Thou Shalt Not Overpay

Top shopping tips for a trip to Europe to help you bring home the best gifts and souvenirs from your European travels at the best price

  Check out American prices on items you think you may want to buy before you leave home. This way, you'll know whether you're getting a bargain by buying it abroad.

The main shopping drag in any city offers some of the best window shopping, but be prepared to drop a huge chunk of change if you want to purchase anything. You may find the same item in another shop on a lower-rent street for less.

Shop in street markets for the best prices, most open haggling, and most fun. The quality of the merchandise is iffier than that of shops, but you can get great deals on everything from designer knockoffs to bootleg tapes.

Shop around. (I know; I get paid to come up with brilliant stuff like that.) Prices vary dramatically from shop to shop, stall to market stall, and they usually vary inversely with their distance from any major tourist sight. Let the store owners know you're comparing prices, and the asking rate may go down on the spot.

Designer clothing is not any cheaper in Paris or Florence boutiques than it is in Big City, USA. There are bargain-basement fashion outlets in European fashion capitals, of course, but they usually offer no better deals than you'll find in the United States. Of course, there's always that cachet of having bought those shoes in Florence or that dress in Paris.

Shop selectively. Don't gobble up every trinket you see. Go for the items that truly bring out a country's spirit, style, or culture. It may be a beautiful museum book, chunky Irish sweater, a compilation CD of the greatest (local) pop hits of the year (personal favorite), or a kitschy British Beefeater guard doll to hang on the Christmas tree. Just make sure it's memorable to you.

Everything becomes cheaper as you move south. You could buy twice as much in Greece as you could in Paris or Oslo for the same money.

Make sure any videotapes you purchase are in U.S. format, because you can't view European tapes on a U.S. machine (most videos at tourist sights are available in many formats).

If it's at all expected in a given situation, always haggle (more on that on the "How to Bargain" page).

On most escorted tours, the guide will take or direct you to shops that offer "special prices" to people on your tour. Ninety percent of the time, the shop is feeding the guide a kickback. (Guides are so scandalously underpaid, this is often the only way they can scrape by.) Usually, the store passes this percentage along to you by jacking up the prices. Although some guides do give honest recommendations, and even some of those kickback arrangements don't adversely affect you via markups, it's impossible to know when a recommendation is on the level. I'd take the cynical route and ignore any guides' suggestions.

Scrutinize labels, kick the proverbial tires, and otherwise show that (or look like) you know what you're doing. Shopkeepers who see a savvy customer are less likely to try to pull the wool over your eyes—even when you're trying on sweaters.

Dress respectably, but not too well. You want merchants to know you're a paying customer and not tourist riffraff who's just window shopping, but you don't want to give them the idea that you're loaded. Prices will go up on the spot if they think you're capable of paying them, especially in markets but even in stores.

Know the VAT refund minimum for the country you're in, and if your budget and plans are going to allow you to spend near or over that amount, try to do all your shopping in one store so you can get that refund—it's like getting an automatic 20% (or so) discount.

Count your change, and make sure the receipt is complete and accurate. Don't be rude about it, but make sure you haven't gotten a rotten shopkeeper who's trying to scam or shortchange you.

Always get a reciept. The receipt is important because you will need it for any VAT refund, plus in some countries, you must carry your receipts for any purchase (even a cup of coffee) away from the store with you (it has to do with the local government trying to foil tax cheats, but the laws affect you as well).

Ship breakables home. It may cost a bit more, but the longer you keep your more fragile purchases with you bouncing down the road of your trip, the greater the chances that your Waterford crystal will end up Waterford shards.

You can save yourself time and hassle should something go wrong with a purchase being shipped home if you snap a photo of your purchases before they're wrapped up. This photo makes excellent proof of purchase when it comes to insurance claims. If you find that you're running out of room in your luggage, ship those fragile items home first, then mail home your personal stuff you don't need, like dirty laundry, rather than entrusting all your purchases to the postal system.

And finally, perhaps most important, shop for souvenirs, not tchotchkies. Bring home real mementoes of your trip and of the destination, not ready-made and mass-produced memories. Shop flea markets and the local equivalent of a K-Mart and take home some of those everyday objects that you only find in their home countries.

Get a "Beware the Dog" sign in French, or pop into an Italian hardware store to pick up one of those lopsided hourglass-shaped carafes they use to serve table wine in osterie. That way, instead of going in a shoebox or display case once you get home, your souvenirs become part of your daily routine, and every time you open the back gate or have wine with dinner, you have a reminder of that great European vacation.

I'm a Size WHAT?!

European clothing sizes measures and shoe sizes and how to convert American clothes sizes to European and British ones

The United States, Britain, and Continental Europe all use different systems for measurements to make sure, no matter who we are, nothing will quite fit properly.

As anyone who's ever carried more than the allowed four items into a dressing room knows, clothing size is rather more subjective than it should be (especially for women), and sizes vary between manufacturers and from store to store.

Basically: you gotta try it on no matter what. But at least the following charts will give you a ballpark size to take off the rack and start with.

Our friend the metric system

Converting between American and European measurements: miles and kilometers, feet and meters, pounds and kilos, gallons and liters, Farenheit and Celsius (plus a few others)

Remember back in the 1970s when we were all going to go on the metric system? What ever happened to that? Oh, yes: Reagan.

Whether you need to figure out how far 150km is in miles (93), how many centimeters in a foot-long hot dog (30cm), how to order a half a pound of cheese for your picnic (225 grams), or just how ridiculously hot 40° Celsius is so you can complain in your postcards home (105° F), here are the answers.

If you're wondering what your size 12 American body is to that little black dress in a Paris boutique (now don't faint, but here you're a size 42), or whether your size 10 feet need a 35 or a 55 in a handcrafted Italian leather shoe (neither; you’re a 44), that's all on a different page of clothing sizes.

You say kiLOMeter, I say KILometer

At least these are easy enough to do in your head. A kilometer (km) is equal to 0.62 miles, and a mile is 1.61 km.

OK so it's not THAT easy. Still, doing a rough calc in your head isn't that hard. For kilometers to miles, just break it into two bits: 50% plus 10% (which totals 60%, or 0.60), then round up a smidge for that extra 2% (the 0.02).

That sounds more complicated than it is: The road signs says Siena is 80 km away. OK, so to get 50% you just cut that in half, which is 40. Tuck that away in a crevice of your cerebellum for a moment.

Now take 10% of the original 80—which is 8—then add that to the 40 and you get 48. Round up "a smidge" to cover that extra 2% and you get 50. That means 80 km is roughly 50 miles (actually, it's 49.6, so close enough). Here, I'll make it easy for you with the table up to the right.

Frankly, you'll rarely ever need to convert the other way, unless you want to say to someone in Europe something along the lines of "I live 20 miles outside of Boston," only put it in kilometers terms so he understands where your suburb is. No biggie. Ten miles is about 16 kilometers, so tell him you live 32 km from Boston. (This is assuming, of course, he has more than a vague sense of where Boston is in the first place.) That cheat sheet is also above to the right.

The yardstick by which meters are measured

Thank heavens for the yardstick. You can point with it, you can rap people in the knuckles with it, you can even measure stuff with it, so long as the stuff in question is less than three feet long.

And it's also about one meter long, so just picture a yardstick and you know what a meter looks like. Well, roughly.

Actually, 1 meter is 3.3 feet—a bit longer than a yard. So 10 meters is equal to 33 feet, or 11 yards, which is enough for a first down (only they play soccer in Europe, so that little joke wouldn't work). 100 meters is 330 feet (or 110 yards), 1,000 meters is 3,300 feet (or 1,100 yards). One thousand meters is also 1 kilometer, which is 0.62 miles; see above.

Give a man an inch, he'll take about two and half centimeters

I can't think of a time when I've had to use inches or centimeters in any discussion in Europe, much less needed to convert between the two, but just to be thorough:

One inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters (make it two and a half). O

ne cm is 0.4 inches. That means 12 inches is 30.48 cm (just pretend it's 30). We call that "a foot," but Europeans don’t have a separate word for something of that length; they'd just say "30 centimeters" or maybe "a third of a meter."

Then again, since they don’t eat hot dogs (just würstel), I guess they don't need a term for foot-long.

A gram of prevention is worth a kilo of cure

Unlike the U.S., where only cocaine ever comes in kilos, in Europe you'll be ordering lots of (perfectly legal) things by the "key."

Actually, when it comes to food you'll more frequently order by the gram, because who needs 2.2 pounds (1 kilo) of anything?

Conveniently enough, 100 grams is just about the perfect amount, per person, of cheese, salamis and other cured meats, fruit, or whatever else you desire in putting together a picnic. Heck, it's so perfect the Italians even have a special term for 100 grams: un etto.

No, you don't order a "112.5-grammer" at McDonald's in Europe; they know what a "Quarter Pounder" is. However, if I catch any of you giving into temptation and ducking into that McDonald's while you're in Europe, so help me I'll verbally thrash you to within an inch...er, 2.54 centimeters...of your greasy fries-addicted life.

Actually, this point was brought up by a greengrocer arrested in Britain a few years ago when jolly old England finally decided to crack down and force feed the metric system to its people. The bloke was still selling his bananas by the pound, not the kilo, at a local market so he was hauled off and fined.

The jovial fellow became something of a minor cause cèlèbre, the "Metric Martyr," and was fond of pointing out the hypocrisy that they would persecute a small fry like him when McDonald's was left to flagrantly flout the new laws by refusing to rename the Quarter Pounder.

Wine is not sold by the quart

Actually, it kinda is—sold by the quart, that is.

One liter equals about a quarter of a gallon (i.e. a quart). Not that you'll catch any Italian or Frenchman using such a barbarous term. No, they drink wine by the liter over there, that you very much—which may explain why they're so happy much of the time.

OK, so bottles of wine are actually usually 0.75 liters, not full liters, but let's not quibble.

If that's too much vino for your blood, you can always order table wine by the half-liter (about four glasses-worth, called un demi in French and mezzo litro in Italian) or quarter-liter (two glasses; un quart in French, un quartino in Italian).

You give me fever

Tell a doc in Italy that you're running a fever of 102°, and he won't believe you—because 102° Celsius is equivalent to 216° Farenheit, which means your brain would be fried faster than that egg in the old "...this is your brain on drugs" commercial.

And if the local news reports that tomorrow's temperature will be around 32°, that's means it'll shorts and T-shirt weather, not down parka time—32° degrees Celsius is 90° Farenheit.

The bad news: there is no simple formula to convert Celsius to Farenheit and back. There is a formula, of course, but it ain't the sort of thing you'd want to do in your head. Take the Celsius amount, multiply it by 1.8, then add 32. See, wasn't that easy?

If math is one of the things you're taking a vacation from, the chart on the right can help you ballpark things.

My Buddy Went to Europe and All I Got...

Europe's Top Gifts, Mementos, and Kitchy Doo-Dads and Where To Get Them

The following list points out some of the top buys in Europe (items on which a country really shines are in bold). Because taste in shopping varies, I've included all the sorts of special-to-that-country merchandise. If you want my advice on what to buy, though, stick with the hand-crafted and the unique.

Now "hand-crafted" can apply as much to a fine wine, hand-tatted lace, or crystalware as to a Bavarian carved wood Nutcracker, Irish wool sweater, or painted Italian ceramic plate—so long as it's something you couldn't find anywhere else and something that to you helps define the local culture in some way or remember your trip.

If you have the money, Europe's a great source for art, antiques, and high fashion. The rest of us can have fun haggling for semi-antiques and leather jackets at street markets.

Austria

  Antiques (especially 19th-century Biedermeir); gold, silver, and enamel jewelry; petit point embroidery; porcelain (Wiener Augarten); wool products (Loden).

Czech Republic

  Bohemian crystal, antiquarian books and prints, antiques, handicrafts, jewelry, Soviet-era kitschy trinkets (watches and so on with the hammer and sickle).

England

Antiques (Chippendale), aromatherapy (The Body Shop is British), fine ceramics (Wedgwood, Spode, bone china), Royal Family memorabilia, raincoats (Barbour, Burberrys), "tapestry" (needlepoint kits), tweeds.

France

Antiques, cosmetics, crystal and glass (Baccarat, Lalique, Saint-Louis), Faience ceramics, fine foods (pâtés, truffles, Dijon mustard), Hermés scarves and ties, high fashion, lace, lingerie, perfume, wine and champagne.  

Germany

Beer steins, cutlery (WMF), handicrafts and wood carving (cuckoo clocks, nutcracker soldiers, toys).

Greece

Antiques, ceramics and cookware, crafts, embroidered clothing (vests, blouses), jewelry (especially silver), leather (more sturdy products, like bags and sandals, than supple items like clothing), flokati woven wool rugs.

Ireland

Crafts, hand-knit sweaters (especially from the Aran Islands), lace, linen, recordings of traditional Irish music, Waterford crystal, woolens and tweeds (especially from Donegal)

Italy

Antiques, art, ceramics (folk and fine; from Faenza near Bologna, Deruta and Gubbio in Umbria, Vietri sul Mare on the Amalfi Coast, Caltagirone in Sicily, Grottaglie in Apulia), glass (Venice), fashion (Milan, Florence), industrial design (coffeepots, lamps, and so on), jewelry (gold and silver), lace (Venice—well, Burano, technically), leather (Florence), religious objects (Rome), shoes.  

Netherlands

  Antiques, cheese, chocolates, crystal (from Leerdam or Maastricht), Delftware ceramics, diamonds, flower bulbs (check with U.S. customs about which kinds you can take home), pewter (from Tiel).

Scotland

  Plaids and tartans, Scotch (the whisky, not the tape), sheepskins, silver jewelry, tweeds, wool sweaters.

Spain

  Ceramics and tiles, lace, leather (Barcelona), sherry.

This Little Tourist Went to Market...

Some of Europe's top markets and areas for street vendors

For the most fun shopping anywhere in Europe, head to an outdoor market. It may be the fruit and vegetable market open each morning, the daily leather market stalls of Florence, the weekly antique market of London's Portobello Road, Madrid's El Rastro flea market, or the monthly antiques extravaganza in Arezzo. Even non-shoppers will have fun exploring street markets. Shoppers will find great bargains.

Market stalls are where you'll find the most colorful characters (among merchants and shoppers alike), the best deals, the widest variety of goods (from fine art to used plumbing supplies), and the best chances to haggle.

Markets are also where you'll find the most attempts to fleece the unsuspecting tourist, the most cunningly disguised Gucci or Hermés knockoffs (although, if all you want to buy is an imitation, this is perfect), and the potentially shoddiest merchandise.

Aside from commerce, markets are also great for taking pictures, soaking up local character, decompressing from too many museums, and getting cleaned out by pickpockets in the crowd. Have fun; be careful.

One of the odd synchronicities of the Universe is that flea markets are actually called "flea" markets in many different languages: marché aux puces in France, mercato dei pulci in Italy. (Except British English, of course, where they become "boot sales.")

Be that as it may, here are some of the top markets—flea and otherwise—in Europe.

  Portobello Road, London - The grandaddy of British antiques markets (though there's a little bit of everything), vast and bustling and in a choice neighborhood. The deals aren't what they once were—this has become largely for serious buyers of antiques, not folks looking to pick up a battered "old-ish" stick of furnishings—but there's still lots in there for the casual browser. The shops are there all week; the stalls fill the streets Saturdays only. (» More on London markets...)

  Porta Portese, Rome - Even if you buy nothing, this giant flea market in Rome's Trastevre district is a carnival of sights, sounds (largely Euro-pop from stalls selling knock-off CDs), and smells (don't worry, mostly of roasting corn). This truly is the Big Mamma of Roman flea markets. Not to be missed. Sunday mornings only. (» More on Rome markets...)

  El Rastro, Madrid - Madrid's massive fleamarket and junk sale fills the Ribera de Curtidores and its surrounding neighborhood with stalls and tables and even just blankets spread with wares every Sunday morning. (» More on Madrid markets...)

  Le Marché aux Puces de Clingnancourt, Paris  

- Paris's major outdoor market for old clothing, kick-knacks, semi-antiques, bootleg CDs, paintings, used car parts, yellowing comic books, and just a little bit of everything else you can imagine takes place out in the 17eme district. Closed Sunday. (» More on Paris markets...)

San Lorenzo Leather Market, Florence  

- Daily except Sundays, the streets around San Lorenzo church and the Mercato Central (indoor food market) are lined with stalls hawking leather jackets, wallets, purses, and other products (as well as the usual silyl T-Shirts and other touristy souvenirs). (» More on the San Lroenzo market...)

The Fine Art of Haggling

Bargaining in markets and stores is a part of everyday travel life, and learning how to haggle is as important as learning a few basic phrases in the local lingo

Bargaining for spices in the souk of Aswan, Egypt.

Say what you want about soccer, bargaining is truly the most popular non-contact sport around the world. Unfortunately, the art of haggling is something most Americans—coming from our world of strightforward price tags and discount coupons—are uncomfortable with at best, and often try to avoid entirely.

This is a shame, as bargaining—in street markets and shops alike—is one of the easiest (certinaly one of the most visceral) ways at your disposal to interact with the locals, and, when done properly, helps earn you respect and serious street cred. In fact, in most countries, not haggling is considered rather rude, a sign of econmic arrogance, or even a downright insult.

When to Haggle

As you probably know, don't bother bargaining in North America except at the very low end of the economic spectrum (flea markets, yard sales) and, for some reason, the very high end (houses, cars). Anywhere in Latin America, Africa, or Asia, haggling is expected everywhere but in the most Western-style shops. (Though you don't really bargain over food.)

When it comes to Europe, definitely haggle in any street market —as I said before, in most it's insulting (not to mention economically unsound) not to. When it comes to shops, bargaining may not be appropriate and, at any rate, is always more low-key. Bargain harder as you move south in Europe. Shops in London never haggle (and will be offended if you try). Those in Greece often do. Read your guidebooks to find out which countries honor this ancient art in the shops as well as on the streets.

How to Haggle

  Take your time throughout the haggling process. Get to know the shopkeeper. Especially in Greece, Turkey, and as you get closer to the Middle East or North Africa where haggling is a high art, you may spend an hour with the owner on big items, drinking tea, showing each other pictures of the family, getting friendly. This is all part of the ritual. Hurried hagglers overpay and may truly offend the merchant.

Marketplaces are bastions of bargaining, havens for hagglers, and here's how to do it:

1. Never go to a market or souk on your first day or two in country if you can avoid it. Jet lag will leave you too tired to bargain properly and too cranky to deal with the incessant hustle of the marketplace with the necessary good humor.
2. When you see the trinket or craft item of your dreams, never look all that interested. It's merely something that caught your eye briefly.
3. Determine what the item is worth to you, and don't let the bargaining end up much above this figure.
4. Let the stall owner make the first offer. He will insist over and over "How much do you want to pay?" Wait him out and politely keep angling for his first asking price. Once he says it, look shocked.
5. Counteroffer with at least half as much (even less if his price seems outrageous), at which point he will act extremely offended. Don't be fooled or frightened away no matter what his reaction. It's all in the unwritten script, and being horribly insulted by your paltry offer is part of his role. He will grumble and complain and look like he's mad if you end up getting to the right price, but that's how he's supposed to act. Trust me, he won't sell you an item for less than he's willing to get for it. He's the pro; if anyone's going to get a raw deal, it'll be you if you don't bargain stridently. Any price he ends up agreeing upon is fine with him, no matter how wounded he acts.
6. Now begins the back and forth, a ping-pong match of prices that draws closer to some median as you go. This median depends on the place, the merchant, and the item. The thing may only be worth as little as 25% or as high as 75% of his original asking price. This back and forth is a way to feel each other out and decide where the price should be. It's supply and demand on a person-to-person basis. At the beginning, however much he comes down in price, you go up by, at most, half that much. For example, if he knocks off 20 euros, you add 10 euros to your next counteroffer.
7. Consider each counteroffer you make theatrically and carefully. Re-examine the item as you ponder. Find flaws in it, maybe the price will come down (don't harp on this one or you will eventually insult the merchant, plus co-opt your own position; if it's so shoddy, why would you want it?). The higher you're forced to go, the less enthused you should appear.
8. Play good cop/bad cop. Your companion who's standing next to you has the job of appearing completely uninterested in the item and trying increasingly to drag you away. She's tired and wants to leave, or thinks the thing is outrageously overpriced, or doesn't like it. If you're at the stall alone, make up a spouse back at the hotel and invoke him or her as the reason you can't spend too much.
9. If you truly can't budge the merchant quite as low as you want, try walking away. Don't do it until you're getting close to the right price, and do it slowly so he has time to call you back with a better offer! This offer will usually be the right price (or at least his final offer), and the haggle is over. Sometimes this strategy backfires, and he'll let you leave. If you truly still want the item, swing by the stall later on, after having comparison-shopped (whether you did or not). Appear only marginally still interested, and drop your offer down from the last price you were offering (say to two-thirds of the offer) to prove you'll only take it now if it's a true bargain. Often, the shopkeeper will spit out a figure closer to the original median you two were working toward, and that's it. The deal's sealed.
10. Once you agree on a price, you must buy the thing. If you can't get the merchant down to a fair price, don't buy it. But if he comes down to your asking price, you are honor-bound to purchase the item. Only pay what you're willing to pay (but be willing to pay fairly; don't expect a leather jacket for $10).
    

Getting the VAT Back

How to get the VAT (European taxes) on your souvenir purchases refunded

Look for the "Tax Free Shopping for Tourists" sign in stores and the process of getting the VAT tax refunded will be much simpler and smoother.

OK, first the bad news. Unlike in America, where sales tax is (mostly) a state-by-state phenomenon that gets added on at the cash register, in Europe

.

That is nice, in that there's no math to do in your head, but it's awful for two reasons. One is that the tax rate—universally called VAT (for "Value Added Tax") though each country also has its own acronym—tends to be anywhere from 4% to 33% . (The E.U. is supposed to eventually settle on a common rate of around 18%, but it's already years past the original implementation date of that plan.)

The other bummer is that you end up paying this VAT automatically, even though, as a tourist, you are not obligated to pay the VAT .

Now the good news. Since non-E.U. residents technically do not owe VAT, a system has been set up to refund these ill-gotten taxes to you. Now for some more bad news, the refund system doesn't kick in it unless you drop a big chunk of change all at once in one store.

This amount ranges from as low as £30 ($50) in the U.K and $80 in Belgium to €154.94 ($200) in Italy and €175.01 ($230) in France (and it's always the amount before taxes are counted).

The actual amounts in each country—as well as lots of VAT shopping advice—are listed at the website of Global Refund (www.globalrefund.com). There also lots of good, straightforward advice (specific to Italy, but appicable to many countries) on the English-language pages of the Italian Customs Bureau site (www.agenziadogane.it)

Getting that refund

Getting the VAT refunded involves telling the store clerk you're going to be asking for the VAT back (they'll give you receipts and forms to carry with you) then filling out more forms at the airport.

Note that you redeem the receipts when you are getting ready to leave the last E.U. country on your itinerary (in this case, "E.U. country" means all of Western Europe except Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland; and all of Eastern Europe minus Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey—the latter three are up for membership). That means bring all your receipts for every E.U. country to the airport from which you depart; so if you're flying home from Paris, you can take your Italian, German, and French receipts to the customs agent at Charles de Gaulle airport.

Before you even check in for your flight, you must visit the local Customs office at the airport with the receipts and the items you purchased—this is in case the officer wishes to inspect your purchases (which rarely happens). The Customs agent will stamp your receipt and give you further directions—usually, after going through check in and security, you head to another VAT refund desk inside the airport and deal with more paperwork there.

In some cases, they give you a refund on the spot. More often, the stamped receipt is sent back to the store and your reimbursement is credited against your credit card or sent to you by check. Either, way, it can take forever. The longest I've ever waited was 18 months for a few bucks back from some Irish Sweaters.

There are two ways around all this effort. Many shops are now part of the "Tax Free Shopping" network (look for a sticker in the store window). These shops issue a check along with your invoice, which, after you have the invoice stamped at customs, you can redeem for cash directly at the Tax Free booth in the airport (usually near customs or the duty-free shop), or you can mail it back to the store in the envelope provided within 60 days for your refund. In some cases, the store takes care of all the hard work—you fill out the form on the spot and they mail it back, then reimburse your credit card.

You can also often avoid the VAT by having your purchases shipped directly from the store, but this can get extremely pricey.

Note that none of this has to do with Duty Free Stores at the airport or Duty Free shopping . For the scoop on Duty Free, click here. It also has nothing to do with U.S. Customs and how much you can bring back home without paying a duty. For intel on that issue, click here.