Here’s Why Europeans Are Better At Dating (And Why You Should Pay Attention)

From First Base to Last Dance, via Clueless and Sex and the City, amongst the teenspeak and slick, on-screen entertainment, and plethora of dating apps, America taught Europe how to date.

But that doesn’t mean Americans couldn’t learn a thing or two from the Continent. After all, hunting out love in modern America has become more of an interminable battle rather than a pleasurable sojourn, while we all know that the croissant-and-bicycle life in Europe lends itself to romance. As a result, European dating app The Inner Circle looked into the differences and found the things that Eurodaters just do better.

Work fewer hours.

The thing about dating is that you need to make time for it. But if you’re holed up slaving away to the tune of a 60-hour-plus week, what happens to time not to mention energy for l’amour?

Given that EU law prohibits people working more than 48 hours a week, with the average in Denmark being a relaxed 33 hours, it’s obvious that dating is less of a hunt for someone who’ll share the rent and give you kids, and more of an opportunity to get to know another person – and yourself – better.

What’s more, when you work less and have more leisure time, you don’t worry about losing an evening to a sub-par date when you could have been spending it with friends, something which our users prioritise, and which keeps your enthusiasm and stamina up for dating in the long-term. It’s a marathon not a sprint, after all.

Don’t watch as much television.

Netflix and chill might be a convenient way of getting a double fix of, er, ‘showtime’, but it’s not an efficient way of either meeting someone new or giving yourself an impressive skill or hobby to help ensnare them.

Europeans have never been a TV-sodden culture – they’ve never had enough TV channels for a start. As we found when we added activity tags to profiles, they like to play or watch sport, or visit a gallery, take in a film or concert or even go to dinner and drinks regularly in a restaurant or bar with community spirit.

Which in turn gives them more interesting things to talk about on dates as they are engaging in hobbies beyond the google-boxing, and increases their chances of meeting someone in the process.

Take longer over meals.

Fighting to hold onto your lunch break when the emails are stacking up might not feel like a priority. But what if you were using that valuable time to potentially find love? It’s well documented that dating apps see a messaging spike on a Sunday evening. But on our euro dating app, significant amounts of users hop on at lunch time.

What’s more, lunch dates are a great way to go on a date while your hair’s as high as your energy. The endorphins released when you chow down on something you fancy and get to take a proper break in the process are only going to increase if you do it WITH someone you fancy – especially if you’re going to spend longer with them in the process. After all, it’s good enough for the French, who take an average of two hours for lunch, while the Mediterranean summer work schedule is famously accommodating of a siesta – which you don’t have to take in your own bed…

Travel more.

It’s true they might have a whole continent on their doorstep but Euro-daters really do know how to use it to their romantic advantage. Traveling for work and play is a key feature of Euro dating life, as evidenced by the way Euros use the travel feature on our app to tell each other where they’re trippin’ and to ask for drinks companions in the process.  After all, when you can make eyes at a sexy senorita over morning coffee, before swapping aperitivos with an Italian hottie in the evening, it puts a new spin on the notion of carpe diem. There’s always another dating tribe to try your luck with just across the border …

Take romance in their stride.

Much of the world might be built on good old-fashioned family values but romance is what makes the hearts and heads of Europeans spin – the majority of our users have told us they are looking for true love and happy to admit to it. From the Italian poet Petrarch who invented the sonnet, to the Beatles who wrote some of the simplest, committed-to-memory love songs ever written, taking the time to woo someone is so rare, it’s become the most game-changing trick you can use when you finally meet someone you’d really like to impress.

From languorous walks in the park to dinners that stretch past midnight, European daters slow down and remember just what the purpose of all the swiping was in the first place – to find someone to spin out time with in this harried modern life.