Dublin named world's third friendliest city

                             Dublin's Ha'penny Bridge

Dublin and Galway have been named among the world's ten friendliest cities by readers of Condé Nast Traveler.

The city placed third on the list, behind Charleston in South Carolina and Sydney, Australia - and just ahead of Queenstown, New Zealand.

"We had the best recommendations on where to go and what to see from the locals," said another visitor. "Better than any guide book."

"I've never been somewhere with friendlier drinkers," added a third.

Condé Nast Traveler's Top 10 friendliest cities:

1 Charleston, South Carolina

2 Sydney, Australia

3 Dublin, Ireland

4 Queenstown, New Zealand

5 Park City, Utah

6 Galway, Ireland

7 Savannah, Georgia

8 Krakow, Poland

9 Bruges, Belgium

10 Nashville, Tennessee

The list was complied based on Conde Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Survey, taken by some 128,000 readers in 2015, according to the magazine.

"Just look at this city," it says of Galway. "It's hard not to be charmed."

Live music, pubs and food "enchanted" its readers, the travel bible adds. "These are the friendliest people I have ever met," commented one reader.

Galway was named the world's friendliest city by readers of another US publication, Travel + Leisure, last year, with Dublin ranking third and Cork fourth.

"Again and again, our research shows us that the friendliness of our people is one of our unique selling points," said Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland.

"It is the warm welcome and the ‘craic’ here that resonates with our overseas visitors and makes our cities, and the island of Ireland, such a great choice for a short break or holiday."

Meanwhile, Condé Nast Traveler's list of the world's unfriendliest cities was topped by Newark, followed by Tijuana, Mexico and Oakland in California.

Pól Ó Conghaile