How To Travel In Europe Like A Pro

Bonjour and buckle up my friends! I’m going to take you to some of the places and spaces that I’ve visited over a fun filled two weeks in Europe. My tour is going to be spread out over several posts and will include travel tips, lovely things, and special places. I’ll be talking about a couple of gorgeous French homes including the special treat of a well known French painter/friend in her studio:~))

If you are traveling this summer you’ll want to read this one…

Planning and getting around. Not the most fun part perhaps but necessary…
Be sure to check out my EBAY link to packing all that you need into a carry on~for 2 weeks, as I did!
Did I ever tell you that when I was in college I backpacked across Europe for 3 months with a friend? …The girl can pack!…
You can be off to Paris or to a quick weekend getaway locally and use some of these tips for your trip…

Planning 101…it’s so much easier nowadays to be your own travel agent than it used to be! I have always done our trip planning for the family and it’s not difficult but requires a bit of patience (which my husband doesn’t have:~)).
We first decide on where we wish to go and then I start searching online for the best and fastest way to get there. Notice that I didn’t say “cheapest” because I have found that in travel you often get what you pay for and I’d rather save my pennies until we can travel comfortably. No more backpacking for me…

Getting there…

We used frequent flyer miles for flying on this trip. If you don’t have a credit card that gives you miles I’d recommend that you get one! Flying mid week is generally less expensive and we were able to use our miles to bump up to business class. On long haul flights over time zones it’s great, and we were able to recline and sleep overnight for no jet-lag the first day…

Getting around…

The first thing that I would recommend when you find yourself overwhelmed in an unfamiliar city is to take a quick bus tour. Most cities in Europe and many in the U.S. (including Miami, where we live) have a “hop-on, hop-off” bus tour which is great for familiarizing yourself with a new place. They generally offer a recorded tape or a live guide. We prefer the live guide for their anecdotes and the fact that you can ask them questions. There are also city buses (like the one above in London) and maps at the stops will help you to get where you want to go…

Our traveling once in Europe was all done by either high speed train, metro city lines, Uber or taxi. I pre-booked our rail passes in plenty of time while still in the U.S. as some trains require tickets to be mailed, and some you can print out yourself.

The Eurostar is fast and efficient. London to Paris in about 2 hrs…

We have rented a car in the past and drove while in Europe but it’s not exactly relaxing when you don’t know where you are and if you don’t fluently speak/read the language!

Where to stay…
We prefer to stay in an apartment and live like locals when we are in a city for a couple of days or more. I use both Airbnb or Paris Perfect to book apartments and have had great experiences thus far with both. Once you’ve stayed in an apt, you’ll never want to go back to a cramped hotel room…especially in Europe where hotel rooms can be so small!

We stayed in an amazing flat in Brussels for a couple of nights for less than $150 a night! Airbnb, I think I love you…