We hope to be in your beautiful nation next year Nation! South Island anyway. maybe that will be another 'favourite country for us. My partner has been a couple of times before but this will be a first for me.

Right now T& Me, the country is at it's best. Absolute spring foliage and colour everywhere, and an easy 20C.
You've chose the best island ( south) for scenery. But the north island has more of the history of the Maori and native forests. Trees 2,000 years old.

Its good to see every country is beautiful in its own way.That makes travelling very interesting.Have been to south island of New Zealand and its magnificent.Its good New Zealand is so close to Australia and we can visit often.I love New Zealand too

I've only been on one guided tour and been for about three or four other countries on my own, but without a doubt, my favourite country is Italy. It's rich in history - its hard to compare the 500 or 600 years of history in the West with the thousands of years of history in places like Italy.

Rome was amazing. You don't have to be a Christian to appreciate the significance of the Vatican. The rolling hills and quiet life in places like Tuscany are breathtaking. The island hopping and shopping in Venice. Seeing the statue of David in Florence. And, the views and quiet life in Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast are great. Going through the thousands of photos we took just makes me want to go back.

WOW this is hard loved them all
Ireland was amazing
Italy totally awesome
Scotland enchanting
England exciting
Wales interesting
Food was good everywhere w/Italy being the best
Would go back to any one of these places in a heart beat.

Your post somehow reminded me of the following joke (probably due to the reference on food!)

Heaven and Hell

Heaven Is Where:

The French are the chefs
The Italians are the lovers
The British are the police
The Germans are the mechanics
And the Swiss make everything run on time

Hell is Where:

The British are the chefs
The Swiss are the lovers
The French are the mechanics
The Italians make everything run on time
And the Germans are the police

So far Italy has been my favorite however we are traveling to Egypt in May. Next we hope to travel to France. Each country has so many unique features, customs and cultures. Really...they are all wonderful!

My favourites would be;

Costa Rica
Switzerland
New Zealand
Austria
Italy
Denmark
Finland
Australia (just to see the grandkids )
Did I mention New Zealand?
Holland
Thailand
Have I said Italy ??

The list grows..... Maybe I just like them all, but the ones listed would be at the top of the list.

It is interesting to read the list of favourite countries. I do wonder though, what makes a country special to each person?

Is it the scenery, the people, the history, the culture, the architecture, the food or just that special "something"