>I'm heading to Europe for my honeymoon this August, and I was >wondering if I could get some advice from residents and fellow >travellers. Congratulations. Have a great time while in Europe. Advice? sure, see below. >1) Is it better to get Euros or native currency? We'll be in Paris >for a few days, then down to Malaga, Spain and Estoril, Portugal. If a country is using Euros, then the only currency it will have is the Euro. Other countries still use their native currency, like great Britain and Switzerland (to name only two) France, Spain, Portugal and Germany use Euros. This is not an extensive list !! Your bank should be able to provide you with a list of countries that use the Euro, but from what you list this will be enough, unless you go to Gibraltar. As it is a UK protectorate it may be using GBP, but if you try to get there from Spain you may have problems, as the Spanish are trying to get it back, and do make things difficult at the border I believe. >2) What is the typical dress code for young people (24-25 yrs old) >during the summer? For going to restaurants or clubs, will they be >mostly formal? I'm a jeans and t-shirt guy mostly. During the day you will be fine, and I suspect that many night spots, especially in holiday venues will also be fine. I did a quick search on google for "malaga night life" and found this set of photos from one establishment, which would seem to be fairly representative of what I see on the TV holiday programs here. http://downtown.spain.com/downtown_photos.htm Try other combinations for the various places you are thinking of visiting, and see what you come up with. >3) Has anyone been successful with booking hotels online? >www.hotelclub.com looked good but I'm a bit nervous about booking >something this important over the net, especially with the language >barrier. My French is ok, but my Spanish and Portuguese are very >poor. I don't have a lot of experience in doing this in the areas you mention. However if the website has a well presented English section then you will probably be OK. Be aware that the holiday areas you mention have high rates of UK residents for holidays, so English will be well understood on the whole. Without knowing what your budget is you may want to look at hotel chains like Ibis. Have stayed with them in France, and found them to be good value. You will find that in major hotels and most holiday centres English is well understood because so many people from the UK holiday on the continent. >4) Would it be more economical to get flights on local carriers for >getting around Europe, or taking the train? And any recommendations >on booking tickets over the net? For trains you may like to look at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en which I believe will handle international trains through Germany. For Spain and Portugal alone I do not know. For airlines, most of the cheap ones (Ryanair, easyjet) are doing reasonable length hops like UK->Spain, UK->Germany, i.e. international. I suspect you will find that the train service is much better for going short distances. Also be aware that there are high speed train services over longer distances, such as the French TGV which does 250-300kph Paris-South France. Spain has also recently got AVE services using German built ICE trains which again are over 250kph capable. If my experience in Germany is anything to go by, English will be well understood by those on the help desks at airports, stations and tourist info centres. >5) Are web cafes with the ability to upload pictures taken on our >digital camera available and cheap? I'm worried that our 256mb card >won't last the two weeks. I'll probably buy another 512mb card closer >to when we leave, but I'd still like to have the option of dumping >them onto my FTP server just in case. cannot help on this one, although I would have thought that doing external connection to the hardware would be a no-no to try and stop people introducing viruses. However it may be worth having a USB adapter with you as that is the most likely connection method. If you want to get another CF card, I would think you would get it cheaper in the USA than in Europe. Be aware that the GST type tax is very high in all the countries. have a happy time. Do remember that Europe is just as bad for crime as anywhere else though, so take sensible precautions with your valuables. It is worth having items such as passports and spare cash in a security wallet under your clothes, around your waist. Your wife should carry her handbag in a manner that guards against pick pockets and the like. HTH Alan -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.