How to make travel plans and arrange travel itineraries

In fact, we all know that when traveling, you can’t just start haphazardly without planning. Traveling on the spur of the moment is actually a bit unrealistic. The reason for leaving on the spur of the moment is because someone has already planned the journey. Just rely on yourself.

Friends often come to ask questions about itineraries, ranging from how to visit this country to where to eat and whether this museum is worth visiting. I particularly understand the worries and uneasiness that every friend has when making an itinerary, because we all want the trip to be unique and the most suitable for us.

So, after so many years of traveling, what experiences can I share with you?

1. According to your own preferences, identify the cities and places you must visit.

The first step is to determine the destination and destination country, as well as the specific cities to visit and the must-see attractions. This is the first step in arranging the itinerary.

If you don’t know much about this country, you might as well read books and posts, and don’t bother with this process. If you are going to travel to a place, it is essential to have a basic understanding of it.

After a basic understanding, decide on the cities and scenic spots you must visit based on your own interests and hobbies.

Why circle "according to your own interests and hobbies"?

Because I think this is the necessary condition for a trip to be perfect.

No one knows yourself better than yourself, and knows better what you like and what you hate.

If you like humanities and history, go to more museums and cultural relics.

If you like scenery and hiking, arrange more natural scenic spots and national parks.

If you like delicious food, arrange more unique afternoon teas and must-eat lists.

At this time, you have the basis for a rough itinerary. You can first connect a simplified itinerary to get a preliminary look at the overall time period.

2. Quickly connect small traffic routes

After roughly arranging the itinerary, it is inevitable to face the problem of small traffic. Between cities, should we choose trains, buses, or planes?

The first factor we have to consider is time cost. The train journey between many cities in Europe only takes 2-3 hours, or more than an hour. At this time, the first choice is naturally the train. If the train journey takes more than 5 hours, unless the scenery along the way is particularly stunning (such as the glacier line in Switzerland), please take a flight. The low-cost airline system abroad is very complete. Air tickets are often cheaper than train tickets, but be sure not to read the luggage terms. Generally speaking, buying luggage tickets in advance is much cheaper than paying for it at the airport! Also, be sure to pay attention to the airports where low-cost airlines take off and land. , some airlines take off and land at small remote airports, and the transportation is very inconvenient. The train network in some countries is not very developed, or the train time is longer than the bus time. Don’t forget the bus as a means of transportation.

The second factor is price.

You need to be good at using passes for train tickets. If you need to take trains frequently during a journey, then passes are often the most cost-effective. You don’t have to worry about the specific train number. You can just go on as you go, and the itinerary is more flexible. If there are only a few point-to-point trains, you can buy tickets separately, and there are often discounts for buying tickets in advance. Discounts of 20-30% off are also common.

Low-cost airline tickets are usually very cheap and have many choices. There are many tickets for 2-300.

There are quite a lot of choices for buses, such as Greyhound and Megabus. It doesn’t hurt to check and see more.

Third, self-driving and other means of transportation.

In addition, it may be inconvenient or time-consuming to connect via bus, train, or plane. For example, from Tromso to lofoten, at this time, you need to see if there is any special transportation in the local area. For example, Norway has ships, and you can take a series of trips by ship.

Of course, there may also be countries where public transportation is inconvenient, such as the United States, New Zealand, Norway, and Croatia. At this time, I am afraid that you can only complete the trip by self-driving.

3. How to choose?

The most common problem faced by those who rely on annual leave to travel is the itinerary. We often have to give up some places due to lack of vacation time. When making a choice, what should we consider?

First of all, consider the accessibility of your next trip.

Specifically, it is whether the place you gave up can be easily connected with other cities on your next trip. For example, among the three cities ABC, if B is located exactly between A and C, and the cities around B will not be visited in the future, then do not leave out B, because if you leave it out, you may not have the chance to visit in the future. If B can be connected in series with the surrounding DE, or you will go to A again, then there is no problem in discarding it.

To give a practical example, during my trip to the UK last year, I gave up the countryside and Sky Island and chose the Lake District. Because the countryside will still have the opportunity to play with London in the future, and Sky Island will have the opportunity to play with the Scottish Highlands in the future.

On my New Zealand itinerary, I didn’t go to Dunedin, the fjords, or the boulders. I basically left the southern half of the South Island intact. I can fully explore it next time, even if I have to pass by the library again. Keshan, but there are still hiking routes that I want to take but didn’t take last time.

Secondly, follow your own preferences! Follow your own heart!

If this city is full of humanities that you have no sense of, then give up and go to the scenic spots you really like. Time is limited, so go to your favorite place first.

Third, never give up, leave early and come back late.

If you really can’t give up, then carefully check the sunrise and sunset times, the opening and closing times of attractions, and plan your itinerary in detail. The days in Europe are relatively long, and it doesn’t get dark until after 10 o’clock at night in the summer, which virtually lengthens the travel time. Only if you are physically strong enough, you can make full use of the dawn time and play from early morning to late at night.

Although, it is not recommended that the itinerary is too full, because if you miss it, it may cause the subsequent itinerary to be unable to be executed. But if you are careful enough, consider it carefully, plan carefully, and have good physical strength, this can be a solution to the trade-off.

4. Travel seasons and festivals

Every country and every scenic spot has a suitable travel season and special festivals. This should also be fully considered when formulating the itinerary. For example, the place you want to go does not fit in with your vacation time, so don’t force yourself to go, especially to scenic spots. You won’t be able to see anything in the wrong season

And the festivals in this country must be This is something to consider during your itinerary. Catching up with interesting festivals will add a lot of color to your trip. Caught the carnival in Malta, which was really fun.

5. How to flexibly adjust the itinerary during travel?

This problem actually does not entirely belong to the scope of itinerary planning, but it is a problem that will be faced every time when traveling.

Traveling is not just about following a pre-planned and scripted process (this will lose a lot of fun)

Encountering unexpected situations, such as temporary closure of attractions, car breakdown, heavy rain If hiking is not possible, how to flexibly adjust and ensure the integrity of the itinerary to a greater extent is a necessary condition for a perfect trip.

First of all, for the attractions that must be visited, be sure to check the opening times in advance.

Lest you miss it that day and have to leave the next day without any way to make up for it.

This problem will be encountered every time, and the plan will be temporarily adjusted every time.

Secondly, the itinerary should not be too full.

Qiongyou Itinerary Assistant has a particularly useful function. It will calculate the total travel time for the scenic spots you choose. If it exceeds 8 hours, it must be shortened. In popular cities and popular scenic spots, it is inevitable that you will encounter queues. It is most basic to leave room for time.

When traveling by car, the time calculated by Google is the time of driving at full speed. You must add some time to this basis. On the one hand, you may encounter traffic jams; on the other hand, passing by beautiful scenery and parking at any time will delay some time.

There is another situation where the show is added temporarily.

When traveling, we often encounter places that we have not arranged in advance. They may be recommended by locals, or they may be omitted from the itinerary. Then, if the schedule is too full, the additional play may fail.

Third, make good use of maps and re-plan.

For some reason, a certain attraction cannot be visited on the day and needs to be arranged in a later itinerary. Faced with this situation, don’t worry. Depending on the location of the attraction, see which day is more suitable. Combined with the map, you can also swap parts of the subsequent itinerary with the current day's itinerary to ensure operability in time and route.

Write this much for now, and add more as I think of them. If you have any questions, please leave a message and I will try my best to answer them.

Countries that can answer questions include: Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, and Cuba