TRAVEL TIPS FOR EUROPE

We've all been there before, you have a big trip coming up and you want to make sure all of your bases are covered before you leave. There's nothing like setting off on vacation just to realize part way through that you've forgotten something important or even just something small - suddenly that feeling of bliss and excitement for your to come adventures dissipate and panic begins to take over. Sometimes everything is going smooth and we have an amazing trip and then we come home a realize we missed out on something awesome that was taking place at our destination that we had no idea about and would've liked to have known about ahead of time so we could've had another incredible experience. While I can't guarantee these things will never happen to you or I again, I've decided to assemble a list of Travel Tips to help prevent it from happening. 

IMPORTANT TIPS

These are crucial MUST DO tips that will make your European adventure smooth, easy and painless. 

1) Go to your bank and exchange dollars for the currency of your destination. Make sure you know the current rate exchanges so you ensure you receive an accurate amount. 

2)  Make sure you call your credit card companies and banks before you go. Let them know the dates and locations you will be traveling to so you don't experience any problems using your cards while there. 

3) A week before you go call to verify airfare, hotel, rental cars etc. and make copies of your reservations to carry with you. (I take an entire folder on the plane in my purse carrying all of our information just in case our luggage gets lost we still had documentation of everything.)

4) Go to the government website and check any travel warnings or alerts that may be issued.http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings.html 

5) If you have recently applied for a passport, make sure you track it and pay any extra fees to get it before you leave. If you currently hold a passport, make sure it's good for at least 6 months as most countries will not allow you to travel to them if it expires within 6 months.

6) Carry the number for your destination's local US Embassy in your phone and in your wallet. You can contact them should you have any problems while there (such as losing your passport).

7) If you are renting a car make sure you obtain your International Driver's license...it's quick, painless and cheap! The only place I know of to get one at is your local AAA office. You do not have to be a AAA member to get one. http://www.aaa.com/Vacation/idpf.html

8) Make copies of your itinerary and travel documents and leave them at home with a trusted family member or friend.

9) Call your cell phone provider to check international plans they offer. Nobody wants to have a perfect vacation and come home to a HUGE bill filled with roaming charges. Make sure you clearly understand what you're paying for and what is covered under their international plan. I spent 2 hours on the phone with my cell phone provider before I totally understood it all (however, that's not saying much as I'm not by any means tech savvy).

10) If you have any prescription medications make sure you have enough to last the duration of your trip and for a few extra days should something go wrong and your flight home is delayed. I also bought over the counter medications (for fever and pain) and put it in our checked luggage as it is much cheaper in the states.

11) Make sure all your bills are either paid or scheduled to be paid while you're gone.

ADDITIONAL TIPS:
1) Browse the web to find out what the weather it typically like for the season you're traveling. How can you know what to pack if you don't know what to expect? Set your weather app on your phone for your destination, this way when you wake up you can check the forecast for the day and know what to wear and if you'll need an umbrella.

2) Download the open table app on your phone so you can make dinner reservations while you're out and about during the day sight seeing and know you won't have to wait for a table when dinner time rolls around. 

3) Make sure you're carrying some of the local currency in various amounts with you when you land so you can tip your taxi driver, private car hire, concierge etc.

4) Check to see if your destination has a Groupon page for even more great local deals while you're there!!! You can find a ton of new experiences and save a lot of money by doing so. It will give you the opportunity to discover new restaurants or spoil yourself a little while there and not feel guilty about it.

5) Get any voltage converters/adapters before you leave the states. You can find these at stores like Best Buy and they cost about $20-$30. You won't be able to charge your phone or use your flat iron (GASP!!) without one. 

6) For 2 weeks prior to leaving, keep a note pad around the house and write down the things you use everyday that you'll need to pack. Most of us remember the obvious shirts, pants and socks but you'd be surprised how many of us overlook other things like toothbrushes, hairbrushes, body wash etc. Make a list for everything you need to pack so there are no surprises! 

7) We flew to Europe with British Airways, so before I booked the tickets I made sure to sign up with their mileage club and now we have a bunch of points towards another flight or to redeem other rewards with! Check the hotel you're booking with too to see if there are any reward cards worth signing up for.

8) I make a list of all the places that I want to see while at a destination then break it up into 3 group: "must go", "would like to go", "only if I have time to go". I get address and print out maps for each place going from my hotel to the tourist destination just in case my GPS doesn't work or the locals don't understand me enough to help get me to where I'm going. On each printed google map I put the name of the place, the times they open and close and the cost for each so I am well prepared.     

9) One thing I like to do while taking long vacations is to plan a day of sight seeing and acting like a tourist and then one day of rest or doing easy things (like shopping!!) to recharge my batteries and keep the trip enjoyable instead of stressful and go go go!      

I hope these are helpful to you in planning your journey! If you have any other tips you'd like to share or have experienced something that you think others would find beneficial please leave comments below!

Happy Travels!
Elisa        

LONDON - TRAVEL TIPS

"PUT DOWN THAT MAP AND GET WONDERFULLY LOST..."

BUT FIRST GET PREPARED!

I put this list together of little things we learned along the way to help you out and be prepared before you go so you can relax and have fun when you get there!! There's no particular order so bare with me - I promise they're all important!

1.  Browse the web to find out what the weather will be like when you're traveling. How can you know what to pack if you don't know what to expect? Here's a link for a general idea for all of the seasons in London http://www.visitlondon.com/weather/
2.  Set your weather app on your iphone to London, this way when you wake up you can check the forecast for the day and know what to wear and if you'll need an umbrella.
3. Download the open table app on your phone so you can make dinner reservations while you're out and about during the day sight seeing and know you won't have to wait for a table when dinner time rolls around. 
4. Go to your bank and exchange your local currency for the pound. Make sure you know the current rate exchanges so you get an accurate amount. The following link is a conversion for dollars to pounds. http://www.dollars2pounds.com/
5. Make sure you're carrying at least 10 pounds with you when you land so you can tip your taxi driver, private car hire, concierge etc. 
6. Make sure you call all of your credit card companies and banks before you go...let them know the dates and locations you will be traveling to so you don't experience any problems using your cards while there. 
7. A week before you go call to verify airfare, hotel, rental cars etc. and make copies of your reservations to carry with you. (I took an entire folder on the plane in my purse carrying all of our info. just in case our luggage was lost we still had documentation of everything)
8. Check the Groupon page for even more great local deals while you're there!!! You can find a ton of new experiences and save a lot of money by doing so. You have to create an account for Groupon UK but there's no charge to do so. http://www.groupon.co.uk/vouchers/london
9. Go to your local government website and check any travel warnings or alerts that may be issued.http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings.html 
10. If you are recently applying for a passport, make sure you track them and pay any extra fees to get them before you leave. If you currently hold a passport, make sure it's good for at least 6 months as most countries will not allow you to travel if it expires within 6 months.
11. Carry the number for the US Embassy (or for the embassy for your home country you are traveling from) in your phone and in your wallet. You can contact them should you have any problems while there, like losing your passport. 
12. If you are renting a car make sure you obtain your International Drivers license...it's quick, painless and cheap! The only place I know of with experience to get one at is your local AAA office. You do not have to be a AAA member to get one. http://www.aaa.com/Vacation/idpf.html
13. Make copies of your itinerary and travel documents and leave them at home with a trusted family member or friend.
14. Call your cell phone provider to check international plans they offer! Nobody wants to have a perfect vacation and come home to a HUGE bill filled with roaming charges. Make sure you clearly understand what you're paying for and what is covered under their international plan. I spent 2 hours on the phone with my cell phone provider before I totally understood it all (however, that's not saying much as I'm not by any means tech savvy).
15. If you have any prescription medications make sure you have enough to last the duration of your trip and a few extra days should something go wrong and your flight home is delayed. I also bought over the counter medications (for fever and pain) and put it in our checked luggage as it is much cheaper here at home.
16. Get any voltage convertors/adapters before you leave. You can find these at stores like Best Buy and they cost about $20-$30. You won't be able to charge your phone or use your flat iron (GASP!!) without one. 
17. Make sure all your bills are either paid or scheduled to be paid while you're gone.
18. For 2 weeks before you go keep a note pad around the house and write down the things you use everyday that you'll need to pack. Most of us remember the obvious shirts, pants and socks but you'd be surprised how many of us overlook the daily things like toothbrushes, hairbrushes, body wash etc. Make a list for everything you need to pack so there are no surprises!
19. Write down important numbers of family or a trusted friend to carry on your person God-forbid in case anything should happen.
20. Make sure to pack your camera and go pros! Double check the amount of space available on your card and buy any larger memories if necessary. We took over 2,500 pictures on our 2 week trip.
21. You can always try the London Pass (http://www.londonpass.com/) it covers entry for a list of things (http://www.londonpass.com/london-attractions/index.html) and could be a huge money saver. The price ranger from 52 Euro per adult up to 116 Euro...probably not your best bet to use for a day or two but is well worth it for multiple days.   
22. We flew with British Airways, so before I booked the tickets I made sure to sign up with their mileage club and now we have a bunch of points towards another flight or to redeem rewards with! Check the hotel you're booking with too to see if there are any reward cards worth signing up for.
23. HAVE FUN! Get everything in order before you go so you are not preoccupied with any minor things that may come up from not preparing ahead of time. 

LONDON - OVERVIEW

"By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show."
--Samuel Johnson 

 Samuel sure knew what he was talking about when he uttered this famous quote. London is a brilliant city flowing with youth, heritage, history and modernity. It's like a big casserole of everything lovely (without the calories!) It has music, art, family friendly experiences, plenty of romantic opportunities and fun around every corner. The hustle and bustle of the city will energize you and fill your head with memories to cherish for a lifetime. 

We flew to London at the end of April...it was a little cool and over cast but overall lovely weather. Most days by the afternoon shorts and a t-shirt were what you wanted to be in. We didn't have the craziness of a high volume of tourists and most things we didn't even have to wait more than 10-15 minutes to see instead of the hours of wait time June-Sept would bring. I'm going to walk you through our vacation as simply and orderly as possible, I do get a little excited and my natural tendency to talk fast really comes out my fingers about 100 words per minute. If anything is unclear or you would like more information on something send me an e-mail and I'd be happy to respond as best I can. 

LEAVING THE AIRPORT

When planning out our airfare I knew that after a 10 hour flight we would be exhausted, not to mention we'd never been before and had no idea where to even begin going. A lot of people will say to take the tube (here is a map of the system http://tfl.gov.uk/maps/track/tube) which is basically a subway system. This is definitely an option but for those of us who live in places without subways it can be overwhelming. You can always take a taxi (TIP the black cabs are under special rules with the mayors office to charge the same rate, other taxis are fine also but typically you cannot hail them on the road you must call the private company for a pickup - not everyone follows this rule of thumb though) or another option we chose was to hire a private car - I know, you're thinking that's crazy and expensive but it was well worth it and not that badly priced especially because we had 3 in our party. I hired a SUV to pick us up from Heathrow with a great company called Exclusive Airports (http://www.exclusiveairports.com/) You will need to give them a copy of your itinerary so they can track your flight and adjust a pick up time if needed. The driver had a sign with our name on it by the coffee shop in Heathrow, he took our bags and wheeled them out on a cart, loaded the SUV and took us to our hotel. This cost us about 44.00 Euro for the larger vehicle...and just a TIP if you need a car seat you'll save money by bringing your own and it makes cab rides easier if that will be your main source of travel. Don't forget to tip your driver!! :)

HOTEL REVIEW

We stayed at The Rubens at the Palace (http://www.rubenshotel.com/)in which I cannot, again I say, I cannot say enough good things about! Everything was entirely perfect. This is not exactly a budget friendly hotel but the value is incomparable. We'll start with the staff...super professional. As soon as we were dropped off the concierge took our luggage and walked us to the check in desk. There we were greeted with smiling faces. Our bags were up in our room and on the bed waiting for us as soon as we opened the door to our room. You have to keep in mind, rooms in Europe are small small small compared to the US. This room was very "spacious" for a European hotel. We had a huge king sized bed and a fold out bed for our son and we didn't feel squished or like we didn't have enough space even with all our luggage. The room service was great (although I do have to recommend AGAINST the food as it was pretty gross and not worth the amount you will pay for it) they have movies you can rent in all genres and for all ages in multiple languages. They do have a restaurant on site although we didn't try it as it was probably the source of the food we ordered from room service. If ever we had a question, smiles and help was all we received and if ever we lacked anything in our room we had someone knocking on the door within minutes of phoning the downstairs desk. The concierge would hail every cab for us outside the hotel and he always had the most pleasant attitude of all the staff offering up advice and taking family pics for us (and with us!). They have someone posted at the door 24/7 so you will never open a door or hail your own cab. Okay, now that I've gushed enough about how amazing the staff is I will move along...It has a fantastic location. It is minutes (drive time that is) from Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the London Eye. It is walking distance from Victoria Station (a tube station that has a variety of great places to eat by the way)and a multitude of other restaurants and little shops. There is a convenience store located a couple doors down where you can go anytime of the day or night for some soda, chips, souvenirs or other necessities. All in all I'd say everything about the hotel was wonderful and convenient, definitely money well spent and a #1 recommendation from yours truly.

fold out single bed

the glowing bathroom... 

CAR RENTAL  

I'll be honest, being from Vegas we thought to ourselves "Psh, driving in a city no big deal...even if it is on the wrong side of the road!" and I'll tell you what...we literally returned the rental car 3-1/2 hours after picking it up for what was supposed to be a 4 day rental. I'd have to say this was probably what my husband was looking forward to the most about London - driving on the other side of the car on the opposite side of the road - awesomeness and thrilling in theory but makes you want to crap your pants in reality. London drivers are a forced to be reckoned with. It felt like hysteria, my advice would be to only get a rental car if you plan to go to suburbs of London or further into the countryside. We actually received a ticket for parking in a condo-owner area only that for us was not clearly marked as such (we were only there for about 20 mins but because of the CCTV cameras they will always get you) thankfully, when we returned to the US, I e-mailed and told them we were American and our ticket was dismissed - hmmm now that I read that I wonder if they really were being nice about it...Anyways, we booked the car with Europcar (http://www.europcar.com/) and again, when we returned home I called them and told them what happened and they even returned our money for the unused days (since you do have to pay upfront) TIP make sure you get a car with GPS in it so your phone isn't always using data.

"we're watching you..."

TRAVELING BY TRAIN FROM LONDON

When it was time to go to Paris, we took the EUROSTAR (http://www.eurostar.com/)(TIP sign up on Eurostar's website before you go and they will send you deals and coupons you can use on your purchase) from St. Pancras railway station to Gare du Nord station in Paris. This was a great line to travel on and I highly recommend it. They have a little cafe bar on the station with food and beverages. The seating is a little tight but you can reserve your seats online for whatever you choose. It's a very unique experience in that you actually travel under the water of the English Channel for about 20 minutes and then through some French countryside before arriving at Gare du Nord - they have rental car stands within the train station and on a side note it is much easier and relaxing to drive in Paris than in London and I think it is well worth your money.  

AIRFARE

We flew with British Airways and while the crew was polite, fun and tentative the plane itself was old, dirty and stinky. Our pilot was fantastic and made a surprisingly smooth landing in the middle of a storm in London. My tv in the head rest didn't work the entire 10 hour flight there and they wouldn't move us as a family to different seats. They only wanted to move me which we didn't want to separate with it being our sons first plane ride ever. The food was okay, we didn't really eat much the entire way. My husband swears he would never fly with them again but I think if it was a nicer plane he may change his mind as again the crew was fantastic.

This will wrap up the overview...I will be doing follow up posts for sight seeing, restaurants and more for London. There will soon be an overview of Paris. I will also post pics as soon as I figure out how :/

Until then...Happy travels my fellow gypsies!