Creating Your European Vacation - Crafting an Itinerary - Part 1

So you've decided 'it's time for me to go to Europe' or you've decided 'it's time for me to return to Europe'. You've always wanted to go on a Gondola ride in Venice, or pose with the Venus of Milo in The Louvre in Paris (nudge nudge). Maybe you've always wanted to annoy the hell out of the guards in front of Buckingham Palace like those obnoxious tourists in every 'American-goes-to-England' romantic comedy ever made. If so, hey, that's your prerogative and I say go for it! I am here to help make these desires a reality. The first step in the process of creating your dream European vacation is crafting an itinerary, or basically a schedule. This will include:

1. When you will be arriving/leaving Europe. 
2. All the cities/countries you would like to go to.
3.  How long you will be staying in each city/country. 
4.  How you plan to move about the country. 
5. What you would like to do and see in each city/country. 

Once you have answered these questions, it will be so much incredibly easier to move on to accounting for these:

1. Searching for Airline Tickets.
2. Searching for lodging accommodations.
3. Searching for specific travel accommodations (such as train, bus, ferry, airplane between each location). 

This second set is where the money comes in.  We will get to each of these in parts 2-3. 

So back to itinerary. This is a crucial part of your planning process, because without it you are left very vulnerable to whims and flights of fancy (which are all fine and lovely if you are Mary Poppins or John D. Rockerfeller, but alas, not all of us can be). As my Dad says 'if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything'. Perhaps a bit heavy for trip planning, but it is relevant. You want an itinerary so that you can get the most out of your trip. I will go through step by step and say what is important about it, and how it can be done. 

Step 1 - When You Will Be Arriving and Leaving Europe

If you are in a brick and mortar school with a rigid schedule, or have a job that requires you put in vacation time in advance, this step is very important. Seeing as how you will have to plan around your work/school, it will take some forethought to decide when you want to go on your vacation. If you are in online university, work from home or just currently job/school/homefree, then this will be easier. For students, I would recommend the Summer or Winter breaks. You have much more time and you don't have to worry about squeezing things in during the week you get off for Spring Break. For working people, it is up to you. Perhaps there is a time at work that is normally slow or you are not needed as much. That would be an ideal time to go. But of course, you do want to plan according to weather if it is important to you. If you would like to go to Norway when it is 20 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, I am sure it is beautiful but if you are not into cold, snow, and ice I would recommend putting the trip off until more temperate seasons. Same goes for southern Europe, if you despise heat and humidity, I implore you, do not go to Rome in July or August. But if you are adaptable and honestly could care less, then the best idea is to plan for the time that is most convenient for you.

Think of the clay bricks baking... then imagine your skin, lmao, jk. 

Welcome to Santa's Village 

Step 2 - Which Cities and Countries Would You Like to Visit

So you've decided you have about two weeks vacation time to spend in Europe. Now it is time to choose where you will be spending those 14 days. Seeing as how you found this blog, you probably have an idea of where you would like to go already so I wont need to give you a virtual tour of all of Europe's shining cities (but I might do a city review in a different theme post, stay tuned). The way I decide is usually based on proximity.

If I am visiting, let's say, Spain, which other countries would make the most sense for me to visit? Seeing as how I like Paris, I would choose France as it borders Spain, and with a train pass, is not too expensive or harrowing to get to. Say you are in Greece, you can hop over to Italy or make it a Eurasian adventure and skip along to Turkey. Whatever you do, I always try to plan multi-destination vacations in a way that makes the most sense logistically and financially. This also accounts for if you are staying in only one country. I know many of you are smarter than this, but some people are under the impression that Paris is the only city in France. I am being sarcastic, of course, but you get what I mean. Just because everyone always talks about how beautiful Rome is, don't think that there aren't any other just as worthy places to visit in Italy. I have known people to spend 5 days in one city, and 5 days in another and many times they end up liking the city they considered an after thought more than the one they were excited for. Many people also choose where they are going to visit based mainly on a landmark they have always wanted to see, or a city they read about in a book, or even a piece of artwork they admire. Ain't nothing wrong with that! Hell, I am going to Pamplona exclusively because of Ernest Hemingway.

         I'd be lying if I said I read this all the way through, but it's Ernest Hemingway, you know it's good... 

You get to see a new place, and get a nerd boner at the same time. Two for one dealio. TripAdvisor is a beautiful thing for many reasons I will explain later, but one of their coolest tools is that you can find hotels near to a specific location, which is what I always recommend if you are going to see a specific thing. Another factor that may contribute to your decision is priciness, and the exchange rate. Most European countries use the Euro, the only exceptions: United Kingdom,  Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Sweden. At the moment (03/19/13) the Dollar to Euro conversion rate is $1.00 = 0.77 Euro, or 1 Euro = $1.29. The U.K. (British Pound) is usually more expensive, I am not sure about the other countries.  And of course where you stay will also determine how expensive it will be. Some people opt to stay in the suburbs of London rather than in London. I myself am not a fan of that because I feel that getting to and from the city will cost me the same amount eventually, and to be honest it's less fun. You will be able to find reasonable accommodations wherever you stay, you just have to know where to look. 

Step 3 -  How Long You Will be Staying in Each City/Country

You may ask 'but G.V., how long should I plan to stay in each place for?' and I will answer 'Young grasshopper, that is for me to know and you to discover'. Lol, just kidding. It does depend though. A lot on budget, and also a bit on how you like to travel. If you are the type of person who does not like a lot of going and coming and likes to stay put I would say you don't need to spend more than 1.5 weeks in your destination. If you plan on going to two or three countries, I would say 2-3 weeks. Basically my rule of thumb is about 5-7 days per country. Mind you, I like being able to stay places for a long time so I get the feel of the city and can day trip without feeling like I am taking time away from sightseeing in the city. If you are the type of person who can do 1 or 2 days of sightseeing and feel complete, then you definitely do not need to stay as long as I would. Also, like I mentioned, your budget might not accommodate say, a month's long journey in Europe. If so, that is fine, Europe will always be there. Decide where you would like to be the most and plan accordingly. 

Step 4 -  How You Plan to Move About the Country. 

This one will be brief, I promise! I'll cover it in more detail in the 'Transportation' part. So you are in Rome, you want to go to Florence. How you gon' get there, foo!? Well, you have a few options:

a.) Take a train

b.) Fly

c.) Rent a car and drive 

Although this is multiple choice, there is no right or wrong answer per se. There are cheaper and more logical answers though. So, yeah, those are probably the right ones. Let's review each option. For option A. we have take a train. You wake up, make sure you are packed, catch a cab to the train station in Rome, present your ticket or Train Pass (Eurail, woop woop!) and board the train. Arrive in Florence  within the next 2 hours. Now option B, fly. You wake up, make sure you are packed, catch a cab to the airport, check in for your flight, check your bags, go through security line wait for plane, board plane arrive in Florence within the hour. Lastly, drive. You are a braver woman/man than I if you consider this option. You wake up, back your bags, either hitch a ride to the nearest car rental or have the car brought to your hotel, throw your bags in the trunk, hop on the A1 with Italian drivers, and arrive in Florence within the next 3 hours.

Had To Learn Somewhere....

For me looking over it, I say the train is the best option. Alright, perhaps I am a bit bias, but who doesn't love train rides! Especially when a flight will cost you upwards of $400 dollars, and gas for Rome to Florence will cost you €45.27 according to Google Maps. Not to mention the cost of renting the car. A train pass for Italy will cost you $295 for 1 class ticket for 3 days of travel inside the country. For a single ticket it will cost you anywhere from $29 dollars economy, and $89 first class. I think I see the best choice here! Like I mentioned about multi-destination trips, I will repeat again, always choose the most logistically and financially reasonable option to get the most out of your trip!  

Step 5 - What You Would Like to Do and See in Each City/Country

We touched on this in Step 2 briefly, if you know what you would like to see or do, then you can plan your trip accordingly. Make sure the museum you wanted to go to is open to the public and not under construction or something (it happens!) Make sure that café you read about in your favorite novel a.) actually exists and b.) didn't close in 1936. Visit websites like TripAdvisor, About.com's travel section, Fodor's, Lonely Planet, and Rick Steves' to look for specific tourist attractions and sights that might interest you. One thing I like to do is plan my own excursions, that is if I wanted to go to an old villa in the outskirts of Rome, but could not find a tour, I would find a reputable car service company and pay someone by the hour to take me there. Now I will stress for liability purposes a REPUTABLE car service. Please don't offer to pay some random cute Mediterranean man on a Vespa to take you. As tempting as it may sound, we have all seen the movie Taken...

    He has a very particular set of skills... We, on the other hand, probably don't. 

 Remember, some places will be free to visit, others will cost a lot. This may factor into your decision on what to see and what to pass.  It is best not to try and fit every square inch of a City in your plans, or you will suffer from "tourist's burnout", that is being exhausted and a bit irritable from running around a strange place all day and waiting in lines without any down-time. Choose the top 3 or 5 things you must see, and then if you have free time, bring a list of other things that might interest you.


Those are the steps to making a thorough and useful itinerary. You can print out a Calendar page from Google Calendar or iCal, pencil in comings and goings, days you might possibly want to take day trips or if you want to plan way in advance, pencil in the days you want to do your tours and sight-seeing. Here is an example of one of my itineraries in the early stage:

So much red ink, lol.

Once you have completed the 1st draft of your itinerary, you will be ready to move onto Part 2, Looking for Lodging!