Back from a  long trip to Europe this summer and thought I’d share some travel tips 2024 based on my travels plus other tips from a terrific newsletter I subscribe to, The Points Guy. Totally recommend them.

Tips from The Points Guy (TPG) quoted

Come 2025, Americans and Brits will be required to apply for the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and pay a small fee to visit Europe’s Schengen Area. Although sometimes referred to as a “visa,” this is actually just an online application and preauthorization. It will be much easier and much less expensive to obtain than a traditional travel visa.

ETIAS is set to launch sometime around May 2025, though the launch date has been pushed back many times (most recently from 2024); it could be bumped again. In fact, the region has discussed instituting the program since 2016. For the whole story in TPG, click here.

After halting applications in March 2023, the U.S. Department of State has updated its pilot program to allow Americans to renew passports online.

As of this month, a limited number of applications will open daily at 1 p.m. Eastern time on a first-come, first-served basis.Online passport renewal processing times are the same for those renewed by mail, which is currently six to eight weeks for routine service. Online passport renewal cannot be expedited. For details on passport renewal, click here https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/renew-online.html

Want a company to expedite your passport renewal without breaking the bank? Check out ItsEasy.com.The company arranges last-minute passports and visas. The coolest thing is that you can do it almost completely online (or via the app).TPG wrote”  I wanted to test out the service for the TPG audience since readers often ask about expedited passports. I can tell you that I was one satisfied customer. I did go for expedited service, but I had my new 52-page passport within less than two weeks of mailing off the online application”.

Tips from Yours Truly:

A leading travel writer and colleague of many years wrote this terrific post in her newsletter, More Time to Travel, about Italian customs etiquette. Even if you’ve been to Italy on many occasions, you may find this useful or at the least entertaining: https://www.moretimetotravel.com/decoding-italian-customs-etiquette-tips-for-american-travelers/

She also did another especially good post on how to avoid feeling down after vacation. To check it out, click here.

Going to Spain? Have a look at the Paradores. For many years I stayed in Spain’s paradores, enjoying their locations in historic town centers and their value. What I just discovered on my recent trip is that they now have contemporary hotels, often with striking modern architecture and great facilities.Case in point, one in Malaga, built on a hill overlooking the city and another in Cadiz that’s next to the beach yet in the historic city center, and has several  indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a spa, and large gym. Rates in season for the one in Cadiz started at 300 Euros this month so not cheap ,but not crazy either.

Traveling in the Med and want something light for lunch like a salad in a fast casual place? Not easy to find in Greece, Italy or Spain. My discovery? Carrefour Express is a mini market chain  that has packaged salads that were my “go to” lunch on many days. Carrefour, either in its mini markets or large supermarkets, operates in 40 countries.

If you have connecting flights in the US or overseas, leave at least two hours to connect. With the crowds at airports these days everything takes so much longer. Speaking of connecting flights overseas, bravo to Spain on this score. At Barajas airport in Madrid, there’s a special line for those with urgent connecting flights!

I’m sure you’ve read about overtourism and the hordes of tourists seemingly everywhere. We were in Rome, Sicily, Crete, Andalusia and Madrid this summer and to be sure there were lots of tourists. That being said, some destinations are rising to the occasion and have effective systems to deal with them, so the tourism experience is smoothe under the circumstances. Spain is a good example. On arrival at Barajas Airport in Madrid the line for a taxi was a block and a half long. But with additional personnel in place to manage the line and an effective system, it went surprisingly smoothly; ditto with airport security and museums. Take note Miami!

On the other hand, are you set on going somewhere new to avoid the crowds? Afar magazine, another solid choice for great travel tips, recently asked top travel advisors where they’re quietly sending their clients? Click here to see their top four picks. One of the picks is Puglia where we went a few years ago and I wrote a post on it. To read it, click here.

Thinking of going to Japan? Japan AirLines just announced free domestic flights and generous baggage allowances on those flights. For more information, click here. https://www.euronews.com/travel/2024/09/17/want-to-explore-japan-outside-of-tokyo-this-airline-is-offering-free-domestic-flights

Finally, thought you might like reading about this new trend, longevity tourism. The hoteliers are on to a big thing, though costly to do. Click here.

And from my Associate at KWE Partners who is a discerning traveler, her travel tips 2024 on researching travel plans:

1/There are facebook groups about everything – countries, cities, hotels, etc. all you have to do is search on Facebook groups the name of where you are going and these collaborative groups have so many positive suggestions. For example, recommendations on what to do like the locals or what specific day the new fabulous market is or where to request the room at the hotel to get the best view or avoid elevator noise. 2/ deciding between destinations or hotels, search tiktok or Instagram reels. You can often get a much better “view” of the actual hotel or location and what to do there that will appeal to you and your interests.

For more travel tips, check out my blogpost from last year’s travels which are still very relevant. Click here.

Any other tips dear readers to share?