The Golden Rules of Senior Travel in Europe
I'm Carol Cram, novelist, podcaster, and travel writer, and founder of Art In Fiction, a curated database of 2600+ novels inspired by the arts. Artsy Traveler contains affiliate links for products and services I personally use and recommend. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read the Disclosure for more information.
I’ve been traveling since I was a child, with my first trip to Europe with my mom in 1970 when we really could tour Europe on $5 a day.
Since that life-changing trip, I’ve returned to Europe dozens of times, first as a backpacker in my late teens, then as a budget traveler with my young family, and in recent years as an older adult who values comfort over bargains.
I learned to prioritize comfort the hard way. A few years ago, I flew Economy from Vancouver to Amsterdam, a nine-hour flight. My husband Gregg, who is very tall, was so cramped that he ended up ill and miserable during our first days in Europe.
The money we saved was a false economy since we ended up losing days of our trip.
As a result, I no longer optimize for cheap and instead plan to enjoy every minute of my travels with as little downtime as possible.
Here are 16 rules I’ve learned for traveling well now that I’ve earned the right to stop roughing it.
Table of Contents
Transportation
1. Book Private Transfers Between Nearby Cities
Hauling suitcases on and off trains and in and out of taxis drains energy and increases stress, two things you want to avoid when traveling.
I recommend booking a private transfer for travel between cities that are two hours or less apart. When you do the math, you often find that the cost of the transfer is not that much more than the cost of a taxi to the train station, the train tickets, and a taxi from the station to the hotel.
I’ve booked private transfers between Amsterdam and The Hague, and The Hague and Brussels, among other destinations, and each one was worth every penny.
Options for private transfers include Day Trip and Welcome Pickups.
You can also Google local transfer companies which can be much more reasonably priced than companies that serve several countries. In the Netherlands, we’ve booked directly with Sneleentaxi on their website.
2. Always Book First Class on Trains
Second class train cars can be very cramped and crowded. Sometimes, you can’t even get a seat, let alone a place for your suitcase. You’re not a backpacker anymore, and you don’t get extra points for standing in the vestibule for hours.
If you’re using a Eurail pass, purchase the first-class version, which gets you wider seats, better food, and room for your luggage.
3. Rent a Car Only for Regional Touring
For years I leased a car for two- and three-month stints, often clocking over 5,000 kilometers in a single trip. That’s a lot of driving, and to be honest, a lot of stress.
Nowadays, I book first-class train tickets in advance for long distances and then rent a car for a week or two to tour a rural area such as the Italian Lakes or Provence.
Short-term rentals are generally reasonably priced, and country hotels tend to have easier parking than accommodations in a city center.
4. Upgrade to First or Business Class
The extra cost of first class or even premium economy may be worth it to ensure a comfortable trip that has you arriving refreshed, smiling, and able to function after a long flight.
Yes, it’s expensive, but these days, traveling is expensive. And let’s face it, airplane seats are getting harder by the day, while legroom is steadily shrinking.
I used to put up with discomfort because I could easily bounce back after a quick nap at my destination. These days, bouncing back takes longer.
I set a limit on what I’m willing to pay for first class. If the cost is too astronomical, I make do with bulkhead seats in Economy. But if I consider the extra cost reasonable, then I upgrade.
Only you know what reasonable is for you, so proceed accordingly.
Tip: Book Economy first, directly with the airline (not through a reseller). Then, closer to your departure date, check the airline’s website for a possible upgrade. In my experience, the upgrade price is usually considerably less than the cost of booking business class outright.
The downside of this strategy is that you risk missing out if business class seats fill up. To mitigate the risk, I always purchase bulkhead seats when I book Economy. That way, I at least know I’ll be semi-comfy if my plan to upgrade doesn’t work out.
Some airlines offer you the chance to bid on an upgrade. I almost always place a bid and even when the airline tells me it’s too low, I usually get the upgrade.
Accommodation
5. Book Aparthotels with Kitchen Facilities
I love aparthotels, which are staffed properties with larger suites and kitchen facilities. When you have a kitchen, you can prepare simple breakfasts and lunches, thereby saving on ridiculously overpriced hotel breakfasts where the volume of food would make a trucker weep.
Also, to minimize stress, I use a booking app such as booking.com to keep all my bookings in one place.
6. Check for Elevators
I’m no longer willing to lug my suitcase up three flights of narrow stairs. Before I book a hotel, I always make sure there is an elevator, unless the hotel is obviously on one level.
If you have mobility issues, check if the place you want to book is equipped with mobility aids such as bars in the bathroom.
Practical Matters
7. Buy an eSIM Before You Leave
Keep the technology simple. Buy an eSIM that covers every country on your itinerary, install it before you leave home, and then activate it when you arrive at your destination.
For the full rundown on how to use an eSIM, check my Airalo eSIM Review.
8. Buy Good Medical Insurance
Buy insurance that covers medical emergencies. Coverage gets more expensive and the fine print gets more important as you age, so read the policy instead of clicking the cheapest box.
Sightseeing
9. Take Private Tours
Getting on and off a huge tour bus, crowding into restaurants with 50 new friends, and trying to listen to commentary when people are chattering gets tiring.
More and more, I opt for private or semi-private tours where I travel in a small minivan with a dedicated guide. You can request a slower pace, ask for longer (or shorter) times at various attractions, and see exactly what you want to see, not what a slick tour brochure thinks you should see.
10. Book Concert and Theater Tickets Well in Advance
Book ahead, especially for concerts in Vienna, Salzburg, London and Paris during high season. The good seats and the famous venues sell out quickly.
11. Book Timed, Early-Entry Museum Tickets
Buy timed tickets in advance and choose the earliest entry slot offered. First thing in the morning is best because the crowds are usually at their thinnest.
12. Stick to the One-Museum-a-Day Rule
Limit yourself to one museum a day, or two only if one of them is small. Check the floor plan ahead of time and map a route that minimizes walking.
Find and use benches wherever possible to give your feet a rest and take a coffee break in the café instead of pushing through.
When I started taking breaks during a museum visit, I enjoyed myself more than when I tried to “do” the whole museum in one two-hour sprint. What’s the rush?
13. Build In a Day of Nothing
After four or five days of touring museums, taking trains, and getting early starts, plan a day with nothing booked. Sleep in, wander, sit in a café and people watch.
Restaurants
14. Arrive When They Open
Europeans eat late. Show up right at opening, generally around 7 pm in France, 7:30 to 8 pm in Italy, and 8:30 to 9 pm in Spain, and you’ll have the place to yourself along with the server’s full attention.
Chat with your server, but don’t overdo it (they don’t work for tips), and keep your voice down. Nobody within two feet should be able to follow your conversation.
15. Order to Share
When I’m traveling with my husband Gregg, we often order one appetizer, one main, and one dessert, and then share. Servers don’t even raise an eyebrow and are happy to bring an extra plate.
One caveat: European portions already run smaller than North American ones, so sharing everything might leave you hungry. Take a look at the plates on neighboring tables before you decide to go the sharing route.
The word for sharing is partager in French, condividere in Italian, and compartir in Spanish.
16. Ask for Non-Alcoholic Options
Non-alcoholic beer and wine have gotten a lot easier to find in Europe than they used to be. If alcohol is off the menu for you, ask your server about non-alcoholic options.
For non-alcoholic beer, ask for bière sans alcool in French, birra analcolica in Italian, and cerveza sin alcohol in Spanish.
Conclusion
As you might have guessed if you’ve read any of my posts on Artsy Traveler, I love to travel and I hope to continue doing so for quite some time. But as I get older, I’m also very aware that traveling smart means prioritizing comfort and safety over saving money.
My wonderful mother always used to tell me to look at difference, not at total cost when deciding whether to upgrade.
Imagine you need to decide between a hotel with an elevator, a four-star rating, excellent reviews, a large room with a kitchen, and a bathroom equipped with mobility aids. That room costs $400/night, while a small room on the fourth floor of a three-star hotel with no elevator costs $300. Your budget is $300. Since you were already set to pay $300, the cost of the $400 room is really only $100.
Is your comfort worth $100? Of course it is!
Do you have tips for traveling as an older adult? Share them in the Comments below.
Keep Traveling Smart with Artsy Traveling
Here are more Travel Smart posts to help you travel with ease.
- 9 Steps to Planning Your European Travel Itinerary
- Finding the Best Accommodation in Europe: My Top Tips
- How to Manage Money in Europe: A Practical Guide
- How to Stay Healthy While Traveling in Europe: Practical Tips
- How to Eat Well in Europe: Dining Tips and Smart Splurges
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Carol M. Cram is the author of five award-winning novels inspired by art and the women who shaped it, the creator of Artsy Traveler, an arts-focused travel blog, the founder of Art In Fiction, a curated database of 2,600+ novels inspired by the arts, and the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast. She lives with her husband, artist Gregg Simpson, on beautiful Bowen Island near Vancouver, BC.