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:
📆 Dates…
Abbreviated dates in Europe are written using the day first, the month and then the year. Be very careful when reviewing bookings or tickets on trains, hotels, tours, events, etc.
| Independence Day | VE Day end of WW II | Armistice end of WWI | Christmas | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 4, 1776 | May 8, 1945 | November 11, 1918 | December 25, 2011 | |
| USA | 7/4/1776 | 8/5/1945 | 11/11/1918 | 12/25/2011 |
| Europe | 4/4/1776 | 5/8/1945 | 11/11/1918 | 25/12/2011 |
🗺 Time Zones
When traveling, east to west or west to east, one can easily get jet lag. That’s when your body has been condition to eat or sleep at a certain time and your now in a different time zone when those activities are hours apart. Your body is telling to eat and sleep at your normal time but, you are now doing those activities at a different time. You’ll most likely be able to stay up late at night but, getting up in the morning could be a challenge.
As a reference the grid below reflects the difference in hours between Europe and US time zones. When Greenwich or Universal Time is 12:00 noon the corresponding times are displayed for the other US and european times zones. As an example, at that same time New York is 7:00 am (EST), Rome is 1:00 pm or 13:00 (CET)
Times in Major Cities
Greenwich Mean Time UTC
🇬🇧 Belfast
🇪🇸 Canary Islands
🇮🇪 Dublin
🏴 Edinburg
🏴 Glasgow
🇵🇹 Lisbon
🇬🇧 Liverpool
🇬🇧 London
🇬🇧 Manchester
🇵🇹 Porto
🇮🇸 Reykjavik
Central Europe Time UTC+1
🇳🇱Amsterdam
🇪🇸 Barcelona
🇩🇪 Berlin
🇧🇪 Brussels
🇭🇺 Budapest
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
🇵🇱 Kraków
🇪🇸 Madrid
🇫🇷 Paris
🇨🇿 Prague
🇮🇹 Rome
🇸🇪 Stockholm
🇮🇹 Venice
🇦🇹 Vienna
🇨🇭Zürich
Eastern Europe Time UTC+2
🇬🇷 Athens
🇨🇾 Cyprus
🇷🇴 Bucharest
🇫🇮 Helsinki
🇺🇦 Kyiv
🇱🇻 Riga
🇧🇬 Sofia
🇪🇪 Tallinn
🇱🇹 Vilnius
Turkey Time / Moscow Time UTC+3
🇹🇷 Ankara✷
🇹🇷 Antalya✷
🇹🇷 Istanbul✷
🇧🇾 Minsk✷
🇷🇺 Moscow✷
🇷🇺 St. Petersburg✷
✷ indicates these cities do not recognize Daylight Savings Time
Eastern Time UTC-5
Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston
Charlotte
Detroit
Miami
Nashville
New York
Orlando
Philadelphia
Tampa
Washington DC
Central Time UTC-6
Chicago
Dallas
Houston
Kansas City
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
New Orleans
Omaha
St. Louis
Mountain Time UTC-7
Albuquerque
Boise
Denver
El Paso
Missoula
Phoenix ✷
Salt Lake City
Tucson ✷
✷These cities do not observe Daylight Savings
Pacific Time UTC-8
Las Vegas
Los Angles
Portland
Sacramento
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
UTC - Coordinated Universal Time
GMT = Greenwich Mean Time UTC +0 (BST = British Summer Time, WEST = Western European Summer Time, WET = Western European Time)
CET = Central European Time UTC +1 (CEST Central European Summer Time)
EET = Eastern European Time UTC +2 (EEST = Eastern European Summer Time)
MSKS = Moscow Time UTC +3
TRT = Turkey Time UTC +3
Change to Daylight Savings Time at 2 am- March 28, 2021
Change to Regular Time at 2 am - October 31, 2021
Belarus, Iceland and Russia have no time change to daylight savings in the summer months. Autonomous Republic of the Crimea has recently changed their time to MSK Moscow Time
🕐 24 Hour Clock...
Europe uses a 24 hour clock (military time) for official timetables. Things that use schedules like buses, trains, etc., use the 24 hour clock. Instead of using two 12 hour segments, am and pm, it is one 24 hour segment. After 12:00 midnight hours start from 1:00 to 12:00 noon just like in the US but instead of 1:00 pm it will now be 13:00. The hours go up accordingly until 24:00 or 12:00 midnight.
| USA am | / Europe am | USA pm / | Europe pm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:00 am | / 1:00 | 1:00 pm / | 13:00 |
| 2:00 am | / 2:00 | 2:00 pm / | 14:00 |
| 3:00 am | / 3:00 | 3:00 pm / | 15:00 |
| 4:00 am | / 4:00 | 4:00 pm / | 16:00 |
| 5:00 am | / 5:00 | 5:00 pm / | 17:00 |
| 6:00 am | / 6:00 | 6:00 pm / | 18:00 |
| 7:00 am | / 7:00 | 7:00 pm / | 19:00 |
| 8:00 am | / 8:00 | 8:00 pm / | 20:00 |
| 9:00 am | / 9:00 | 9:00 pm / | 21:00 |
| 10:00 am | / 10:00 | 10:00 pm / | 22:00 |
| 11:00 am | / 11:00 | 11:00 pm / | 23:00 |
| 12:00 noon | / 12:00 | 12:00 midnight / | 24:00 |
To quickly calculate afternoon times just subtract 12 from the time. If the time is 15:30 subtract 12 from that and you get 3:30 pm.
🌡 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
30o
Fahrenheit
0o
14o
23o
32o
41o
50o
59o
86o
0º Celsius = 32º Fahrenheit water freezes / 100º = 212º water boils
⚖️ 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 = 35.27 Ounces / 2.204 Pounds
• 1 Litre = 35.2739619 Fluid Ounces
Imperial conversion to Metric
• 1 Inch = 2.54 Centimeters
• 1 Foot = 30.48Centimeters
• 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 & Letters...
Alphabets & Numerals...
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
C c
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 |
Country Codes...
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 |
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 |
Local Names
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
Germany is Deutschland (German)
Dútslân (Frisian)
Estonia is Eesti
Finland is Suomi
France is Francia (Corsican)
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
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
Hanover is Hannover
Heraklion is Iráklio
Killarney is Cill Airnie
Kilkenny is Cill Chainnigh
Lisbon is Lisboa
Lucerne is Luzern
Milan is Milano
Munich is München
Naples 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