Dating Websites to meet European Men and Women

The great thing about online dating is that they have expanded the dating pool to include any part of the planet that has internet connectivity. While online contacts from faraway places may not always get translated into physical dates, they definitely open up avenues for meeting and getting acquainted with singles from various cultures. And if you are one of those who have been wishing to meet European men and women, here are some dating sites you can look at.

TIP: This website brings together single European millionaire men and women who want to date them.

The most logical place to start would be dating sites that are more popular in Europe and have a larger number of members from the continent. One such site is Meetic.com, a private company launched three years ago by Web entrepreneur Marc Simoncini. The site is believe to have around 10 million members; in France, one adult in 15 is a Meetic member while in Italy and Spain, it's one in fewer than 50. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and Britain are other countries which have recently joined the Meetic network and membership is supposed to be soaring by as much as 20,000 a day. Meetic works similarly to the well-established and world-leading U.S. dating sites like Yahoo! Personals and Match.com. Members may join for free, post their profile, and browse those of other members. To use premium services, like personality matchmaker MeetShake -- which cross-references members' preferences -- prices start at $18 a month. About 10% of Meetic's members pay a subscription fee.

To keep things clean, each profile is individually checked by a Meetic moderator. Another software system weeds out users who post rude messages during subsequent chat sessions, which can lead to being blacklisted from the site.

Then there is EuropeanCupid.com is a friendship/dating/marriage and online dating site that assists singles of both sexes to find marriage and long-term relationships locally and overseas. You can use this site to search for international pen-pals, local and overseas singles and other possibilities. Yet another dating site on the same lines is europeankiss.com, a free online dating site for European singles in the USA. Here you can get acquainted with European singles looking for friends, dates, relationships, romance and love. Most of these sites allow free registration and the ability to create a profile as well as view photos and profiles of other members. Some of these may even offer free access to basic searching options.

However in order to use advance search criteria as well as communication features, you may have to subscribe to the dating site.

Apart from signing up with such dating sites which claim to reach out to European singles, you can also explore country or culture-specific sites. Among the most popular in this niche area are the dating sites from the Friend Finder network. Thus if you are keen to meet French monsieur and mademoiselles, you can sign up with FrenchFriendFinder.com while in order to get to know attractive signors and signorinas you can log into ItalianFriendFinder.com. One of the most popular in this network is GermanFriendFinder.com The basic details required to sign up are date of birth, geographical location, gender, email as well as what the user is looking for in the site. Once the password verification process is over, a user can long into the site and begin creating a more detailed profile. This may include information on marital status, profession, educational qualification, preferences in a partner, lifestyle details as well as miscellaneous information like whether a user is into social networking and so on. Viewing, search and communication features at these sites are usually the same as offered on all sites of the FriendFinder network. Yet another advantage of these sites is that they make space for its members to follow the kind of relationships they want. Other than finding partners for dating or a romantic relationship, members here are free to make connections on the basis of common interests and shared passions. Some of the ways through which these sites promote a sense of community among its members are through its forums, blogs and message boards. Moreover there is the in-house FriendFinder magazine where members contribute, ask questions or post comments.

If you are a guy and wish to have a partner from Europe, you can check out the niche area of Russian or East European mail order bride sites like anastasiadate.com and charmingdate.com. westeastcafe.eu is another site where one can meet Eastern Europe women or Western Europe men, for the purpose of casual dating or even a long term relationship.  

Then there are the mainstream dating sites like PlentyofFish.com and Match.com which cater to singles from various continents and countries. These sites have the advantage of vast member databases which means that you are sure to get in touch with the kind of singles you want. You only need to specify your requirement of a partner with particular nationality or culture when creating your profile and then sit back to enjoy the responses. In fact Match.com has 9 million European members in 13 countries. It also has affiliates like MSN, Tiscali, and T-Online, which pay to use Match's member database. Match originally launched in Britain in 2001 and hit the Continent 18 months later, applying its U.S. know-how to new markets.

Though a late starter to the online dating phenomena, Europe is fast catching up. And yet it is not copying the American model to the letter. Since Europeans don't date exactly the same way, so it is only natural that European-based websites should offer something different.  One instance of this is how Meetic.com has sponsored street parties on Valentine’s Eve, dubbed "St. Single's Day,” in the past. The festivities included DJs and speed-dating stands, where singles have only a few minutes to chat up a potential partner. On the other hand U.S-based dating sites would be unlikely to invite members to a street party, since most Americans wouldn't consider that a great venue for meeting people. Web matchmakers say once Europeans -- whatever their nationality -- decide to take the plunge and date someone, they stick to one at a time, whereas a single from New York City would find it natural to see three people at once.

Finally while getting acquainted with men and women from Europe, whether in the real world or through dating sites, it is a good idea to keep in mind unique historical and cultural contexts. So when meeting a Dutch guy, try to refer to his country as the Netherlands and not merely as Holland; this is because both North and South Holland are merely two out of twelve provinces in all. Likewise just because a woman hails from Belgium does not mean that she will necessarily be a Francophone since there are regions of Dutch and German influence too in Belgium. Last of all, though stereotypes about how French men behave and hot Italian women are funny in popular culture, don’t let them become deal-breakers when you are on your way to chat up real singles from the continent.