Two Months on the Road, Travel Planning Secrets

After traveling for 2 months I have collected a few tips I believe can make traveling and travel planning a bit more enjoyable.

Most of the following tips are targeted to European travel but they also apply to many other areas of the world.

Plan Ahead, But not too far ahead

I like to stay two weeks ahead. One week is too little. Every two weeks I’ll spend about 4-6 hours planning the next two weeks. Batching planning allows you to save time and makes the trip more comfortable.

Location and Orientation

I start with a destination country I would like to visit. Usually nearby my current location in order to keep  transportation costs low. Next I’ll figure out how to get there. Train, boat, or plane. In Europe, it makes sense to purchase an Eurail pass which allow access to a large array of trains in a variety of countries (depending which kind you purchase).

If going by train, I’ll locate the train station and start the search for accommodations near the station. If that is not an option, I’ll use Kayak.com to look for a place to stay near a metro station with an easy connection to the train station. You can find all this info online, just search on google for “Portugal train company”. You will quickly find that CP is the name of the company that services Portugal both for urban, regional, and intercity trains. You can find metro station locations and names on Google Maps.

Hotel, Hostel, Apartment or Camping?

Hotels are nice but the prices can vary immensely. A one star hotel in Portugal is around 50 euros per day, in Rome around 130 euro. Hostels are great for young people traveling alone, but it does not make as much monetary sense for couples. Camping is great in some countries but not in others. The south of Spain has campgrounds really far from the city center, great for RV’s, bad for backpackers. Lisbon has a great campground located one quick bus ride away from the center of town. Do your homework and find out the best option for each location.

Example: If you are having a hard time finding campgrounds near Seville camping is probably not going to workout, try a hostel or a short term apartment instead, which brings me to my next topic…

Larger Groups

If traveling with 3 or more people, specially in Europe, you will sometimes get a better deal renting an apartment. You can rent these as little as 3 days. Hotel rooms anywhere outside the U.S. are small, and usually only fit 2 people. Hostels charge per person. You can use AirBnB.com or my favorite, Homelidays.com to find locals willing to rent their places for anywhere from a few days to a month.

Four people traveling short distances by public transportation will likely cost about the same as a taxi.

Taxi

Always inquire the price to get to your destination. If the driver does not provide a price or you don’t like the price don’t take it. Remember a taxi is a service just like any other. If you don’t like the fare shop around, just make sure you do this before you get in the car.

Don’t assume taxi drivers are dishonest. When leaving the airport or a train station there is usually a set price per zone. If the meter is not running, it doesn’t mean he is planning to rip you off.

When picking up a cab at a train station I like to ask the following questions:

What is the station fee? what is the per bag fee? How many passengers are included and how many are extra passengers and what is the fee.

Transportation Day Passes

Most cities will have a tourist pass or otherwise bundle transportation pass. This usually includes metro, busses and funiculars and they normally cost 10-15 euro for 1 to 3 days.

Some cities like Lisbon and London bundle museums and attractions as well. I tend to never purchase these passes right away. When I arrive at the train station its simpler to just purchase a simple metro pass. Once I get a feel for the city and how much I will be using public transpiration, it’s usually very simple to go back to the metro station to purchase the bundled pass.

Short Booking

I find that booking a Hotel/Hostel/Campground and paying/reserving only the first night allows me to move the very next day If I am unhappy with the place. If I really enjoy it it’s usually very easy to extend the say.

Train Reservations

Even with an unlimited Rail pass you will need to make reservation in some countries for long rides and all trips in Spain. You can make reservations at any train station or in Spain for example, any Renfe offices throughout the city. One thing that saves a lot of time is to know where you are going next when you arrive at the station. I immediately go to the ticket window upon arriving to find out if I need a reservation and if so make one. Even if you don’t know exactly when you are leaving (see Short Booking above) you can always change it (at no extra fee).

If you don’t need reservations, better yet, just arrive at the station 20 minutes before you train is scheduled to leave.

Finding the proper connections specially cross country can be difficult. I use SCOTTY or TGV to find the proper times/routes. Just write down the info and bring it to the ticket window, this will help you tremendously.

The Big “i”

I don’t mean the egotistic me (chuckles). I am talking about the tourist information office you can find in most cities these days, usually marked by a blue “i”. They are your friend. Once I arrive at a new city, I’ll immediately locate their office and grab a city map (ask them to the current location and the train station) and a bus map/schedule. Feel free to chat with them, they are there to help you, speak many languages and enjoy sharing valuable info. If they seem apathetic, joke about never having left your hometown before, they will open up for you (a little white lie never killed anyone).

Unreliable Internet

I guarantee you that whenever you absolutely need internet, you will not have it. Use the internet when you have it wisely. I save to PDF any pages I may think I’ll need later. Also notes of hotel addresses and phone numbers. This seems redundant but believe me, you will not find internet for miles once you need it.

Some of you have asked me how I decide what to see in each city and how to plan an itinerary. I will be writing about this topic next.

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