Hamburg named the 6th friendliest city in the world

Fernwayer has analysed 1,2 million online comments about 200 cities in an attempt to determine the world's friendliest metropolises. Hamburg performed pretty well, but only because locals were marginally more friendly than tourists expected them to be.

Hamburg among friendliest cities in the world

What’s the friendliest city you’ve ever been to? Was it… Hamburg? No, well, think again! The northern German city has been named the sixth friendliest in the world according to Fernwayer’s new ranking.

The all-time friendliest cities were given glowing reviews. In first place, Mérida in Mexico, was proclaimed “super friendly”; Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, was “just the best” and people who travelled to Bogotá, Colombia, said locals “[went] out of their way to offer help”.

Reviews of Hamburg were more tame. Basically, people were pleasantly surprised by how friendly Hamburgers were, when much of the rest of northern Europe is known for its unamused, bare-minimum politeness. The most glowing reviews of Hamburg said it was “very open-minded, tolerant and welcoming to foreigners”. 

Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and Munich also made the ranking, but none of them in particularly impressive spots. Despite the infamous Berliner Schnauze, the capital was named the 34th most-friendly city in the world. Frankfurt came in 69th place, Cologne in 77th and Munich in 102nd.

Hamburg recently named among worst expat cities

Fernwayer acknowledged that reviews are very subjective. “Two travellers can spend the same three days in the same city and come home with opposite verdicts on it. One found it cold and closed; the other was treated like a friend.”

Indeed, it seems the mask or bare-minimum politeness slips after day three in Hamburg. As recently as 2024, the port city was named the second-worst for expats in the world. The InterNations ranking surveyed 12.543 international people of 175 nationalities living abroad in 174 countries.

While those passing through Hamburg found it somewhat welcoming to foreigners, those living there cited a lack of openness to making friends, alongside inaccessibility to healthcare services, as their main complaints. 

How Hamburg treats you probably comes down to a few things, but most importantly, whether you can find a pleasant and affordable place to live and a bunch of friends with whom you can share the joys and complain about the frustrations of living in Hamburg.