What country is your favourite?

[Surf2Live]

To balance out another thread on AIBU (which is fascinating and useful, no hate here) let's have your favourite country so far out of all the countries you've visited (list them so we can see what you're comparing to), when did you visit and what was so good about it.

I'll start.

So far I've visited 24 countries: New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, Rarotonga, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Barbados, Dominican Republic, USA, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco.

Favourite: England. Best food, cosy pubs, stunning countryside, polite people who know how to queue, nice beaches in Cornwall, best city (London).

Second favourite: Barbados. Stunning water colour, great surf, very friendly people, good manners, stunning beaches. Just very hot.

sorry, forgot to add, visited England end winter / spring 2024 for 4 months, Barbados for 6 months 2023

If you liked England, you'd love Scotland!

I've been to -

India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Argentina, Brazil, Dubai, Morocco, Tunisia, Malta, Croatia, Spain, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Canary Islands, Portugal, Denmark, Brussels, Iceland, Austria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ireland

It's hard to choose a stand out favourite as there are many that I love, but if I had to then I'd pick Argentina! So diverse, great food and culture, beautiful landscapes, friendly people.

Oh, been to Hong Kong too.

And Montenegro! Sorry, should have thought about it properly before replying.

I did visit Scotland, quite extensively and for about a month. Very nice indeed, parts reminded me of the South Island of New Zealand, but I still preferred England. Sorry to any Scots here!

I love Italy - it has everything - beautiful cities, scenic mountains, stunning coastline. I would almost happily never go anywhere else.

That's great to hear! Italy is top of my list of European countries to visit and I plan on spending about a month there next year. Very much looking forward to good food and beautiful historic towns and villages.

Where do you live op?

Im also a huge Italy fan but I also love Switzerland.

I've been to 37 countries/independent territories

UK,Poland,Slovakia,Ireland,Netherlands,Bulgaria,Spain,France,Greece,Cyprus,Italy,Hungary,Turkey

Thailand,Malaysia

St Vincent and the Grenadines,St Maarten,Antigua,St Kitts,St Lucia,Bonaire,Grenada,Curaçao,Aruba,Barbados,Guadeloupe,Martinique,St Barth,British Virgin Islands,Trinidad&Tobago,Dominica,Jamaica,Cayman Islands,

Honduras,Cuba,Mexico,Venezuela,USA(New York)

My absolute favourite in Thailand. Absolutely nothing compares to this country. I went back in 2019 for the first time when I'd just turned 20, took my son there for 3 weeks back in January of this year and now we're booking to go again for January 2025! The food, the beaches, the culture, the people - everything is just wow

Home base is Panama as I'm a permanent resident there, but my travel is pretty constant. When I visit a new place I'm there for weeks to months.

New Zealand citizen though.

I love to travel, travelled extensively in my 20's and early 30's slowed down a bit recently, though even then my youngest who is just about to turn 10 year has racked up 22 countries so far, but many of those have been new places in countries I've visited before so not adding to the country count for me. We live in the UK at the moment and have been to all countries within the UK, but I'm not counting those ones.

So far I think I've visited 63 countries: New Zealand, Australia (lived there for 8 years), Fiji, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China (including Hong Kong), Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Singapore, Jordan, Uzbekistan, South Korea, UAE, Morocco, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Eswatini, Brazil, Argentina, Chile (including Easter Island), Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador (including Galapagos), Paraguay, USA (but actually only NYC and Washington), Canada, Cuba, France (including Pacific islands of Tahiti and Moorea), Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Andorra, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Vatican, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Malta, Ireland and Russia (only Moscow).

I'd love to sit on the fence with favourite country, there are so many fab places out there. Within Europe I really enjoy spending time in Croatia and Portugal, but if I had to pick an overall winner it would probably be Japan. I lived there for 6 months and it's just fabulous.

Thought of more - Greece, Italy, USA and Gibraltar. There is an app called 'been' which makes it easy to check off all of the countries you've visited so you don't have to rely on memory. I'm 39 and have, coincidentally, visited 39 countries. May try to add a new one each year.

agreed, Thailand is one of my favourites too, been 3 times and looking forward to going again

shame about no real surf though.... amazing food!

Would recommend Vietnam if you liked Thailand. I liked it even more!

Italy, Canada, Australia, parts of the U.S.

Parts of Turkey (and probably anywhere to be honest) are beautiful too. I live in Wales and love the greenery here and the proximity to beaches, I live close to a nature reserve but also a town.

I'm so jealous of all the well-travelled people!

I've been to: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Austria, Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Turkey, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Thailand, USA and Switzerland.

Didn't dislike any of them.

My favourite is probably Italy just due to the amount of time I have spent there and people I have got to know as a result. It's beautiful and interesting with amazing and affordable cafes and restaurants. What's not so good is the sometimes stifling social norms and overt judgement when they aren't followed, though generally I have found the people welcoming and friendly.

But really all these places have amazing cities/cultures/other things to recommend them. I'm glad I've been to as many places as I have and really hope I get to go to a lot more in years to come.

Probably Iceland. I love the varied dramatic landscapes, the people are educated and warm, the emphasis on the environment and using and maintaining local food and resources. Wildlife is fabulous and the culture is refreshing.

Answering as a Scot, tut tut OP! 😉

Have to echo the above poster - Italy is probably my favourite. I lived in Spain for years and Italy for short time but the country always holds a certain mystique for me. It always seems so classy and beautiful, even in the parts that are rougher around the edges.

I've been to 50+ countries, not sure exactly. Thailand is my favourite, been several times. But of course important to choose locations carefully so you don't end up in the middle of some seedy bar area. Tiny remote island and it's just perfect.

I have had the good fortune to visit many countries on many continents and Italy would be the one I put highest like many people on this thread.

In fact, I am in Italy right now (live in UK).

I’m not going to list everywhere I’ve been, but I’ve visited about 35 countries. It’s very hard to pick a favourite- impossible actually, as sometimes it’s the scenery, sometimes the culture, sometimes the food, or the people that makes me fall in love with a place. I love southern Germany though and could go again and again. Also Canada. If I could really only pick one, then France but specifically the Alps.

Hoping to go to Slovenia next summer and am expecting to love it as alpine/forest/lake landscapes are my favourite.

My favourite is Sri Lanka. It's the whole package - people, food, culture, scenery. Went in August 2019, want to go back one winter to visit the south.

@DecafDodger any hidden gems or recommendations for a July/August trip to Thailand? Hoping to go in school summer holidays this year.

I love Greece and South Africa. Both quite varied

I love too many places...all for different reasons.

I've visited...France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Greece and various islands, Montenegro, Croatia, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Hungary, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina, USA, Belgium, Netherlands, Malta, St Lucia, Turkey, Ireland.

I've loved everywhere I've been in Greece, lovely people/views/beaches, so out of places visited I'd say it comes top...but then I love Spain and Italy too. Hard to choose.

I also love the Uk coastline/countryside/lakes and spend lots of holidays on home soil. Love the walks, love the pubs with roaring fires in winter and beer gardens in summer. I enjoy the old churches, buildings, history, changing seasons (granted, not as defined as they used to be)

@House4DS hmm never been to any of those places in July, you definitely need to check the weather before booking. My general tip, unless you actually want to go to a busy party place, is to check other options around the popular and well known islands. For example if you like Koh Samui - check Koh Tao. Phi Phi - check Koh Yao islands. But as said, never been there in July.