About Our Site

TravelEtiquette was formed to offer a unique reference point on essential etiquette advice and information for worldwide travel.

Much of the thrill of travelling comes from steeping yourself in a foreign culture whose customs and traditions may be vastly different from the ones you're used to back home. But while confronting the unknown can be exciting, too much of it may be undesirable. Ignorance is not always bliss, particularly if it means stumbling around blindly in a foreign culture like a bull in a china shop.

Whether you're travelling for business or pleasure, offending the sensibilities of your hosts is rarely a good thing. At best, you may be dismissed as an uncouth or insensitive foreigner and suffer damage to your personal relationships; at worst, you may suffer the collapse of a business deal or, in some parts of the world, even provoke violence against yourself if you trample on some cherished local custom.

In Barcelona, is it OK to speak Castilian Spanish or will the Catalans be offended? In Munich, should you say "Guten Tag" or "Gruess Gott"? Should British women wear veils on a visit to the Middle East? Is it true men have to kiss other men in France? These and other fascinating points of etiquette will be examined fully and frankly on our site.