Europe Travel Essentials

We have lived in Europe, with Italy being our home, for almost three years now and in that time we have traveled to 24 countries and counting plus countless cities and towns across Italy. There are a few things that I would consider “Europe necessities” in terms of traveling that I thought I would list here to help you out while planning your next trip abroad. 

Charger Blocks

First and foremost, you’re going to want to make sure you have the right plug adapters. Something like this is nice because it is an “all in one” and has USA/AUS, UK, and EU adapters built into the same adapter. It’s also nice that it has USB plug ins so you can plug in a USB/USB-C cord and an actual plug. Something like this is nice if you’re wanting to plug in a curling iron or straightener (rule of thumb: if it has a heating element or a motor, i.e. a blow dryer, a simple plug adapter isn’t going to cut it). For heat or motors your need an actual transformer box, not just an adapter. Worst comes to worst, I’ve learned you’re always going to be able to find adapters (albeit overpriced) in the airport or at markets wherever you are visiting. We now have a pouch of all our extra adapters that we keep with our luggage and when we pack for trips outside of the EU, we can just grab and go from there.

If you travel a lot, and you know you like having things like a blow dryer or straightener, it may be worth it to buy a travel version of these to take on trips. I got an EU plug blow dryer brush and straightener to take on trips versus worrying about voltage converters and ruining US spec devices (RIP to the Nespresso machines I killed when we first moved into our apartment and I didn’t know any better).

International Driving Permit

Many rental companies, depending on what country you are trying to rent a car in, will not rent to you with your home country’s driver’s license alone (for us, this is USA). The International Driving Permit, or IDP, is a document that is recognized by over 150 countries and required as a second document by many in order to rent and drive a car. You can read more about it here. We got ours online but I know many people have gotten theirs in person through AAA in the States. It’s really easy to get - you just fill out the application, pay the fee, and you’re good to go. We haven’t been asked for it as often as we thought we would be, but it’s better to have it than to not.

Visas

Let’s talk visas. In the last year, new visa requirements have been introduced and/or discussed for visitors to both the UK and the EU.

UK visa requirements (Electronic Travel Authorizations) are already in place and can be found here.

Here is some general info from the website about ETAs: The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is a new entry requirement for individuals traveling to the UK who do not need a visa for short stays. It is a digital permission that allows eligible travelers to enter the UK for up to six months for tourism, family visits, or business, or up to three months for short-term study under certain conditions. Individuals who do not require a visa to visit the UK (such as nationals from certain visa-exempt countries) will need an ETA…Applications for an ETA can be made online. You will need to provide personal information, passport details, travel plans, and answer a set of security and suitability questions. Payment of a fee is also required during the application process. Most ETA applications are processed quickly, with decisions made within three working days. In some cases, it may take longer. Once granted, an ETA is valid for multiple entries over a period of up to two years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.

EU ETIAS requirements are not currently active. According to the website, they will begin in the last quarter of 2026. You can find all those details here.

Basically, you just need to go online before your trip and fill out an online form, pay a fee, and make sure everything is approved and squared away before your trip. It’s just an extra step and isn’t like applying for a visa to move to a country or applying for your passport that takes months and months. It should be quick and easy!

E-Sims

Next up: electronic sims for your phone. Your international data plans through your US or at-home cell carrier is likely going to be pretty pricey to use the entire time you’re traveling abroad. We have used e-sims several times while traveling in countries where our Vodafone plan (our Italian phone provider) doesn’t provide the coverage we need.

For example, when we went to Montenegro, a country not in the EU, our data plan didn’t extend coverage so we were without data as soon as we crossed the border from Croatia to Montenegro.

Luckily, there are great companies like Holafly and Airalo where you can get an electronic SIM card for your phone for almost any country. Every time we have needed them, we’ve found it to be incredibly affordable for unlimited data. You can also almost always find a discount code from your favorite travel influencers. The apps all provide easy instructions for how to install the sim on either iPhone or android phones. Tip: make sure to download the app and e-sim for whatever company you decide to use (i.e. download the Holafly app) before you leave home or before you leave the airport wi-fi so you aren’t stuck trying to download things using your cell provider and potentially expensive roaming data.