Europe Trip Resources We Actually Recommend
This is a short list, not an exhaustive one. Everything here solves a specific problem for families travelling to the UK and Europe — and we wouldn’t put it here if we wouldn’t tell a friend about it.
How this page works
Every recommendation on this page is something we’d point a family member toward. That’s the only standard — does it solve a real problem for a family travelling to Europe?
Some of these links are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate revenue helps keep the free tools (the Schengen calculator, the document checker) running without ads.
We don’t take money to put a product on this page. If a product is on here, it’s because we’ve looked at it and think it’s worth your time — not because someone paid for placement. We note where links are affiliate links so you know what you’re looking at.
Current partners: World Nomads, SafetyWing, Airalo, Holafly, Wise. Questions? See our about page.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is one of those things that’s genuinely worth having and genuinely easy to get wrong. The main questions: does it cover medical evacuation? Does it cover the activities you’re actually doing? Does it cover the duration of your trip? The two options below handle these differently — pick based on your trip type.
Solid per-trip family insurance that covers adventure activities most basic policies quietly exclude — clear policy, can buy mid-trip if you forgot.
Best fit: 1–3 week family trips, any active element (skiing, cycling, hiking).
Monthly subscription insurance — no fixed return date needed. Built for longer stays and open-ended itineraries.
Best fit: multi-month Europe trips, digital nomads, open-ended travel. Overkill for a standard 2-week family holiday — World Nomads is cheaper for that.
eSIMs for Europe
If your phone supports eSIM (most phones from 2020 onwards do), getting a European data plan before you land removes one airport headache. You install it at home, it activates on arrival, and you never pay roaming charges. For families with multiple devices, this matters.
Regional Europe eSIM covering 30+ countries — installs before you land, one account for the whole family's devices.
Best fit: most families. Good value for trips up to 2 weeks. Check your device supports eSIM first.
Unlimited-data eSIM for Europe — pays off for heavier users or longer trips where watching gigabytes gets annoying.
Best fit: longer trips (10+ days), families with kids who stream. Higher per-day cost than Airalo for light users.
Money & Banking
If you’re converting USD, CAD, or AUD to euros, the exchange rate you actually get matters. Airport bureaux de change and most bank cards apply a markup on top of the mid-market rate. Wise doesn’t.
Currency conversion and spending at the real exchange rate — no hidden markup, works at ATMs and contactless across Europe.
Best fit: anyone exchanging USD, CAD, or AUD for a Europe trip. Less relevant if you already have a fee-free travel card.
What we don’t recommend
We don’t recommend third-party “ETA application services” that charge £30–£80 to do what you can do yourself on gov.uk in 10 minutes for £16. Some of these sites are fine; many are genuinely misleading about what they offer. Apply directly through the UK Home Office for UK ETA, and through the official EU portal for ETIAS.
We also don’t recommend travel eSIM resellers that mark up plans from Airalo or Holafly without adding anything, or generic eSIM aggregators that aren’t transparent about which underlying network you’re on. Go direct to the source.
One form. Whole family. Every Europe document.
We're building the simplest way to handle your family's UK ETA, ETIAS, and EES pre-registration in one place. Get notified when we launch.