Optimism and craic make us the world’s friendliest
The Emerald Isle has “a welcoming attitude towards strangers” and we have great craic in boom or bust eras, Lonely Planet said.
Visitors are always “in for a treat” and with “the Troubles” ended, “a cautious optimism reigns supreme, infecting the land once again with the sense that anything’s possible”.
Our top position came in the Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008.
Also in the friendly country top 10 was Scotland.
In a tribute clearly written before the Scots took a position at the head of their qualifying group for the Euro 2008 football championships, the guide read: “The Scots have survived English invasion, brutal weather and the pain of having the world’s worst goalkeepers.”
The guide added that the Scots’ “fighting spirit against insurmountable odds has left them with an extrovert, buoyant demeanour and a blackly humorous nationalism”.
Second most friendly country was the US, with Malawi third. Other nations in the top 10 included Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey and Samoa.
North-east England made it onto the 30-strong list of must-see destinations for 2008. The guide read: “If your image of north-east England is of coal mines and bad weather then it’s time you forgot your preconceived ideas and discovered the most exciting, beautiful and friendly region in England.”
The regeneration of the areas was most obvious in Newcastle, the guide said, with the city having “a legendary nightlife [that] shouldn’t be missed”.
Other recommended parts of the region included “the wildernesses of the North Pennines and Northumberland”, Hadrian’s Wall, the castles, the new art gallery in Middlesbrough and the renovated quayside in Hartlepool.
Noting the rivalry between Newcastle and Sunderland, the guide warns visitors that someone from Sunderland is a Mackem and they should “never ever call a Mackem a Geordie”.
