I am curious whether it's just my brain that doesn't work right

[dr4b]

You're describing your travel experience to someone... which of these sentences would you SAY? As in, speaking, not as in writing an email/etc -- you're at the office or somewhere talking to somebody. Assume that you actually have the experience of travelling to France and Spain at some point in your life, and someone's asking you about what countries you have the experience of travelling to or plan to travel to.

(oh, and assume appropriate abbreviation, ie, "I've" instead of "I have", if that helps.)

[Poll #1413618]

And a better question: does it change if you are writing a report or article rather than just speaking?

Comments

[discofish.livejournal.com]

Actually your comment points out an interesting nuance to this discussion:

Have you ever been to Tokyo?
--I visited once last summer.
--I lived there for three years.
--I've been there a couple of times.

I think it's perfectly natural to use visit in its context, although it's a bit specific to ask if someone has ever visited a place...

A: I used to live in Tokyo when I was young.
B: Have you been back to visit?