What Americans Should Know Before They Visit Europe

Heading to Europe for the first time and not sure what to expect? Well here we have a video that goes over a lot of the things that first time visitors to Europe might need to know before they come. From hotels in Europe, to toilets in Europe, to eating in Europe, there is a lot of great tourist advice for first time visitors to Europe
Filmed in Salzburg, Austria
Copyright Mark Wolters 2022

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[woltersworld]

Cash is not king anymore (except for some spots) now it is all about contactless payments. So be prepared with your google pay, apple pay, and credit cards. As contactless payment is everywhere (well almost everywhere)

[yari]

me as an european hearing you genuinely advise people to practice walking before coming here is one of the funniest american things i have ever heard

[aaronclift]

Another important tip: learn the Metric system and Celsius before you head to Europe.

[krunoslavkovacec]

Most important thing: Europe is not a country, but a continent.

[andrejruscak]

Good video, Mark! However I wouldn't call European customer service 'not as good', because this is very relative. As a European, I consider European customer service great, because it is giving me space to breathe and time to enjoy myself, whereas in the US I almost feel intimidated by the over-the-top tipping culture based service, where I feel like I just need to tell them 'please leave me be unless I tell you, that way you will make the best tip'...

[thetravellingbadger]

For North Americans: Get familiar with the 24 hour clock. You might think that you won't need to as you have your phone set to use the the 12 hour clock, but when your train departs 14:55, you need to know when to be at the station.

And I don't agree about the service. European service is not about trying to get the biggest possible tip, it is about respecting the customers privacy and allowing them to enjoy the meal without interrupting them.

[jackodees]

A small thing: Service isn't worse, it's just not what you are used to. We don't want our waiters asking us every ten minutes if everything is good, we'll tell them when we need something and if we don't there is no need for the waiter to be bothering us. Also: the Netherlands is so flat we rarely ever need elevators. All streets are pretty flat.

[frontrowviews]

Rule #1: Don't call major cities towns! They might look small because there are no skyscrapers but most of these "towns" have millions of habitants.

[lours]

In Europe ‘they don’t care about the customer’ ‘so the service isn’t so good.’ What an incredibly superficial judgement. Service in the US is mercenary and unqualified. Service in Europe is qualified and real and egalitarian = Mutual respect, not ‘kiss my ass and I’ll tip you.”

[joehoe]

My tips for Europe:
1) Check local customs. Nothing is more annoying than wanting lunch during siesta. Or know when it is Ruhetag in (for example) Germany. These things can screw over your well planned days.
2) Don't be the melodramatic fool. I've seen tons of foreign tourists making a fuzz over a custom they seem not fit to them. Or talking too loud in trains (like Mike said) or as I saw once in Venice an American lady falling so dramatically that it sounded like a goose dying in air. Don't make a fool out yourself.
3) Try musea that don't are the classics. Europe is sometimes called a living museum, true, but there are so many fun things. For example in the Netherlands, in Amsterdam the 3 big ones (Van Gogh, Stedelijk and Rijksmuseum) are on the same square, are brilliant, but look at the smaller ones as well. It's way less crowded and just as interesting as well. Like 'Onze lieve Heer op zolder'. It's a hidden catholic church in a house. Or the Tropenmuseum about all places the Dutch have been. Lots of quirky ones as well and so fun.
4) Don't do Europe in one visit! It's like saying to do the US in one holiday. That's absurd, insane and you always miss good stuff. Take your time. The distance from Moscow to London is like New York to Denver. Tons of stuff is inbetween and it would be a shame to.miss it.
5) Europe is old, but still, people live there. Respect the locals. Don't be that douche that takes a piece of the Berlin wall or the one who puts his name in the Charles Bridge in Prague. You end up with somethimg not worthy anyhow.

[TreyDaze]

I’m an American living in Germany! Best tip of all is to come with an open mind! Europe is amazing!!!

[RoutierNordAmericain]

For those Americans who are adventurous enough to rent a car & drive on European motorways (you call them expressways or freeways), remember 1 thing: LEFT LANE(S) are for PASSING Only, or, the right lane if you're in Ireland & the U.K.. If you are in the Passing Lane & a faster car comes behind you, flashing its lights, YOU have to get out of the way. And, using your cell phone while driving can be treated as a moving violation. In Germany, Moving Violation convictions=Automatic & Immediate suspension of your driver's license in the country--including Foreigners. Not sure if the German authorities would contact your American state's DMV regarding the conviction or not, but, why take the risk?

[abxorb]

"Service [in Europe] isn't as good."

No, American style service is just super-exaggerated because y'all don't pay wait staff enough and those people are sucking up to ya to earn rent.

Good video otherwise though. 👍

[Hammer]

I suppose a very important difference is that driving in Europe is very different compared to driving in the US. I experienced the culture shock (if you can call it that) in reverse when visiting the States. In general, roads in Europe are narrower and have way more bends, except highways. Driving speeds are lower in urban areas in Europe, but higher on (most) highways. Europeans don't do 'keep your lane' but rather 'keep right unless overtaking'. Not returning to the right lane after passing another vehicle and holding up traffic behind you is actually a ticketable offence and WILL induce road rage from other drivers as overtaking on the right is a cardinal sin in Europe. Street parking in Europe is rarely free in town centres (even small ones) and more often than not it's easiest to use a parking app to make sure you don't get a parking ticket. Also, no right turn on red in Europe. You pay after you get your gas (unless you use an unmanned pump where you first use your credit or debit card). And when filling up, fuel is much more expensive in Europe, but you can save a huge amount by only getting gas in towns or cities instead of next to the highway. Also note the vast differences in fuel prices between countries, i.e. if you're travelling from country to country, it might be worth filling up before or after crossing the border. Belgium and Germany are cheaper than the Netherlands. Poland is cheaper than Czech Republic and Germany. France and Slovenia are cheaper than Italy, etc.

[swaffelkonijn]

What us Europeans also love is being lumped together under the moniker of "Europe" because we don't have any inter-European rivalries and all the cultures are very very similar....did I tell you Europeans use sarcasm a lot more than Americans do?

[Rebasepoiss]

As an Estonian, just a quick remark about service: the American style of service would feel very out of place and even overbearing for locals. Therefore, it's not that the service is necessarily worse over here (though it often is) but it's also a different culture overall. It's not automatically considered bad service if you have to wave the waiter down to get their attention, for example.

I think the point about cash being king is not entirely accurate. I've been to Norway, France, the UK and Belgium this year alone and in all of them I could pay for everything by card, most of the times using contactless payments. Even Germany, which used to be the European cash capital, has been changing rapidly since the outbreak of Covid and bank payments are a lot more popular than they used to be even 3 years ago.

[Fanw]

As a British public transport enthusiast I must correct you on one point. On European TRAMS it is now very rare that you can pay the driver. You must use a ticket machine, either on the sidewalk or inside the tram. The same is increasingly true of continental European BUSES. (In Britain (outside London) you can usually still pay the driver.) As to quality of public transport CITY public transport is usually very good. But rural transport, even in tourist areas, is of very variable quality. It depends on the country you are visiting. Eg rural Switzerland is superb, Austria generally very good. Rural Britain and France are generally poor. Note special deal in Germany this summer until August. . 9 Euro go anywhere tickets for LOCAL public transport.

[jsmith]

Regarding the language stuff, I completely agree, learning a few simple phrases goes a VERY long way. I had heard the French were rude, and disliked Americans. Maybe because I had lived in Europe for a few years before I went to France for the first time, but I did not find that to be the case at all. A few simple phrases in French, enough to show that you are making a little bit of effort to recognize that you are in France, and the French will be perfectly nice, hospitable, and helpful.

[raffaelevalente]

If you come to Italy and want to use a car, think TWICE before renting it! Use it in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere but
Under any circumstance don't drive in big cities like Rome, Naples, Milan and similar!

[DriverM]

My tip before visiting Europe is to make a list of experiences you would like to have instead of a list of cities you would like to visit.

Experiences such as renting a bicycle to ride through some dutch towns on the way to some windmills OR, finding a gelato shop near the river Seine so you can sit by the river and relax while people watching are unique memories that you'll have forever.

This way you won't tend to be focused on only visiting endless crowded tourist hotspots, museums and churches like everyone else on their first trip.

Join your experiences together, work out were you need to go and start from there.