BRITS are begging American tourists to stop an annoying travel trend that creates an “unnecessary layer of friction”.
Londoners have taken to social media in an attempt to Americans visiting the capital to stop this one act.
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 shared an experience: “Yesterday, while hanging out around Victoria/Pimlico with friends for coffee and food, we encountered three separate groups of holidaying Americans seeking directions or assistance.
“The first inquiry was about how to get to ‘Green’ (meaning Green Park), and they mentioned they had come via ‘Edgware’ (which is actually Edgware Road, a completely different area from Edgware itself).
“The next wanted to find their hotel in ‘Holland’ (Holland Park, obviously not the country region).”
They noted: “This adds an unnecessary layer of confusion that could easily lead to bigger issues if you’re searching for the wrong place, asking for directions, or conducting research (like confusing Gloucester with Gloucester Road, Liverpool with Liverpool Street, Leicester with 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!).”
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.”
