Friends often ask questions about the itinerary, from how to visit this country to where to eat, and whether this museum is worth visiting. I especially understand the anxiety of every little friend when traveling, because we all hope that traveling is unique and most suitable for us.
So, after so many years of travel, what experience can I share with you?
1, according to your own preferences, make clear the cities and places you must go.
The first step is to determine the destination, destination country, and which cities to visit and which scenic spots to visit. This is the first step in arranging the trip.
If you don't know much about this country, you might as well read books and posts, and don't bother this process. If you want to travel to a place, it is very important to have a basic understanding.
After a basic understanding, according to your hobbies, delimit the cities and scenic spots you must go to.
Why circle "according to your hobby"?
Because I think this is a perfect prerequisite for a trip.
No one knows himself better than himself, knowing what he likes and hates.
If you like human history, you should go to more museums and cultural relics.
If you like scenery and hiking, arrange more natural scenic spots and national parks.
If you like delicious food, you can arrange more distinctive afternoon tea and a must-eat list.
At this time, with the foundation of rough travel, you can first connect a short trip in series to see the overall time period.
2. Fast series connection with small flow
After a bumpy trip, it is inevitable to face the problem of small traffic. Choose train, bus or plane between cities?
The first factor we should consider is the time cost. Between many cities in Europe, trains take 2-3 hours, or more than 1 hour. At this time, the first choice is naturally the train. If it takes more than 5 hours by train, please take the plane unless the scenery along the way is particularly good (such as the glacier line in Switzerland). Foreign low-cost aviation systems are very complete, and air tickets are often cheaper than train tickets, but don't look at the baggage terms. Generally speaking, it is much cheaper to buy baggage tickets in advance than to make up tickets at the airport! In addition, please pay attention to the airports where low-cost airlines take off and land. Some airlines take off and land at remote small airports, and the traffic is very inconvenient. In some countries, the train network is underdeveloped, or the train time is longer than the bus time. Don't forget that a bus is a means of transportation.
The second factor is the price.
Train tickets should be good at using passes. If you need to travel by train frequently, a pass is often the most cost-effective. You don't have to worry about the specific number of trains, so the itinerary is more flexible. If it is only a few point-to-point trains, you can buy tickets separately, and buying tickets in advance is often discounted. 2-3 discount is also common.
Cheap air tickets are usually very cheap and there are many choices. There are many tickets for 2-300.
Buses, like Greyhound buses and buses, have many choices. It doesn't hurt to check and see more.
The third is self-driving and other means of transportation.
In addition, connecting buses, trains and planes in series may be inconvenient or may delay time. For example, from Tromso to Lofton, it depends on whether there is special transportation in the local area. Like Norway, there are boats here, so you can travel in series by boat.
Of course, there may also be countries with inconvenient public transportation, such as the United States, New Zealand, Norway and Croatia. At this point, I'm afraid I can only complete my trip by bus.
3. How to choose?
The most common problem for people who travel on annual leave is the choice of itinerary. Due to the lack of holidays, we often have to give up some places. And how to consider when choosing?
First, consider the accessibility of the next trip.
Specifically, it is whether the place you gave up can be easily connected with other cities in your next trip. For example, in the three cities of ABC, if B is just between A and C, and the cities around B will not go in the future, then don't leave B, because if you leave B, you may not have a chance to go in the future. If B can be connected in series with the surrounding DE, or you will go to A again, then there is no problem to give it up.
To give a practical example, when I traveled to England last year, I gave up the country and the sky island and chose the lake area. Because the country still has the opportunity to compete with London in the future, Sky Island can compete with the Scottish Highlands in the future.
On my trip to New Zealand, I didn't go to Dunedin, fjords and boulevards. South Island basically leaves the southern half of the circle. I can play it completely next time. Even if I pass Mount Cook again, there are still hiking routes that I wanted to go last time but didn't go.
Second, follow your own preferences! Follow your heart!
If this city is full of people you don't feel, then give up and go to the scenic spot you really like. Time is limited, so you should go to your favorite place first.
Third, don't give up, go out early and return late.
If you really can't give up, then carefully check the sunrise and sunset times, the opening and closing times of scenic spots, and plan your trip in detail. In Europe, the days are longer, and it gets dark at night after summer 10, which invisibly prolongs the travel time. Only when you are strong enough can you make full use of the dawn time and play from early morning until late at night.
Although, it is not recommended that the trip is too full, because once it is missed, the subsequent trip may not be executed. However, if you are careful enough, fully consider, carefully plan and have good physical strength, this is a way to solve the trade-off.
4. Tourism seasons and festivals
Every country and every scenic spot has a suitable travel season and special festivals, and these factors should be fully considered when making the itinerary. For example, the place you want to go is not suitable for your holiday time, so don't go hard, especially in scenic spots, you can't see anything in inappropriate seasons.
Festivals in this country must be considered in the itinerary. Catching up with interesting festivals will add a lot of color to your trip. I watched the carnival in Malta, which was very interesting.
5. How to flexibly adjust the itinerary during travel?
In fact, this problem is not entirely within the scope of itinerary, but it is a problem that will be faced every time you travel.
Travel is not just based on pre-made plans and scripts (it will lose a lot of fun)
In case of unexpected situations such as temporary closure of scenic spots, car breakdown, rainstorm, etc., how to adjust flexibly and ensure the integrity of the trip to a greater extent is a necessary condition for perfect travel.
First of all, for the scenic spots that must be visited, be sure to check the opening hours in advance.
There is no remedy to avoid leaving the next day because you missed it that day.
This problem will be encountered every time, and the plan will be temporarily adjusted every time.
Secondly, the trip should not be too full.
The poor travel assistant has a particularly useful function, which will calculate the total travel time of the scenic spots you choose. If it exceeds 8 hours, it must be deleted. Popular cities and scenic spots will inevitably encounter queues, and it is most basic to leave room for time.
For self-driving travel, the time calculated by Google is the time of driving at full speed, so we must add some time on this basis. On the one hand, you may encounter traffic jams; On the one hand, passing by the beautiful scenery and stopping at any time will delay some time.
There is another situation, a temporary drama.
During the trip, we often encounter places that are not arranged in advance. These places may be recommended by local people or missed during the trip. Then, if the trip is too full, it may lead to the failure of extra play.
Third, make good use of maps and re-plan.
For some reasons, a scenic spot cannot be visited on the same day, so it needs to be arranged in the later itinerary. In the face of this situation, don't worry, according to the location of the scenic spot, see if it is more suitable to arrange it for the next day. Combined with the map, you can also switch between the later part of the trip and the trip of the day to ensure the operability of the time and route.
Write so much first, and think of it at any time before adding. If you have any questions, please leave a message and I will try my best to answer them.
Countries that can answer include: Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and Cuba.