The Travel Itinerary

The travel itinerary is a detailed outline of your vacation activities.


The travel itinerary:

1) prioritizes your sightseeing activities

2) outlines how you will spend your time each day

3) creates efficiencies in how your time and money is spent

Travel Information Sources

Some of the travel information sources you will utilize include:

1) the internet

2) travel guide books

3) travel magazines

4) newspaper articles

5) talking with people who have been to your destination

Review the information sources that most closely resemble the manner in which you will travel (budget travel, luxury travel, backpacking etc).

You brainstormed this already. Review your answers from the DREAM VACATION BRAINSTORMING page.

Next, utilize the remaining material. While it may not reflect the manner in which you will travel, there is still plenty of useful material to gleen.

Organize the Material

Use the guidebook format for organizing your material. Guidebooks usually divide a country into regions – which are in turn divided into cities and towns. These natural divisions can form the basis for organizing your information.

Now, go to the computer and type your material into a word processing file or use the Gusto website.

For each city/town, numerically list the sights and activities of interest to you (entertainment, dining, shopping etc.)

If you come across a sight that is outside a city or town, place it with the nearest town.

For each sight, list the following:

1) the name and address

2) directions for how to get there

3) the days and hours of operation

4) the admission price and other identifiable costs

5) any other information of interest to you

Despite your best efforts the above details are sometimes subject to change without notice. This is one of the limitations of a travel itinerary.

Look for Commonality Between Sights

Taking advantage of points of commonality between sights and activities can improve the efficiency of how your time and money are spent.

If possible, cluster the sights for each city/town by:

1) days/times when the sights are closed - avoid disappointment by planning something else on these days

2) sights that are near each other - visit these on the same day trip - avoid wasting time by having to return on another day

3) sights that have free admission on the same day - save money by visiting these sights on that free day

4) sights covered by the same discount pass (Hint: go to the internet and type and the name of the city and the words “visitor pass” i.e. “Philadelphia visitors pass”)

5) any other point of commonality that is advantageous to you

Set Your Sightseeing Budget

Later you will be developing a travel budget. Tabulate the individual sightseeing costs along with their sum total for later use.

If several sights are covered by one sightseeing pass, record the cost of the sightseeing pass, not the admissions to each individual sight.

Continue to Refine Your Travel Itinerary

At this point you have developed a very rough travel itinerary. You will continue to refine it as your planning progresses. This may involve adding or deleting cities, sights or activities as required.



Maps

Now, look for maps in your travel books. Guidebooks will often contain maps of the cities or towns that you will visit.

Copy these maps and use them when you travel. Use them to locate the sights of interest.

When you locate the sights on the map, use a highlighter pen to mark them.

North American maps may be found at this website.

Look for subway map for various cities here.

Use the highlighter pen to mark those subway stations near the sights of interest to you.

Chapter 2 of Turn Your Dream Vacation Into Reality: A Game Plan for Seeing the World the Way You Want to See It outlines in far greater detail how how to develop your travel itinerary.

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