It's a good idea to exchange at least some money before leaving home, just to cover your first incidentals and to avoid lines at airport ATMs (cash machines) and exchange counters. Money can be exchanged at your local bank, American Express office or Thomas Cook office. If you are far away from currency exchange, American Express offers traveler's checks and foreign currency for a $15 order fee and additional shipping costs.

ATMs, or cash machines, provide the quickest and cheapest way to get money in Europe. When considering how to get money or how much to take with you, keep in mind that cash machines, even in small towns and in less visited parts of eastern Europe, are increasingly omnipresent.

You shouldn't have any trouble with major credit cards in Europe. Mastercard and Visa credit cards are the most reliable. Diner's Club cards are also usually a safe bet. We're finding on our recent travels that American Express is not as widely accepted as it once was. The Discover card is not accepted in Europe.

Honestly, traveler's checks are a bit archaic in the ATM age. Still, in light of cash machine charges (usually nominal, though they can add up), traveler's checks can be less expensive in certain situations. It is always necessary to show ID when using traveler's checks. If you choose to purchase traveler's checks, make sure that you follow the directions that accompany the checks.

If you run out of money on the trip, the cheapest way to transfer cash (though also the slowest) is to get a bank at home to wire a transfer to a bank in Europe. Some banks may only release money in a local currency. You can also rely on Western Union to have money wired to you. Western Union applies a service charge.

In dire emergencies, US citizens can rely on consular services. The US State Department will forward money within hours to US citizens at the nearest consulate office. Upon request, the office will distribute money for a $15 fee. If you wish to use the service, you must contact the Overseas Citizens Service division of the US State Department at (202) 647-5225.

Electricity in Europe runs on 220 volts, at a frequency of 50 hz. For visitors from North America, this means that you will need plug adapters for devices like iPods, razors, battery rechargers and cellular telephones. For appliances like hair dryers running on 1000 watts or more, you'll want to obtain a converter.

You'll want to make these purchases before traveling, as they will be extremely difficult, even impossible, to find while in Europe. Plug adapters and converters are sold at electronics, luggage, and travel stores, and you may also be able to find them in department stores.

Europe is a continent, with a wide weather range. It's impossible to generalize about the best time to travel to Europe, but we can help you sort things out a bit.

Cold weather is clearly not to everyone's liking, and bitterly cold winters are commonplace in northern Europe as well as mountainous areas throughout the continent. Winters in southern Europe are considerably milder, and as long as you stay away from the major package vacation beach destinations, you should be able to take advantage of good southern European deals during winter.

On the other side of the weather scale, southern Europe can be stifling in the summer. If you can't deal with very hot weather, avoid Spain, Italy and Greece in July and August.

In terms of hotel rates, we're happier to generalize. For the most part, summers are prime traveling time. Hotel rates tend to be considerably more expensive from mid-June through the end of August. The last two weeks of December are often very expensive. Further hotel rate spikes vary from place to place. Conventions, professional meetings, local holidays, and school holiday periods also create hotel rate spikes.

Additionally, you'll find quirky local patterns. For example, in Stockholm, a particularly expensive city for hotels, rates decrease significantly over the weekend and in some cases throughout the summer. This pocket of affordability is designed to take advantage of tourist traffic, since better-financed streams of business travelers don't tend to seek out hotels over weekends and during the middle of the summer.

So, what should you do? First, decide what's most important to you. Do you mind traveling in the off-season? January through March will allow you to take advantage of some really great off-season deals throughout most of Europe. Exceptions to this rule are found along the Mediterranean and in ski regions, where winter is the high season. With necessary caveats, we think that winter is one of the best times for budget-savvy cheapos to visit Europe.

On balance, prioritize and consider your options and comfort. If cold weather is not a deterrent, consider seeing Europe during the winter. Spring and autumn often represent the best middle-ground, as weather throughout most of Europe will be manageable during these seasons. In all cases, research your destinations to avoid seasonal hotel rate spikes.

European cellular (or mobile) telephone networks run on GSM. This means that most cell phone users in the US and Canada use phones that are incompatible with the European system. Exceptions to this rule include T-Mobile and Cingular in the United States and Microcell/Fido and Rogers/AT&T in Canada.

North Americans with cell phones not on the GSM network might as well leave their phones at home, since they will not work in Europe. Even many North American cellular phones on the GSM network may not work well in Europe. Furthermore, the per minute rate for use in Europe will be very high.

One alternative is to rent a cellular phone for use abroad. Geared to the business market, these rentals are not cheap. If you choose this option, be mindful of the difference between a phone rental good for coverage in several countries and phone rentals good only for service in a single country.

Another alternative, especially attractive to those on extended trips or those who visit Europe on a regular basis, is simply to purchase a cellular telephone in Europe. The costs and rates will seem like a real bargain after the overpriced per minute rates imposed on North American GSM network phones and the exorbitant costs and rates associated with cellular phone rentals. One recent deal we found on the Dutch T-Mobile website offered a telephone for a rate of �20 a month. The contract included 200 minutes of airtime.

Calling cards are a very often a good option. Sometimes quite inexpensive, they can involve remarkably complex dialing machinations and uneven access to English-language operators.

A final option is to rely on telephone calling centers in Europe to make your telephone calls. Commonplace in big cities, these calling centers are often coupled with Internet cafes. If you choose to take advantage of a commercial telephone calling center, always get a sense of the per minute rate before making your call.

United States Citizens

U.S. citizens can rely on the ominously-named State Department's Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management for travel information and advisories.