A well-planned travel itinerary is the basis of any independent trip! Your expenses, your comfort, and your impressions depend on how well you plan your independent travel route. It doesn’t matter where you are going - to one country or several at once... For a European vacation, for Asian exotica or from the capital to the village to visit your grandmother... The main thing is to know where to start and take into account all the important nuances. If you have good travel route- the trip will be successful!
In this article we will not touch on autotrip (travel by car) - this is a big topic for a separate article with its own subtleties and nuances...
So, where to start planning a travel itinerary?
To begin with, do not get hung up and do not consider it a law that must be strictly followed. Nothing good will come of it if you plan your trip too carefully, scheduling every kilometer and every minute of the trip... Why?
Firstly, you will never be able to follow an overly planned route. This is impossible!
Travel is like marriage. The main misconception is to think that you have everything under control... John Steinbeck
Your route will probably change several times during the process of drawing it up, and with a high degree of probability - during the journey. And this is good!
Secondly, You will not enjoy such a planned trip. After all, you must admit, it’s not very exciting to have sex strictly on Tuesday at 23:00 and on Saturday exactly at 15:00... In travel, as in sex, there should be a share of spontaneity, fantasy and impromptu! Only then will you enjoy it.
But you still have to plan the main stages and take into account important nuances...
Good travel route. Stages of compilation
Timelines, target dates and budget.
Decide when and for how long you want to travel and how much are you willing to spend on it? And remember - you can travel for almost any money!
Our experience: We spent absolutely identical amounts in ruble equivalent on two completely different trips (including air tickets, transport, hotels and food... 10 days "honeymoon" in the Maldives(with one round trip) in 2008 and almost 3 months in Asia with two children via Hong Kong, Philippines (Manila and Mindoro), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi), Thailand (Ao Nang, Krabi) and Istanbul (6 flights, ferry, buses, etc.) in 2014. Both of these trips, made 6 years apart, cost us about 150 thousand rubles. Accordingly, the first trip cost 15,000 rubles per day for two, the second - almost 10 times cheaper for four!!!
The longer the trip, the cheaper it will cost per day.
Destination.
Decide where you want to go? What are you dreaming about? Travel all over Europe or visit all the sights of Paris? Explore all of Southeast Asia or spend a week in Tibet? Enjoy the beaches of the Caribbean islands or the cities of the Golden Ring of Russia? Whatever your dream is, it is your dream and it is achievable!
Open the World Map and the Internet. At this stage, you will already have a preliminary travel itinerary. You will decide on the country/countries and cities.
Be sure to check the Internet for the climate and weather in the region for the selected dates, so as not to fall into the “rainy season” and not hide in the hotel building from a tropical downpour or hurricane.
Visas.
For most Asian countries, a visa does not need to be issued in advance - it is issued automatically upon arrival, on average, for a period of two weeks to a month. But most European countries will require a “Schengen visa”.
In any case, before traveling, be sure to find out the current visa requirements of the countries you are interested in. The most reliable way to do this is on the websites of consulates and official visa centers.
When traveling to Europe, choose as the country of first entry or longest stay those countries for which it is easier to apply for and obtain a Schengen visa. For example: Finland, Czech Republic, Spain...
How to get there?
There are many ways to travel! By car or hitchhiking, by bus or train, and of course by plane... The plane is the most popular option. And, when searching for air tickets to a destination, the traveler will be greatly helped by Aviasales- a search aggregator site that will find you the cheapest air tickets around the World! Moreover, absolutely for free!
Look for tickets in advance. When searching for air tickets, try changing the dates, cities and airports of departure and arrival. Use "Low Price Calendar" And "Low Price Card". Tickets purchased several months in advance, departing midweek and arriving at a nearby airport, may be much cheaper!
You can read more about all the nuances of purchasing air tickets in a separate article: How to buy cheap air tickets?
Sometimes, when visiting several countries, it makes sense to look directly at the websites of low-cost airlines in search of promotions... There are many inexpensive low-cost airlines in both Europe and Asia. And a plane ticket to a neighboring country can often be purchased for literally 10 euros!
When moving around the country or to neighboring countries of one region, do not forget about other transport besides airplanes... In Europe, high-speed rail transport is very developed (for example, TGV trains). And in Asia you can get anywhere very cheaply on buses and ferries.
We had a great, quick and inexpensive trip from Amsterdam to Paris in Europe. And in Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines) they used ferries and buses more than once - to get from Manila to the island of Mindoro, to get from Bangkok to Pattaya or to the island of Koh Chang, to get from the island of Langkawi to Thailand to Krabi and Ao Nang. .. But initially, getting to your main destination is faster and more convenient by plane...
At these stages, your travel route will most likely be adjusted. It will be affected by ticket prices, flight dates, and possibly visa requirements.
Our experience: When we were going to Thailand(Bangkok, Pattaya, Koh Chang island) and picked up Emirates airline tickets with a transfer in Dubai, we learned about the airline’s service called "Stop in Dubai" (Dubai Stopover). As part of this Emirates service, you can get a short-term UAE visa, hotel and transfer at a very good discount. Accordingly, we decided to use the Dubai Stopover service and on our way back from Thailand we spent one unforgettable day in Dubai .
Our experience: When we were planning a trip to Amsterdam and Paris, we found out that it is very cheap to fly to Amsterdam from Helsinki, and it turned out to be much easier to obtain a Finnish visa than a French one... And air tickets from Paris to Moscow turned out to be much cheaper not directly, but through Berlin... As a result, we also visited Helsinki and Berlin.
Attractions.
Where do you want to go, where to go and what to see? This is the most interesting and exciting stage of planning a travel itinerary. When planning, you will already learn a lot about the culture and history of the country, its cuisine, nature, beautiful places and attractions... And anticipation, as you know, increases your appetite even more...
At this stage, it is very important not only to choose places and attractions, but to find out how they work, how much it costs to visit and how to get to them! Yes, and don’t chase all the attractions or the most popular ones... Choose those attractions that are most interesting to you. And when drawing up a route for visiting them, try to mark the attractions on the map and move towards them sequentially, rather than rushing back and forth from one corner of the city or country to another.
Our experience: We planned three days in Paris during our trip to Europe as follows: one day for one half of the city, the second day for the second half, and the third for Disneyland in the suburbs of Paris. As a result, of course, we wore out our heels, but without rushing anywhere we saw absolutely everything we wanted, missing only one single attraction from the planned ones.
When planning your trip, be sure to check the holidays in the country you are visiting. An unexpected event can radically break all the plans of even an experienced traveler... A major Catholic, Muslim or Buddhist holiday can result in both interesting festive events and a completely “extinct” infrastructure with closed shopping centers, shops, banks, exchange offices, restaurants and even pharmacies!
Our experience: Twice, completely unexpectedly for us, we found ourselves in such a situation in Warsaw - on the Catholic holiday of the Three Kings and on the eve of Easter... The other side of the coin was that shopping was completely ruined due to closed shopping centers, the inability to have a meal in a restaurant and even exchange money...
Choosing a hotel.
You can, of course, stay in another country not only in a hotel... It can be free couchsurfing, an apartment on airbnb, or renting a house... But the cheapest, most reliable and convenient way, in our opinion, is to book a hotel on search engine sites Hotellook or RoomGuru . Just enter your request into the search form and get the best hotel deals...
Public transport.
How to get around the city/country/countries? Be sure to search the Internet for information in advance! Otherwise, already being in another country, you will not know anything: neither how to get there, nor where to buy tickets, nor how much they should cost, nor ways to save...
Now your travel itinerary is becoming something whole and complete... It's time to move on to taking out insurance...
Insurance.
Insurance is probably the least expensive, but the most significant component of any trip. Some 10 dollars spent on insurance can save you tens of thousands of dollars spent on medical care, save your nerves, time, health and even life!
When searching for any information on the Internet, use only reliable sources. These are the official websites of the ministries of tourism and the websites of consulates of different countries of the world. These are travel blogs of travelers with reports on real trips, Wikipedia, some forums (for example, Vinsky's forum) or good travel portals. Beware of many forums and some even large portals (not to mention small sites), where the same unreliable and irrelevant copywriting information is often reprinted from authors who have never been anywhere...
Check out our page with secret information for travelers. There you will find links to the best and most useful services for travelers, discounts and great deals...
You can also use our new section Sales, where you can find great deals on flights, hotels and insurance and put them together...
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Experienced travelers are convinced that traveling does not require a lot of money. The desire to travel and the ability to search for information are enough.
website summarized tips from travel bloggers that will allow you to see the world at minimal cost. At the end of the article you will find a bonus in the form of useful information for every tourist. And may you have more travels in the near future!
11. Travel on your own
Traveling on your own, rather than through travel agencies, is both more profitable and interesting. Yes, you will be solely responsible for any problems. But travel agencies decide little in such cases, preferring to blame the airline, force majeure, the host party, and the like.
On your own, you can plan “that very” dream route, choose a cheap flight option, book the best-priced hotel with a location convenient for you, and select a transfer.
4. Rent out your own home while you travel or go on an “exchange vacation”
An exchange holiday is an opportunity for free accommodation while traveling, and maybe even a chance, like the characters in the film, to meet your love.
2. Don't buy what you can get for free.
- WiFi. When booking your accommodation, immediately choose an apartment or hotel with free Wi-Fi. During the day, use free Wi-Fi in restaurants and cafes, gas stations and shopping centers.
- Area maps. Free cards are available at counters in many hotels, apartments and hostels. The map can also be obtained from the tourist information office. As a rule, they are located in the city center or near the main attractions. Download electronic city maps and a guidebook to your phone in advance.
Water. In Europe you can drink tap water everywhere. Drinking fountains are installed in many cities, and you can safely drink from them. To check, you can look at
Developing a travel route is no less exciting than the journey itself. Here, in our deep conviction, it is very important to maintain a balance. On the one hand, plan your time in an unfamiliar country with maximum benefit for yourself. On the other hand, do not “overheat” yourself with information and leave room for your own discoveries.
To begin with, let's define the terminology. The travel itinerary in this article implies a basic travel plan - the places we want to visit and the logistics of the trip (i.e. the order of visiting places and the method of travel), as well as the number of days in each of the places.
Travel route. Stage one: travel frame
The framework of the future trip is the first major decisions of the traveler, which determine further efforts to prepare the trip. First of all, this is the choice of a country (or countries), the choice of travel format, determining the number of days on the trip and determining the budget. Moreover, all these decisions are closely interconnected.
Selecting a country and travel format
Where to go is a rhetorical question) Your own tastes and preferences, as well as blogs, photos, videos about travel and social networks will help you decide on the direction and format of your future trip.
Tastes and preferences largely determine the format of a future trip - some want to spend their next vacation blissfully on the beach, others rave about wild safaris and conquering mountain peaks, and still others want to simply put a backpack on their shoulders and spend a couple of weeks or months wandering around remote corners of the world.
Stage two: route development
So, you have found time, money, travel companions and are actually starting to plan the route. As a result, you should get a list of places in a certain order, as well as a scheduled number of days for each place and a route map. The easiest way is not to reinvent the wheel and choose your own.
If you don't find something you like, proceed in the following order.
Travel Destinations
First of all, read reviews of regions and destinations in and decide on the destinations you want to visit (fix the desired destinations with a list in no particular order). Make an online folder on Pinterest along the current route and save all useful links. It's also a good idea to do your first card draft (use Google maps) and also save it to your bookmarks.
Number of days and general travel logistics
Find out in more detail about each of the destinations in the created list. What to do and how to get there are the main questions, the answers to which will help you create your first route draft. At this stage, you may have to abandon some directions.
Determine the number of days for each direction. Build the general logistics of the trip (from where, where, for how long, for how much money). At the same time, understanding that you can get from point A to point B by bus in so many hours is absolutely enough to plan your travel route.
Don't waste time and energy on detailed planning of every day and stay in every place. You don’t need to scour the Internet searching for exact information on what corner the bus you need stops at, which direction you need to turn from the hotel to get to the attraction you need, or where that restaurant is that someone once liked.
The main thing is to figure out the duration of your stay in place and find out what is important “not to miss” in a particular place (our team will definitely help you with this). The rest you will see and learn on the spot. At the hotel, pick up a map with landmarks marked on it. While walking, you will find a place where you (and not someone else) have a tasty and pleasant meal. You can also always buy an excursion on the spot, find the necessary markets, shops, salons, massages, etc., etc.
Housing and budget
The next step is to decide on the format of housing, as well as the budget for each destination on the list.
Choose accommodation focusing not only and not so much on your budget, but on the specifics of the place. Very often, the right accommodation makes your stay in a particular place more vibrant. And also, importantly, it allows you to feel the “right” atmosphere. Conversely, incorrectly selected accommodation can easily ruin the impression of a place. Please note that we are not talking about price here, but about a good choice of the location of the hotel/guest house and the format of housing in “your” price category.
In each place you will find reviews of “where to live”, for cities - orientation in the city and reviews of areas, for resort destinations - reviews of beaches, for national parks - reviews of nearby villages and camp sites. Each review highlights different housing formats. This is done so that readers have the opportunity to decide on their desired format.
— If you want to plan everything first and book later, read reviews, select an area/beach/location, follow the appropriate links, turn on price filters and select housing in a focused manner, without wasting time “shooting sparrows with a cannon.” Immediately save the options for housing you like in your online bookmarks, so that when the time comes you don’t have to waste time searching again.
— If you are used to combining search and booking, bookmark our “Where to Live” reviews so that when you are ready to book, everything will be at hand, and then continue according to the scheme described above. This approach will simplify and speed up the process.
At this stage, it is important to get a budget that is more or less similar to the final draft. Although it is possible that you will still have to adjust the number of days in a particular place, or change the logistics of travel or the directions themselves (depending on financial capabilities and priorities).
Stage three: route finalization
The main work has already been done in the second stage. You have a route, all you have to do is buy air tickets and then finalize your travel itinerary. After purchasing air tickets, you may have to make final adjustments to your travel route. Often the planned number of days may change by plus or minus 2-3 days, depending on air tickets).
All that remains is to finalize the route by dates. There are two approaches.
Finalization and booking along the route
The first is the so-called hard finalization. Schedule dates along the route and make all necessary reservations, including local transport and accommodation. First of all, book domestic flights and trains, as you may have to reschedule your booking depending on the availability and cost of tickets.
After that, book all accommodation along the route, focusing on your estimated budget (see recommendations above). At the end of the day, you are all ready to travel. All vouchers are in hand. Minor issues (a la local buses, boats and tours can be resolved locally without any problems). All that remains is to go and enjoy yourself without thinking or worrying about anything.
Floating travel route
The second approach is floating finalization. This approach works best. If you are going on a long trip (a month or two), or traveling in the off-season. You have in your hands the same route, scheduled by dates. , adjust the schedule if necessary. Book accommodation upon arrival/arrival on known, non-floating dates.
And then you get your bearings on the spot - somewhere you’ll want to stay longer, somewhere you’ll want to leave early. Don't worry about specific accommodation choices before your trip. Take our Where to Live reviews with you for each destination. Book accommodation at the next point along your route on the spot when you know your exact departure/arrival date. Often you will have to book “today for tomorrow”, so this approach does not work in high season. Housing will either be the “best of the worst” or expensive. In the off-season, on the contrary, you can book excellent accommodation with good discounts.
Please note that you will have to spend time searching for and booking accommodation on site. And therefore, if you are going on a trip for no more than three weeks, it is better to make a strict finalization of the route.
I will not now highlight any service in first place, and this order does not give preference to one or the other. They all have their pros and cons, more or less equally.
Let's start with Agenda.
A Russian travel planning service that recently began to gain momentum and received investments. The design of the service is pleasing to the eye, it is convenient, nothing superfluous. Excellent calendar grid displaying planned flights.
The emphasis of the Agenda is mainly on the purchase and reservation of air tickets, hotels, transport, there is also the possibility of booking trains and buses, but unfortunately mainly only within the Russian Federation. The service is closely connected with Panaramio, which allows you to see photos of interesting places, and Foursqare for selecting attractions in the city where you are going. Compared to other services, there is a big disadvantage to adding interesting places to view, and if you are planning a big trip, you will have to work hard to add them to your calendar. It would be great if there was synchronization with the calendar on your phone or tablet, but I didn’t find one. It’s not clear how the creators missed such a moment in all their travels as the lack of Internet. Since there are no applications for Android or iOS, it is not clear how to use it while traveling. Timeline export to pdf is very poor.
Yes, it is quite possible to buy tickets, book hotels and cars here, and besides, the search is also carried out on low-cost airlines. But even during test trips to book a hotel or car in Asia, he didn’t find anything for me.
In general, there are some shortcomings that I hope will be improved in the future.
Next Mygola
An English-language service, also with a good interface, but less convenient. Compared to the Agenda, the calendar grid is less easily understood, but nevertheless quite convenient and understandable.
This same service is more geared towards sightseeing. A large selection of places with detailed descriptions and a link to the source or website of this place. There is an application, but it is no different from the website. You can look at all the points on the map, but you can’t see each point individually, and this is a minus, since it’s not possible to jump on the link to Google maps and get directions.
A huge advantage of Mygola is the route search and its preliminary assessment. At the very beginning, this really amazed me, because you usually find such information only on some blogs. There are a large number of options for traveling between points, using a variety of transport. From a taxi with its cost, to public transport, for which the cost is also sometimes indicated. It is not clear where this information comes from, but it is quite possible to estimate the cost.
Again, there is no export at all. There is also no synchronization. In conclusion, it can be noted that when planning a trip, the Mygola service can be used to find cheap routes by public transport.
Youroute
Another Russian-language service. The service attracted me with its simplicity. Nothing superfluous, easy interface, everything is simple and clear, come in and plan. Of course, like all of the above, it also has disadvantages. But let's start with the advantages, the first of which is a large database of attractions from all countries and cities of the world. Conveniently add objects to your route. The service is also connected to Panaramio and you can conveniently view photographs of objects. From each point you can go to Google maps, you can get directions, but then there will be a service in which it is a little more convenient to do this.
A route immediately creeps between points; transport can always be changed. You can also easily change the order of sightseeing.
At the end you get this kind of route
As you can see, the route can be saved as a pdf and printed if desired. The stages themselves look rather boring.
I would add flight times, they can, in principle, be written down in notes, but nevertheless they are not displayed in the PDF, and links to a map for each point, preferably on Google. But there is information about these places, in a completely digestible form.
Well, the service is quite excellent, but it lacks something; if it could add a little from the first and second, it could turn out to be a better service for travel planning. Of course, the application is still missing. So guys, developers, I hope you will finish this service in the future.
Gogobot
Initially, I learned about it as an application. The first thing that caught my eye was that he posts all your actions on facebook, but this is disabled in the account settings. The service is English-language and has a large database of attractions that you can easily add to your trip. Add in bulk only from the table view; from the map you have to go to the object page. But in the application this does not cause much discomfort. There are selections of restaurants and hotels that can be booked.
There are interest clubs in which thematic places are selected.
The travel plan looks quite simple, like a pdf file, but nevertheless contains all the necessary information about the objects, with links to the page of these places in Gogobot.
Here is a type of PDF file that can be minimally customized
An undoubted advantage is the presence of an application (for iPhone and Android), where you can view your travel plan and use navigation for each object.
Decent service, unfortunately not in the native language. Another app for iPad would be great.
Well in the end
Tripomatic
The web service is not particularly striking in design, but the application is quite good (again, the iPad was bypassed), and with support for the Russian language.
It’s quite convenient to add places to your trip plan; the route and approximate travel time immediately creep in between them, which will give you an understanding of the time spent on travel, but unfortunately not about its cost. He also automatically builds the route of the day in such a way (well, at least he tries) so as not to make detours around the city, but to visit all the places along the way with the least amount of time. You can book a hotel on the website, purchase and viewing takes place on Booking.com. You can add travel by transport, for example between railway stations, unfortunately the time is not displayed, and there is no search for ticket prices either. But that doesn't matter here.
I also liked that after completing the compilation, you receive a schedule for your trip. It shows how many of the main attractions you missed.
Export to PDF is good, with all links to Google maps. By clicking, it immediately plots a route. The line of the day is not very clear, but you can figure it out.
The application is very good. With some nice features. For example, the object page shows the distance to it and a rotating compass that shows the direction of movement. Many attractions also display opening hours and entrance ticket prices. For some reason, the screenshots from iTunes show a translator, but I didn’t see it in the program itself.
In addition, the Tripomatic application has a paid, but very useful for tourist, offline map function. For 129 rubles. you can buy a map of the country, for 449 - Asia and Australia, and for 549 rubles. you can download maps of all countries that are available on Tripomatic (358 places). In general, the application takes place on the traveler’s smartphone.
In conclusion, I will say that there are quite a few services for compiling and planning a trip, in my opinion these are the most prominent. There are still many social travel networks where you can also get a lot of useful information, but they do not have such functions as planning.
