5. EVERYWHERE: Eurostar ATMs | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Food Drink

5 Tourist Traps To Stay Away From In Europe

Everyone travelling to Europe soon needs to beware these tourist traps while travelling abroad.

3357
5 Tourist Traps To Stay Away From In Europe

In This Article:

Most people want to go to big cities and do what most people do there. However, this article is made especially for those traveling on a budget. Some of the things that you want to do, some of the staple places you want to visit, and even some of the food you want to eat, cost way more than what they're worth. Here are the five biggest tourist traps in the five most popular European tourist destinations.

1. Prague: Trdlo/Trdelnik Desserts

Trdlo is a very delicious dessert sold on the streets in the heart of the city. It's a spiraled puffy cinnamon sugar dough that is sometimes filled with Nutella and soft serve vanilla ice cream. It's delicious and relatively cheap (up to $6) for a middle-class tourist.

Here's the problem: It's not even native to the Czech Republic. And it's heavily overpriced.

The thing about Prague is that everything is super cheap. The difference in currency between Czech Koronas (CZK) and Euros/USD is drastic (around 25 CZK per Euro). A local all-you-can-eat Czech buffet costs less than half as much as this dessert.

Also, the word "trdlo" means "dumb person" in English, yet Google somehow translates trdlo into "boob." So, you're basically being called a dumb boob when you buy this.

2. London: "Authentic" Pubs

Lots of people hit up the pubs in London for an authentic experience. They usually order a couple of brews and the staple, the fish and chips combo. Luckily, I had friends living in London to give me good recommendations on where to shop, eat, and visit. I was advised to not eat at the pubs that advertise fish and chips on their signs because the quality of the food there is not that good. The price just makes it worse.

3. Paris: Restaurants

This city is known for its museums, cathedrals, arts, and the architecture, like the Eiffel Tower. There is also a stereotype about locals tending to be hostile towards non-French speaking tourists. From personal experience, there definitely are rude French people.

Unfortunately, this stereotype is discretely justified in the restaurants' menus. Whenever a tourist asks for a menu in English, some Parisian restaurants will post more expensive prices on the English menu than on the French menu.

4. Amsterdam: Marijuana

Other than their notorious Red Light District, Amsterdam is known for its coffee shops, where they sell weed. They've been selling weed in coffee shops for decades now. 20 million people visit Amsterdam per year.

However, the coffee shops are all too mainstream as they are being franchised in multiple locations in the city. There are multiple Bulldogs and Greenhouses all within walking distance from each other. As expected, the prices are higher than premium, since they're all in the heart of the city. Most items on their menus are just spliffs, which contain mostly tobacco. They're not advertised as spliffs and cost just as much, if not more, than what tourists are really trying to order.

5. EVERYWHERE: Eurostar ATMs

If you're an American visiting any city in Europe, you'll find these ATM's almost everywhere. And if you have a regular American debit card, these are your worst enemy. Basically, these ATM's will charge the highest fees to any foreign debit card. Literally, just use any other bank's ATM.

Also, always shake the card reader to make sure no one glued a card skimmer on to it. This is unfortunately common in Europe. I actually removed a card skimmer in Spain because I did this. If you have learned anything from this article, remember this tip.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Gilmore Girls
Hypable

In honor of Mother’s Day, I have been thinking of all the things my mom does for my family and me. Although I couldn’t write nearly all of them, here are a few things that moms do for us.

They find that shirt that’s right in front of you, but just you can’t seem to find.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons To Thank Your Best Friend

Take the time to thank that one friend in your life you will never let go of.

5003
Thank You on wooden blocks

1. Thank you for being the one I can always count on to be honest.

A true friend will tell you if the shirt is ugly, or at least ask to borrow it and "accidentally" burn it.

2. Thank you for accepting me for who I am.

A best friend will love you regardless of the stale french fries you left on the floor of your car, or when you had lice in 8th grade and no one wanted to talk to you.

Keep Reading...Show less
sick student
StableDiffusion

Everybody gets sick once in a while, but getting sick while in college is the absolute worst. You're away from home and your mom who can take care of you and all you really want to do is just be in your own bed. You feel like you will have never-ending classwork to catch up on if you miss class, so you end up going sick and then it just takes longer to get better. Being sick in college is really tough and definitely not a fun experience. Here are the 15 stages that everyone ends up going through when they are sick at college.

Keep Reading...Show less
kid
Janko Ferlic
Do as I say, not as I do.

Your eyes widen in horror as you stare at your phone. Beads of sweat begin to saturate your palm as your fingers tremble in fear. The illuminated screen reads, "Missed Call: Mom."

Growing up with strict parents, you learn that a few things go unsaid. Manners are everything. Never talk back. Do as you're told without question. Most importantly, you develop a system and catch on to these quirks that strict parents have so that you can play their game and do what you want.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends
tv.com

"Friends" maybe didn’t have everything right or realistic all the time, but they did have enough episodes to create countless reaction GIFs and enough awesomeness to create, well, the legacy they did. Something else that is timeless, a little rough, but memorable? Living away from the comforts of home. Whether you have an apartment, a dorm, your first house, or some sort of residence that is not the house you grew up in, I’m sure you can relate to most of these!

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments