friendliest countries in europe?
 

1-what are the 5 friendliest countries in your opinion?
2- who is friendlier the irish or the english?

Q1. Turkey

Q2. Irish

Depends on the visitor.

Where are you planning to be the friendliest?

Frau Merkel must be the friendliest person in Europe. Her open invitation seems to have have worked, with people even drowning in their effort to take up her kind offer to come and visit.

I think those people would have drowned even without Frau Merkel. They see Europe as paved with gold.

People in most countries are friendly if you are friendly and polite to them. There is no such thing as a friendly country.
Ditto the English and Irish. You cannot say one nationality is any friendlier than another. They are all individuals and some will naturally be friendlier than others.

Q1, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Croatia,
Q2, yes

+1 on hetismij.

What Merkel did do is ensure that the criminals who "assisted" the migrants to move received E2500 for every one of the 850,000+ who moved. (based on average reported charges)

= E2Billion

now if she had found a way to get say the Greeks to organise it without criminal involvement then Greece would have had a stimulus and the criminals would not have.

Merkel tries to "wait-out" a problem rather than seize the opportunity, good in some things not in others.

Depends on where YOU are from. If you are white Anglo you may be welcome anywhere. If you are of Indian, Asian or African appearance you may find you're not welcome at all in some countries and will experience hostility. Your question is somewhat absurd.

Q1, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Elbonia, Malta, Turkey,
Q2, yes

J62 are you a Dilbert fan by any chance?

1. Italy overall - a huge number of people want to talk about their american relatives as soon as they hear you speak. And they always appreciate my very feeble efforts at italian (I studied Spanish and school and work from there) when in markets or small, local stores. Even cab drivers are usually friendly.

2. While the English is general are perfectly polite I have found the Irish to be less reserved and more outgoing and friendly

Caveat: I do not pick countries to visit by friendliness and recognize that people in some countries are more reserved (but not unfriendly)or more formal in their dealings with others. As a New Yorker I recognize the busyness in some large cities that some people take as rudeness when it's really not.

Crazy question. Everything depends on personal interaction. Do you speak languages other than English? Can you converse with Europeans? What is your definition of "friendly?" and what are your expectations in terms of "friendliness?" Hugs and welcomes? Polite chat? You might get either, depending on where you go and how well you can converse in other languages, but nothing is a given.It's all dependent upon place and time and your attitude and language ability.

HI Bruno,
It would have helped to write a few more explaining explaining why you ask this and some context.
If you work for BBC you can also make a documentary on how thread can derail pretty fast on travel forums.
This thread can very easily finish with references to nazism...

I am new to this forum and can't believe the rudeness shown to this OP. That old chestnut, 'If you can't say something nice...' applies here. And to call a question 'absurd' is beyond disrespectful, Blueeyedcod why did you respond in the first place? Just to be nasty? Shoo, go away.


Some folks mentioned your attitude while traveling and it does make a difference. Make an effort to learn a bit of the language, don't be an entitled tourist, stay a little humble and familiarize yourself and respect the country's customs (whether you agree with them or not) like dressing properly when visiting a cathedral or saying 'Bonjour' and 'Merci, au revoir' to a French shopkeeper.


Speaking from my own limited experience, I found the Greeks very open and helpful, same goes for Madrid. I can't name any country that's been particularly unfriendly. The Barcelonans seemed a little more stand-offish but never downright rude. Others may disagree with my answers, but everyone is different.


And of course there are friendly/unfriendly people whereever you go. But obviously your question has been asked many times. There ARE certain countries that in general are more welcoming to Americans (making an assumption here) than others.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...to-foreigners/


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...llery/290752/0


https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-m...isit-worldwide

<And to call a question 'absurd' is beyond disrespectful, Blueeyedcod why did you respond in the first place? Just to be nasty? Shoo, go away.>

Clearly you are not of a race that experiences disrespect.

Shoo. Go away.

Being Irish, I am somewhat biased I suppose :) Having lived in Canada and England for most my life, I have found living back in Ireland for most of the past year to be a bit of a revelation - the Irish are more likely to nod and smile if you make eye contact and engage strangers in random conversations. You are expected to greet staff in shops and have a brief chat, rather than just complete a transaction. In big cities like London and Toronto, its mainly just a transaction.

However, I have found in my travels that if you approach people in a pleasant and polite way, you get the friendliness back that you earn.

I learned long ago when traveling in France that its is expected, certainly in rural areas, that if you greet with 'Hello Madam, how are you?' you get a warm smile and great service. If you don't, then you are judged to be rude and dismissive. I then follow up with 'My French/Italian/Spanish is very poor, so please be speak slowly' which earns me a laugh (because I have probably said something entirely wrong) and loads of patience.

I have had some of the most incredible interactions with locals where neither of us understood a word each other said. Several times in rural Northern Spain I asked for help when I was lost, and people hoped into their cars and guided me to my destination.

Overall, I think getting 'friendliness' from people when you travel has more to do with your OWN attitude and wiliness to engage.

Lucky you O'Reilly. I have overheard conversations in Italian where staff have laughed at, been rude to and disrespected Chinese tourists. All they were doing were politely trying to order a meal.

Sometimes it has nothing to do with your OWN attitude at all.

What did you eat today Blue ?

We all have our own experiences, and can only talk from that perspective, no-ones else's.

BTW Blueeyedcod, I am not disrespecting what you are saying.

My BIL is Chinese, my sister is as a blue-eyed blonde with a Chinese surname, her four children are half Chinese & Irish. They have some very odd experiences when traveling that can only be explained by racist assumption.

PAX

+1 for OReilly. And take the time to read up on & observe local customs.

Some cultures / countries are more formal / reserved than others. Not everyone responds well to what we regard as overly-familiar, inquisitive overtures from strangers.

As a tourist, I find the Italians and British to be the most friendly and welcoming.

France, in my opinion.
I have no idea who perpetuated the "Rude French" myth.

I found the French very polite and welcoming. In the smaller towns, the locals say hello when they pass by you on the street.

The Spaniards are very friendly too, particularly Madrilenos.

Australians.

Europe is shot through with them bouncing around the continent in their gap years.

I agree with Blueeyedcod's response. I think certainly ones race has something to do with it. Based on our travels in Europe (we are not white Anglo) we found the Irish to be the most friendly (everyone we met appeared to go out of their way to be nice, friendly, helpful) followed by Slovenians. We had reserved but mostly polite interactions with folks in Austria as well as Switzerland in that order. We experienced rude behavior in Italy on more than one occasion (more so in touristy areas). Cannot obviously be generalized but this was our experience.

I think the rudest Europeans are the ones who killed my family.

South United States, especially rural Georgia, rural Kentucky.

Friendly people everywhere I have ever been.

Most outgoing - Turkey, following you about with offers of tea and, of course, then rugs.
Most helpful - Spain, leading you to your destination when you are lost.

<<we are not white Anglo>>

Gawdam it, this is the most daft mischaracterization of ethnicity and "race" in contemporary semantics.

Caucasians are NOT Anglos. Angles and Saxons were tribes of Germanic barbarians. Caucasians trace to the Caucasus. As racial groupings have developed, it is accurate to say Anglo-Saxons are white, but not all whites are Anglo-Saxon. And not all Caucasians treat each other similarly.

Get some bloody historical, ethnographic and intellectual accuracy in this.

<South United States, especially rural Georgia, rural Kentucky.>

I keep hearing about how friendly Southern Americans are, but then again these are the same people who want Trump as president. Wonder how they'd treat you if you were of black or Mexican appearance.

Speaking as a woman of color, I have yet to visit a country that I would consider "unfriendly." But then again, I make sure to read up on the cultural and try to learn a few phrases in the native language and I have found that I am appreciated and welcomed--even when I went to Slovakia (a country that I was initially worried about visiting)!

That said, I think Ireland is the country where the people are extremely friendly. I also felt Germany was friendly, as was Italy.
I've never been to England so cannot compare English and Irish, but I can say that based on my encounter with the Irish people, they are some of the friendliest people and they love to chat with visitors and appear to appreciate you visiting their country.

IMDonehere,

Now that has to be the best answer I have ever read- clear, concise and poignant.

Thank you Boo