While the United States is more similar to Europe than any other place in the world, they of course do some things differently than we do in America. That is why it is important to have some knowledge of the most common differences. The ability to convert and comprehend that information, while traveling in Europe, will only aid your traveling experience. In addition to the data listed below you will find pages about the CITIES, CLIMATE & WEATHER, GEOGRAPHY, COUNTRIES, CURRENCIES, CUISINE, DEMOGRAPHICS, EUROPEAN UNION, HISTORY and other European normalities that can be useful.
Temperature Conversion Table…
In the US we use the fahrenheit scale to measure temperature but, in Europe they use the celsius scale. The following table converts Celsius to Fahrenheit.
| Celsius | –18º | -10º | -5º | 0º | 5º | 10º | 20º | 25º | 30º | 35º |
| Fahrenheit | 0º | 14º | 23º | 32º | 41º | 50º | 59º | 77 | 86º | 95º |
Units & Measurements …
Metric to Imperial
- 1 Centimeter = 0.393700787 Inches
- 1 Meter = 3.2808399 Feet
- 1 Kilometer = 1.0936133 Yards
- 1 Gram = 0.0352739619 Ounce
- 1 Kilogram = 35.2739619 Ounces / 2.20462262 Pounds
- 1 Litre = 35.2739619 Fluid Ounces
Imperial conversion to Metric
- 1 Inch = 2.54 Centimeters
- 1 Foot = 30.48000000012192 Centimeters
- 1 Yard = 0.9144 Meters
- 1 Mile = 1.609344 Kilometers
- 1 Ounce = 28.3495231 Grams
- 1 Pound = 0.45359237 Kilogram
- 1 Pint = 0.473176473 Liter
- 1 Quart = 0.946352946 Litre
- 1 Gallon = 3.7854118 Liters
When shopping for clothes and shoes in Europe you will find those sizes vary in the UK and continental Europe from US sizes. For a conversion table of sizes on our SHOPPING PAGE.
Alphabets & Numerals…
Letters…
It is one challenge to read and pronounce another language using the latin alphabet it is another thing when using a different alphabet. Several countries use different alphabets and will be almost impossible for the average person to decipher. Greece uses the Greek alphabet while Belarus, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia, Ukraine use the Cyrillic. Bosnia Hercegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia use both the Latin and Cyrillic. All other European countries use the latin alphabet.
Latin
| A a | B b | C c | D d | E e | F f | G g | H h | I i |
| J j | K k | L l | M m | N n | O o | P p | Q q | R R |
| S s | T t | U u | V v | W w | X x | Y y | Z z |
Greek
| Α α | Β β | Γ γ | Δ δ | Ε ε | Ζ ζ | Η η | Θ θ |
| Ι ι | Ν ν | Κ κ | Λ λ | Μ μ | Ξ ξ | Ο ο | Ρ ρ |
| Σ σ | Τ τ | Υ υ | Φ φ | Χ χ | Ψ ψ | Ω ω |
Cyrillic
| А а | Б б | В в | Г г | Д д | Е е | Ё ё | Ж ж |
| З з | И и | Й й | К к | Л л | М м | Н н | О о |
| П п | Р р | С с | Т т | У у | Х х | Ц ч | Ш ш |
| Щ щ | Б ъ | Ь ь | Э э | Ю ю | Я я |
Most European countries use the latin alphabet and use all 26 letters as used in the US. However, several countries have extended their alphabets with ligatures, modified letters or digraphs.
| Acute | Á á | Ć ć | É é | Í í | Ĺ ĺ | Ó ó | Ú ú | Ý ý |
| Ash | Æ æ | |||||||
| Breve | Ă ă | Ğ ğ | ||||||
| Caron | Č č | Ě ě | Ň | Ř ř | Š š | Ť ť | Ž ž | |
| Caudata | Ą ą | Ę ę | Į į | Ų ų | ||||
| Cedilla | Ç ç | Ģ ģ | Ļ ļ | Ņ ņ | Ş ş | Ț ț | Ž ž | |
| Circumflex | Â â | Ê ê | Î î | Ô ô | Û û | |||
| Dot | Ė ė | Ġ ġ | İ i | |||||
| Double Acute | Ő ő | |||||||
| Eszett | ß | |||||||
| Eth | Ð ð | |||||||
| Grave | À à | È è | Ì ì | Ò ò | Ù ù | |||
| Macron | Ā ā | Ē ē | Ī ī | Ō ō | Ū ū | |||
| O & E ligature | Œ œ | |||||||
| Ogonek | Ą ą | Į į | ||||||
| Ring | Å å | Ů ů | Ů ů | |||||
| Slash | Ø ø | |||||||
| Stroke | Đ đ | Ħ ħ | Ł ł | |||||
| Thorn | Þ þ | |||||||
| Tilde | Ã ã | Ñ ñ | ||||||
| Umlaut | Ä ä | Ë ë | Ï ï | Ö ö | Ü ü | Ÿ ÿ |
Reading Numbers in Europe…Some numerals are written a little little differently to the way they are written in the U.S. Watch closely for these on price tags and receipts. Ones are written with little upswing before they come straight down and can be confused with the way we write 7’s. They draw a line through the middle of their 7’s setting them apart from their 1’s. 4’s can be written like a lighting bolt otherwise, most numerals appear much like they do in the U.S.
Currency Values written in Europe use the comma in place of the decimal point and a period is used to separate the thousandth digit from the hundredth. So it’s just reversed from what we use in the US. Your dinner bill was 43 Euros not 43 thousand.
U.S. Value as / European Value as
$1,350.75 / €1.350,75
$2.50 / €2,50
So be careful when shopping and looking at price tags, that item you want to buy may not be as expensive as you think.
European Vernaculars & Customs…
As we said to be in Europe is to be in another country in which they will label, say and do things differently from the US. You can find it very helpful to gain a little understanding on some common everyday uses.
Floor Levels on multiple storied buildings are labeled slightly different. While the ground floor is always the main floor the one above in Europe is the 1st floor, not the second floor as we called it here. This will be good for you to know so you can remember what floor your hotel room is on.
| Europe | United States |
|---|---|
| Ground or Main floor | 1st floor or Main floor |
| 1st Floor | 2nd Floor |
| 2nd Floor | 3rd Floor |
| 3rd Floor | 4th Floor |
ISO Country Codes are internationally recognized codes for each country. Depending on the situation they can be a Alpha 2 or 3 letter code or a numerical code.
Two letter suffixes like (.fr for France or .de for Germany) are used in top levels domains. Three letter codes are usually used in international events like sports, contests, etc.
The numerical code is the United Nations M49 for identification of countries, dependencies and other areas.
| Country | 2 code | 3 code | # code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇪🇺 European Union | EU | EUE | 150 |
| 🇦🇱 Albania | AL | ALB | 008 |
| 🇦🇩 Andorra | AD | AND | 020 |
| 🇦🇹 Austria | AT | AUT | 040 |
| 🇧🇾 Belarus | BY | BLR | 112 |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | BE | BEL | 056 |
| 🇧🇦 Bosnia Herzegovina | BA | BIH | 070 |
| 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | BG | BGR | 100 |
| 🇭🇷 Croatia | HR | HRV | 191 |
| 🇨🇾 Cyprus | CY | CYP | 196 |
| 🇨🇿 Czechia | CZ | CZE | 203 |
| 🇩🇰 Denmark | DK | DNK | 208 |
| 🇪🇪 Estonia | EE | EST | 233 |
| 🇫🇴 Faroe Islands | FO | FRO | 234 |
| 🇫🇮 Finland | FI | FIN | 246 |
| 🇫🇷 France | FR | FRA | 250 |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | DE | DEU | 276 |
| 🇬🇮 Gibraltar | GI | GIB | 292 |
| 🇬🇷 Greece | GR | GRC | 300 |
| 🇬🇬 Guernsey | GG | GGY | 831 |
| 🇻🇦 Holy See | VA | VAT | 336 |
| 🇭🇺 Hungary | HU | HUN | 348 |
| 🇮🇸 Iceland | IS | ISL | 352 |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | IE | IRL | 372 |
| 🇮🇲 Isle of Man | IM | IMN | 833 |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | IT | ITA | 380 |
| 🇯🇪 Jersey | JE | JEY | 832 |
| 🇱🇻 Latvia | LV | LVA | 428 |
| 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein | LI | LIE | 438 |
| 🇱🇹 Lithuania | LT | LTU | 440 |
| 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | LU | LUX | 442 |
| 🇲🇹 Malta | MT | MLT | 470 |
| 🇲🇩 Moldova | MD | MDA | 498 |
| 🇲🇨 Monaco | MC | MCO | 492 |
| 🇲🇪 Montenegro | ME | MNE | 499 |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | NL | NLD | 528 |
| 🇲🇰 North Macedonia | MK | MKD | 807 |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | NO | NOR | 578 |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | PL | POL | 616 |
| 🇵🇹 Portugal | PT | PRT | 630 |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | RO | ROU | 642 |
| 🇷🇺 Russia | RU | RUS | 643 |
| 🇸🇲 San Marino | SM | SMR | 666 |
| 🇷🇸 Serbia | RS | SRB | 688 |
| 🇸🇰 Slovakia | SK | SVK | 703 |
| 🇸🇮 Slovenia | SI | SVN | 705 |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | ES | ESP | 724 |
| 🇳🇴 Svalbard & Jan Mayen | SJ | SJM | 744 |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | SE | SWE | 752 |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | CH | CHE | 756 |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | TR | TUR | 792 |
| 🇺🇦 Ukraine | UA | UKR | 804 |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | GB | GBR | 826 |
Local Names… of Countries and Cities in their language will vary from our pronunciation and spelling. Listed are names with our English version as opposed to the local version.
Countries
| Albania is Shqipëri Andorra is Andorre (French) Austria is Österreich Belarus is Беларусь Belgium is Belgique ( French) België (Dutch) Belgien (German) Bosnia & Hercegovina is Bosna i Hercegovina Bulgaria is България Croatia is Hrvatska Cyprus is Κύπρος (Greek) Czechia is Česko Denmark is Danmark Estonia is Eesti Finland is Suomi France is Francia (Corsican) Germany is Deutschland (German) Dútslân (Frisian) Greece is Ελλάδα Hungary is Magyarország Iceland is Ísland Ireland is Éireann Italy is Italia Latvia is Latvija Lithuania is Lietuva | Luxembourg is Lëtzebuerg (Luxembourgish) Macedonia is Македонија Montenegro is Crna Gora Netherlands is Nederland (Dutch) Nederlân (Frisian) Norway is Norge Poland is Polska Romania is România Russia is Россия Serbia is Србија Slovakia is Slovensko Slovenia is Slovenija Spain is España (Spanish) Espainiako (Basque) Espanya (Catalan) Sweden is Sverige Switzerland is Schwiez (German) Suisse (French) Svizzera (Italian) Turkey is Türkiye Ukriane is Україна Scotland is Alba (Gaelic) Wales is Cymru Vatican City is Città del Vaticano (Italian) |
Cities
| Alicante is Alacant Antwerp is Antwerpen Athens is Athena Auschwitz is Owieçim Basel is Bâle Belfast is Béal Feirste Belgrade is Beograd Bruges is Brugge Brussels is Bruxelles Bucharest is București Cardiff is Caerdydd Cologne is Köln Copenhagen is København Corfu is Kérkyra Corinth is Kórinthos Cork is Coraigh Hanover is Hannover Dublin is Baile Ath Cliath Dunkirk is Dunkerque Florence is Firenze Galway is Gaillimh Geneva is Genéve Genoa is Genova Ghent is Gent | Gothenburg is Göteborg Heraklion is Iráklio Killarney is Cill Airnie Kilkenny is Cill Chainnigh Lisbon is Lisboa Lucerne is Luzern Milan is Milano Munich is MünchenNaples is Napoli Nuremberg is Nürnberg Patras is Pátra Pilsen is Plzen Pireaus is Píreás Prague is Praha Porto is Oporto Rome is Roma Seville is Sevilla Sofia is Sofiya The Hague is Den Haag Turin is Torino Vienna is Wien Venice is Venezia Warsaw is Warszawa Ypres is leper Zurich is Zürich |
Variable Word Definitions…
Even when you converse with English speakers you will find they can use different nouns or verbs to describe the same object or action. While we may use multiple words to describe things in the States, there may be only the single use in some areas of Europe. Here are but a few for your traveling terms.
- An Apartment is a FLAT
- A Beltway or By Pass Road is the RING ROAD
- A Cafeteria is a CANTEEN
- Cell Phones are called MOBILE PHONES
- A Collect Call is a REVERSE CHARGE
- A Cookie is a BISCUIT
- When asking for Discounts say Concessions
- Elevators are typically called LIFTS
- Faucet is a TAP
- French Fries are CHIPS (in the UK) and Frites elsewhere
- Gasoline is PETROL
- Garbage is TRASH
- Over Pass on a road is a FLYOVER
- Parking Lot is a CAR PARK
- To Pass in traffic is to OVERTAKE
- A Pharmacists is a CHEMIST
- To Pick Up somebody is to COLLECT
- Potato Chips are CRISPS
- To Rent something like a car is to HIRE
- Round Trip Ticket or Journey is a RETURN TICKET or RETURN JOURNEY
- A taxi or car Ride is to get a LIFT
- Sidewalk is a FOOTPATH
- Silverwareis CUTLERY
- Sneakers are TRAINERS
- Socceris FOOTBALL
- Stores are SHOPS
- Suspenders for pants are BRACES
- To Go as food TO TAKE or TAKE AWAY
- Restrooms are TOILETS
- A Truck can be a LORRY
- The Trunk of a car is a BOOT
- A Vacation is a HOLIDAY