Brits beg American tourists to stop ‘annoying' travel trend that creates ‘unnecessary layer of friction'
Londoners have taken to social media in an attempt to Americans visiting the capital to stop this one act.
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One Reddit user posted to the r/London group titled: "PSA to Americans visiting this summer: we do not shorten place names here."
They added that American tourists were shortening location names when asking for help with directions.
The post explained: "Was hanging out around Victoria/Pimlico yesterday having coffee and food with friends and we had three separate occasions of holidaying Americans asking for directions or help.
"First was how to get to 'Green' (Green Park), and that they'd come via 'Edgware' (Edgware Road - obviously a totally different part of the city to Edgware itself).
"The next wanted to find their hotel in 'Holland' (Holland Park, obviously not the country region)."
They added: "An unnecessary layer of friction and could quite easily end up catastrophic if you're googling the wrong thing, asking for directions, researching somewhere (Gloucester instead of Gloucester Road, Liverpool instead of Liverpool Street, Leicester instead of Leicester Square, etc, etc)."
It's not the first time frustrated Londoners have encountered American tourists confusing locations either.
Another Reddit user shared their own experiences: "Can confirm from working on the railway that this is a genuine problem.
"Once sold about £200 worth of tickets to Gloucester when a group wanted Gloucester Road.
"Before selling them, I'd asked in every conceivable way I could think of if it was really Gloucester they wanted (It's not a top US tourist destination!)."
Popular Italian holiday hotspot bans walking barefoot, booze & picnics with rules-breaking tourists facing hefty fines
A third user said: "Growing up in a touristy town outside of London, we'd get a lot of American visitors asking for train tickets to Charing rather than Charing Cross.
"Charing of course being a town in Kent some 50 odd miles away."
It's not just trains that Americans visiting the capital have a problem with either.
The Sun reported in April how a tourist planning a gentle sight-seeing trip on the River Thames instead boarded a party boat full of boozy football fans by mistake.
American Evan Johnston got on the vessel with 150 Southend United supporters heading to a match.
The student, 21, thought they were all going to see London's landmarks.
The fans had hired a party boat from Tower Millennium Pier to Blackfriars Pier to catch a train to the ground.
But the Shrimpers fans welcomed Evan — taking him to his first ever match, buying all his drinks and chanting: 'Evan is a Shrimper, la la la la.'
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