Why do Brits avoid 'local' bars when abroad?

Posted by Poch1212@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 20 comments

You never see them in traditional Portuguese taverns or typical Spanish taverns unless they are with a local but they'll pack every Indian, Chinese, or pizza restaurant instead.

But you can see Frenchs visiting local taverns

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HotNeon@reddit

We don't

I'm sure you have some examples but most people don't, you might not even know they are British.

For people on the Spanish coast eating fry ups wearing a union jack vest. Those people are ignorant and scared to try new things /look out of place as well as have a sense of entitlement that everyone should speak English and it's a personal attack on them if you have the audacity not to

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Morddraig@reddit

It's not entitlement I think, more a case of low confidence in trying different things and fearing being made to look a fool if they don't like it or are unsure of local customes and social norms. Not learning even a few words of the local language though is just plain bloody rude!

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BigSisLil@reddit

It's not entitlement or low confidence for most. Many people just want to do the things that they enjoy and eat and drink the things they like with people that speak their language somewhere with good weather. Not what I do on holiday but not sure what the problem is, tourism brings a lot of money into these communities.

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PetersMapProject@reddit

Those are the sort of Brits I go on holiday to get away from

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-Londoneer-@reddit

We don’t. There are 60 million of us and we’re not all the same.

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Fun_Cheesecake_7684@reddit

This is just wrong. I never go to tourist bars when I'm abroad. I go to local places, muddle through with the language and I tend to find when I'm drinking, bar people are happy to serve me!

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Impressive-Safe-7922@reddit

I usually prefer to go to local restaurants when overseas, but sometimes Chinese, Indian or pizza places are easy options for certain dietary requirements and/or finding something affordable in a touristy area. My family has definitely ended up at a Chinese restaurant when travelling (not in China) because the menu online said there were veggie options, whereas other more typical local places didn't have any. Another time we ended up in a Italian restaurant because all the other nearby restaurants were really expensive or absolutely packed. We just made sure to find somewhere with more local options on a different day, when we'd been able to research ahead of time.

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BuddyLegsBailey@reddit

"You never see them in local bars".

Of course, you sit in all the local bars, simultaneously, all year round, to know this

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SocieteRoyale@reddit

I always avoid the tourist bars so I can have a relaxing time avoiding British tourist and drinking in the local bars instead to try out local beer and food

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FracturedMoonlights@reddit

They like home comforts when abroad like a typical British bar serving British meals. I don’t see the point of that.

Even as a British, I find it ignorant if people don’t embrace the culture when in a different country.

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Jack-Rabbit-002@reddit

Because even when I'm on my holidays Its best to stay somewhere that's used to my savagery! Lol 🤔

No that's a massive generalisation a lot of people like to muck into the local culture I can't speak for Spain and Portugal per say but when I used to visit Poland in my twenties I used to get drove out onto the woods for a drink Lol not a local bar

Though maybe if we're taking like strips and stuff we always feel comfortable about familiarity goes for all people. It's why we end up with a dozen nations in one City

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MomentoVivere88@reddit

Depends on the place and target market. Benidorm for instance. Totally agree. But personally for me, I avoid British/Irish pubs abroad. They are tacky.

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DeirdreBarstool@reddit

I am someone who doesn't like 'Brits abroad' places - I avoid package holiday locations and always try the local food/go the places where locals eat and drink. However, I do always end up drawn into an Irish bar at least once on my travels! They always have a good atmosphere and you get to meet people from all over the world. My favourite one was in Seoul but in Barcelona I met people from Belarus, Canada and Australia. I'm still friends with some of them on social media.

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polkadotska@reddit

Surely that depends on the people and the place? Whenever I travel (in a group of Brits), we always try to pick somewhere local. One of the main reasons I go to e.g. Spain is the food - gimme the tapas, gimme the cañas. I literally don't think I've ever been to a Chinese/Indian/pizza place whilst in Spain - I've always gone for something local.

I imagine people on a package holiday to a Brits-only resort in Benidorm might not be as adventurous, but both Spain and Portugal are hugely popular destinations for Brits and many of them will be checking out the food scene in the local taverns etc.

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Searching4LambSauce@reddit

All I can say is - I don't.

I make a concerted effort to go where locals go and do as they do.

I don't get it right every time. But I do try.

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