We arrived in Paris on the 13th and stayed for 6 days, then drove to Fontainebleau, Lyon, Nice, Monaco, Genoa, Florence, and arrived in Rome yesterday. We were on edge the whole way... First of all, the temperature here is not hot. The wind is quite cold. We have to wear down jackets and woolen hats to keep warm. It is not recommended to drive in the city of Paris. It is difficult to find parking spaces on the road surface. The entrances and exits of underground parking lots are too narrow and difficult to find. Navigation mainly relies on the map built into the Apple phone, which is actually a collaboration with Tom Tom and is very accurate. The maps we downloaded at home are not very reliable, including Google Maps. We were misled several times, even guided to a snow-covered mountain road at night. Maybe it's because we didn't enter the address accurately. Remember to enter the postal code of the region. Google Play needs to be installed to have offline maps, so you must have wireless WiFi. The high-speed rail here is very fast. France is 130 and Italy is 110. I think this is the lowest speed. There will always be cars following me to drive. After all, the car company gave me a top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz E200 station wagon, black German license plate, which is too eye-catching. This caused me to park in the underground garage and dare not park on the road, for fear that my car windows would be broken and my bag would be stolen. All overtaking must be done from the left side, and then the left lane must be given up. It is forbidden to occupy the left lane for a long time. Right-hand overtaking is strictly prohibited, which is very dangerous! Highways need to prepare some 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, 1, and 0.5 euro banknotes and coins in advance. Do not enter the electronic payment channel by mistake. France and Italy have many dark tunnels that are relatively narrow. Overtaking and turning do not slow down. It feels like you're driving a race car, so small cars are popular here. Their control performance is good. Remember not to rent big cars! My Mercedes-Benz is too long, and the city control is really a bit difficult. Those streets, tunnels, and parking lot passages are really narrow! Bring fewer luggage when you go out ?
France Q&A
Thank you for the reminder, it's really good advice, thank you! I'm flying in from Oslo and have been traveling in Norway before. I have a 4-night itinerary in Iceland, planning to fly in at noon and stay in Vik that night, then visit the black sand beach in the morning of the second day and go glacier hiking in the afternoon, staying at a hotel near Jokulsarlon glacier that night, visiting the ice lake and ice beach on the third day and driving back, passing through Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss along the way, staying at Selfoss that night, sightseeing in Reykjavik city and visiting the Blue Lagoon on the fourth day, staying near the airport that night, and taking an early morning flight to Stockholm on the fifth day. If I don't have time to see the attractions of the Golden Circle on the first day, is it possible to fit them in on the fourth day, or should I only choose one or two attractions of the Golden Circle, or give them up altogether? Thank you for your guidance, I really appreciate it ?
Iceland Q&A
Istanbul is really quite chaotic, everyone must be careful with their property. We arrived on the evening of the 15th, and on the 16th day yesterday, when we recharged our bus card at Taksim subway station, we were forcibly replaced. The situation was like this. We planned to recharge 100 lira, which was two 50-yuan notes. The first recharge was successful, and then when we recharged the second 50 yuan, the money was spit out several times. Suddenly, a man reached out his hand directly to take our card and walked towards the recharge machine behind us, telling us that we had to go to another recharge machine to recharge. I instinctively reached out to grab our card, but he avoided my hand and didn't let me grab it because he was tall and I couldn't grab it. In just a few seconds, when we got to the other recharge machine, he returned the card to us. Because there was someone recharging, we waited for a while, and then when the card was put on the machine, we found that the card had been replaced with an empty card. Fortunately, there was still some money left. After that, we felt quite afraid all the way, and reminded everyone to be careful with their property ?
Turkey Q&A
Regarding the prepayment of fuel issue, I want to give a hint to the friends who will rent a car later. I just saw a car friend above who said something not quite right. When we paid the prepayment for fuel, we were told to pick up the car with a full tank and return it with a full tank. However, when we returned the car, we were informed that because we returned it with a full tank, the deposit would be refunded. But in reality, it did not happen. We sent an email to the car rental company Sixt to confirm this, and the reply was that after prepaying the fuel fee, it is not necessary to return the car with a full tank, and returning it with a full tank will not result in a deposit refund. (It's just a way for them to keep your money in the end.) As long as you have signed the contract, they will insist on it. (Regarding what the car friend above said, to put it bluntly, it's just a matter of not being good at English. I really want to roll my eyes at this. ️ They are lumping everyone's different situations together.) ?
United Kingdom Q&A
Yesterday, I rented a car from Europcar at Frankfurt Airport. I had booked a Golf estate car and requested a diesel vehicle in the notes of my reservation. However, I was given an Opel estate car, which was diesel and automatic, and I had to pay a pre-authorization deposit of over 800 euros. The trunk could only fit two 28-inch suitcases and one 24-inch suitcase, along with some backpacks. The cover for the trunk couldn't be pulled up, and the luggage was exposed. Additionally, the previous renter had clearly broken one of the clips on the cover, so I took photos as evidence. I'm not sure if having exposed luggage will cause any issues when I go to Poland. Yesterday, I drove 400 kilometers, and the fuel gauge showed that I had used almost half of the fuel ?
Poland Q&A
Two trips to Italy in two years, passing through Sicily, Dolomites, Tuscany, and some other cities. Personally, I feel that the security in Italy is not a big problem. Tourist attractions are always crowded, which is unavoidable anywhere. Just be mindful of your belongings, keep some loose change in your pocket, and don't expose large amounts of cash. We added a small combination lock to our backpacks for extra security. Thieves also choose their targets, just like in our own country. I've seen many foreigners leaving their bags far away while taking photos, and their belongings were not stolen. There are armed police guarding various attractions in Italy, so I didn't feel unsafe at all ?
Italy Q&A