Ready

I am leaving for a three week trip to Belgium, France and Italy next week. Plan to pack light, and will want to ship souvenirs, extra purchases home from each country before moving on to the next. What is the best option as far as expense and actually seeing the stuff again? Thanks, really enjoy all the great threads here.

elvira

The cheapest is via the post; depending on the class of service, it could take up to three months to get the package.

UPS, Fedex and the like now ship internationally. This is the most efficient and quick, but you'll pay dearly for it.

Are You Sure You

Not to mention customs. We sent a purchase home from Germany which cost less that $l00 and when it was delivered we had to pay just about half for customs.

John Bermont

Ready,
For shipping items to the USA, the PTTs throughout Europe are reliable, though the southern countries are slow. From Holland it takes as little as three weeks; from Italy it was three months.
Usually the limit for a parcel is 2kg; a package of books and printed material can weigh up to 5kg and receive a better rate. Sort your finds if you are a book worm and make sure the postal clerk understands that you are shipping printed matter.
Most post offices sell boxes and tape for a nominal charge. Pack tight.
If you are buying big heavy stuff look into air freight. E.g., KLM has an air freight office in the passenger terminal at Schiphol Amsterdam - if you were going up there.
The air express services are made for those with more money than time; they also invite customs inspectors' attention as noted in wanttodo's reply.
John Bermont
www.enjoy-europe.com

Ready

Thanks for the great tips, I didn't realize the customs rates could be so high, and air freight is a good option. Do shops provide shipping, as part of a purchase, at reduced rates?