Europe Travel Tips

Tourist Info

• Buy the Rick Steve’s travel book for each country you will be spending time in – extremely valuable for all aspects (hotel, food, travel, etc.); once you get there – the things you thought you wanted to see may not be what you end up doing and having the book helps navigate these last minute changes.

• If you want to go to some popular tourist attraction, and you can get advanced tickets, do it – we were disappointed when we couldn’t get into the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam – they were booked about five months in advance(!).

General Travel Info

• Passport...goes without saying

• Check whether or not you need a Travel Visa

• Be prepared to walk a LOT – most everything is within walking distance from train stations / public transportation

• Bring luggage that can be wheeled and can be stored in a train locker (most medium sized bags can be stored in a train locker); get local currency coins for the lockers at the airport – otherwise – you end up spending a lot of time tracking down a place to get coins. I found that having a medium sized luggage bag and a backpack worked great.

• You will also need coins for the bathrooms – they charge for bathroom usage – use the hotel / trains as much as possible before venturing out

• Having the ability to drop your bags off at the train station in a locker helps with doing some random quick stop at a city you want to see. Sometimes I just look at the Rick Steve’s book – find a random site to see – and drop by that city along the route for an hour or two.

• Buy short-term mobile phone coverage using a SIM chip swap that will get you some texting, discounted phone and some data plan to Google directions. 

• Unless you remove your SIM chip: turn off the phone’s cellular data when not using it or you may end up with a huge bill. Turn off Data Roaming as well. I found very limited open Wifi in the European countries I have ever been in. The hotels will usually have it but not for free…

• You will need Euro plug adapters - Amazon - something like these

• Bring a “neck travel pillow” for the long flight and train rides – it really helps a lot

• Buy local water bottles and refill them wherever you can – otherwise – it gets quite pricy to buy them all the time – I have not heard of anyone having water purification issues in Europe

Flights

• Preferable are night flights - remember - you want to sleep as much as possible on the night flight because you will land when their day starts...

• Do whatever you can to get an aisle seat so you can get up and use the restroom. To identify the best seats, or seats to avoid, use the website, Seatguru

• Flight home - you will want to stay awake

• Avoid checking your bags if you can - buy a medium size luggage bag with wheels, unless, you need to bring liquids, etc. that can't be take on the flight

Train – Europass

• You buy for each TRAVEL day – not duration. I got burned on that by overbuying by several days. If you are there for five days but only using the train for 2 days – buy a two day pass.

• Buy the first class Europass – buy them through Rick Steve’s web site as they are discounted – First Class sometimes will be the difference between getting on the train (crowds). Also – first class isn’t that much more and you get better seating, etc.

• The Europass gets you discounts on city tours, etc. – ask if they offer that for everything you buy (museums, etc.)

• The Europasss can also cover (be used free) for some of the boat transportation – such as ferry rides – we took the train to a ferry dock and rode it across Lake Geneva to the next train station

• Check your country for scenic rail cars that you can reserve in advance – they cost a little bit to reserve but are worth it.

• Download a Rail Planner app for your phone - it allows you to look up train schedules without using a data plan - Google maps works great as well

Currency

• Use your ATM card to pull local currency – most likely Euros - don't exchange money at the bank (USD to local currency - it is too expensive to do that)

• Using your credit card for purchases there is a double hit on “currency exchange costs” – avoid it if possible unless your bank card specifically calls it out that they don't charge. 

Lodging

• Stay as close to a train station as possible – or risk getting charged a lot for Uber/ cab rides which can be expensive; the alternative is to figure out public transportation from the train station to the hotel

• Book hotel rooms ahead of time if possible if you know your route

• Make sure to check for free wifi and /or breakfast at the hotel – otherwise – wifi usage can get pricy. Breakfast at the hotel saves a lot of time rather than searching for a place before hitting the city.