Traveling to Europe can be an incredible journey, one that you will never forget the rest of your life. It can be memorable because it was the best experience of your life or it can be memorable because everything that could possibly have gone wrong, did. I went to Europe in October of 2006, and I planned for six months ahead of time. However, I still made some mistakes. I am hoping that with my knowledge, perhaps you will benefit, and increase your chances of that best experience of your life.
Our plan was to see about five countries in eleven days. This was our first mistake. Please, I beg you, don’t do it. No matter how savvy you are in putting together ways to travel by train through the different countries and book events in advance and hotels, etc., it is TOO HARD. What happens is that it takes alot of extra time to get from one place to another because you won’t know where you are going or how to get to the train station, etc. And then you will have wasted the day you had in that country.
For instance, we decided to start by flying into London. We thought we could save money because the flights are less here, and then we could take a train to France, Switzerland, and Germany. Well, this didn’t end up saving money because we spent almost $700 on the train even with discounts. Fly to the country you want to go to and spend the extra money. It will save you time and hassle.
Our second mistake was a compound one. We decided to spend only one day in London, and to rent a car. If you go to London, the trains will take you where you need to go. When we drove from the airport, we got lost. We did accidentally find Windsor Castle, which was beautiful. But, then when we tried to get to our hotel, by car, it took us about four hours. And at that point, we didn’t have much time left in the day. Unfortunately, we also somehow managed to get on a road that was closed to cars and only for buses. This landed us a ticket from the traffic cameras that came in the mail two months later. The good news was that we had bought a one-day London Pass, which is an excellent idea. But, we only got to use it for one event- touring the Windsor Castle. By the time we got to London, everything else was closed for the day. By train, we could have been there in an hour. We took the train to dinner, and that was fine!
Mistake number three, oh my! We needed to return our rental car to the Waterloo Train Station and Board the Eurostar to Paris the following morning. We were jetlagged and incredibly tired, especially since we didn’t get to dinner until 11 pm! We had directions right to the train station, and had booked a hotel five blocks from it. Well, we couldn’t find the car rental return for Avis! It was on a side street next to the station, not in it, and the sign was really small. We came close to missing the train! (All these problems, and we were still in an English speaking country!)
TIPS: Fly into the country you want to go to and spend the extra money. Buy a train pass through a rail europe website. Give yourself at least two-three days in each country, and an extra day in the country you start in due to losing one day for jetlag.
Once arriving in Paris, the next problems came. We couldn’t maneuver through the train station! We had trouble with finding English speaking people. Then, we couldn’t find out how to lock our luggage in the lockers and noone to help us figure it out. Then, we couldn’t figure out which train takes you to the Eiffel Tower. Once we made it to the Eiffel Tower, we made it to the top of the tower and the lift got stuck. We couldn’t get down! It was raining cats and dogs with a big wind storm. We ended up finally being allowed to walk down stairs usually closed to the public to get out.
Our most memorable disaster occurred next. We finally made it back to the main train station to where we needed to board our overnight train for Switzerland. The train arrived on time, but when we got in our compartment, some alarm accidentally went off. We must have bumped something. The employees tried to fix the problem, but with no success. The train ended up being delayed an hour, and we had to board a new compartment with lesser sleeping accommodations. (The first-class weren’t that great to start with.) We missed our connecting train to Interlaken, and then had to take the next train. No one in the train station late at night speaks much English in Basel, Switzerland.
NEXT TIP: Bring raingear- such as a poncho and rainboots, and something to fit over your backpack or purse as well! Also, leave extra time for unexpected occurrences, like a train being late or a lift being broken. Know enough of the language to ask important questions and get the answers for them.
By the time we reached country three, Switzerland, so many mistakes had been made that we decided to learn from them. This meant staying more time in Interlaken and cancelling the last country, Amsterdam. By this time, I had become sick with a cold/flu, and needed to slow down. This is one drawback to overdoing it- making yourself sick. Interlaken was gorgeous- every bit of it.
TIPS: If you are traveling to multiple countries and Switzerland is one, it is still a good idea to buy a swiss rail pass separate from the other countries if you plan to take trips to the tops of the mountains, such as jungfraujoch and schilthorn. You get an added discount when purchasing the tickets to these mountain tops greater than the cost of the pass. Also, if you booked your trip too full, see if you can eliminate some things and have more time to enjoy yourself.
The final mistake to be had was renting a car in Germany. We had a rail pass, but still rented a car! The problem was that the rental company employees didn’t speak alot of English. It was okay if there were no problems, but if something was wrong on your booking (like ours), then it is hard to get your point across. For instance, how do you say “we asked for a trunk” in german? Also, our gps system was in german, so we couldn’t figure out how to use it.
IP: Don’t rent a car in germany- take the trains! It is very hard to get around in this country if you don’t know german, because of the road signs and the fact that the gps will be in German most likely.
The moral of the story is that as beautiful and awesome as a trip to Europe is, it can also be wrought with problems even with extensive planning. Learn from those who have experienced and if nothing else- Travel by train everywhere, and taxi/bus for short excursions. Be prepared for weather changes, by having extra clothes and rain gear, and snowboots for the alps. Bring a book of phrases for the different languages, and learn some of it ahead of time. Learn as much about the language as you can in advance. Don’t bring alot of luggage because it is hard to carry on and off the trains if you are traveling between countries. Give yourself enough time to enjoy the country- don’t overbook events or the number of countries in which you will travel. Make changes as necessary when you experience problems.
