Planning a Trip
Hi guys! How is everyone?? I’m good but COLD. Fort St. John is experiencing a major cold front right now and it’s been between -30 and -40 C (-22 to -40 F) since I got here! Brrrr. Below is a picture of me and Eric all bundled up before heading out to shovel the driveway on Saturday.
So I realized that this is the first real “staycation” I’ve ever had. I’ve never before taken time off work (for the most part, still doing a bit of freelance stuff) and school and not gone anywhere. It’s been pure bliss. Why don’t we do staycations more often? Nothing beats sleeping in until 9 or 10 every day and then lying around reading your book until the afternoon when you finally drag your butt into gear and have a shower. I only packed two pairs of yoga pants for my trip and I’ve basically been living in them every day.
I’ve also been eating a lot of chocolate. Like a lot. I decided that me and the scale are not going to be friends this month. We can meet up again in January.
Anyways, I digress. I am here today to ask for some advice/ideas/brain dumping from you lovely readers. I’ve mentioned it a few times before but Eric and I are currently in the midst of planning a trip for April/May 2010.
Now, originally we were looking at a 3-4 week trip travelling all over Europe. We’ve reassessed and decided we probably don’t have the budget for that right now, so we’re thinking perhaps a 2-3 week trip taking in about 3-4 cities in different countries. But really, I have no idea where to even start.
That’s where you guys come in, I’m in dire need of the following:
1. Websites. What websites should I be looking at to find the best deals on flights/hotels etc? If there is a site out there where I can plan the whole entire trip for relatively cheap that would be wonderful.
2. What to do/where to go? What are must-sees in Europe, what are the ‘meh’ places that can wait until next time? Where are good places to stay/visit?
3. Airmiles. My parents have graciously offered up approx. 10,000 air miles for us to use. Except I have no idea how to use them. I don’t even know where to go to figure out what flights they can be used on or how to go about redeeming them. Help?
4. What am I missing? Honestly, I’ve never planned more than a road trip by myself. When I went to Germany my mom planned the whole thing. So I really have no idea what things I should be looking into I’m not. Kindly remind me? 
So if you guys just want to brain dump in the comments on all the things that I should be considering when it comes to planning this trip that would be wonderful. Oh, and how are you doing? XO
PARIS. Absolutely. Especially in April/May – it’s lovely. I don’t really have super advice on getting there, but I use Kayak.com a lot for flights, because it searches all the other websites for you and you can set alerts.
Hi! I did Paris, Venice, Sorrento (Almafi Coast) and Rome in May for my honeymoon. I think you saw at least Part I of II on my blog.
Once you pick your cities, if you are going to any of these, let me know, and I’d be happy to write out the top attractions that we did.
Paris is great- TONS to do. You could spend a week here! We found so much to explore, and the museum passes (you buy one pass for a set number of days) made everything reasonably economical.
Venice is really cool, just to see. It’s incredible that a whole city is on water. You only need 2-3 days here.
The Almafi Coast (Italy) is AMAZING. We stayed in Sorrento, and took day trips to Pompeii (can do in 1/2 day), and Capri (love love love Capri- I wish we had stayed there!). I would go back here in a heartbeat!
Rome- I LOVED Rome, but it wasn’t my husband’s favorite. He was sort of “toured” out by the time we got there, as we had already been traveling for almost 2 weeks. I loved the ancient roman structures. And I would recommend a private tour of the Vatican if you go. TOTALLY worth the extra money.
I have heard that Lake Como is AMAZING- it is in the north of Italy. We didn’t go because we didn’t have time and it was really cold up there, but it is one of those places that once someone mentioned it to me, I heard about it from TONS of people.
I’ve always wanted to go to Greece. There are lots of European cruises, too, if you are interested.
I liked the Rick Steves books the best. They are easy, and a bit humorous at times. He also has quite a few audio tours that are mentioned in his book. You can download them for free before you go and add them to your iPOD, and then you can save $ by not renting the audio guides. We did this for almost everything in Rome, and a lot of the museums in other places. But the Rick Steves Louvre (Paris) tour was impossible to follow!
As for hotels, I think the best thing to do is to pick where you’d like to stay, and then research all of the hotel websites, like hotel.com, etc. We picked the places we liked best, and then researched them and found them a lot cheaper on other sites (instead of booking them directly through the hotel website). The only thing is that you usually have to pay for the stay up front, but we liked this, because we ended up paying for three of our four hotels in the months prior to our trip. And then the trip itself wasn’t such a shock to our wallets!
Anyway… let me know if you decide to focus on any of the cities I went to… I’d LOVE to give you more details!
PS- The air miles won’t get you too much. Are they for a specific airline? You could try to use them to upgrade.
As for things you are missing- if you go to various cities, don’t forget that you’ll also need to plan transportation in between them. We took planes, for the most part (very affordable), and one train between Naples and Rome.
And last- one of the best things to do,once you have your cities, is get a guidebook and determine what sites you want to see. Then, when you get to your hotel, talk to the concierge and they can help you plan out your days. If you have a list of places you want to visit, they can tell you which ones are in the same vicinity, and which museums you should hit in the morning to avoid lines, etc etc. We did this and it worked great. We weren’t asking them WHERE to go, but they helped us a lot!
Sorry I can’t help much, I’ve never even really planned as much as a road trip myself! I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time, hopefully I’ll get to do something similar in a few years. Apparently this is a good site for European flights – http://www.skyscanner.net/
Trip planning is fun! First, I’d start deciding where to go. From there, the planning begins. Paris is beautiful and great, but not as magical as things felt in Italy, by far.
My fav cities during my trip were: Florence, Rome and Cinque Terre, Italy. But each city is so different and exciting that it’s hard to compare them. Good luck!
Eurail worked great for my friend A and I. Just have to figure out how many countries and how many travel days you’ll need before purchasing. http://www.eurail.com/eurail-select-pass?currency=eur
Also, pick up a tour book or two. Rick Steeves and Lonely Planet have some great ones out there. I think I carried a few books and my friend carried one on our trip.
I wish I had more words of wisdom for you, but I don’t have anything! I would be just like you… A trip like the one you want to go on sounds pretty awesome!!
I cannot believe it’s that cold there! Yikes! I can’t imagine!!
Florence. Please, please, please go to Florence. I loved Paris, but Firenze stole my heart. Just go, eat gelati, walk everywhere, and enjoy. And take pictures. Lots and lots of pictures!
I got nothing for ya. I have never traveled out of the country except to Stratford, Canada… once. And it’s not like that is even that big of a deal! LOL! I so want to go to Paris! Go there for me!!!
I have no idea how to plan a trip. I really want to see Ireland though, but it’s kind of separate from the rest of Europe.
A friend of mine used Air Miles all the time. I’ll ask him about where to go to figure out how to use them.
Apparently “you redeem it through whatever airline you flew to get them. Go to their website.”
That’s why my friend said. I’m clueless otherwise
PARIS!!! I was also there at the end of April, and it’s lovely. I would go back in a heartbeat. We also did daytrips (which my friend planned, so I have no idea where she found them) into Brugge, Belgium (amazing place) and London (hated it! But it poured rain the entire time we were there, so maybe that’s not fair). I also want to tour Italy, Greece and Spain, and run the Dublin marathon one day, but if I could, I would head back to Paris first.
Fly anywhere warm. I got the chills seeing the current temperatures in your area!
I love staycations and am a huge fan. I actually prefer doing that to traveling. Although I would probably reconsider that if I had to dress like you and Eric just to go outside. =) Hope you’re enjoying yourself!
use kayak to look at different flight costs.
frommer’s is a good way to start reading on cities that you may want to visit.
When i was fresh out of college, I went on a 5 week tour of Europe – Contiki – it’s for 18 – 35 year olds. There’s all sorts of trips that’s for all sorts of budget – luxury, budget minded, mid level. it was the trip of a lifetime for me. for me, i got to see 22 cities in 10 countries. so sweet!
http://www.contiki.com
don’t plan everything down to the minute, leave room for just simply exploring. One key thing about most european countries (i don’t know if this is true for Canada) explore all the side streets. that’s where all the discoveries are made.
I’ve been to Paris and Spain – I spent the most time in Malaga and loved it. The people were super friendly, very helpful, lots of beaches – what more do you need? We’re saving for a trip to Italy sometime in the (hopefully!) not-too-distant future – we wanted to honeymoon there but it was way too expensive!
Although I am no help, I’m excited and jealous about your trip! We are planning on going on a similar trip for our honeymoon, I might have to bug you next year for information. Hope the planning goes well!
Ohh, I was just saying yesterday that I wish I could be on a staycation!! I hope you do enjoy it!!
You should try kayak.com for good travel deals. I’ve never been to Europe, so I’ll go vicariously through you!!
Well I fell head-over-heels in love with Paris, so I would suggest going there.
I think it is such a magical city and that would be the perfect time to visit. When I went, I really utilized tripadvisor.com. I read through alot of the topics on the forum and that really helped me plan my trip.
You’ve already seen Germany, so I assume you won’t go back there?
Aside from Paris, I’ve been to Prague, and adored it, but that might be a bit out of the way for you guys, so you might want to stick w/ the Western part of Europe? My friend LOVED the Amalfi Coast of Italy, and Italy in general, so that would be a great area to check out!
Happy planning!!!
Paris is so amazing – so much to do and see. So easy to get around on the Metro and it’s just a fun romantic place to go. You can spend weeks there and not get bored if you want!
Florence is my favorite city in Italy. It’s gorgeous and much more manageable to see than Rome. But Rome is spectacular as well though I think you need more time to devote there to see all the major spots.
We just got back from Amsterdam and I cannot express the LOVE LOVE LOVE I have for this place. I want to move there. You don’t need much time. A few days but it’s so great and relaxing. Just spend time strolling the canals. There are a few must sees (Van Gogh museum, Anne Frank House and climbing the West Church, oh and a canal cruise) but for the most part it’s a fun city to just wander and get lost in. Bonus most people speak perfect English so it’s easy to get around.
London was great but huge and overwhelming and my least favorite city in Europe so far. (But that doesn’t mean I didn’t love it as well! It’s just I liked the other places we’ve gone more.)
A staycation sounds absolutely wonderful. The hubby and I always go away when we have holidays, and we never get days to just sleep in and lounge around at home. I think over the Easter holidays, that is exactly what we are going to do – a whole lot of nothing!
what is a ‘staycation’?
i love planning trips and going on vacation!
i cant believe its seriously that cold there! i could not function!!! ahhh
I’ve never been to Europe, sadly, and I really am no good planning trips in general (I usually have the same questions as you!), so I am really no help at all!
all I can say is, good luck!
oh, and that photo is hilarious. you look like a couple of bandits! hehe
Hi Amber
In high school (6 years ago!) I went to England, France, and Italy. I loved London but it is incredibly expensive so if you’re looking to save money don’t spend a lot of time there. Paris was really nice but I think I was too young to really appreciate it. I would love to go back and give it another chance. Rome was lovely! We did side trips to Pompeii (my favourite place in the world) and Capri and Florence (which was amazing). I don’t really have much advice other than don’t plan too much. All the traveling and sightseeing is exhausting. Have fun planning! I’m so jealous.
Oh, planning trips! So fun! I definitely agree though sometimes the best vacation is one spent in your home : )
Planning trips is my sister’s (http://redsoxcap.blogspot.com) expertise. I’m shocked she hasn’t commented yet. She has traveled all over and helps me a lot with my travel plans (I’m going to Scotland in March to visit a friend who is studying abroad!)
So while I don’t have as much experience as my sister, I can help a bit with question number two! I have been to Florence/Venice, London and all over Ireland. Some things that took my breath away: Venice. just in general, I definitely recommend it (before its gone!). Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, and the Tower of London.
I think once you have some places in mind you want to go, just start Googling. You’ll be amazed all that you can find/learn. And definitely talk to my sister : )
Europe!! The best way to do it is to book the main flight between Canada and somewhere pretty central (I’d say London… not because I’m biased or anything… lol) and then book day trips to other places on other sites. 2 years ago I booked a trip to London through Zoom (you can do Air Canada too), then did inter-Europe flights through European websites – I did Paris and Dublin as well, and almost got to Barelona but didn’t have time! Inter-Europe flights are INSANELY cheap – easyjet.co.uk or ryanair are the two most common ones, and seriously it cost me maybe $30 to get to Paris and $15 to get to Ireland.
Let me know if you need a hand with planning, I love this stuff and I know Europe like the back of my hand!
Haha- I like how my sister was like, why hasn’t Kelly commented yet? haha. HERE I AM!
This is by favorite my favorite thing ever so I am READY to help! If I were you I’d decide a general area you want to stay in. Such as Eastern Europe- Prague, etc. Or Italy/Spain (maybe France in there). Or France, England, Scotland, Ireland area. Then, start from there. I can’t help much with Eastern Europe, but if you decide to go Italy/Spain…I did Rome, Venice and Barcelona and LOVED all three cities. I have also heard great things about the Amalfi Coast but I haven’t been there yet. You could probably do Rome, Venice, Barcelona and Paris in your time frame.
You could also do Paris, London, Edinburgh, and maybe Dublin/some other areas of Ireland in that time. I think either of these two options will work as far as beautiful weather in April/May- though it will be warmer in Italy/Spain area. You may save money staying in that area too since Edinburgh and London use the pound.
I highly recommend tripadvisor.com for looking at what to do when you get somewhere and most importantly, where to stay.
Also, when booking flights between places I recommend easyjet.com
I don’t know much about using frequent flyer miles though. Maybe you could use those to get over to Europe.
E-mail me if you want to chat more about it!
I mostly travel between home and DC – if it’s a family vacay – the parents are in charge of logistics (for now…
) !! I usually look on Expedia for plane tickets (you can also book hotels!) but I’ve heard Kayak.com is pretty cheap too!!
And I thought it was cold here!!!! Bundle up you two!!
I’d love to help you out!! If you need any help just shoot me an email – I LOVE planning trip, or helping out
As for general information… I do a lot of googling and wikipediaing. WHEN I know which country to go to. If you wanted to go to Italy I’d have a BUNCH of info to give you, and April/May would definitely be a great time to go there! Wikipedia also has a special traveling website but I just can’t remember the name!
Although I don’t know how much to tell you because it depends how planned you want it to be. I wanted it to be pretty planned out or else I would’ve stressed out about it! So if you want it planned, think of which country, then which cities (3-4 is a GREAT idea), then start booking hostels. You’ll probably want a train pass (or train tickets, you’ll have to see which is cheapest).
Ok, I totally say Italy. I’d have so many good places for you to go see!! And the FOOD!
I’ve never travelled Europe so don’t have much to add, but my best friend just did a tour of Europe through Contiki which allows you to see a lot of the main sites and atractions in a short amount of time. Good luck planning
I can’t really help much on the travel plans, since my traveling has been almost entirely within the States, but I do find good airfares on travelocity and priceline.
On the staycation though? Yeah….I have a feeling when I pack for my trip home (MONDAY!) I should be leaning more towards the yoga/workout clothes than anything else! And only the winter stuff I need to get to the airport here! WOO! I’m with you on the chocolate thing too…and I did so well over Thanksgiving! GAH!
Your cold weather there is insane! Just sayin…. And here I am complaining about single digit (F) temps. I’ll shut up now.
I have traveled with girlfriends to Europe for a week for three years in a row (next year we aren’t doing anything). We would visit two cities in that week time frame and we often were frazzled with the additional traveling and wished we would have stayed in one city. With that said, try not to fit too many places in…unless of course its a goal to see as many cities and not to see a lot of each city. We would take day tours to surrounding sites to add to our adventure. My FAVORITE place has been Barcelona. I also loved Florence. We saw Paris, which was nice; Madrid, not so nice and Rome, where we were unfortunate to have it rain on us the whole time. In general we liked the smaller, quainter cities. I’ve also been to Germany, big and little cities and again, my favorite memories are while in the little cities.
No matter what you choose, you will have a fantastic time.
I’ve been to London and Paris….they are both fab. If here is a specific place you have ever wanted to go – go there first. Be prepared to walk…a lot. All over for hours. There are so many great things to see and do in Europe. Walking around the city will really show it off too. Check out The Adventures of Jon and Steph – http://adventuresofjonandsteph.blogspot.com/
They live overseas in Europe – they have taken really cool trips. Check it out!
Hiya! That photo of you guys cracked me up – you look like you’re gonna rob a bank!
I love staycations too. And I consider myself something of the queen of staycations – most holidays I prefer to stay at home and totally unwind…. bliss.
LOL soooooooo this sucks that your two are going and we won’t be going with you!!!!! This darn baby business is already adding up some major negatives!!! LMAO JK ;p
That’s so awesome, you two will have a fabulous trip and Steve and I look forward to hopefully joining you two on the next trip!!