Do I need to carry.....
 

my passport at all times or should you leave in the hotel safe?
Do we need our US drivers license for anything?

Planning to get Euro's at the airport when we land, should we bring US $$$ also?

Thanks...

You'll get lots of different answers here about these particular questions. My take:

- Wear a money belt (very comfortable if worn with the pouch in the small of your back) and carry your passport (in a plastic baggie)inside.

- You only need your drivers license if you are planning to rent a car. In all other cases of showing ID, your passport works.

- No need to bring US Dollars except for a cup of coffee or snack at the US airport upon your return to the States (and, of course, before leaving the country). There's no place to use your $ in Europe, of course.

Where are you going? Have a wonderful trip!

What I do when traveling overseas is to lock my passport in my luggage along with the air tickets and hotel reservation papers. I then carry around with me a photocopy of the first page of the passport as I do sightseeing.

There are two main camps - the "always carry your passport/never leave it anywhere" group, and the "lock it in the hotel safe" group. Both fine. What you should not do is leave it in you hotel room either in your luggage or in a drawer.

As for US$ - no need to carry any except as MelJ suggests to use Stateside.

It can be useful to have your driver's license -- not for identification, but to leave at places like museums/galleries where you must leave a piece of property when you take an audio guide. If you don't have a DL you'd have to leave either your passport or a credit card and neither is a good idea IMO.

There are several aspects to this question.

For an example of official aspect, look at, for example:

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/c.../cis_1044.html

"Belgian law requires that everyone carry some form of official identification at all times, which must be displayed upon request to any Belgian police official. A U.S. passport suffices for these purposes."

For a commercial aspect, I needed the real passport - not a copy, at a department store who did not accept my credit card unless presented with a real passport. I was also requested to show the real passport to a German train ticket inspector when I was using a Eurail pass.

To use internet in Italy, I had to show a US drivers license or a passport. I did not ask if they accepted a copy.

Last summer we were on a train in France when the police boarded and asked everyone for passports. It was a 30 ride on a regional train between neighboring cities. I had only a copy. It was pouring rain and I left the original passport in the hotel. I ended up having six officers with machine guns demanding the original repeatedly as my 15 year old daughter quivered beside me. They finally left with a stern warning in English, "Always with you". It became our mantra for the rest of the trip. LOL

Oh, how scary, ems mom. That's why I like to carry mine with me. I always wear a money belt, the kind that hang down from the belt, snug against your belly. I'd take a few USD with you. Some airlines are charging for a snack box these days, and if the flight originates in the U.S., you'll want some U.S. dollars.

If you are visiting the Netherlands then you must carry it with you -everyone over the age of 14 must be able to identify themselves if required - that means a passport for foreign visitors, a drivers licence isn't acceptable.

Another reason to carry a passport: Identification in case of an accident. Note that page 5 requires a foreign address and the name and address of someone to notify!

The usual array of responses to this oft-asked question, to wit:
1* Yes
2* No
3* Perhaps
4* Why not?
5* Why bother?

ditto ad.

Your DL can be used as security for audio guides, etc.

Don't leave anything that can't be readily replaced in your hotel room, especially not in your luggage.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

Thanks all...
Heading to Italy TODAY....
Florence,Rome, & Sorrento....
I will surely use the hotel safe if they have one in the room.

I would never use a hotel safe, because I simply do not trust the hotel staff nor management.

Moreover, I feel that once a hotel guest asks to use the hotel safe the guest, the guest's room, and the guest's safe box are all marked as an easy, well, mark (=target).