10 Tourist Mistakes to Avoid in EUROPE | Things to Know Before You Visit Europe

in this video I'm going to share 10 big mistakes you want to be sure to avoid on your trip to Europe mistakes that will cost you money waste your time and even make you look rude without you even knowing it hey guys Nick here from away together my wife Ali and I have traveled extensively throughout Europe and we've had the joy of introducing several other travelers to Europe and European culture and I've noticed some commonalities along the way in terms of questions and mistakes being made so the purpose of this video is to help you avoid those mistakes and hopefully give you some useful tips along the way so noteworthy things we're going to talk about are money Transportation how to design an itinerary and a few other blunders that you want to avoid now just a quick note before we get started this is not meant as a harsh criticism of tourists or of Americans in general it's all in the spirit of Love okay but don't at me when we get to points six seven and eight you'll see what I mean the first big mistake revolves around how to get cash for your trip to Europe you definitely don't want to use the currency exchange at the airport when you arrive at your destination they charge crazy fees and it's going to cost you big time what I always tell people people to do and what I always personally do myself is go to a bank in my destination country and use their ATM now depending on where you Bank back home there is probably still going to be a small ATM fee associated with using that bank's ATM and I try to circumvent this in two ways the first way is by making a large withdrawal I tend to maybe only make one to two withdrawals from an ATM per trip if it's a 10 day to two week type trip to Europe the second way you could circumvent this is by opening an account with a bank that offers a checking account with zero dollar International ATM fees Charles Schwab Bank is one example of these now this is super important not all ATMs are created equal use an ATM at a bank do not use one of those euronet ATMs those things are a complete scam if you're ever stuck without options and a Euro net ATM is your only the option okay go ahead I've had to do that before but do not I repeat do not use Dynamic currency conversion when you're making your withdrawal you will have the option to choose between leaving it in the currency of your destination country versus withdrawing it in your home currency and that may seem like really nice but there are massive massive fees associated with it I repeat this is a complete scam and another Pro money tip when you pay for a meal in a restaurant if they do accept card they may ask you if you want to pay in dollars or Euros or whatever the local currency is always just choose the local currency the same kind of thing is going on there and you will end up usually paying more if you ask to pay in your currency the next big mistake I see people make when they travel to Europe is not trying to learn at least a little bit of the language learning at least a few basic phrases of the country or countries you'll be visiting can make life a lot easier you'd be surprised how much learning just a handful of phrases can improve your confidence speed things up for you and increase your street cred with locals some great basic phrases to learn in any country that you're going to visit Hello Goodbye please excuse me toilet is a great word to know how to order your favorite beverage one that I find that comes up a lot actually is how to ask for the check in a restaurant the reason why that's kind of shocking you know in the USA a lot of times somebody's bringing you your check and kind of shoeing you out of the restaurant in Europe man they're like you actually have to beg to get the check so knowing how to ask for the check in the local language can be very helpful there are tons of ways to dip your toe in the water with learning the language Duolingo Babel probably my favorite and the method that's worked best for me is the Pimsleur method which I think it was really effective because it revolved around hearing and speaking rather than reading and writing which makes sense right on your trip you're probably not going to do a whole lot of writing in the local language you'll most likely be doing a little bit of listening and speaking one thing I loved about the pimsler method which by the way isn't a sponsor or anything I just found it really useful is the first thing they taught me how to say was I don't understand Italian and how to ask if the other person knew English I found that even knowing those phrases and how to pronounce them correctly helped me so much the thing is many Europeans are multilingual and a lot of them especially in more popular destinations speak at least some English thank you imperialism I guess but it's still very helpful to it you're gonna learn it's fun it adds to the adventure one last tip about language make sure to download Google Translate before your trip and it's super helpful to download the language of the country that you're visiting before you leave that way if you're ever without signal or whatever you've got it pre-baked in your app and man that app is loaded with a bunch of useful features a tremendous mistake when visiting Europe is ignoring public transportation Europe has an amazing comprehensive and generally efficient Transportation network with trains buses trams metros that can get you around pretty quickly and cheaply opting for public transport is often more economical and convenient and it also gives you the authentic experience of traveling like a local speaking as an American I think there are many cases where we're just used to renting a car or having to get a taxi or an Uber it's just the default but in Europe there could only be some cases where that's your best option in fact in many cases it's going to be the worst option in cities parking is really hard to come by and it's ridiculously expensive in a lot of cases a train is going to be a pretty affordable way to get around not always a bus very cheap way to get around and look there are definitely cases where the car is gonna be your best option you want to take this side trip or this day trip but my advice is just don't go in assuming that if you want to go somewhere you have to have a car and in those cases where you want the car for the day trip consider only renting it for the day that you need it and not your entire trip to Europe a big mistake to avoid when traveling to Europe is overstuffing your itinerary it can be really tempting when you first visit Europe to try to go everywhere and see everything but it's just a recipe for disaster my very first trip to Europe I visited like 9 or 10 countries trees in 32 days which is an average of like three days per country and in some countries I visited more than one city which is even less time let me ask you would you try to visit all 50 U.S states in 50 days like other than for the achievement of doing that no probably not why because you wouldn't actually be seeing those places you'd be seeing the inside of your car or a plane and the same is true I find when people visit Europe they want to spend one day or maybe two days per City move quickly between all the major sites and they really just don't leave enough time to B now I understand we've all got limited vacation time most likely and I'm all about maximizing my time when I'm on a trip however I do believe that you'll have a deeper richer and more fulfilling experience generally if you slow down and as Rick Steve says assume you'll come back nowadays when I plan a European itinerary for myself or for someone else I actually don't tend to even plan at the country level I tend to plan at the region level for example a Northern Italy trip or a Bavaria trip I find that when you can Center your trip around a region or maybe a topic it can just give you such a more fulfilling experience and as you close in the parameters you can really just get so much more out of it the same approach can be said when you're on the ground in the cities that you're visiting avoid making minute by minute itineraries that can and every tour and every Museum and focus on the essentials and the areas of high interest to you now the flip side of all of this is not having a game plan at all and that's actually a mistake I see all too commonly as well I know people who have literally spent thousands of dollars on plane tickets and lodging only to go to a new destination and sit in a bar and drink all day long like you literally could have stayed in your hometown to do that now maybe you do actually have intentions to go out and see something but you haven't researched the logistics or the timing of how or when to do those things many of the major tourist sites in Europe sell tickets in advance and many of them sell out weeks or even months in advance so it's best to do your research way ahead of time and don't assume you'll be able to just show up and walk in I like to try and get those skip the line tickets in advance in anyways because I don't really like standing in line in that same vein it's also always worth it to research and try to get reservations for any of the restaurants that you might care about dining at and in a lot of cases that doesn't have to happen way way in advance like we always like to ask our host if we're staying in an Airbnb where they would recommend so a lot of times it's like the day we arrive in a new city we try to make a reservation for a place for dinner later that week our personal philosophy here at away together is striking a balance between seeing those important cultural and historical sites and leaving plenty of room for freestyling and hey if you're getting value out of this please hit that like button so YouTube will know to suggest it to other Travelers like you another big mistake I see when people visit Europe especially for the first time is not expecting things to be different I don't mean knowing every little thing that will be different I mean not expecting that some things will be different for example you're usually going to have to pay for water refills free refills not really a thing ice is a possibility but you're usually going to have to ask for it if you're from the USA this one's going to feel really weird to you but you're gonna have to pay for bathrooms a lot of times am I telling you that I love all of these things no not necessarily but I am trying to save you some heartache I've been around people who were visiting Europe for the first time who I feel were kind of expecting to find America in Europe well I don't know if you know how expectations work but in my opinion it's on them that they didn't have a good time another unfortunate way I've seen this play out is when people don't get at least a little bit adventurous with the local Cuisine and then they subsist on a diet of like McDonald's and Starbucks and Hard Rock Cafe I think part of travel at least European travel right because we're not just going and staying at a beach resort in Florida make an effort to try the local food and embrace the unique differences even if you don't love all the nuances and idiosyncrasies think of it like a game even a trip to the grocery store in a new country can be exhilarating and fun in my opinion your trip and your life is too short to get been out of shape over minor things a big mistake Travelers make when visiting Europe is not taking time to research the local customs and etiquette a great example of this is meal times in Spain if you're trying to eat lunch at noon you're probably going to be eating alone lunch is at 2PM dinner is going to be starting around like nine tipping is a perfect example of this in many table service restaurants across Europe tipping is much more modest than what you might be used to usually wait staff is much more fairly compensated so tipping is more of a nice gesture than it is a necessary piece of their economic survival or it can commonly be an easy way to settle the build you're just rounding up but this varies highly depending on country and sometimes even in the distinct region so be sure to do your research oftentimes the service charge will actually be built into your bill and it'll even say this on the menu or the receipt now in more touristy areas and restaurants sometimes it will say in English tip not included when in fact the service is already built in we've even had the waiter kind of cajole us about tip in those situations before in other countries like Iceland zero tip is expected you might even get weird looks if you leave a tip and in other places it seemed rude to leave just a single Euro like it would be better to leave no tip at all or to Euro but leaving one is like a slap in the face somehow I hope I have it thoroughly confused you about tipping the point here was to show you a bunch of examples not explain how tipping in Europe works the point is to do your research and to try to respect the local way of doing things you're a guest here another huge mistake I see is assuming that Europeans are rude or that they don't like you this is completely false as a U.S traveler I would say one of the top five questions I am always asked by people who live here is if people were nice to us while we were gone like there's this prevailing belief that the entire world just hates America and I'm not saying that we don't have enemies but there's this common fear that American Travelers are just despised this couldn't be further from the truth in my experience traveling Europe the truth is what Europeans don't like is tourists who are loud rude and disrespectful if you're a European watching this I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below but in my experience we have never met someone that was rude or mean to us simply because of our nationality abroad that said when you travel to Europe you should act like you're a guest in someone else's country be kind smile be humble if there is one virtue to cultivate as a traveler and maybe life in general it's humility leave your arrogance at home part of being a traveler is saying hey maybe my way of life isn't the only way and I find that when you carry humility with you the people that you encounter are much more likely to treat you with respect and kindness and Hospitality a big mistake I see Travelers make when they visit Europe is not leveraging local guides and experiences some of my Fondest Memories from all of my European Adventures come down to authentic local experiences I couldn't have otherwise had without an experienced guide or teacher from seeing how Parmigiano-Reggiano is made in Italy to paragliding in Innsbruck Austria to learning to make pierogi in Krakow Poland to creating authentic ceramic Pottery outside Florence in montelupo fiorentino these are unique and memorable experiences that I will truly never forget and I think there's more multiple cool things at play here first of all you get to meet a real local person and get to know them and kind of understand their way of life and second you get to break out of the monotony of only seeing things with your eyes you get to actually experience it and be a part of it yourself there's lots of great ways to find guides I usually use Airbnb experiences or Viator just be careful to read the reviews I would not be the first person to do an experience if it's got zero reviews there are scams out there and make sure to ask your guide or your host questions things like where they like to eat or even to take a look at your itinerary and see maybe what else you should do or what you could skip I find that these folks really do want to help that's why they're in the hospitality business in the first place a lot of times the final mistake is bringing the wrong bag and packing the wrong stuff and in this video I share my exact recommendations on mistakes you should avoid and what to bring with you instead thanks so much for watching see you next time

Channel: Away Together w/ Nik and Allie

Views: 157,965

Keywords: europe travel mistakes, travel tips, europe 2023, travel mistakes, travel advice, travel mistakes to avoid, wolters world, europe, euronet atm scam, dynamic currency conversion, euronet worldwide, euronet atm, biggest travel mistakes, travel tips and hacks, planning europe trip, europe travel, europe travel tips 2023, international travel tips 2023, avoid these travel mistakes, pimsleur vs babbel, tipping in europe, travel tips 2023, travel mistakes not to make

Id: x4mrr_OTZWA

Length: 17min 7sec (1027 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 23 2023