Stay Safe While Travelling In Northern Europe
International Travel Safety Tips
Travelling through Northern Europe and some of the northernmost regions on the globe can be exciting, but a few safety tips in mind can help ensure an enjoyable vacation.
Odds are travellers will likely have a pleasant trip if they exercise common sense. However, it’s always wise to outsmart pickpockets, know a destination, and a few words in a foreign language for those “just-in-case” scenarios. Preparing for what could possibly happen is just as important as renewing passports and ensuring appropriate visas are in hand.
Following are ways to stay safe while touring Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland:
- Travellers should research their destination to familiarize themselves with the country’s customs, what they can and can’t bring into a country, and even know if there is any conflict in the country that may place them in harm’s way. Subsequently, travellers can list the addresses and phone numbers of their home countries’ embassies and consulates in the places they are visiting to take with them. A country’s government website should contain most of this information.
Travelling With Passports and Visas
- Travellers should also make two photocopies of their passports and visas. They should take one copy with them, and leave the other copy with a trusted friend or relative back home. In the event a passport is lost or damaged, a copy with the passport’s number can help expedite a replacement. The extra cautious may even wish to have passport-size photos taken to take with them on the trip.
- Globetrotters should make the effort to learn a few sentences in the language of the country there are visiting. The locals will likely welcome the effort to communicate with them in their native tongue, and knowing how to ask for help in a foreign language can be invaluable if help is actually needed. Guidebooks and websites will have numbers, greetings and sentences travellers can make use of while abroad.
Using Hotel Safety-Deposit Boxes
- Once at their destination, travellers should take advantage of their hotel’s safety-deposit box if they’re going on excursions where it’s not practical to bring valuables along, such as snorkeling or skydiving. Passports, extra cash and any other valuables can be stored in the box, or in their room’s safe, if the room does have a safe. Travellers may want to leave expensive jewelry at home, too.
- Before going out in a foreign location, travellers should bring just enough money with them, and study a map and plan their route. The point is to avoid having to constantly look at a map while out and about. They should carry a copy of their passport and visa with them and leave the originals in a safe or safety-deposit box with other valuables.
- Once out, travellers should be aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them. Men should carry wallets in their front pockets. Women, consider traveling with a bag that has a long strap, so the bag can be carried with the strap across your body — so your bag can’t just be snatched off your shoulder.
How Not to Look Like a Tourist
- Travellers should exercise caution in crowded areas and avoid looking like a tourist. Keep anything of value close to the body. Spare change, for example, should go in the front pocket of a pair of pants, and not be in a loose jacket pocket, which pickpockets can easily access. Looking at maps or guidebooks out in the open and meandering along with a camera around the neck screams “tourist.”
Some advance planning of countries to be visited and common sense can go a long way in ensuring a pleasant and safe journey. Travellers just need to remember to make copies of their travel documents, leaving one with a trusted friend or relative, keep an eye on valuables when traveling, being aware of their surroundings and not going out leaving anything on them open to pickpockets.
The copyright of the article Stay Safe While Travelling In Northern Europe in N Europe Travel is owned by Tina Costanza. Permission to republish Stay Safe While Travelling In Northern Europe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Preparation Means Holiday Ease, Here in Reykjavik.
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