Eurotrip Tips

I recently completed my first trip to Europe and I'd like to share some lessons I learnt on the trip, which might help others. We covered London, Paris, Florence, Pisa and Rome during this vacation.

1) Converting Money
We once converted some dollars into euros close to the Tour Eiffel. I realized that we didn't really get a whole lot of money back, but I was in too much of a hurry to analyze the transaction at the time. The receipt was in French, so again I really had to understand the context, which is harder to do with so many pretty sights to digest. Here are the basics I gathered... Conversion Rate: this is what you expect to get for your dollars. The official rate was around 1.57 dollars per euro at the time. One-time processing fee: this was something I wasn't expecting. They charged me around 6 euros for every transaction. Given this it makes sense to convert a large amount once only, instead of many small transactions. I realized that the Paris train station had better rates than converters close to the major landmarks. (Okay I have a sample size of 2 only, but the train station had reasonable prices.) In Italy, I ended up using an ATM machine close to our hotel all the time. I've been told that this is the best way to convert (according to Frommers). Credits cards are the next best.

2) Restaurants
On the whole many restaurants were reasonable and charged as much as one expected, but I had two bad experiences. At a cafe` close to the Notre Dame we were charged 8.60 euros for water. The waiter claimed that the glasses were chilled (and hence worth 8.60) and the water was free. In case you need to order tap water ask for "une verre d'eau". Watch out for waiters who make it seem like fries or soup is included in the price of the entree.

3) Hotels
If you are used to hotels in America, you won't like what $100 per night buys you in Europe these days. Almost all the hotels I stayed with were above my $100 price point and none of them had a bathroom inside the room.

One of the best deals on my trip was a Formule1 Hotel in Paris, a recommendation from my French co-worker Phil. The cost per night was 46 Euros only. To warn you the room is very functional... It had a bed, a TV, a lamp, a sink and a table with a chair. The toilets and bathrooms are in a common area, but it is fairly easy to find a good clean one. Their breakfast was a good deal too... a great way to start the day and for 3.90 euros only, probably the least expensive meal on our trip.

We completely loved our hotel in Florence. It was called Hotel Sampaoli and I booked it on hostels.com. The staff was really friendly and gave a lot of good suggestions. I wish we could have stayed longer with them.

Our hotel in Rome, Hotel Des Artistes, was good too. It was close to the Termini train station (A 5 minute walk from the station). Although a slightly seedier part of town, the benefits of staying close to Termini far outweigh the negatives. A metro station was right below the hotel and lots of ATM machines, grocery stores were close by.

4) Learning the language
I can't stress this enough. Learning the language helps enhance the whole experience. One should at least know enough to order food, get tickets (billets bi-yays in French). The BBC has created a great resource for learning French. Knowing the numbers is also a good idea.