TLF's Rough Guide to Travel Etiquette

I don't know about you, but at this time of year thoughts of summer holidays are a bit of a distraction. Not being a fan of the package deal, planning a holiday can feel like taking on a second job; I spend my evenings trawling the web for the best places to stay and visit, not feeling satisfied until I have exhausted every possibility.

Well, the flights and hotel are booked, the phrasebook is in hand and I know how to get from the airport to the hotel; surely the time has come to put down the laptop and indulge in the requisite pre-holiday daydreaming? Almost…

When visiting a new country, ingratiating yourself with the local people can be tricky, but it's not only the language barrier which poses a problem. It is all too easy to break a local custom and (at best) get a strange look from locals or (at worst) inadvertently offend them.

Well fear not, in the spirit of summer holiday distraction, here's my rough guide to travel etiquette.

I've tried to limit this to things you might actually do and to start with, here's a faux-pas that I feel I was dangerously likely to commit in Italy.

Italians only drink cappuccino with breakfast so you've probably got until around 11am to get your order in. Okay, so you're not going to offend anyone but you might be offended by the incredulous look from the waiter when you ask him for a cappuccino to wash down your lunch.

In Mexico, it is common practice to say "buen provecho" (bon appétit) when you catch the eye of someone who is eating and when leaving a restaurant you should say it to the tables around you.

In Portugal, don't ask for salt or pepper in a restaurant if it is not already on the table. This is considered to be an insult to the cook and cooks are highly respected in Portugal.

Conversations of a financial kind are definitely off the table in France. While it is seen as particularly vulgar at the dinner table, the French don't like to talk about money at all. If you are splitting a bill in a restaurant, split it equally; making sure you've covered your extra glass of wine won't win you any social points here.

In Japan it is bad form to fill your own glass. You should instead pour for your neighbour and wait for someone to pour for you, keeping a close eye on your companions' glasses to make sure they are always full. This might require a bit more attentiveness than you'd normally like to exercise but on the plus side, your glass will always be full!

The golden rule for Germany is to remember that Germans don't do small talk. If you ask someone how they are, be prepared for a blow-by-blow account of their health and personal life. They thought you genuinely wanted to know.

Happy travelling!

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