Any vacation can be made more comfortable by dealing with kind and welcoming people, such as those in the nicest European destination. Sadly, not every nation is known for having hospitable citizens. Travellers listed the nations they've been to that they felt were the rudest in a Skyscanner study (via Forbes). Perhaps surprisingly, France topped the list.

France

Similar to this, Insider Monkey declared Paris to be the rudest city on Earth based on comments made by visitors on Reddit. "French people in France cut in line, talk down to you and I often hear insults in French directed at me when I eavesdrop," a Redditor with a since-deleted profile commented in one thread. Several people who commented on a different topic on impolite people in the country thought that France was the worst.

Traveler 393arthur wrote on Tripadvisor with a same sentiment. The article, "French are so rude and arrogant to tourists - WHY?" included comprehensive examples of the author's interactions with unpleasant shopkeepers, rude restaurant staff, and other instances where non-French tourists were disregarded. Even while these encounters might not be universal, it seems a lot of work needs to be done before the "snooty Frenchman" stereotype is put to rest.

Russia 

Though France and Russia are on opposite ends of the European continent, they're both regarded as having rude locals by visitors. Skyscanner's respondents named Russia the rudest destination for travelers after France, which gives the phrase "coldest places in the world" a whole new meaning. Russian people are thought to be blunt, direct, and confrontational by some outsiders. Redditor u/eye_snap explained their take: "Russians will not smile until they know you. This includes customer service or sales people. They are suspicious of everyone, until you become friends, then they are great friends to have."

For tourists who don't have time to earn the locals' trust, this can result in many uncomfortable interactions. However, some insiders suggest that Russians don't intend to be rude. Rather, their culture and communication style is simply different from that found in some other countries. Skyscanner's Russian Market Manager Tatiana Danilova told Forbes, "the Russian language is not as polite as English, so when Russians translate directly from Russian to English, it can sound rude to an English speaker even if they don't mean it to."

United Kingdom

In Skyscanner's survey on rude countries, the U.K. and Germany rounded out the top four, each receiving about 10% of the total votes. The U.K. isn't generally stereotyped as harshly as France, and, ironically, 65% of survey respondents were from the U.K. and Ireland. British travelers may just be humble, though some netizens have complained of run-ins with unfriendly Britons. On Reddit, u/Ornery_Context_8797, who visited from the U.S., shared their difficulty socializing with people in Oxford. Other posts suggest the locals are even more antisocial in the capital, something you may want to keep in mind when trying to blend in with the locals in London.

Germany

It's also good to be prepared for unfriendly attitudes when visiting Germany. Many travelers have taken to discussion boards and blogs with personal stories of rude interactions with locals in the central European country. "Of all the people I've met so far, old Germans have a bit of a tendency to be the rudest, in a holier-than-thou attitude, but this is all very anecdotal," wrote u/ManaSyn in a Reddit thread. On the blog Following the Wanderlust, writer Alison Haywood goes as far as claiming that "Germans aren't 'direct' — sometimes they are just plain rude," citing a handful of personal examples.

Remember that rudeness is a personal preference whether you travel to France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, or any other European nation. Not everything that is deemed polite in one setting is in another. Before you travel, familiarise yourself with your destination to assist you avoid unpleasant cultural shocks and, more significantly, make sure you're not the one acting impolitely in a strange country.