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What do you mean you don't have my reservation? I booked for 4/7, you know, the 4th of July. And where am I supposed to put all my luggage? And What's 17:00? Hey there fellow travelers, Mark here with Wolters World and today we're here in Amsterdam. Today we're going to go through our some of the little hiccups that American tourists have when they come to Europe. And these aren't serious things. These are the little things that when Americans kind of trip over these things, Europeans go, "Hmm, interesting people." And I want to start with actually the date cuz a lot of times tourists will miss book tours and
accommodations because they'll try to book for 4/7 or the 4th of July. So how we set the date in the US it's month day year. But if you're traveling throughout Europe, it's usually day month year. So if you send them an email saying, "Hey, we'd like to stay two nights starting on 7/4" and you're thinking July 4th, they're actually thinking April 7th. So that's something you kind of have to have an idea about. Also, on the calendars in some countries in Europe like Germany, sometimes the calendars will actually start on Monday and not Sunday. So it's really important when you're making reservations for tours, for hotels, for flights, you make sure you go on that calendar and you get the
right month, but also make sure it's the right day of the week and date cuz that's where I see some hiccups over the years where people show up to hotels and they don't have the reservation for that month. They have it for the next month, okay? Now, another kind of similar thing I think is important to mention just time, you know, that 17:00. Oh my gosh, military time, 24-hour clocks. Look, when it comes to trains, when it comes to planes, when it comes to like museum hours and shopping hours, it will always be in like that military time, you know, the 24-hour time. So if it says they're open till 17:00, just minus 12 like, "Oh, they're open until 5:00 p.m." And what's nice is when you hang out with
locals, they don't say, "Let's meet at 20:00." They'll say, "Let's meet at 8:00." But it's just more for those official things, They're always using the 24-hour clock. So, just be used to it. You'll catch on really quick. Now, something that I've seen holding travelers back from coming to Europe is they're kind of scared of all the different languages of Europe. Whether you're going to Lithuanians, have to speak Lithuanian, I guess. And if you're going to go to Spain, to speak Spanish. And what is it they speak in Portugal? Portuguese. Or here in the Netherlands, Dutch. A lot of people get scared off going, "Well, I don't speak the language, so I shouldn't go." You do not have to worry about that. And therefore,
in tourism, English is the de facto language here in Europe. So, you do not have to worry about that. So, when you go to museums, they're probably going to have the local language and then an English thing. You're going to buy train tickets at the kiosk. Believe me, press that Great Britain button right there and it'll switch to English and you'll be okay. And that is one of the things that will make life a little easier. Though, I will say, if we're talking about English and imperialism and things like that, um don't forget they don't use the imperial system. They use the metric system here. So, it's meters, liters, these kind of things. So, when you tell them that your car gets 50
miles a gallon or you're you're 6 ft tall, they'll just stare at you and go, "What?" So, 6 ft, 180, that's me. Now, an uncomfortable truth of pretty much everywhere you go in Europe is the fact that finding free public toilets isn't usually a thing. If you want to use a toilet in a restaurant, you've got to be eating there. Or a cafe, you got to get a coffee. If you find public restrooms, a lot of times you have to pay 50 cents or euros, sometimes 2 euros, depending on where you're at. And so, it's always a good idea to have that change there. So, if you're thinking, "Oh, I'll just hop into this restaurant and use their bathroom like we do in the US." Or "Oh, there's a public bathroom, no big deal."
Not always the case. Sometimes it is, but not always. So, that's why I recommend, before you go out for the day, use the restroom. If you're going by, you know, your hotel again, pop in. Or like if you're here at the museum like the Rijksmuseum here in uh Netherlands, use the bathroom at the museums before you go. Cuz finding those public free bathrooms isn't always the case. But what's cool is since they're you have to pay for them, a lot times they're clean. And so, it's not like going to the bathroom in the US where you're like, "Fingers crossed." when you go in there. Now, another thing that throws off American tourists when they come to Europe is just how efficient and effective and extensive
the public transportation system is. Whether you're looking at trams around town or subways, metros, buses, you know, trolleys. I mean, so many different things. The trains going all over the place. You don't have to rent a car. Like in the US, I mean, you literally have to drive to everything. In Europe, you literally never have to drive because the public transportation really goes everywhere. And there's no stigma with it as well cuz I know a lot of people they're like, "But if I take the metro in Paris, I might get robbed. I'm here in Amsterdam, they might get me on the metro." No. No, no, no. Public transportation is significantly, significantly safer here in Europe. Like I take it all the time.
They have night buses and night metros and night trams that'll take you home as well. So, you do have those options. So, don't have that stigma about public transportation like you have in the US. Here, it's something that everybody uses. Like you'll see little kids in the morning by themselves, "Foom!" going off to school on the subway. So, don't feel like you have to taxi or Uber everywhere cuz public transportation, honestly, a lot of times will get you someplace a lot faster than taking a car. Oh, and if you are taking the metro or the subway or the trains anywhere in Europe, one thing I want to tell you, this is where people get really upset with tourists.
It's not just American tourists, it's any tourist. Remember, the escalators, you always stand on the right so people can pass on the left because think about it, you're in a big city. There's people that are getting to work. They're going to get home. "Oh, my wife's having a baby. I got to get there." And so, they're using that public transportation. And if you're blocking it off with your big group of people or your luggage and stuff, that's one way That's one of the things that locals really don't like about tourists. So, have that little hiccup of like, "I'm going to make it easier for the locals and I'll stand on the right so they can go and get up to the metro and get home to their family sooner." Now, I do a lot
of videos on safety in Europe because that's one of the biggest questions people ask me, "Is it safe to go to Amsterdam? Is it safe to go to the Netherlands?" Yes, yes, it is. You'll be fine. And I think that's one thing I want people to know is here in Europe crime isn't about violence. Crime in Europe, when it comes to tourists, is about opportunity. That means if you've got your wallet in your back pocket or you're putting your purse or bag on the back of your seat kind of thing, they're seeing that oh that wallet's sticking out. Oh, that bag's just easy for me to slip off the side and walk away with. Oh, they're leaving their phone on the table and they're not paying attention cuz they're looking at the beautiful view. It's a crimes of
opportunity versus like mugging kind of things. That's not really something you have to worry about. It's not a violent kind of thing. It's about opportunity. So, you want to make sure you're not giving them any opportunities. You're making sure you're zipping up your bag. You're putting yourself in your front pockets. You're not wearing a lot of bling. And also, you're not bringing a lot of stuff because when you have a lot of luggage and things, you become a much easier target. And we've got videos on how they target you and who they're going to go for. Watch that. We'll link it up here below. We'll link it up here down below to help you out. And with that less luggage kind of idea to help
you be safer, it's not just safer. It's going to make your life a lot more convenient because when you're here in Europe, what you have to realize there's a lot less space. There's a lot more people on top of people here versus like in the US or Canada or South America where we have lots of big spaces, big hotel rooms, big houses, big cars. Things are smaller here. So, if you're going to rent a car and you get the full-size SUV, you're not getting an Expedition like in the US that'll hold eight people. You're going to get like a RAV4 that holds five, okay? So, that means you're not going to have as much space for your luggage in the back in the boot, you know, the trunk of the car kind of stuff. So, be aware of that. The
hotel rooms are not going to have a ton of space for your luggage as well. So, if you're coming with a big luggage, you might not have a place to put it. Like if you want to get dressed in the morning, you might have to move your luggage onto your bed so you can walk around the room. Because with those small rooms, you also have to realize is you have to book your rooms by the number of people that are going to be there. You book a double in the US, you can put like, I don't know, six, seven, eight people in there it seems like they're huge. You get a double in Europe, most of time it literally is just two little single beds and that's it, and you don't have a ton of space. So, it's really important that you
factor that in when you're packing to come. Because here's a little secret, you can buy everything you need here in Europe. You can get the toothpaste and contact lenses. They have babies here, you can get diapers. It's okay, parents, you can travel with your kids, no problem. I'm not trying to be condescending, but that's one of the things we do as tourists. We overpack for just in case situations. That's one thing we do as a tourist. We overpack for situations that might happen. So, it's really important before you come, a couple days before you go on your trip, look at the 10-day forecast where you're going to be. Have an idea. Maybe you don't need to bring your winter coat cuz, for example, if I would have been
packing up a couple weeks ago to look, I would have saw that they had a snowstorm here. And now I'm just walking around with this hoodie, and I didn't need to bring my coat because it really warmed up. So, things like that can help you not have as much stuff to bring, which is nice. And going along with the shopping thing, I think you need to know, um shopping isn't everything and all the time in Europe. It's not a 24-hour thing. Heck, it's not even a 12-hour thing. Like, expect shopping from, you know, 10:00 to 5:00, 10:00 to 6:00. That's more of a usual time. Like, you're here in Amsterdam and you want to like buy your souvenirs. Yeah, the souvenir shops seem to be open longer. But if you want to get a new outfit, oh,
they might close at 5:00 or maybe 6:00 when it's like a long day kind of thing. And forget about shopping on Sundays cuz Sundays is the Lord's Day, and that's when you go to the museums, you go to a cafe with friends, but the shops are closed. But you can buy everything you want here, just know it's more limited timing cuz that's where some people get upset. They think, "Oh, well, Sunday's kind of a quiet day. We'll just hit up the mall and or we'll go hit up the shops in the pedestrian zone and grab stuff then." And the shops are closed. And that's why I think it's really important for tourists to know this last little hiccup that American tourists tend to have when they come to Europe,
and that's the idea here in Europe, the customer is not king. If you go to a restaurant, they're not going to fawn all over you trying to get a big tip from you cuz most of the time they're not working off of tips. They get a nice wage and this is just their job and you're not their end-all, be-all kind of thing. And sometimes tourists get really upset with us. Like I'll see tourists say, "I'm paying good money for this. They're going to do what I want. They're going to specialize my order. They're going to do this and that." No, they're not. They're not because they don't have to. If you don't want like you don't like our food, go someplace else
because the customer is not king here. But the thing is, what I love about the service in Europe is that it's very professional. When you go to a restaurant, you're not sure what wine to get or what you should order, they'll tell you what's good and it's not based on the price cuz you thinking, "Oh, well, they're going to tell me to get that €100 dish because they're going to get a bigger tip than that €5 dish." No, they'll be straight-up honest with you. "Actually, that's overpriced. I wouldn't get this. My favorite thing, honestly, if you're looking at it something to eat when you're here at a restaurant in Amsterdam, get the bitterballen, the little hot like fried
balls of meat thing. That's the best thing they got. They're like €5 instead of a €50 stamppot with sausages and all kinds of other things, right? So, you want to kind of think about that cuz the professionalism is there, but they're not going to kiss your rear end to make you happy. So, be ready for that when you go around. So, these are just some things, some hiccups I saw American tourists have when they've come to Europe over the years where I've had people really have like a misunderstanding, which was just a misunderstanding and I want to kind of eliminate those as much as I can. Anyway, what are the other little hiccups you see tourists have when they come to Europe for the first time? Let
us know in the comments below and I wish you a great trip here in Europe no matter where you go, here in Amsterdam to Lithuania, wherever, you're going to have a great time. And I want to say thank you to all of our members on YouTube and our patrons on Patreon who help support us to make honest travel videos like this so we can talk about these little topics like this to help travelers that are going to travel for the first time have a better experience. So, I want to say thank you all of you and if you want to know how you can become a member or a patron, so or a patron on Patreon, go to patreon.com/waltersworld or click join down below on YouTube to find out how you can help support us.
Keep making these free honest travel videos that give the best advice that I can give. Anyway, wish you all the best. I'll say bye from here in Amsterdam.
