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Groupons In Europe - where & for what?

Posted by (Ottawa) on

I've been using Groupons during my travels in Europe for the last 3 years. I've been generally satisfied with the experience and have definitely saved money. I try to pick up one or two per week of travel, as a guideline. I'm curious of your experiences with this sort of thing.

I've had very good luck with restaurant deals, particularly in France. Since I was based there for a longer period, they were easy to use. I do check reviews for each place before I buy. The only time a Groupon was not honored was also in France, for a restaurant in Aix.

Sightseeing deals are harder to come by that fit my interests, although I did snag a half-off Cliffs of Moher cruise in Ireland. I've got a bus tour in London coming up for next month, which I wouldn't have done if it hadn't been for the Groupon offer: £10 instead of £29.

I've bought Groupons for France, Ireland, Austria, Italy and now Britain - maybe two dozen or so by now. I've had to use Google Translate for Italy and Austria, but I managed. I find that about 2-6 weeks out from my travel date is when I find deals that can fit in my overall itinerary.

How do you use "coupon" deals?
Where else have you found similar offers, like "GrabOne" in Ireland?

Posted by
9363 posts

In all honesty, I have never thought about it. My experience with Groupon has been very hit and miss here in the US, and I'm not sure I would want to trust travel plans to it at all. You might save money or, if someone doesn't honor it, you might waste money (not to mention the frustration factor). Buy one get one deals usually don't work for me because I travel alone a lot of the time.

Posted by
415 posts

I've had better luck with Groupon in Paris and Italy than here in Canada. I did have one problem in Italy with a cooking course as all classes were full for the time I was there. I try to book in advance if possible or if necessary. Email is good for that and I think sometimes it's mandatory to use the groupon booking engine for restaurant reservations.

I've used them for: restaurants, tours, and cooking classes. The best deal ever was a tour of the "secret corridor" in Florence Italy - the Vasari corridor is difficult to see unless you take a tour. I found a Groupon for 49 euro for a private tour of the corridor, the Uffizi and also parts of Florence. There were only 8 of use on the tour. I had done it before with a tour company - for twice as much money.

Although one cooking class did not pan out due to being full, the second cooking class I took was wonderful.

All of the restaurant deals have been very good.

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