Is this only for first-time visitors to Europe?

No. It's useful for first-time visitors and for experienced travellers who want to avoid the small logistical and cultural mistakes that are easy to miss.

Does this cover every European country?

It's a continent-wide practical guide. The principles apply broadly, but individual rules, prices and customs vary by country — and the book flags where that matters.

Is this a sightseeing guide?

No. It's specifically about the financial traps, cultural blind spots and local logistics that conventional travel guides gloss over. No museum rankings.

The 2026 Europe travel guide you didn't know you needed

34 Mistakes
You're About to
Make in Europe

The financial traps, cultural blind spots, and local logistics most travel guides won't tell you about.

Europe is great. The bread is life-changing, the train views are beautiful, and everything looks like a movie set.

But beyond the postcard views is a whole collection of tiny rules, traps and annoyances nobody thinks to tell you about.

Get the Ebook

34 mistakes. 34 solutions. One less stressful trip.

2026 Edition

The fine print

Europe has a few rules
nobody tells you about.

You can spend weeks planning the perfect European itinerary and still get blindsided by the €60 train fine.

Or the ATM that secretly converts your money at a terrible rate.
Or the restaurant charge you thought was a scam.
Or the last train of the night that gets cancelled.
Or the “free” snacks you just ate.
Or the flight connection that looked perfectly legal on paper.

The big travel guides are great at telling you where to go.

This book is about everything that happens once you're actually there.

The author

Consider me your cynical friend who's already been through the grit.

I've been living in Europe for 8+ years.

In that time, I've been yelled at by Parisian waiters, ordered coffee in Italy and received milk instead, held my pee for hours because I didn't have a 50-cent coin, and been fined €45 on a half-empty train in Warsaw.

I've made the dumb mistakes.
I've paid the stupid fees.
I've learned the obscure rules.
So you don't have to.

“I made the mistakes so YOU don't have to.”

What's inside

34 mistakes. 9 categories. A lot of money saved.

Money, Banking & Documents

Tipping & Service Fees

Transport & Trains

Food & Dining

Sightseeing & Museums

Accommodation

Safety & Scams

Culture & Local Rhythms

Health & Daily Logistics

The point of it all

A travel guide for the stuff that happens between the itinerary items.

Save Money

Avoid unnecessary exchange fees, tourist markups, inflated tips, unnecessary transport costs, and other small expenses that quietly add up.

Save Time

Know the rules before you're standing at the wrong ticket machine, missing a connection, or searching for a pharmacy at midnight.

Save Your Sanity

Understand the weird little cultural and logistical things that make perfect sense once someone explains them to you.

Every mistake follows the same simple formula

The Mistake→The Reality→The Expert Move

Inside the book

This is what the advice actually looks like.

No 400-page history lessons. No endless itinerary planning. Just the stuff you actually need to know.

The ATM Trick Question

The Validation Trap

The Free Walking Tour

The Last Train

The Legal Connection

This is not a book about which museum has the best oil paintings. It's 34 mistakes and 34 solutions — the things most “Plan Your Dream Europe Trip” guides gloss over entirely.

Who it's for

This book is for you if…

01You're visiting Europe for the first time.
02You've travelled Europe before but still somehow keep getting surprised by tiny rules.
03You want to avoid unnecessary fees and tourist markups.
04You don't want to spend half your holiday figuring out local logistics.
05You like knowing how things actually work.
06You'd rather learn from someone else's mistakes than pay for your own.
07You want practical advice without reading a 400-page travel textbook.

About the author

Hi, I'm Tanya.

I've been living in Europe for 8+ years, and somewhere along the way I became the person friends message when they have a very specific European travel question.

What does this charge mean?
Do I tip here?
Why did the machine reject my card?
Do I really need to validate this ticket?
Is this restaurant trying to scam me?
Can I drink the tap water?
Should I take this train?

This book is basically all those conversations in one place.

I'm not here to tell you how to have the perfect European holiday. I'm here to help you avoid the stupid stuff.