While it is not a necessary requirement for holidays, a lot of people want an itinerary for their time away. On the main trips that Harry and I have taken over the years we have found what works best for us, and that is to have a flexible itinerary.

For our trip to Dublin, Ireland, (our first trip together) we didn’t have an itinerary, we merely knew of a few things we wanted to do and see while we were there. Now, while this may work for some people, we found that we spent most of our time there in the hotel room, sleeping. Don’t get me wrong we saw the St Patrick’s Day Parade and a few landmarks like we had wanted, and it was a great holiday, but we didn’t make the most of our time there.

In contrast, you could say that our Paris trip was over planned. There was so little time for relaxing in our itinerary that we came home needing another holiday, and so little wriggle room that we had to skip out on a few things we would have liked to see because we were running behind.

So here is a list of some tips/the process that we have learnt and adapted over the years:

1. Research

The first step for us when we have chosen/are choosing a location is looking at what the place has to offer. It is important for us to find things that interest both of us, for example, Harry has an interest in art and cathedrals, whereas mine lie more in the history of a place and some walking routes to take in the scenery.

Once we have a list of things that we think both of us would enjoy we sit down together and look at each other’s suggestions (this isn’t always such a linear process!)

2. Budget

At the same time as us researching the location, we are looking at how much the attractions will set us back. It is a constant consideration for us, as it will be in addition to the travelling and accommodation fees, so it is important that the items on our itinerary do not go well over budget.

Sometimes, if you choose to travel at a certain time of the year, or day of the week, there are discounts and offers available to you. It pays to investigate these because it could save you money and open up further opportunities (this played a large part in our Paris planning).

2A. Unavoidable Costs

It is important to calculate the costs of things such as travel, accommodation and food first from what we’ve found. These are the costs that you will need to be able to cover before you can even think about the extras, otherwise you could end up in a situation where you’re spending far more than originally planned because you spent your food money on a theme park ticket, for example.

3. Timings

There are certain things on your holiday where the times are not changeable. Plane, boat, and train tickets are an example of this, so when we are looking at our itinerary, this is where we start as a general rule.

Our itinerary begins when our travelling begins and ends with the arrival back home. Then we look at the check in/check out times, slotting these into the itinerary. Once these two steps are done, we can begin to schedule the activities, beginning with those that we are most interested in and going from there. Sometimes at this point if there is a large chunk of time between us arriving somewhere and check in, or check out and us leaving, I try to find an activity we can do where it won’t matter if our luggage is with us.

4. Transportation

When travelling between Disneyland and Paris, we learnt just how important it was to leave a little time on either side of the travel times in case something was to go wrong. As I mentioned earlier, our Paris holiday itinerary was planned with very little leeway, so when we found ourselves stranded halfway between Gare du Nord and Marne-la-vallée – Chessy train station with only fifteen minutes until we had to check into our Airbnb, due to a train driver strike, it was rather distressing.

To help with situations like this, because sometimes it is unavoidable, I would definitely make the itinerary more flexible on either side of any long journeys. Also, have a back-up plan so there is another route which you can take.

5. Relax

Harry’s main tip for when we’re making itineraries now is to remember that it is supposed to be a break as well. Instead of traipsing from one attraction to another in an attempt to see everything, leave time for you to kick back and enjoy yourself. You are far more likely to enjoy your holiday if you take the time to recharge (although Paris still remains one of our favourite holidays, we didn’t get the full experience because we were rushing around).

These tips are just a few things that we have found useful over the years and are using currently to plan our next trip when everything settles down. It is by no means perfect, and I imagine that the more we travel, the easier creating itineraries will become. Overall, it is more a mix of time management and planning. There is no one way of building an itinerary, you know yourself best, so you’ll know how much you can accomplish in a day. If anyone is interested, I can draw up a general example template for one of our trips, just leave a comment.