Helpful Tips from Our Trip to Europe

In the summer of 2000, my wife and I took a trip to Europe. As we worked through the planning process and as we looked back on the trip after it was over, we came up with several tips that may be helpful to others who are planning a trip abroad.

Planning the Trip: Doing Your Research and Deciding What You Want. You'll need to decide the time frame of your trip, the features you want included, and the cost. For trips to Hawaii and Alaska, we relied heavily on a travel agent and were glad we did. For our trip to Europe, we did most of the work ourselves. If you decide to do your own research, be prepared to spend a lot of time in travel books or on the Internet.

Booking Our Trip with A Tour Company. Experienced travelers to Europe may feel that they can dispense with the conveniences (and restrictions) of a tour company and be free to move around as they please. Because this would be our first time abroad, we wanted to make the most of our time. My wife spent hours on the Internet checking different tour companies, comparing what they offered and what we wanted to see. Price was also a factor, of course. One company (Insight Tours) had what we wanted at a price we were willing to pay. As we experienced the tour itself, we saw what could happen to people who were on their own-they didn't see as much because their time was not handled as well as a tour company could handle it. Insight also provided us with great lodging and full continental breakfasts. Some of us were even able to sneak away enough of the breakfast to provide us with an adequate lunch. We were well cared for!

Being Willing to be Tired. We hadn't planned on this, but it turned out that if we wanted to see as much as possible, we had to be ready to get up early and be ready to move when Bob (our tour director) told us to. Bob spoke five languages and seemed to know people in every city we would be visiting. He was constantly on the phone making sure things would be ready for us. His slogan was "We will get there (wherever "there" was) before anyone else." That even applied to our stops at rest areas. If we got there first, we didn't have to wait as long to use restrooms or restaurants. It took us a few days to appreciate Bob's approach, but it paid off. We knew we could always rest when we got back home to the States.

Taking Advantage of the Extras. The basic tour took place during the day, but, for an extra price, we could add on evening activities. Some chose not to do so, but my wife and I decided to make the most of the trip. We added on such things as fancy meals at great restaurants, an evening in a French cabaret, a nighttime tour of Amsterdam, which included an optional walk through the city's famous red light district (!), and a bus ride at night to see the lights of Paris. One bonus on the Paris lights ride was that we were in the middle of Paris when the French men's soccer team won an important championship. Within minutes, the streets were filled with soccer fans and our bus was surrounded and brought to a standstill. We were relieved that the French had won and not lost!

Using Money Packets. Early on, our tour director gave us the opportunity to purchase money packets. Money packets consisted of different amounts of the currencies we would encounter during the trip. While we could spend U. S. dollars in most places, the money packets were more convenient in making small purchases without having to worry about exchange rates. By watching our spending, we were able to end the trip without having much foreign money left.

Regret #1: The Way We Photographed Our Trip. Looking back on the trip, one regret I have is that we had not yet joined the digital revolution in photography. We were still using a film camera and didn't know until we got home what had turned out well and what had not. When my wife and I make trips now, we take along a laptop computer and a digital camera. Each night, we download the images from the memory stick, erase it, charge our batteries, and are ready for the next day. The memory stick we have takes over 300 images before it is full. It is definitely worth the investment, especially as prices for digital cameras continue to drop.

Regret #2: Not Taking Along Washcloths. The second regret concerned washcloths. It didn't take us long to discover that hotels in Europe-even major ones-don't provide washcloths for their guests. Towels, yes; washcloths, no. Thinking that the situation may have changed since our 2000 trip, I googled "Washcloths in Europe" and discovered that the situation remains the same. Someone who recently had been to Germany complained about the lack of washcloths. There were many similar comments. If you need a washcloth, put one in a plastic bag and take it along.

A Word About Our Itinerary. For those who are curious about the actual trip and want a brief overview of it, read on. The trip lasted about three weeks including air travel from and back to the United States. We flew to London where we had a day to sightsee before we met the tour group. With the group we saw some of the highlights of London, then took the ferry across the English Channel. On the continent we saw Paris, parts of Switzerland, including the burial place of American actress Audrey Hepburn, Florence, Italy, a fully packed day in Rome and the Vatican City (the Sistine Chapel was amazing), Assisi, Venice, Vienna, Salzburg, the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany, a trip down the Rhine, a quick stop in Cologne, and our last continental stop, Amsterdam. After returning to London to catch our flight back home, we had an entire day to explore the city. We joined another couple and were fortunate that the wife was able to figure out the London underground system. We saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, Shakespeare's restored Globe Theater, Les Miserable at the Palace Theater, and much more. It was a great way to end our trip.