quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:

quote:

Originally posted by OTD:
I an European, live in Europe and know the regions you will visit. A copy of your passpot is useless. You will only need the passport when you entering Europe or for car rentals, for anything else ID is sufficient. For other cases you will provide the original. Copies of the passport will not be accepted by any official institition.
If you want to go low profile wear black or gray pants, a plain light polo or shirt and gark shoes. That is what middle aged men are wearing in that region. Shorts are considered to be for boys or tourists. So are traveller/outdoor pants.
You ill need about € 100 a day. Dont use bills over € 50. Pay small things cash with coins from your front pocket and keep the bills and ID in a purse of your other front pocket and all other belongings in a messanger bag or backpack.

I was thinking of copies of our passports in case our passports were stolen, and at least we would have the information in detail. No shorts, interesting. A few people have recommended shorts that are knee length. Thanks for you comments, it is always good to have insight from someone living there.

You should always make copies of your passport and credit cards both in paper and on your phone. Aside from airports/hotels/rental cars, keep your passport secured and bring the copy when you're out and about. If there's an issue, the cops will ask for your hotel, if it's serious, they'll go with you to the hotel to retrieve it. You're going to be in-country for such a short amount of time, don't sweat it too much.

As for appearances and dress, formalities are very important, to many American's, these things have been forgotten and come across as trivial, not so in Europe. Saying hello and goodbye, even if you're entering/leaving a shop, in the local language will go a long ways, it's a big deal, particularly the three countries you're visiting. Shorts are worn usually when it's crazy hot or, playing some sport/activity, otherwise, men, particularly older men are wearing pants and, shirts which almost always collared. The general rule of thumb is don't look like a soup sandwich, if you look put together, you'll be fine; kids and teenagers can get away with wearing short/joggers/tshirts. If visiting a church, shorts need to be below the knee (capris) and shoulders covered. If you have/need to wear sandals, closed-toe variety will get you in the door for most places, open-toe sandals like Teva/Chacos will mark you as a slob/hippie, nobody wants to see your neglected toe-nails.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark in Michigan:
Americans are easily by the white 'trainers' we tend to wear. So invest in black gym shoes for your family.

I was planning on wearing tan boat shoes. I have a pair that are a chukka style and regular boat shoes, both are fairly new.

Don't carry a wallet at all. Carry one credit card, your DL, and just the cash you will need for the day in one front pocket and coins in your other front pocket. Your passport should stay on the ship.

For pictures, instead of using a cell phone, get a small camera that will fit in your pocket. I have a Nikon coolpix with a zoom lens that takes awesome pictues even inside with the flash turned off which may be required in some museums and churches. You will get better pictures, you won't be flashing an expensive cell phone around, and if lost/stolen you won't be out much more the the day's pictues. I downloaded the pictures to my laptop each night.

Don't stress the wardrobe. You’re a tourist and no matter how you dress you will still be a tourist and everyone will know you’re a tourist except for the other tourists. We spent a week in Rome and there were more people wearing jeans, shorts, and sneakers then not. It became a running joke with my wife and I as we did not bring any of those items. You will be doing day excursions from the ship so you might as well be comfortable. Wear quality footwear that you can walk in. I wear boat shoes as my daily footwear and they are not what you want to wear all day if you are going to be doing a lot of walking.