- Where do I start when planning my own trip?
- How long should I stay in each place?
- How did you plan your trip?
- Do you get travel insurance?
- How much luggage do you take?
- What else do you bring with you?
- Can you tell me your favorite hotels or restaurants in England or Italy?
Where do I start when planning my own trip?
- Buy your plane tickets.
Once you do, your trip dates and starting/ending points are solid. Think about purchasing an “open jaw” ticket that allows you to arrive in one city, but leave from another. These type of tickets don’t typically cost much more, but can save you time and other costs further down the line. - Develop a potential itinerary.
Base your itinerary on the number of "nights" you want to spend in each place. Use a map to figure out a logical route for your journey. Be sure to include 1 night for your overnight flight to Europe. Don’t forget to consider travel time between destinations. Rework until the itinerary feels just right. - Book hotels.
Now that you have your itinerary finalized, start researching and reserving hotels for each stop. Using email or a hotel’s website, we typically contact 2-3 hotels for each stop to see if there is availability. If we get a response that appeals to us, we check the hotel’s rating on TripAdvisor.com. If you find that every hotel you contact is booked, revisit your itinerary. Look at a map and see if it’s logical to change your route. If that’s not possible, research smaller towns close to your desired destination to see if there are more options for lodging. - Decide how you’ll get from point to point.
Get a train pass and/or reserve a car. We like to use http://www.autoeurope.com/ for our car rentals overseas. - Finally, plan all the fun bits!
Where you'll eat and what you'll do while on your trip.
How long should I stay in each place?
The answer to this question depends on what your goals are for your trip. You might want to see as much as possible, checking sight after sight off of a list. Or you might want to relax while getting to know a place. When we travel overseas, we choose to spend a minimum of 3 nights in each of our stopping points. A big factor to consider when making up your itinerary is the amount of time you’ll have to spend traveling between destinations. During our recent trip to Italy, we booked 3 nights in Lake Como. To get there from Tuscany, we spent nearly seven hours on the road. By time we reached our hotel, the day was gone and we were left with two full days to explore the area.
How did you plan your trip?
We plan our trips with guidebooks and online resources. Even though my ideal afternoon at the local bookstore is spent reading travel books, we still turn to the internet for a lot of help. Here are links that we turn to every time for general planning tips, as well as hotel and restaurant recommendations:
Maps & Guidebooks:
- DK Eyewitness Guides
- Rick Steves
- Lonely Planet (very thorough)
- Fodor’s See It series
- Frommer’s Day by Day series
- City Walks series
- Streetwise maps
- ViaMichelin.com (free online point-to-point maps)
Do you get travel insurance?
Yes, and it’s cheap! We like CSA Travel Protection. For approximately $40, up to $1,000 in belongings is insured, as well as purchases made during short travel delays. Their insurance also includes basic medical coverage. We’ve had to file a claim twice and have experienced zero difficulties in getting them settled. There is a trick to getting a low price quote, however. Follow Shawn's foolproof steps as outlined below and you’ll be all set:
- Click "Get a Quick Quote" at http://www.csatravelprotection.com/.
- Enter your state of residence.
- Enter 0 for total trip cost.
Note: this is the trick for getting a low price. By entering 0, you waive the right to be reimbursed should you cancel the trip prior to leaving. If you’re confident nothing will change your plans, go for it! - Enter your departure and return dates.
- Enter your destination (most likely Europe/Mediterranean).
- Select the following trip components: Flight, Lodging, Rail, Car/Bus
- Enter your age and get your quote!
How much luggage do you take?
We each carry 1 rolling bag at the maximum carry-on size (currently 9x14x22 inches, but check your airlines regulations) and one small backpack. We take just enough clothing to get by, planning to wear each item 2-3 times during our trip. Although we get sick of our clothes after a handful of days, doing this is worth saving the hassle that dragging big bags can create. Rolling luggage along cobblestone streets or hauling heavy bags into trains during the sole minute it’s at the platform can be a real headache. The smaller our bags are, the better! Here are some helpful links for tips on packing light:
- Rick Steves' Packing List
- Slowtrav article: Why I like packing light for a trip to Europe
- Slowtrav article: Packing for a trip to Europe
- One Bag: The Art & Science of Travelling Light
What else do you bring with you?
Preparing for a trip often involves a big paper trail. We print hotel confirmations, copy pages from library books, and read forum posts about our destinations. So, before we leave, we organize our documents and often have them bound at a copy center (depending on just how big the pile is). Putting your info together in a simple folder will also do the trick. The resulting book usually includes the following:
- travel itinerary/plane reservations
- hotel reservation confirmations and directions/maps to each
- car rental confirmation
- any sightseeing reservations
- public transportation information (including train/bus schedules)
- photocopy of passports (just in case the actual thing is lost or stolen!)
- international phone numbers for credit card companies (found on the back of each card)
- travel insurance policy number and information for making a claim
- restaurant/shopping/sightseeing ideas (including copies from library books/research from online forums)
- addresses for postcards
Can you tell me your favorite hotels or restaurants in England or Italy?
Absolutely! I've compiled our favorite hotels, restaurants, and things to do for the places we are familiar with, or have travelled to. You can find them by clicking the links under "our travels" in the right sidebar. Hopefully our future travels will help expand the info that we have to share. Enjoy!
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