Keep This Important Time Difference In Mind To Avoid Unnecessary Blunders In Europe

Some of the most magical travel memories are forged out of spontaneity — like when you get lost wandering through a historic city and stumble across the perfect little cafe, or when you lose track of time at a lively pub and end up staying out until the wee hours of the morning. There are definitely times in every trip when it's worth throwing your itinerary out the window and opting for unstructured fun, but planning a trip requires that you're able to be on time for certain reservations. Most of the time you're going to want to make sure you're able to stick to some kind of schedule. On a trip to Europe, that will require understanding the 24-hour clock.

Unfortunately for those of us who are chronically running ten minutes late, a reservation with a specific time slot is often required when visiting world-famous tourist attractions like historical sites and museums. The busiest and most popular spots are pretty strict when it comes to entrance times, so that things don't become overcrowded. If you only have a one-day trip in Paris and you miss your reservation to the Louvre, you might miss out on a once in a lifetime experience. It's even more crucial you show up on time for your transportation. Missing your plane or train could put you in a difficult (and expensive) situation.

In order to avoid confusion and ensure you don't majorly screw up, you should practice telling time using the 24-hour clock before you leave for your European trip. If you're from the U.S., you're probably used to the 12-hour clock, which isn't the norm in many European nations.

There are several different methods of time-keeping, and where you're from likely dictates which one you're most comfortable with. Most people are probably familiar with the 24-hour clock or the 12-hour clock — but there are a few less common methods like the 6-hour clock used in Thailand. In the U.S., using the 12-hour clock to tell time is the norm. The 12-hour time convention dates back to ancient times. In Egypt, the day was divided up into two different 12-hour periods — day and night.

Time was measured using a sundial during the day and a water clock at night. Dividing the day in two 12-hour halves made it simpler to tell time using those early clocks. The first part of the day is from 12AM until 11:59AM. The AM is an abbreviation for ante meridiem, which is Latin for "before midday," and the PM is Latin for post meridiem or "after midday." It seems simple enough, but it's easy for problems to arise with the 12-hour clock.

At some point or another you've probably been guilty of accidentally setting an alarm clock for 6PM instead of 6AM. This simple mistake can have annoying consequences like running late to the airport, or deadly consequences if you're in charge of military operations. The 24-hour clock method is also known as "military time" in the U.S., because it's what U.S. armed forces use for accuracy. The 24-hour clock assigns each hour of the day a number: 1-24. It might be easy to mess up 11AM vs 11PM, but there's no mistaking the number 11 for the number 23.

Like the U.S. military, most European countries prefer to use the 24-hour clock. So, if your train leaves at 1:15 in the afternoon, it will say that you have a 13:15 departure time on your ticket. In theory, it's easier to tell time using the 24-hour clock, but if you've used the 12-hour clock your entire life, it may take some getting used to. It's a good idea to practice a bit before leaving for your trip if you want to avoid unnecessary blunders abroad. One easy way to begin to integrate military time is to change the settings on your smart phone. On an iPhone you simply go into Settings, select Date and Time, and then turn on 24-hour time. Just getting yourself used to seeing the different set of numbers may be enough to easily adjust when you arrive in Europe.

If you need to convert a particular time from the 12-hour clock to the 24-hour clock, things can get a bit confusing. Like the 12-hour clock, the 24-hour clock uses four digits. The first two numbers measure the hour, and the second set measures the minutes. They're usually (but not always) separated by a colon. On the 24-hour clock, midnight is 00:00. From there, each hour is chronological up to 23:59. Then the clock resets.

Most of the morning hours are the same in both methods of time-keeping. 3AM on a 12-hour clock is 03:00 on a 24-hour clock. The differences occur from noon until midnight. Military time begins counting up after noon. 1PM is 13:00, 2PM is 14:00, and so on until the clock resets at midnight.