Are Americans Welcome in Europe

I just got back from Portugal the first week in Oct. In general, we were treated very well. However, on a day cruise on the Douro, my husband had a conversation with a Swiss man. My husband told him how much we enjoyed Switzerland; been there 3 times. He told him to not come back as we are not welcome. Our tablemates from Portugal were initially reluctant to talk to us when they found out that we are Americans. We ended up having some good conversations and shared similar views. We enjoy talking to people from other countries, and this time we did notice a difference with some of the other travelers due to our government's actions. This trip was an independent one, we were not on a group tour.

It's not Europe, but we did 2 weeks in Nova Scotia and PEI last month. Not only no issues, but the immediate "We are from Philadelphia, and we are so sorry" never failed to get a smile.

Reply to Larry --it was good to read about your Nova Scotia trip. A former deputy that had negotiated a deal between Canada during Trumps first term was on a news show this morning. She just wrote a book called ...Unreliable Boyfriend: An Insider's View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats, and Other Complicated People --which I want to read. She said that Canadians know its not most Americans and anything we can do to reach out like you did Larry is what we all just need to keep doing. Happy you had a great trip. Pam

Just read what happened to Diane. (sorry if I am commenting too much...) I am truly sorry for that experience. I wondered what I would do and would have done if I met with resistance or feedback like that. I am not sure other than conversing as you did I would do anything more but saying most Americans that are logical know its not a good thing not to have allies or friends whether they be countries or people. I also think that was one person who does not necessarily represent the masses in his country. And we may not know if something happened to him say for example the tariffs drove him out of business as has happened in our country and other countries. The flip side of this interchange is your husband at least got him to exchange his feelings and your husband exchanged his reactions as well. Maybe, just maybe your hubby will get some credit from this guy after he thinks about the interchange. I hope if you love Switzerland and want to go back that you do. I loved Lucern. Just a wonderful experience. Pam

I guess in 26 years of travel, and suffering through multiple administrations, conflicts, scandals, and ups and downs; I have never felt unwelcome in Europe

I think most Europeans are smart enough to know the difference between the actions of a government and the behavior of an individual tourist. For the most part, I find that conversations mostly are limited to people who rely on the tourist industry (hoteliers, waitstaff, shop clerks, people at sights and museums) and they simply are not going to treat you poorly or engage in a deep conversation with you. Even when you do get out in the wild, the culture most places is that they are not going to start a intense conversation with a stranger. It is not like the US where if you are waiting in line, the lady behind you will inform you about all her grandchildren, her medical woes, and complain about whatever political point is disturbing her.

There are exceptions of course, if you get around young students, their curiosity is boundless, they will ask all types of questions. If someplace seated near tourists from other countries, they are more likely to talk than the "locals", as if being out of their country frees them up to talk, Danes I meet anywhere in Europe, except for Denmark, are especially talkative it seems. If you really do want to "talk to locals" or anyone else around, your best bet is to find someplace with shared tables and plop down. A cafe, a beer hall, beer garden, if you are at the same table, or close by, then that is permission to talk over food or drink.

Worth mentioning, it is not all them, you can be as reclusive or engaging as you wish. If you say silly things, you will get feedback. Play the part, dress the part, of the loud, belligerent, ugly American tourist, you will be treated as one.

Been in Bavaria for 2 weeks now, everyone has been friendly and kind. Thankfully they don't seem to blame us for the "new usa". Met a young man at a bierhall, German-American, had a great non-political discussion, we were all careful to avoid those topics.

Between us we are able to hold substantive, nuanced conversations in most Romance and Slavic languages. Thus we can converse beyond the rudimentary with a broader European demographic than our fellow US-citizens who speak only English. Far and away the Europeans we've spoken with are as evenly-split pro/con their own current governments and issues as they (and Americans) are in regards to the US. Furthermore, all the Europeans we've spoken with seem to universally hold US citizens harmless for the actions and policies of the government, citing that citizens of all countries wish for nothing more than a peaceful secure confortable existence whilst government officials regardless of their chosen "branding" appear focussed on self-enrichment.

The only European travel experiece we've had ruined by others incessantly and obnoxiously banging on about politics was a river cruise, and the offenders were all fellow US-citizens. Fortuitously there were a smattering of Brits, Ozzies, Kiwis and S. Afrikans at whose tables we were welcomed to seek refuge.

What we found in Paris is that well behaved individuals who understand etiquette and local rules are welcomed warmly. We witnessed some American visitors being “treated rudely” when really they simply disregarded what appropriate behavior was, and were treated accordingly.

Bring an ignorant old fool that speaks 1 1/2 languages and never turns a way from a conversation on culture (politics), I can say that over the years from London to Moscow to Johannesburg to Cairo to Tel Aviv to Tirana to Budapest no one has ever expressed disrespect in a conversation... not even me.

My last trip I was educated in the virtues of Tito populism by one local and in the evils of Tito fascism by another local. I learned from both and judged neither. But I learned a lot about name calling.

Nearly 60 years of European travel so numerous administrations. Never once have I felt being unwelcomed as a Yank. Not in Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, England, Ireland, Sweden, Italy or Turkey.

Not during the Nixon years or either Bushes or Carter or Reagan or even with the man who presently dwells at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Appreciate and respect differences when you travel; architecture, food, language, clothing, et al.

Don’t make assumptions and keep your political beliefs to yourself. IMHO donning a Make America Great again hat or tee shirt wouldn’t be prudent.

conversation with a Swiss man. My husband told him how much we enjoyed Switzerland; been there 3 times. He told him to not come back as we are not welcome

So much for the Swiss being neutral!

Obviously, that was one Swiss man, who didn’t represent or reflect an entire country, just as some nasty Americans do not mean that all Americans (especially those who bother to visit other places) mean that all Americans are mean.

Glad your trip went so well, pamharris35!

Currently in Paris having spent the past few weeks in Italy and Switzerland. We have encountered no negativity towards us Americans whatsoever. We have found that a genuine attempt of the language, smiles and having the phone ready with a translator app gets you through Europe pretty well. I think genuine sincerity is felt and reciprocated.

I have been in Europe more than 1450 of the last 1460 days, still havent met anyone that took issue with me personally for being an American.

I hope that we are not being pegged as the "loud obnoxious American tourist ". We are veterans of many trips to Europe, and are genuinely interested in other cultures. We dress low key and do not start political discussions. On the cruise, the Portuguese woman asked if she could ask a delicate question. She stated that she was afraid that we were Maga followers and was not comfortable with it.
We had some interesting conversations after this. In Porto, we joined a friendly couple from Wales for drinks. No problems with us being American, just don't understand our government. So, I do agree that in most cases Americans are treated well. But as was mentioned earlier, the people who work directly in the tourist industry have to treat everyone well.
I would have no hesitation in returning to Switzerland either.

Just to clarify Pam’s comment about visiting Canada and the new book. The author who was being interviewed this week is our former Deputy Prime Minister. Her background is much more extensive beyond being part of trade negotiations. She is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford where she was a Rhodes Scholar; is multilingual; and is on Russia’s no entry list (read into that what you will). Her husband is a journalist with the New York Times.

Canada, including my own city and province, has received thousands of visitors from the US over the past 2 years. I have yet to come across any example of any of them not being warmly welcomed (except two who posted photos of themselves arriving wearing sweatshirts with a phrase not particularly well received here these days).

As has been written here countless times, visitors who are polite and respectful are generally welcomed in most places.

In my recent trip to Spain we didn’t come across any anti American feelings. Genuinely we have found people pretty non political, or at least towards us.

Clare--thank you for clarifying that. On the show she was terrific and I would like to get an electronic copy of her book as it looks immensely interesting. And in 2022 at our 40th anniversary --we took a two week excursion through Vancouver , the Rocky Mountaineer train and visits through the ice fields, and visits to Jaspar and Banff. Tremendous beauty and Canadians are gracious hosts. Pam

Pam, you are quite welcome:) She is a journalist by background in addition to her other skills and experience so I think you will find her book very worthwhile. I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed your visit here. You definitely saw some great parts of the country.

We aren't European, but on our recent trip to Iceland, an American traveller on our tour bus made a comment about Canada soon becoming the 51st state after we said where we were from. We VERY quickly and firmly disabused him of that notion. He seemed a little abashed and said he missed the days of Walter Cronkite, when one could trust the news. We got along all right after that. We even ate dinner with him since he was travelling alone and seemed kind of lonely (his wife had recently died).

We're okay with Americans, but we are most decidedly NOT okay with threats to our sovereignty.

I spend between six and eight months in Europe every year.

I have never felt unwelcome as an American. Sure, you do hear negative comments about the government, but they never made me feel as if that negativity was aimed towards me.

Of course, I then turn it around and ask them about what is going on in their country. You quickly learn that no place is without problems just different ones.

By the way, that infamous photo with the American couple wearing those "insulting" shirts while trying to enter Canada was fake. The owner admitted it was photoshopped.

Yes Frank, the sweatshirts were ‘fake’ but the social media post showing it off was not. Nor was a previous social media post by the same person suggesting the US could get Canada at a ‘fire sale’ price while parts of our country were on fire. I stand by my comment that those types of actions are best not done if you are planning to visit the country you are ridiculing.

@ Diane, you mention above that "the Portuguese woman asked if she could ask a delicate question. She stated that she was afraid that we were Maga followers " on your cruise ---

I'm wondering what you thought would lead this woman to think that you might be Maga followers?

It depends on the particular American and what they say or do.

The good news is this applies to every other nationality as well.

I can name many of my fellow British people who I really wish lived on another island far away.

So, don’t over think it.

I recently heard Chrystia Freeland interviewed on NPR. I believe that may be the journalist/former Deputy Minister that has been mentioned in this thread. Her interview was excellent and I recommend anyone interested to go on NPR website & search for using her name. It was done last month I think.

avirosemail, I can't think of anything about us that would suggest MAGA. We exchanged pleasantries, such as it's a nice day and how we were enjoying Portugal. When they found out that we were American, they became more quiet. After she asked her question, we had some interesting conversations and they shared with us their feelings about America. As many others, they don't have negative feelings about most Americans.

I have made concession in how I dress. My hair is thin and I m prone to nasal cell carcinomas. So I must wear a hat outdoors. I am from Philadelphia, and I have always been partial to a Phillies baseball cap, it also makes me readily visible in crowd.

Not any more! Has nothing to do with the Phils.

You will be welcome and ignored for the most part. The average European thinks about the USA a lot less than you think.

The challenge facing all visitors, including Canadians, is that we can create large volumes of people occupying people’s communities. Some resentment will follow.

One our short two day stay in England before a cruise, we were treated well.

I will close with one way, tourists create problems for themselves. On the cruise ship on the elevator a gentleman announced “Our President is in Ireland” were our ship was stopping. He assumed I was American. My comment was “ He is not my President”, I acknowledge was curt and a bit rude, however in light of the President’s comments about Canada becoming 51 state I felt I needed to respond.

He was chastised and I think his wife was embarrassed. Do I care that he was proud of his President. Not at all, he is entitled to his belief. However assuming everyone American is the problem.

Not really part of the thread, but it is an example of how people making assumptions can create uncomfortable situations. In retrospect I should have just ignored the comment, as I would normally do, but the current context of US Canada relations got the better of me.

Sounds like an amazing trip Pam!

Agree that most people will be nice, don’t have anything personal against individual American people (depending on how they are behaving of course) and can distinguish between an individual and a country’s policies.

In Scotland and Italy this year people were friendly. People also sometimes think we are American. When we told them we are Canadian they expressed relief and said how much they don’t like how the US is acting these days. They seemed relieved that they could speak their minds.

Canadians and Danes/Greenlanders likely to be more sensitive these days more so than those in Portugal etc as our countries have been more directly threatened by the US economically and with being taken over/invasion.

But again Americans are welcomed and especially the thoughtful traveller like Pam and folks on this forum should be treated well. :)

“ He is not my President”

For more than 30 years now, I’ve heard Americans use that phrase, referring to the current Chief Executive at the time, implying that they didn’t accept whomever had been elected. They seemingly had their own standards, and were making sure that anyone within earshot knew that was the case. Maybe it made them feel better, but the catchphrase sounded like nonsense. I’ve never heard it uttered while traveling in another country, although, of course, no president is the president of a majority of the world!

There was a time when some Canadians (and maybe some non-Canadians?) displayed prominent Canadian flag badges, stickers, or labels on their luggage, backpacks, or clothing when overseas, presumably so they could be distinguished from people from the U.S.A. I don’t think I’ve noticed that recently.

Since I started this trip report , I so appreciate all of the comments and the thoughts shared by all. Since unlike most of you it seems, I did not do a lot of traveling to other countries over my lifetime and I was just curious what everyone's experiences was and again, Rick Steves sometimes in his blog talks about this. Everyone is subject to some kind of political experience in their government but I cannot recall a time in my 71 years that some of the remarks about taking over a country like Canada or Greenland or whatever have been in the world by our government--I mean using my Normandy experience just recently,---these are all of our allies that took the beaches in Normandy just like the Americans did. And I am sure those from other countries have their tales to tell about their own governments. So it is with extreme appreciation that those that commented have made such insightful observations of what they have experienced and done. One thing I wanted to share was as I said before my mom was a war bride after WWII who came through Ellis Island with her little girl from her previous marriage to become a citizen (her first husband died in a prisoner of war camp in Italy). She loved this country so much. She was from Wales. Lately I have been watching the documentary Welcome to Wrexham about two Hollywood actors who bought a Welsh soccer (or for them a football team) . My son had started watching it and in June encouraged me to do the same....I kind of rolled my eyes but did it. I came to find out that the team and the documentary is more than about soccer its about the community and what that team meant to them even as their part of the country had become economically depressed as coal mining is no longer as big an industry in Wales as it was. So when we were in Wales, Swansea to be specific where my mom was born we also got tickets to a Wrexham game and stayed their before going to Liverpool. I met a number of the townspeople that were in the documentary and I went to the Welsh Miners Project to see what they were doing to inform people about the history and culture of their town. The point of all this is what I really loved about Europe and in particular the Wrexham experience was meeting the people of that land so it wasn't just to check off we did this or that. The same was true in other parts of our trip. Don’t get me wrong, we did plenty of check off need to do this or that, but the most precious experiences were those in speaking with the townsfolk of that area. If I ever go back I would want to do more of that. Whether I go back to Canada, or Salzburg or Lucern ,etc etc. That was really the highlight of it all for me. Thanks for reading, Pam

I have traveled to different parts of Europe, 8 times in my life so far. I took a 4 week Yiddish class in Vilnius, Lithuania, when I was 24. The other 7 trips were when I was 33 to summer of this year. Nobody made any negative comments or worse at me for being an American. I have no clue whether any of this matters: My plan which seems to work good is:

I teach myself phrases in the language of the country I am going to. In the country, I keep my mouth shut the vast majority of the time except that I occasionally say phrases in the language, to employees, to sound smart or to ask for something. I act like I don't speak English, at first, although I have ended up conversing in English with taxi or rideshare drivers who seemed to want to converse and who knew a good amount of English. A driver might have asked me about politics but he didn't complain or act in any kind of negative way. If I spoke the language I would keep my mouth just as shut most of the time. You are not likely to get assaulted for being an American but don't tell anybody anyway unless you have some reason to tell somebody.

I know there is no agreement on how much you clothes matter: multiple opinions say you should not "dress like a tourist". In Lithuania I dressed in Altra shoes, multi-colored socks, long hiking pants with zippered pockets and not the kind that half the legs zip off, button-down long sleeved multi-colored shirt with a collar, a stiff cotton sun-hat I bought in Peru that says "Peru" in little print. On other trips I had similar but different clothes.

I spent 12 weeks, 87 nights , this summer in Europe going to Austria (Vienna, Linz, Salzburg) , Germany (Potsdam, Magdeburg, Dortmund, Munich, Hamburg) and mostly France (Paris , Lille, Metz and several other cities / towns) engaging Europeans (Swedes, French, Italian, Germans, ) in conversations using German only with one French and the 3 separate Germans) , the rest all in English, plus a little French with the French dealing with the current state of US politics, the voters, the personalities, the upcoming midterms, etc.

Traveling in Europe I don't shy away from talking politics regardless of the charged atmosphere this summer brought on by the tariffs, topic dealt with concerns on the US or Germany or France.

Conversations were pleasant, inciteful, enlightening, not perfunctorily superficial . No anti-Americanism directed at me at all. I always let my interlocutor know I'm from CA. A few have told me they were here, even visiting SF ages ago.

Their disliking Americans is no deterrence for me to avoid the place, not interested in that. I go regardless. However I've not come across that .

The closest to encountering someone on this trip having less than a pleasant disposition based on your gut feeling was this German guy in Munich running a cafe, whom I felt was condescending when he asked me where I was from (in German). I didn't get good vibes from this guy, didn't like his body language either. I snapped back at him when giving him my answer , ie from CA. I waited for his response. He said nothing .

Interaction with locals included also hotel reception staff, restaurant wait staff, tourist office staff, taxi drivers ( Germany: Potsdam, France: Metz, St Quentin, ) ...all helpful, pleasant, approachable . Very good conversations can be had with hotel reception staff when it is "slow". In France it is another opportunity to put my limited language knowledge to use with les français.

@pamharris, Did you manage to get into the National Football Museum of Wales/Wrexham Museum, or were you there too soon for its 25th September re-opening?