Just winging it or going with it when traveling?

Suzy, I "wing it" everywhere I stay in terms of general sightseeing, , but I don't wing it as to where I am sleeping/staying, or for trips on the train where I can buy them cheaper if I book ahead( same with hotels, I find great places cheap if booked ahead,, the cheap stuff left over for walk ins during the in busy seasons is often cheap for a reason!) I saw a post by a lady on another forum,, she actually had an entire day visit at the Louvre completely mapped out and scheduled to the 1/4 hour,, literally " see 18th century painting from 2-2:45 " etc,, it was hilarious.. I have seen people plan days,, but its usually see "such and such in the morning then this in the afternoon" but she had it all down to minutes... crazy stressful I would think. I have an idea of things I want to see, and I try to note if they are closed on certain days, but other then that I go with what I feel like each day.

I do get my hotels and transportation ahead of time. Then, I typically identify two sites (morning and afternoon) in each location. That usually leaves me plenty of time for unplanned sightseeing. And, if I decide to change my plans on a certain day, that's fine too. I want it to be very relaxed and not rushed.

Sharon and Pat, we must be related! We actually have an idea of all that we would like to see, but inevitably, we stray and do other things. The list of "must see and do" end up by the wayside many times. I was quite the adventurer pre RS. We would book a flight and then I would wait to land and then start thinking about a hotel. That was fine up to a point. I began thinking it would take less time to do the work here and we could start really being on vacation when we got to the hotel.

Enjoying your responses. I like the idea of having at least two 'must-sees' for the day. I am such a people watcher & want to do alot of that! I have my lodging secured & an idea of places I'd like to see. It is that 5 days inbetween that I'm toying with. I like the idea of knowing where I'll be staying, especially since I'll be on my own. I can give my husband an idea of where I'll be ..... "where in the world is Suzy?" The next challenge is going to be figuring out train routes.

When we travel we do a mixture. Will plan one major sight a day- or two if they are in close proximity, and then wing it from there. Usually have an idea of other sights in the neighbourhood, or possibly on the way back to our hotel. We tend to do a lot of ambling around in the area after seeing the sight. Something usually pops up that makes us spend more time than we had expected. Although I am a "planner', just cant imagine some of the tight schedules people sketch out. Much too exhausting and nerve wracking

"saw a post by a lady on another forum,, she actually had an entire day visit at the Louvre completely mapped out and scheduled to the 1/4 hour,, literally " see 18th century painting from 2-2:45 " etc,, it " We see that sometimes here. The letters "OCD" come to mind. I've always wondered what happens to these people when the inevitable obstacle throws off their time table? Personally, other than the hotel and transportation to and from, I wing it. I've learned that no matter how much I pre-read, no matter how many maps I study, I never really get the "feel" of how efficiently I can move around until I get to the location. And I always stumble upon something interesting that doesn't make it into any guide book. So, I usually pick one of two things I want to see, then add and subtract others as the day goes on. I rarely pick restaurants in advanced, unless there's a specific Michelin-starred establishment I've looking for.

I over-plan in terms of doing a lot of research about sights, restaurants, neighborhoods, etc in advance. But I don't use that to create a hard-and-fast itinerary. I just like knowing what is worth seeing in any area I might be in. The idea of hustling from one major sight to another without enjoying the particular area I'm in does not appeal to me. That said, I cannot imagine not having hotel/train reservations in advance (unless maybe I was just kicking it "locally" around SW Germany). Travel is too expensive to a) not get the best value for your money by booking in advance and b) wasting time trying to secure lodging/tickets once you're already on your trip.

One thing I find helpful is to make a list of first, second, and third priorities. I include location & hours open. Then if I'm looking for something else to do that day, it will jog my memory and I may visit that lower priority place. Or I may just forget about it completely because I've found something better. But you're talking about just showing up in a town, looking for a room, and figuring out what to do there, right? The same thing can happen that happens here-it may be wonderful or it may suck. If you're comfortable with that concept, go for it.

A couple years ago, we flew into Bordeaux and knew we needed to be in Rome in 10 days. We had no idea where we were going, and were armed only with our Eurail pass and a netbook w/ wifi. We ended up having a really lovely trip! One thing we discovered is that by using the computer to book hotels the day before, we got some really awesome last-minute deals. A couple times, we stayed in 200-euro-a-night rooms for less than 80 euro. Being internet savvy does help :) Also, be flexible and embrace change. We had intended to travel from Marseille to Via Reggio in one day, but couldn't get seats on our intended train due to the Cannes film festival. We ended up spending an unexpected night in Ventimiglia, Italy, near the French-Italian border. It happened to be the night that Inter-Milan won the Euro Cup, and we got to party in the streets all night long with the locals. It was an amazing night and one of our favorite memories!

I'm an overplanner, too! I can put together a 90-day trip in morning, afternoon and evening segments, with transportation and museum hours. I often ditch the plan once I get to a place, but at least I have the option of knowing what I'm missing. I also mix and match - keep to the plan for one day, let it go for the next. One memorable trip ended up with about half my time just walking around and sitting in piazze (not part of the plan). As a generalization, you can try to "do" Europe, or let Europe happen for you.

If you saw me in Europe, you might think I wing it. I don't go by a schedule and generally travel without reservations. I set my daily schedule based on how we feel. Is there something we really want to see or would we rather just have a relaxing day? Before a trip, however, I'd look like I'm planning things down to the second. I plan like crazy - read guide books, any available web information, read novels set in the country I'm visiting, pour over maps, use viamichelin to determine driving times, cram on the local language, check out public transportation schedules, seek out the latest advice and opinions on social media, etc. The reason I plan this way is I want to know my options. When I'm there, I may choose to skip something but it will be because I decide to skip it rather than having no idea the option exists. Years ago I visited Okinawa winging it. After I got home I found out there was a medieval "Shogun" castle that I could have visited. Had I known it was there, it would have been my top sight to visit. Since I didn't know, and will probably never visit Okinawa again, I'll never get to visit the sight. It's a mistake I hope not to repeat.

For Paris, I make a list of top choices, noting the days and hours they are open, then group them by area (arrondissements). I think of this list as a guideline, not a fixed itinerary. I will concentrate on indoor sights if the weather's not good, outdoors if it's a glorious day. I know I'll be back and that I'll never see everything anyway, so I just try to enjoy everything that I do see and not regret anything.

I agree that so much of the hotel/transportaion planning can be done before you leave home. Have a general idea of what you want to do each day but then be open to spontaneity and those learning opportunities that will inevitably come along and make your travelling exciting. But, always stop and have an afternoon cake and coffee!

I wing it, but you wouldn't know it from my preparation. I make a little cheat sheet for all the major cities. On one side I have a daily chart that shows what isn't open when, what's open late, and the few things that must be scheduled to be seen at all. Under that I have a list of top things that we want to see. Then there are lists of sights by topics and lists of day trips with travel times and costs estimated. On the back I have quick guides to each area in the city: sights with hrs and costs; connections on foot and by transport to other areas; walks in my guide book with page numbers; and where there are parks for picnicking. In some cities I detail the sights on a few key bus and metro routes too. We use the cheat sheet to decide what to do each day as we go. It save a much time flipping through the guide book when we could be seeing things. Making the sheets takes a lot of time. But it saves a lot of time while we are there.

I am way too much of a control freak to just wing it. I would rather not have to search a city for a place to stay when I arrive. I usually travel in the winter and have seen people be turned away because there was no vacancy. Could not imagine winging it in the summer. I find that planning ahead is a bit more financially securing as you can get good internet deals or deals for booking in advance. I love the planning portion of a trip any way. It is fun to me.

I am enjoying all of your responses. This isn't my 'first rodeo'. I grew up in Japan, and as an adult lived in Japan & Iceland. This is my first 'solo' trip;7 of my days will be with childhood friends & the rest on my own. I have places to stay except for the 5-betweeners. I have a general idea of where I'm going and figure I've a couple months to be alittle more definitive. Using the RS formula for train routes, costs, etc. to figure which rail tickets would be best. I've a list going, continually adding to, of various things I want to see & do. Have registered already for a cooking class in Paris. Thx for your feedback & ideas.

"Failing to plan is planning to fail." The above quote is sometime attributed to Churchill, sometimes to a time management guru, but actually goes way back. But I think it is so true. In my case, I'm not going to spend around a thousand dollars (or more) and stay up all night to get to Europe, then say, "now what do I do?" I already have a definite reason for going to Europe, things I want to see, and I put together an itinerary that gets me to as many of those places as possible. Four times I've spent a week in one place. For those times, I didn't have a day by day itinerary, but I did have an idea of what I wanted to see on different days. Occasionally, I have days with no plan but to just hang out. On the other hand, some days, when I am traveling from one venue to the next, I plan to leave on the first train after 9 AM and have a specific route laid out to get me expeditiously to the next venue. Sometimes I plan to stop in an intermediate town with a site I specifically want to see, but, in those cases, I have already researched the town, know what I want to see, and about how long to stop to see it. I think the time to exercise flexibility is in the planning phase, on the Internet, where you can easily change your plans. If you don't have plans when you arrive, you probably aren't going to see everything you could have seen, and you could miss something nearby because you never heard of it or don't have time in your schedule. For those of you with a job, try this. Tell your boss that this year you are not going to have any plans and objectives. You'll just sit at your desk and have the flexibility to work on anything you think of. Guaranteed, you'll soon have lots of time to travel.

Vacation is supposed to be a time to get away from work and do what you want. Therefore, I really think winging it, tightly planned, or somewhere in the middle is best chosen by the person taking the trip and not based on what other people think is best. On this board, it often seems to me that there are a lot of people with very strong opinions that what is best for them is best for everyone else. Before the internet, I used to always wing it. I'd fly somewhere with no reservations at all and a copy of Let's Go, Rick Steves 22 days book, some listings from Frommers, and a railpass. When I'd arrive in the town, I'd try calling some of the listings. If that didn't work, I'd head to the tourist office. I always found a place to stay, usually well within my budget. This approach was fun for the tremendous flexibility if offered. On some trips, I ended up visiting a place that I had not even thought about before the trip. The downside was that I did lose some time making arrangements for accommodations. Now with the internet, the fact that railpasses are no longer a bargain, and my limited number of vacation days, I fall somewhere in the middle. I book my lodging and my main transportation (long distance trains and planes) in advance. I do a lot of research about the places that I want to visit, but I don't have a strict schedule. I only plan those things that require advance reservations. For example, part of my next trip will be a week in Berlin. I've booked my flat, a visit to the Bundestag, and bought a ticket for the Berlin Philharmonic. I've got a list of things that I want to do and the opening hours (museums, zoo, Turkish market, walking tours, etc.) but no fixed schedule. I will work that out day-by-day after I get to Berlin.

If you saw me wandering around Europe you would know that I probably do not have a plan....I wing it a lot of the time, especially when I am traveling alone. I love landing somewhere and saying 'now what?' and being spontaneous and open to serendipity. However, I do think the older that I get the less appealing it is to try and figure out a hotel at the end of the day. So... to help answer your question as far as tips to 'winging it'... there is no answer. You are either the kind of person that will just jump in and do it and let the chips fall where they may, or you will make a plan. You really can't 'plan to be spontaneous' because then its a plan. Is it the excitement of the unknown that makes you want to travel this way?
I know I might miss something that other people think I should see, but its my trip and my memories and my experience, and that is how I look at it. Visiting another museum when I don't feel like it is a complete waste of my time. If I decide to spend hours wandering and people watching then that's what I do. I don't do a ton of research before I go... I like to have the surprises. (some trips when I take grandkids are not as spontaneous... I have hotels and transportation for part of the trip...but if we have a car parts of it are 'winging it' and they love the freedom of this as well...)