This summer, the hubby and I had the extreme good fortune of being able to experience our dream vacation in Europe! Three weeks of traveling to Barcelona, Marseilles, Firenze, Abruzzo, Napoli and Calabria. We had actually been planning this trip since our second date, so it was definitely time! Our priority for this trip was to literally eat and drink as much as possible – and I assure you, we did not disappoint! Pizza in Naples, gelato almost every single day, Aperol Spritz out on terraces across Europe…life was good! Along the way though, we learned some pretty good tips and tricks for traveling that I’m excited to share with you today.
1. Hello tax refund! If you are a “visitor” to the EU (you live outside of Europe), you may be eligible for a tax refund on some of your shopping. Not all stores offer this, but many do, so make sure to ask before spending the big bucks. The hubby and I splurged while we were at Longchamp in Aix-en-Provence (France) and the sales clerk was the one to tell us all about the VAT tax refund. Simply put, this refund allows you to reclaim the tax amount on the products you purchase. Make sure to have your passport number on hand as they will need it to fill out the proper forms. At the end of your trip, make sure to inquire about where the VAT tax refund office is at the airport. Thankfully we had a few hours before we needed to catch our plane in Rome, so we had plenty of time to find the office and stand in the long lines (at the other end of the airport nonetheless!). As long as you leave yourself enough time and have all of your papers in order, it’s definitely worth it!
2. Speaking of the TAX refund, we learned the hard way that you should request the refund in Euros. The cashier gave us the option of having our refund in US dollars or in Euros. As I’m traveling to the US soon, I chose American dollars. BIG MISTAKE! Our total return was only about $40 but I figured she would give me the US dollars according to the exchange rate….NOPE! Whether I took the money in euros or US dollars, it was still $40…which means I would have received more if I would have asked for it in Euros. At that point, the entire transaction was already over and it was too late to change my mind, but I’ll definitely remember this for next time!
3. Like most cities, the airports are pretty pricey. But the hubby and I almost choked on our over-priced pizza when we saw our receipt and noticed that the price for two small 450ml bottles of Coke was 7 euros! Talk about airport robbery…skip the soda and save your dollars!
4. Traveling through Europe by train is an amazing choice! Our biggest suggestions though? Buy your tickets online in advance and splurge on first class! For a small difference in price, you will have a much more enjoyable experience in nicer and comfier seats…especially if you’re traveling a really long distance!
5. If trains aren’t your thing and you prefer taking the wheel yourself, don’t forget to book a car with unlimited mileage! You may think that you’re getting a great deal but read the fine-print. You don’t want to have to limit your adventures while abroad, so spend a little more and leave all of your worries behind!
6. Speaking of car rentals, try to find out where your car drop-off location will be at your final destination. We got very lucky with our choice (we chose SIXT rental agency). When we dropped off our car, we noticed a small office with many different car rental companies and a huge crowd of people trying to push their way in to drop off their keys to catch their plane. I thought our drop off was there as well but it turned out that our company had it’s own kiosk right next to the departure doors. Talk about convenience! It was something so little but not having to battle those crowds was just what we needed to return home stress-free.
7. If you go to Europe often, you may have one of those little mobile sticks for wifi. They’re super useful, and generally inexpensive. We did learn (the hard way) however, that you should just cancel whatever previous “plans” you had with this device and simply request a new plan every time. In our case, we tried to simply add money to our pre-existing account. What we didn’t know was that we actually owed money on our account (because the company decided to reactivate our account without telling us which cost money) so we ended up dishing out more then we thought!
8. As much as I hate to admit it (because I enjoyed using my phone while I was there), “Roam like home” isn’t worth it. Most companies will charge you $12/day for up to 15 days if it’s within the same billing cycle which comes out to about $180. Instead, buy a new SIM card (you can get about 9 gigs for 25 EURO) and call it a day.
9. We all know that booking a seat in the Emergency Exit row will give you more leg room (but also more responsibility). What I didn’t know is that the row right behind the emergency exit row actually has the least amount of space on the plane. In an attempt to make up for lost room from the seats in front, the row right behind the emergency exit row is way too small for a long haul flight. Lesson learned!
10. When gassing up in Europe, plan ahead! Sure they have gas stations on the highways, but they’re much more expensive. And don’t bother going to the side that includes service, because there again, they will jack-up the price for you. CHA-CHING!
11. If you’re staying in a mountainous area, don’t think the weather you’re experience is the same as what they’re getting closer to the beach. While we were in Calabria, we were staying high up in the mountains (sometimes we were literally IN the clouds) and it rained almost every day. The first time we saw this, we were discouraged because we thought we couldn’t go to the beach. Big mistake! We took a drive into town and noticed how much nicer it was the closer we got to the water! So escape the bad weather, grab your bathing suit and run to the beach!
12. If you plan on visiting Florence, book ahead! With the exception of our modes of transportation and accommodations, we really didn’t plan what we were going to do in all of the areas we visited. We preferred a more casual approach where we would wake up in the morning and figure out what we felt like doing while sipping on coffees and cornetto. That worked for most of our trip, with the exception of Florence. All of the major exhibits (Boboli gardens, tickets to climb the Duomo, Ufizi gallery) were all completely sold out! We made the best of it and bought some (more affordable) tickets to smaller museums and outings but it’s definitely something to know for next time!
13. We’ve only been to Barcelona once and we only stayed in one apartment so I can’t speak on behalf of the whole area. That being said, you get what you pay for. Our priority was being right in the heart of the Barceloneta. While our location was amazing and our Air BnB room was decently clean, we found out our building had cockroaches. Gross! Definitely something to watch out for.
14. There’s no Uber in Italy. This one is simple but we had NO idea before getting there. Taxis are fairly simple to figure out though so getting around shouldn’t be a problem.
15. My final point has to do with my own silliness but make sure you have enough room on your credit card in the PROPER CURRENCY! When we picked up our rental car and went to swipe our card (that we used for our ENTIRE trip), I was surprised to realize we didn’t have any more room on it. I checked our account and noted that yes, we had enough space for the amount that was being charged (I had even checked the day before). It took me a minute to realize though that our card needed enough room for the conversion to EUROS, not Canadian dollars. Oops!
Needless to say, this trip was definitely an adventure! Despite some ups and downs and lessons learned, we had an absolutely amazing time exploring Europe. There is still SO much left to see and I’m super excited to go back again someday. Hopefully our little tips can help you on your own journey in the future!