Family sitting at the top of lion rock at Piha beach in Auckland, NZ. Photo / iStock
Family sitting at the top of lion rock at Piha beach in Auckland, NZ. Photo / iStock
Queenstown and Auckland have made the list of the top 10 friendliest cities for 2015.
The southern city ranked number three and Auckland number nine in the annual Condé Nast Traveler magazine Reader Choice Awards survey.
"For the third year running, we've asked our readers to rate a city's "friendliness" in the Readers' Choice Awards survey, especially with respect to where you felt welcome, or not," the magazine's editors wrote.
"or the third year running, we've asked our readers to rate a city's "friendliness" in the Readers' Choice Awards survey. We found out which cities greet visitors with open arms... which international cities were warm - or had a chill in the air."
Queenstown came in behind Sydney and Dublin, with readers raving about abundant adventure activities, bars and glaciers.
"With "so much to do," and "a great bar scene at night," "you can't NOT have a good time in Queenstown." It's "a bucket list city, but you'll need a bucket of money" to visit, warned another voter.
Auckland was described as a city full of "unbelievably friendly folk" were found to be some of the most "polite and accommodating" in the world.
"One reader was "invited by strangers to the Chinese Lantern Festival on a hill overlooking the city"; another local recommended taking "the ferry to the north shore Devonport suburb for the perfect combination of funky and shabby chic.
"Overall, most agreed that there were "absolutely wonderful people everywhere!" Auckland tied with Melbourne for the top spot in the 2014 survey.
Sydney took the top spot this year with those who voted claiming there was 'nothing not to like' in the New South Wales hub.
"Such friendly people... so much so that after we met an Australian woman on our flight there, she offered to pick us up at our hotel and spent a whole day showing us her favourite parts of the city," one visitor said.
The magazine also ranked the least friendliest cities in the world with Caracas, Venezuela taking out the top spot.
It was followed by Casablanca in Morocco and Guangzhou in China.
No Kiwi cities ranked on that list.
WORLD'S FRIENDLIEST CITIES
1. Sydney, Australia 2. Dublin, Ireland 3. Queenstown, New Zealand 4. Kraków, Poland 5. Bruges, Belgium 6. Edinburgh, Scotland 7. Kyoto, Japan 8. Budapest, Hungary 9. Auckland, New Zealand 10. Reykjavik, Iceland
1. Caracas, Venezuela 2. Casablanca, Morocco 3. Guangzhou, China 4. Guatemala City, Guatemala 5. Nairobi, Kenya 6. New Delhi, India 7. Cairo, Egypt 8. Moscow, Russia 9. Jakarta, Indonesia 10. Cannes, France
