Travel expert Simon Calder, has warned British tourists to look out for hidden charges on holiday bills. Recently, a British tourist shared his horror after he was charged extra in Italy for asking for a sandwich cut in half.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Simon said: “If you go to America, then the so-called split plate charge of typically five dollars (£3.93) is pretty standard in a number of places.
“You do, if you want to share a main course, quite often have to pay a bit extra although I don’t think I’ve ever seen a charge for an extra spoon if you’re sharing a dessert.
“But certainly, it’s actually standard practice not just in Italy, but in France, where the lowest prices are if you’re perched at the bar and the highest prices are if you’re enjoying the sunshine outside at a table.”
Tourists will find they are charged a higher price if they sit on the terrace in many European restaurants. In Barcelona, solo diners have complained they’ve been turned away from restaurants in favour of groups who will spend more.
Simon warned: “St Mark’s Square in Venice is absolutely the place where you’re most likely to be surprised by the bill.
“First of all, your coffee is likely to cost anywhere upwards of 12 euros (£10.39) and if the band strikes up while you are enjoying your coffee, that’s another six euros (£5.19) added to the bill that you weren’t expecting. Don’t ever go to a tourist place in St Mark’s Square.
“Everyone is watching their holiday spending, there’s plenty of places in the side streets of Venice where you can get a perfectly good espresso coffee perched at the bar for 1.50 euros (£1.30) and you really don’t need to fret about it.”
However, British tourists will still need to watch out for some unexpected charges in Italy and other top European destinations as Simon warned “there’s other stuff happening”.
He said: “The cover charge, typically two, three, four euros, covers the bread and the olives. You might not spot that in tiny print at the bottom of the menu but actually it’s quite common at my local Italian in south London.
“I’ve heard from people in Prague that they were charged in a bar for the salt, pepper and ketchup on the table even though they were only drinking.”
The travel expert shared that even he had been “royally fleeced on a few occasions” by extra charges on a bill. Simon said he’d been surprised in a beautiful Mediterranean restaurant after ordering the fish of the day.
He said: “As soon as you go off the menu and you can’t see the price, they can make up any figure you like. If you didn’t ask the price, that’s your fault.”
The travel expert urged tourists to always check the price before ordering a special menu item as they could be left horrified by their bill.
Source: express.co.uk