Two favourite European Countries apart from the UK and a reason if you like

Portugal for their custard tarts? never quite taste as good elsewhere, but also the people. Also northern Italy ballooning over the Cueno region is sight to behold,with the mountains covered in snow .

Well it’s got to be France and Italy, where we had unforgettable holidays, until this pandemic put a stop to it! Both for the same reasons: heritage, scenery, language, food, climate, way of life!

Couldn’t choose two because there are so many beautiful countries in Europe. France ?? Germany ?? Italy ?? Spain ?? Norway ?? Greece ?? I could go on....

Oops premature posting.

Narrowing it down to two is virtually impossible, as a family we love the French Alps. Cyprus and Southern Ireland.

Spain, my family lived there for over 10 years. It is so much more than cheap holidays and all day breakfasts.

I also love Sweden, it really is the Venice of the North, rich in history, beautiful architecture, yummy food and friendly people.

France because I have family there, at one time when our children were young we went there every year, beautiful country, wonderful countryside, fabulous coasts, mountains, food, everything!

Italy the same, I love it so much, when I first went there aged 21 and spent a week in Rome in August I think I suffered from cultural overload, and felt desperate to escape to the coast for something more basic. Visiting Rome again many years later, the same with Venice saw it too young, I fell madly in love with both cities. As with France I have been there many times. Parts of Italy are so achingly beautiful, I'm thinking of the lakes it's like a piece of heaven on earth!

I'm also going to sneak a third in and add Spain, specifically Andalusia. Our last breaks before lockdown were in Seville and Cordoba, I could go on forever how much I loved those cities, I'm closing my eyes as I type to try and conjure up the scent of the Orange blossom.

The whole of Northern France and most of Spain/ Gibraltar.

Love Oz, but it's too far away.

Having been to all of them I couldn’t pick just 2. I found Belgium boring as is Hungary but that country has wonderful spa towns.
I wouldn’t go back to Albania or Macedonia although the wild countryside of the latter is beautiful.
I find the further east you go the people are friendlier.
I absolutely love Transylvania and Slovenia.

Take a wild guess !

Italy for the beauty of the coast lakes and mountains. The glorious towns and villages inUmbria Tuscany etc etc and then there is Venice, Florence, Verona, Bologna......
The wonderful art and architecture, opera. The food......the language.....

And France is pretty good too !

Southern Italy for its heritage, the heat, the integration of its cuisine truly into family life, and for its passion.
Southern Ireland for the people, the lush green landscapes, respect for the artist and the gentler pace.

France because we have had a second home there for 30 years and the country is indeed our second home

Germany immediately springs to mind as the second, not sure why, its deep history, its beautiful language,

My sneaking third is Ireland, again its deep history, beautiful landscape and I am half Irish and will soon be an Irish citizen

Spain because I love the heat and the exuberance of the Spanish! I love being beside the sea (anywhere really) but sitting in Spain, looking out at the sparkling Mediterranean lifts my spirits. Sitting under a parasol sipping something chilled lifts them even more! I can’t wait to go back in eight weeks (all being well).

And the RoI. I love Dublin. Kilkenny. The Dingle peninsula. If I won the lottery (for which I don’t even buy a ticket) I’d buy an apartment in Kinsale, County Cork. (see photo). A hop, skip and a jump on a flight from Manchester of only 40 minutes duration. Beautiful.

France because I love the language, the food, the way of life.
Belgium because everytime I have been I have just been met with genuine friendliness and excellent service.
Oh and sneaking in a third Italy is beautiful.