When planning a trip, you need to know what to expect and where to go when you arrive. Making a day to day itinerary is a necessity that will make your vacation much more enjoyable. Leaving your hotel with a tourist map in hand leads to wasted time and that’s not something that is advisable for maximizing your time. Does this mean you’ll have no flexibility or free time? Absolutely not. You can plan your day to be as busy as you wish. At the end of this section, I will post an example itinerary, like the ones that will be available in our eBook.
When looking for tours in Italy and elsewhere, the first place I look is Take Walks. We booked 7 tours with them while in Italy and each guide was very knowledgable and really enhanced the experiences we had.
When planning your itinerary there are several things you need to keep in mind:
- Make a rough itinerary first, then go back and fine tune it.
- Is this the only time we will be here? If so, then visit the major attractions and leave time to wander around some of the minor areas for later in the evening.
- Maximize your sightseeing by hitting everything in a particular area.
- Plan accordingly for meal times so you aren’t rushed.
- Don’t run from one end of a city to the other, stay in one general area at a time.
- Pick a hotel that is the midst of several attractions.
- Pick tours that grant skip the line access.
- Use Google Maps to star Attractions, Restaurants, and your Hotel.
To see an example of an itinerary you may view our Rome Itinerary. This is what we did the first day we arrived in Rome since we had half a day to wander around.
Use Google Maps to your advantage. Bookmark attractions, restaurants, bars, and other places to see when you are in a specific area. I’ve made a quick Google Maps guide.
Make sure your days are organized. It helps to know what you are doing day to day for many reasons. How to dress, how long you’ll be away from the hotel, etc. For some tips, look at my quick itinerary guide.