PREPARATION
There are so many things to consider when preparing for a European vacation. In addition to the tour website, I also found Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door guidebook to be very helpful. The 2014 version is also available for Kindle! I received the 2013 paperback version as a gift from supporting Rick Steves' on my local PBS station.
When to Go
Once you have decided which tour to take, the next step is to choose the departure date. My first preference was to take a tour beginning on a Saturday. Unfortunately, our first choice tour was nearly full and could not add four people. We instead reserved the tour beginning on the next Monday. I think this turned out to be a better choice for us in the long run because it allowed us to conduct final packing preparations on Saturday morning, depart from our home airport on Saturday evening, arrive Sunday morning, and have free time until the tour began on Monday afternoon. Having at least one day to recover prior to the tour beginning is ideal.
Another consideration for the dates you choose is the what the weather will be like in each location during the tour. Our tour began on June 24, which meant that Rome would be pretty hot. We also had the challenge of traveling from very warm to cool places over the course of the tour, which made packing slightly more complicated. Each individual tour page of the Rick Steves website, contains a link for Tour Weather (check under videos and more), which will show you average highs and lows each month as well as the typical number of days without rain.
Getting There
We are fortunate enough to live in a city that is home to two major airlines. This means we can usually schedule non-stop flights to most destinations. There are several tips for the right time to buy airfare. Some common strategies include purchasing:
1) Just after the first of the year because airlines are slower after the holiday season.
2) On a Tuesday afternoon. The reasoning is that an airline or two will typically post a sale on Mondays and by Tuesday, the competition has matched the sale.
3) Book as soon as you know the dates you’re flying, earlier bookings may result in the best pricing. I’ve also read reports that there’s a ‘sweet spot’ on fares about 6 weeks prior to departure.
We placed the deposit on our tour in October and I watched rates daily for a few weeks. I fly somewhat regularly and am used to searching for deals manually or using sites such as bing.com/travel and travel alerts from kayak.com and farecompare.com.
On a Tuesday afternoon in November, I noticed that the flights I preferred were about $400 less per person than they had been for a few weeks and decided to put them on a 24 hour hold. I ended up purchasing at a rate of about $1200/person for a one stop in London on the way over and a non-stop from Paris on the way back. I never turned the email alerts off, and to my knowledge, the prices never went below the price I paid.
Luggage
Rick Steves is not shy about his packing strategies in his guidebooks. I happen to be a chronic over packer, sometimes taking two times more clothing than I really need. I also think this may be influenced by the free checked baggage benefits on my airline of choice. Even though my family could check 400 lbs of luggage at no additional charge on this trip, we decided that each member of our family should pack one carry-on sized piece of luggage. We opted for four SwissGear 20″ spinner bags because they met international carry on standards and there was a great sale with free shipping and returns at the online retailer. These were our first spinner bags and they performed well on all surfaces. The orange color is unusual, which makes them easy to spot in a pile of luggage. We also wrapped a different color of electrical tape around each handle so we could quickly know which one belongs to who when unloading from the bus into a new hotel.
Since we were using every cubic inch of our carry on luggage, we opted to bring an empty duffel bag with us that could be checked on the way back. When not in use, it folds up into a compact space and stores in a small bag. Very easy to drop into a backpack on the way over to save precious room in our carry on luggage. Once over there, we unpacked the duffel bag and used it for holding dirty laundry. I’ll speak more about items to pack shortly, but for now it’s worth mentioning that we had room for about 7-8 days of clothing in the carry on. For a 17-day trip, that meant that laundry would have to be done at some point. When it was time to return home, we stuffed the duffel with dirty clothes and checked it and kept our souvenirs with us in our carry on luggage.
We also packed a Civita day bag into one of our bags to use daily for carrying water, sunscreen, and guidebooks (nothing that would be pick pocketed).
I spent time researching a new camera bag. I wanted one that looked like a typical shoulder bag, provided appropriate protection, and also was safe enough to double as a purse. I chose this Lowepro sling bag in mica and it was a perfect fit for a Nikon D7000 with a 18-300 mm lens attatched. I felt really safe with this bag because the zipper can be zipped toward the small end of the bag, which when over my shoulder, I could place my arm along the zipped portion and keep my hand over the zipper pull. With this type of bag, you don’t want to put anything of value in the outer pockets.
Packing
Once you know the containers you'll be taking, it's time to consider what to pack. Our travels were a total of 17 days. With only one carry on sized bag per person, this meant that we would either have to wear everything twice (or more) or else stop and do laundry along the way. The idea of packing 7-8 complete outfits, toiletries, and accessories in a tiny bag is almost unimaginable. Maximizing space and organization was certainly more practical with the help of packing cubes. There are many brands and sizes available. For our luggage, this set turned out to be perfect.
The carry on luggage came equipped with removable toiletry bags similar in size to the TSA allowed zip top bags. These each held travel sized toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and mouth wash. Other "dry" toiletries were stored in the storage liner of the luggage. The largest packing cube included a pair of khaki pants, two long skirts, a dress, and two medium length skirts. The medium cube was stuffed with three basic, solid colored t-shirts, two basic cardigans, and a two 3/4 sleeved shirts. The smallest cube contained undergarments, socks, compression shorts (great to wear under skirts especially - this was a great tip from an experienced friend), and a scarf to help accessorize the basic mix-and-match shirts and skirts. I typically get cold on flights and reserved the bulkiest clothes for the journey over - jeans, comfortable, closed-toed shoes and a cardigan. I did pack a pair of sandals that were thoroughly walk-tested (like the comfortable closed-toed shoes) before departure.
Walking and Standing
Be ready to walk several miles each day. In addition to walking, you'll also be standing relatively still on your feet for several minutes at a time in lines or while touring. To prepare, our family started taking "family walks" about four months before the trip. At first, they were about a mile per walk, several days a week. As the departure date became closer, we upped our distance to three or more miles per day. Some sights have hundreds of steps that will reward you with a spectacular view if you make it to the top. If you can begin training for multiple flights of stairs, you'll be better prepared! We also had a small first aid kit with us at all times that included moleskin, bandaids, and molefoam padding.
Money
If you must arrive with some Euros, you can generally order and receive them in about a week through your US bank. Exchange services in malls and airports charge a hefty fee for an exchange, frequently around 15-20% of the amount being exchanged. We made purchases two ways on our trip: with a credit card and by withdrawing cash from ATMs. We have a credit card with no foreign transaction fees that can be used with foreign chip and PIN systems. You may find that some vendors cannot easily process the magnetic strip on your card, and this is where the chip will come in handy. Purchases on the credit card were automatically converted daily and the rate provided by the bank issuing the card was really reasonable. Our bank has several foreign partners, so we found out in advance which ones would not have exchange fees. If you don't use a partner bank, expect to pay a $5 fee plus 1% of the withdrawal amount. Definitely call your banking institutions before you leave to let them know what days you will be traveling, what countries you'll be going to, and also find out if you have a daily limit or PIN associated with your card. They can also increase your daily spending in advance, which can help you avoid some uncomfortable situations.
Journaling
I purchased a few journals from the Rick Steves' website before the trip. It was great to take notes of our daily adventures and chronicle where we visited, what we ate, and how we felt. It's fun for everyone in the family to do this so they can remember the trip from their perspective.
Goodies included with the tour
Before our trip, we received a shipment containing copies of Rick Steves' Best of Europe 2013, pocket language guides, tour patches, maps, and money belts. These were invaluable resources for us every day! We wore the money belts everywhere we went and were protected the whole time. You may initially feel like these are nerdy or unnecessary, but we came home without any thefts!
Now that you're ready to go, see what we did DAY BY DAY!
When to Go
Once you have decided which tour to take, the next step is to choose the departure date. My first preference was to take a tour beginning on a Saturday. Unfortunately, our first choice tour was nearly full and could not add four people. We instead reserved the tour beginning on the next Monday. I think this turned out to be a better choice for us in the long run because it allowed us to conduct final packing preparations on Saturday morning, depart from our home airport on Saturday evening, arrive Sunday morning, and have free time until the tour began on Monday afternoon. Having at least one day to recover prior to the tour beginning is ideal.
Another consideration for the dates you choose is the what the weather will be like in each location during the tour. Our tour began on June 24, which meant that Rome would be pretty hot. We also had the challenge of traveling from very warm to cool places over the course of the tour, which made packing slightly more complicated. Each individual tour page of the Rick Steves website, contains a link for Tour Weather (check under videos and more), which will show you average highs and lows each month as well as the typical number of days without rain.
Getting There
We are fortunate enough to live in a city that is home to two major airlines. This means we can usually schedule non-stop flights to most destinations. There are several tips for the right time to buy airfare. Some common strategies include purchasing:
1) Just after the first of the year because airlines are slower after the holiday season.
2) On a Tuesday afternoon. The reasoning is that an airline or two will typically post a sale on Mondays and by Tuesday, the competition has matched the sale.
3) Book as soon as you know the dates you’re flying, earlier bookings may result in the best pricing. I’ve also read reports that there’s a ‘sweet spot’ on fares about 6 weeks prior to departure.
We placed the deposit on our tour in October and I watched rates daily for a few weeks. I fly somewhat regularly and am used to searching for deals manually or using sites such as bing.com/travel and travel alerts from kayak.com and farecompare.com.
On a Tuesday afternoon in November, I noticed that the flights I preferred were about $400 less per person than they had been for a few weeks and decided to put them on a 24 hour hold. I ended up purchasing at a rate of about $1200/person for a one stop in London on the way over and a non-stop from Paris on the way back. I never turned the email alerts off, and to my knowledge, the prices never went below the price I paid.
Luggage
Rick Steves is not shy about his packing strategies in his guidebooks. I happen to be a chronic over packer, sometimes taking two times more clothing than I really need. I also think this may be influenced by the free checked baggage benefits on my airline of choice. Even though my family could check 400 lbs of luggage at no additional charge on this trip, we decided that each member of our family should pack one carry-on sized piece of luggage. We opted for four SwissGear 20″ spinner bags because they met international carry on standards and there was a great sale with free shipping and returns at the online retailer. These were our first spinner bags and they performed well on all surfaces. The orange color is unusual, which makes them easy to spot in a pile of luggage. We also wrapped a different color of electrical tape around each handle so we could quickly know which one belongs to who when unloading from the bus into a new hotel.
Since we were using every cubic inch of our carry on luggage, we opted to bring an empty duffel bag with us that could be checked on the way back. When not in use, it folds up into a compact space and stores in a small bag. Very easy to drop into a backpack on the way over to save precious room in our carry on luggage. Once over there, we unpacked the duffel bag and used it for holding dirty laundry. I’ll speak more about items to pack shortly, but for now it’s worth mentioning that we had room for about 7-8 days of clothing in the carry on. For a 17-day trip, that meant that laundry would have to be done at some point. When it was time to return home, we stuffed the duffel with dirty clothes and checked it and kept our souvenirs with us in our carry on luggage.
We also packed a Civita day bag into one of our bags to use daily for carrying water, sunscreen, and guidebooks (nothing that would be pick pocketed).
I spent time researching a new camera bag. I wanted one that looked like a typical shoulder bag, provided appropriate protection, and also was safe enough to double as a purse. I chose this Lowepro sling bag in mica and it was a perfect fit for a Nikon D7000 with a 18-300 mm lens attatched. I felt really safe with this bag because the zipper can be zipped toward the small end of the bag, which when over my shoulder, I could place my arm along the zipped portion and keep my hand over the zipper pull. With this type of bag, you don’t want to put anything of value in the outer pockets.
Packing
Once you know the containers you'll be taking, it's time to consider what to pack. Our travels were a total of 17 days. With only one carry on sized bag per person, this meant that we would either have to wear everything twice (or more) or else stop and do laundry along the way. The idea of packing 7-8 complete outfits, toiletries, and accessories in a tiny bag is almost unimaginable. Maximizing space and organization was certainly more practical with the help of packing cubes. There are many brands and sizes available. For our luggage, this set turned out to be perfect.
The carry on luggage came equipped with removable toiletry bags similar in size to the TSA allowed zip top bags. These each held travel sized toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and mouth wash. Other "dry" toiletries were stored in the storage liner of the luggage. The largest packing cube included a pair of khaki pants, two long skirts, a dress, and two medium length skirts. The medium cube was stuffed with three basic, solid colored t-shirts, two basic cardigans, and a two 3/4 sleeved shirts. The smallest cube contained undergarments, socks, compression shorts (great to wear under skirts especially - this was a great tip from an experienced friend), and a scarf to help accessorize the basic mix-and-match shirts and skirts. I typically get cold on flights and reserved the bulkiest clothes for the journey over - jeans, comfortable, closed-toed shoes and a cardigan. I did pack a pair of sandals that were thoroughly walk-tested (like the comfortable closed-toed shoes) before departure.
Walking and Standing
Be ready to walk several miles each day. In addition to walking, you'll also be standing relatively still on your feet for several minutes at a time in lines or while touring. To prepare, our family started taking "family walks" about four months before the trip. At first, they were about a mile per walk, several days a week. As the departure date became closer, we upped our distance to three or more miles per day. Some sights have hundreds of steps that will reward you with a spectacular view if you make it to the top. If you can begin training for multiple flights of stairs, you'll be better prepared! We also had a small first aid kit with us at all times that included moleskin, bandaids, and molefoam padding.
Money
If you must arrive with some Euros, you can generally order and receive them in about a week through your US bank. Exchange services in malls and airports charge a hefty fee for an exchange, frequently around 15-20% of the amount being exchanged. We made purchases two ways on our trip: with a credit card and by withdrawing cash from ATMs. We have a credit card with no foreign transaction fees that can be used with foreign chip and PIN systems. You may find that some vendors cannot easily process the magnetic strip on your card, and this is where the chip will come in handy. Purchases on the credit card were automatically converted daily and the rate provided by the bank issuing the card was really reasonable. Our bank has several foreign partners, so we found out in advance which ones would not have exchange fees. If you don't use a partner bank, expect to pay a $5 fee plus 1% of the withdrawal amount. Definitely call your banking institutions before you leave to let them know what days you will be traveling, what countries you'll be going to, and also find out if you have a daily limit or PIN associated with your card. They can also increase your daily spending in advance, which can help you avoid some uncomfortable situations.
Journaling
I purchased a few journals from the Rick Steves' website before the trip. It was great to take notes of our daily adventures and chronicle where we visited, what we ate, and how we felt. It's fun for everyone in the family to do this so they can remember the trip from their perspective.
Goodies included with the tour
Before our trip, we received a shipment containing copies of Rick Steves' Best of Europe 2013, pocket language guides, tour patches, maps, and money belts. These were invaluable resources for us every day! We wore the money belts everywhere we went and were protected the whole time. You may initially feel like these are nerdy or unnecessary, but we came home without any thefts!
Now that you're ready to go, see what we did DAY BY DAY!