Plan vs. wing it- what do you do?

Hi Susan & Monte,

... we plan each day, but we make hotel reservations in only the first and last places. That way, if we want to change our plan, reservations don't get in the way. Sometimes a day more is needed; often, a day less. It is possible to study the history and attractions of each place in advance (and we do), but there's no harm in seeking advice of people once there... Someone in China once said, "failing to plan is planning to fail". That could be ... Have a happy trip. P

We do a mix. We usually make a list of things we want to do and then try to do them but are open to diversions as they occur.

We previously spent two weeks in Germany, did a quick bus tour of Paris and spent a week in Gimmelwald. So, this will be our first trip on our own and with our own planning.

I'm a planner, my husband is not. He is afraid I'll have an hour by hour schedule to follow, and I'm afraid if we do it his way, we will miss important sites.

I have a list of "must sees" and a budget, and I HOPE I'm able to relax and let it happen beyond that!

I do a mix as well, but usually on the first 3-4 days. This because sometimes I feel like not going someplaces I already planned.
However I kind of plan how many days I would like to stay in each city regardless the country, so I know how many days I have left.
I changed my plans once in Paris. I booked a hotel for 7 nights but I only needed 5 days to see what I wanted. I think I was to do Paris in 5 days because I decided to see Louvre after 5PM and did it in less than 3 hours vs 5 or 6 I did it first time when I was in Paris.
I also love to discover new places. I rented a car in 2002 and drove from Amsterdan to South of France and topped in afew cities that I thought looked cool. That's how I discovred a city in France called Grimaud, which as today is the most beutiful city I've even been to.
If I travel for longer time I only book rooms on the first city I go to.

Traveling during high season with a family of 4, I have found it better to NOT be spontaneous about lodging. I book all our hotels, and therefore the number of days in each city, ahead of time. The rest of it, what we will do each day is pretty much decided upon when we are there. Since we are always flying into large cities I know there will be lots to see and do. We might make a tentative plan for getting off the plane and doing something easy like a hop on/off bus tour, but generally we know if we head to the center of town with our guidebook there will be things we want to see. After that we plan either at dinner or breakfast for the day ahead of us. We often take recommendations from fellow travelers (especially in the smaller B&B's) and end up doing something we would never have planned for - surfing lessons, visiting a smaller castle, driving via a different road. We don't see always see everything the first time but have enjoyed going back to see what we missed!

I don't plan each day.

I start by cutting a swath through Europe, flying open jaw to one city and home from another. I try to keep the trip somewhat concentrated to avoid extensive travel time during the vacation. One example might be a month-long loop of Spain and Portugal (possibly throw in some Southern France if it seems like there is time). Another might be Germany, Austria, Northern Italy. Others are the British Isles or France and the Low Countries.

I research like crazy to find anything I might want to see in the area I'm visiting. I prioritize the sites into must sees, want to see, or option if I have time.

I get an idea of time in each place to see a decent selection of sites then build a rough itenerary.

It stays rough for the entire trip. I may stay an extra day to add something worthwhile or leave early for the next stop if I'm ready. I listen to local recommendations.

I travel without many reservations and just call ahead to the next town in the morning.

It depends on your situation (high or low season, your adaptability) My preference is to know what the city has to offer via guidebooks, blogs like this one, etc. then don't get tied to it. Pro's of spontaneity are finding great places (eat, stay and see) that you would never find on a fixed itenerary, The ability to avoid crowds. E.g., a crowded village clears out and is your own after 5PM. Spend time in what gets you intrigued (Melk was a great example of this for me.) Cons are uncertainty of lodging (esp in high season), wasted energy in managing a less planned itenerary (phone calls, E-mails to plan as you go). These can be mitigated. Planning doesn't remove sponteneity.

We do both. That is, we plan like mad and then (often) do not follow the plan.

Planning means we know generally what the choices are and what we really want to do. When we arrive we can make changes with the full knowledge of what we are getting and what we are giving up. So for us planning helps the serendipity to happen.

This may be too much planning for some but the worst thing, in my opinion, is to arrive with the attitude that you want to see everything and without having wrestled with the inevitable trade-offs. Those people will discover what they like (and don't) after they've done it, which might be fun but at $1.50 per euro plus airfare an expensive lesson.

I echo the remarks of poster Karen. It's not as easy to be spontaneous if you have children, so whether or not you are traveling with children makes a big difference in how your question is answered. Lodging is much more limiting for more than two people. I always ensure the lodging, rental car, and flights to and fro are booked well in advance. We loosely schedule the things to see, but experience has shown we can't get too locked in to some kind of a schedule because the coolest stuff we do is unplanned. If you want to spend half a day exploring a neat little town you've happened upon, it's best to go with your gut and do that rather than adhere to a somewhat rigid tourist itinerary. Those itineraries often turn out to be wishful thinking in the event anyway.

I do some of both. In 12 weeks in Germany this century, five weeks (one week at a time) have been where I went to one place, with a lot of things to do, but no day by day plan of what to do each day.

Most of the other times have been stay one place for a couple of days, see everything there, then move on to the next place. For those trips I make detailed plans in advance, including accommodations, train schedules, sights, etc. For a "continually on the go" kind of trip, that is the only way to assure you will get to see everything.

The one thing I hardly ever leave to chance are the accommodations. I find them on the web in advance and make reservations. That way I always have the most economical, conveniently located, places and don't waste time looking.

I am 80, my daughter 50 and we went to paris amsterdan florence and tuscany in april. I spent hours studying rick's books, asking questions, especially the helpline. my main goal was the art and the flavor of the people. hotel reservations in paris were based on location since i felt accessability to the museums was paramount. we chose reu cler area. some sights as well as museums were in the area and others could be reached easily on public transportation. we found good fairly inexpensive restaurants and even a jazz club in walking distance. We stayed @ hotel eber mars. It is definately important to have a museum pass. watch what you receive when ordering on line -- my daughter ordered and paid for 2 passes. they sent only one. so she had to buy another. The hotel enza in florence was great. florence food - not so good --we found the best in corner shops. museum reservations are a must. we wanted to see tuscany and found a wonderful day trip "the best of tuccany" fran

This will be our first trip to Europe but have traveled a lot in the US. We find that our best times are when we have booked the room for the night. I like to know what the prices are I do tons of research on the internet guide books etc. I have always been very happy with my selections and felt like I got the best deal I could. When I wing it on rooms I always wonder what I could have got. I look into what I can do wherever we go and then when we travel we do what we want with no real plans.

This is my first trip to Europe as the primary planner (i.e. without my parents), however, I have also done a lot of travel in the US.

I am a researcher and planner. I book rooms ahead of time, so I can research, compare, map, and check reviews (guide books and review sites). I like having a couple of must-do's per day and know what order they should be in. I find that if I don't do some planning, we spend a lot of time doing research on the fly, spinning wheels, and back-tracking. I don't want to waste valuable vacation time crossing town for the 6th time, because I didn't know that site A was closer to site C than to site B.

My mom is a huge planner, and we always had a game plan. She found a lot of things ahead of time that we never would have found on our own. I think pre-planning (allowing for flexibility and putting in huge time buffers) allows you to relax more on vacation.

Like Karen we are a family of 4 and feel much more comfortable if accommodation is booked ahead. Driving till midnight to find a bed with your kids in the backseat of the car is NOT a fun and spontanous vacation!

Planning activities ahead of time for us means we read our guidebooks and have a list of things to do in each place. Once we get there we let the mood of the day decide which of the things on the list gets done. NEVER do we get everything done on the list, the idea is to know our choices and not end up on the last day realizing that we didn't get to see THE site we should have seen.

I agree that it is easier to be spontaneous by yourself. The more people traveling together the tougher it gets, but it's not impossible.

I have traveled with my spouse and three children without making lodging reservations ahead of time.

I've never tried it in high season and not sure if I would want to try. If I did, I would stay off the beaten path as much as possible.

I try hard to know everything to see in a place I'll be visiting. I know I won't see everything but at least I can choose based on my priorities. IMO the worst thing that can happen is to come home and find out you missed something great because you didn't realize it was there.

This is why you have to use more than Rick's suggestions. His suggestions are good but they are kind of a greatest hits approach. Many outstanding sites are completely skipped by Rick because they aren't as big of tourist spot or transport to the site is difficult. No one besides you really knows your interests and preferences.

I plan the where-we-go/where-we-stay part very much in advance and make all the reservations. Then my husband is tasked with a daily outline of what-we-do-today. It helps to group things in the same areas and keeps us from forgetting something. Of course, we are flexible and add & subtract things as we go along. We tried the spontaneous last year, and didn't get nearly as much accomplished. This year we felt like we really got our money's worth out of our trip because of all our planning. Flexibility is the key!