Aside from Russia, is there any European country you'd be afraid to visit?

Poland's not exactly gay-friendly . Hungary has turned far right. Albania is probably still a shit hole. Romania looks downtrodden and has tons of gypsies. Bulgaria is still not very developed. Serbia would be a hard sell.

Yeah - there are several actually.

[quote]In general, I'd be weary of the Eastern countries.

OMG -- are you idiots [italic]trying[/italic] to aggravate me?

OP, the word is [bold]wary[/bold]. Please make a note of it.

I wouldn’t go to the Ukraine any time soon.

Turkey.

^^OMG! it's Türkiye now, not Turkey!

Please make a note of it!!

Well France and Italy are hardly lovers of the gays. Even the Pope who you would think would at least have the sense not to use ugly slurs does anyway.

Brazil.

Brazil is in Europe?

Kindly tell me, R7, which expensive private college did your parents waste their money sending you to.

Hungary

Vatican City. I don't want them getting any of my money

[quote]Poland's not exactly gay-friendly . Hungary has turned far right. Albania is probably still a shit hole. Romania looks downtrodden and has tons of gypsies. Bulgaria is still not very developed. Serbia would be a hard sell. Yeah - there are several actually.

No one is going to bother you.

I'd live to see what a night walk would be like in your nearest city...

^ I'd love to see

WOW you bitches are ignorant, and before you go all apeshit arguing, "No one should visit countries run by right-wingers!!", note that you're describing both the UK & France. (Marine Le Pen's parties had the biggest gains in France's election shock over the weekend.) Also, Europe's really not much different than the US in this regard: the cities where tourists typically go are generally progressive / liberal, and all the conservative assholes are in the gutter snipe-laden towns where only evil people travel.

In other words, I'd be entirely fine visiting Budapest even with a right-winger running the country, but sure as FUCK won't be venturing into the countryside.

[quote]Albania is probably still a shit hole. Romania looks downtrodden and has tons of gypsies. Bulgaria is still not very developed. Serbia would be a hard sell.

Stereotype much? How about this: all four countries COMBINED have 1/10th the violent crime rate in Chicago alone? (To be fair, Albania's admittedly still a shithole, but still. Serbia's great, and Bulgaria's quite a bit nicer than I expected.)

Hungary is a far right country. And not LGBT-friendly

[quote]Hungary has turned far right.

And OMG, the tent cities, the graffiti, the homeless, the filth, the obesity, the looting, the violent crime, the homicide rate, the grim ugly people.....

Here's a 2 hour walking tour of Budapest....what a shithole!

R8 has no sense of humor, to the surprise of no one.

Any of the -istan countries

"Well France is hardly lover of the gays" They invented the gays

Belarus a.k.a Russia in miniature complete with its own Putin-style dictator.

Who is the unhinged twat off her Lithium?!?

Definitely Hungary.

I would go anywhere in Europe.

R21 What are they going to do to you in Hungary?

Americans need to stick to Western Europe these days. Better yet, we should just keep our fat asses at home eating our Costco pastries and drinking energy drinks this year.

Go right ahead, R24. But don't presume to tell the rest of us where or where not to go.

I wouldn't go to any country with a dictatorial or religion-driven government unless I was with a tour. You're pretty safe then unless you go haring off on your own at night.

As of 2025, I could be including the US on that list :(

[quote]Hungary is a far right country. And not LGBT-friendly

It is home to some of the highest quality dick in Europe.

R25 I tell everyone what to do. That's my role here. Are you new?

some of you people are truly ignorant, but go ahead, wallow in your ignorance 😅🤣

R28, you should definitely follow your own advice and keep your own fat ass at home.

The ones with aggro drunk people looking for a fight (UK, Ireland) or bashy homophobes (Balkans)

R7 is Britney Spears.

any shithole in Eastern Europe

R33, you're afraid to visit the UK and Ireland?

Please don't come to Croatia. We don't need any more tourists.

That was for R31.

Belarus, since it is de facto a Russian colony. Ukraine, for obvious reasons. Moldova, small and with an unstable pro-Russian region, just doesn't appeal. If you consider Georgia to be Europe... it also seems pretty unstable thanks to the new Russian-style laws they are passing. Hmm, what is the common theme here?

Other than that, I wouldn't be afraid to go anywhere. There are less appealing places with shitty right-wing governments, but for a short trip, it wouldn't deter me.

Turkey.

I’ve seen “Midnight Express”.

I've been to Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. They are all beautiful countries, and I had some with gay men in each. But that was over a decade ago, before each took a hard right, illiberal turn (although Slovakia was never quite liberal democratic). Of the lot, I'd feel the safest in Poland. There in urban areas, there is still a healthy, liberal opposition and a better educated, more secular generation of men and women accepting of gay men and lesbians.

Still, whenever I travel, I'm very cautious and conscious that it is not the milieu I'm familiar with at home.

It's fine. I just don't take any sequinned caftans.

Afraid? No. Reluctant? Turkey. Hungary. Poland

Hungry

Turkey is an amazing place. The dollar goes a very long way. The people are very cool—no fear of negative treatment there. I’ve been several times, and no one ever pulls any religious anti-gay shit… even in the eastern provinces. Get real. Don’t believe everything posted on DL.

None of those countries are gay friendly at all, you people are stupid, they may not have much crime, that because they're so beat down and ass backwards, and probably starving, fuck anyone who say otherwise, a bunch of goat fuckers.

France. Muslims, terrorism, gang violence, etc.

Is R2 the same person at r8?

[quote]Any of the -istan countries

Please tell us which of those is in Europe.

I suppose I should mention Belarus, but it never even occurred to me to go there, and it’s my ancestral homeland.

I'm not afraid of Russia, for a trip to the Hermitage, or any other Warsaw Pact/New Fascist countries. Not yet.

But I wouldn't travel to any of the numerous countries that do not provide legal protection for LGB+ people or abortion rights (canaries the coal mine of society) and/or have pro-Russian/neo-Fascist governments.

I know a gay guy who's lived and worked in Hungary for years (he's American) and he's had no problems. He loves it there.

[quote]"Well France is hardly lover of the gays" They invented the gays

No, that was us.

I once watched a Serbian film. After that I won't ever visit this country again.

Which one R52?

R52, you don't know the difference between a horror film and reality?

France because of the muslims in Paris

[quote]OP: In general, I'd be weary of the Eastern countries.

OP, 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑦 means you're tired.

The word you're looking for is 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑦, meaning cautious.

He could be weary of being wary.

Or wary of being weary…

Or sick and tired of being sick and tired.

[quote] No, that was us.

No, that was me.

R50, is he a Log Cabinette?

There are Muslims everywhere, r55. You should probably just stay at home and watch NCIS.

I am certainly not saying do not visit Italy or France but if you get to know people and they don't know you're gay you can hear some ugly stuff. Like the Pope in that private meeting. And the stupid asshole doesn't know that probably that most of the clergy he was with were gay.

Visit the Vatican anyway it is no worse than anywhere else in Italy. And the art and St. Peter's are staggeringly beautiful.

^ exaggerated bullshit ^

Never I have I ever—and I visit each of those places every year.

Well then you have not gotten to know anybody well who does not know you are gay. There is an enormous amount of homophobia in both France and Italy. Stop being so stupid and full of shit. And the Pope just did it again!

It also helps if you know the languages conversationally which you clearly don't.

R65 I lived many many years in Italy . Not living in an expat bubble, but living and working as an Italian, fluent in the language and living first in a tiny community and then in a small city. I always felt perfectly comfortable. Italians are very live-and-let-live. Don't confuse it with the USA.

What has been your experience there?

[quote]It also helps if you know the languages conversationally which you clearly don't.

I speak conversational German but when I'm in Germany they switch to English as soon as they hear my American accent. Germans LOVE speaking English with native English speakers.

R65. The pope lives in Vatican City—a separate country! Try harder.

I was mugged in the UK. Yes Booze was involved.

Booze in the UK is like praying to Allah five times a day in fucking Mecca.

The rule is that if you see anything written in Cyrillic, run away in the opposite direction as fast as you can.

I’ve lived as an American in Europe for a couple decades and visited every country except Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus and the Caucuses (if you count them as technically Europe or not). There’s also that far western region of Kazakhstan which is west of the Ural River which is considered part of Europe as well.

Anyway, I’ve never felt unsafe anywhere except around roving hordes of drunks. My scariest encounter was in Cardiff, Wales of all places wandering the streets on a hot July Saturday night. It was like the night of the living dead. Also be aware of football matches because again drunks. You don’t want to be stuck on public transport with a bunch of idiots especially after a match. Another one, being caught on a flight with groups of drunk guys on ‘lad’s holidays’ can also be an uncomfortable shower of shit and sometimes literal vomit.

I was pickpocketed in Sarajevo, but I did something stupid (opened wallet indiscreetly in public market) which could happen in most European capitals. Bosnia is still one of my fave countries as it’s fascinating and beautiful. Some of the other countries mentioned here were no problem: Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania and Ukraine (at the time before the war). Albanians and Kosovars really like Americans by the way because of the creation of Kosovo, Serbians supposedly don’t like Americans for the same reason, but I never had an issue there. It comes down to liking the people but not the politics kind of thing.

Never had a problem being gay anywhere and the worst homophobia encountered (not directly) was in central London, so go figure. Again, be aware and stay clear of drunks.

Right now, I’d avoid Russia, Ukraine and Belarus for obvious wartime reasons, but nowhere else. I worry more about getting caught up in crazy shit when travelling in the US: random shootings, zealous policing, unstable people on the streets, etc.

Caucasus - self oh dear.

tl:rd

r73 I've been to all those countries you mntioned and evything was fine

“Cardiff, Wales”, eh R73? As opposed to Cardiff, South Dakota?

Canada.

[quote]tl:rd

Too long - Reader's Digest?

Too long raw dick

Correction*

Two long raw dicks

What about Croatia? Tell me the bad things about it. Didn't part of it used to be Italy?

Turkey is not Europe.

Earth disagrees. Back to your basement…that’s a good moron.

Ever heard of the Bosphorus, R83? Of course you haven’t.

[quote]What about Croatia?

It's beautiful.

Croatia is a major rip off, don't come here.

Besides, if you come here, you are only feeding our bigotef, corrupted government and money laundering elites. If you boycott Croatia you will help the left wing cause.

R83 Part of it is. Just like only a part of Russia is in Europe

Russia's path since Gorbachev is so disappointing. As a teenager, I anticipated spending so much time there. Now the thought of going there leaves me cold.

Turkey is absolutely part of Europe as a matter of geopolitics and economics.