It’s easy to stand out as a tourist when you don’t follow the social norms of a country’s culture. Beyond that, there are some seemingly harmless habits that can actually get you in a bit more trouble. Smarter Travel runs down eleven weird laws in other countries that tourists should know about.
Photo by StockSnap.
To be clear, this isn’t a list of obscure, outdated laws like “you can’t feed donkeys carrots on Wednesdays” or something. These are laws that are actively enforced and could actually impact you. For example:
- The United Arab Emirates has laws against kissing in public. You could be fined, and a few years ago, one couple was actually jailed.
- In Venice, Italy, you can get fined for feeding pigeons. The law was enforced in 2008, with fines starting at 50 euros.
- In cities like Paris and Madrid, you could get fined for tossing out your subway ticket. You’ll need it to exit the station, and many tourists throw it away before reaching the exit, unable to prove that they bought the ticket. There are usually signs that warn you of this, but some travellers are still caught off guard. Before visiting any city, you’ll want to research how their public transportation works.
Of course, this list is a great reminder that you should research key info about any country before you travel. Some of these laws are fairly well known, but a few may catch you off guard. Check out Smarter Travel’s full list at the link below.
11 Weird Laws That Could Ruin Your Next Trip [Smarter Travel]
Comments
5 responses to “Watch Out For These Weird Laws When Travelling To Other Countries”
So, just like most public transport networks?
I thought the same thing – you can get fined for this in both Sydney and Adelaide.
And London, and Melbourne
Yeah I’m yet to ride on a train network that doesn’t require you to display a ticket to leave the station…
Sweden and Denmark – they’ll check on the train, but there’s no one doing duty at station platforms.