It is impossible to avoid every possible misadventure and tourist rip-offs when traveling. However, doing your research ahead of time, finding out the prices up front, securing your valuables and staying alert for nefarious characters are ways you can ensure you have a safe and fun trip.
Here’s what I do to avoid being ripped off when traveling in Europe, or anywhere around the globe.
Protect your valuables
Ideally, travel light. I wear a purse on an across-the-chest strap for two reasons: so that it hangs in front of me where I can see it and so I can have my hands free. My purse has lots of zippers for extra protection. I might also carry a canvas day bag for water, etc. I figure if that gets stolen, it is no big detail. But for my valuables, such as my cell phone, passport, and credit card, which are costly and time-consuming to replace, I will keep them up front and secure.
Wearing a backpack is really just an invitation to rob you.
The downside of all this is that fanny packs, bags and purses mark you as a tourist. If possible, it’s best to sightsee or party with a minimal amount of stuff. Just your credit/debit card and as few euros as possible.
Also, don’t take all your credit cards with you. If one gets stolen or hacked, make sure you have other cards to fall back on.
Tourist buses and aggressive street sellers
Tourist buses and attractions can be magnets for pickpockets and tourist rip-off artists. I know of elderly ladies who have had their purses or large shopping bags stolen while gaping at a monument. Even worse are stories of travelers being knocked down and having their belongings snatched by thieves on scooters.
Situational awareness is imperative when you’re in crowds.
Keep your eyes open to what is going on about you, where you are and who’s around you. If there are a lot of people surveilling the crowds who don’t “fit in” and shouldn’t be there, walk away. Are you a tourist target? Or are you traveling light and profiling like you live there?
Street pickpockets and public transportation
A few years ago, when hopping on the metro in Rome on my way to a party, I wasn’t following my own rules, which was to keep my hands free. I was carrying two cakes, one in each hand, which made me the perfect target for a team of pickpockets.
As they spun me around in the packed train and I cursed at them in Italian, what I didn’t know was that they had unlatched my purse and got their hands on my wallet. But as they attempted to make their escape out the door, which they had been trying to hold open, they dropped my wallet.
Phew.
Everything was still inside.
To avoid getting pickpocketed, zip up your things in a front or inside pocket or wear a moneybelt when out and about. Keep your hand on top of your purse or wallet as an added layer of protection. Watch out for individuals getting too close and/or rubbing up against you on a crowded bus – it’s a technique to distract you.
The pros
The are groups of specialists who make a pretty good living stealing from tourists. Paris is notorious for the Roma tourist rip-off artists who work the bridges over the River Seine such as Pont Neuf. On our most recent trip to Paris, their scam was handing you a clipboard and asking you to sign “a petition,” which was supposed to distract you while they grabbed your stuff. Romas and I go back 25 years to Turkey and the Balkans, so I was amused they had such a weak ploy.
In the Netherlands, gangs of Arab-speaking kids come to Amsterdam and Eindhoven from Brussels, according to the police we interviewed. They got two friends visiting from the United States, walking away with iPhones and credit cards. They tend to work crowded High Streets, malls and train stations, looking for oblivious tourists who just aren’t paying attention, preferably older women.
We tracked our friends’ phones, and the kids went immediately to a shoe store and bought expensive Nikes. But they were moving fast and we just couldn’t catch up with them.
If you think police are going to track down that $1,000 iPhone 15 Pro Max, good luck with that. These thefts happen a gazillion times a day in every European city, and police have more important things to do. Though it is a good idea to get a police report for your insurance claim.
By the way, one friend’s phone went from Eindhoven to Brussels via Breda, then to Niger before getting disassembled. So this is a global business.
This can happen anyone, even locals, but the trick is not looking like a sucker. Carrying yourself in an aggressive manor is a deterrent to thieves. It is something I do naturally. But you can consciously take up space and look alert if you build it into your tourist persona.
Terry Boyd
Do your research
This is my number one tip: Do your research. Two ways to get taken advantage of when traveling is by high prices or poor quality. My routine is to buy a travel book (analog or digital) for the city or region I’m going to. Alternatively, I use personal recommendations or check out some websites such as TripAdvisor. That way someone else has already done a lot of the legwork and I’m not starting from scratch.
Know prices ahead of time
It can be uncomfortable to ask how much when eating out, but worse yet is paying more than you expect. Once, a friend and I sat down and ordered cappuccinos at a fancy café on San Marco’s Square (Piazza San Marco) in Venice (the prices were not written down by the way). We were shocked when the bill was 10 times more than we were expecting.
I also remember having an affordable meal in Venice – the amounts were on the menu, so I knew what I was getting into – but then the espresso, which was not on the menu, was 6 euros, way more than I was budgeting for.
In Italy, you need to know that if you go into a café, which is usually called a “bar,” you will pay twice as much if you sit down and are served at a table as opposed to ordering, eating or drinking while standing at the bar.
Avoid tourist zone restaurants and café
In Europe, most restaurant transactions are digital, and waiters should no longer take your credit/debit cards. They bring the point of sale card reader to your table. In the United States, waiters still take your card for the transaction.
Don’t let them.
Too many times, they’ll use Square or similar software/hardware to download your card info and six months later, you’ll notice small deductions to test if you’re paying attention. Then bang, they clean out your account.
Never let anyone separate you from your card.
As for food, tourist restaurants – those located where all the action is – don’t always serve the best cuisine, and the food and drink is overpriced. To avoid that, just walk a few blocks from the city center or the old town square and you likely will find a hidden gem nestled around the corner. If the diners look like locals, you have a better chance of getting something more delicious or inexpensive to eat.
The little hole-in-the-wall on a quiet street might be the highlight of your trip.
Alternatively, sometimes, you do want to be in the tourist area and just sit and stare at the 1000- year-old church or hang out in the main square and people-watch. Some of my favorite travel memories have taken place here.
Having a small treat like an ice cream or a panino or sitting by the fountain are other ways to defray costs. Or figure that you might not have the best food, but you will have a spectacular view. I like sitting outside and taking in the city’s architecture or gazing at the river.
The friendship bracelet scam
When I was in Milan (or was it Torino?) a street seller deftly slipped four brightly colored bracelets over my hand as I was getting off the tourist bus (bad idea!) and then told me what I owed him. The bracelets were very pretty, so I bought them. But I was still in shock at his aggressive behavior and cunning.
It wasn’t so much of a rip-off, more just chutzpah. But the friendship bracelet scam can get very aggressive, with teams of people cornering you and demanding money.
Hotels and hostels
Reviews can be useful … or they can be deceptive.
For a quality check, if a hotel review says “lively,” it is probably noisy. If a guesthouse is listed as “serviceable,” don’t expect much.
For me, overpaying for accommodations has not been a huge problem. Because I have booked online, I know what I’m going to pay before I get there, including taxes and everything. I also know how many stars equal how much comfort. When I was on a student budget, affordability was number one, so we sought out hostels, pensions and one-star hotels. Now I want a comfy bed, a bathroom in the room, a coffeemaker, solid walls, so I don’t have to hear my neighbor snoring, and most of all, a good night’s sleep.
Fairly recently, though, I made a booking because of a guidebook recommendation, but when I saw the room, it had water damage and smelled mildewy. The hotelier, who didn’t have another room, also didn’t want to give me my money back. Can you imagine? The only idea I had was to tell her I would post a review about the erroneous evaluation, and I left for another hotel.
See our post here about getting ripped off by an Airbnb host and what we did about it.
Taxis
These days in Europe, almost all taxies are metered, and with Uber or Lyft, you pay up front.
In the old days, and in some less-developed countries in Europe, cabbies would take you the long way round to your destination to make more money. That happened to me in Den Haag. Can you believe it? The thing is, we didn’t know it was the “scenic route” until later. What to do? Track where you are going and/or get an estimate first.
Often, cabbies won’t take your fare if it is too short a distance, such as my experience in Potsdam. Instead, he pointed and said, “Oh, your hotel is just over there.”
I’ve just given you some of the downsides of traveling and what to watch out for in tourist rip-offs. But remember … there are always new scams popping up, especially in Italy. On the positive side, don’t forget all the wonderful sights, the interesting people and the delicacies you can savor and enjoy.
Keep in mind that most people in the hospitality sector just want to make a living. But be aware there are predators.
Happy traveling.
Safest countries in Europe for tourists, drawn from my own experience:
Switzerland
Denmark
Austria
Sweden
Turkey
Terry Boyd
Mary Porcella is a Europhile who has lived in Germany, Norway, Italy, and the U.S. She is a writer, editor, and photographer. She loves seeing new places, returning to old haunts, and meeting up with family and friends. As of today, her travels have taken her to 20 European countries, and she hopes to visit the rest.