Mailing packages from Europe to USA

All have national post offices; all have the usual international commercial shippers. The former will be cheaper, the latter faster.

It is expensive either way.

If they aren't heavy it may be easier to keep with you.

Post office will be the cheapest but not completely reliable (in either that it arrives or arrives in one piece). Italy will be the least reliable so you might try shipping from Berlin or Stuttgart before you leave there. Sometimes they can pack it for you, but my experience is they don't do a very good job. English is not always spoken.

Most major cities have a Mailboxes Etc office and they can pack and ship via the standard UPS/Fed Ex carriers. But even the slowest option will be fairly expensive depending on size and weight. But they can insure it and pack it carefully for you. English is standard.

Anything you ship via a commercial carrier will arrive home before you. Be sure to send it to an address where someone will be there. If shipped via Post Office, you'll be planning your next trip and have long forgotten about the package before it arrives.

One question is what do you mean by "extra luggage items?" Are you not packing light? If souvenirs are not that heavy or bulky, why not carry them with you in an extra bag and pay the extra bag fee on the flight home (always the cheapest method but you have to carry it all with you).

Sometimes I think we get urban myths established here. One is that national post offices, and especially the Italians, are unreliable. It is one thing if you have had actual personal experience with the Italian post system, it is another if not. The national postal systems, if you use the less expensive option, will take the longest time which can be measured in a couple weeks or more. We have used a couple of the local postal systems to ship items home with no problems other than time. We are always home first. Last year we shipped at large piece of art work home from Montepulciano and I groaned when the shop owner was going to use the Italian post. After all I had heard the same stories and rumors about the Italian postal system. And this was a very expensive and delicate piece of art work. He said he had shipped all over the world with no problems and no complaints. It was sent the equivalent of US Priority mail and insured. Total shipping cost was 150 Euro. The weight was not great but it was about five foot square so it was a large package. It did take almost four weeks.

The funniest part of the whole process was when it was delivered by the US postal system. It was a middle aged, Italian female who recognized that the package was from Italy and had a lot of curiosity. When told it was a piece of art from Montepulciano she got really excited because that was her home territory. Then she suggested that we should unwrapped to make sure it hasn't been damaged. When was the last time a US postal employee wanted to hang around to see if something was damaged? So we unwrapped it and spend about another fifteen minutes discussing where we had bought and where we were going to hang it, etc. Later we shipped some pottery home with same experience.

Our experience with the national postal systems and the Italian has always been positive. And remember, if using the local postal system a significant portion of that time will be in the hands of the US postal system. It may be slow but we have always received what we have shipped.

If you want to get an estimate of what it would cost to ship stuff home go to any of the Fed Ex, UPS, webs and enter some estimates of the possible weight and shape of the package with different locations and you can judge for yourself what might work better for you.

flutterbird42,

ive been mailing packages home from just about every country i have visited.

what i can tell you is that most of them will have their own version of the US Post Office. Also, some of them will have their version of the "Priority Mail" boxes that maybe free and maybe not.

you can try googling for each countries postal service and see what rates they offer. you may have to dig for it or use the translated google pages, but it will give you an idea on rates.

what i have found so far is that there is usually a price break for packages < 2kg. Once you go beyond that, it gets more expensive. I will go out on a limb here and say to expect to pay about 60+ USD for a package around 2 kg (4 lbs) and this is from my experience so far. A disclaimer is that i havent been to half of the places you listed. Germany will be about 20~30 USD for 2kg (4 lbs). Paris, you can go to LaPost and check out their rates but you will have to dig for it. Amsterdam, i havent sent anything from there since that was usually my last stop and i just lugged it home. One thing though is that they dont have a post office anymore. you have to go to a convenience store for shipping.

i looked at the standard global shipping companies and i found that the rates were high(er) than i wanted. also, finding an outlet wasnt easy either. Germany has DHL all around the place and i feel its like their "post office" in general.

what you may want to do is to go to each country post office web site and look/jot down rates for the first 3 or 4 kgs of weight and cost. that way you will know what you into and if one country is really expensive, then hold off sending it until the next one. also, look at buying one of those travel scales. i bought one and made a long strap to go around boxes so i can have an idea on weight and cost before i go there. the scales dont take up much room and are handy in my opinion.

one handy rule of thumb (ROT) is that 1 kg = 2.2 lbs

happy trails.

edit to add.

what i also do is to bring a roll of shipping tape. it doesnt take that much space and you can use it and leave the rest when youre done. what i also found out is that not all boxes are made the same. there was a country i visited last year and the cardboard reminded me of the Chinese cardboard boxes that feel light as a feather and disintegrate when subjected to moisture. so, i always wrap the snot out of those boxes and also wrap the "To" address label so it wont get torn/worn off.

i also bring self addressed shipping labels with me with the "USA" added below the zip code. its saves time for me and also all handlers can read the nice legible printing.

I have mailed souvenirs (or books, going book rate) home from many countries of Western Europe, and all my packages have arrived safely. These boxes tended to be pretty heavy and to cost $40-50 each. (I have also done my share of online shopping for items that came from Europe, Turkey, Lithuania, or Uzbekistan by regular mail.) Many post offices sell shipping supplies, but you also have to be prepared to look around. Many POs sell flat-rate international shipping boxes, similar to what the USPS has, which means you're no longer asking about a different rate for the slow boat versus air mail.

Rather than sending home extra luggage items, one light-packing strategy is to bring older clothes and items that you are willing to leave behind in Europe. I would no longer spend money to mail my guidebooks home, since it's better to buy the latest edition for your next trip.