fluff224

I don't use ATMs, but I got my 1st ATM card for a trip to Italy in 2007. We arrived in Venice as weary travelers from our overnight flight. The 1st attempt to use my card told me I had insufficient funds. I knew I had plenty & tried again with no luck. We decided to try a different machine with the same results. At this point DH & I started to panic. Fortunately there was a local American Express office nearby that helped us arrange a cash advance. Sigh of relief, we would have money. I called my bank as soon as it opened & explained my dilemma. They were very nice & told me my withdrawal amount was in Euros & exceeded my daily limit because of the conversion rate. Well, duh. Talk about feeling stupid. Now I get some Euros from my bank before I go. I know I'm paying more doing it that way, but it gives me a sense of security.

IMDonehere

The time we went to Paris, even though we had tickets for Tokyo.

menachem

>>I occasionally wonder what happened to the somewhat frantic lady in Paris who stopped and asked me where the synagogue was, at about 3 minutes to 6pn on a Friday evening, outside the address she said she had been given, on Rue Ste Croix de la Bretonnerie - which is a gay bookshop.<<

PatrickLondon: yeah, the "caught out by shabbos" horror. She must have been looking for the synagogue that's on R Bourg Tibourg, just around the corner. I also like the description I once found in the "kosher travel guide to Paris", that had the instruction: "ask for Mr. Levy". All over the Marais there are still a couple of shtiblach, small community prayer rooms, over shops. There's one over 25 Rue des Rosiers, that I still go to because it was in my family tradition. It can be totally mystifying if you don't know where you're going already.

PatrickLondon

I did point her towards Rue des Rosiers, since I thought at least someone there would be more likely than I to know exactly. Come to think it, it would have been more sensible to ask in any of the local shops or cafés.

AJPeabody

Did the overpacking thing, to the extent that on return I had a week's worth of clean clothes left over in one of my suitcases.

Did the tin ear for French (well, I only had a year of high school French at the time), earning the stink eye from the vender when I confused cinq and cent.

On a shoestring road trip, finally was able to book a cheap new place, "logis neuf" it said in the ad. It wasn't new. The town was named Logis Neuf.

Discovered that the Circumvesuviana had a 6 line network, only one of which went from Naples to Sorrento. We were not on that line.

And, above all, my discovery that tartar steak was not steak.

kwren

Let me preface this by saying that I was in college when this happened so hopefully that excuses some of the stupidity...

A friend and I were traveling by train from Athens to Venice. The first night our compartment was extremely crowded and very noisy all night long. We didn't get a wink of sleep although we did eat a lot of olives and feta cheese with the Greek partiers.

So being so wise as only 19 year olds are, we decided to sleep in the next car. It was wonderful! The whole compartment to ourselves, quiet, ahhh!

The next morning, a conductor woke us up by shouting in his thick Germanic accent, "Change here for Villach! Change here for Villach!" We didn't know what was going on so figured we'd better get back to our assigned seats. Which we never found! We went from one end of the train to the other with no luck. Our car had disappeared!

Of course it hadn't actually disappeared. It had been detached and moved over to the train going to Venice, while our current part of the train was going on into Austria. The conductor told us where to get off and which mountain path to take to a neighboring town to catch another train to Venice.

It was an easy but long walk - did I mention that we had left our luggage in the original car so there was nothing to drag along with us? - and it was cold since it was winter - oh and did I mention that we had also left our winter coats in the car with our suitcases? We DID have our Eurail passes and passports though! Whew!

We got to the next town, marched into the train station and I innocently asked the agent if he could please call Venice and have them get our luggage off the train for us. He looked at me as if I was crazy and said that he couldn't do that - he couldn't make an international call. (This was the days before cell phone, Internet, etc.)

I said, "you don't understand, we need our luggage!" "No, no calls!" But you don't understand!" "Nein!" "You don't understand, we need our luggage!" "NO!!!" " But, but, BUT...!"

This went on for quite a while until the poor guy shouted at me, "Okay, OKAY! I will make the call!" He knew I would never go away until he helped us. He called and we got onto the next train to Venice. The luggage would be at the police station.

So we got to the Venice station to find out that there was more than one police office there. We went to a couple until, voila! There were our suitcases, coats, and...the tiny pillows we had 'borrowed' from the plane to Greece!

Moral of the story - don't change train cars - each one could have a different destination!

txtravels

Hi everyone! I am so grateful for all the responses! I really loved reading through these! I laughed and gained some excellent insight! Thank you for sharing your experiences with me! Wow really can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

julies

Not checking the days of the week an attraction was open.

We were staying at a gite in Normandy and wanted to make a day trip to Giverny. From our gite it was a long, boring ride through some not very interesting scenery, and it was beastly hot in our rental car that had no air conditioning, and it turned out my husband was sick with a fever.

We pulled into the parking lot at Giverny, and I was astonished thinking it would be great because there weren't the crowds I'd been expecting. Turns out the parking lot was nearly empty because this was the one day of the week Giverny was closed (back then I think it was Mondays).

Then we had the long, hot, boring drive back with a sick driver (he typically drives and I navigate). I learned my lesson about checking when attractions are open.

snorkelluvn

There are some super fun stories here! Even the worst experience ultimately just becomes a good story, it seems. So, perspective and a relaxed attitude are probably good before, during and after the trip.
My main problems have been also related to traveling between places. Make sure you know the correct train or bus station. In foreign countries, a lot of the names may seem the same! Use public transportation if you can, to avoid the anxiety of driving and getting lost, pushing your crap Fiat rental car up a hill, discovering that Italy doesn't have good signage once you get off main highways, and the stories go on. I wish I had been calmer when our planned taxi didn't show up, or the route didn't work. Sometimes, I wish I had taken a taxi instead of trying to figure out the metro system. Research is invaluable for transportation.

My best bits....when I remember to smile at strangers and breathe deeply and slow down and sit a few extra minutes on that gorgeous hillside or romantic bistro cafe. And loving caresses will make everything smoother.

Hobbert

My biggest mistake was letting my mom plan a trip to Italy. She booked an apartment that was a mile walk from the train. The train took an hour to get to Rome. 2 hours on a train each way for several days in a row wasn't a great way to spend a holiday. She also booked a flight home that we couldn't logistically make and had to get a last minute hotel near the airport. Moral of the story: don't let my mom plan your trip and you'll be fine

vintage40s

Headed to Bayeux, France, we had just finished a several-minute train station stop and expected the stop at Bayeux to be as lengthy. We took our time getting our luggage off the rack and walking to the door... just in time to have the door close in our faces and the train chug away. Nothing to do but ride to the next stop - Caen - which was fortunately no more than half hour away. The cab fee was not cheap, but thank goodness we were able to get back to Bayeux. Next time, we're sitting on our luggage in front of the door!

WoinParis

GPS can be source of error too.
On 2015 a car (belgian one) made a detour of 1200 kms (740 miles) because the driver programmed the wrong 'la plagné.
French are still making fools of us.

NeoPatrick

The biggest mistake was thinking we had to fill every minute of every day with planned activities. Leave plenty of time to just wander, relax, and stop to smell the roses (or pasta, or croissants, or whatever). Skip at least one meal in a restaurant and do a picnic gathered from a market, even if it's in a park in the middle of a city.

thursdaysd

"The cab fee was not cheap, but thank goodness we were able to get back to Bayeux."

Since you had arrived by train, why didn't you take the train back? No reason for an expensive cab. I once got on the wrong train in Hungary (finally figured out the sun was in the wrong side) but it never occurred to me to do anything but take another train back. Doesn't look like you would have had too long a wait in Caen.

IMLonesomeDove

Booked a train from Copenhagen to Stockholm; Meant to pick departure from Central Station; instead booked from airport. Took a bit of juggling, but made it work. That was back on my first trip to Europe. Rookie mistake. Better now a days!

WoinParis

IML ...
So stupid a mistake !
I did exactly the same, but actually worse. I booked a plane to Copehagen and the hotel in Aalborg, something like 300 kms away. Still can remember the laugh of the taximan when I told him to bring me to aalborg.
Now I look twice... I don't assume that Denmark is small and that my meeting will take place close to the aiport.

dwdvagamundo

Taking a local train from the Brussels Airport to Amsterdam rather than taking the Thalys.

Just after the train crossed into the Netherlands, it stopped and all the passengers were required to exit with our baggage, take busses to another station , and resume the voyage to Amsterdam. No explanation--and no refund--proferred.

My spouse has difficulty with stairs and she had to climb up and down several times to navigate from the train track to the bus, etc. This happened the morning of arrival in Europe and it had a very negative impact on her attitude during the entire trip.

taconictraveler

This is such a good thread!

My biggest all time, every time mistake, is not staying long enough!!

Only pickpockeded once, in Firenze just like the number 1 responder/poster above - threw my wallet in my backpack, (with euros actually hanging out) after buying an entrance ticket, to get ahead of a whole busload of tourists, thinking I'd put it back together in the ladies' room, which was where I was pickpockets!

Always want to stay longer, loving every trip ever!

tailsock

Worst mistake was adding Brussels and Lisbon onto a 17 day trip that also included London, Paris, and Madrid. It was fun to see so many places and photograph them but my poor wife was exhausted and ready to kill me by the second 7AM easyjet flight.

benmia

Taking the vaporetto from the airport into Venice instead of a water taxi. Too long and slow a trip after the long flight.

I hope that remains my biggest mistake!!