Mailing home souveniers

I'd recommend going to stores that mail from the store if possible. They usually have all the paperwork handy and ready to go and usually have the shipping aspect down so it is really well packed. Analiese Friessen's in Rothenburg, Germany did a great job with my items. You may also want to know where DHLs or FedEx's are in the countries you will be going to, as you can usually purchase packing materials, etc. there and send it out. Do some research on-line or on this and other travel sites to see what may be available.

It depends on where you buy them in the country. If it is at a nicer store, many will have the option to send them home for you (and some will even go ahead and take the VAT off of the item since you will not be claiming the refund at the airport since you will not have the item with you). I bought a coo-coo clock for my dad in Germany and had it shipped directly to him instead of me carting it back to Madrid while I finished studying abroad. It wouldn't hurt to ask at the store if they offer this service; I think a lot, especially in more touristy areas, do.

Definitely have items shipped by the store if at all possible. You can sometimes save the VAT and the cost to ship will be no more and maybe less than doing it yourself. Use a credit card for protection just in case. To ship things yourself will be expensive depending on size and weight. I normally recommend using FedEx or UPS or DHL service as they are sometimes more reliable than the local post office. Most major cities have a Mailboxes Etc. office, which will pack and ship your items for you. I've had good luck with them. Just google them for each city you are in to find the branches. It's not so much a country that has traditional crafts or arts, as much as it is regions or cities. When buying things in Europe, look for unique items that you will cherish as part of your memory rather than things that you could find in the US. Maybe not as much in AK - but often people find they buy something in Europe only to find it cheaper back home.

A lot of those places will send your purchases home for you. That's what we did with our cuckcoo clock. I know they offered it Venice too.

Most of the stores have signs announcing they ship worldwide.

Having a store ship for you is the easiest option. However, we've sent flea market and other items home ourselves. You can usually find a neighborhood post office that will have the supplies you need but beware it is expensive and half the time, the shipping takes forever. Make sure you pack things twice as safely as you think you should because our boxes have come back hardly recognizable and in one case, opened by US Customs. I think we waited two months for our shipment to arrive from Scotland and everything was fine. Sending express will obviously get it home to you faster if you need to go that route (we just never have).