Planning your Trip to Europe

Planning a Europe trip? You'll have to do some travel planning before you go on that European vacation. Find information on obtaining a passport, staying healthy, making sure your electronics will work in Europe, language help, currency, and how to save money planning your Europe vacation.
Budget traveler? Yes, you can skimp on your vacation. But good budget travel is when you plan enough to save money without much sacrifice. In the budget travel category I'll guide you toward good budget food, cheap accommodations, and cheap(er) transportation that'll save you money so you can travel longer and better.Budget Travel Tips - Saving money on your vacation.Budget travel tip--diesel cars in Europe are efficient and quicker than you might think, and diesel fuel is widely available and often quite a bit cheaper than gasoline. Check out this feature and save on your vacation transportation.Budget Transportation Tip - Rent a Turbo Diesel
A list of the major Western European cities and the best (and worst) times to go considering climate, tourist concentration, holidays and events. Clicking on the City name gives you more detailed information.Europe Travel - When to Visit the Best Cities.Here's a chart of the current temperatures in Europe. Click the map for a forecastCurrent European Weather.Find just the right snow conditions in Europe, look toward the bottom of the page to links to European ski weather.On the Snow Ski Weather - Europe

Getting a Passport without a Birth Certificate
Don't have a birth certificate? Looking to get a passport? Here's how to go about applying for a US passport if you don't have a birth certificate.

Passport Services from the US State Department
News and information on how to get or renew a passport from the United States Department of State.

How to obtain a Canadian Passport
Step by step instructions on obtaining a Canadian Passport from the Passport Office (Bureau des passeports).

Passports of the World
Ever wonder what each of the World's passport covers looks like? Here's a picture of each one sorted by country.

Passports - First Time
The Department of State's Bureau page can answer your questions if you're a first time applicant.

What the traveler needs to know about the Euro

If you're traveling this year, perhaps the one major difference you'll find is in the currency. Travel through the 12 participating countries and you won't have to go through the hassle of converting currencies because the Euro is now their official monetary unit. The participating countries and the old currency values representing one Euro are shown below.

Country--Old Currency Rate
Belgium--Belgian franc 44.3399
Greece--Greek drachma 340.750
France--French frank 6.55957
Italy--Italian lira 1936.27
Netherlands--Dutch guilder 2.20371
Portugal--Portuguese escudo 200.482
Germany--Deutsche Mark 1.95583
Spain--Spanish peseta 166.386
Ireland--Irish pound 0.787564
Luxembourg--Luxembourg franc 40.3399
Austria--Austrian schilling 13.7603
Finland--Finnish markka 5.94573

Things you need to know about traveling with an ATM card

It used to be that the savvy European traveler loaded up on free Traveler's Checks before getting on the plane, fully expecting to stand in a long bank line to cash them every few days. Not anymore. ATM use, once the value leader in money conversion for travelers, has all but decimated the Traveler's Check industry.

The bad news is that the banking folks noticed. Like in a loony cartoon you could imagine huge dollar signs popping into their eyeballs as they read the reports of money flowing out of European ATMS. Fees were quickly added to enrich the coffers. Still, although those fees have made it more expensive to use a credit or debit card to get cash from an ATM in Europe, it's still the least expensive and most convenient way to get local currency.

So don't be afraid to use your card to access cash at a European ATM.