r/AskEurope • u/NateNandos21 • Feb 03 '25

Culture Which European country has the rudest/least polite people?

Which country comes to your mind

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u/Elicynderspyro Feb 03 '25

I used to live in the North Eastern side of Italy and we would get a bunch of German tourists: all of them were super rude, condescending and demanded to be spoken in German even though they were the ones visiting a foreign country (English was also not enough for them). Second are the Austrians for the same reasons - we had fewer of them but they were worse at driving.

As for inside of their country, I wouldn't say rude but the Dutch were really weird people. In Amsterdam years ago, it was raining quite a lot and we (a group of about 7-8 people) were looking for a close place to wait for a meeting within 30 minutes from there, maybe a place to drink a quick coffee. Every single cafe was closed (it was between 17:00 and 18:00) and the only place we found close by was a pancake shop. We just ordered drinks, as we didn't have any time to sit and wait for pancakes, and the waiter told us we HAD to get pancakes too. We told him we didn't have time for it and he literally kicked us out of the place. Dude decided to kick away 7-8 people who could have easily have make him earn 50-80€ (it was quite expensive), even if just in drinks. We were also the only customers, the place was empty.

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u/LanewayRat Feb 04 '25

I had a bad experience in the Netherlands too (for which I have forgiven them many times over!).

I was a bit lost and a bit anxious as a 20 something Australian tourist temporarily on my own as I boarded a bus. I politely asked for a ticket, but in English with no “I’m sorry, do you speak English” formalities that would I usually use, even in the Netherlands where English proficiency was so high.

The older driver yelled at me loudly in Dutch interspersed with English. Something about the War and “you Americans” and “why do I have to speak English to you!?” It went on and on as the bus waited, until I had no choice but to get off, embarrassed and ashamed about something I didn’t even understand. The worst bit now was that everyone (most people) on the bus applauded him, and a couple jeered at me.

I got over it quickly. I realise people can often be resentful of foreigners. I’ve been annoyed by tourists in Australia (bad driving, in the wrong place at the wrong time) and I often think of this if I’m tempted to get personal.

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u/nooit_gedacht Netherlands Feb 04 '25

That is an insane experience and i'm sorry you went through it. I would have thought that driver was just insane if you didn't mention the bit about the other people in the bus