planning your own trip...

"...how you plan your trip.". Brittany, that is what travel guide books are for. For planning my trips to Europe, I read a travel guide book written by Rick Steves. For example: for planning my trip to Germany and Austria, the only information and knowledge and advice that I had was what I read in Rick Steves' travel guide book that included Germany and Austria. I went to only the places in Germany that Rick says are of highest priority for sightseeing. I had an enjoyable trip in Grmany. It could not have been any better if I had read more books written by other people. For my trip to England I went to the places that Rick said are of highest priority for sightseeing, plus I went to two more places that were not mentioned in Rick's book on Great Britain. I learned about those two places from a person who had been a resident in England most of her life. I LIKED all the places in England that I visited. (Continued in my next posting here)...

I have not used a travel agent in years, why pay for someone elses preference and opinion when I know what I like and can research it on the internet. OK, the family joke is that I spend more time planning a trip than time on the actual trip--but travel, even planning is an addiction.

Start with budget-How much can I spend and feel good about taking this trip with no guilt for overspending?

Next Calendar-How much time can I take off work, be gone from other commitments, what dates fit this?

Destination-where do I want to go and what would I like to see?

Map it out-what order seems efficient and logical for the places I want to go? Are there events that occur on specific dates so that you need a specific order?

Shop Airfares-what airports offer the best airfares? From Kamloops, you could use Vancouver or Calgary, Vancouver has lots of flights, but Calgary has some deals and charters. Don't forget about carriers like Martin Air, and try websites like Kayak.com Cont'd

Brittany,

I haven't used a travel agent in several years. The best place for you to start IMHO is by buying Rick's Europe Through the Back Door book. It gives a good overview of how to go about planning a trip including how to go about putting together an itinerary. He also gives you an overview of the "Best of Europe". You could also order his travel skills DVD - or try to catch it on PBS, but really almost all of the information you need is available on this website. If you go to the Graffitti wall and the Planning your trip - best destinations you will find the answers to most of your questions.

I'm planning my 3rd trip with the use of his books, and this website. Good Luck! Planning is half the fun!

...About booking flights : Different people have different preferences and approaches. I fly from the U.S.A. All of my flights from the U.S.A. to Europe and Britain were overnight flights. I chose a flight that would put me at my destination airport at the earliest possible time in the morning. I do not have enough sleep in the airplane at night (flying across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe). Therefore, when I arrive at the destination airport in Europe, I want to arrive early in the morning, and immediately go to a hotel to shower and sleep for one or two hours. That sleeping is at an early time in the day, it does not prevent me from being able to sleep that night. That is not what Rick Steves does, but it is the only satisfactory plan for me. I try to choose the lowest priced flight of any airline that will put me at my destination airport at 10:00 A.M. or earlier. I wish to arrive there at 8:00 A.M. or earlier. I buy airline tickets directly from an airline : internet or telephone.

Also-Try different days of the week, or use an airline site that has a matrix showing fare combinations on different days.

Now-Google the names of the places you want to go or see, look for the official websites, read, read, read. Go to the library, or the book store to browse, make notes.

Hotel-use your notes and the internet to find the rates for hotels you might consider. Look up rates and what is included.

Transportation-how will you travel, estimate costs and time using the web.

Budget Priorities-Estimate your costs based on the research above. Now whittle the list down to meet your budget and time constraint.

I always try to spend at least two nights at any location. Booking train tickets early may allow for cheap advanced purchase tickets, non-refundable, or will you have a railpass? Email the hotels etc, enquire as to availability and price, book when you are satisfied with place and price.

I use excel to organize and track plans and costs.

Good Luck, K

When I asked a good travel agent to find the lowest priced airline flight for me (for flying to a country in Europe), that price was more than $ 300. (U.S.) higher than a price that I found by talking with an airline's ticket agent on the telephone. I have absolutely NO USE for professional travel agents. Travel agents want to sell a "vacation package". That is not a good value for me, and I do not want their "vacation package". I purchased a rail pass for Europe from Rick Steves (at this website): his price for the Rail pass was $ 10. lower than the price I would pay to a local travel agent. And Rick's business gave me extra stuff, like his travel map of Europe, and a discount for buying any of his travel accessories, and free consultation on the telephone if I wanted it. Some of the people who give replies at this website (Traveler's Helpline) are great travel consultants, for free (no fee). A good trip to Europe is a trip that is well planned, or prepared for.

I have only used a travel agency for visiting one European destination- Russia. There's just too much hidden red tape for an independent traveler to negotiate.

Although Rick's books provide fantastic insight and accomodation recommendations, one weakness is that his guidebooks only discuss certain well-known destinations, but leave large areas of many countries uncovered. I usually supplement my research with Lonely Planet. They usually don't know a given destination nearly as well as Rick, but they cover more areas.

1) decide where you want to go and how much you have to spend.

2) Ask yourself what kind of trip you want? Leisurely where you cover less ground but go more in depth or quick where you see as many places as possible? what kind of accomodations do you prefer?

3) Start doing your research. Books are great and a lot of info is available on the web. Boards like this are also terrific. You can get information on things to see, places to stay, and opinions on everything. Just realize on boards you get a broad range of people. Here, I've found those who wouldn't dare do anything different than what Rick Steves tell them to do (If he says start off on your left foot, they insist the only way to do it is to start off on your left foot) and others who use him as a one of many resources. (And he is a good resource.)

4) Find out which airlines fly to where you want to go and use their websites to find fares.

Many of the questions you ask are subjective and depend on what you prefer

I like the planning as much as the trip, but I may take it too far. Though I booked my own flight, I did check with a travel agent to see if the fares I was finding were in the ball park. My options out of Detroit were limited but I took an overnight flight getting me into London about 10:00 am. I used Rick's book, and some others, to ID sights. I made a little card on each sight I wanted to see, what train line it was on, how long it took to get there and to see, how much it cost, and the page of the book it was on. When I got all these cards... way to many to actually see, my daughter and I organized and prioritized them eliminating those that didn't pass muster. We organized the flow so we wouldn't waste any time backtracking. As it turned out, though I looked at several travel books, we plan to see most of what Rick recommended. And we selected one of his recommended B&Bs. It's close to transportation, meets our budget and online reviews have been great. Have fun!

brittany, I use a combination of Guidebooks (mostly Rick's), Internet and suggestions from other people to plan trips. My trips are usually self-guided or a combination of self-guided and organized tours (which is what I did last fall - England on my own & a RS tour of Ireland).

I DO use a Travel Agent for booking intercontinental flights, car rental and travel (medical)insurance. I have a very good TA, and she's found some great deals that I missed. I usually book regional flights on my own. Occasionally I use the TA to book the first lodgings, and book the others on my own via the net.

To answer your other questions:

• I use Rick's books mostly to choose lodgings, based on location, facilities & price. I use a combination of B&B's, budget Hotels & Hostels.

• Length of stay is determined by what I want to see & do in a particular location. Larger cities (London,etc.) require more time, as there's more to see (usually minimum 5 days).

• Not sure what you mean by "What references do you use"?

continued...

britanny, continued....

• Regarding airlines I normally use charters (Air Transat, Zoom) and almost always open-jaw flights. I look for a direct flight if possible into a major "hub" airport which is close to the first city I want to visit, preferably arriving in the morning. I get the Travel Agent to book those flights (even Rick recommends using a TA for flights, etc.). Here in B.C., flights booked through a TA are insured,so that's one other benefit (remember the Canada 3000 fiasco?)

• I try to book lodgings and flights as soon as I have the plans worked out (about six months before departure). Booking flights isn't usually a problem, but now that more people are traveling, I've found that even with a 6-month lead some of the lodgings I've chosen are fully booked, even in the "shoulder season". On recent trips, I've had to take "2nd choice) in London, Paris & Rome. In smaller cities, this is less of a problem.

Good luck with your planning!

brittany, some final comments.....

I've found that it's a LOT more work to plan self-guided trips, but planning well usually avoids major problems (emphasis on "usually"). There are pros & cons for both travel methods, but I found last fall that a combination of the two was fantastic!

The most significant benefit I find with self-guided trips is that I can see what interests me the most, and keep my own schedule. I often find that I exceed the time I had allotted for some sites. A good example was touring HMS Belfast and the Tate Modern in London a few months ago. I had planned to only spend about 2-3 hours at each, but spent considerably more time than planned. The day I visited HMS Belfast there was a "Festival" or something on the south bank, and I decided to stay and watch.

BTW, have you read "Europe Through The Back Door" yet?

My time line for annual family Europe trips - i.e. must be during the summer and has 4-6 people so "don't book ahead, go with the flow" does not work - is as follows:

January-decide on possible over all trip (England, Germany/Austria, Southern Italy). We book FF upgrade seats so the next step is to see which airports will accomodate all of us with upgrades. We've actually changed plans based on better availability - our "France" trip ended with a flight out of Barcelona because of availability. This meant that we skipped the Alsace region and did Languedoc instead so we could continue the drive to Barcelona.

Feb-start playing around with websites - viamichelin.com for driving times - and guidebooks - Rick's, Fodors, Insight to figure out what there is to see between our arrival and destination cities and how long it will take to get there. Use karenbrown.com and Rick for accomodations. Book big cities and also cute small places that might fill up.

Continued

Continuing -
April/May - By this time I've looked at the graffiti wall, asked questions and might have changed my mind about itinerary. Make any changes to accomodations, decide if there will be special things (Ufizzi tour, theatre tickets, etc.) that might require advance reservations and do this.

Otherwise as far as planning my thought is I know that there will be LOTS to see in Rome - more than I could do in a few days. The week before departure I'll poll the family to get an idea of what to do our first day. After that we make plans at dinner for the following day. I bring torn out pages of Rick and Fodors (Insight is pretty but too heavy)to help us as well as asking advice of other travelers, B&B owners, etc.- this is how we ended up taking surf lessons in Cornwall!

I always plan on returning so I don't feel like I MUST see everything. We've been to London 3 times now and I still need to go back to see what I've "missed", but then again, I'm really looking forward to that!

I follow Rick Steves advice and use a travel agent for plane tickets and car rental.I always check airline and car rental websites to see what is available.I have found that my agent can get me a better deal thru consolidators.I have had no experience where they tried to sell me a vacation package.

Never used a travel agent and enjoy planning my own trips. Being retired helps because it can be time consuming. I use several guide books and take Rick Steves book on the trip. Also, I have watched all of his TV shows as well as Rudy Maxa's. I visit the Trip Advisor site daily along with this site.
In the past we have limited our prebooking of B&B's and hotels but this past year we booked ahead for two of the three weeks with places found during research on my own, here, Trip Advisor or Rick's books. One year we only booked the first two nights of a 17 day trip and winged it from there but we had a car and that makes it easier to find places to stay.
Booking flights can require some research so try on your own and with a travel agent. Listen for specials and be flexible on your dates. Buld up your flyer miles and accumulate enough tickets for a future trip. One of the best tips is to pack light. You can make it with only carry on luggage. You will be glad you did. Best of luck.

When you have planned for the places you want to go you can plan local tours that fit your interest. If you plan to go to Rome for example and wish to do the Scavi tour of St. Peters you will need to book that well in advance because of the limited number of people allowed on each tour. Also, if you do a tour to see David in Florence you can avoid long lines by booking ahead as well as the tour of Doge's Palace in Venice.

Planning the trip yourself is a most rewarding experience and you will learn so much from doing so.
By the way did I mention to Pack light. :)

I start by reading tons and tons of books. There's a public library in the city next door with a particularly good travel section, and I cast my net very wide, looking for ideas, inspiration, angles, tips, and off-the-beaten-track gems. For this purpose the books do not need to be super up to date.

This helps me to discover both what there is to see and what I like. (The second of these can be very personal. It astonishes me when people come to this list and say, I'm going to Europe! um...what should I see?)

This is the foundation for planning, which gets more specific and is iterative. I end up with a list of things to do much longer than my trip. A little frustrating, but consequently I have a good idea of what I'd forgo by dropping a day in Paris and adding a day in Rome (for example). That helps me answer the "how much time" question.

For later phases of planning, up-to-date spanking-new guidebooks are a must, as I fine tune and hone things down. Bon voyage!

Hey brittany, kevin has good advice.
I have been planning a solo trip myself. I first laid out how much time I had and where I wanted to go, and how much of a bbudget I wanted to aim for.
After that, I booked my flight through STA, and looked on hostelworld through some decent places to stay. I booked my hostels already for my trip in may.
I think that using the travel agent was good and was actually cheaper than booking online and they can give you advice. The sooner you book, the better it will be pricewise. I will be flying in europe as well and will buy my tickets next months to get cheapest rate. With hostels, it doesn't matter as they have their prices listed, but if you are on a budget and want somewhere good, I'd book soon after your flight.

I don't use a travel agent. When I did I found I knew more about my "off-the-beaten-path" destinations than they did. They became a purchasing agent for the research I'd already done.

The best tip is plan for travel time. 14 days in Europe sounds like a lot until you include getting out of your hotel/hostel/pension, getting to the station, catching a 10am train that arrives at 1pm then storing your bags, eating, exploring and checking in to a hotel/hostel/pension for the evening. What seemed like a day of touring a city turns into several hours max.

The more distance you cover, the more you lose to travel time - so plan a trip that makes sense geographically. Unless you are planning an overnight train, don't take six-eight hour train trips that absorb an entire day. By keeping your distances and travel times short, you have time to actually see and enjoy things.

Gotta do some homework; start here? 1)Read Rick's books Europe Through the Back Door and Best of Europe (assuming that's where you're going). 2)Check Rick's "Tours 2008" have a look at his timetables, itineraries. That'll give you a feel for places, distances,etc. 3)Comb Rick's website (especially the Graffiti Wall/Travelers' Helpline for ideas/advice. 4)Decide how long your trip will be. You'll notice on R's tours he stops 2 nights at most spots; the 1-nighters tend to be uninteresting places but where it's a reasonable distance driven for the bus-driver that day; the 2-night stops will not give you enough time to really get a feel for the place or see the sights (eg:Paris, Rome, London, Etc.). 5)Most Europe trips are best done flying into one city, out of another (difficult with charter flights) but cuts out backtracking. I wouldn't think of using a travel agent, you can do this on your own and enjoy it more. Between R's site/books/Trip Advisor you can sort it out and have more fun.

Brittany, go to your local library's travel section. You will be able to research your trip from a variety of travel book publishers, including RS. Dorsey

My very first time out of the country 12 years ago I used a tour. Since then I have discovered that for me, I way prefer not to bounce around like a rubber ball, but see a smaller geographic area very thoroughly. This year is my first time just going all the way and renting apartments instead of rooms, but I haven't used an agent for anything since that first tour. Whoever said earlier about why give someone else who doesn't know my interests or taste control over my trip makes good sense to me.

Some addtions:

You can check out hotel reviews at tripadvisor.com, travel.yahoo.com, expedia.com

Once you know where you're going, write to the tourist boards of those countries/cities. Many will have offices in Canada if not the U.S.(And those offices all have websites.) Tell them what you want to do and they'll send you tons of free stuff. Their job is to promote tourism.

Make sure the guidebooks you use are recent ones. It's no good to try to get an idea of food costs from a guidebook written in the 1990's.

Get a good map and understand the distances between places you want to visit and then find out how long it will take to get there. And remember, if flying between cities, leave at least 2 hours prior to the flight for check in and security as well as travel time to the airport.

Don't backtrack. Try to keep moving in the same direction.

Get tour brochures and see where they go and what they visit. (Not just Ricks's). You'll get an idea of the must-sees.

Brittany,, Zoom air is easy to book yourself, I have used it at least 6 or 7 times , and never had a problem using the online site. I used to use Air Canada until I figured out that I can fly in an upgraded economy seat for only a little bit more then regular economy on Air Canada. I always check prices on other major airlines that fly out of Vancouver, but Zoom is always cheaper.

I went to a travel agent for the first time in many years , about 3 years ago. I wanted a quote for the Eurostar as I was not familar with it,, and she quoted me a price 200 hundred dollars more then what I had seen online.
I booked online, on the Eurostar site, picked up tickets at the station in London. No problems.

I like many people on this board really enjoy the planning and researching aspect of my travels.
I like Rick Steves books, but, I read many others as well, I never take any one opinion on anything, good or bad same with hotel reviews, I always look for the general concensus.

I get a map and trace my route( I am surprised how many people do not do this and then seem to back track and go willy nilly all over the place.
I pick one major place per every 4 or 5 days, I may spend more time in one place then another , for instance a week in Paris but only two days in Zermatt, but I never plan on moving too often, it costs money .

A note on pre-trip homework:

Start at the Library. Check out multiple travel guides. While I tend to like Rick's approach, I don't limit myself to his recommendations. I meet many people following Rick's guide to the letter, they might as well be on a tour.

I buy a small spiral bound notepad. For each destination I have "must sees", "great sites", and "good to do if I have time". I add phone numbers and details of several lodging choices. It also has my transportation info. I leave enough blank space to add info I get from interacting with locals and fellow travellers. Good shows, festivals, hotels, etc.

Food is from a grocery store or recommendation from a local rather than year old guidebook info.

I adjust my schedule as I travel. Some places I visit must sees and leave (Amsterdam), others I stay longer and add things that weren't in my notebook (Bonn/Verona/Killarney). Base this on your preferences.

As I write my travel journal, I dispose of my used notebook pages.

I do bring at least one current travel guide for reference when I travel. I decide which guide(s) to bring based on what I want to see.