While planning for my trip (my 4th, my aunt's first), I was thinking of all the various things I wish I knew before going over there (for example, I made the mistake of completely forgetting that my hair dryer required a different outlet!), I was compiling a list of "things I wish I knew" before going and thought I'd throw it out there to be sure I don't forget anything!

So...what are the top 3 (or more) things you wish you knew before going to Europe, either in terms of finding out you needed to get particular tour passes in advance or even basic packing stuff.

I wish I knew

1.Not to pack more than you can carry.

2. To walk alot before you go to get use to it.

3. to make sure you have all the chargers for cell phones, IPOD,camers....

1. To wear comfortable shoes on the plane in case your hotel room isn't ready when you arrive and you have to spend a few hours sightseeing before it is.

2. To buy bottled water at a store or market for .30 euro each (or whatever) and carry it with you during the day instead of spending 2.50 euro on a tiny bottle at a restaurant.

3. To look ahead and see if there are any national holidays during your visit, so that instead of planning to shop or something that day you can go to a street festival or a museum that will definitely be open!

I wish I'd known:
1. That they didn't use face cloths and I needed to bring my own.
2. How to use a hand-held shower in a tub without a shower curtain.
3. That the maps I buy here have the English translation for city and street names, often making them virtually worthless and I should just save the money and get a free one from the TI when I get there.

1. To realize if you're getting an incredible deal on a cruise of the Aegean, it's probably because it's the last ship sailing of the season (it was) and you're cabin is below the water line (it was that, too).

2. To not expect that just because you like the three people you are travelling with, they will necessarily like each other (they didn't).

3. To have someone else count out your medication to make sure you have enough for the trip. It's crummy to realize you are short a week's worth of blood pressure pills because you counted wrong and the only way you can get more is to go to emergency.

The most important thing I wish I had known before my first trip to Italy back in the 70's was that Italians do not have any concept as to what standing in line means, lol.

1. Pack as light as you can using luggage that's right for you. Bring an empty cabin bag that can flat pack to give yourself an extra 7kg for your shopping spree overseas
2. Picnicing at a town square or a park with supplies bought from the supermarket is a fraction of the cost and gives you a much better appreciation of local culture.
3. When on vacation stay a step ahead - plan for what you'll be doing tomorrow not today.

I wish I had known:
Taking your wonderful, but elderly mum on her first overseas holiday needs the words "SLOWLY DOES IT" written across your sightseeing list!
It did not occur to me that although I can hit the ground running when I get off the plane, my mum at 79 years young, soon encountered swollen feet, red ankles, and worse to come.
Halfway into the trip her knees gave out and this meant a trip to a private doctor in London (did not know about the tourist/hospital thing) so set my funds back quite a few bob for medication etc., which only helped slightly.

1. That most of the maps they give you at the Tourist Information offices will get you quite lost.

2. DO NOT bring a car into central Paris on your first trip to that wonderful city and expect to get out of said city without frayed nerves and a lot of yelling at and by DH when the street names change every few blocks or so and you really don't know where you are.

3. That in some rental cars, you need to depress a ring around the stick shift in order to go in reverse. Once again, a wonderful time was had by all when we had to put the car in neutral and push it backwards to get out of a parking space in Austria, while the rain was pouring down.

Thanks so far for all the wonderful tips! While I'm sorry to hear about those bad experiences some of you had , the "silver lining" is that others can learn from them--didn't even think about planning on getting all the medical affairs in order in terms of planning ahead where to go in case of medical attention and prescriptions! It's one of those things you assume you won't need but still good to plan for just in case! This is why I wanted to ask others. Thanks and keep them coming!

Best,
Carrie

1) If you are driving, a good GPS is your friend. Best money I have ever spent.

2) That Alitalia is an awful airline. That KLM is not much better.

3) That unless you are staying near Paddington station, that the Heathrow Express can seem a pretty big waste of money.

Some of these things I already knew, but I wasn't disciplined enough to follow my intuition:

* Pack LIGHTLY! Realize it's gonna be just like it is at home, where you have a great big closet full of clothing, but you only wear the first three or four things on the rack. Dragging along five pairs of shoes, and a zillion shirts and pants and sweathers, etc. is no fun when you're trying to negotiate stairs and train platforms.

* Get a general idea of some of the sights you really don't want to miss, and check them out online before you leave on your trip. Many museums have printable "Highlights Tours" - helps if time is limited.

* And most important of all: Be flexible and find a way to see any unforseen glitches as adventure opportunities. We had a delayed flight out a few weeks ago, from SFO connecting in Amsterdam to Athens. Totally missed our connection and ended up with an unexpected ten-hour layover in Amsterdam. Used our laptop while waiting in SFO - checked out Fodor's and discovered we could catch the train into Amsterdam directly from the airport (and there are storage lockers available for heavy carry-ons) and we took a great canal tour. It ended up being an unanticipated and wonderful extra stop on our month-long trip ... instead of an inconvenience.

...about this forum, so many helpful tips, I open a Word doc and then copy and past advice to it, be careful, though, you can end up with too much advice which is as bad as too little

...it's hard to lug big/heavy bags on a train!

...to carry at least one extra camera battery so that you always have 2 fully charged

We have always packed light, never forget things, etc. but one thing we neglected to take on our very first trip was kleenex for those out-of-the-way weird toilets!

All you really need are comfortable shoes and a credit card.

TG, KLM is my first choice when booking!

LoveItaly,

Your comment really had my husband and I laughing. We were just in Italy and thought we were the ONLY ones to get frustrated at the fact that the Italians just do not know what a line means! Don't you think it would make their life a lot easier and more organized if they just figured out this one concept? Thanks for the entertaining comment.

- to renew all batteries in the alarm clock, camera, etc... not to pay triple in a remote hotel in the mountains

- if you see a souvenir you like, buy now, think later, or you won't see anything comparable again and feel sorry

1. That your legs are not forgiving when you go from walking zero miles a day to 47 miles a day.
2. Even with an adaptor, flat irons don't work quite the way they do in the US.
3. No one at CDG knows how to speak English when you miss your connecting flight in Paris.

1. No matter how carefully you pack, you will arrive to find: the flash on your camera doesn't work; the memory chip you bought is faulty; you left all your spare batteries down somewhere. Be prepared to shop for replacements.

2. Bring a compass and double-check the orientation of any map you get at a TI. Many TIs don't know north from their elbow.

3. One word: earplugs.

1) If you are going to stay in a hotel in Europe with a pool, make sure you take "Swim EAR" with you. It's a product that dries up water in the ear canal. If left there, the water can cause an ear infection.

2) Pack your clothes and then unpack your clothes while still at home, putting them in piles of like items. Leave half the items in each pile behind. At the same time, make sure you take at least two pairs of extremely comfortable shoes. Use the space in the suitcases for footwear, not clothing.

3) I never leave the United States without a pile of new, empty ziplock bags in my suitcase. They are useful to segregate items I want to throw out, postcards I have bought and not mailed, items I haven't washed, chocolate, and pens, stamps & thank you cards. I also take thank you cards from the United States with an "American feel" (but ABSOLUTELY NO FLAGS) and use them to write my thank yous while in Europe. I mail the cards from the airport as I am leaving the country in which the relatives and friends who are the recipients of the cards live.

Buon Viaggio,
Jane