Living and traveling in US for a couple of months made me realize that the differences between Europe and US are not only about food and culture, but also how people travel! I kept talking to many US citizens, who have been to Europe or planning to visit Europe and I kept giving them advises, which inspired me to write a series of posts about the differences or general cliches of Europe trips.
1. When to Visit
- Europe might mean sunny skies and crisp blue beaches - but if you are considering to travel southern countries (Portugal, Italy, Spain, etc.) especially for sightseeing, skip the summer months. Most of the time, the heat is accompanied by crazy humidity waves and this is why you will regret your decision with every single breath you take. Mid-spring or mid-autumn might be risky in terms of rain, but it is also much more fun to spend all day walking out and is much less crowded compared to August.
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| Brugge, Belgium |
- Even if you are opting for the sea vacation, organizing your trip in June or September might be much less crowded. For instance, In Italy, half of August is officially vacation, so noone works and everyone hangs around at the beach. Like, EVERYONE!
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| Cinque Terre, Italy |
- Another point is Europe has more variety than you might think. Visiting Greece or Portugal in summer can be fun - but you would be missing a lot if you don't visit Poland or Budapest for Christmas markets. Consider Switzerland for skiing or Iceland for camping trip.
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| Berlin, Germany |
2. How to Visit
- Visiting Europe from Japan or US might make you think like "heey, I'm coming all the way and I'm not gonna see only one country. I wanna see them all!" and I get it. I am here to stop you: please don't. I hear a lot of people squeezing 5 countries in 10 days and talk about what they experienced and differences between these countries. Let me tell you that there is no way you can have an opinion about a You will probably lose the first 2 days to jetlag, take your time!
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| Vienna, Austria |
- If you insist on traveling more countries in a single trip or traveling for longer periods, I would advise to be careful about current visa requirements for each country. Between Schengen countries, there is no real border and you don't have to pass through immigration office with car or flight. But, if you want to visit other countries like UK, Ireland, Turkey or Serbia, things might change. In fact, try not to count of knowing things - I know that Turkey decided to change visa regulations in a day and re-changed it after a week. Always keep an eye on recent notifications.
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| Istanbul, Turkey |
- Between European cities, best way to travel is to use flights - especially the low cost ones. You might find flights between Italy and Spain starting from 20€ one way and it's extremely tempting! Compared to the US airlines, there are some details you might need to pay attention to:
- Some low-cost airlines (Ryanair, Easyjet, etc.) charge passengers if they do not have their boarding pass ready and asking them printing your ticket might cost about 50€! You might download the app of your airline and use online check-in, but certain situations might require printed.
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| Krakow, Poland |
- Some airlines (Ryanair) require non-European citizens to pass through a "visa-check" if they are going out from the Schengen zone (Italy-UK for instance). The idea is that the Ryanair officers want to see if your documents are valid for this flight before you waste your time (and theirs) with the immigration and security check. In this case, you are expected to have a printed ticket, so they would sign "approved". When you do the check-in, the instructions on your ticket will clarify whether you need this check.
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| Edinburgh, Scotland |
- Even if this "visa check" is not mandatory for all airlines for non-Schengen flights, you have to pass through immigration check in both ways. The lines are mostly divided as "EU passports" vs "non-EU passports" so it is safe to assume that you will spend about 1 hour passing through security after landing (might be even 2 hours if you are in Stansted airport in London!).
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| Bath, United Kingdom |
- Even if I wouldn't advise to travel more than one country at a time, you might want to see more than one city. Most of the countries have really well organized train schedules to connect big cities and this is mostly the best way to travel. Cities are extremely easy to visit with public transportation and bikes - so unless you are interested to have a wine tasting trip in Tuscany or hiking trip in Iceland, renting a car will just slow you down.
- UK and Ireland has a different power outlet than Europe. But that's not it - even Europe might have different standards, especially if you are staying in an old hotel. As I was living in Italy, I needed 2 different types of adapters just to live in Italy using a standard European plug. For UK/Ireland you will not another one. So, investing a universal adapter might save your day big time!
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| Prague, Czech Republic |
- Pack less - clothing is cheap, all night pharmacies are easy to reach and supermarkets are literally everywhere. Still, if Advil is the only solution for your headache, make sure to have enough. For instance, Advil doesn't exist in Italy or Spain, but it does in Turkey - still, I wouldn't be surprised if the ingredients are different.
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| Reykjavik, Iceland |
- Cheap airlines like EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizzair, etc. charge people for checked-in people or even for the cabin luggage sometimes. This is just another reason why you should pack light. But also, pay extra attention on the airline regulations: they are highly strict about these rules and you don't want to have a scene and end up paying double of the flight ticket for wrong luggage size.
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| Sevilla, Spain |
- Weather changes - a lot! Do not assume that the weather will be always sunny on August in the south Italy - there is absolutely no guarantee for it. Be ready to adjust your plan accordingly and be prepared.
PS: Europe is somehow full of people who just appear out of nowhere to sell umbrellas in crowded streets with the first drop of rain - so..
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| Budapest, Hungary |
- In most of the European destinations, it is quite safe to assume that you will visit at least one cathedral/church. Even in summer, make sure that your clothes fit the environment and you will not be rejected in the entrance after waiting 1 hour in the cue.
PS: for women, having a long scarf in your bag might be life saver.
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| Milan, Italy |
- In most Europan countries, wearing running shoes (daily sneakers are definitely OK!), sweatpants (or yoga pants if you are not hiking) with crop tops or flip flops might be considered strange.
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| Paris, France |
- Most of the old cities in Europe has cobblestones. Wearing high heels during the day would be impossible, but even sandals are painful for me. Nothing is better than a pair of nice, flat shoes, booties or white sneakers to travel! (remember packing light?)
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| Madrid, Spain |
- What I love about US is having drinkable water fountains literally at every corner and using my reusable water bottle. While in Europe, it's not really the case. Unless you are visiting a country covered by natural miracles (Iceland) finding drinkable water is highly questionable (In Spain or UK theoretically it's safe but it really doesn't feel so). In some really old cities (like Florence) you might find ancient fountains still functioning but honestly, I hate it because of the temperature and the taste. So, you have to buy bottled water from markets or restaurants every single time. This is the same deal in the airports - you don't have any other option. Since this is the situation, you might consider leaving your reusable bottle at home - you won't be using it in Europe.
PS: This is why you mostly cannot ask for tap water in the restaurants - you have to purchase bottled water.
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| Dublin, Ireland |
Are we all set? Let's go!
Labels: Travel Tips
