Getting thing shipped to "someplace" in Europe from the usa?

We have made purchases at Amazon.IT and Amazon.co.uk several times. You can use your US account sign in, but you won't get Prime benefits unless you sign up for Prime in that country. You can usually (???) get a month of Prime free on trial, though. Have it sent to your lodging. Not sure about Amazon Lockers there but you should be able to explore specific cities in those country sites. (See also Amazon.DE and Amazon.FR, for example.)

Anything your kids send you will cost not only in shipping but potentially in tariffs. We had that experience once when living in Italy and our son shipped us something that resulted in a 94 Euro fee to receive it!

Have you considered that you’re staying more than 90 days in the Schengen Zone?

I count 87 days in the Schengen zone ( April 1 to June 26). Close, but compliant with the 90 day limit.

I buy things from Amazon.de all the time. But its not like the US. Its sort of expensive and it takes days if not weeks to receive what is bought Forget the order in the next 2 hours and it will be on your door step in the morning.

Better than doing Amazon, why not try and live within the economy and culture of the country you are visiting? Plenty of stores for what ever you need and finding them and shopping in them is part of the experience.

Joe32F and Veteran Traveler, I did not see a list of the countries that they are visiting. Have you considered that 40% of the countries with real estate in Europe are not in Schengen? There is more to Europe than the EU and Schengen.

Shipping luggage to Europe via DHL:

https://www.dhl.com/discover/en-us/global-logistics-advice/essential-guides/Guide-to-shipping-luggage-overseas-before-you-travel

AI Response:

To ship luggage to Europe, you can use a dedicated luggage shipping service like Luggage Forward, SendMyBag, ShipGo, or DHL.

Maybe log into one of the country-specific Amazon sites, create a dummy order, and see what options are available. I believe that when I looked into this for a trip to Italy, lockers or manned commercial pickup options were available.

Keep in mind that much of Europe is not a technological backwater, and in some areas, such as transportation, they are decades ahead of the States.

You don't want someone in the US trying to ship you something they order on Amazon to ship to you in a foreign country. This spring we were either in the Belgium countryside or French countryside in the middle of nowhere, when we passed the largest Amazon warehouse I've ever seen; so do it from within the country you are in.

Certainly for the UK section of your journey we have Amazon lockers everywhere, they are proliferating at supermarkets and railway stations especially (even unstaffed stations).

Like others I would question, in your UK cities, what you can possibly need that you can't buy here, given that you are not going remotely off the beaten track.

I've ordered from Amazon all over Europe using my regular Amazon account. I've had things delivered in one or even two days. Sometimes longer. You will know how long it is scheduled to take when you order.

I can tell you that sending things internationally is very expensive.

I sent a small package from the UK to the US weighing no more than 2 kg and the cost was over $40. I have to do the same next month.

You'd be surprised how easy it is to find almost anything you need in Europe. Use Google to find where the item you need is sold.

As someone who can (and does) use Amazon and other USA providers as well as those within Europe, I can only advise that, for the most part, you should plan to purchase what you need on the economy. Every time a package has to cross a border it is subject to Customs. For example, a $115 purchase from the UK, delivered in Germany cost me more than the package was worth in delivery and customs fees, and took 4 weeks to arrive. Often packages will be held by customs to dispute the actual value of the cargo, and they will require you to prove the costs with a copy of the invoice and proof of payment. Other issues can include the packages also being held by the carrier (DHL, FedEx, etc.) at their local offices for added delivery costs and payment of import duties or taxes. Use of the postal services is only reliable within that country. In Italy, for example, international mail can take weeks for delivery.

The most difficult things to buy in the EU are medications that are over the counter in the USA. Very often they require a prescription and are only available through a pharmacy. You need to bring those with you.

Looking back over the past years orders from Amazon US, the majority of what i buy from them is media in English, as that can be hard to find, especially the rather obscure non-fiction my studies require. Even with Prime books can take months to arrive, and I have access to delivery via the USPS, which is a major benefit.

Be advised, there are a large proportion of Amazon providers who simply will not ship overseas. Amazon will also direct you to their local servers for items available with that branch's delivery zones. And last, many items not available over here cannot be shipped via Amazon, or any vendor, due to local laws and regulations (such as those pesky medicinal items).

If you do have items shipped from outside the country of delivery you should know they will be opened, and anything not allowed will result in it's loss, and/or legal penalties.

KGC is correct.

Europe is not a uniform place, so I cant make a generalization of what you can expect, I can only relate what I go through in one European country, Hungary.

• If you ship from the US to me in Hungary it will take a week or more just to clear customs and I will have to go to a customs office to claim it.
• Here in Hungary I use Amazon.de (German) because its all EU and there is no customs that way.
• I use my US Amazon account.
• In general prices on Amazon.de are not as good as the US
• The exchange rate offered by Amazon isnt good, so i pay in dollars.
• In general a lot less is available on Amazon.de compared to the US
• In at least 25 orders in the last 2 years absolutely nothing has arrived in less than 4 days. The average has been about a week.
• Ordered a few things on 21 November. They will be delivered on 6 December
• Not every item on Amazon.de will even ship to Hungary.
• Amazon shipping prices are crazy high. If you spend $25 on something, count on $15 in shipping fees. Then there are sometimes packing fees too.
• There are no Amazon mail boxes in Hungary.

Europe has shopping malls just like the US. They are full of the same sorts of stores that can be found in the US. In a matter of a few hours there isnt much that I could imagine a traveler would need that you cant find in the mall. You get the experience of doing something "real" in a European country.

It is not so simple to ship stuff intentionally because you must comply with the local laws as well as regional laws and pay the relevant customs duties were applicable.

First of all there EU/EFTA (=EEA for short) product rules you must comply with and in particular you can't import anything that is banned in this region (and from your map it applies to most of your trip). Many US medicines, foods and consumer products are banned in the EU/EFTA. So for example if the medicine you take is banned in Europe may be allowed to a bring sufficient supply with you when you enter the region, but not imported afterwards through a shipping locker. The same goes with knock offs of well known products etc....

The other kicker is that the US does not have trade and similar agreements with the EEA that make the US a third country in our terminology. That means that each member state is free to set their own rules for dealing with the US on all matters not covered by EEA. So on top of checking EEA rules you'll have to check the rules of each state as well to determine the customs duties to be paid.

So I'd say the chances of you being able to ship directly to a drop box in Europe is zero. Your going to need a shipping agent in between, a DHL or UPS etc.. They will have to process the goods through customs, provide the required paperwork, follow up on any queries the customs have etc.... this can be costly and time consuming resulting in you not getting your shipments on time.

On the other hand Europe is a sophisticated market ($14T), so you should be able to get everything you need here. And yes we have Amazon and it has most of the same products, but shipped from inside the EEA. Check out www.amazon.de, to get a good idea of what is around.

Thanks everyone! I assumed it would the a problem but now I know. Its also good info that I can use the local Amazon (country specific) to get something I cannot find in a store.

BTW, we are NOT in schengen zone for 90 days, currently just 87 days then Train over to the UK/Scotland/Ireland for a month or so. I thought the dates were listed on the map. We left a few days leeway in case we get stuck somewhere. -Bill

I hear you on the 87, but that's awfully close when in such a long journey things can happen - strikes, weather, accidents, illness, any number of things which can slow you down but none of which are excuses for overstaying.

Do remember that days of travel count, if you are in the Schengen area for one minute in a day it counts as a day.

Have a great trip!!

Thanks everyone! I assumed it would the a problem but now I know. Its
also good info that I can use the local Amazon (country specific) to
get something I cannot find in a store.

Country specific is not always an option. There is Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweeden, Turkey, UK, Belgium. Still not too sure about your aversion to shopping in a country. Mail order would be my last choice.

"Country specific is not always an option. There is Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweeden, Turkey, UK, Belgium. Still not too sure about your aversion to shopping in a country. Mail order would be my last choice. "

No aversion, just never happens.

BTW, a map of where we are going is linked in the first post, I noticed you said something about not seeing a list..

-Bill

I think a lot of people missed your map, Bill. And it's a very cool map! I'm thinking of using it for a trip although I don't have an RV. But I'm assuming you could do this with a car and/or public transportation?

Very nice online tool!

Here's the link for those who didn't see it above: Map of Europe 2025 trip

Your dates might well have been listed on your map, but not everyone has time to click through every link in every post to pull information .

My US family knows to never send us anything. I’ve heard stories of people being dinged because the birthday card was too thick.

Re book downloads: living in France I’ve had Amazon.UK deny me a download which I’ve subsequently been able to get on Amazon.com (USA).

If you use Pepto Bismol, it’s not for sale anywhere in Europe. Others, correct me if you know a country that okays it.

I think a lot of people missed your map, Bill. And it's a very cool map! I'm thinking of using it for a trip although I don't have an RV. But I'm assuming you could do this with a car and/or public transportation? Very nice online tool!

Unfortunately its not free anymore. I used it since 2017 for our RV trips and when looking for something to do similar planning for Europe I found nothing that would work for such a long trip, Most could only handle a couple cities and didn't provide a map. Tripit will handle about 30 days from what their support said, so for my reservations I am splitting tripit into 4 trips. Still no maps though. Although Google My Maps might fill in that void, but I really wanted something that could help me see distances and approx travel time (by vehicle) between places. -Bill

I've been generally following this thread but I'm one of those who doesn't ever click on links which have been put up by posters here unless I know them, so I've never seen the list or the map.

So my comment is by its very nature very vague. Sorry.

I've been generally following this thread but I'm one of those who doesn't ever click on links which have been put up by posters here unless I know them, so I've never seen the list or the map. So my comment is by its very nature very vague. Sorry.

If your pc is windows 10 or 11 go into programs and features and turn on Windows Sandbox and you can open anything or test anything in there as its sandboxed from your actual OS, and once you close it, its gone forever. That's how I open most things I am not familiar with and some that I am, at least the ones that seem ok when I look at the url. But these days, any site, including well known sites and could infect your machine with malware. Its also a great setup to shop for things that you don't want cookies that cause all sorts of targeted ads from then on.

-Bill

Bill, please be aware that that sandbox is not quite as secure as they might like you to believe. If a virus gets into your machine, that sandbox is not going to keep it as isolated as windows would like you to believe. I would not use that as the safe method to click on unknown links