sixty-one\u00a0percent of locals told us that they would describe the Northern Irish capital as welcoming and friendly, and over half said that it\u2019s easy to meet new people there.<\/p>\n

Local expert Yvonne Gordon wrote: \u2018From its history of shipbuilding to its lively pub scene and famous murals, Belfast draws visitors for its culture, heritage and hospitality.\u2019 To get a proper taste of that warm hospitality, we recommend checking out\u00a0what\u2019s on at the\u00a0Oh Yeah Music Centre<\/a>\u00a0or the famous\u00a0Ulster Hall<\/a>, taking\u00a0a\u00a0Black Taxi tour<\/a>\u00a0of the political murals or getting food at The Muddlers Club or The Ginger Bistro \u2013 two of our favourite restaurants in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Discover the best of Belfast here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Glasgow\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just like the Irish, Scots are\u00a0famed\u00a0for their gregariousness. So, landing in 14th place on our roundup of the world\u2019s friendliest cities was Glasgow.\u00a0Alongside Brighton, Glasgow\u00a0was the only other UK city to make it into the top 20\u00a0happiest cities in the world<\/a>, and, of course, happy people usually make for friendly people. If you\u2019re keen to strike up conversations with the convivial locals, head straight for one of the city\u2019s best pubs<\/a> or bars<\/a>, such as Nice N Sleazy, The Belle or The Laurieston.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Find out how to make the most of Glasgow here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kelvingrove
\nPhotograph: DrimaFilm \/ Shutterstock.com <\/p>\n

See Time Out\u2019s full list of the world\u2019s friendliest cities here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ICYMI:<\/strong>\u00a0Two British \u2018experiences\u2019 are the greatest things to do in the world in 2026<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plus:\u00a0The massively underrated British seaside city that has been named one of the best places to visit in the\u00a0world in 2026<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stay in the loop: sign up to our\u00a0free Time Out UK newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cities have a reputation for being unfriendly. There\u2019s a sense that everyone seems hurried and impatient, no one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,6419,393,4884,6420,1144,712,6417,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-533238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-categories-things-to-do","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-news-city-life","14":"tag-northern-ireland","15":"tag-scotland","16":"tag-things-to-do","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115451836303266161","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}