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How To Plan A Trip: Easy 15 Step Travel + Vacation Planner

by Mark and Kristen Morgan

Published: July 17, 2019

Updated: December 31, 2023

This ultimate how to plan a trip guide will transform your destination daydreams into travel reality within just 15 easy-to-follow steps.

Adventure is calling! But where should you go? How do you get there? And what do you need to organize before you leave home?

This one-stop travel planning resource covers all you need to know about preparing for any trip.

But how can you trust us to cover all of the important travel planning aspects?

The goal is to walk you through 15 simple and stress free steps, from ideas to bookings and from packing to walking out the door. We’ll take you on a journey from idea to reality.

Personally, when we plan a trip, we know that breaking the process up into sections works best. We feel less overwhelmed when we plan in manageable pieces.

Follow the steps in this guide and you’ll see just how easy planning a trip can be. Let’s travel plan!

The Travel Planning Rollercoaster

Planning any vacation is like being on a rollercoaster called the Emotion Overload. In the beginning the rollercoaster climbs slowly, building your excitement before plummeting into overwhelmed anxiety.

The second climb is determination and hard work, followed by a loop de loop as information spins around your brain in circles.

And just when it seems the ride will never end, the carriage comes to an abrupt halt: your plans are finally ready.

Break Up Planning A Trip Into 3 Sections

We are all different. Genetics, personality traits, habits and attitudes make us all unique. But although we are all unique, common patterns emerge among travelers.

Most long term travelers tend to book the first week or month in detail. Once comfortable with the whole idea of backpacker life, they tend to plan just a few days in advance each time they move.

Because who knows what might come up? Those taking shorter trips, such as a 2 week vacation, typically plan almost all specific details in advance.

Because who wants to lose valuable time planning what to do that day with just 2 weeks away from work

No matter how you prefer to travel or how long you intend to travel, the planning process can always be broken down into 3 manageable sections. You will make life easier and less like your brain might explode.

Plan, Book And Pack

These 3 travel planning sections encompass the same repetitive processes we all follow, every time we travel. When we repeat them enough times, they become autonomous.

You plan your travel goals, you book the essentials, you pack your bags and you go.

But even when taken back to basics, each travel planning section can be time consuming, frustrating and overwhelming. We know from first hand experience when planning multiple long term travel routes.

The key is to break down each travel planning section into smaller, easier to accomplish steps. That way you will eliminate stress and feel the positive reinforcement each time you complete a step.

Follow the easily achievable steps listed below within each travel planning section. Begin to plan your trip in advance, take each step one at a time and we guarantee you will avoid feeling overwhelmed.

All you need to do then is watch your dream trip create itself before your eyes.

Need help with packing? You might like to use our ultimate travel packing resource .

Section 1: Establish Your Travel Goals

Let’s start at the beginning, the daydream stage.

You know it’s time for a vacation or a long term trip but right now you’re just floating ideas around.

Ask yourself these important travel planning questions (H and 5 W’s):

• How much time will you spend traveling?
• When do you want to leave?
• Who will you travel with?
• What shape are your finances in?
• Where in the world do you want to go?
• Why is it so difficult to save up for your trip?

This is one of our favorite parts of planning a trip because everything sounds wonderful! But before you can book or pack for your potential trip, you need to figure out the basics.

Research Is Key To Planning Effectively

The fundamentals of how to plan a trip begin and end with research.

Every aspect of your plans will require research, from booking flights to buying travel insurance and from packing your bags to visa requirements.

But research starts all the way back at the beginning, before e-tickets arrive in your iPhone wallet and you’re debating between packing your tan vs black shoes.

Research begins with deciding on the most basic of travel planning principles. But don’t confuse basic with a lack of importance. The goals you set at this stage will consequently shape your entire trip.

You will spend a lot of time on google, the same as we do before every trip. If you embrace the research you will do just fine.

By reading this post you are already well into establishing your travel goals and researching travel planning techniques.

That gives you a hand up over other travelers.

You will be more prepared and ultimately have a better trip. The first section of travel planning is designed for you to turn daydreams into actionable reality.

By the end of this section, you will know everything you need to know about the trip you’re going to take. Then, you can start booking!

Consider Your Travel Limitations

We don’t want to rain on your parade but it is critical at this point to manage your expectations and be aware of your travel limitations.

Every one of us is guilty of getting carried away in life, but when it comes to travel planning, be very careful not to take on more than you can chew. Or afford.

Our advice at this stage is to be honest and realistic about what you think is achievable.

• Can you realistically finance a trip to country X and city Y with your budget?
• Is it safe to go to hiking in National Park Z in Winter?
• Do you really want to travel solo or would you prefer company?
• Can you quit your job sooner and still afford your year around the world?
• Are you able to squeeze and extra few holiday days out of your job?

1. How Much Time Do You Spend Traveling?

The thrill of choosing where you want to go on vacation or long term travel is by far the most exciting part of planning a trip. There’s no question about that.

However, before you conjure up your dream Vietnam itinerary or US road trip route , the first piece of the planning puzzle is determining how much time you have on your side.

Time is one aspect of life no amount of money can control.

• On a short beach or hiking vacation from work, will you travel for 7 days, 10 days or 14 days?
• Are you able to take a 3 month sabbatical to backpack South East Asia?
• Or maybe you’ve been thinking about quitting your job to travel without an end date in mind?
• Are your dates flexible or do you have to stick to specific timeframes?
• Do you work remotely or at a physical location?
• Are the kids back in school on Monday morning?

Carefully consider the time you have available and remember there are implications to consider with the amount of time you allocate for your trip.

Example : You will need more money to finance a 4 month trip when compared to 2 months. It sounds obvious, but the point is to ensure you get the balance right between time and travel funds.

Once you establish the amount of time and any specific dates you have to play with, move onto the next planning steps.

2. When Do You Plan To Leave On Your Trip?

The date you are aiming to leave on your trip is vitally important to your personal travel planning process.

Are you planning a trip way in advance? Or are you last minute planning? The subsequent steps will change focus depending on the answer to those questions.

For those planning a last minute spontaneous trip, you will need to double down and get to work.

Conversely, if you are planning a summer vacation that’s 6 months out, you can relax and take each of the plan a trip step slowly.

It is important to remember that people work more efficiently in different ways.

For us, Kristen works more efficiently when planning early and taking things at a gentle pace, whereas Mark works best under pressure with the clock ticking.

Timing Is Crucial

Consider the timing of your proposed trip.

You will have to account for high, shoulder or low season as well as weather conditions for the time of year you visit and finances will be impacted by how well you plan your leaving date.

Example : Your trip is shaping up to be a 3 week European adventure in Summer. You better believe it is going to cost you! Would you be better off planning to leave in Spring or Fall to suit your budget more appropriately?

If you plan to quit your job in 6 months and travel the world for a year, now is the time to get stuck into planning. A year is a long time and the world is a big place.

Leaving a trip like this until the last minute means you could risk missing out on once in a lifetime opportunities.

Working out the most effective time leave on your adventure gives you the framework to set achievable planning and financial  goals . 

Remind yourself of the 7 P’s of planning: Piss Poor Planning Promotes Piss Poor Performance.

3. Who Do You Plan To Travel With?

Chances are high you already know exactly who you will travel with before you begin to plan a trip. Maybe you’re going on a family holiday or a romantic couples weekend getaway ?

In which case, your travel partners are nailed on. The same applies for us. We always travel as a couple which makes Step 3 obsolete when we plan a trip. 

However, many travelers planning trips are undecided between exploring solo or with a friend.

Our world adventures have enabled us to meet hundreds of others traveling. Solo travelers and those traveling as couples or larger groups.

There are pros and cons to all types of travel, just like most things in life.

The important thing to understand for first time travelers who feel anxious about traveling solo is that you will meet people along the way. Even as a couple, you will meet dozens of other couples on longer trips, particularly in Asia and South America.

So, don’t be afraid to plan your dream trip if you don’t have anyone to travel with initially, you will make a ton of friends on the road.

4. What Shape Are Your Finances In?

Working out a rough travel budget is arguably the most important aspect of planning any trip. That remains true if you are leaving tomorrow or in a year.

Take a cautious approach rather than an overly optimistic approach. You will spend more money than you think, trust us on that one.

It’s better to have money left over than run out of cash a long way from home. We’ve seen it happen.

• How much money do you currently have saved up for your trip?
• How much money can you save between now and the date you plan to leave?
• Do you need to get a second job or a second income to bulk your budget out?
• Do you have any cash in reserve in case of emergency?

Before you start dreaming of your 2 week luxury beach vacation to the Maldives or 3 months backpacking through Australia and New Zealand, you need to be realistic about your budget.

Travel Smarter, Not Harder

A good rule of thumb is to consider yours destinations around your budget.

Instead, consider your budget and travel to a place where that same amount of money will allow you to have a much better experience.

See how much we spent in 1 month in Vietnam to use as a reference for travel costs.

If you are planning a short vacation, you will have much more control over finances. You know you’re going to get paid from your job again, so a splurge isn’t out of the question.

In contrast, long term travelers will constantly be checking finances. Once they leave for their trip – that digital bank balance value will decrease every single day until the end.

Travel Tip : When planning a trip around your budget, always always always leave some room for buffer in case of emergency. We’re all used to living to our means and it’s easy to plan down to the last penny but trust us, you never know when you might need a spare US$ 100.

5. Where Do You Plan To Travel?

Now and only now, despite wanting nothing else but to start planning your travel itinerary. It is time to plan your travel destination and route.

You will thank us for leaving you hanging this long because now you have a firm grasp on your travel budget, whether you will be traveling alone or with a group, how long you can travel for and when you want to leave.

Here are some of our top travel inspiration suggestions :

• Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks in Wyoming, USA.
• Budapest is a wonderful European city break.
• New York State Parks like Letchworth and Buttermilk Falls are perfect day trips.
• The Atacama Desert in Chile is mind blowing.
• Los Angeles , San Francisco and San Diego are awesome cities to discover.
• Andalusia in Spain is a stunning region to explore.
• Pacific Coast Highway , Utah and South Dakota  are epic road trips.

The beauty of leaving this step until you know your budget is having the ability to plan your vacation or itinerary with a clear understanding of which places are feasible and which places you will have to exclude based on price, distance, safety and so on.

Planning travel itineraries takes a lot of work. We find it to be our favorite and least favorite part of traveling – in equal measure! Excitement and frustration.

It is vital you consider public transport routes, airports, safety, hotel availability, time of year, activities on offer, food and so much more.

Choosing A Travel Route

A question we often get asked is: “How do you know where you want to go?”

We do something our ancestors have been doing for over 2000 years: Look at a map!

Seriously, buy a huge map and stick it on your wall. Study each continent and indicate places you would love to visit using pins or colored sticky notes.

If looking at maps doesn’t help, here are some excellent alternatives to find travel inspiration:

• Read the wide range of destinations we write about on our travel blog !
• Read other blogs too. There are hundreds of fantastic first hand resources on the internet written by people who have been to the places you want to visit.
• Change up your google searches to ‘the best place to travel in X year’ or ‘the most obscure travel destinations’.
• Be creative, look for specific events, festivals or concerts around the world.

Once you have a shortlist of dream destinations, fire up google maps and prepare to lose yourself for hours. Design mock travel itineraries lasting 10 days, 2 weeks, a month, 3 months or however long you plan to travel.

6. Why Is It So Hard To Save For Your Trip?

You’ve meticulously planned your next adventure. Now, you need to stump up the cash to pay for it.

Whether you are going on a one week trekking holiday, a one month live aboard scuba diving course or traveling through Africa and the Middle East for six months, you will need to save up enough money to pay for the pleasure.

You already worked out your finances and travel plans in steps 4 and 5, so you have an actionable target to reach. Is your departure date 3 months away? 6 months? A year?

However far ahead you plan to leave, you might need to put a savings process in place to make up the difference.

Saving for vacations or long term travel is HARD. Your excitement is at fever pitch but time seems to stand still. Days at work start to drag more and more the closer you get to the big day.

Be Disciplined

The key to financial success can be found in one simple word, Discipline .

It’s easy to start well with the best intentions but it’s equally as easy to lose focus. Put yourself on a strict no-spending regime if you don’t have the money in savings to pay for travel costs in advance.

Make judgement calls on every single expenditure – is it want or need? Do you want that thing or do you genuinely need it?

If it’s a want, don’t spend the money, save it. Be disciplined .

Once your bank account begins to swell, fight the temptation to ‘treat yourself’. If you think you won’t be tempted, think again. 

That 80″ TV you wanted is only US$ 1,000 and you now have 10 of those saved for your trip – can you get by on US$ 9,000?

No you can’t! Put the TV back! Be disciplined .

Plan A Trip Section 1 Complete: Your Tentative Travel Plans Are In Place

You are officially one third of the way towards being travel ready.

There are more challenges to come but you’ve nailed down the hardest part of travel planning.

Narrowing down where to visit and formulating the perfect itinerary is by far the most difficult part of planning a trip for us.

The word perfect was used for a reason, we both have FOMO (fear of missing out) so it takes us an age to finalize our trips.

With the whole world as your travel option, deciding where to go and where not to go can be overwhelming.

Personally, we just take it one step at a time based on our budget and places on our travel bucket list. We systematically include and exclude places, activities and routes until we agree on a winning formula.

Do not feel disheartened when you think you’ve cracked your route and budget but for whatever reason it just doesn’t work out. Go back to the drawing board and start again fresh. You will end up with an even better itinerary.

Section 2: Take Action + Book

We can all daydream about vacations or backpacking the world for a year. Or imagine ourselves lounging on a beautiful powdery white sand beach in Thailand  and hiking into the Grand Canyon .

But until you bite the bullet, until you commit by clicking the buy now button on flights and hotels, a dream is all it will be.

Once you take that giant leap, it becomes tangible.

How many times have you planned a travel route mentally and thought about how amazing it would be and all the things you would do on your trip only to snap back to reality in the office?

Be brave and courageous. Take the plunge and book the important elements of your travel plan. Does this sound like a good story?

“Well, I was going to book a life changing 3 month backpacking trip through South America, but didn’t bother in the end.” That sounds like missed opportunity to us!

Myths About Booking In Advance

Like many other things in life, travel planning gets easier with experience. You learn which aspects of the way you planned and booked your trip worked and which aspects caused problems or lost you money.

However, one thing even the most savvy or accomplished traveler doesn’t always get right is how much of the trip to book in advance.

Here’s the problem travelers face on every trip:

If you book in advance, you plan ahead, book all hotels, buses, trains, activities and flights on your trip.

But what happens? You have no flexibility. If you love a place, you can’t stay longer. If you hate a place, you can’t leave immediately.

And if you don’t book in advance, you plan nothing and have complete flexibility. But you spend all of your travel days booking the next place to stay that night or your flight the next day.

Last minute flights and hotels will have far fewer options and may have seriously inflated prices.

How To Successfully Book A Trip

Here are a few tips to help you book your next trip:

• Find the perfect balance between being organized and flexible.
• Book all of your major trans-continental long haul flights before you leave home.
• Book any hotel splurges you have identified.
• Book any bucket list activities (such as W Trek in Chile) in advance.
• Leave the rest of your trip open ended.

We meet travelers with binders full of confirmation documents who prefer to plan the entire trip down to the ground, even dinner reservations.

Then there are those who prefer to book nothing more than a one way flight and decide everything on the fly (pun intended).

There is no one size fits all best practice or answer to this relentless travel quandary. It depends entirely on your own preferred travel style.

7. Book Your Major Flights To Seal The Deal

Now the real work can begin.

Booking your first flight is the single most exciting and nerve racking moment of travel planning. In one single moment of commitment, you turn your daydream into a reality.

There are numerous flight searching platforms and you can use any you prefer. We personally use – every time we fly and recommend to our friends and family:  Skyscanner .

We’ve used each of the major flight search engines and we find Skyscanner to offer the easiest user experience, have the most flight options and consistently lowest prices.

But our favorite aspects of Skyscanner are having the ability (and flexibility) to search for flights by whole month and whole country.

Example: Let’s say you want to fly New York to London.

Instead of selecting an exact date with +/- 3 days (which is what most flight searches offer) you can select by whole month of May for example.

A flight calendar will show the prices of flights on every day that month and between all airports in New York / London.

Check flights with Skyscanner here and start searching for your next flight.

Avoid Flight Price Myths

Booking flights can go one of two ways:

• You prefer to search for a flight, find one at a price you feel is fair and book it. 
• You are the type who prefers flight price roulette, playing the algorithm game.

But the thing is you can save money on flights if you put in some research and effort. That being said, there are a lot of myths and legends about booking flights.

Booking International flights on a Tuesday or domestic flights on a Sunday will save big money. Not necessarily true. Prices fluctuate many times a day, week and month.

Clearing cookies and searching incognito will save money. Unfortunately not, no evidence to support that.

Quick Tips On Booking Flights

Our number one tip for booking flights is to be flexible. That’s the way you will save big money.

Look at prices around the dates you want to fly using Skyscanner, you will see how drastically different they can be.

Book your long haul flights as far in advance as possible. The last thing you want is a mammoth cost on your flight home.

Keep an eye on prices 9 months in advance, 6 months 3 months in advance, 1 month in advance and last minute. Watch how much they fluctuate over time.

Research thoroughly, search regularly and build up patterns of prices.

Put flight alerts on specific flights of interest to you. You will receive notifications of changes.

If you see a flight you want and it’s cheap, book it! Don’t wait for it drop by US$ 5 because you’ll find it will go up by US$ 50 instead. Know the right time to pull the trigger.

Flight booking search engines are built on algorithms like everything else online. The key is not to outsmart them, just work them to your advantage.

READ MORE : How to book cheap flight when you travel

8. Book Ground Transport

Booking ground transport in advance depends on where in the world you are traveling, the timing of your trip, the length of your trip and how rigid and flexible you plan to travel.

Example : When we traveled 3 months in South America, we booked a 24 hour bus from Bariloche to El Chalten in Argentina before we left the UK. But we did not book any sleeper buses or trains in Vietnam in advance.

We visited Argentina in January, during Peak Season. Flights from Bariloche to El Calafate were expensive (and a bus to El Chalten is required) so we took the much cheaper bus.

The bus books up in advance and we wanted to guarantee seats so we booked in advance.

Conversely, we visited Northern and Central Vietnam in October and knew we would be able to jump on any bus or train we wanted. No need to sacrifice flexibility.

Most Cost Effective Transport Methods By Region

• Europe – Cheap budget flights with Ryanair, EasyJet etc between countries / Trains within countries.
• SE Asia – Cheap flights with Jetstar, VietJet, AirAsia, Scoot, LionAir, TigerAir etc between countries / Sleeper Trains & Buses within countries.
• South America – Flights hit and miss for price. We found Chile and Peru had cheaper flights than Argentina. Best way to get around is by Bus but be aware, some of them are LONG!
• North America – Road trip is the best way to explore. Buy a cheap second hand car or hire a car drive point A to B. Trains and domestic flights are expensive. Traveling by bus is a cheap option but not a great one.

The take home is to understand the region you plan to travel through.

How are public transport prices impacted by season? Variations in prices if booking in advance vs last minute?

Example : Let’s say you’re traveling Europe by train but not Interrailing. Booking trains in advance WILL save you money. Do not leave European train bookings until the last minute.

By researching and understanding these things, you can quite literally rescue your travel budget from total annihilation.

If you prefer to drive yourself around a new place to taking public transport, always check prices for hire cars with Rental Cars for most options and best value.

9. Book Accommodation

Booking accommodation can be both extremely rewarding and extremely frustrating.

Some travelers embrace the best deals hunt, whereas others despise losing time trawling through endless lists of hotel prices.

As with all other aspects of travel planning, the key is to find the right balance between how much time you invest and how much money you can save.

There are a limited amount of flights you can choose between, right?

It’s the opposite for accommodation, there are SO many options for where you will sleep at night, no matter where you travel.

If you let it, this process will overwhelm you within seconds. How do you choose between 1000 hotels? When do you stop searching for an even better deal?

The scenario of your trip will affect the benefits of booking hotels in advance.

Example : Beach vacations and resort hotel complexes can go either way. Sometimes you can pick up big money saving last minute deals. It’s a risk but it can pay off.

However, if you’re on a tight budget and backpacking for a month through Thailand in low or shoulder season, it would be worth turning up in person to negotiate a better deal.

Use Hotel Booking Search Engines

Something we find fascinating when we meet travelers on the road is the diversity of platforms everyone uses to book accommodation.

Some swear by Airbnb, others use Agoda or Hostelworld and a high proportion use Booking.com. Personally, we use Booking.com to book our hotels.

We have been using Booking for years and still to this day we are staggered by how many hotel owners pull faces at us or make comments like ‘wow, you guys must have that booking genius thing, this is the lowest price I’ve seen.

We do have Booking Genius Level 3 and you can have it too by simply creating a free account and booking your hotels with Booking.com .

The same applies to Hotels.com, Agoda, Airbnb, Priceline and many others. Find a hotel booking service you like, create an account and reap the loyalty benefits.

That’s not to say hotel search engines have the best prices period.

We ask certain hotels for a price directly and if it’s more than what we can see on our Booking.com app, we simply book a room on our app right at the check in desk.

Quick Tips For Booking Hotels

Similarly to booking ground transport at the trip planning stages, we only book certain hotels in advance before we travel.

Typically, we will book hotels as we go to allow total flexibility. However, there are three scenarios when we book hotels in advance:

• If we plan to visit a big city like London, New York City , Hong Kong or Dubai in shoulder or high season.
• When planning itineraries including rural N ational Park s with limited hotel options.
• Big splurges on a luxury hotel so our travel budget doesn’t take a huge mid-trip pounding.

When searching for hotels, always use filters and sorting to cut through the crap and display exactly what you are interested in.

Search engines by default will display hotels based on featured. So what is featured?

It is hotel search engines listing hotels in their own order, but we like to sort by user rating and review count.

If a hotel has 2,500 reviews and a guest review score of 8.7, we would add it to our shortlist.

Once we have enough hotels in a shortlist we look at their locations, nearby amenities, nearby major attractions and transport hubs etc.

READ MORE : How to book cheap hotels for travel

10. Book Bucket List Experiences

Your final bookings at this stage of planning your trip are reserved for any bucket list experiences.

You’ve planned a route through a country or continent, so you should know all of the bucket list places you will be visiting. However, unless you research thoroughly, there’s a small chance you might miss something.

Life is about learning from mistakes.

One of ours when traveling Europe was when we visited Interlaken and Grindelwald in Switzerland but we hadn’t researched things to do before hand.

So we didn’t know about the Jungfrau rack railway line through the Eiger to the top of Europe at 3,454m. Once we discovered it, we’d already spent our allocated budget which isn’t difficult in Switzerland.

Plan major activities ahead. Make a spreadsheet or a checklist, even book some ahead of time if you have to or prefer to plan your whole trip in advance.

The more planning you do in advance, the less you will miss on the road. There are times when you will have no choice but to plan months ahead.

A few examples are the W trek in Torres del Paine (Chile), Half Dome hike at Yosemite National Park (California) and hiking down the Narrows at Zion National Park (Utah).

Not planning ahead will result in missing something epic. If you don’t typically plan things like this in advance, now is the time to learn some new core skills.

Section 2 Complete: Major Bookings Are Made

You’re almost over the hill and it’s plain sailing from here. The hard work has paid off, now all that’s left is preparing and packing for the adventure that awaits you.

Booking flights, transport, hotels and activities is part of the travel planning experience.

Try to enjoy the process. If you feel overwhelmed at any point, step away for a few hours or days. That is a tried and tested method of successfully planning a trip.

There have been times where we’ve had to walk away from planning for a day or two.

Remember, you can book hotels anywhere at any time, you don’t always have to book your entire trip before you leave. 

If there’s one particular leg of your journey where you can’t quite make transport work or there are no cheap hotels available, just go back a few steps and alter your route accordingly.

This is a common travel planning stumbling block. 

It can be infuriating to have a route perfected, only for something not to work and find yourself back at the drawing board.

But consider this, would you rather be at home with this problem? Or in a foreign city with no idea where to go next, how to get there or where to sleep that night?

Section 3: Prepare And Pack

You’re on the home stretch. There are just a few important admin tasks to complete before you can finally say you are ready to leave on your trip.

Get stuck into these last few steps as soon as possible, tick the boxes, put your feet up and enjoy a nice cup of Yorkshire tea.

Section 3 of travel planning is about giving yourself the best return on your expenses, travel safety, insuring your property and packing the right gear for your trip. 

It would be easy to switch off once you’ve secured your important bookings but you would be shooting yourself in the foot.

Instead, keep the ball rolling into this final section. Use the momentum to make the best choices possible as you complete your travel planning process.

11. Travel Rewards Credit Cards

You might be from a country where paying with debit and credit cards is the norm. Heck, you probably even pay for things with your phone these days.

However, when you travel through certain regions, such as parts of South East Asia, you won’t always be able to pay for goods and services with your cards.

Cash is often king in developing countries or countries with few tourists.

Example : We spent a month traveling North/Central Vietnam and can count on 1 hand the amount of times we paid for anything using a credit card. In order to withdraw cash from ATM’s without incurring a fee, we used our travel rewards credit card.

So, aside from always carrying a handful of US dollars in cash as a safety net, here’s the best money saving advice for any trip you ever take abroad, limit the amount you use your debit card.

If you use your debit account, you can kiss goodbye to your travel budget. The local bank will charge you a fee and your bank at home will charge you a hefty fee. Double whammy. Not fun.

What To Do Before Your Trip

Sign up for a no foreign transaction fee on all withdrawals and purchases travel rewards credit card.

On longer trips you will be taking money out of ATM’s regularly. Local ATM withdrawals will yield better exchange rates than airport exchanges.

Always choose local currency when withdrawing money, not your home country currency.

Research the best travel rewards card before you leave on your trip. Residents of the US are fortunate because competition is fierce, which drives fantastic offers on travel credit cards.

At a minimum, you should be able to pick up a travel rewards credit card giving you 1.5% cash back on all purchases and withdrawals.

Some offer points instead of cash back, which can be saved and used to pay for a flight later in your trip. Look for any special points and bonuses for spending X amount of money in Y amount of time.

Choose the card that offers the best perks for your travel style.

Example : Bank A will give you 1,500 points bonus if you spend US$ 3,000 within 90 days. Those bonus points equal US$ 150 that you can put towards a flight.

12. Tell The Bank About Your Travel Plans

It would blow your mind if we told you the amount of people we meet traveling the world who have experienced blocked credit cards.

Blocked cards in turn lead to no money and expensive phone calls back home to unblock said cards.

The banks are doing it for your protection but when you’re stuck in the back of beyond and can’t pay for anything or withdraw money, you will be in trouble.

Example : You have a Bank of America checking account, a Capital One Venture travel rewards card and an American Express travel card, you need to tell every one of those banks what your rough travel plans are.

It doesn’t hurt to keep them updated as you travel because plans can change.

We will contact our banks each time we move to a new continent and give them a rough idea of the countries we intend to visit, plus an estimated duration. Remember the 7 P’s of planning.

13. Get Travel Insurance

We’re not going to frighten you into buying travel insurance with gruesome tales. We’re simply going to say it is not worth the risk to travel without insurance.

You may be debating running the risk because insurance can be expensive.

We understand, it’s a bit of a blow when you think all your costs are nailed on the head and you see how much travel insurance is going to set you back.

But believe us, skipping it is not the smart move. Especially if you are backpacking for longer periods. Knock on wood, nothing serious has happened to us yet on the road.

No lost backpacks, no serious injuries, no muggings. But that could change at any moment, all it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Travel Insurance Is Worth The Peace Of Mind

Could you imagine the cost involved in being repatriated to America with a serious illness or injury sustained on the other side of the planet? No insurance would leave you in financial despair for years.

Example : You’ve just bought a brand new Sony A7R IV mirrorless camera for US$ 3,000 for your trip and you lose it or have it stolen on your first day traveling. You don’t have insurance. Imagine the pain!

There are plenty of travel insurance providers, such as Allianz, AIG and Travelex but right now we use and highly recommend World Nomads.

The company was created by travelers for travelers and they will tailor an insurance plan to suit your trip. You can get a free quote and choose between Standard or Explorer plans.

Be sure to do your own research but use World Nomads as your reference. See if you can get better coverage.

14. Check For Last Minute Travel Bargains

This is where we hope you don’t find an amazing last minute deal that’s US$ 200 cheaper than what you booked back in section 2.

Last minute deals are a gamble. Sometimes they pay off but mostly, they don’t. Never leave any of your major flight routes or bucket list activities until the last minute.

It’s always worth keeping an eye on hotel and flight prices, even for things you already booked that may include free cancellations or free changes to the booking.

If you can pick up the odd money saving last minute bargain, great. But don’t leave your entire trip to chance.

In the days leading up to your departure, check prices on (non-major) flights, trains, hotels and tours that you are interested in taking.

There are always flash sales on things, it’s often a case of being fortunate enough to stumble across them at the right time.

Here’s something important to remember if you started planning your trip months ago. High season might have moved into shoulder season or low season in a place you want to go.

But be aware that the opposite may also occur.

You could have planned on last minute deals because when you were researching the prices looked amazing, only to have unwittingly transitioned into peak season for the place you are visiting.

Last minute deals are going to cost you and your options will be greatly diminished in peak season.

15. Pack Yours Bags It’s Time To Leave

Your travel plans are in place, you’ve booked the important things and prepared efficiently. All you need to do now is pick the perfect backpack and fill it with the right gear for your destination.

If you think you can handle traveling with just 40L of space which means you can carry on to flights, don’t miss this review of our top rated travel backpack, Osprey Farpoint 40 .

For those who will carry a larger main pack and need a second smaller backpack to carry on, read our review of the innovative and versatile backpack perfect for travel photographers:  Peak Design Everyday Backpack .

We won’t go into a huge amount of detail with this planning step. Instead, you can find all you need to know about packing for your trips in our detailed  Travel Packing resource.

Here are a few addition packing tips for your trip:

• Be sure to pack according to where you’re going. If there are varying climates on your itinerary, pack for warm and cold weather conditions, even if that means taking a bigger backpack.
• Pack carefully, make sure every single item is fit for multi-purpose use. Do not pack fancy shirts and jeans if you will only use them once, you will end up throwing them out half way through your trip.
• We all have our own dress styles and preferences but our best advice for packing is to take plenty of comfortable gear.

Just remember, the most successful travel planners are the ones who can accept when they need to take a few steps back in order to take many steps forward.

More Travel Resources

• E-Books – Shop our travel guidebooks
• Packing List – The ultimate travel packing list
• Gifts – The best gifts for a traveler

Want more travel content?  Head to our  Travel Blog to discover new destinations around the world.

We hope these 15 steps help you plan the perfect trip!

Please let us know if you have any questions about this trip planning guide in the comments below.

Happy Travels ,

Mark and Kristen

Enjoy This Trip Planning Guide? Pin It For Later!

Note : This article contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase using one of these affiliate links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

All Rights Reserved © Where Are Those Morgans, LLC. Republishing this article and/or any of its contents (text, photography, maps, graphics, etc.) in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Mark and Kristen Morgan are travel, hiking and photography experts. Over the last 6 years traveling full time, they have explored more than 40 countries and 30 US states.

Where Are Those Morgans has been featured in USA Today, Gestalten, Get Your Guide, CityPASS and Condé Nast Traveler along with various other publications. Read more about us .

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How to Plan a Trip: A Detailed Travel Planning Guide

Last updated on November 30th, 2023

Looking for the best tips on how to plan a trip? Our step by step travel planning guide goes through our exact process of planning our trips, including our travel itinerary template, so you can plan your next trip easier!

It’s no secret that we love planning trips! We love researching for hours upon hours, digging into everything a city has to offer, learning tons, picking spots we want to check out, and crafting the perfect itinerary. 

We are definitely itinerary-based travelers vs spontaneous travelers (although we’re trying to leave more time for spontaneity during our trips!) and we’ve found that putting in the work to plan a trip beforehand can dramatically change the outcome of a trip. 

There’s no wasting time wondering “where should we eat?” or driving all around town from spot to spot because we didn’t realize how far things were. Instead, we show up with a plan and get to enjoy where we are. Granted, things don’t always go according to plan, but we definitely feel like it sets us up for success!

We originally created this blog to help eliminate some of your headaches when you plan a trip. It can be daunting to figure out how to fit an entire city, state, country, etc into X days. 

Our travel guides in particular are perfect for those who want a solid list of things to do, places to eat, etc. already organized into a well thought out itinerary. Our goal is to do all of the research for you so you can plan your perfect trip without spending hours and days scouring the web.

However, we haven’t been to every city in the world, so we may not always have a travel guide for you. So we wanted to create a travel planning guide, with our step by step list of how to plan a trip, including our travel itinerary template , so you can plan an epic trip and make the most of your time in any destination!

Looking for more travel planning tips? Check out these posts:

• How We Afford to Travel: Our Top Travel Budgeting Tips (+ Budget template!)
• Our Favorite Travel Credit Cards
• Fly for Less: Tips for Finding Cheap Flights

Step 1: Choose your destination

Step 2: make a travel budget, step 3: track and book flights, step 4: book your accommodations, step 5: book your transportation, step 6: research, research, research, step 7: google maps, step 8: make your itinerary (with our travel itinerary template), step 9: book any tours, activities, and reservations, step 10: have a pet find a sitter, step 11: prepare for your trip, step 12: pack for your trip, step 13: have a blast .

The first decision when you plan a trip is often the hardest: where should you go?! If you’re like us, we want to visit as many new places as we possibly can, but we also love visiting places that are special to us. Trying to make the decision of where to spend our precious vacation time and limited travel budget sometimes feels impossible!

While we don’t have all of the answers of how to decide where to go, here are a few things to consider.

Type of trip

What kind of trip are you looking for? Do you want to be in a big city? Hang out at the beach? Go for tons of hikes? Or all of the above? Our first task when figuring out where to go is to think about the activities and vibe we are looking for during our next trip.

If you’re having a hard time deciding, some of our favorite destinations are:

• The Dolomites: The Dolomites are full of adorable small towns, hikes, and epic scenery! It’s absolutely gorgeous and we hear it’s cheaper than the Swiss Alps.
• Matera, Italy: The smaller town, less tourists and crowds, unique cave dwellings, and crazy history made Matera one of favorite spots in Italy!
• Vancouver, BC: We used to visit Vancouver all the time when we lived in Seattle. The city is beautiful and there are so many outdoor activities just minutes from downtown.
• Scotland: We visited Edinburgh and the Isle of Skye and think they are some of the most underrated destinations. Both were jawdroppingly beautiful and have tons to see and do!
• Seattle : Seattle is our favorite city in the US! We lived here for three years and loved it so much. There are so many things to do, including hikes, lakes, beaches, city activities, and delicious food!
• Hawaii: It’s no secret that Hawaii is one of our favorite places in the world! We have been to all four major islands, some more than once, and each one is amazing!
• US National Parks: Want to see some of the best nature in the US? Visit a National Park ! Some of our favorites have been Yosemite , Zion , Grand Teton , Yellowstone , Big Bend , Olympic , and North Cascades .

Is there a certain time of year that is easier for you to travel for work or other reasons? For us, it’s the summer and winter, which can influence where we go. If we don’t want to be cold in the winter, we’ll use that time to go somewhere tropical, and on the flip side, if we want a break from the heat in the summer, we would head to somewhere a bit cooler (or below the Equator).

Peak Season vs. Shoulder Season

Some destinations have very clear peak seasons. If crowds are not your thing, try looking for destinations that will be having their shoulder season (the months between the busy season) during the month you want to travel. The weather may not be as perfect during “shoulder season, but you can save a ton of money (and headaches!) by traveling during the off-peak times.

Flight Deals

We will share some of our tips for finding flight deals in Step 3, but one thing to consider when deciding where to visit is to see where you can get a decent flight deal. We have sometimes made last minute trip decisions and visited somewhere we didn’t plan to visit so soon because we got a good flight deal. 

Specific Attractions or Events

Is there a specific thing you want to see or do in a destination? For example, do you want to attend a music festival in a specific city? See the cherry blossoms in the spring in DC? Want to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park?

Sometimes planning a trip around a specific attraction or event can make the decision a bit easier since you have a limited time to take part in that activity.

After we have an idea of where we want to go, our next step is to make a travel budget. We try to think of every expense we will have on that trip, from flights, lodging, a rental car, dog sitter, food, activities, gas, and more. This helps us get an idea of how much we will spend and to see if we can realistically afford the place we want to visit. It also keeps our wallet in check when actually on that trip!

We have a travel budget template that we use to not only plan out individual trips, but our trips for the entire year. This helps us see how much we want to spend on trips vs. how much we will be saving to travel.

To see how we afford to travel + our tips to save money to travel and while traveling, check out this blog post !

Once we have a good idea of where we want to go and how much we want to spend, we start trying to find cheap flights! We have a few favorite tools we use to find flight deals, which we’re sharing below.

To get a more detailed look into how we find affordable flights, including a tip we used for our Italy trip to save us over $1,000, read our Fly for Less: Tips for Finding Cheap Flights blog post!

Google Flights

We love Google Flights ! This free tool lets you plug in where you will depart from and where you want to go and see lots of flight options from tons of different airlines. You can then track specific flights that work well for your schedule or airline preference. You’ll be notified anytime the flight goes down or up in price, which can help you have a better idea of when it’s time to pull the trigger.

If you’re still stuck in Step 1 and unsure where to go, their explore destinations tool is very helpful to see what destinations are cheapest to fly to from your home airport on specific dates!

If you’re feeling more open on when and where you want to travel and just want a great deal, our favorite paid tool is FareDrop , which allows you to pick the departure airports you want to be alerted about, which destinations you want to travel to, and which months you want to travel.

FareDrop costs $47.88/year (if you use our link you’ll get 2 months free!), which seems a bit pricey, but we get tons of deals weekly! We have yet to pull the trigger on them, but hopefully soon!

Another tool we have used a lot in the past is Hopper . Hopper is a tool that helps predict flight costs and lets you know when the right time to book is. Nothing is worse than when you buy a flight and then the next week it has gotten a lot cheaper!

Scott’s Cheap Flights

Scott’s Cheap Flights is both a free and paid tool ($49/year) that will alert you about deals and mistake fares (when an airline accidentally publishes the wrong fare). Similar to FareDrop, you choose your home airport (and neighboring airports) and get deals from those airports. Or you can see deals worldwide! We only use the free tool of Scott’s Cheap Flights and we get pretty great deals! If you pay for their Premium version you supposedly get even better ones. 🙂

Skyscanner is another very popular tool for finding cheap flights. We have seen flights cheaper on Skyscanner than most other websites. Once you find a cheap flight, you book it through one of their travel partners. The only downside for us is that we typically cannot get that price with our credit card point s , which we would rather use to book travel (since it’s free!).

By far our favorite way to book flights is with our credit card points ! We have saved thousands of dollars by using credit card points and the best part is that we earn these while making our usual transactions, like the grocery store, bills, or coffee. The points add up fast depending on which card you have, so it’s not too hard to get free flights!

We currently have 4 travel credit cards : Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express Platinum, Capital One Venture Card, and the Alaska Airlines Card and each one has its pros and cons.

For more details on our favorite travel credit cards, the best benefits, and how to pick the right one for you, check out Our Favorite Travel Credit Cards blog .

After figuring out flights, it’s now time to find a place to stay! Once we have a general idea of the dates we plan to travel, we start looking for Airbnbs and other accommodations, saving any spots that catch our eye, and then as soon as our flights are booked, we book our lodging. Here are a few sites we love for finding accommodations!

We are huge Airbnb fans! We probably stay in Airbnbs 95% of the time when we travel. We love getting to stay in more local areas, having more space, being able to cook, and it’s usually cheaper than a hotel!

Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor is our go-to site for hotel reviews! It has helped us make the decision of where to stay (or where not to stay) many times. 

Booking.com

Booking.com is our favorite website to book hotels. Their prices are usually some of the best out there! Another really cool thing about Booking.com is that they have vacation rentals (like Airbnb) as well. So if you want a one stop shop to browse hotels and rentals, they’ve gotcha covered!

Depending on where you’re visiting, you may need to book additional transportation. 

For rental cars, we typically book through rentalcars.com . They have a price match guarantee, so if you find a better price somewhere else, they’ll match it!

We also have used Costco to book rental cars before. Their prices tend to be the best out there, but you do have to be a member or have access to a member’s account. It’s okay if the name on the car is different than the member’s name, so if you have a family member with a Costco membership, ask them if you can use it! 

Note : our travel credit cards give us rental car insurance around the world, so we do not opt into the additional insurance when renting a car. Make sure to check in advance to see if you’re covered! Also, make sure to book an automatic car in Europe if you don’t know how to drive a manual. 🙂

For public transportation , like trains, subways, and buses, purchasing in advance varies depending on where you’re going. During our Italy trip, we booked most of our trains and buses from city to city in advance to take advantage of a lower price. But in most US cities, like NYC, you just get your tickets at the station before boarding your mode of transportation. 

When looking for trains, subways, and buses , we typically start our search with Google Maps to see the routes and find out which company runs that route. Then we go to that company’s website to see fares, schedules, and to see how to purchase tickets. 

Our next step when we plan a trip is to research like crazy! We spend days and even weeks reading blogs, watching vlogs, and scouring the internet for as much information as we can about a destination, including where to eat, things to do, and any helpful tips! As we research, we create a Google Doc and write down the spots we find by category (food, coffee, landmark, activities, etc).

This part can be a bit overwhelming because there is tons of information out there and it can be hard to figure out what to prioritize for your own trip. We like finding a mix of popular spots with thousands of reviews, as well as more local spots with maybe less reviews overall, but very positive ones. And if we see a recommendation mentioned on multiple blogs and websites, that spot usually goes higher up on our “must-do” list. 

There are a handful of tools that we use every single time we plan a trip, each for slightly different reasons. 

Our first step when finding things to do is almost always to do a quick Google search. We like to search for things like “best things to do in ____,” “unique things to see in ____,” “where to eat in ____,” and “X days in _____” to find blog posts (like the ones we write!) for different destinations, which always give us tons of ideas!

Pinterest is an amazing resource for travel planning. It’s a massive search engine and a great way to quickly find tons of blogs about a destination you’re going to and to see what real people recommend. We typically create new boards for a country or region and then fill it up when we start to dream about a trip we want to take.

Once it comes time to actually plan it, we will head to that board and open all of the blogs we saved, write down common things people recommend and then research some of the lesser known options.

If you’re not already following us on Pinterest, come hang out with us here . We love to share pins from all over the world!

Tripadvisor, Yelp, and Google Reviews

Okay, these are definitely the most obvious, but they are high on our list when researching different cities! We know that some people are leery of review sites, but we personally love hearing from regular people about their experiences at a restaurant, attraction, etc.

We think that if you look at a wide variety of reviews for a place, the good and the bad, you can usually feel pretty confident (or not confident) in making it a stop on your trip. Tripadvisor also has forums where people can ask questions and others can answer and these can be really helpful to read, especially if you have questions that others have already asked.

One thing we have noticed is that Yelp is big in the US for restaurants, but Tripadvisor and Google Reviews are much bigger abroad. For our Mexico City trip, we relied heavily on Google Reviews, as the other two sites hardly had any reviews for restaurants. So make sure to look at all three sites to get a better idea of what a restaurant or attraction is like.

YouTube Vlogs

YouTube is our new favorite way to research for trips. It’s like reading blogs, but actually getting to see the experiences! Some of our favorite travel vloggers to watch are: Kara and Nate , The Endless Adventure , and Mark Wiens for awesome food videos! We watch travel vlogs every night and always mark down good spots to check out whenever we go to those destinations in the future.

If you want to follow along on our adventures, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel here !

AllTrails and Hiking Websites

We love hiking during our trips and one of the best resources we have found for trails is AllTrails . What we love about AllTrails is that it has trail information, such as miles and elevation gain, as well as hiker reviews, for trails all over the world!

We have used AllTrails for hikes all around the US, as well as in Italy and Canada, and it has always helped us gain a better understanding of what to expect on the trail, as well allowed us to follow our progress on the trail map.

There is a free version, but we recommend paying for the AllTrails Pro app ($30/year) to have guaranteed offline map access, off-route notifications, and family and friend notifications.

Beyond AllTrails, we love finding local hiking websites. When we lived in Washington, we used the Washington Trails Association website for every hike. Similar to AllTrails, it has reviews, photos, and hike information, but it is typically more detailed.

Instagram 

Instagram has opened our eyes to sooo many places in this world! The popularity of the app is both a good thing and a bad thing, as some places are becoming Instagram famous and are definitely being visited too much and/or disrespected, but it is also showing us how beautiful some lesser known places are.

Similar to Pinterest, you can bookmark posts on Instagram and even organize them into different collections. We use this feature to save spots that look cool to visit in the future. However, we love Instagram more for the ability to see places in real time. 

When we know we are going to visit a place, we will look up the locations on Instagram (both posts and stories) to see what it currently looks like, crowds, and to try to find cool photo spots. We did this a ton in Washington to plan our hikes and to see if there is still snow, what the hike looks like in different weather conditions, etc. It’s also helpful to find out if a specific spot is under construction *cough* Big Ben *cough*. 

Don’t follow us on Instagram yet? Head on over to our Instagram page to see even more adventures!

Family and Friends

If you have friends or family members that have visited the destination or live in the destination you’re heading to, ask them what their favorite spots are! These recommendations can often be the best, especially if you know and trust that person’s taste.

One of the best food recommendations we ever got was from one of our best friends. She told us we had to go to La Romana for gelato while in Rome, which wasn’t originally on our list, and it ended up being our favorite gelato during our entire two weeks in Italy! We owe her a scoop (or two) of gelato for that recommendation!

After we make a big list of all of the restaurants, landmarks, activities, and tours that catch our eye while researching, our next step when we plan a trip is to look at Google Maps to see where everything is in relation to each other.

We try to structure our days in a way that we don’t have to travel all over town, but instead stick to a general area so we can maximize the time we have to explore. We suggest making a map on Google My Maps so you can pin all of the locations and then start to group together the things that make sense to do together. This will help you big time with Step 8!

So you’ve done your research, written down some spots, and have seen where they all are on a map…now what? Our next step when we plan a trip is to start organizing all of our must-do and must-eat places into an itinerary.

Our friend Callie created the most detailed, helpful travel itinerary template in Google Sheets that has helped us SO much with our last few trips. We told her we were going to have to share it on our blog because it was very useful and would help so many people, so a BIG thank you to Callie for creating this!

We like creating an itinerary because typically our trips are short and we want to maximize the time we have in every destination. We realize not everyone likes to have as structured of a trip, so feel free to modify the template to fit your needs better! We always recommend being a bit flexible in case the weather is bad one day, you are exhausted and need more rest, or things just don’t go according to plan (which happens often when traveling)!

With this travel itinerary template you can list out the activities for your day in order, write down addresses, add notes (such as: arrive before X time to avoid a line, how to get somewhere, note that it’s cash only, etc), add helpful links, keep track of costs, have a rough estimate of timing for each stop, etc.

It’s also great for collaborating with others! We have used it for our couples trip to Arizona to make comments back and forth and decide what we want to do. 

You can download our travel itinerary template here . Note: To use the sheet, please go to “File” and then “Make a Copy” to create your own version! We included an example as well so you can see how we would fill it out.

Once you have a good idea of your itinerary, start locking down any tours, activities, and meal reservations for a time slot that works best for you!

Tours + Activities

When we were in Italy, we booked our tours and entrances to museums in advance to save a little bit of money. While we typically had to commit to a timeframe, it helped us structure our days better and ensure we had a tour to go on. 

For attractions where you can get early admittance (like the Vatican) or they get busy during specific times, booking ahead of time can also help you beat the crowds.

Not sure where to find tours? We’d recommend looking on Tripadvisor and Airbnb Experiences !

Want to save some money on a tour or experience? Book on Tripadvisor and use our code APLUSK10 for 10% off!

Reservations

If during your research you find that a reservation is heavily recommended for a restaurant, set a reminder on your phone for a month or so beforehand to give them a call and secure a table. When you have limited time to explore on a vacation, the last thing you want to do is wait in line for a restaurant, especially if you’re hangry. 🙂

One big thing to consider when traveling are your pets! We travel full time with our pup Kona, but there are some times where she cannot go with us on a hike, to a park, or if we are flying to a destination. For any flying trips, Kona will stay with Kathryn’s parents in Austin, but for road trips, National Parks, and other domestic destinations, here is a detailed guide to how we travel with Kona, and where she is if she is not with us. Note: if traveling during holidays or peak season, try to book a sitter far in advance!

Depending on your trip and where you’re going, there are a few extra things to consider looking into before you travel.

Book luggage storage

The only downside about staying in an Airbnb vs. a hotel is that sometimes you’ll arrive before check in or have time to explore after check out and have nowhere to put your bags. We have used Luggage Hero or Bagbnb to find safe places to leave our bags while we explore before or after checking out.  

Get travel insurance

We highly recommend buying travel insurance for any international trip. We recommend using SafetyWing , which is travel medical insurance that will cover you outside of your home country for however long you need it. We have purchased their Nomad Insurance plan for international trips, which not only gives us travel medical insurance, but also provides coverage for lost baggage and travel delays. We hope to never have to use it, but it gives us great peace of mind to have it!

Look into driving rules

In Italy, we had to get an International Driving Permit. You can get this from AAA for only $20. We aren’t sure how many countries have this rule, so definitely check the road rules beforehand to avoid getting a ticket or having issues getting your rental car.

Find out if you need a Visa

Depending on where you are visiting, you may need to get a Visa to enter. This website shares the Visa requirements for US citizens for both business and personal trips for every country! We suggest checking this right after booking your trip to see what the requirements are and how to obtain one.

Check vaccine requirements

Some countries require that you have certain vaccinations before your arrival. You can search the destination you are visiting and see if it requires you to get a vaccination on the CDC’s website . We suggest checking a couple months in advance, as different vaccines have different timeframe requirements to get them.

Get local currency

If you’re traveling to another country, make sure you look into the local currency. We typically will order some foreign currency from our bank before our trip (try to do this at least a week before you leave, as it takes a few days) just to make sure we have some on us when we land.

After we land, we will try to find somewhere to get additional currency during the trip. Make sure to research where the best place is to get this currency. In Italy, for example, the best place to get Euros was from bank ATMs—the ones in actual banks, NOT the ones just on the street in the big cities, as those will charge you massive fees. 

You may also need coins for restrooms in some countries, so plan to have coins, as well as bills, handy for your trip.

Also, let your bank know you’re traveling abroad to avoid them thinking there is fraud with your card.

Learn the local culture and etiquette

It’s important to understand the culture in a different country or region, especially if something that is considered inoffensive in your home country is considered offensive elsewhere. 

Tipping is another important thing to look into. In the US, tipping 20% is pretty standard, but in Europe, tipping is not common at all. 

Figure out your internet plan

If traveling abroad, we highly recommend getting an an eSIM card with Airalo ! This is a SIM that you can download to your phone. It saves the hassle of having to get a physical SIM in every country you visit! You can get an eSIM for a specific country or for an entire region, making it extra easy to use if you plan to hop between countries. But before you get an eSIM, make sure you truly need one! Our Verizon plans give us 2 GB of data everyday in Mexico and Canada, so we do not need an eSIM for those destinations.

We also suggest downloading offline Google Maps so you can use maps without eating up data.

Download Google Translate

Google Translate has been a lifesaver when traveling internationally! We used the conversation feature to communicate back and forth with our Airbnb host in Italy and it not only was so much fun, but it allowed for us to converse even with a huge language barrier!

Let someone know your plans

Make sure a family member or friend knows your plans just in case something were to happen. We always send our parents our flight info, as well as our itinerary, just so they are aware of what we’ll be up to during our trip.

Do you pack in advance or are you a last minute packer? We used to start packing days in advance, but lately we procrastinate big time! Regardless of when you pack, figuring out what to bring on your trip, while also not forgetting anything important, is hard! 

Check out our top travel items and packing list to see which items we cannot travel without and to download our packing list, which includes common items and some easy to miss items, that you won’t want to forget!

Our most important packing tip: Don’t forget your passport and make sure you have an adapter if traveling abroad! We love this one !

After all of your hard work, it’s time to enjoy the trip! We hope that you found this travel planning guide helpful and that it’ll make it easier to plan a trip in the future! 

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How to Plan a Travel Itinerary: The Complete Guide

You’ve chosen your destination, booked your transportation, and maybe even your accommodations. Now…you just have to figure out what in the world you’re going to do while you’re there.

In this post, we’re going to take a deep dive into how to plan a travel itinerary , the nitty-gritty of how to put together your schedule of sites, museums, and activities.

Key takeaways

• Prioritize and list your “must-do” sites and activities.
• Do thorough research on your destination
• Organize your wish list into “must-do,” “want-to-do,” and “nice-to-do” categories.
• Compile all the practical details for each activity, such as operating hours, fees, and booking requirements.
• Build your itinerary by scheduling must-do activities first and filling in with want-to-dos and nice-to-dos.

This post includes affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  See disclaimer.  

I’m a very detail-oriented kind of person (you know, the kind of person who makes lists for EVERYTHING), so this method of itinerary planning may not be of interest to the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of traveler.

If you’re not as hyper-organized as I am, you can easily modify this method for how you like to travel. It’s logical itinerary planning at its best.

I won’t be going over in this post how I research and plan for dining options since that’s a more complicated topic for me and my husband (as a celiac and a vegetarian) than the average traveler.

That’s probably a topic for a separate post. So, let’s get planning.

Getting started on your itinerary planning

“I’m heading to Rome/New York City/Paris/Mexico City for X number of days. What should I do and see while I’m there?”

I see similar questions all over Facebook literally every day, and I understand why. It can be overwhelming to plan a travel itinerary.

Let’s say you’re planning to spend five days in New York . How do you decide what to do for those five days? Where do you even start your search for the best ideas for sites to visit?

Side note: for simplicity’s sake, throughout this post, I’m going to use the word “site” to refer to anything (not eating) that you will want to make time for on your trip. These could be monuments, national parks, palaces, museums, activities, guided tours, etc.

There’s no real wrong way to plan your itinerary…just kidding. You have to do it my way.

No, seriously.

Okay…let’s get started.

When I’m planning a travel itinerary, I go through five phases of the process before I arrive at my final draft.

• Preliminary brainstorming
• Destination research
• Fleshing out my wish list
• Site/activity research
• Building my itinerary

I know this seems like a lot, but trust me, you’ll want to know you’ve considered all your options before you go on your trip.

You’ll thank me later.

Read More → Travel Planning Resources

Planning an itinerary starts with brainstorming your wish list

So, you’ve booked your trip, but your itinerary is completely blank. Your destination is your oyster, but where and how do you start?

Your first step is to do some preliminary brainstorming. If you’re heading to a top tourist destination, you probably already have some idea of the specific sites you want to visit (e.g., the Colosseum, Eiffel Tower, Chichen Itza, etc.).

If you’re going someplace completely unfamiliar to you, your brainstorming phase may be quite short but it can also be less specific if that helps (e.g., important historical sites, whatever the most important art museum is, popular beach, etc.).

To help yourself with your brainstorming, you can ask yourself the following questions:

• What are the famous/popular sites my destination is most known for?
• What are the top, must-do sites or activities I already know I want to do on this trip?
• Why are my spouse’s/travel partner’s must-do sites or activities for this trip? If children are traveling with you, why not include them in the brainstorming? They’ll love feeling like they’ve been a part of planning the trip.
• What are the kinds of activities we most enjoy while traveling in general?

Great! Write all of this down. Don’t worry. Nothing’s set in stone yet.

And the sky’s the limit. We’re not yet worrying about the costs involved or how much time we have.

Write it all down. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

[cue Jeopardy! theme music]

Okay, keep this list handy; it’s time to do some basic research on your destination.

TIP: Keep track of all of your important travel details with a digital travel planner like this . Prefer paper planners? Grab your printable travel itinerary planner pages here.

Research your destination

This is where I start to go crazy with research. I’ll take in anything and everything I can about my destination. The more good information I have, the better equipped I am to make good decisions about my itinerary.

And don’t assume you already know enough about where you’re headed.

Before I started researching Paris, I had never heard of Sacré-Coeur (which is one of the great free things to do in Paris , by the way) or Les Invalides.

We ended up visiting both on our trip.

Here are the questions I keep in mind as I do this research:

• What is my destination known for? Is it art, the natural landscape, history, architecture, etc.?
• What season will it be at my destination? Are there any popular seasonal activities I’d like to try while I’m there?
• Are there any special holiday events or festivals taking place there that I’d be interested in attending?
• What is the weather typically like there that time of the year and month? In other words, will I be comfortable spending long periods outdoors, or will I want to spend more time indoors?
• What are the public transportation options at my destination? Is there a good metro/public transportation system or will I have to rely on taxis, ride-sharing, or walking to get around?
• Where are my accommodations in relation to the major site on my list?
• Does my destination offer any kind of city or museum pass?

Side note: If you haven’t yet booked your accommodations, now is a good time to take a look at a map. Do a large number of must-do sites on your wish list cluster in a certain area? If so, you might want to consider booking accommodations nearby to simplify your transportation needs. This isn’t always a good idea but consider it.

Read More → Is it Worth it to Use Booking.com?

Read More → Booking.com or Direct with Hotel: Which is Better?

Where do I find this information? Here are a few suggestions:

• Do some simple Google searches and look around the different results for up-to-date information about your destination.
• Head over to Pinterest to discover what travel bloggers ( ahem ) have to say.
• Buy some good travel guidebooks and start reading.
• Watch YouTube videos about your destination.
• Armed with this pile of new information, you’re going to go back to your list.

Flesh out your wish list

As you researched your destination, you likely noticed certain sightseeing ideas or recommendations coming up over and over again.

• If they’re already on your brainstorm list, great! Leave them there.
• If you’ve never heard of or considered them, but they now sound interesting, add them to your list.
• If there’s something you’ve changed your mind about, go ahead and take it off your list if you really want to, otherwise, leave it on the list. You can always remove it later.

It’s okay at this point if your list has far more ideas on it than you can possibly fit into your trip. We’ll work on narrowing it down later.

After doing my research, I discovered a lot more ideas for things to do in Paris and sites to visit than were on my first brainstorming list. But…what if you’re finding the opposite to be the case?

What if you’ve booked yourself a round-trip plane ticket to your destination, but you’re finding only enough you’re interested in doing to fill a much shorter time than you’re planning to be there?

You have a couple of options:

• If you haven’t booked your accommodations yet, or you can still change/cancel your reservation, consider adding a destination to your trip. For example, if you’re flying into and out of Zurich, Switzerland, but are finding more that interests you perhaps in Lucerne (or beyond), consider spending at least a portion of your trip outside Zurich.
• If you have booked your accommodations and your reservation cannot be changed, consider adding day trips to your itinerary. For example, if you’re staying in Florence, Italy, you could take the train to Pisa or Lucca for the day.

By now you should have a good sense of what your itinerary could look like; it’s starting to take shape.

Specific site or activity research

Okay, so you have this beautiful, and probably fairly lengthy list of things you’d like to see and do on your trip.

Now you get to do research on each of these items individually. Yay! Seriously…I love this part.

To start, you’re going to break down your wish list into four sections. If your list is pretty long, you can re-write it into these four sections, but if it’s on the shorter side, it’s okay to do this mentally.

Must-do sites.

These are the places people traverse the globe to see…the Eiffel Tower, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pyramids of Giza, Great Wall of China. You get it.

These are the non-negotiable ones. They go in the itinerary no matter what.

Want-to-do sites.

These are the second-tier sites for your trip, the things you want to make room for, but won’t necessarily dissolve into tears if you can’t manage it.

Examples from my travels would include the Rodin Museum (Paris), Trevi Fountain (Rome), or walking the entire High Line in New York City.

Nice-to-do sites.

These are the minor sites and activities that will become the filler in your itinerary. On my itineraries, these are things like “sit on the Spanish Steps” or “buy cheese from a fromagerie.”

I don’t care if we do this or not.

These are the sites that are first on the chopping block once we start to build the actual itinerary. Or you may have cut them already once you did your destination research.

Now that you have your sites grouped, the next thing to do is your research. For at least each of your must-do and want-to-do sites you need to know the following:

• What days of the week is it open and what are the operating hours?
• What is the entrance fee (if any)?
• What is the best day of the week to visit?
• Do you need to book tickets or make a reservation ahead of time? If so, how far in advance can you book/should you book?
• Where is it and how do I get there? I especially want to know how far it is from my accommodations and how far it is from other major sites on my list.

Side note: The My Maps feature in Google Maps is an invaluable part of this phase of the itinerary planning process for me. You can pin locations, organize and color code sites to visit, and even add personal notes.

Narrowing it down

Okay, now you have even more information about your destination. Here’s where you start making some changes to your list.

At this stage, I may move sites from one section of my wish list to another. Something might move up on the list, for example, if I discover that it’s very near one of my must-do’s, or if it’s free to visit.

This is how we ended up going to Les Invalides; it wasn’t anywhere near the top of our list, but it’s right across the street from the Rodin Museum (which was something I wanted to do) AND it’s covered by the Paris Museum Pass. It was super easy to just pop in for a bit after the Rodin Museum, but we probably wouldn’t have made a separate trip.

Something might move down the list (or come off the list entirely) if I learn it’s very out of the way or more of a financial investment than my particular budget for this trip can support.

Should I purchase a city or museum pass?

Let’s revisit the city/museum pass question from the destination research phase.

If your destination offers one (or a few), take the time to consider if it’s worth it for you to purchase for your trip. We used the Museum Pass on our trip to Paris (and highly recommend it), but decided against buying the Firenze Card for our trip to Florence, Italy .

Here are some criteria I use to judge whether a city or museum pass is worth it for us to purchase for a particular trip:

• What sites are covered? Will you have to book entrance to many of your must-do/want-to-do sites separately or are most covered by the pass?
• Does the pass offer you unlimited entry to covered sites or can you use it one time only?
• Will you save money if you buy the pass? It’s not necessarily a deal breaker if it doesn’t. The convenience of not having to book entrance reservations to sites ahead of time can outweigh some financial disincentives.
• Does the pass cover any public transportation you’re planning to use or just site entrance fees?
• For how many days is the pass valid versus how many days you will be at your destination? For example, we chose not to buy the Firenze Card on our trip to Florence, because it’s only good for 72 hours, and we were spending 8 nights there. Purchasing two cards each would have cost us far more than paying for our chosen sites individually.

How do I decide what to cut from my itinerary?

This part of the process is highly personal. Only you can really decide if a particular site or activity is “worth it” to you.

The decision to buy or not to buy a city or museum pass may affect how you narrow down your list. If you have to purchase entrance tickets to all of your sites individually, you may end up having to spend more money to see everything (or cut sites to stay within your budget).

Or if you do decide to purchase a pass but a site on your list is not covered, you may find yourself considering leaving it off your list.

On the other hand, if you have a pass you may see more sites overall because you’ve already paid for admission.

…If that makes sense.

At this stage of the itinerary planning process, if there’s anything on my list that makes us say “meh” it goes on the “I don’t care” list.

Build the trip itinerary

Okay. You’ve done your research, you’ve decided whether you’re buying that city pass and you’ve refined your site wish list.

You’re ready to build your itinerary! I’m going to use our recent trip to Paris to demonstrate how I put it all together.

The non-negotiables get top priority.

For each full day on your trip, choose one or two of your must-do’s or want-to-do’s: one first thing in the morning and one for later that day.

Your must-do’s (your non-negotiables) go on the schedule first and as early in your trip as you possibly can.

If you arrived in Paris on April 14, 2019, and decided to put off seeing Notre-Dame until later in the week, you were probably pretty disappointed on April 15 as the world watched the devastating fire that closed it down.

Don’t. Put. It. Off.

For our trip to Paris, we each had one non-negotiable: the Louvre and the Palais Garnier. We did them both on our first full day there.

Then add any other must-dos that require advanced booking or warrant a full day on your itinerary or both. So, I needed to choose days for Versailles and the Eiffel Tower.

My research told me that I should plan a full day at Versailles and that it is quite busy on the weekends and on Tuesdays (when the Louvre is closed).

I also learned that the Eiffel Tower is open every day until late, that I should plan to spend about three hours there, and that I needed to book tickets for the summit as far ahead as possible.

Add in your want-to-do’s.

With the must-dos scheduled, I’m ready to schedule the want-to-do’s. I added Musee d’Orsay and Musee Rodin, then Musee de l’Orangerie, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, etc.

Nice-to-do’s fill in any remaining gaps.

I then fill in the rest of the itinerary with the nice-to-do’s, leaving our last full day intentionally blank.

When staying in one place for four days or more, we try to keep our last full day completely open. This is so we can return to any place we want to see again, or so that we can add more of the items from our “nice to do” list depending on what we’re in the mood for. It helps us create a good balance between sightseeing and relaxation .

If you’re taking a trip that includes multiple stops, you can just repeat this process for each place you’ll be staying.

Keep in mind as you’re planning a trip itinerary that if you’re bouncing from city to city every other day, you’ll be spending a lot of time traveling from one destination to the next.

I do feel like I need to say, that even though you now have a meticulously planned itinerary it doesn’t mean you can’t be spontaneous. We often find that we spend far less time at some sites than we think we need to allow for, giving us time to do even more on our trip than we hoped.

Or sometimes we just don’t feel like doing something on our schedule…and that’s okay too.

Now you have the tools to build the perfect itinerary for your next trip. Enjoy!

More articles to help you plan your travel itinerary

• 5 easy steps to planning a trip
• Travel planning resources you need
• The best travel guides (online resources and books)

Pin this post!

Darcy Vierow is a busy professional and travel planning expert with years of experience maximizing travel with limited time and on a less-than-average salary. Her tips have been published by Forbes, MSN.com, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, Aol, Newsbreak and GOBankingRates. Read more about Darcy Vierow .

10 Comments

Absolutely love this perspective on travel! It beautifully captures the essence of what it means to explore the world. Travel isn’t just about ticking off destinations; it’s about slowing down, immersing yourself in new cultures, savoring moments, and absorbing the rich tapestry of life that the world has to offer. 🌍✈️🌏

My sister wants to travel for her honeymoon, so she’s interested in starting to plan it this month. I liked what you explained about choosing a destination and the places you’d like to visit, so I’ll share this with my sister right away. I appreciate your insight on considering what you want to see and visit and booking accommodation near those places.

You are so much more organized than we are – we usually book places the day of or the day before and figure out what we are doing day by day. We like to leave things pretty wide open to see what happens and what we find. This is such a great guide though for planning a vacation!

Thanks for your comment! Yeah, I actually have a hard time just going with the flow…it’s something I’m working on.

This is so perfect! I enjoy the entire planning process, so this definitely speaks to me. I particularly enjoy researching locally owned restaurants and off the beaten path places. Thanks so sharing such a great way to plan

Thank you for your kind comment!

This post resonates a lot with me as like you, I too plan extensively before I travel. I believe planning well helps us make the most of our time and also gives more peace of mind. Excellent tips!

Thank you! And I definitely agree with you about how helpful good travel planning is for traveling well.

It is so helpful to find a guide on how to organize and plan a trip! For a lot of people (me included) this is the most traumatic experience about traveling as you want everything to go perfect and smoothly. I plan trips all the time and this guide was literally how I do my planning! Thank you so much for sharing and I hope it helps a lot of travelers out there too!

Thanks so much for reading and for your kind comment. I really do hope a lot of travelers find this guide helpful.

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How to Plan a Trip: A Month-by-Month Guide

Trip planning can be a daunting task. Flights, insurance, gear, itineraries, accommodation, and so much more all need to be considered and sorted out before you go.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed , especially when you haven’t done something like this before.

After over close to twenty years of traveling the world, I’ve planned countless trips and vacations for myself, friends, and family, even group tours. In the beginning, it was trial by fire. I learned a lot of lessons the hard way . However, that helped me develop an efficient checklist that ensures I don’t miss anything important during the trip-planning process.

One big question I get asked a lot is when to start planning. To answer that question, this post breaks the planning process down into month-by-month steps so you can plan your next trip with ease.

Here’s how to plan a trip:

Table of Contents

12 Months Out: Decide on Your Destination(s)

12 months out: start collecting points & miles, 8 months out: visa requirements, passports, and vaccines, 4-6 months out: book your flight, 3-4 months out: book your accommodation, 2 months out: plan your activities, 1 month out: get travel insurance, 7 days out: pack.

If you already have a dream destination in mind, great! If not, here are some posts to help you get started:

• 11 Cheap Places to Visit on the US Dollar
• 10 Places to Travel on a Budget
• The Best Tropical Islands in the World
• My Favorite Cities in the World
• My 31 Favorite Places to Visit in the USA

But, this far out, the real thing you want to do is start saving money and figuring out your costs. Accommodation and flights are the obvious ones, but how much do restaurants, attractions, and other activities cost? Knowing these costs will allow you accurately estimate how much money you’ll need. Here is how to research costs:

• Buy a guidebook
• Check out my free travel guides (we break down all costs for each destination)
• Skim the cost of living on Numbeo.com
• Google prices for major activities you want to do, such as scuba diving, winery tours, etc. ( Get Your Guide is a good place to start)
• Use Skyscanner or Google Flights for flight prices and sign up for alerts to get emails if the price changes
• Use Discover Cars to price out (and book) a rental car if you need one
• Use Booking.com and Hostelworld to research accommodation costs

That may seem like a lot but you just want to get a general idea of how much you need to save. You can head to this page to see all my articles on how to save money for your trip .

These days, most cards have welcome offers of 60,000-80,000 points (some can be as high as 100,000) when you meet their minimum spending requirement (generally $2,000-5,000 USD within a 3–6-month time frame). That’s enough miles for a free round-trip economy flight to Europe from the East Coast of North America.

For more information on this subject, check out these posts:

• Points & Miles 101: A Beginner’s Guide
• How to Pick the Best Travel Credit Card
• My Favorite Travel Credit Cards
• How to Earn Points by Paying Your Rent
• The Ultimate Guide to Points & Miles
• How to Collect Points & Miles in Canada

In addition, get a fee-free ATM card. I use Charles Schwab, but there are lots of other banks that don’t charge ATM fees (don’t forget to check your local banks and credit unions too). Here’s how you can avoid bank fees while traveling .

While you likely won’t need a visa to your desired destination, you should still check to make sure. If you’re a US citizen, use the State Department’s search tool to learn about your destination’s entry requirements. (Canadians can use this search tool .)

Additionally, make sure that your passport is valid for at least six months after your trip ends. Many countries require this for entry. Passport application and renewal wait times can be long (the standard is 6-8 weeks in the US), so do this as soon as possible.

Also, research if you need any vaccines for your trip as many countries require vaccines to enter (and I don’t mean COVID). You can learn more about country requirements and recommendations at the CDC’s website . They can help you find a clinic near you as well (if you’re in the US).

Here are two articles on how to score a cheap flight:

• How to Always Find Cheap Flights
• 5 Steps to Booking a Cheap Flight

If you’ve signed up for a travel credit card and received your sign-up bonus, use your miles to book your flight and/or hotel. The further out you book, the more availability there will be. Use tools like Point.me and Awayz to help you find the best redemptions on your points (for flights and hotels, respectively).

But even if you aren’t using miles or didn’t find a cheap flight deal, there are still many ways to avoid being the person on the flight who paid the most for their ticket. My two favorite sites for finding cheap airfare are Skyscanner and Google Flights .  

Here are my go-to sites when it comes to finding the best deals on accommodation:

• Hostelworld – Hostelworld has the largest selection of hostels and is my go-to site for finding affordable hostels.
• Booking.com – Booking.com is the best overall platform for finding budget hotels and guesthouses.
• Agoda – Agoda has the best results if you’re heading to Asia (though it sometimes has good US deals too).

I recommend checking the cancelation policy of wherever you book. I like having the flexibility to cancel if something comes up.

If you’re on a tight budget or you want to connect with more locals during your travels, consider joining platforms like Couchsurfing or BeWelcome . These communities allow travelers to stay with residents for free as a sort of cultural exchange.

Long-term travelers can also try housesitting or WWOOFing as well, as they both offer free accommodation (in exchange for pet sitting or farm work, respectively).

Now it’s time for the fun part of travel planning! That means reading books about your destination, learning general travel tips, connecting with online communities, and pre-booking any necessary activities.

Pre-booking ensures you don’t miss out on things that you really want to do on your trip. If you’re going to a popular destination, tours and activities fill up quickly, and if you’re going to a smaller place, activities or tours might only run on certain days and have limited availability.

Either way, Get Your Guide the best place to search for and pre-book activities, tours, and tickets. Local tour operators and attractions can list their offerings on this online marketplace, so you can find tons of stuff here, from food tours to museum tickets with skip-the-line entry.

Get travel insurance . That way, these purchases are protected should something happen that makes you cancel your trip.

A lot of people think, “I’m healthy. I don’t need travel insurance.” But travel insurance is much more than just medical protection. It covers you when your camera breaks, your flight is canceled, a family member dies and you have to come home, or something gets stolen. (That’s why you’ll also want to familiarize yourself with any common travel scams to look out for, as well as how to conduct yourself in order to blend in to avoid looking like a target for petty theft.)

Yes, it’s an added expense. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry. I never leave home without it, because I’ve seen firsthand just what can happen on the road.

I never thought I would pop my eardrum while I was scuba diving in Thailand, break my camera in Italy, or get knifed in Colombia.

Unfortunately, bad things can happen when you’re traveling. True, these events are few and far between. But they can cost tens of thousands of dollars. If you’re not prepared to pay out of pocket, buy travel insurance.

Here are some posts on travel insurance to get you started:

• How to Buy Travel Insurance
• The 5 Best Travel Insurance Companies
• The Best Travel Insurance for Seniors

I never leave home without travel insurance. You shouldn’t either.

I travel with a 45L REI bag and then a smaller day bag. Here’s my suggested packing list to help you take just the right amount of stuff and avoid overpacking ( here’s a list for female travelers ).

Additionally, bring any prescriptions you need for the duration of your trip. Try not to rely on filling those abroad (though bring a prescription and doctor’s note just in case).

With everything taken care of, it’s time to go on your trip and have fun! Make a list of last-minute items you need to pack the day of (your toothbrush, glasses, phone charger, etc.) and check in online beforehand (you can do so 24 hours in advance). (If you’ve got lounge access through a premium travel rewards card , you might find yourself looking forward to getting to the airport early.)

If you’re feeling nervous, don’t worry. That’s perfectly normal. Feeling anxious or unsure is something every traveler experiences. But you’ve made it this far. Trust your planning and follow your instincts. You’re about to have the trip of a lifetime.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner . It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld . If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

• SafetyWing (best for everyone)
• InsureMyTrip (for those 70 and over)
• Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage)

Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals.

Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more.

Got a comment on this article? Join the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter and share your thoughts!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you make a purchase. I only recommend products and companies I use. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are mine alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. This page does not include all card companies or all available card offers.

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Travel Planning Guide

So, you want to take a trip, but perhaps you're not sure where to begin? Are you planning a long-term trip? Or a trip to a foreign country that you've never visited before? Or maybe you're trying to figure out how to make your next trip much less expensive?

Either way, you've come to the right place. Here in this comprehensive travel planning guide, we cover every topic about travel imaginable. So, if you're just doing a weekend trip or if you're thinking about a serious year-long "around the world" trip, or even somewhere in between such as a 2-week vacation, then we've covered it here.

Use the contents to navigate your way through this guide, or just head straight to the sections that are important to you.

Planning Ideas for Everyone

Our overall travel guide is great for anyone planning any type of trip. After that, we get specific to people with different travel styles.

Our Itinerary Planning section will help you figure out the best way to plan a route.

Our Estimating Costs setion will help you figure out your budget and how to save money.

The sections on Visas and Travel Safety provide plenty of important logistical information for your travel plans. Stay safe, everyone!

If you're thinking about an Around the World Trip or a Long Term Trip , we have some detailed advice for that, too. We've done this ourselves, so all of our advice is from the heart and filled with first-hand experiences.

Finally, we have sections about finding cheaper tickets for airfare , buses and trains , as well as finding cheaper accommodation . Everyone needs this, for sure!

Helpful Links

In the meantime, here are a few quick and important links.

We regularly post travel discounts, sales, and special deals that come from a variety of travel companies. You can find that list here , or you can subscribe to our email newsletter to have them sent to your inbox.

To find the average daily cost of countries and cities around the world, you can use our location search to find your next destination.

If you're interested in saving money on accommodations, we often recommend hostels and budget hotels. You can use our hostel search for that, too.

And if you're interested in tours and cruises instead of independent travel, you can always use our tour search or browse our list of suggested tours and recommended activities .

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10-Step Guide for Planning a Trip

Home | Travel | 10-Step Guide for Planning a Trip

When traveling abroad, get a policy from one of the  best travel insurance companies . You can get a  5% discount   on Heymondo , the only insurance that pays medical bills upfront for you, HERE!

Planning a trip can be stressful if you’re not sure where to start or you’re afraid you’ll forget something important.

I have to admit that I love travel planning , but part of that is because I use a detailed checklist and the most helpful websites. So, if you don’t know how to organize a trip and you want to avoid feeling overwhelmed, I’ll help you out with this guide. Below, I’ll share the steps I typically follow as well as the best apps and websites to book your flights, tours, and accommodation so you can travel cheaply .

Guide to planning a trip in 10 easy steps

These are the steps that I always follow when I’m planning a trip , although I might skip one or two depending on the type of trip and where I’m going:

• Search for flights
• Apply for a visa
• Book the accommodation
• Set up your transportation
• Decide which attractions to visit
• Book a tour
• Get travel insurance
• Apply for a commission-free credit card
• Buy a SIM card
• Pack your suitcase

Remember that, depending on the destination and your reason for traveling, you may not need to do all these steps. So, rather than worrying about checking off a long to-do list, enjoy the process of planning your trip itinerary . For me, making a travel plan is almost as much fun as traveling itself!

Things to do before planning a vacation

Before I give you a detailed look at my checklist for planning a trip , I want to point out that choosing your destination is the real starting point. Not only is deciding where to go an important part of any travel plan , but it’s also a good idea to learn some crucial information about it. For example, you should research things like the best time to visit and what the weather will be like when you go.

Once you’ve chosen a destination and you have a solid timeline for when you’ll visit, you can begin the trip planning process. If you want some travel inspiration, here are some beautiful places to go, as well as some information about them:

Best Countries in Central America

Best countries to visit in Africa

Best countries in South America

Best Caribbean Islands

1. Search for flights, the first step to planning a trip

Once you’ve chosen your destination and travel dates, one of the first things to do to organize your trip is to look for flights. This is usually one of the most tedious steps, but you can make it much easier by reading our guide on how to find cheap flights .

We always use Kiwi and Skyscanner since they make it super easy to find the best prices on flights. Moreover, if you’re not sure where you want to travel but you want to take a cheap trip, you can choose the “Anywhere” option and see the best deals, listed from the lowest price from your selected airport.

Kiwi and Skyscanner also show you the cheapest dates to travel, which is extremely useful if you have flexibility in your trip plan calendar . Don’t forget to activate flight alerts to receive notifications when a ticket price changes. That way, you can jump on the best deal before it runs out.

While I hope you don’t have to use it, AirHelp is a handy website to turn to if your flight is canceled or delayed. This company handles the claims process for you, although they will take a commission fee from your compensation. You can learn more about how to get compensate for delayed flights  in our guide, where I show you how to get up to $600 in compensation .

2. Apply for a visa, a must-do when planning a trip abroad

Step number two of planning a trip is to check what type of documentation you’ll need to enter the country you’re traveling to. Even if you already have the proper paperwork, double-check that it won’t expire before or during your trip.

For example, if you’re planning a vacation to Europe, you should be fine with a valid passport, and travel insurance for Europe . The same applies if you’re visiting Australia, New Zealand, and most countries in South America. But be aware that most countries in Asia and Africa require a visa.

For those cases, I highly recommend going to the iVISA website to check what kind of documentation you need for your destination. We’ve used iVISA several times without any problems and consider it to be one of the best travel planning websites .

3. Book the accommodation, an important step in any trip plan

Another crucial part of organizing a trip is booking your accommodation. There are lots of trip planning apps to help with this, although we almost always use Booking . Here, you can find hotels, villas, apartments, and other types of lodging to suit any budget, which is why we consider it to be one of the best options.

The main advantage of using Booking.com to plan our travels is that we can pay right on the website, and cancellations are usually free until 24 hours before the trip. Also, if you use the website frequently, you can upgrade to the Genius plan, which offers the best deals and discounts. So, if you want to find cheap hotels anywhere in the world, even if you’re planning a multi-city trip , I highly recommend Booking.com .

4. Set up your transportation, an essential part of any travel plan

The next step in this trip planning checklist is to think about transportation once you get to your destination. You can either use public transportation or rent a car.

We prefer renting a vehicle because it grants us more freedom to explore places that might be off the beaten path. That said, some cities and countries have very good public transportation systems, so it’s up to you. When creating your travel itinerary , think about the destination and what you want to do during your trip. That should help you decide whether or not to rent a car.

If you decide to go with a rental, I recommend going through DiscoverCars . Without a doubt, this is the best option for renting a car, especially if you’re not used to organizing road trips . A nice thing about DiscoverCars is that it shows you a comparison of different rental websites, so you’re guaranteed to find the cheapest rental cars .

Of course, if your planned travel route is more like a cross-country trip, take a look at Motorhome Republic , which offers the best prices and conditions for motorhomes. We’ve used this app several times to plan trips around Iceland and the United States, and it’s always been a positive experience.

Again, many cities and countries have great public transit networks, so if you plan on getting around by bus or train, you can get low ticket prices on Omio . Simply enter your destination, and the website will compare bus and train tickets from different companies to find the best deal for you. You can even search for the cheapest or fastest route. Flixbus is often listed on Omio since its prices are some of the lowest and they operate all over the world. We’ve used Flixbus on several trips around Europe, but you can also use Flixbus in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and more.

Public transportation or renting a car, tips for planning a trip

Finally, you may be planning your vacation to an island destination like the Canary Islands, where ferry transport is more common. In that case, I recommend getting your tickets through Direct Ferries , which offers excellent ticket prices for all kinds of time slots. We’ve used this site for our trips to the Canary Islands and Indonesia.

To sum up, organizing your transportation can be a bit stressful, but these travel planning tips and websites will streamline the process for you .

5. Decide which attractions to visit, the most fun part of planning a trip

Among all the steps for planning a trip , choosing which attractions to visit is one the most enjoyable. Step number five in this travel planning checklist is looking at which attractions and activities (free and paid) are available at your destination.

If you’re going to see a show or a concert, Hellotickets can be useful in reserving tickets in advance. That said, if you’re visiting a city that has lots of things to do and offers attraction passes or cards, I recommend getting one. This way, you can access several top attractions while getting the maximum savings. So, if you’re visiting a popular city, check if it offers the Sightseeing Pass , the City PASS , or the Go City pass.

Depending on the destination, some of these cards may also include certain tours or tickets for the sightseeing bus . So again, I highly recommend this option, especially if you’re planning a vacation in a metropolitan city.

Regardless of where you’re going, I suggest making a list of all the tourist attractions you want to visit to better organize your trip . Remember, it’s usually better to focus on seeing things that really interest you, rather than trying to cram as many attractions as possible into your itinerary or planner .

6. Book a tour, a key step in many tourist plans

The next thing to do when planning for a trip is to book any tours you’re going to take at your destination. A tour or excursion can help you discover little-known places and learn more history about the city you’re visiting.

While not every destination calls for a detailed tour plan , some places are known for incredible excursions, like seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland, or taking a walking tour through New York.

When we’re creating a travel itinerary and we know we want to take a tour, there are two websites we use. First, Civitatis offers interesting excursions and some free tours around the world, while GetYourGuide has an extensive list of tours in practically any destination.

Using these online trip planner websites is super easy since all you have to do is enter your destination and hit the search button. You can filter the results by category, price, duration, and more, so they’re two of the best trip planning apps out there.

You don’t want to skip this step, especially if you’re not sure how to plan a trip or you’re visiting a place for the first time. Booking a tour or two will help you make the most of your trip, and since a guide will lead you, it’ll be an informative and entertaining experience.

7. Get travel insurance, something you can’t forget when planning a trip

Another must-do when you’re travel planning is to get travel insurance coverage.

No one likes to think about it, but unforeseen events can and do happen while traveling, and in those moments, having travel insurance makes all the difference. The worst-case scenario would be getting sick or hurt while abroad and not having any of your extra medical expenses covered.

Currently, we have annual multi-trip insurance with Heymondo , which is the best travel insurance on the market with the best coverage-to-price ratio. You can even get a travel discount with Heymondo just for being our reader.

5% OFF your travel insurance

In addition to medical assistance for injury or illness, Heymondo covers baggage loss or delay, medical quarantine expenses, and more. You’ll also have Heymondo’s 24/7 chat, which is available to help you should you run into an emergency while abroad.

I can’t recommend travel insurance enough, and while it’s probably the least enjoyable part of planning a trip , it’s the most important. This is particularly true in countries like the U.S. or Japan, where medical treatment is very expensive. Plus, if you opt for trip cancellation insurance , you’ll be covered if an unforeseen event prevents you from traveling.

Best travel insurance

Cheap Travel Insurance

Annual [multi-trip]

Cancellation

Europe travel insurance

Travel insurance for the USA

Medical Travel Insurance

The best only medical travel insurance

Cancel for any reason insurance

The best cancel for any reason plans

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Best insurance for pre-existing conditions

Best travel insurance for seniors

Best family travel insurance

Best insurance for traveling with kids

8. Get a no foreign transaction fee credit card, another important part of your trip plan

Another important thing to remember when planning your itinerary is to get a travel credit card . If you’re going abroad, you’ll want a card with no foreign transaction fees , so you can make payments or ATM withdrawals without the pesky currency exchange fees. Fortunately, you can take advantage of some great options on the market.

We use the Revolut debit card, which you can get for free and use at ATMs and stores around the world. With Revolut, you can withdraw up to $1,200 a month from foreign ATMs without fees, as well as exchange up to $1,000 a month.

We also carry a Wise credit card with us, which comes in handy when we need to withdraw more money and want to avoid extra fees. With Wise, you can spend money in over 50 currencies.

For more information about the Revolut card and the Wise card , I recommend reading our full reviews of each .

9. Buy an international SIM card, a must-do when you plan to travel

One of the most common concerns we hear about how to plan a trip is related to mobile data. We’ve looked at all the possible options for getting Internet for travel , and have found Holafly to be the best solution.

The Holafly eSIM card, which you can get here , is a prepaid digital SIM card that you can use to get Internet while abroad. It’s cheap, quick to arrive in your email inbox, and allows you to keep your number on WhatsApp and other mobile apps.

All you have to do is select the country you’re planning a trip to and choose the best international SIM card for the number of days you’ll be there. Depending on the destination, you can find cards for five to 90 days. After selecting your eSIM, you’ll receive the digital card via email, and you can scan the QR code to activate it. This means you can even buy it when you’re already abroad, so it’s the most convenient option.

There’s no doubt that the Holafly eSIM card is the best mobile data option, but you can learn more about it in our full review.

5% OFF your international eSIM card

If your phone does not support eSIM cards , you can also opt for a physical SIM from SimOptions , which is another very good option.

10. Pack your suitcase, the last step when planning a trip

Now that you’ve done all the tedious steps to plan your itinerary , all that’s left to do is pack your suitcase. If you’re traveling for the first time or you need new luggage, you’ll have no problems finding backpacks and suitcases on Amazon .

For longer trips, we’ve been using this large suitcase (30 inches) for years, and it still holds up. When we’re planning a trip for the weekend or the short term, we use this small suitcase (21 inches) and this carry-on bag .

If you’re curious about how we plan for a backpacking trip , we follow the steps above and depend on this backpack (80L), which is ideal for longer trips. If you’re taking a backpacking trip and want some tips, check out our guide on how to prepare a backpack for long-term travel.

Whether you’re packing a suitcase or a backpack, remember to check the temperatures at your destination so you can bring the appropriate clothing and footwear. Also, don’t forget your toiletries and a small first aid kit since even getting ibuprofen while abroad can be difficult. Other essentials you can’t forget while planning your trip include your passport, wallet, phone charger, and power bank.

These days, you can keep most documents on your phone, but I still recommend bringing along physical copies of your boarding pass, reservations, and insurance policy just in case.

Finally, if you find yourself in a scenario where you don’t have a place to keep your suitcase and you don’t want to drag it around the city with you, you can opt for a luggage storage service. We’ve used Nannybag and Bounce a few times and it made all the difference in how enjoyable our trip was. I also recommend keeping Apple Airtags in your luggage so you can locate it in case it gets lost or stolen.

Bonus step: Pack your photography gear, an essential part of our tour planning

One of the best parts of traveling is seeing amazing landscapes and architecture, which brings me to my bonus travel planning tip . If you love photography as much as we do, don’t forget to bring your camera and other gear with you. We always pack the essentials, especially for our photo tours , and we always keep our equipment well protected.

If you don’t have travel photography gear , you have two options. You can buy what you need on Amazon or B&H Photo , or you can rent the equipment from LensRentals , which I recommend if you’re only going to use it for that trip.

You can get all the details on where to rent camera gear in the U.S. in our guide. I think renting the equipment is a great idea if you’re not a dedicated photographer and don’t plan on using it too much. Plus, you save 15% in LensRentals with our code ATLAS15.

Other tips when planning for a trip

Now you have all the top tips for planning a trip from start to finish. Before I say goodbye, I want to recommend some trip planning apps that can make organizing your trip even easier.

Maps.me has become a must-have travel app for us, even on our weekend getaways. This online travel planner app gives us maps of places all over the world, which we can access even when we lose Internet connection.

Another great tool is TravelSpend , which makes planning a trip with friends super easy since you can organize the travel expenses and determine who pays what.

Of course, travel planning is a process that takes time and effort, but if you follow the advice in this guide and use the websites I mentioned, it’ll be much easier. If you have any questions or want to share your trip planning experiences or tips, leave me a comment below. I’d be happy to hear from you!

Until then, good luck, and have fun planning the trip of your dreams!

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49 Things You Need to Do to Plan Your Best Trip (Free Travel Research & Planning Checklist)

• Updated: 07/02/2024

Before you jet off on your next adventure, ensure you have all your travel research and planning in order. To help, use this ultimate travel research checklist  to guide you through the necessary steps for more enjoyable planning and a stress-minimized trip.

I love to travel, though I do not necessarily enjoy all the tedious steps required to get out the door and start having fun. So, I rely heavily on checklists like this planning list , a packing list , and a prep and close-the-house list  to streamline my departure. Leaning on these saves me time and money and helps to avoid unexpected situations, making for worry-free trips. I hope they can do the same for you.

So, whether you are a seasoned traveler or a first-time adventurer, I have designed this travel research and planning guide to cover the things you must cross off your to-do list before leaving for a trip. 

From the fun stuff like flights, accommodation, and local attractions—to the necessary details, especially for more complicated international travel, like getting visas , knowing about local customs, and purchasing travel insurance , use this list to explore the world confident you have things covered. 

Table Of Contents

Download your free travel planning checklist here.

Prefer not to print? Jump to my explanation of the 14 stages of trip planning  with 49 separate things you should do below. Otherwise, click the image beneath to access and print my free Travel Planning Checklist .

The Importance of Travel Research

Before setting off on any adventure, it is crucial to do your research. Travel research helps you gather information about your destination, allowing you to make informed decision s and avoid unnecessary stress. By taking the time to research and plan, you can uncover hidden gems, know about local events, find the best deals, and arrange your itinerary to maximize your trip enjoyment. 

Plus, conducting research helps travelers be more thoughtful and respectful visitors by being aware of local customs.

Sign up for my monthly Discovery Newsletter & get a free Trip Budget Calculator !

Learn how to further simplify your trip research, planning, and organization for every stage of your trip in “ 5 Proven Ways to Simplify and Organize Your Travel Research .”

When to Start Planning a Trip

When is the ideal time to start planning a trip? Whenever you decide to go! Though—several months, or at least six months in advance , is generally best. However, some destinations, like high-demand national parks with limited visitor and lodging capacity, may require planning up to 12 months or more in advance. 

Plus, it depends who is traveling . Solo or couple travelers can more easily plan last-minute trips as they tend to have more schedule flexibility (i.e., not following family school break schedules) and can choose from more affordable double or single-room lodging options, which tend to be more abundant.

Because families usually require more of everything , from plane tickets to more spacious lodging and even bigger rental cars, planning further in advance becomes more necessary, especially as it allows them to secure the best of these resources at the best pricing. If you are a family traveler or part of a big multi-generational group, you will want to begin planning further in advance—six months to a year is ideal.

14 Stages of Trip Planning & 49 Tips

How you follow these 14 stages of travel planning depends on how long you have before you depart for your trip and your comfort level with leaving things to the last minute. 

Because I do not enjoy the feeling of big to-dos being undone or last-minute scrambles, I aim to complete all 14 stages of travel planning anywhere from one to several months in advance. Alternatively, you may feel more comfortable playing your timeframes looser. 

Step 1: Decide on Your Destination (7 Questions)

Step 2: international travel: understand visa & vaccination requirements & travel restrictions/warnings (4 tips).

Step 3: On Budgeting, Know What You Can Spend (Budget Template)

Step 4: Set a High-Level Itinerary (Get Shortcuts)

Step 5: getting there, find the best deals on airfare (3 resources), step 6: getting around, rental cars & local transportation options (6 tips), step 7: choose where to stay (shortcuts & resources), step 8: decide, save & book the things you want to do (4 tips).

Step 9: Focus on Food, Reserve Restaurants & Learn About Local Dishes (2 Recommendations)

Step 10: Create, Update & Finalize a Detailed Trip Itinerary (Resources)

Step 11: plan for emergencies & unexpected situations (3 tips), step 12: packing & prepping your home before your trip (resources), step 13: make your finances accessible on domestic & international trips (13 tips), step 14: stay connected while you travel (resources).

You may have several destinations in mind for an upcoming trip—or none at all. To get assistance narrowing down your options, consider your travel wants, needs, and limitations by answering the seven questions below to help you figure this out.

How long do you have to travel?

Your work and school schedules or family obligations may dictate the duration of your travel. Or perhaps budget  constraints cap the number of your away-from-home vacation days.

So, before you choose where to go, know how long you can spend there. If your holiday break is limited, you will want to minimize the time or expense of transportation, guiding you to pick closer destinations or places with direct flights.

What do you want to do?

Do you want a warm week lounging on the beach within reach of an easy and affordable nonstop flight? Or are you looking for a city trip with cultural activities? Perhaps the pull of nature is strong, and you want a hiking adventure? Or a bit of all of the above? Know what experiences you or your group would like to have during your time away and pick a place that meets it best.

This question is linked to the one above but digs deeper. Confirm your potential destination offers the right breadth and depth of activities and cultural or culinary highlights. Are there enough things to do and experience to last your trip and meet your wants and needs? Determine whether these options will make for an ideal visit. 

How to get there?

Explore how to get to your potential destination. Does getting there require a multi-day drive? Or a flight with a long layover? Gain a high-level idea of the time and cost involved with the “getting there” part of travel and confirm your time off can easily accommodate long transit times if required. Then, further dive into this step by learning your best options for getting around  once you arrive, here .

When is the best time to go?

To avoid destinations during their rainy seasons and less ideal temperature times, look up historical weather averages for your potential vacation spot before you commit. Use a helpful site like SunHeron  to look at month-by-month temperatures and rainfall for nearly any destination. Doing this will give you a better chance of having the weather be a helper for a great experience instead of a hindrance

What do you want to pay?

It is never fun to start digging into a trip to an incredible place only to realize a few steps in that you cannot afford it. This exact situation happened to us. Several summers ago, we did not plan far enough in advance for a family summer trip to pricey Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Limited availability and expensive lodging options forced us to backtrack and find a more budget-friendly alternative destination—surprisingly, Vail, Colorado.

So, before committing to a spot, set your budget , then do quick hit searches on the costs of available transportation, lodging, activities, and dining to confirm they fit what you can afford.

Is it safe?

Ensuring your health and safety during your trip should be a top priority, especially when visiting an international destination and you are unfamiliar with the customs and language. Before you go, look up travel warnings , read recent traveler accounts on blogs or social media channels, and even message the account owners with your safety questions. Then, check the local news sites. Gathering information about recent on-the-ground experiences will help you decide if this destination is right for you.

This step is for international travel. Before buying your plane tickets, understand entry requirements related to passports and visas, if applicable. 

Ensure you have an up-to-date passport & learn about visa requirements.

For international travel, always ensure your passport will not expire soon and it will be valid for your dates of entry. A good rule of thumb is your passport should be valid for six months after entry . However, sometimes it is less. Confirm exact entry requirements by researching this with the official government customs and tourism organization for the country you plan to visit.

A quick online search should get you the answers you need. For US travelers, check and confirm destination requirements on the helpful “ Learn About Your Destination” page of the US State Department website.

If your passport is expired or set to expire within a validity window, like six months, take immediate steps to renew it. In the US, obtaining a new one can take weeks, if not several months. Get all the details you need about obtaining and renewing US Passports here .

Review travel advisories, security alerts, vaccination & other health requirements.

For US citizens planning to travel abroad, search for your destination on the US State Department website , look for travel advisories, security alerts, and detailed information about health matters, including links to vaccination requirements. Or go directly to the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) Destinations page for extensive health recommendations.

Additionally, maintain your safety by booking lodging  in busier and well-known areas and following the tips I recommend here  to prepare for unexpected emergencies .

If traveling to Europe, know about EITAS, a coming-soon travel permit requirement.

Also, if you plan to travel to Europe, learn about the new electronic travel authorization (ETIAS) for visiting Europe. This coming-soon authorization is not a visa. It is a travel permit. As non-EU Schengen members, US travelers must eventually apply for this new travel authorization before entering Europe.

US travelers, enroll in STEP.

For US travelers for an extra measure of security and safety, consider enrolling your trip with the US State Department as part of their Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP . Doing this will share your travel status with the US government which will allow you to receive important safety information about your destination country and help the US Embassy contact you in an emergency. Enroll here. 

Step 3: On Budgeting, Know What You Can Spend

Does your budget determine where you can go? Or does your destination determine your budget?  An essential part of your travel planning is being realistic about what you can afford . There are few better ways to ruin the effect of a top-notch vacation than to return home after it, realizing you overspent, and then having to contend with the pain of outsize credit card debt and the regret that comes with it.  Instead, book a trip to a place that meets you where your money is. Memorable travel experiences do not have to cost a fortune.

Use a budget calculator like the one I provide for free with signups to my monthly Discovery travel newsletter , shown above. Or create your own budget that includes the major expense items like transportation, lodging, activities, meals, and incidentals that cover anything from souvenirs to travel insurance to pet sitting.

Once you decide on your destination , determine if you will stay in one place or move around and make multiple stops. Will your path of travel be circular—where you end up in the original place you began so that you are flying into and out of the same airport? Or will it be linear? A linear path means you will fly to one destination and return home from another—requiring plane tickets commonly referred to in the travel industry as open jaw tickets. 

Your budget and available vacation time may dictate staying in one place. Or it will allow you to include several different stops in one trip.  Get shortcuts to quickly determine a high-level itinerary for any destination in this article .

Flights and related on-the-ground transportation costs can often be the most significant expenses of any trip.  To find the best airfare deals, compare prices across multiple airlines. Consider flexible travel dates to take advantage of cheaper fares and rates. Additionally, look to redeem frequent flier miles or sign up for travel credit cards that give you miles bonuses.

Maximize your savings by learning to find the best fare deals using Google Flights Explore and Google Flights price tracker . Or read this overview of how to track down the best airfare deals .

Familiarize yourself with these six transportation tips for taxis, public transit, rental cars, and safe walking routes applicable to any new destination.

Plan for how to get around.

Knowing in advance how you plan to get around your vacation spot will impact where you decide to book your lodging . If you plan to rent a car and drive, you will want vacation accommodation that provides easy vehicle access—and ideally nearby and free parking. Or, if you plan to rely on ride shares and public transportation, you may want to ensure close lodging proximity to taxi stands or train or bus stops. 

Familiarize yourself with local transportation options.

Before you arrive at your destination, familiarize yourself with the local transportation . Research different options, such as public buses, trains, ride shares, and taxis, to determine the most convenient and cost-effective ways to get around. These alternatives can be very different in international destinations. 

For example, the most recommended rideshare in Malta, which we visited for a spring break trip , was Bolt, followed by a few others I was unfamiliar with, like eCabs and Ryde.

If you learn about these things in advance, you can pre-download the apps , set up an account, and link payment methods before you arrive. Additionally, consider purchasing local transportation cards or passes, as these often offer discounted rates for multiple journeys.

Get rental car tips & gather resources.

If you plan to rent a car, review these 15 rental car tips which will save you money, reduce potential hassles, and explain how to get complimentary upgrades. Then, understand whether you need to buy rental car insurance —something that even the most experienced travelers get confused by—with this thorough overview .

When traveling internationally, research to find out if you need an international driving permit for your destination. If you do, get this permit in advance, as sometimes the paperwork may take a few weeks. Check to see if you need an international driving permit via this helpful article . 

Learn the (local) rules of the road.

For any international travelers, you will want to familiarize yourself with the local driving rules in the country you plan to drive in advance. Doing so can help you avoid unintentional penalties and minimize the chance of on-the-road incidents. 

US travelers can understand driver safety abroad by referencing this State Department page . This page provides helpful country links and outlines local driving rules—from default speed limits to signaling requirements to where to park.

Consider pre-booking an airport pickup.

Especially for international trips, if you do not feel confident about your understanding of local transportation options, make things easy for yourself upon arrival. Consider requesting your lodging to arrange a pickup for you . This reserved ride will likely be more expensive, though it will give you peace of mind that you will not get things “wrong” when you arrive.

Then, when at your destination, ask for assistance from your accommodation manager or concierge to help better explain your on-the-ground transportation options .

After an international overnight flight, our family sometimes pre-books airport taxis, as we did on a visit to Rome . When exhausted and running on empty from a long and likely sleepless flight, it is a relief to know our in-town transportation is reliably taken care of. 

Know safe walking routes.

If you plan to explore a new destination on foot, familiarize yourself with safe walking paths . Research this ahead of time. Or ask once at your accommodation. The front desk staff and management, who generally live locally, are a valuable resource for sharing the best routes, areas, and times for moving around safely.

Pinpointing the right location for lodging is never easy. To figure it out fast—my first stop is to use the “ Where to stay ” button on Google Hotels , which will show neighborhood-by-neighborhood descriptions and ratings for all major destinations, allowing you to quickly zero in on the right neighborhood for you to stay in. See where to find it in the quick clip below.

Alternatively, run an AI or online search on “ best places to stay in [your destination] ” and review the results. Or, reference up-to-date travel guidebooks , which generally provide a helpful point of view on the best areas to stay. 

Additionally, since I find great lodging in top locations has an outsize positive impact on our travel experiences, I put a lot of effort into finding the best places to stay.  Get tips on how to do this for your lodging searches in this article .

Now that you have the framework of your trip set, it is time for the most fun part—figuring out things you want to do once you get there.

Search for things to do online.

If your best trip experience includes seeing top attractions and activities, you will want to research the top things to do in a destination that best fits your interests. Run AI searches or look online for “things to do in [your destination].”

Travel blogs, social media, and sites like Pinterest or Reddit are helpful for this. Or read a guidebook  or visit Google Travel , searching your destination to get an idea about the top attractions and get recommendations for more things to see or do.

To determine what you want to do most, read reviews from fellow travelers to understand what to expect. Then, consider purchasing tickets or making reservations for the most popular attractions to avoid long queues and secure your spot.

Save your favorites.

My preferred way to keep track of things I want to do in a destination is to save them to a custom list in Google Maps . Doing this gives me quick access to my favorites on my mobile phone via my Google Maps app while traveling. I share why and how to create similar custom lists in this article . 

Check out the guided activity and tour options.

Another good way to round out your research for what to do in any area is by checking out tour booking sites like Viator , Get Your Guide or Airbnb Experiences . Use them to look at the top-rated experiences for your destination. You might discover a cooking class, photo tour, guided hike, history walk, and so much more—activities that could be one of the more memorable parts of your vacation.

Ask for recommendations.

Before your trip, ask your friends, family, and acquaintances for suggestions for what to do in your planned destination if they have already been there.  T hen, when your trip is here, and you finally and excitingly arrive— connect and chat with your lodging managers, taxi drivers, tour guides, servers, and any other locals you can befriend to ask for their recommendations. 

By doing this, we have learned about many things we would have missed if we did not connect with locals, like off-the-radar restaurants, event-related parades, holiday processionals, or the best spots to catch sunsets. While traveling, we value these local recommendations so highly that we often will reshape our entire plan for how we spend a day to accommodate them. 

Step 9: Focus on Food - Reserve Restaurants & Learn About Local Dishes (2 Recommendations)

Does your culinary experience matter to you on vacation? I have a food blogger and cookbook author friend who makes researching places to eat and reserving restaurants her immediate third activity after booking airfare and lodging for any trip. So, if incorporating an epicurean experience into your travel is important, include the two steps below in your pre-trip planning.

Make restaurant reservations.

Search online to get a list of top eateries in your destination. Reference Google Maps, articles, blog posts, or run AI inquiries. Or ask other travelers who have been to the area recently, as they are always happy to share their favorites. Prioritize the places you want to eat and make reservations. If you cannot do this in advance online, do not sweat it. Do it in person when you arrive. Or ask your lodging for dining recommendations and assistance with booking reservations.

Learn about the food before you go.

Although international trips provide ample opportunities for new food experiences, you do not have to go far from home to indulge in regional food specialties while on vacation. For example, on a fall getaway to Door County, Wisconsin , near our hometown of Chicago, we were sure to order cheese curds, a Badger State specialty, paired with local brews. 

Before your trip, search online for “best food to eat in [your destination]” to see what tops the list. On a spring trip to Rome , it was Jerusalem artichokes. When in Malta , it was a rabbit dish and many other unfamiliar foods.

Eating at different places and trying new dishes, drinks, and snacks can be one of the most memorable aspects of your travel. To get a head start, take a global tour from these food guide and cookbook recommendations .

Now that you have your transportation, lodging, activities, and possibly even your dining planned or loosely set, it is time to put it all down to paper.  Use an online app like TripIt to keep track of your bookings and day-to-day plans. Or go semi-old school like I do and put it in an Excel document . Since I have yet to find an app that functions exactly how I want, I created my own itinerary framework that includes all the elements I prefer.

I share this free framework  downloadable in four file types in this article . In it, I also link to more places to find free or affordable trip itinerary templates. 

Then, for safety purposes , share your itinerary with family and friends so they know where you will be when you are away from home.

Follow these three recommendations to help you avoid or quickly recover from emergencies and unexpected situations while traveling.

Conduct practical safety prep.

Before each trip, familiarize yourself with local emergency service numbers and healthcare facilities in your planned destination. When traveling internationally—particularly to an area at risk for conflict, know where to find your local embassy or consulate.  Additionally, ensure your family and friends know where you are going and how to reach you. If you created a detailed itinerary  share it with them. Then, continue to check in throughout the trip.

Buy travel insurance.

It is an extra expense every traveler would love to skip. However, given the cost of your vacation and what is at risk—your trip budget, your health, and your property—the cost of travel insurance should be considered an essential and non-negotiable expense, especially for international trips. Read about why to get travel insurance and where to find it in this article .

My preferred resource for buying travel insurance is InsureMyTrip.com , an online travel insurance agent and search engine that I use to shop policies from different insurers, buying from the ones with the highest user ratings.

Know what to do in case of theft.

Do you have a plan for what to do in case your wallet, phone, computer, or passport is taken or goes missing? Do you know how to protect your sensitive data? Or how to quickly replace credit cards or a phone? Or get a replacement passport so you can get home?

If not, familiarize yourself with these steps in case your phone goes missing , or read this account of a traveler who had to navigate getting her phone stolen out of her hand in Cartagena, Colombia.

Then, make front-and-back print and digital copies of all IDs, passports, credit cards, and travel insurance policies, keeping copies easily accessible in case of emergency, theft, or loss. Share copies of all items with a trusted friend or family member who can quickly send them back to you if needed.

Taking care to pack efficiently will make your trip a more comfortable one. Before you go, research weather conditions at your destination and plan accordingly. Make a checklist of essential items, such as toiletries, medication, electronics, and travel adapters. Pack versatile clothing items that can be mixed and matched for different occasions and temperatures. And remember a travel first aid kit with essential medical supplies.

Because I bring many repeat items every time we travel, I spent a year carefully crafting, updating, and tweaking a universal and printable packing list to reuse for every trip. Using this helps me avoid “recreating the (packing) wheel” every time I leave home, which helps save time and minimizes prep. 

Access, download, and print this universal packing list , which includes a comprehensive medical kit, here . 

Additionally, since I am a fan of checklists and streamlining tasks, I created a second checklist to close the house and prep for packing—that includes to-do items like buying trip-specific gear or picking up medical prescriptions in advance to avoid last-minute scrambles. Check out the list here. 

If you are new to traveling and packing, get 25 of my best packing tips that I follow for every trip.

Before you go on any trip, be sure to have a plan for how to pay for all expenses, access your cash, and use your credit cards.

On domestic trips: two tips on spending and cash.

If your getaway is domestic, this step should be relatively easy, as how you spend will be similar to what you do at home. However, there are two things you may want to consider before you leave. Getting extra cash from a local no-fee ATM and ensuring you have up-to-date logins with mobile pay apps like Zelle or Venmo. 

Even in this age of high connectivity, it is still relatively easy to encounter a market vendor, fair, or pop-up snack shop that does not accept credit cards. So, you will want a cash supply handy . Doing this will help you avoid unnecessary and out-of-the-way stops at high-fee and out-of-network ATMs. Sometimes, vendors will also accept mobile payments from apps like Venmo or Zelle. 

For example, during a recent domestic trip to New Orleans, our family enjoyed listening to musicians who accepted tips via Venmo, allowing us to scan their QR code and drop some cash—in appreciation of their talent and time. So, before you leave for your trip, if you use these apps, ensure you are actively logged in and can access your accounts.

On international trips: 11 tips for spending, credit cards, cash, and safety.

Prearranging and maintaining comprehensive and secure financial access requires a few more steps when traveling internationally. Here is a list of 10 things you will want to plan for: 

1. Determine which credit card(s) you plan to use . Ideally, choose the one(s) that offers the lowest, or zero, foreign transaction fees.

2. If you use a mobile hands-free payment like Apple Pay, ensure your default credit card linked to your mobile payment account is the card with the lowest foreign transaction fees. 

3. For travelers who do not already use a hands-free payment method like Apple Pay, consider setting it up, as it is a convenient wallet-free way to pay when traveling. Keeping your wallet tucked away may also make you less of a target for potential pickpockets who tend to mark international travelers.

4. If you plan to use a credit card while traveling internationally, process your transactions in the local currency . At the point-of-sale, avoid converting the transaction to your home currency since this often translates into a less advantageous exchange rate. 

5. Know the currency exchange rate between your home and destination country before you leave home—this will help you better manage your spending and budget. Download a currency converter app like XE , to easily translate local prices to your home currency.

6. Plan to take out the local country currency from an ATM when you arrive. Some travelers prefer to pre-buy foreign currency at their local hometown bank before they leave for their trip. However, we are always comfortable doing this at the airport upon arrival.

Know which local ATMs offer the lowest fees for international visitors for cash withdrawals and which charge the highest—and should be avoided. Visit traveler forums and social media groups , or read guidebooks  to learn this information.

7. Bring back up cash in your own currency , which you can exchange in an emergency. Include small bills if you can. You can often use these in a pinch for tips and when you run short on small denominations of local cash. However, local currency—depending on the country—is generally preferred.

8. Remove all unnecessary credit , identity, membership, and banking cards from your wallet that you do not plan to use while traveling and store them safely at home. Doing this is preventative in case of wallet loss or theft. Keeping so many cards at home means you will have fewer to cancel or replace.

9. Make copies of both sides of your banking and credit cards . Keep print or digital copies accessible. For a backup— share them with a friend or family member who will be staying home and can send them to you in the event of loss or theft. 

10. Have a plan for keeping your wallet and valuables safe while on your trip. Assume on an international trip, you may be a target for pickpockets. Make it difficult for would-be thieves by using secure carrying bags and backpacks with zippered pockets.

Practice never leaving your personal items unattended or on the back of chairs. If you need to set a bag down, wrap a strap securely around a leg or arm. Also, ensure all openings are fully zipped and face inward toward your body. Depending on your destination, consider sewing hidden interior pockets to pants or using money belts under clothes to keep cash and IDs secure.

Another helpful step you can take includes being aware of your surroundings and avoiding being distracted in public by your phone while traveling. It is relatively easy for a cyclist or motorcycle rider to whip by and grab an unlocked phone from unsuspecting hands.

11. Finally, before you go, move ample cash into your checking or ATM-linked account to fund your trip and to fully process automatic bill withdrawals to eliminate the possibility of overdrafts or other unpleasant financial surprises that could happen while you are away. If you do not have auto bill payments set up, pre-pay all upcoming bills before you leave.

Note: Many credit cards and banks no longer require you to alert them when you plan to leave the country as they track trip-related purchases like plane tickets, taxis, and hotel bookings. 

However, check with your banking and credit card companies before you go to understand their travel recommendations and to avoid possible suspicious-activity freezes on your accounts.

This step is easy for domestic journeys, as depending on your data plan, you can ideally use your mobile phone to text and call to stay in touch like you would at home.  However, constant connectivity gets more complicated for international trips. When traveling abroad, you want to determine how you plan to use your mobile phone .

Will you stay off-network and use it only when connected to Wi-Fi? Or pay a daily network international roaming fee—up to a pricey $10 per day with networks like Verizon? Or, instead, buy a data plan from a local network using e-sim technology?

Does this feel complicated? Even to me, a regular international traveler, and others—it does also. Based on your budget and connectivity needs, you will want to figure out which way of staying connected is right for you. To decide, price out international plans from your mobile carrier and then learn more about going the eSIM route with info in this helpful article .

Once you know how you plan to stay in touch, download apps you anticipate you may need to use. When traveling internationally, this may include downloading What’sApp , a global messaging app and voice-over-IP service heavily used outside of the United States.  When abroad, I frequently use this app to communicate with lodging contacts and tour guides and to confirm reservations.

Additionally, be sure to have all lodging or tour booking apps downloaded and updated on your phone. You will want to access the messaging functionality within apps like Airbnb, Booking.com, or other hotel apps, which you may need to use to send and receive communications. 

Hands-down, thorough travel research is the key to a stress-free adventure. By taking time to gather destination information so you can make informed planning decisions, you can ensure a smooth and memory-making journey. 

From researching your destination and finding the best deals to understanding local customs and preparing essential travel documents, each step plays a vital role in creating your best travel experience.

So, before you embark on your next adventure, check off the items on this ultimate travel research checklist. With research and planning complete, you can explore the world with confidence and peace of mind. The more you know, the better prepared you will be for any unexpected challenges or opportunities that come your way. Happy travels!

Related Reading

If you are searching for more travel planning assistance to help you save time and money and to stay organized, check out the related articles below.

• Google for Travel: Plan Better with These 8 Tools
• Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning
• Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore
• How to Save Time & Money with Google Flights Price Tracker
• 5 Proven Ways to Simplify and Organize Your Travel Research
• Rental Car Insurance: When You Need It & When You Don’t
• Pack Faster & Better with This Universal Printable Packing List
• 25 Expert Packing Tips to Help You Travel Better
• Pre-Trip: A Practical Checklist to Close the House & Pack

Additional Trip Planning Resources

To further help you with travel planning, I share my go-to resources for every trip below. 

Google Flights. My first research stop for affordable flights for every trip. Learn why here . 

Google Hotels . Use its “ Where to stay ” button to discover the best neighborhoods to base your visit.

Booking.com. For hotel and rental bookings, I appreciate its flexible cancellation, candid user reviews, discounts, loyalty program, and easy-to-use interface.

Viator , Get Your Guide , & Airbnb Experiences . Quickly find and book highly-rated tours and activities on these sites.

Google Travel Things to Do & Google Maps . Find more things to do in your destination on Google Travel, then record where you want to visit on a custom Google Maps list. 

AllTrails . Love to hike? Me too. I religiously use AllTrails to discover hiking and biking trails and download its offline maps to manage my hikes.

Guide Along . 5-star self-guided audio tours that are GPS-compatible for US road trips and national parks. We loved the Glacier National Park tour .

Insure My Trip. I never travel internationally without trip insurance. Learn why here . My preferred place to shop and compare policies is InsureMyTrip.com . 

Plus, check out the 15 travel apps I use on trips, my preferred guidebooks , and my free customizable travel itinerary template , downloadable in four file formats.

About the author : Janice Moskoff is a travel writer and blogger who loves hiking, exploring the world, and reading. She writes to inspire travel-loving families, adult friends, and couples on her blog, Gather and Go Travel . After attending the University of Michigan undergraduate business school and following a career in retail strategy and event management, she returned to focus on her first love—travel. Read her bio , learn how she became a blogger , and discover how to work with her . Sign up for her monthly Discovery Newsletter to get her latest travel recommendations and how-to’s .

Love to travel? Sign up for m y monthly Gather & Go Travel Discovery Newsletter and get a free trip budget calculator.

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I only recommend products and companies I use. And the income goes to keeping the site community-supported and ads minimal.

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Welcome to  Gather and Go Travel , a blog inspiring families, adult friends, and couples to explore US and international destinations and to get outdoors. I am Janice, a world traveler to 50+ countries, a travel writer/blogger, and a book lover. Learn more  about me , read  our story , and how to  work with me . Get my latest updates, how-tos, and trip ideas in my monthly  Discovery Newsletter .

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The Wandering Blonde

Solo Female Travel Blog

Travel Guides · January 2, 2019

How to Plan a Trip: A Guide for Beginners

Wondering how to plan a trip, and not sure where to start? You’re not alone!

For experienced travelers, booking flights and throwing together an itinerary is second nature. But I remember the first time I planned a trip all on my own, I was kiiiiind of a nervous wreck.

Sure, I was excited as hell for my first independent travel experience. But I had ZERO clue how to efficiently create an itinerary, search for flights, find places to stay, or figure out transportation. Needless to say, I second-guessed myself at every turn.

But, not anymore! All these years later, and I’m something of a trip-planning pro (…I did have a brief stint as a travel agent back in 2016, after all!)

I receive dozens and dozens of emails and messages from soon-to-be travelers, and I thought it would helpful to create a detailed guide for anxious first timers (or even experienced travelers who happen to love checklists and helpful tidbits – I like them too).

I crammed as much knowledge and as many resources as possible into this “How to Plan a Trip” guide. I hope you’ll find it helpful, but as always, drop any questions in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them!

(Short on time? You can find a condensed list of my favorite travel resources here .)

1. Pick a Destination

Researching and choosing a travel destination is by far one of the most exciting parts of planning a trip.

At this point in time, the whole world is your oyster. You can go anywhere, and do anything!

Then again, the world is a pretty damn big places, so it’s good to have a strategy for narrowing down your options.

Here are some methods for picking a travel destination:

• Seek inspiration. One of my favorite resources for finding travel inspiration is The Travel Book by Lonely Planet . It features brief overviews of EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY in the world along with some seriously stunning photos. I’ve wasted away many hours flipping through this book! I also like browsing Pinterest  and Reddit  for travel photos and itineraries. And of course I follow many travel bloggers on Instagram and Bloglovin ‘!
• Choose the destination that’s cheapest to fly to.  Open to going anywhere in the world? Save yourself some serious money by simply booking the least expensive flight you can find! Sign up for a service like Scott’s Cheap Flights , which sends you airfare deals from your local airports. You can also use the Explore tool on Kayak to shop around for cheap flights to anywhere.
• Build a bucket list. Sometimes when I’m browsing online and stumble across a new destination or interesting attraction, I’ll jot it down in the notes section of my iPhone. I keep a “local” bucket list (filled with all sorts of destinations near where I live in California) as well as a global bucket list. It can be easy to forget what originally caught your eye about a city or country, so having some notes handy when it comes time to book a trip can help with your decision.

Pssst – I own all 3 of these coffee table books, and they’re amazing for finding travel inspiration!

2. decide how long your trip should be.

Four days? A week? Two weeks? A month?

There’s no right or wrong answers when it comes to the length or your trip, but typically this decision will come down to a few factors:

• Vacation time. How much of it do you have? How much of it do you want to spend on this trip?
• Travel time to the destination. In general, the further away you’re traveling, the longer your trip should be. If your destination is only a three-hour flight away, you can definitely spend just a few days there and get your money’s worth. If you’re spending 20 hours on a plane, however, you’ll likely want a full week (better yet, two) at the minimum in order for the travel time to be worth it.
• Time needed to enjoy the destination. Countries come in all sizes, and the time needed to “properly” explore China vs. Costa Rica (for example) would be drastically different. It’s true that you’ll likely never see everything a country has to offer, no matter how much time you have. But if you’re visiting a large destination, or one that really fascinates you on a deep level, it’s smart to budget more time.
• Monetary budget.  Generally speaking, the longer your trip, the more you’ll spend. Which brings us to…

3. Set Your Budget

Some people may prefer to set their budget earlier in the process; for example, even before deciding on the destination or length of trip. And this probably makes sense if you’re on a very strict or limited budget.

For example, if you know that you absolutely cannot spend more than $1,000 total, then it’s smart to make that decision first, and then look for destinations that fit into your budget (either because they have a low cost of living, or because they’re cheap to fly to).

But personally, I tend to already have a dream destination in mind, and then  build my budget around the airfare and average destination costs .

For example, if I’ve picked Mexico (which is a short flight away, as well as a relatively cheap destination) I will set a much lower budget than if I had picked Germany, which costs more money to fly to, on top of being a more expensive country.

Again, if you know that you have a limited budget, it makes sense to rule out unaffordable destinations right off the bat. But if you have a bit of wiggle room, it makes sense to be flexible in your budgeting based on the location.

But how do you actually set your travel budget?

Essentially, you just figure out how much you’re able to comfortably spend, and then force your expenses to fit into that budget. Easy, right?

It can be helpful to think in terms of dollars per day; for instance, if you have $2,000 available to spend (not including flight costs) and want to travel for 10 days, you know that you can spend $200 per day on accommodations + food + activities, etc.

Having this estimate handy can help you make decisions about hotels and activities later in the planning process.

4. Start Researching Flights & Dates

Super important rule: flights should ALWAYS be the first thing you book. 

Airline prices and availability are much more volatile than hotel or activity prices and availability.

If you a book a flight, and then discover that the hotel room you liked is no longer available, there’s still a good chance you can find someplace to stay that will meet your needs and fall within your budget.

But what if you already booked your hotels, only to find that the flight you were looking at has doubled in price? Or is no longer available at all? Or is significantly cheaper the day before or after you had planned to start your trip?

You’ll also need to know your arrival and departure schedule in order to build your itinerary.

For instance, factors such as whether your flight arrives in the morning or evening may determine how much time you spend in your arrival city before moving on to the next destination.

Here are some variables to consider while researching dates and flight routes:

• When can you comfortably take time away from work or school?
• What season do you want to travel in? What will the weather be like in your destination at that time?
• Do you want to travel during high season (typically the best weather, but most expensive prices) or low season (fewer tourists and lower costs, but may have poor weather or other inconveniences)?

I personally like using Kayak to search for flights, but I always book directly with the airline. Why? If something happens (like a delay, cancellation, or missed flight) third party vendors will be less equipped to help you than the actual airline.

Once you’ve locked down your dates and identified a flight you’re happy with, I still recommend creating a rough itinerary before actually booking your flights. Which brings us to…

5. Create Your Itinerary

At this stage, I like to make a list of all potential cities, sights, and activities within my destination that interest me. A Word document or the notes section on your phone is a good place to make this list. I’ve even used PowerPoint if I want to include images in my notes.

…this list is usually WAY too long.

If you have a week to explore a country, you’re not going to fit visits to 5 different cities in. You’re just not! Narrow down your list to the 2 cities that interest you the most.

If your trip is longer, scale up the number of destinations accordingly; for instance, in 2 weeks you could reasonably visit 4 (or possibly 5) cities.

Some personal rules of thumb:

• 2 days per city at an absolute minimum
• For major cities (like Paris), double that number
• 3 days is my sweet spot for most mid-sized cities
• Avoid single-night stays…even for small towns. It’s just too much of a hassle with checking in and out of hotels; no time to actually relax!

Factors to help you narrow down your list and choose which cities to visit:

• Travel accessibility and time between cities (if one city is a 9-hour bus ride away, and another city is a 1-hour shuttle ride, I’d almost always pick the second city)
• Things to do in each city; what interests you the most?
• Accommodation availability in each city

And here’s something most guide books probably won’t tell you: there is no such thing as a must-see city or attraction.

Seriously! It’s all relative.

If your dream is to bicycle around the French countryside exploring small villages and tasting local wines, and the thought of walking through city streets and touring art museums sounds like hell, why would you spend any of your precious time in Paris during your week in France?

I know, it sounds like a sin to skip a city as great as Paris…but honestly, I believe it’s worse to skip those destinations that set your imagination on fire and fill you with excitement, in favor of someone else’s “must see.”

I don’t believe in skipping touristic sights just for the sake of going off the beaten path (truthfully, popular sights are usually popular for a good reason) but if they truly don’t speak to you, follow your heart.

…Sorry, that was a bit of tangent! But here’s where I’m going with that: I know it’s hard fitting everything you want to see into your itinerary. For me, it’s usually more than hard – it’s impossible!

My advice: Accept the fact that you can’t see it all, choose the places that excite you or interest you the most, and trust that you’ll have such an amazing time visiting those places, that you won’t even think about the places you had to cut.

It’s the truth, I promise.

6. Start Booking!

Once you’ve settled on an itinerary you’re happy with, it’s time to lock it all into place by finally booking your flights, accommodations, activities, and any other transportation.

Book Your Flights

Boom! Done.

This is always a super exciting moment for me, because no matter what happens next…there’s no turning back now, you’re going on your trip!

Book Your Accommodation

After securing flights, accommodation is always the next thing I book.

More often than not, I end up booking a place to stay via Airbnb . I find that you can get some really amazing value from Airbnb, for the same cost or lower than what you’d find at a hotel. A lot of the homes I’ve rented have amazing views or amenities, and are usually in great locations.

(Psst – get $40 off your first Airbnb stay!)

When I’m not staying in an Airbnb, I like to search for hotel rooms on Booking.com .

Not only is it a useful search engine for finding available rooms, you can also view photos, read user reviews, and see ratings of features like location, cleanliness, and overall value.

Unlike with flights (which I prefer to book direct with the airlines), I’m happy to book hotels through third party vendors like Booking . You can sometimes find better deals than what you’ll see on the hotel website, such as free breakfast or flexible booking.

That said, I always recommend shopping around to see where you can find the lowest price!

When I’m traveling on a budget, HostelWorld is my go-to source for finding dorm rooms, or even private rooms in hostels.

If you’ve never stayed in a hostel before, my advice is this: don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it! They can be great for traveling cheaply and meeting likeminded travelers.

Whichever service I’m using to book my accommodation, these are a few things I always look for:

• Location, location, location. No matter how stunning or unique a hotel is, it’s hard to pass up accommodation that’s perfectly located. You can save so much time and stress by picking someplace that’s walking distance to the city center, major sights, good food and nightlife, etc.
• Character/charm. Why book a cookie cutter room when there are so many quirky hostels, boutique hotels, family-owned guesthouses, or beautifully decorated Airbnbs to choose from?
• Views. Not a must-have, but I take ’em where I can get ’em!

Plan/Book Other Transportation

How will you travel between the various cities you’re visiting? How about any day trips or excursions?

Booking transportation may not be something you need to do in advance, but it is something you should definitely research and plan for.

• If you’re renting a car, I highly recommend reserving in advance.
• If you’re traveling by train, it may depend on the destination whether or not you need to book in advance. Look up train schedules to see how frequently they depart for your destination, and browse forums like Reddit or TripAdvisor to see what other travelers say about booking in advance vs. after you’ve arrived.
• If you’re traveling by bus, you most likely don’t need to book before you arrive…but again, it doesn’t hurt to double check.

Plan/Book Activities

This part is always a lot of fun!

Much like you did while selecting which cities to visit, I recommend compiling a big master list of all the possible activities and sights you’re interested in: walking tours, day trips, museums, architectural or historic sites, food tours, bar crawls, hikes, snorkeling, etc.

Here’s where I like to search for things to do and see while traveling:

• Travel blogs (like this one 😉 )
• TripAdvisor
• Rough Guides  (I love their “Things Not to Miss” sections)
• Lonely Planet

Once you have a good idea of your possible options, go back to your list and narrow down your choices to your personal “must do’s.” When deciding which activities to cut, consider factors like length of time, cost, location, and – most importantly – how much each attraction or activity interests you.

Here’s another tip: you don’t need a minute-by-minute itinerary for every single day of your trip.

Everyone has different travel styles; some prefer to leave their plans wide open and make decisions on the fly, while others like to plan and pre-book as much as possible.

Either way, I recommend leaving some amount of wiggle room in your daily itineraries.

My personal preference is to 1) make a list of all the activities, attractions, and restaurants I definitely want to try, and then 2) loosely “assign” them to various days. This tactic allows me to ensure that I can fit everything I want into my schedule, while still keeping it flexible.

Remember: travel should be fun! Don’t force yourself into anything just because it was originally on your itinerary; if you’re not feeling it anymore once you’re in the destination, or you think you’d rather experience it on another day, it’s no biggie!

7. Make a Detailed Arrival Plan

Arriving for the first time in a foreign country always leaves me with butterflies in my stomach…and not just the good kind of butterflies.

What if I get lost? What if I get scammed? What if, what if…

These are all perfectly normal thoughts, but making a detailed arrival plan can help alleviate some of these anxieties.

Plan for factors such as:

• What’s the best way to get to your hotel/hostel/Airbnb? How much should it cost? How should you deal with taxi drivers who try to overcharge you? (Tip: refuse to accept a ride unless they turn the meter on)
• Where/how will you acquire the local currency? (An airport ATM is usually a good option)

I also like to screenshot the name and address of my hotel (in the local language if possible) as well as my booking confirmations. That way if there’s an issue with connecting to WiFi, I still have everything I need to get checked into my room, which is the most important thing on Day One.

8. Plan for These Not-Very-Fun-But- Super -Important Steps

Visas – Do you need a visa to visit your destination? For Americans visiting most countries, the answer will usually be no. But it’s always smart to double check visa requirements , as well as passport validity requirements (note: most countries will require your passport to be valid for at least six months after your return date ).

Vaccines – On the CDC website , there is a section where travelers can input their destination and find recommended vaccinations, as well as health risks.

Travel Insurance – You should never travel without proper travel insurance! We would all like to assume the worst will never happen to us while traveling abroad…but the truth is, none of us can plan for these things.

If you’re seriously injured or become sick abroad, having insurance can make a world of difference to ensuring you get the care you need. Especially when it comes to major illnesses and emergencies! World Nomads is a favorite among experienced travelers; you can pop your travel details into the tool below to see a pricing estimate:

Tell Your Credit Card Companies Your Travel Plans  – Typically, if your bank sees a sudden influx of charges on your credit card coming from a foreign country, what are they going to do…? Flag the charges as potentially fraudulent and freeze your card, perhaps?

This would be considered great service most of the time, but could become a nightmare situation for someone traveling abroad. ALWAYS let your bank know about your travel plans; almost all banks allow you to input this information online nowadays. If not, just give them a call.

9. Have the Time of Your Life!

Planning a trip definitely takes work, but it’s one of those things that gets easier and far less stress-inducing the more you do it. And hey, the effort definitely pays off – you’re going to have a blast!

Enjoy your trip – eat all the food, see all the sights, soak in all the culture, and take all the photos. Happy travels!

Are you in the process of planning a trip to somewhere amazing? What questions do you still have about how to plan a trip? I can do my best to answer them in the comments!

Note: This post contains several affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. My affiliate income helps offset the cost of running this blog, and allows me to keep this site free of ads and sponsored posts. So, thank you!! 

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January 5, 2019 at 6:28 am

January 6, 2019 at 4:01 pm

Thanks Emily! I like to provide basic but essential tips like these every now and then!

January 6, 2019 at 7:08 am

January 6, 2019 at 4:03 pm

Haha, I definitely plan trips that I have no intention of taking in the near future, too! And that’s awesome – it’s good to try out different styles of travel and see how you like them. I definitely think there’s a time for both quick and slow travel, but usually do skew towards the slower side. Let me know how you like it 🙂

January 14, 2019 at 9:23 pm

This is such a good read, very detailed that’s why it is more understandable. Great tips too. Thank you for sharing!

January 16, 2019 at 7:08 pm

Thank you so much, Hannah!

February 8, 2020 at 1:45 am

March 10, 2020 at 8:48 am

Totally agree!

April 25, 2021 at 10:31 pm

As you mentioned, I also have zero clues on how I can plan my own wellness travel. It has been a really hard year for me and I feel like I deserve to rest. However, to enjoy good itineraries and follow a smooth schedule, I think I might have to turn to experienced travel planners to organize it for me.

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• Travel Tips

How To Plan A Trip: An Easy Travel Planning Guide

Published: November 16, 2023

Modified: December 28, 2023

by Rodi Kindle

• Plan Your Trip

Introduction

Planning a trip can be both exciting and overwhelming. Whether you’re embarking on a solo adventure, a romantic getaway, or a family vacation, careful planning is crucial to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience. From choosing the perfect destination to booking flights and accommodations, travel planning requires careful consideration of various factors. In this easy travel planning guide, we’ll walk you through the essential steps to plan your trip effectively.

Travel planning allows you to make the most of your time and resources, ensuring that you don’t miss out on any must-visit attractions or experiences. By following these recommendations and tips, you’ll be well-prepared to create a memorable and stress-free travel itinerary.

Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or this is your first time planning a trip, this guide will provide you with valuable insights and practical advice to help you make the most out of your travel experience. So, let’s dive into the essential steps of travel planning and get ready for your next adventure!

Step 1: Determine your destination

The first step in planning any trip is deciding on the destination. Consider your interests, preferences, and the type of experience you’re seeking. Do you want to relax on a tropical beach, explore historic landmarks, immerse yourself in a different culture, or embark on an outdoor adventure? Research various destinations and make a list of places that align with your interests.

Factors to consider when choosing a destination include the time of year, weather conditions, and your budget. If you’re traveling during peak tourist season, popular destinations may be crowded and prices for flights and accommodations could be higher. Alternatively, visiting during the off-peak season may offer more affordable options and fewer crowds.

Think about the distance you’re willing to travel and the transportation options available to reach your chosen destination. Consider whether you prefer a domestic or international trip, and take into account any visa requirements or travel restrictions.

Furthermore, take the time to research the safety and political situation of your potential destinations. Check for any travel advisories or warnings issued by your government, and read reviews from other travelers to gain insight into the current state of your desired location.

Ultimately, the choice of your destination should align with your interests, budget, and the kind of experience you’re looking for. Once you have narrowed down your options, you can move on to the next step of the planning process.

Step 2: Set a budget

Setting a budget is an essential step in travel planning as it helps you determine how much you can realistically spend on your trip. Consider your financial situation and allocate funds for transportation, accommodations, meals, activities, and any other expenses that may arise during your journey.

Start by determining how much you are willing to spend overall on your trip. This will give you a rough estimate of how much you can allocate to each aspect of your travel, such as flights, accommodation, and daily expenses.

Research the average costs of your chosen destination to get an idea of how much you need to budget. Take into account the cost of living, transportation, attractions, and dining options in the area. Consider whether you prefer a luxurious or budget-friendly experience, and adjust your budget accordingly.

Be sure to factor in any additional expenses such as travel insurance, visa fees, and transportation to and from the airport. It’s also important to set aside some extra funds for unexpected expenses or emergencies that may arise during your trip.

Consider ways to save money during your trip. Look for deals on flights and accommodations, consider alternative modes of transportation such as buses or trains, and opt for budget-friendly dining options like street food or local eateries.

Keep track of your expenses as you plan and throughout your journey. This will help you stay within your budget and make adjustments if necessary. Use online travel budget calculators or mobile apps to assist you in managing your finances effectively.

Remember, setting a budget allows you to plan your trip within your means and ensures that you can fully enjoy your travel experience without financial stress. So, take the time to assess your expenses and allocate your funds wisely before moving on to the next step of travel planning.

Step 3: Decide on the duration of your trip

Deciding on the duration of your trip is an important step in travel planning as it helps you determine how much time you can allocate to each destination and activity. Consider your schedule, budget, and the attractions you want to explore.

Start by assessing the amount of time you can take off from work or other commitments. Take into account any travel restrictions or visa limitations that may affect the duration of your trip.

If you have a specific destination in mind, research the recommended duration for visiting that location. Some places may require a longer stay to fully experience their culture, attractions, and activities, while others can be explored in a shorter timeframe.

Consider your travel pace and personal preferences. Do you prefer a leisurely trip with plenty of downtime, or do you prefer a fast-paced adventure packed with sightseeing? Factor in travel time and any jet lag that may affect your energy levels upon arrival.

If you plan to visit multiple destinations, allocate sufficient time for each location based on your interests and the activities you wish to engage in. Remember to account for travel time between destinations and consider the feasibility of fitting everything into your desired timeframe.

Keep in mind that a longer trip may require a larger budget due to increased accommodation, dining, and transportation costs. Balance your desire to spend more time in certain locations with the overall cost of your trip.

Once you have determined the duration of your trip, you can move on to the next steps of travel planning, such as researching and gathering information about your chosen destinations and booking flights or transportation.

Remember, the duration of your trip should align with your interests, budget, and available time off. So, take the time to carefully consider these factors to ensure a well-balanced travel experience.

Step 4: Research and gather information about your destination

Researching and gathering information about your destination is a crucial step in travel planning. It allows you to familiarize yourself with the local culture, attractions, customs, and practical information essential for a smooth and enriching travel experience.

Start by reading travel guides, online resources, and blogs to gather insights about your chosen destination. Look for information about popular tourist sites, local customs, transportation options, safety precautions, and visa requirements.

Check out travel forums and social media groups to connect with fellow travelers who have been to your destination. Seek their advice, recommendations, and firsthand experiences to gain valuable insights and tips.

Research the best time to visit your destination. Consider factors such as weather conditions, peak tourist seasons, and any festivals or events that may be happening during your trip. This information will help you plan your itinerary and determine which attractions or activities to prioritize.

Learn about the local culture and customs. Familiarize yourself with local greetings, etiquette, clothing norms, and any specific cultural practices or taboos. This will help you show respect to the local community and avoid any cultural misunderstandings.

Research transportation options within your destination. Find out about public transportation systems, availability of rental cars, and the cost of taxis or ridesharing services. Knowing how to get around will help you save time and money during your trip.

Look for recommendations on accommodations, dining options, and local cuisines. Read reviews and compare prices to find the best options that fit your preferences and budget. Consider the proximity of your accommodation to major attractions and amenities.

Make a list of the top attractions and activities you want to experience. Prioritize them based on your interests and available time. Research entry fees, operating hours, and any restrictions or reservations required for certain attractions.

By conducting thorough research and gathering information about your destination, you’ll be well-prepared to create an itinerary, make informed decisions, and make the most out of your travel experience.

So take the time to delve into the details and immerse yourself in the charm and wonders your chosen destination has to offer.

Step 5: Book flights or transportation

Once you have determined your destination and gathered information about it, it’s time to book your flights or transportation. This step is crucial, as it often affects your budget and can impact the overall logistics of your trip.

If you’re planning to travel by air, start by researching flights to your destination. Use flight comparison websites or online travel agencies to find the best deals and compare prices. Consider factors such as flight duration, layovers, and airline reputation.

Flexibility in your travel dates can help you find cheaper flights. Consider flying during off-peak seasons or on weekdays, as prices tend to be lower during these times. Be sure to book your flights well in advance to secure the best rates.

If you’re traveling by other means of transportation, such as trains, buses, or ferries, research the schedules, fares, and availability. Look for reliable booking platforms or official websites of transportation providers to make your reservations.

Consider the proximity of your accommodation to the airport or transportation hubs. It’s convenient to choose accommodations that offer easy access to public transportation or provide shuttle services to and from the airport.

When booking your flights or transportation, it’s essential to consider travel insurance. Travel insurance provides coverage for unexpected events such as flight cancellations, delays, or medical emergencies. Consider purchasing travel insurance to protect yourself and your investment.

Before finalizing your bookings, double-check the details to ensure accuracy. Verify the departure and arrival dates, times, and terminals. Make note of any luggage restrictions or additional fees that may apply.

Once your flights or transportation are booked, it’s a good idea to set up travel alerts or notifications to stay updated with any changes or delays. Save electronic copies of your itineraries, e-tickets, or reservation confirmations for easy access during your trip.

Booking your flights or transportation early ensures that you have the best options available and allows you to focus on other aspects of your travel planning.

So, take the time to research and make your bookings, ensuring a smooth and seamless journey to your destination.

Step 6: Find accommodation

Finding suitable accommodation is a crucial step in travel planning as it directly impacts your comfort and overall experience during your trip. Here are some steps to help you find the perfect accommodation.

1. Determine your budget: Set a budget for your accommodation. Consider how much you are willing to spend per night and allocate a portion of your overall trip budget to accommodations.

2. Research the options: Use online travel platforms and booking websites to explore various types of accommodations. Consider factors such as location, amenities, and reviews from previous guests.

3. Consider your preferences: Determine the type of accommodation that suits your needs. Options include hotels, hostels, guesthouses, vacation rentals, or even unconventional options such as homestays or house swaps.

4. Location: Consider the location of the accommodation in relation to your planned activities and attractions. It’s convenient to stay in a central location or near public transportation for easy access to the places you want to visit.

5. Read reviews: Take the time to read reviews from previous guests to get an understanding of the quality and service provided by the accommodation. Look out for any common issues or concerns mentioned in the reviews.

6. Compare prices: Compare prices of different accommodations that fit your criteria. Consider any added charges or fees, such as resort fees or taxes, when comparing prices to ensure you are getting the best value for your money.

7. Book in advance: Once you have found the perfect accommodation, book it as soon as possible to secure your reservation. Popular accommodations can fill up quickly, especially during peak seasons.

8. Check the cancellation policy: Before making your reservation, carefully read and understand the cancellation policy of the accommodation. This will help you navigate any potential changes or cancellations in your travel plans.

9. Contact the accommodation: If you have any specific requests or questions, reach out to the accommodation directly. This could include inquiries about special amenities, room preferences, or any other concerns you may have.

10. Confirm your booking: After making your reservation, double-check your booking confirmation for accuracy. Take note of any important information, such as check-in and check-out times or any special instructions given by the accommodation.

By following these steps, you can find the perfect accommodation that meets your needs, budget, and preferences, ensuring a comfortable and enjoyable stay during your trip.

So take the time to explore your options and secure your ideal accommodation in advance.

Step 7: Create an itinerary

Creating an itinerary is an essential step in travel planning as it helps you organize your time, prioritize your activities, and make the most out of your trip. Here’s how to create an effective itinerary:

1. Identify your must-see attractions: Make a list of the top attractions or activities you don’t want to miss in your chosen destination. Research their opening hours, ticket prices, and any specific requirements.

2. Consider time and logistics: Take into account the duration of your trip and the time it takes to travel between attractions. Be realistic about how many activities you can fit into each day, allowing for breaks and downtime.

3. Prioritize your interests: Determine your main areas of interest – whether it’s historical sites, museums, outdoor activities, or cultural experiences. Allocate more time for the activities or attractions that align with your interests.

4. Plan for flexibility: While it’s important to have a schedule, leave room for spontaneity and unexpected discoveries. It’s impossible to predict everything, so allow yourself time to explore and embrace new experiences.

5. Group activities by proximity: Cluster activities or attractions that are located close to each other. This will help you maximize your time and reduce travel time between destinations.

6. Consider the local culture: Take into account any cultural or religious practices that may affect the opening hours or availability of certain attractions. Plan your itinerary accordingly to make the most of your visit.

7. Explore local cuisine: Include time for trying local dishes and exploring different dining options. Research popular local foods or restaurants in each area you plan to visit and add them to your itinerary.

8. Pace yourself: Avoid overloading your itinerary with too many activities in a short amount of time. Give yourself time to relax and enjoy the surroundings. Remember, quality experiences are better than rushing through a long list of attractions.

9. Utilize travel apps and resources: Make use of travel apps or websites that offer itinerary planning tools or suggestions for your destination. These resources can help you create a well-structured and efficient itinerary.

10. Be mindful of your energy levels: Take into consideration your own energy levels and travel preferences. Avoid cramming too many strenuous activities in a row, and allow for rest or leisurely exploration.

Remember that an itinerary is a tool to guide you, but it’s okay to deviate from the plan if you discover new opportunities or if unexpected circumstances arise. Flexibility and spontaneity can lead to unexpected joy and memorable experiences.

So, take the time to create a thoughtful and well-balanced itinerary that allows you to fully enjoy your trip and make the most out of your chosen destination.

Step 8: Pack your bags

Packing your bags is a crucial step in travel planning, ensuring that you have everything you need for a comfortable and enjoyable trip. Here’s how to pack efficiently:

1. Make a packing list: Create a comprehensive packing list to ensure you don’t forget any essentials. Include clothing, toiletries, travel documents, electronics, and any other items you may need.

2. Check the weather: Research the weather conditions of your destination during the time of your visit. Pack appropriate clothing and accessories, such as jackets, hats, or sunscreen, to suit the climate.

3. Pack versatile clothing: Opt for clothing items that can be mixed and matched easily. Choose neutral colors and versatile pieces that can be dressed up or down to maximize outfit options while minimizing luggage weight.

4. Consider local customs: Take into account the cultural or dress norms of your destination. Pack appropriate clothing that respects local customs, especially if you plan to visit religious sites or conservative areas.

5. Pack travel-sized toiletries: To save space and comply with carry-on restrictions, transfer your toiletries into travel-sized containers. Remember to adhere to airline regulations regarding liquid quantities.

6. Organize your belongings: Use packing cubes or separate bags to categorize and organize your clothes and belongings. This will not only keep your suitcase tidy but also make it easier to find what you need during your trip.

7. Keep important documents together: Gather all your travel documents, including passports, tickets, accommodation reservations, and any necessary visas. Keep them in a secure and easily accessible place.

8. Pack essential electronics: Bring along the necessary electronics for your trip, such as smartphones, cameras, chargers, and adapters. Consider the voltage requirements of your destination and pack the appropriate adapters.

9. Don’t forget medication and first aid: If you take any prescription medications, ensure that you have an ample supply for the duration of your trip. Pack a basic first aid kit with essentials like band-aids, pain relievers, and any necessary medications.

10. Travel with essential valuables: Keep your valuable items, such as cash, credit cards, and jewelry, in a secure bag or pouch that you can carry with you at all times. Consider using a money belt or a hidden travel wallet for added security.

Remember to pack light and avoid overpacking, as it can be cumbersome and may incur additional luggage fees. Consider doing a trial pack beforehand to ensure that everything fits and that your luggage is within weight restrictions.

By following these packing tips, you’ll be well-prepared for your trip, ensuring that you have everything you need while avoiding the stress of overpacking. So, pack smart and travel with convenience and peace of mind.

Step 9: Plan your meals and dining options

Planning your meals and dining options is an important step in travel planning, especially if you’re a food lover or have specific dietary requirements. Here’s how to make the most of your culinary experiences during your trip:

1. Research local cuisine: Familiarize yourself with the local cuisine of your destination. Look for signature dishes, traditional specialties, and popular food markets or street food scenes. Researching local cuisine beforehand allows you to anticipate and embrace the flavors of your chosen destination.

2. Make a dining wish list: Create a list of restaurants, cafes, or food stalls that you’re interested in trying. Read reviews, consult travel guides, or seek recommendations from locals and fellow travelers. Prioritize your list based on your preferences and budget.

3. Consider dietary restrictions: If you have specific dietary restrictions or allergies, research restaurants or eateries that cater to your needs. Look for places with gluten-free, vegetarian, or vegan options, and ensure that you communicate your dietary requirements clearly when ordering.

4. Explore local markets: Visit local markets or supermarkets to immerse yourself in the food culture of your destination. Purchase fresh ingredients, local produce, or unique snacks to enjoy during your trip. It’s a great way to experience the local lifestyle and culinary offerings.

5. Learn basic phrases: If you’re traveling to a destination with a different language, learn basic phrases related to dining, such as “hello,” “thank you,” and “menu.” This will help you communicate your preferences and dietary needs to restaurant staff.

6. Embrace street food: Street food can offer some of the most authentic and delicious culinary experiences. Research popular street food markets or vendors in your destination. Follow local recommendations and observe cleanliness and hygiene practices when selecting street food options.

7. Be open to culinary adventures: Don’t be afraid to try new dishes or flavors. Push yourself outside your comfort zone and embrace new culinary experiences. You may discover unexpected favorites and create memorable food memories.

8. Consider meal timings: Take into account local dining customs and meal timings. Some cultures have specific meal times, such as a siesta or late-night dining. Adjust your plans accordingly to ensure you don’t miss out on local dining experiences.

9. Allow for spontaneity: While it’s good to have a plan, allow room for spontaneous dining experiences. Leave a few empty meal slots or explore local recommendations from friendly locals or fellow travelers you meet along the way.

10. Stay hydrated and practice food safety: Drink plenty of water, especially in warmer climates, and be mindful of food safety practices. Wash your hands regularly, opt for bottled water in areas with unsafe tap water, and choose restaurants or street food vendors with a good reputation for cleanliness.

By planning your meals and dining options in advance, you can truly savor the flavors and culinary delights of your destination. So, research, embrace, and indulge in the local food scene during your trip.

Step 10: Prepare necessary travel documents

Preparing the necessary travel documents is a crucial step in ensuring a smooth and hassle-free trip. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Check your passport: Ensure that your passport is valid for at least six months beyond your planned travel dates. If it’s expiring soon, renew it well in advance to avoid any last-minute complications.

2. Apply for visas: Research the visa requirements of your destination country. Check if you need a visa and apply for it early to allow sufficient processing time. Follow the instructions provided by the consulate or embassy and submit all required documents.

3. Organize travel insurance: Travel insurance provides crucial coverage in case of medical emergencies, trip cancellations, or lost belongings. Research and purchase a travel insurance policy that suits your needs and provides adequate coverage for the duration of your trip.

4. Make copies of important documents: Make photocopies or take pictures of your passport, visa, travel insurance, and other important documents. Leave copies with a trusted person at home and keep digital copies accessible while traveling.

5. Check entry requirements: Research and familiarize yourself with the entry requirements of your destination. Check if you need to present return tickets, proof of accommodation, or other supporting documents upon arrival.

6. Research health and vaccination requirements: Check if there are any specific health requirements or vaccination recommendations for your destination. Consult your healthcare provider or a travel clinic to ensure that you are up to date on any necessary vaccinations.

7. Register with your embassy: Consider registering with your home country’s embassy or consulate at your destination. This allows them to provide assistance or contact you in case of emergencies or unexpected situations.

8. Check travel advisories: Stay updated with any travel advisories or warnings issued by your government for your destination. Adjust your travel plans accordingly and be aware of any safety or security concerns.

9. Prepare a travel wallet: Organize all your travel documents in a secure travel wallet or folder. This makes it easy to access them when needed and helps keep them safe and organized throughout your journey.

10. Share your itinerary: Inform a trusted family member or friend about your travel plans. Share your itinerary, contact details, and any important information with them. In case of emergencies, they will know how to reach you and provide necessary assistance.

By preparing and ensuring that you have all the necessary travel documents in order, you can travel with peace of mind and avoid any potential complications or delays. So, take the time to check and organize your travel documents prior to your departure.

Step 11: Make necessary reservations and bookings

Making necessary reservations and bookings is an important step in travel planning to secure accommodations, activities, and transportation during your trip. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Book accommodations: Based on your research and preferences, make reservations for your accommodations in advance. Consider factors such as location, amenities, and budget. Popular accommodations can fill up quickly, so ensure you book early to secure your desired options.

2. Reserve transportation: If you plan to use public transportation or rent a car at your destination, make any necessary reservations in advance. Look for deals or discounts and ensure your transportation arrangements align with your itinerary.

3. Purchase attraction tickets: For popular attractions, consider purchasing tickets in advance to skip the long lines and secure your entry. Many attractions offer timed entry or online ticket options that allow for a more seamless experience.

4. Arrange for guided tours: If you’re interested in guided tours or activities, book them in advance to secure your spot. This allows you to plan your itinerary more effectively and ensures availability for popular tours or experiences.

5. Reserve dining options: If you have specific restaurants or dining experiences in mind, make reservations ahead of time, especially for popular or highly sought-after establishments. Booking in advance guarantees you a table and avoids disappointment.

6. Consider transportation between locations: If you plan to visit multiple destinations during your trip, book transportation tickets or passes between locations. This could include flights, train tickets, or intercity bus passes.

7. Research and book special experiences: If you’re interested in unique experiences such as cooking classes, adventure activities, or cultural performances, research and make the necessary bookings in advance. These experiences often have limited availability.

8. Check cancellation policies: Before finalizing any bookings, make sure to review the cancellation policies. Life is unpredictable, and having flexibility in your reservations can be beneficial in case of any unforeseen changes in your travel plans.

9. Stay organized: Keep a record of all your reservations, confirmations, and receipts in a centralized place for easy reference. This helps ensure a smooth travel experience and allows you to stay organized throughout your trip.

10. Double-check details: Before your departure, double-check all your reservations and bookings to ensure accuracy. Confirm dates, times, and any specific instructions provided by the service providers.

By making necessary reservations and bookings in advance, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your important travel components are secured, allowing you to focus on enjoying your trip to the fullest.

So take the time to plan and make your necessary reservations, ensuring a well-prepared and smooth travel experience.

Step 12: Plan for transportation at your destination

Planning for transportation at your destination is an important step in travel planning to ensure smooth and convenient travel within the area. Here’s how to navigate transportation options effectively:

1. Research transportation options: Familiarize yourself with the available transportation options at your destination. This may include public transportation systems such as buses, trains, or trams, as well as taxi services, ridesharing apps, or bike-sharing programs.

2. Learn about local public transportation: Understand the local public transportation system, including routes, schedules, and fares. Study maps of subway or bus routes and identify key stops or interchanges that will be relevant to your itinerary.

3. Consider purchasing travel passes or cards: Depending on your length of stay and anticipated usage, determine if it’s worth purchasing travel passes or cards that offer unlimited or discounted rides on public transportation. These passes can save you time and money.

4. Plan for airport transfers: If you’re arriving at an airport, research and decide on the most convenient mode of transportation to your accommodation. Options may include airport shuttles, public transit, or pre-arranged private transfers.

5. Check for ridesharing or taxi services: If you prefer more flexibility or convenience, look into ridesharing apps or taxi services available at your destination. Check if they are widely used and reliable for getting around.

6. Consider walking or cycling: Depending on the location and infrastructure, walking or cycling may be a feasible and enjoyable mode of transportation for shorter distances. Research pedestrian-friendly areas and bike rental options if applicable.

7. Navigate driving regulations: If you plan to rent a car at your destination, familiarize yourself with local driving regulations, including license requirements, traffic rules, and parking availability. Research and book car rentals in advance to secure the best rates.

8. Stay informed about disruptions or closures: Check for any planned closures or disruptions to public transportation routes or services during your travel dates. Stay updated through official transport authority websites or mobile apps to avoid any inconvenience.

9. Embrace local culture and etiquette: Be respectful of the local culture and etiquette when using public transportation. Familiarize yourself with any unwritten rules, such as offering seats to elderly or pregnant passengers, and follow local customs for purchasing tickets or validating passes.

10. Stay safe and be aware of scams: Use trusted transportation services and be cautious of potential scams. Avoid unlicensed taxis, be mindful of your belongings, and stay vigilant while using public transportation, especially in crowded areas.

By planning for transportation at your destination, you’ll be able to navigate the area efficiently and maximize your time exploring the attractions. So, research your options, consider convenience and cost-effectiveness, and choose the transportation modes that best suit your needs.

Step 13: Research local customs and etiquette

Researching the local customs and etiquette of your destination is an important step in travel planning. Understanding and respecting the cultural norms of the place you’re visiting can enhance your travel experience and help you connect with the local community. Here’s what you should do:

1. Learn basic greetings: Familiarize yourself with common greetings and phrases in the local language. Learning to say “hello,” “thank you,” and “excuse me” shows respect and can help break the ice in your interactions with locals.

2. Dress appropriately: Respect the local dress code and customs. In some cultures, modest attire is expected, especially when visiting religious sites or conservative areas. Research the clothing norms and pack accordingly to avoid any unintended cultural offense.

3. Respect religious customs: If your destination has religious traditions, familiarize yourself with the customs and practices related to them. Follow any dress codes or guidelines when visiting religious sites, and be mindful of appropriate behavior and photography restrictions.

4. Observe local customs and traditions: Familiarize yourself with local customs and traditions, such as greetings, gestures, or table manners. Understanding and respecting these cultural nuances can enrich your interactions with locals and demonstrate your appreciation for their way of life.

5. Be aware of gestures and body language: Gestures and body language can vary across cultures and may have different meanings or interpretations. Research common gestures to avoid any unintentional misunderstandings or offense. When in doubt, observe and follow the lead of locals.

6. Respect personal space: Different countries and cultures have varying concepts of personal space. Be mindful of personal boundaries and avoid unnecessary physical contact unless it’s customary or welcomed in the local culture.

7. Follow local dining etiquette: If you plan to dine at local restaurants or with locals, be aware of proper dining etiquette. Pay attention to table manners, serving customs, and any specific traditions, such as tasting a dish before adding seasoning.

8. Know appropriate tipping practices: Research the tipping customs of your destination. In some countries, tipping is expected, while in others, it may not be common practice. Understand the appropriate amount and the preferred method of giving tips.

9. Respect local customs and traditions: Be mindful of and respect local customs, festivals, and traditions. Familiarize yourself with any practices or events happening during your visit, and observe them respectfully, even if you don’t fully understand them.

10. Smile and be polite: A friendly demeanor, a smile, and basic politeness can go a long way in any culture. Approach interactions with locals with an open and respectful attitude, and be open to learning from their customs and traditions.

By researching and embracing the local customs and etiquette, you can show respect for the local culture, connect with the community, and create meaningful experiences during your trip.

So take the time to learn and appreciate the customs of your destination, and enjoy your journey with cultural sensitivity and understanding.

Step 14: Make a checklist of essentials to bring

Making a checklist of essentials to bring is a crucial step in travel planning to ensure you have everything you need for a comfortable and stress-free trip. Here’s how to create a comprehensive checklist:

1. Travel documents: Include your passport, visa, travel insurance documents, identification cards, and any necessary permits or licenses for your destination.

2. Money and cards: Bring sufficient cash in the local currency and consider carrying a mix of payment options, such as credit cards, debit cards, or a travel money card. Don’t forget to notify your bank and credit card companies of your travel plans to avoid any issues with your cards.

3. Medications and prescriptions: Pack any necessary medications, along with copies of prescriptions or doctor’s notes. If you have specific medical conditions, consider wearing a medical ID bracelet or carrying relevant medical information in case of emergencies.

4. First aid kit: Include a basic first aid kit with items such as adhesive bandages, antiseptic wipes, pain relievers, antihistamines, and any special prescriptions or medical supplies you may need.

5. Clothing and accessories: Pack clothing suitable for the climate and activities at your destination. Include underwear, socks, comfortable shoes, weather-appropriate attire, swimwear, and any specialized gear required for activities such as hiking or skiing.

6. Toiletries and personal care items: Bring travel-sized toiletries, including toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, soap or body wash, moisturizer, sunscreen, and any essential personal care items you use on a daily basis.

7. Electronics and chargers: Don’t forget your essential electronics, such as phone, laptop or tablet, camera, chargers, adapters, and power banks. Consider bringing a portable Wi-Fi device or SIM card if you need internet access on the go.

8. Travel accessories: Include a travel adapter, travel pillow, lightweight towel, reusable water bottle, earplugs, eye mask, and any other accessories that enhance your comfort during the journey.

9. Entertainment and reading materials: Pack books, magazines, or e-readers to keep you entertained during travel or downtime. Don’t forget to bring headphones or earphones for listening to music or watching movies.

10. Miscellaneous items: Consider items such as a travel lock, a universal sink plug, a portable umbrella, a reusable shopping bag, a pen and notepad, and any other personal items that you find essential or useful in your day-to-day routine.

Remember to tailor your checklist based on your specific needs, the nature of your trip, and the destination you’re visiting. Keep in mind any restrictions or guidelines in place for carry-on luggage or liquids when packing.

By using a checklist, you can ensure that you have all the essentials you need for a comfortable and organized trip. So take the time to create a comprehensive checklist, double-check it before departure, and enjoy a worry-free journey.

Step 15: Ensure travel safety and security

Ensuring travel safety and security is a vital step in travel planning to protect yourself and your belongings during your trip. Here’s what you should do:

1. Research the destination: Familiarize yourself with local safety and security conditions of your destination. Check travel advisories or warnings issued by your government, stay updated on current events, and be aware of any potential risks or concerns.

2. Secure your accommodations: Choose accommodations in safe areas and research their security measures. Consider factors such as secure locks, in-room safes, and 24/7 reception or security staff.

3. Protect your belongings: Take precautions to protect your belongings from theft or loss. Use luggage locks, carry a theft-proof bag, and be mindful of your surroundings. Avoid displaying expensive items and keep your valuables secured in a hotel safe or a hidden travel wallet.

4. Use reliable transportation: Opt for licensed transportation services and be cautious when using public transportation, especially in unfamiliar areas. Research reputable taxi companies or use ridesharing apps that have a reliable track record.

5. Stay connected: Ensure you have a way to stay connected with family, friends, or emergency contacts during your trip. Share your itinerary with a trusted person and keep them updated about your whereabouts.

6. Register with your embassy: Consider registering with your home country’s embassy or consulate at your destination. By doing so, they can provide you with important updates or assistance in case of emergencies or unexpected situations.

7. Practice caution with strangers: Be cautious when interacting with strangers and avoid sharing personal information or details about your travel plans. Use common sense and trust your instincts when approached by unfamiliar individuals.

8. Use secure Wi-Fi connections: Be cautious when using public Wi-Fi networks, especially for accessing personal accounts or making financial transactions. Whenever possible, connect to secure and password-protected networks or use a trusted virtual private network (VPN) for added security.

9. Stay informed about local laws: Research and familiarize yourself with the local laws and regulations of your destination. Be respectful of local customs, traditions, and social norms to avoid unintentional offenses or legal issues.

10. Purchase travel insurance: Travel insurance is essential for protecting yourself against unforeseen events or emergencies. Make sure your insurance policy provides coverage for medical expenses, trip cancellations, and lost or stolen belongings.

Always prioritize your personal safety and security during your travels. Stay alert, be aware of your surroundings, and take necessary precautions to mitigate risks. Remember, being proactive and prepared can greatly contribute to a safe and enjoyable travel experience.

So, take the time to ensure travel safety and security, and embark on your journey with confidence and peace of mind.

Step 16: Enjoy your trip!

After all the planning and preparations, it’s finally time to embark on your much-awaited trip! Here are some tips to help you make the most of your travel experience:

1. Embrace the adventure: Approach your trip with an open mind and a spirit of adventure. Embrace new experiences, try local cuisine, and immerse yourself in the local culture.

2. Stay flexible: Despite careful planning, unexpected situations may arise. Stay flexible and adapt to any changes or detours that come your way. Sometimes, the most memorable experiences happen when plans change.

3. Engage with the locals: Interact with the locals and learn about their customs, traditions, and way of life. Engaging with the local community can provide unique insights and create meaningful connections.

4. Seek off-the-beaten-path experiences: While popular tourist attractions are worth visiting, don’t be afraid to explore lesser-known places or hidden gems. You may stumble upon hidden treasures and have a more authentic experience.

5. Take breaks and relax: Travel can be exhilarating but also exhausting. Allow yourself time to rest and relax. Take breaks from sightseeing, enjoy leisurely meals, and recharge to fully appreciate your journey.

6. Capture memories: Take photos, keep a travel journal, or create videos to capture the memories of your trip. These mementos will allow you to relive your experiences and share them with others.

7. Try new activities: Step out of your comfort zone and try new activities that are unique to your destination. Whether it’s learning to surf, taking a cooking class, or going on a thrilling adventure, these experiences can create lifelong memories.

8. Stay mindful and respectful: Remember to be respectful of the local customs, traditions, and environment. Practice responsible tourism, minimize your impact on the environment, and leave a positive impression wherever you go.

9. Stay present in the moment: Put away your devices and take time to fully experience your surroundings. Be present in the moment, savor the sights, sounds, and flavors around you, and create meaningful connections with the places you visit.

10. Embrace the unexpected: Travel is full of surprises and the unexpected. Embrace and appreciate the unexpected moments or detours that come your way, as these can often lead to the most incredible and memorable experiences.

Remember, the purpose of your trip is to enjoy, relax, and create lifelong memories. So, be open to new experiences, embrace the unknown, and allow yourself to fully enjoy the journey.

Wishing you a fantastic trip filled with exploration, adventure, and unforgettable moments!

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The Travel Momento

How To Start With Travel Planning: The Ultimate Practical 10 Steps Guide​

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Travel planning can be a nightmare, especially if you are not an organiser per hearth. For many years, we have been preparing the travel plans for our friends and family. In this time we noticed a lot of them don’t know where to start and what they need to think about. Are you also one of them? 

Then you are in the right place. Over the years, we have developed methods and unique process. This will help you plan the trip quickly and efficiently. All you need to do is follow our step-by-step travel guide and organise your next travel as a pro. 

You will learn the tricks to find cheap flights, hacks on how to plan day-to-day travel itinerary and essential tools we use that will make your planing look so effortless. 

Let’s start with travel planning!

Quick overview

Step one: set a goal and your budget.

Most people have wishes and their dream destinations picked up. But having a wish is so different than having a realistic goal and steps to achieve it. Either for a weekend getaway, summer vacation or long travel through a new country. This will depend on:

• How much time do you have available? And when in the year?
• How much money you have or you can save up leading to the trip?

What kind of a traveller you are?

Answers to these questions will help you choose a realistic goal that you can achieve. Knowing the length of your trip or vacation, part of the year you can leave your business and what you can afford is crucial. 

Setting your budget

Now you have a goal or at least a clear idea of what is possible. To make it even more realistic and achievable, you need to think about your budget. 

• How much are you willing to pay for a holiday?
• Do you have any saving and if not, do you have time to save up some?
• Do you want to travel as a backpacker or you would rather stay in hotels?
• If you are visiting a country, do you want to stay in one place or travel around? Do you want to use public transport or you would prefer to rent a car?
• Do you want to see a museum or swim in the sea?
• Do you want to travel in high or low season?

This impacts the estimated costs of your travel. It will give you an idea where you can afford to go and for how long. 

STEP TWO: Choose location / destination 

The destination you choose has to fit nicely into your framework or availability you set in Step 1. If you are not flexible, you will need to select a destination that might not be among your top wishes, but a country you can visit during that period. You don’t want to travel to a new destination during the wrong season. Visiting a country in low season or in transition for high to low is not only cheaper but also less crowded.  

Remember : Not all destinations are alike. That means their peak, off-peak, and shoulder seasons will be different. 

Another aspect you want to pay attention to are the main events. You don’t want to travel during public holidays or festivals. There are usually many closures and gatherings around popular sights. If you are travelling to visit a specific event, you need to plan your trip accordingly. 

Where to find inspiration?

You might already have a destination in your mind. If you just want to escape somewhere, here are some useful websites for inspiration:

• Instagram : one of my favourite tools. You can search by hashtags or places to learn about new destinations or check whether a particular location is worth visiting. You can also follow @tjasapele and @gregorcigut for travel inspiration. 
• Pinterest : a visual search engine similar to Instagram. You can pin the photos of your favourite places and save it for later. Great way to stay organise and have all the sight at one place. 
• TripAdvisor : check for the length of stay
• Google search

Travel momento insider tip : Always check your documents are valid and possible visa requirements. 

STEP THREE: Book your flights

You have your perfect destination, you know how long you want to stay there, and you set your budget. Now it’s time to make your goal a reality and book your flight tickets. 

As perfectionists and research geeks, we would scroll through many sites to find the best flight deals. Through years of travel, we found the best sites to book flights:

• Skyscanner :  A great way to see when the flights are cheap and when expensive. You can search for flights on selected days or get an overview of flight prices over a month. 
• Momondo : Another booking site providing you with budget saving options.
• Farecompare : We use this site to check for average flight prices. This gives us an idea of what we can expect.
• Airline website : We would always finish our research by checking the official website. It already happened to us that this price was cheapest at the end. 

We go more into details on how to find the best and lowest price for flights in another post. 

If you are travelling with family or you are into planes and views from the window like us, it is always important to check the best seats for your selected flight. We cannot recommend you more to use the Seatguru. It will show you the best and the worst seats and photos of the view they provide. You will also find information on where the exit row is to get more legroom or where the toilets are. 

STEP FOUR: Decide on the primary purpose of your travel

Now you have a destination and flight ticket to go there. That’s already a lot towards achieving the goal of exploring a new country. But it’s not enough, if you want to be well prepared or if you are on a budget.

You need to think about your preferences. Do you want to only stay in a hotel and make some day trips? Or do you want to go around and explore everything your destination has to offer?

If your plan is the latter, you need to decide how long to stay in one city. At this point, we usually do a quick research on Google to see the recommendations and check TripAdvisor section Top Things to Do. 

STEP FIVE: Book accommodation

We tend to get deep into the research and comper the smallest details opening 40 pages at once. You don’t have to go so much into the details but should make sure to check for parking, Wi-Fi and similar things. 

The sites we usually use:

• Booking.com : A great selection and many filters you can use to find exactly what you are looking for. On the plus side, more often you moke, more discounts you unlock. You can also use our code for a 10% discount. 
• Hotels.com : Depending on your destination, this site could have a more choice. You can collect the nights and after 10 stay sleep one night for free.
• Airbnb : You can rent an entire apartment or just a room. In both cases, cooking and washing facilities are at your hands. We would use this platform for cities that are generally more expensive. But it also comes with a risk. The owner can at any time cancel your reservation. It happened to us twice, and it was hard to find last-minute accommodation.
• Hostelworld : good for cheaper accommodation

Other sites you can use:

STEP SIX: Prepare your travel itinerary 

We recommend you make at least a quick overview of the most famous landmarks for your chosen destination. This is especially important if you are travelling to a big multinational city. With millions of visitors going there, the chances you will get a free spot or tickets on a chosen day or time are low. 

We usually start with checking TripAdvisor website for Top Things To Do and write them down in a Word document. You should include other information such as opening time, costs, and suggested duration. We also use Google to check if we have included everything there is to see and do. Afterwards, we would do the same to prepare a list of what and where to eat and drink. 

For day trip where we cannot reach on our own, we would research tour companies that can take us there. We book them through TripAdvisor , GetYourGuide or Viator . 

Once the list with all the sightseeing places is completed, we save the locations to Google Maps. It will give you an overview where certain areas are and if they are workable based on your timeline. This way you can do all the attractions close by on the same day without losing time. 

Travel momento insider tip : Always check if a city you are visiting is offering a city pass. It can be such a time and money saver. Some of them also come with a priority pass. This will allow you to skip long waiting lines before the most attractive sights

STEP SEVEN: Travel Insurance

There are a lot of people who think it’s not necessary and a waste of money. When we least expect it, something will happen and you would be happy to have it. I’m also the one that had often forgotten it. But with our checklist, I’m always on track. 

Isn’t it great if you can go and not worry what if something happens? The travel insurance will cover you when something unexpected happens. The best one out there is World Nomads Travel Insurance and it covers residents in 150 countries. 

STEP EIGHT: Download essential Travel Apps

We cannot stress enough how much of help these apps are, especially travelling in countries, where internet is not available or it’s hard to find. 

Here is the list of our all-time favourites:

• MapsMe : A free app with detailed maps. You can search for different sights, restaurants or transport/connection options. Make sure to download the destination of your visit before your trip and you can use it offline.
• Wallet : Enables you to have all the flight tickets and bookings saved in one place (only on iPhones)
• VPN : This app will change the VPN from a country where you are to your home country. It’s a must when travelling to a country where some websites are blocked or not accessible. Using it you will be able to access websites or apps you usually use. We wouldn’t be able to survive without it in China. 
• Booking.com app : Have all your bookings in one place. Useful when your flight is delayed, or you are stuck on the road and need to inform them. 

STEP NINE: Plan your arrival

So you have your flights and hotels booked, travel insurance sorted out and ready to take off. 

Before all the excitement overtakes you, make sure to plan your first steps in a new country. You don’t want to walk around all confused not knowing which way to go or how to ask for help in a local language. 

Here are some bullet points to help you out:

• Print, screenshot your hotel booking details or use any of the apps above
• Check the possibilities to reach your accommodation from your arrival point. Depending on your budget, you can take a taxi, bus, tram or train.
• Check-in to your flight and double-check your departure time to leave your house on time. 

STEP TEN: Pack and enjoy

You only have to figure out what to pack and make sure you don’t miss the flight. Have a great trip or vacation!

Once you go over this process several times it become part of your routine. You will be thinking ahead to answer all of above points. 

As with everything else, making something part of your routine takes time. But I know you will love how much time you will save planning your trips and dedicate more time to actually enjoy all your activities. 

We are two travel passionistas, who are always in the minds of planning their next travel trip and creating memories. Get honest tips and all the details, learn from our mistakes and enjoy our travel guides so you can have the best time!

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17 comments

Great list. I will be using some ideas for my trip to DC this summer.

Thank you, so happy to hear you find it useful for your upcoming trip. Have fun planning it!

Love this guide for beginners . People don’t understand how much planning it takes for a great trip. You should also update testing requirements and entry requirements.

So happy to hear you like it! If you want to make the most of your trip, it takes time and planning. Especially if you are going to touristy places or to see some of the most known places. That’s a great point – I will make sure to update and add these two aspects as well.

I’ve been traveling for a bit but it’s good to remember some of the basics are the most valuable. Thanks!

Couldn’t said it any better – knowing the basic can make it so much easier.

i read from a travel blogger once that she goes on Flickr and 500px too for photo inspiration – that was a total gamechanger for me when i found out 😅

Inspiration can be found anywhere these days. But the 500px is knew to me as well 🙂

I love this step by step process you’ve come up with for planning a trip! Really helpful for people who get stressed when trip planning.

So happy to hear you find it useful! It has helped so many of my friends and I hope it will help now everyone who simply feel overwhelmed and stressed.

Amazing! I know nothing about traveling all over the country, what a wonderful looking place to explore.

So happy to hear it will help planning your trips 🙂 Shortly, we will launched free printables as well.

This is such an easy but thorough guide to planning trips! It’s so true that wishing for a trip is not the same as actually going through with planning it. Hopefully this post can get people to actually do it 🙂

We are so happy to hear you like it and find it useful! It’s our wish as well that we can help people plan their travels efficiently while having fun diving into their new destination 🙂

I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you make this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz reply as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. appreciate it

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I am not positive the place you are getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend a while learning more or working out more.

Thank you for excellent information I was looking for this information for my mission.

All information here are based on personal experience and how we plan our travel 🙂

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Travel Planning: 9 Steps To Plan The Perfect Itinerary

Niklas Forstreuter

• May 21, 2022

Planning an itinerary can be a tedious and time-consuming process. Whether you’re planning a weekend trip to a city, a two-week holiday in a beach town or a two-month backpacking trip, you’ll want to see as much as possible without wasting time or money.

Over the years we’ve developed a strategy for setting up the perfect itinerary and doing travel planning as effectively and quickly as possible. With these nine steps, planning your next trip will be easy, and you won’t find yourself missing out on any attractions.

If you usually struggle to set up an efficient itinerary or find yourself wishing you’d have done more on your trip, then this is the post for you. Keep reading for our step-by-step travel planning guide and find out how to change the way you plan your trips.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means we’ll receive a commission if you purchase through our links at no extra cost to you. This helps us keep Guide Your Travel free and provide high-quality content for you. Please read the full disclaimer for more information.

Why making an itinerary matters

Even if you’re not a fan of spreadsheets and an exact travel itinerary, a bit of planning and preparation can really help give you the best travel experience. Most people either find themselves over-planning and never completing their itineraries or not doing any research at all and missing out on the best things to do and see.

Have you ever sat in your hotel room googling what to do in the city you’re visiting, wasting time and ending up disappointed when you run out of time to see everything? While you can definitely find fun things to do on the go, you shouldn’t rely on everything just working out.

Just a few hours of planning will really take your trip to the next level.

Another reason why we love to encourage travellers to do their research before they go is to avoid disappointment. If you’re flying to Bali expecting it to look like Eat Pray Love, that will probably not be the case. If you’ve carefully set up your itinerary and done some planning, you’ll know that Bali is actually quite touristy and that you should go to specific areas to find the authenticity and peacefulness you might be looking for.

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Are these steps necessary for every trip?

While we love travel planning (we think it’s almost as fun as the actual trip), we do realise that not everyone does. Plus, over-planning might actually make your experience worse, which you’ll want to avoid, of course.

If you make your itinerary too packed and leave no time for spontaneous activities, you might miss out on the best parts of travelling. Plus, travel is meant to inspire you to experience a new place. No one can truly enjoy the present if they’re constantly referring to a schedule.

This guide on how to plan your travel itinerary will mostly apply to trips where you’re trying to see a lot in a short period of time. If you’re on a two-week beach vacation to simply relax and enjoy yourself, then too much planning will not be helpful.

If you’re number one goal for your trip is to get away for a bit then, by all means, ignore everything this article says and ditch the itineraries. However, you might still benefit from some research before you go.

Even if you’re only planning to lay by the pool or go to the beach the entire time, you might find it interesting what there is to see and do around you, just in case you get bored.

9 steps to plan the perfect itinerary

Here are nine steps we love to use to plan and set up an itinerary.

Must-Have Travel Resources

• Insurance – Safetywing
• Accommodation – Agoda or Booking
• eSIM – Jetpac
• Flights – Skyscanner
• Tours & Experiences – Viator

1. Pick your destination

The first step of travel planning is, of course, picking your destination. This will usually be an easy step if you’ve already booked your flight or know you want to travel to a certain place.

If you’re not sure where you’ll be going, you should do some research online for fun new destinations to try. You can also join an organised tour to places like Thailand or Bali if you’re not up for planning an entire trip yourself.

Your destination choice will affect your itinerary a lot. Planning a trip to a larger city, for example, is usually more work than setting up an itinerary for a beach vacation. If you’re planning to see multiple places on one trip, now is the time to consider how long you want to spend in each one.

2. Decide on your time-frame

If you’re planning a big trip, you will most likely have limited time available. It’s important to keep in mind how much time you’ll have to see a place when you’re planning your itinerary. There is no use in planning a big trip when you only have a few days, so set up your itinerary wisely.

Don’t forget to factor in travel days, which quickly turn a week-long trip into just a few days.

3. Consider where you’re staying

Booking your accommodation and doing research for what you want to do in a certain place should go hand in hand. You don’t want to blindly book a hotel or hostel in a new city without knowing first where the main attractions are. Consider your budget and always check if the accommodation you’re choosing is close to public transport.

If you’re not too worried about your budget you might be staying in a really nice hotel or apartment. For resort-style trips, you’ll want to keep in mind that you might be spending a considerable amount of time at your hotel. This is important when you plan your itinerary so that you don’t end up missing out on the amazing amenities you’re paying for.

Always compare prices for hotels. We at Guide Your Travel prefer Booking.com , Agoda or Hostelworld for finding the best deals.

4. Do the research and look at examples

Now that you know where you’re going, where you’re staying and for how long, it’s time to do some research on the destination you’re seeing. This is where travel blogs can be incredibly helpful.

The advantage of doing travel research and planning online is that you can always find up-to-date and relevant information, plus you can make use of reviews from people who have already been there. All for free!

Googling “What to do in” or “Things to do in” is really helpful and will show you tons of fun activities and must-see places. Looking at sample itineraries will also really help you get an idea of what is realistic to see in one day.

Some of our most popular itineraries include our Indonesia guides to Yogyakarta and Nusa Penida or our itineraries to Lisbon or Thailand .

5. Make a list

Next, we love to make a big list of all the things we’re interested in seeing on our trip. This can be a very rough list of places you come across during your research, and you can keep adding to it as you go.

This list will be really helpful to organise yourself and make sure you’re not missing out on anything. If you feel up for it, you can create a subsection for places to eat, which will be really helpful to refer to later if you’re struggling to find a place for lunch or dinner.

6. Make a map

A list is great to get an overview of what you want to see, but it’s not the best way of planning an itinerary. You want to avoid wasting too much time on needless transportation between places, so setting up your itinerary in an efficient way is really important.

That way, you avoid having to go back and forth between areas or forgetting to see a place while you are close by.

We usually take our list of things to do in a place and then transfer them to Google Maps. You can use the  “My Maps”  function as a travel planning tool to make sure you always have your map with you everywhere you go and can keep it as a reference for the future. Or, it’s even easier to just mark interesting places on your Google Maps with a star, and organise them in different lists, so you won’t get confused.

Our itineraries on  Guide Your Travel  usually include such an interactive map that is easy to add to your phone. That way you get to skip all the previous steps and save yourself time with a ready-to-go map that includes all the important attractions.

Once you’ve added all the items from your list onto a map, you should have a pretty good idea of where all the places of interest are. This is probably the most important step on this list and will truly help you set up an organised and efficient itinerary.

Check out the map of San Sebastián below as an example.

Check out the best things to do in San Sebastian, Spain

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7. Look at the transport

Your next job is to look at your map and find out how far apart everything is and how you’re going to get from Point A to Point B. For some distances you may be able to walk, for others you might need public transport or a car.

Don’t forget about places that are further away and might require a day trip. If that is the case and you’ll be spending an entire day getting to one attraction, you might want to look at other places of interest nearby.

That way, you can see more things at once and get the most out of your trip.

8. Set priorities

Unfortunately, travellers rarely have enough time to see everything they want to see. It’s likely that your list of things to do is too long and you’ll have to set some priorities.

At this point, it’s really useful to colour code your list and map to get an idea of what you don’t want to miss and what you could maybe leave out. You can still keep these ideas on your list for your next trip.

9. Plan your itinerary

Lastly, you finally have all the tools you need to set up your itinerary. Gather the points on your map into little groups of things you want to do in one day. Do some research on how long you’ll approximately be spending at each one and what’s realistic to do in a day.

Plan the things that are important to you first and add the others around them. Give big attractions their own day, and don’t plan to see the most important thing on the last day in case you can’t because of the weather or unforeseen circumstances.

Most importantly, don’t stress yourself out too much and avoid over-planning. Here are some tips to keep in mind while you plan your itinerary.

Tips and tricks for planning an itinerary

Planning an itinerary will feel like second nature after some time, but you might want to keep these tips in mind for your first few attempts.

Be realistic

Don’t make your time schedule too tight. If you’re planning your day in 30-minute chunks starting at 7:00 AM, you’re most likely overdoing it.

If you’re running from place to place just to see, you won’t have a lot of chances to actually enjoy any of it. Go back to step number 8 and take some things off your list if you’re feeling like there won’t be enough time. Even just one or two big activities or attractions per day are usually enough.

Leave room for spontaneous activities

The best parts of travelling are often the things you didn’t plan. Use these steps to plan a rough itinerary, but avoid making a set time schedule.

You’ll want to use your map and list to get a rough idea of which attractions are close together, but not to plan your day minute by minute. Definitely leave room for spontaneous activities and unplanned exploring.

If you come across a museum, an interesting place, or something you didn’t have in your original itinerary, don’t shy away from moving away from your original plan and doing something spontaneous.

Factor in transport

Keep in mind how long it will take you to get from one place to another. This is especially important for day trips. Again, over-stuffing your itinerary is not a good idea, especially if you’ll be spending a good chunk of your day on a bus or in a taxi.

Traffic is something we often forget about, and a quick 30-minute drive can quickly turn into two hours in rush hour in a busy city.

Looking for the best car rental deals? Check out Discover Cars

Don’t forget about downtime

Sightseeing is exhausting. You’ll most likely be too ambitious when planning your itinerary and will end up tired and unmotivated to go out and see more.

Everyone knows that point of your trip when all you want to do is lie on your bed in the hotel room and not do anything for a few hours. Leaving some time in the afternoons to rest for a few hours can really help you regain that energy.

That way, you won’t skip too much of your itinerary because you feel tired or unmotivated.

Factor in bad weather

It’s useful to keep in mind which attractions can be seen during bad weather and which can’t. When it comes closer to your trip and you can see the weather forecast you should take some time to adjust your itinerary if there is going to be rain.

Make sure to have some rainy-day activities ready in case the weather is bad.

Consider waiting times

If you’re seeing big attractions like a famous landmark or a museum there will most likely be waiting times. These can be several hours and might mess up your itinerary and plan for the day.

Always keep in mind that you might have to wait for a while before you go see a place, and book entrance tickets and tours in advance if you can.

Factor in opening hours and busy times

Opening hours are another thing people tend to forget about when planning their itinerary. Some places close in the early afternoon or are only open on certain days of the week.

Always do research on this before you go, and make sure the hours are up-to-date. Another thing to keep in mind is that every tourist will want to visit the main attractions during the same time of day. To avoid long waiting times and huge crowds, you should make sure to visit popular places early in the morning if possible.

Look at weekdays and special events

Finally, research public holidays or special events before you go. Opening hours might be different on those days, which is good to keep in mind. In general, places are a lot busier on the weekends, so try to see the attractions that are important to you during the week.

However, if you’re planning to experience the local nightlife, you should make sure to do so on the weekend for a more fun experience.

Planning an itinerary FAQ

Use a spreadsheet and Google Maps to plan your trips and make planning a tour itinerary as easy as possible.

Decide your destination, how long you’re staying, and what you want to see and then combine it all into an itinerary.

Before you go…

You’re ready to plan your itinerary for your big trip, and hopefully, this post was helpful. If you’re not quite set on a destination yet, you might want to check out our guides to popular places around the world like Kuala Lumpur , the best islands in Thailand , Ubud or Uluwatu in Bali, or the Komodo National Park .

In Europe, have a look at Saint Emilion , San Sebastian , Porto , Frigiliana or Madrid .

My Most Important Travel Resources

• Hotels – Agoda or Booking
• Hostels – Hostelworld
• Tours & Experiences – Viator & Get Your Guide
• Transport in Asia – 12Go Asia
• Rental Cars – Discover Cars

Did I miss anything? If you have any questions or feel like something is missing from this post, please leave a comment below or  contact me .

Welcome to Guide your Travel!

Hi! I’m Victoria, a travel blogger from Germany and the author of Guide your Travel. I write about my favourite destinations in Europe, South East Asia and digital nomad life in Bali.

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Hi, I'm Victoria

Welcome to Guide your Travel – a blog about South East Asia and how to travel on a budget.

I’m a blogger, writer and photographer and love to introduce my favourite destinations to others and encourage them to see the world.

I’m originally from Germany but spent four years living in the UK, quite a bit of time in Spain and Malaysia, and am now travelling full time with a home base in Bali, Indonesia.

Work with me!

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A practical guide to traveling in Japan, from cherry blossom season to booking bullet trains

Travel in Japan can be complicated, but careful trip planning reaps huge rewards. Here is what to know before visiting.

There is an undeniable enchantment to traveling in Japan; a bewitching magic sweeps through its incense-rich mountain temples and forests full of deer, settling over neon-lit towns. Even those who have yet to set foot on its shores are often captivated by it — and for good reason.

A large part of Japan’s exceptionality is that it rarely, if ever, disappoints. Its length and latitudinal range makes its natural environments strikingly diverse, which plays a huge role in the country’s enduring appeal.

Strung along Asia’s eastern edge, the rocky fingers of its northernmost point, on the island of Hokkaido, almost touch Russia and the climate there is often in line with that of Siberia. On the island’s west side, the ski resorts of Niseko are considered to have some of the best powder on the planet, while Hokkaido’s east fractures spectacularly each winter with the set and flow of sea ice.

In the months that avid skiers are navigating powdered drifts, Japan’s southern islands are blushing with sunshine and cherry blossoms, their blue-glass seas already warm. The same ocean current that makes the Philippines such an exceptional scuba destination feeds the islands of Okinawa. Here, abundant coral reefs crackle with tropical fish and sea turtles, alongside whales, sharks and manta rays.

Add to this the capricious Ring of Fire —   a highly active tectonic belt that long ago formed Japan’s landscape and still regularly reshapes it with earthquakes and eruptions — and the result is some of the most dynamic scenery nature has to offer. Outdoor-focused trips bubble over with adventure, and travelers can try river-rafting glacial flows, hiking pilgrim mountain trails or cycling through rice-paddy fields.

Culture, too, changes along the latitudes. The Indigenous Ainu people of the north and Ryukyu of Okinawa still have distinct populations — but they are rarely what springs to mind when people think of Japanese culture. The country is a behemoth of preserved traditions, kept secret and safe largely thanks to the 1630s sakoku decrees that closed it off to the outside world for over two centuries. This isolationism left an indelible imprint on the national psyche and culture. Precious rituals, traditional architecture, arts and cuisine stood strong, particularly in the historic capital Kyoto, as the world changed around Japan.

When the country reopened its doors after 1853, Japan rapidly incorporated Western technology and ideas, while developing its own. So began an era of zealous modernity — technology, skyscrapers, shinkansen bullet trains, cosplay and karaoke — epitomised in great steel-and-glass metropolises like Tokyo and Osaka.

Today, travelers are greeted by a country of quiet reticence and ear-splitting pachinko pinball parlours, a subtropical paradise with breath-defying mountaintops, a place where monks share streets with steampunk vampires. Here, we look at two trip routes showcasing the best of Japan’s natural and cultural highlights.

Am I likely to encounter significant language barriers?

International events such as the Olympics have made Japan more traveler-friendly, with English guidance and signage now more common in larger cities. However, it’s still not prevalent and often non-existent in rural areas. Advance planning can make the language a charm, rather than a chore. Download translation apps for navigating restaurants, practise a handful of phrases and read up on transport how-to guides. Japanese people don’t expect you to speak a word of Japanese, so don’t be afraid to try.

How expensive is it to visit Japan?

Japan has a reputation as an expensive destination, but much of that comes down to flight prices. On the ground there are plentiful budget options. Try short-term rental apartments, hostels or small shared-bathroom B & Bs. Some of Japan’s best food — like donburi and ramen — is also cheap and quick. Transport and travel cards are generally no more expensive than the UK, often cheaper.

Is it worth getting a Japan Rail pass?

Last year’s 70% price hikes for the Japan Rail Pass have put them out of many people’s price range. They are still incredibly useful, especially if you really want to ride a shinkansen (bullet train), but alternatives are available. Instead of a whole-country pass, look into regional Japan Rail passes that fit your itinerary. These can work in tandem with Japan’s many low-cost domestic airlines, dropping you into different regions. Car hire is a cheap and easy option, with maintained roads and low speed limits —   perfect for families and larger groups.

Is cherry blossom season a good time to go?

Japan’s March–April cherry blossom season is undoubtedly beautiful, but it has downsides. It’s the busiest time of year, tourist sites can be overrun with crowds, and accommodation and flights get more expensive and booked out. If   you’re determined to see sakura, book about a year in advance to reduce stress and expense. If you’re more flexible, why not try seeing cherry blossoms in Okinawa around February, or late-April in Hokkaido. The latter is likely to be far less crowded until the busy Golden Week holiday in early May.

Are there any cultural sensitivities I should be aware of?

Definitely research Japanese customs and expectations in advance; there are many, but very few faux pas will get you into trouble. For example, sticking your chopsticks upright in rice is a big taboo, but no one will tell you off. Be considerate and conscientious, particularly about queuing, noise and littering. Take off shoes inside traditional hotels, homes and some restaurants, and assume both tattoos and clothes aren’t allowed in onsen — though there are occasional exceptions.

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• TRAIN TRIPS
• PEOPLE AND CULTURE
• CULTURAL TOURISM

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The Ultimate Thailand Travel Guide: Top Attractions & Tips

Your gateway to thailand’s top temples, stunning beaches, and rich culture.

Looking for the perfect getaway filled with breathtaking temples, pristine beaches, and vibrant culture? Thailand offers all that and more, making it an ideal destination for every kind of traveler. Whether you’re drawn to the golden spires of ancient temples or the allure of tropical islands, Thailand tours offer the ultimate adventure. From the bustling streets of Bangkok to the serene beaches of Phuket and the historical wonders of Ayutthaya, there’s something for everyone in this magical land.

Discovering Thailand’s Cultural Heritage

Thailand’s rich history comes alive in its magnificent temples and historical landmarks. The Grand Palace in Bangkok is a must-see, showcasing a dazzling display of Thai architecture and home to the revered Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). If you’re eager to dive deeper into Buddhist culture, a visit to Wat Pho and Wat Arun will leave you in awe with their intricate designs and historical significance.

In Chiang Mai , the northern heart of Thailand, you’ll find even more captivating temples, including Wat Phra Singh and Wat Chedi Luang . These temples are not only architectural marvels but also active centers of local religious life, where you can witness monks in prayer and even participate in a meditation session. To round out your cultural experience, be sure to explore the UNESCO-listed Ayutthaya Historical Park , where ancient ruins transport you back to the grandeur of Thailand’s past.

Escape to Thailand’s Dreamy Beaches

No trip to Thailand is complete without some sun, sea, and sand. The southern regions of the country are renowned for their world-famous beaches, with Phuket and Krabi leading the charge. Imagine lounging on the soft, white sands of Railay Beach or snorkeling in the clear waters around the Phi Phi Islands . If you crave more secluded escapes, venture to Koh Lanta or Koh Tao for a quieter, more laid-back vibe.

Koh Samui is another top pick for beach lovers, offering a blend of luxury and natural beauty. Whether you’re exploring hidden waterfalls, practicing yoga on the beach, or enjoying a Thai massage by the sea, Koh Samui promises a tranquil escape with just the right amount of adventure.

Immerse Yourself in Thailand’s Vibrant Culture

Beyond temples and beaches, Thailand’s culture is a feast for the senses. A visit to a local market, such as the Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok or the Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai, will introduce you to the rich flavors and fragrances of Thai cuisine. Try local favorites like pad thai , tom yum soup , and mango sticky rice while wandering through bustling market stalls filled with handcrafted goods and traditional textiles.

Don’t miss the chance to witness a Muay Thai boxing match, a national sport deeply ingrained in Thai culture, or join in on the lively celebrations of Loy Krathong and Songkran , two of the most colorful festivals in Thailand. For something truly unique, head to the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, where you can learn about ethical elephant tourism and even spend a day caring for these majestic creatures.

Adventurer’s FAQ

What is the best time to visit Thailand? The best time to visit Thailand is during the cool and dry season, from November to February, when the weather is most pleasant. However, Thailand is a year-round destination, with the southern beaches offering sunny days even in the rainy season.

Do I need a visa for Thailand? Most nationalities can enter Thailand without a visa for stays of up to 30 days. However, it’s always a good idea to check the latest visa requirements before traveling.

How much should I budget for a Thailand trip? Thailand is known for being a budget-friendly destination. You can enjoy local meals for as little as $2, while budget accommodations range from $10 to $30 per night. Luxury travelers will also find high-end hotels and resorts at much more affordable prices compared to other global destinations.

Is it safe to travel in Thailand? Thailand is generally safe for tourists, but like any destination, it’s important to stay aware of your surroundings. Be cautious of your belongings in busy areas and avoid scams by booking tours and activities through reputable operators.

Top Experiences & Tours in Thailand

4-Day Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai Tour Discover the best of northern Thailand with this immersive 4-day tour through Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai . Visit stunning temples like Wat Rong Khun (White Temple), explore the historic sites, and experience the local hill tribe culture. This tour is perfect for those looking to explore Thailand’s northern gems in a short time. See Full Itinerary and Book

6-Day Thailand Tour: Bangkok, Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai This 6-day tour offers a fantastic blend of Thailand’s bustling cities and historical landmarks. Begin in Bangkok with its famous temples, head to Ayutthaya to explore ancient ruins, and finish your journey in the cultural heart of Chiang Mai . A perfect itinerary for those looking to capture Thailand’s rich history and vibrant urban life. Plan Your Thailand Adventure

6-Day Tour of Bangkok and Pattaya Experience the exciting contrast between Thailand’s capital city and the beach resort of Pattaya . This 6-day tour takes you through the best of Bangkok , including the Grand Palace and bustling markets, and then whisks you away to Pattaya’s famous beaches and lively nightlife. Book Your Bangkok and Pattaya Escape

7 Days Bangkok, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai Tour Explore the heart and soul of Thailand in this 7-day tour covering Bangkok , Chiang Mai , and Chiang Rai . Visit sacred temples, colorful markets, and ancient ruins, while immersing yourself in the cultural richness of both the bustling capital and serene northern Thailand. Explore the Full 7-Day Itinerary

7-Day Bangkok and Phuket Tour For beach lovers and city explorers alike, this 7-day tour offers the perfect mix. Start your adventure in Bangkok , visiting top temples and markets, before flying to Phuket to enjoy the crystal-clear waters and vibrant island life. A perfect combination of urban excitement and island relaxation. Discover More & Book Today

8-Day Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket Tour An 8-day journey that covers the best of Thailand’s most iconic destinations. Start in Bangkok for its temples and markets, travel to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai for cultural experiences and breathtaking temples, and end your adventure on the sandy beaches of Phuket . This tour truly captures Thailand’s diversity. Start Your Ultimate Thailand Journey

10-Day Thailand Tour: Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai & Phuket Dive deep into Thailand’s rich culture and natural beauty on this 10-day tour. From the bustling streets of Bangkok to the ancient ruins of Ayutthaya , explore the wonders of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai before finishing your trip with sun-kissed beaches in Phuket . This tour offers an unforgettable, well-rounded experience of Thailand. See the Full 10-Day Tour Details

Each of these tours offers a unique and exciting way to explore the treasures of Thailand, catering to both culture enthusiasts and those looking to soak in the beauty of Thailand’s stunning landscapes!

Finding Bliss in Thailand’s Wonders

Thailand’s harmonious blend of ancient temples, vibrant culture, and paradise-like beaches makes it a traveler’s dream. Whether you’re exploring the bustling streets of Bangkok, relaxing on a beach in Phuket, or venturing into the mountains of Chiang Mai, there is always a new experience waiting to captivate your senses.

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You & the world: Travel experts share their tips for travelling alone

I learned how to travel alone when I was 19 and headed to New York from Germany. It was less of a choice and more of a necessity because I needed to check out a university.

It was there, at the intersection of Lafayette and Broadway on my last day of the trip, when it hit me. I was standing in the rain looking at my soggy breakfast doggy bag but I felt exhilarated. Wet, all by myself and I felt free like never before.

From then, travelling alone became my thing. Sometimes because there wasn't anyone to accompany me. The concept of not going and waiting for the right travel partner always seemed foreign to me (pun intended).

I have now travelled to over 20 countries by myself and even published a book about travelling alone and why I love it so much. In this article, 12 experienced solo travellers and I share our best solo travel tips with you.

Travelling alone: Why, where & how

Where and how to start if you want to travel alone? In this article you will find:

• Why you should travel alone
• How to travel alone

How to prepare for solo holidays

Things to do when travelling alone.

• How to meet people when travelling alone

Safety tips for travelling alone

• How to travel alone as a woman

Final solo travel tips

Why you should travel alone at least once in your life.

For me, travelling alone is both a practical consideration and an indulgence. There were many times when an opportunity for a trip came up, but I simply didn’t have anyone to join. All my friends and family were busy or I didn’t have a partner at the time. I didn’t want to wait for an ever-moving ‘one day’, so I went alone.

The other reason why I love solo travel is the freedom. I can ask myself what I want and go and do it. I don’t need to compromise and can be wonderfully self-centred for a change.

Sometimes this can be hard as we often don’t even know anymore what we want. And we fear getting called irresponsible, spoiled or self-centred.

I think it is okay to be all of that once in a while and to simply follow your heart. ‘You do you’ should be the anthem of solo travel.

And don’t worry – travelling by yourself is not as scary as some make it out to be. Those who say it is have probably never tried it themselves.

How to travel alone?

You have decided that you want to travel alone but now what? And where to? For some reason, many people equate solo travel with backpacking. I don’t think that is true at all. You don’t have to stay in a hostel and rough it and you don’t need to be young.

Solo travel simply means leaving home alone and going on a trip. You can go anywhere you want. Get inspiration from the list of best solo travel destinations, but ultimately simply ask yourself where you want to go. For some the thought of a European road trip is enticing, others feel called to trek through the jungle in Borneo. And many just long to travel somewhere where they won’t need a passport.

If you're nervous about taking a solo trip, practise at home! Start by taking yourself out for a meal, then look for activities to do solo, like seeing a film or going to a museum. Stefanie Waldek, travel writer

‘If you're nervous about taking a solo trip, practise at home! Start by taking yourself out for a meal, then look for activities to do solo, like seeing a film or going to a museum,’ says travel writer Stefanie Waldek . You can practise travelling alone in small steps like this. And maybe after a few excursions, you’ll feel ready to take your newfound knowledge on the road.

Remember, solo travel can be anything you want it to be, big or small, near or far.

Just like any other trip, preparation is key. ‘I had a lot of excitement and anxiety leading up to my solo trip, but what made it a lot more manageable and ultimately more fun for me was doing a lot of planning before,’ says Jesse Woods, VP for SEO at KAYAK. Even if you are usually one to wing it, planning is key when travelling alone.

To me, that means booking accommodation for at least a few nights after arrival and figuring out how to get from the airport (or train station) to my hotel or guesthouse. I also think packing light is key when you travel by yourself. This way you don’t need to rely on a travel buddy to watch your things while heading to the bathroom and can move more freely.

Mark Chesnut , a travel writer and photographer, advises: ‘Bring reading material in both digital and hard-copy formats. You may sometimes find yourself stranded without WiFi – or even a television or a charged mobile phone.’ I would add a portable battery charger and make sure to pack all essentials in your hand luggage. This includes medication, electronics, wallet and other valuables, I also add a toothbrush, my glasses and a spare set of underwear.

Bring reading material in both digital and hard-copy formats. You may sometimes find yourself stranded without WiFi – or even a television or a charged mobile phone. Mark Chesnut, travel writer

When planning what to do at your destination keep in mind the season you are travelling. Are there popular travel times or holidays to consider? In this case, I’d advise booking some activities in advance. If you are travelling during the off-season, you can be a bit more flexible.

Will I get bored or feel lonely? This is a big worry for many who embark on their first solo adventure. I would counter this with another question: how often do you get bored at home? While many of us live with family or roommates, we also spend quite a bit of time on our own without getting bored. Add to that the excitement of a foreign city or country and chances are, no, you won’t get bored.

Most activities are as much fun on your own, and for everything else, there are group tours. ‘I look for free walking tours with good reviews. They introduce me to places I may not have ventured to on my own, I learn where locals eat and meet other travellers,’ says Harriet Baskas , founder of stuckattheairport.com.

In the worst-case scenario, you will connect with other travellers for just a few hours while learning something new and noteworthy about your destination. In the best case, you make new friends for a sundowner or future trips.

When arriving in a new place solo, get out and go for a meandering run with no plan. If you’re not a runner, just wander. You’ll soon get a feel for the place and settle in a bit. You’ll probably discover some surprises too. Gabriel Leigh, travel writer

And maybe you will want to spend some time on your own. After all, being alone doesn’t equate to feeling lonely. ‘When arriving in a new place solo, get out and go for a meandering run with no plan. If you’re not a runner, just wander. You’ll soon get a feel for the place and settle in a bit. You’ll probably discover some surprises too,’ says travel writer Gabriel Leigh .

Use the no-compromise rule when travelling alone and follow your guts. Do something you would never do with your spouse or couldn’t do with your kids. Indulge, be adventurous or simply sit and people-watch.

How to meet people when travelling alone?

If you do want company, remember that travelling alone doesn’t mean you have to be alone 24/7. There is no solo travel police checking that you are doing it right and meeting new people is part of the fun, after all.

Pauline Langlois, an SEO project manager at KAYAK, says: ‘Using the Couchsurfing app is a great way to meet travellers and locals when you're travelling alone. The app is not just for finding a couch to sleep on; it's a community where you can ask for advice, get recommendations and join events organised by ambassadors’.

Whether you feel comfortable staying on a stranger’s couch or not, the right accommodation is key when travelling alone. ‘For meeting people, I find it best to stay at hostels. Some have single rooms and they’re not all party hostels,’ says Federica Ciancetta, video editor at KAYAK.

I agree with her and remember Moustache Hostel in Jaipur fondly. I arrived there after breaking up with my boyfriend at the time. What was meant to be a romantic trip for two had all of a sudden turned into an involuntary solo trip. To make the best of it, I booked a single room at Moustache and a walking tour organised by the hostel as soon as I arrived. Friends for life were made on this tour.

Be an extrovert. When travelling solo, don’t just sit in the corner of a café with your phone or journal. Engage with other travellers and locals with questions, comments or even just a cheerful greeting. Bill Flink, travel writer

Hostels are also great if you are an introvert or a bit shy. Travel writer and photographer Bill Flink recommends: ‘Be an extrovert. When travelling solo, don’t just sit in the corner of a café with your phone or journal. Engage with other travellers and locals with questions, comments or even just a cheerful greeting.

‘Sometimes you have to fake it until you make it and a hostel with a nice atmosphere can help you with that. I enjoy the company of others, so when I have travelled alone, I have prioritised getting to know people. I’ve done this through couch surfing, reaching out and asking if others wanted to meet for a coffee or do things together,’ says Fie Korum, head of content marketing at KAYAK.

I too have made a friend while simply striking up a conversation from one cafe table to the next at a beach in Koh Tao. Eventually, I awkwardly asked ‘would you like to have dinner sometime?’ and ended up with a new friend abroad.

Do check KAYAK's list of the top safest solo travel destinations as it is a great source of inspiration. However, it shouldn’t be the only deciding factor. Safety can be quite an illusion and it's important to have common sense wherever you travel.

Still, some general tips to help keep you safe when travelling alone:

• ‘I find it important to always have a sense of self-awareness and even a healthy dose of anxiety. Travelling alone means no one else is looking out for you so it's key to be extra vigilant about your personal belongings and safety,’ says travel journalist Ramsey Quebein . Even feeling a bit on edge will keep you more vigilant and ultimately safer.
• Read hotel reviews from other solo travellers and pay attention to their comments about the area. To navigate a new city, Marta Krywult, organic growth manager at KAYAK, recommends downloading an offline maps app like Maps.me before your trip. This way you can navigate without relying on internet access.
• I always like to have an emergency fund at hand. This way I can pay for a cab instead of local transport when I first arrive, or use apps like Uber or Grab in Southeast Asia. Apps like these make it easier to get around, especially when in a country where you don’t speak the language and you can review drivers.
• ‘Share your location and/or itinerary with 1–2 close family or friends and check in with them regularly throughout your trip,’ advises Sarah Rauth, manager for brand marketing at KAYAK. It’s not only nice to keep in touch with your loved ones at home but this also adds a layer of safety.
• Get trip and travel health insurance and read the Travel Advisories. While I think those are sometimes overly cautious, some insurances won’t cover you when going to a destination with a travel warning.
• Make digital copies of your important documents and email them to yourself. This way you can still identify yourself if something gets lost or stolen.
• Travellers’ cheques and large amounts of cash are cumbersome in most places. Instead, take at least two bank cards and don’t keep them in the same place.
• At the beginning I like to eat early and close to my accommodation in the evening. This way, I can be home before it gets dark.

How do you travel alone as a woman?

Solo travel for women has become more than a trend in recent years, it is almost a movement. I have quite a bit of experience travelling alone as a woman and will admit – while nothing will deter me, it would be ignorant to say that men and women always travel the same.

There are countries and situations where I have to adapt and adjust to feel safe. My most important rule: I am not afraid to offend and to say no. I’d rather be reserved and maybe a little bit cold than overly friendly. Simply because this can be misconstrued in certain cultures and situations.

If I'm feeling in any way uncomfortable, I won't tell strangers or someone I just met where I'm staying. Some women like to put on a fake wedding band, but I thankfully never saw the need for that.

In many countries like Japan, India and the UAE, there are taxis and public transport just for women. I will use this option sometimes, especially in the evening.

Ultimately I think most women know how to navigate this world and what we need to do to keep ourselves safe(r). This applies to our homes and the rest of the world. However, just like on any other trip, I do make sure to check customs and local dress code before travelling somewhere new.

Especially when heading to a more conservative country, covering up may or may not keep you safe but always shows respect toward the locals. After all, you are a visitor and I think respecting local culture is essential to any trip.

It’s okay if some days feel a bit off. Not everything will run smoothly and not every travel day will be fun. I allow myself to miss home, stay in my hotel room to binge Netflix and order pizza. Sometimes finding a bit of routine is just what I need to enjoy the adventure again.

Share the memories you are making. This can be through a journal, an Instagram account or simply by sending pictures to your family at home. I usually Facetime with my mother who is always amazed that I can bring the world to her living room thanks to technology.

And remember – it’s okay to not like travelling alone. Once you’ve tried it, that is.

Looking for more solo travel inspiration and tips? Check out KAYAK and OpenTable's solo travel and dining guide.

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The Ultimate Packing Guide for a Road Trip to Orlando

admin September 23, 2024 Guides & Tips , Orlando

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What to Pack on an Orlando Road Trip & Why it Matters

Planning a family road trip to Orlando? You're in for quite a treat! Before you hit the road, let's talk about what to pack for an Orlando road trip to make the most of your vacation. Sure, you'll pack the usual stuff - clothes, toiletries, and everyday essentials. But, Central Florida has its own quirks, and being unprepared could put a damper on your fun.

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After you've booked from these exceptional discount vacation packages , you'll then want to explore some tips to help you make the most of your visit. The area has its own unique peculiarities, and being prepared can turn a good trip into a great one. Let's make sure your family has the car packed with everything they need to enjoy every moment in this beautiful part of Florida.

• Refillable water bottles. Many theme parks and other public spaces around Orlando provide free water stations. Stay hydrated and save money by having refillable water bottles for the whole family.
• Portable phone chargers. Nobody enjoys having a dead cell phone, but the predicament is made all the more frustrating when you need it to navigate directions, your digital wallet, or locate your park admission at one of Orlando's theme parks. Keep a portable phone charger on hand to ensure a smoother trip altogether.
• Waterproof phone cases. Whether you're riding a water ride at Magic Kingdom or cooling off in the hotel pool, your family is sure to spend a portion of your Orlando vacation around water. Be prepared with waterproof phone cases for each member of the family.
• Cooling towels. Florida heat can be intense, especially in mid-June to mid-September when the heat index regularly rises above 100 degrees. Cooling towels are inexpensive and can provide quick relief from the heat and humidity.
• Compact rain ponchos. It may be the Sunshine State, but Florida is notorious for its predictable afternoon showers. Be prepared with lightweight ponchos for everyone, and avoid paying unnecessarily high prices at a theme park gift shop.

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Additional Items

You'll survive in Orlando with the basics listed above. But, you're not planning an epic family vacation to "the happiest place on earth" to merely survive. You want to thrive! So, plan on bringing some extra not-quite essentials to make your family's road trip even more epic.

• Small travel fan. Few places on the planet know humidity like Florida. And no one likes being miserably hot all day, especially while waiting in long lines at the theme parks. Beat the heat with a small travel fan or portable fan.
• Reusable straws. Many local spaces (including several spots at the Disney World resorts) provide paper straws only, so if anyone in your family is averse to that experience, you'll want to have reusable straws on hand. These are inexpensive and easy to pack, so you may consider them an "extra" with packing.
• Sand toys. If you plan to visit beaches near Orlando like Cocoa Beach or New Smyrna Beach, packing a few inexpensive sand toys can turn a beach visit into hours of entertainment (for your kids) and relaxation (for you) without having to purchase expensive beach accessories after you arrive.
• Binoculars. You know about Florida's land and sea beauty, but look up, and you'll see even more beauty in her sky. The state is home to more than 500 bird species, has regular space launches from the Kennedy Space Center on Florida's east coast, and is the lightning capital of the world. Take full advantage of all of that by having a pair of binoculars your family can share while you're there.
• Autograph book and pens. Your kids are sure to want a souvenir from their family vacation in Orlando . What better way for them to get that than through interactions with the beloved characters at the iconic Disney World theme parks? By spending less than you would on most gift shop items, you can give your children a fun, personalized keepsake they'll treasure for years.

The Ultimate Packing Guide

Extra Clothes (you'll sweat a lot!)

Portable Phone Chargers

iPads or Tablets and Chargers

Wallet (include driver's license, cash, and credit cards)

Gift Cards (almost every restaurant chain can be found in Orlando)

Personal Care Items

Headphones or Earbuds

Books for the Drive

Swimsuits and Towels

Snacks for the Whole Family

Flip-Flops or Sandals

Walkable Shoes

Light Jackets (if visiting during cooler months)

Stroller or Baby Carrier (if applicable)

Water Toys and Goggles

Insect Repellant

Hand Sanitizer

Cooling Towels

Compact Rain Ponchos

Refillable Water Bottles

Autograph Books and Pens

Small Travel Fan

Reusable Straws

With this comprehensive road trip packing checklist, your family is all set for an unforgettable Orlando adventure. From essential gear to beat the Florida heat to fun extras that'll make your trip truly special, you're now prepared for whatever the Sunshine State throws your way. Remember, a well-planned trip is the first step to creating lasting family memories.

Ready to turn your Orlando dreams into reality? Make Westgate Reservations your home base for the ultimate family vacation that won't break the bank. With spacious accommodations, fantastic amenities, and prime locations near all the top attractions, Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa , Westgate Town Center Resort , and Westgate Vacation Villas Resort offers the perfect blend of comfort and value. Don't wait – start planning your budget family travel today!

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Frequently Asked Questions

The best times to visit Orlando are during the spring (March-May) and fall (September-November) seasons. Sure, your kids may have to miss a few days of school, but they won't mind! Besides, these times offer milder weather, fewer crowds, and better prices on accommodations, making it both easier and more affordable for your family to enjoy their vacation.

A weeklong stay can be ideal for families who want to experience the many things to do in Orlando . This timeframe will enable your family to explore the major theme parks, enjoy local attractions, and even take a day trip to one of Florida's world-famous beaches without feeling rushed. If visiting for a shorter time, decide as a family the one theme park, destination, or experience you are most eager to experience and plan your trip accordingly.

The Orlando area offers a wide variety of clean, safe, and affordable accommodations for your family. For those seeking convenience and a more immersive experience, consider staying at one of the beautiful Westgate Resorts in Orlando that offer close proximity to the major attractions and a plentiful amount of amenities and activities.

As an alternative to high prices and long lines, consider visiting the Orlando Science Center or exploring the nature trails at Wekiwa Springs State Park. Both options provide fun and educational experiences for the family at a fraction of the cost of theme parks. You will also be exposed to Florida's natural beauty in ways not as easily found in the high-tourism hot spots. Realistically, there is endless things to do in Orlando besides theme parks and the major attractions.

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An Italian Mama's Guide to Italy

Ortisei with kids travel guide: all you need to know + why you’ll love this family friendly Alpine town

All you need to know to plan a stay in Ortisei with kids: why go, best family hotels, family hikes, farms, restaurants and more.

Ortisei (Urtijëi in Ladin, one of the local languages) is a picture-perfect, pretty, charming mountain town in the Dolomites, in northern Italy.

While the whole Dolomites’ area is very well served, Ortisei and Val Garden embraced tourism earlier than other localities, and the result is that now the town is among the most upscale and easy  places to visit in the Dolomites with kids .  

I have been coming to the Dolomites all my life and while my heart belongs to a different, smaller valley a little north of Ortisei (when you spend over 40 summers in one place, you get biased!), I find Ortisei exceptionally well suited to overseas visitors with kids and recommend it regularly as one of the best places in the Dolomites for a first visit.

In Ortisei, you find beautiful nature, great accommodation options, lots of cable cars to get high up without having to tackle strenuous hikes (unless you want to!) and also restaurants, shops and kids’ entertainment such as farms and pools.

I was in Ortisei again last summer, with my kids and parents. Based on our many visits this is my guide to Ortisei with kids. I hope you find it useful!

I am most familiar with Ortisei in summer and, therefore, focus on summer activities in the area (I don’t ski!). The recommendations for hotels snap restaurants, however, stand for winter visits too.

Please note: this post contains affiliate links. Should you make a purchase, we might make a small commission.

Why visit Ortisei with Kids

Ortisei is very pretty, and offers easy access to splendid mountain landscapes and huts.

Val Gardena as a whole established itself as a tourism destination before many other towns in the area, and it is, therefore, a mature, fully serviced place.

Ortisei is more extensive and has more of an urban feel than others; the walkable city center with restaurants, cafes, and shops makes it easy to enjoiy for those who prefer a non rural environment

For instance, if you stay in Ortisei town, you can take a pleasant pre-dinner walk  around town or get aperitivo without having to take the car.

Ortisei is close to Bolzano, which means it is easier than other locations to include in an Italy itinerary.

Why not to visit Ortisei with kids

Ortisei is an upscale, expensive destination, so it is not my first choice for visitors on a budget.

Nearby Castelrotto (stunning! I personally prefer it!) is gentler on the budget without having to compromise on comfort or scenery.

Ortisei doesn’t have sweeping views from the town itself (it’s at the bottom of the valley) but offers access to them by cable cars and chairlifts. 

I find it therefore best suited to people who are not afraid of heights and are happy to avail of these services.

The best things to do in Ortisei with kids

The top activities for kids in Ortisei have to do with the beautiful nature surrounding the town.

There is not need to pre-book or pre-plan your time: these are just ideas but you can very much make up your plan as you go! The only thing to book well in advance in the area is accommodation (see recommended addresses below).

Walk, see the animals, eat and enjoy the views on stunning Alpe di Siusi.

Alpe di Siusi is a high mountain plateau just above Ortisei and one of the most beautiful, kid-friendly places you can visit to get sweeping mountains views without having to tackle strenuous hikes.

Alpe di Siusi is very much a vision of Alpine meadows and pretty huts, many of which have playgrounds and animals for the kids to play and meet.

You can easily come here several days in a row and try different walks, you can get bikes or even just relax in one of the many mountains restaurants for the day.

There are a few ways to reach the plateau from Ortisei but my favorite is by bus or cable car via Castelrotto.

You can read here >>> my family guide to Alpe di Siusi

Take the cable car up Seceda

Seceda is maybe the best known spot in the area, and with good reason.

Seceda is one of those rare places where you can be super close to the peaks, get stunning views and feel very high up in the mountains without having to hike much at all!

Getting to Seceda from Ortisei is exceptionally easy.

From the town center, you get the gondola up and then the chairlift and, once up, you can enjoy the scenery, hike, relax and eat to your heart content at one of the many huts / mountain restaurants in the area.

Get active at Col de Flam adventure park

Cold de Flam adventure park is just what you thin it is: a fun adventure park with treetop trails and zipline!

The park is easy to reach from Ortisei city center (no car needed) and has treetop trails suitable for kids age 4 and up as well as more complex routes for teens and adults and active areas such as a really cool trampolining spot https://www.coldeflam.it/index_en.php

This is a fun place when kids want to be active yet may not feel like a hike.

Enjoy the pools at Mar Dolomit

Mar Dolomit is a great family friendly complex with pools and restaurants that is perfect for those days when the kids do not want to hike or wind down after a morning on the trails

For little kids, Mar Dolomit has an outdoor paddling pool, indoor baby pool with slide, then indoor and outdoor lap pool for older kids, sauna for the adults and restaurant.

Info on the official site >>> https://www.mardolomit.com/en/

Hiking is THE thing to do in this area and there are many hikes that area also doable with kids, given the right conditions.

The best hiking areas and trails for kids in Ortisei area are PanaRaida trail ( themed adventure trail for kids with play stops, sensory stops, playground and even geocaching), Val d’Anna Nature Walk, also equipped with Kneipp stops, several of the hiking trails on Alpe di Siusi such as the easy walk to Baita Tuene, restautan Gostner Schweige, Malga Tirler, hikes up Resciesa funicular and up Seceda.

Luis Trenker Walk playground

Ortisei has a lovely playground along the Luis Tenker walk. The playground has climbing frame with bridges, slide, a fun wooden train and sand pit.

Get the Funicular up to Alpe Resciesa

Alpe Resciesa is an area of great natural beautiful and mountains scenery just above Ortisei and connected to it by the fun Resciesa funicular.

The funicular climbs all the way up to the Alpe, above 2000 met above sea level, where you find a lovely chalet, fantastic views and option of easy mountain hiking >> https://www.resciesa.com/en/Default.asp

Enjoy the pretty Ortisei town center

Ortisei has a very pretty town center with pedestrian, walkable streets, cute houses, delightful cafe and many shops.

The town has the fairytale appearance typical of this part of the world and is a fantastic shopping destination for mountain gear and designer brands in general.

Explore the local wooden craft and souvenir shops

Woodwork is a local craft and the local shops have many pretty wooden toys, sculptures and home items kids usually love to look at buy.

As well as wooden toys, popular items and souvenirs to buy here are cooking utensils, pretty textiles, Christmas tree decorations, figurines and cookery books.

Where to eat in Ortisei: best family restaurants

Ortisei has lovely family friendly restaurants.

The cuisine of the area is very different from that of the rest of Italy and sud-Tyrolean in character (think Wiener schnitzel, knoedels, apfel strudel etc) and it is very common to find kids menus here too.

The Dolomites are the only places in Italy where I recommend booking a hotel with half board (breakfast and dinner) but if you are in an rental or want to explore, these are good addresses in town.

>> Turonda Pizza, S trada Johann Baptist Purger, 5, 39046 Ortisei (BZ) Map https://maps.app.goo.gl/YZGCb3TQfjzkAW7RA

>> Mauriz Keller (pizza, local specialties), Strada Rezia, 32, 39046 Ortisei (BZ) Map https://maps.app.goo.gl/szcyu7juuAEaLBeLA

>> Ristorante Pizzeria Mar Dolomit, Promeneda, 2, 39046 Ortisei (BZ) Map https://maps.app.goo.gl/mUGchrbDvE7bQuGM8

As well as restaurants, Ortisei has many lovely bakeries and pastry shops for bread and baked goods to for, hot chocolate, a slice of cake, juice or Aperol spritz for the parents.

We particularly enjoy Caffe’ Adler, perfect for a drink, slice of cake, light lunch or bowl of fresh fruit right in the twon center.

Top Family-Friendly Hotels in Ortisei

Alpenheim Chamring Spa and Hotel A beautiful hotel with family suites for up to 5 people , pool, restaurant on site, spa and lovely mountains views despite being super close to the town center.

Hotel Angelo Engel Lovely hotel with pretty garden, pool, stube, restaurant on site and family rooms for up to 6 people

Cavallino Bianco Family Spa Grand Hotel  Cavallino Bianco is one of the most famous family hotels in the country, tailored specifically to families with children and pretty much THE place that most of all contributed to making Ortisei so popular with families.

 The hotel offers an extensive range of services for kids, including age-specific clubs, an indoor play area, a swimming pool, and organized activities. 

This is a place to see and to be seen and is very popular with wealthy Italian families as well as overseas tourists. The location right in the town center makes it exceptionally convenient in summer and winter.  

Cute places in and near Ortisei Where Kids Can See Animals

Petting Zoo at Monte Pana Close to the PanaRaida family trail, this petting zoo is home to ponies, rabbits, and other small animals. It’s an easy stop on a family day out, and children can spend time with the animals while parents relax nearby.

Malga Marinzen , just above Castlerotto (a short bus ride away from Ortisei), easy to reach by chairlift or by an easy hike

Tschötscherhof Farm A traditional mountain farm located a short drive from Ortisei, in Castelrotto https://www.tschoetscherhof.com/it/agriturismo-maso.html

Food shopping and shopping for baby essentials in Ortisei

Ortisei is very much a town with all the services you expect including grocery stores, supermarkets (such as spar in the town center) and pharmacies where you can find all baby and toddler essentials, medications, outdoors essentials and more.

Ortisei with kids: pin this!

Marta Correale

Marta Correale is an Italian mama of two. Born and raised in Rome, Marta has a passion for travel and especially enjoys showing off Italy to her kids, who are growing up to love it as much as she does! A classics graduate from the University of Rome, Marta channeled her passion for culture and travel into the creation of family travel websites that inspire, support and help curious visitors to make the most of a trip to Italy and learn about Italian culture on the way. Marta also manages the thriving online community of parents 'Italy with kids' who turn to her for expert advice and competent Italy travel planning support. She is the author of the travel guides 'Best of Rome with kids' and 'Best of Florence with kids' available on Amazon and of an array of kids printables (scavenger hunts, info booklets etc) available on her Etsy shop 'Mama Loves To Print'

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A Parent’s Guide to Travel Insurance for Children

Last Updated: September 23, 2024

Planning a trip with kids and family members can bring joy but also unpredictability! To prepare for any (almost) eventuality, consider adding a single-trip travel insurance policy to your family trip to protect your travel expenses and enjoyment.

Travel insurance for children offers essential protection and peace of mind. Insurance, from trip cancellations to medical emergencies , safeguards your health and total trip costs, including prepaid, non-refundable expenses. However, knowing where to start when evaluating travel insurance providers and what trip policies to consider for your kids can be overwhelming. But we’re here to help — we break it all down below.

Why Do You Need Travel Insurance for Children?

Unexpected events like trip cancellations, medical emergencies, or lost luggage can happen to anyone, including children (some could argue more likely in children!). Travel insurance for children ensures that your family is financially protected if any of these occur. It can cover medical costs, cancellations due to illness, and even reimbursements for lost items like baggage or personal belongings.

What’s Covered in a Travel Insurance Policy ?

• Medical Emergencies : Kids get sick unexpectedly. Comprehensive plans offer coverage for medical treatment, illnesses, or injuries abroad since health insurance doesn’t always travel internationally. We recommend medical evacuation coverage of at least $250,000 as it can cover costs for emergency transportation if needed.
• Trip Cancellations : Life happens! Travel insurance can cover those prepaid, non-refundable costs if your trip gets canceled due to an unforeseen issue.
• Lost Baggage : If your child’s luggage is lost or delayed, insurance can help replace essential items.
• Emergency Evacuation : Should a medical emergency require evacuation, travel medical insurance can cover those high costs.

Best Travel Insurance Benefits to Consider:

Let’s break down what’s typically covered in a travel insurance policy for your child so you can travel confidently, knowing you’re covered for the unexpected.

• Family Travel Insurance policies : Many insurers offer discounts or free coverage for children when adults are insured. For example, Generali Global Assistance , AXA Assistance USA , and Tin Leg are the top providers available through our marketplace, offering comprehensive family travel insurance coverage.
• Medical Coverage : Check the limits on medical expenses and ensure they include your destination. We recommend having at least $100,000 in emergency medical coverage for international trips. For trips involving cruises, remote areas, or countries with high healthcare costs (like the United States), coverage should be considered up to $250,000 or more.
• Cancellation Policies : Ensure the policy covers cancellations due to illness, weather, or other unexpected events. Make sure you read the fine print to understand the covered reasons. For example, some plans may not cover adventure sports; if your trip is disrupted, those expenses could remain your responsibility.

Time-Sensitive Benefits

Some travel insurance plans offer  time-sensitive benefits , such as coverage for pre-existing medical conditions. However , these policies must be purchased within a specific window, like 14-21 days after booking your trip.

Tips for Choosing the Right Plan

• Compare Options : Look for plans that offer comprehensive coverage, including medical, cancellation, and evacuation benefits.
• Read the Fine Print : Ensure you understand the policy’s exclusions, such as medical expense limits and restrictions on pre-existing conditions.

For more tips on choosing the right plan, visit Squaremouth’s Travel Insurance for Children . With the right travel insurance, you can focus on creating memories instead of worrying about what might go wrong. Safe travels!