After helping people with several trips, I’ve decided to give a little incite into how I create those special itineraries. It can be daunting going to a new place and people can often find it overwhelming on where to start. It’s not challenging once you get started and have a plan in place. I have logged out 7 steps to take when creating that perfect trip itinerary for those that are having a tough time knowing how to get started. 

1. Research top things to do within the area you are traveling. Try to review 5-10 websites and write down everything that looks interesting. It’s early so list everything, later on you can narrow this list down with realistic expectations.

2. Next review the amount of time you need to spend at each attraction to get the most out of it for you. Remember, it doesn’t mean the minimum amount of time to quickly see something, think about you. How long will you actually want to stay here to get the most out of it? This matters more than just visiting just to check it off a list. Once you determine this, write down the times that it’s open during the day next to it. Is it only open Sunday through Saturday? It’s important to note this because some attractions will have to be assigned right away to a certain day of your trip. If it’s important, than you have to make sure that you’re mapping it out on the right day.

3. Next it’s important to build your itinerary around what matters most to you and the amount of time you will be traveling. If you have three days somewhere, you can’t expect to see everything. So what are the top must do’s that you just have to see. This is important for the next step because once you build off of these top see attractions, you can then fill in with items that might be close by. I have many examples from my itinerary and top things to see from each place I’ve visited so look at these if you need a little help.

4. Travel time is something most people don’t take into consideration. If you have to take train, take a bus, or drive, it’s important to know how you will be traveling from point A to point B.

5. Finally take a map of these places and map out the trip based on the days the attractions are open. Look at your list of attractions that you wanted to see to begin with, are there places close by your top sights that you can add in for the day?

6. Don’t overwhelm yourself with every detail because things don’t always work out. Sometimes weather doesn’t work for us, so do you have some down time on some days to adjust if you miss something that you really want to see? Are you giving yourself time to eat and relax in between? I try to plan a couple of top places to eat but then I also take into consideration that some of the best places we have ate, are spontaneous and next to an attraction we just came from. You never know what amazing place comes up while you’re there!

7. That’s it, take a look at your itinerary and make sure that everything fits. It can actually be a lot of fun planning this out and having a strategy in place before heading out. Do your itinerary a month or so in advance in case you get recommendations on things along the way or your flavor of the trip changes. Enjoy! It shouldn’t be work, so take your time and get ready for the fun part…the experience and reaping the rewards of your plan!