MissPrism

I guess there will be always be those who will confuse friendly with an engaging facade for the purposes of larceny and theft. Especially after the fact.

In my six I've had the experience of, when asked for information, that person stopping what they are doing and showing me what I wanted, for free and going well out of their way to do so.

Now I guess they could have been bored but no I think they wanted to help a visitor to their country. If not once but multiple times.

The sad thing is that the country where that has happened the most was Syria.

Aren't we just listing the countries we've been to?
My list:
--the countries in Europe I've been to.

There.

Turkey
Mexico
Scotland

This is why this this kind of post is specious:

You will be treated differently by those you encounter based on sex, religion, income, physical appearance, etc.

For example, if you are a white male age 50 wearing Gucci loafers you will most probably be greeted with a smile by the host of a Roman restaurant or upscale shop because you are seen as potential $$$.

But, maybe, you go to Termini to buy a train ticket and a clerk there is resentful that you are wearing Gucci loafers because he can't even scrape the money together to get a pair of socks. So he is rude to you.

However, he sees your beautiful daughter with long blonde hair standing behind you so starts beaming......

Thin

Northern Spanish - I can't list the amount of times I got helped out by wonderfully decent people who went above and beyond

Irish - but I am biased, particularly in the far flung rural areas like Connemara

The people of Winnipeg Manitoba. Weather is cold as hell, but the people are warm hearted.

I don't think I have ever traveled in a country where I would call the people generally "unfriendly," except perhaps for the few days I spent, years ago, in Belgrade (to take train to Turkey, and then again to take plane to Rome). Scowling, unhelpful is how I remember the few I came into contact with. Israelis may seem brusque to the person on the street, but again, this is based on my own very, very limited experience.





If we can remain outside Europe for a moment, I would mention the friendliness of the people I met in:

Hong Kong. Every time I paused on the street, there seemed to be someone at my shoulder offering to help point me in the right direction, or answer any questions. This was on my most recent trip, a few years ago. Polite, helpful in the extreme.

West Africa. Shame that this region has so many problems because it is very rich for tourists, and with the most smiling, helpful people. I talk here only about the former French areas, not Ghana, Nigeria, and the rest, which I do not know at all.

Mexico. Not been for years, but remember for the hospitality of the people I met.

Countries are just vague lines on a paper map.

No idea how you can generalise about a country like Italy in which three different languages are spoken and include Milan/Palermo, which may as well be on different continents.

Friendly countries?

Sounds like a Daily Mail article.

<Countries are just vague lines on a paper map.>
Right.

But isn't this thread just an opportunity to humble brag? "I simply LOVE the people of Freedonia, we go every Christmas for the skiing. When our lodge ran out of firewood one year, they chopped up some old huts for us--charming!"

I think the French police are absolutely friendly, polite, and helpful.>

Ask my French son and almost anyone in his posse of friends about French police being so friendly and they were say the contrary - with les flics being downright nasty in their case.

I think the whole thing of saying what the friendliest nations are is so laden with subjectivity it is meaningless - you put Belgians in your top three - well after taking zillions of folks on trips thru Belgium they all - almost to a T - thought Belgians were rude - especially when they entered a small store and just wanted to look around - they often were met with the words "Just looking around, go out" - and Belgians in general seemed so dour - but those are based on experiences that few others will have - ten years of in-depth wheeling and dealing with Belgians, etc. and not ephemeral relations like casual tourists are want to have.

I'd also like to mention Sally from Brewer Street in London.

The standard was "friendly" not "easy".

IMD can't post in the Lounge. LOL sorry ;-)

Brewer street :-)

hey cold we miss you over in the lounge.

Nanabee I am busy over here giving much needed travel advice. See above.

We want cold to stay in Europe!!!

Pal - what the heck is your son up to that the police are not treating him well? :-o

Pal - what the heck is your son up to that the police are not treating him well?>

nothing bad in particular but he says cops always stopped people his age who were gathering outside at night and asked for IDs, etc - over and over - not illegal in France to do that as it is in the cicil liberty-loving U.S.
He asays French police municipale do this all the time to others too - at least his local police.

adrienne it even happened to me once when I was young and had long hair - my crime was I was jogging around Chaateaudun (Loire area) in the morning - about 7:30 am and cops stopped me - took me into police station - searched all my bags - murmured something about I could possibly be a thieve or what else would cause me to jog around town that early - they were not rude but not that nice even for an innocent person with whom they had no inkling any crime had been committed, etc.

Well the French will never make anyone's most friendly list - as my son says the French are rude to each other too.

You were jogging with bags? Multiple bags? Jogging? Pretty odd, if not suspicious...