I WAS STANDING AT A LONDON BUS STOP. I’d been living there for about five months. A pair of American tourists walked up to a British man sitting next to me and asked him “where to find Big Ben.” He pointed them in the right direction, and as he walked off, he snorted and turned to me. “Ugh. Tourists, right?” I have rarely been as happy as I was in that moment. I laughed and smiled, but didn’t respond. He’d mistaken me for a Londoner! I wasn’t going to blow it by responding in my American accent.
There’s nothing better than feeling like a local in a European city. But you’re not likely to feel like a local unless you spend some time in the place, and commit a few embarrassing faux pas. If you want to avoid the worst slip-ups, IcelandAir has put together this infographic breaking down the basics of looking like a local in the major European cities. Check it out.