Planning a holiday in Europe this summer? Here are all the handy tips about visas, currency exchange, City Pass, Visitor’s tax and more for a seamless holiday.
With summer holiday barely a few weeks ago, are you planning a holiday trip to Europe? Since summer is usually rush hour, the first step is to start planning in advance to avoid long visa appointment time, surge in hotel and flight rates, and booking your favourite sight-seeing attractions. Also, a few other handy tips can make your holiday seamless.
- Visas: If you are planning to visit several European countries, submit your Schengen visa application to the country with lowest visa rejection rate. Iceland has the lowest rejection rate at 2.2%, followed by Switzerland 10.7%, Italy 12%, Germany 14.3%, Austria 14.3%. Belgium (26%), Sweden (23%), Denmark (21%), Spain (18%) have much higher rejection rates. The country that has issued your Schengen visa has to be your first port of entry into the Schengen area that comprises 29 countries.
- Currency exchange: Do not exchange currency at airport counters, they give the worst exchange rates, exchange rates in hotels are also very bad. Currency exchange kiosks in city centres are better bets.
- City Pass: Buy City Pass (for example, Swiss Pass/Paris Pass) that will give you priority access to monuments and/or attractions. Otherwise, the queues can be very long.
- ATM Skimmers and Card Clones: Be careful of ATM skimmers. Do not use your credit card in street shops, it can be cloned.
- Belongings: Be careful of your belongings. Don’t keep your wallet in a back pocket. If you are carrying backpacks, wear it on your chest, not on your back. While shopping, do not leave your large bags outside shop doors. Do not hang your purse on the seat back in restaurants. Ask for another chair to keep your things or keep it on the floor. Pickpocketing is common.
- Documents: Scan passport, visa documents and save it to your gmail or any other easily accessible email id.
- Laptop: Log out of your email before flying. God forbid, if your laptop is stolen, no one will have access to your email/details.
- Don’t eat near big tourists attractions: Restaurants near big tourist attractions (for example, Eiffel Tower in Paris, St Mark’s Square in Greece, Praça do Comércio in Lisbon, La Rambla in Barcelona) are usually more expensive and crowded. Avoid them.
- Free water?: Water isn’t served free in most restaurants. If you do not want to pay for water, ask for tap water (in most European countries, tap water is safe to drink).
- No free pee: You can pee without paying in restaurants or museums, but if you are using public restrooms (at a train station, or near a tourist attraction) you might have to pay a small fee to use them. Keep cash handy for this.
- Visitors’ tax and other tourist taxes: In Switzerland, most hotels charge visitor’s tax, that is levied per overnight stay and per person (other than the tax on room tariff). Usually, 1-7 Swiss Francs per night (1 Swiss Franc = INR 98). In France, the rates range from €0.65 to €8,13 per person, per night; in the Netherlands, it is €3 per person per night payable locally while in Italy, the tourist tax depends on the city. In Rome, it is between €3 and €7 per person, per night; in other cities, the rates vary from €2 to €5. (1 Euro: INR 95).
- Carry snacks/water: For train rides, carry snacks/fruits, it is expensive on the train.
- Avoid full day with kids at theme parks: Think twice before planning a full day at a theme park with children. It usually involves a lot of walking and children often get cranky beyond a few hours.
- Snow/mountain clothing + shoes: For mountain/snow areas, pack shoes with good grip, snowy areas can get really slippery. You can also rent them at base stores/shops.
- Clothing rules: Don’t assume you can wear anything anywhere. There are certain clothing rules – driving while wearing sandals or flip-flops, or any open-toed-shoe is a punishable offence in Spain; you cannot walk the streets only in a bikini or swimming shorts in Majorca and Barcelona in Spain, as well as in Hvar in Croatia, the Maldives and Turkey; historic sites in Greece, such as the Acropolis or Delphi, prohibit women from wearing high heels; in France, you have to wear a Speedo to jump into a pool – France has banned loose-fitting swimming trunks for men. Also, remember not to pee in the pool, there are hefty fines for piddle misdemeanour in Portugal.
- Flying versus trains for short distance travel: Most regional airlines have very limited baggage allowance for short flights; extra fee has to be paid for checked-in bags. So, trains are a better option for short-distance travel between cities and/or within the Schengen areas. Eurail has very good connectivity. You can buy Eurail tickets online. Remember, you need to activate the Eurail tickets before your first travel day, either online at Eurail.com or at a European train station.
- Damaged/delayed bag: Check your bags as soon as you pick it from the baggage carousel and report damage at Baggage Services at the airport. Take photographs of the damaged portion. If your bag is delayed, seek compensation from the airline. Qatar Airways recently credited $50 into my bank account for 24-hour baggage delay.
