Trip Itinerary template
Planning is key to successfully achieving your goals, making the process less stressful and chaotic. A detailed trip itinerary may take the burden of “what to do now?” from your shoulders. You will feel safer in an unfamiliar place, and all the tourist possibilities and attractions will be already known.
When going on a trip, what is your main goal? Relaxation? See as many new places as possible? Visit as many local restaurants as possible? Or standing in the middle of a crowded street, puzzled and frustrated? We doubt someone dreams about the last option, but if you don’t plan before starting your trip, it’s a highly possible outcome.
Everyone would prefer to skip the boring part (planning) and go straight to the good one – traveling. However, it will be much harder to enjoy your trip when you don’t know what your second step will be.
A trip itinerary template makes the planning process even easier. All you need to do when using one is research your destination and add the relevant information. Once you start your trip, the only thing you will need to question yourself will be: “Am I getting enough fun, or can I do better?”
Whether you need an Italy trip itinerary, a Portugal trip itinerary, or even a Patagonia trip itinerary, the xTiles Trip Itinerary template will help you create the best plan for your journey with no missing points and no breaches.
What is a trip itinerary?
A trip itinerary is a very detailed plan of your trip with all the necessary details and important information added. It’s a document to help you handle your trip’s technical aspects without effort.
Many people believe that it’s not necessary to plan beforehand because trips are supposed to be about fun and spontaneous decisions. These two don’t cancel each other out. On the contrary, improvising is much safer when you have a detailed plan.
Another popular misconception is that not all journeys need an itinerary. Of course, you will need an Alaska trip itinerary because it might be quite dangerous and extreme, but who will need a New England road trip itinerary? Well, the same people.
A trip itinerary is about supporting you, not keeping you in a cage of “must” and “don’t”. It won’t spoil your trip if created according to your goals and abilities.
Who may need a detailed trip itinerary?
A trip itinerary template may become a useful tool for anyone about to start their journey, whether they are going to eat pizza and drink Aperol Spritz in Italy or discover the South American jungles with a machete in their hand.
First-time tourists
People who have traveled before probably know how hard it may be for someone unprepared. There are so many details that might be missed, so many threats to avoid, etc. But those who have never left their city or country might not know how to act in different situations.
A trip itinerary planner helps you prepare yourself mentally and physically. You will have a step-by-step plan for the whole trip sparing your stress and anxiety. Additionally, it’s much easier to plan when sitting on your sofa, drinking coffee, and having zero anxiety about what to do next.
Those who travel with friends / family / kids / groups
When the success of your trip depends not only on you, everything becomes even more difficult, especially if there are kids involved. If you’re trying to organize a great trip for your family or your class, a tip itinerary template with all the necessary information, schedule, phone numbers, etc., distributed to everyone is a must. It’s advisable to have it saved on your phone and printed in case your battery is dead.
People who organize trips for tourist groups for a living
Organizing trips for different groups of tourists all the time is a huge responsibility because you need to make sure everyone is safe and having, if not the best time of their life, then at least is not bored to death. A trip itinerary template may become a part of your working routine, making planning and preparation easier and shorter.
Also, if there’s a list of regular trips you or your company organize, you may create the necessary plans once and only add/change the needed details every time.
People who are determined to get the maximum out of their trip
The less time you have for your trip, the harder it will be to enjoy, feel the incredible atmosphere of the place, and visit as many interesting places as you want. The constant urge to manage everything all at once might ruin your vacation. A detailed trip itinerary template prepared beforehand helps you stay organized and saves you from torments of choice regarding where to go and what to see.
How to create a trip itinerary that will work for you?
You may find a lot of ready-to-use Europe trip itineraries, road trip itineraries, Iceland trip itineraries, etc., on the internet. If you don’t like planning and researching, it may be quite alluring to use one. However, in this case, your trip might not bring you the satisfaction you seek.
You may use other people’s trip plans for insights and interesting ideas to create your own.
The first thing you need to know before you sit down and start planning your trip is that it’s a part of your journey too, and it can be fun and exciting. Consider planning a destination point, the first phase of your trip.
The xTiles Trip Itinerary Template is an easy-to-fill and easy-to-navigate tool with all the information and details regarding your trip. Additionally, it’s easy-adjustable so your trip specific needs and aspects won’t be neglected.
A trip itinerary template is a lot about bureaucracy and technical details of your trip. It handles all the boring stuff so that you can have fun. It’s always better to determine and think of such details while you’re still preparing for your trip and not when you’re on a plane about to fly.
Now, let’s create your future trip itinerary that will become your compass once you pack your suitcases or backpack and leave your house.
Determine your travel dates
If you have a regular job from 9 to 5, you may need to sort everything out with your colleagues or boss before you can go on a trip. If you’re a freelancer, there will be fewer factors to determine your departure dates.
It’s important to figure out the day of your departure/arrival and an hour. For example, your flight is late at night or very early in the morning. You will have to come to the airport in the evening and wait for the whole night.
Another point to consider before buying tickets is your arrival time. Suppose your plane arrives late at night or early in the morning, and the airport is far from the city. You will have to wait till morning for the first bus or take a taxi which might be expensive.
You may check for some tips and tricks and important factors to consider on buying plane tickets and choosing your desired destination in our blog post on how to plan an unforgettable trip.
Research your destination
It’s important to learn about your destination as much as you can. Thankfully, today it’s enough to go on Youtube and watch for yourself what may be interesting and what definitely won’t amuse you.
If you’re after the most popular tourist destination, be ready that 95% of other tourists will be there too. For example, if “taking a photo near the Trevi fountain in Rome” or “recreating a scene in the Trevi fountain from Fellini’s Dolce Vita” is on your Italy trip itinerary, it may be better to come very early in the morning while no one is there.
That’s why you may choose places that showcase the incredible vibe of the country/city you’re visiting, but they remain undiscovered by tourists yet. In this case, your research may take a bit longer. You will need to spend more time watching videos, reading guides, looking for locals who talk about their cities on social media, etc.
You may add as many places to visit as you wish to your plan using the xTiles trip itinerary template. You may create sub-documents for each to put all the necessary and worthy information.
Choose your top attractions
Based on your research, create a list of places you want to visit the most. You should be ready that you may not have enough time to visit and enjoy all of them.
However, time goes differently when you’re on a trip. Probably, a hot Italian or Portuguese summer sun or chilly wind of Iceland can magically slow it down. That’s why we recommend creating two lists. One for the places you must visit and one for the places you may visit if there’s enough time or you by any chance are somewhere nearby.
You may save all the good places and attractions while surfing the internet using the xTiles Web Clipper if there’s still some time before your departure. Sometimes, it’s easier to find something really worth your attention when idly scrolling through your social media than deliberately searching.
Organize your itinerary
Once you have your lists, organize them in a logical order. Look at your desired attractions and group them accordingly to their locations. If you aren’t a big fan of public transportation, you may choose only those you can reach by foot. Or you may divide a city into sections and devote one or two days, depending on how huge it is, to each of them.
When organizing your trip itinerary, leave room for unexpected discoveries and wishes. For example, you’re heading to the museum, but you see a great local restaurant along the way. You decide it will be a sin not to visit it while you’re here because you don’t plan to return to this part of the city. Assign a bit more time for each activity than you may need, especially when planning transportation since it’s the thing that depends on you the least.
The xTiles Trip Itinerary offers you to schedule your trip according to days and destinations. Just use the traditional system you use for your weekly or daily planner.
Consider transportation
Transportation, whether we speak about rental cars, public transportation, or walking directions, is an important part of any trip. We already said that it depends on many factors, and you on this list of factors are somewhere nearer the end, but if you miss your bus or train, it might spoil the whole plan.
That’s why you need to carefully put all the data from your tickets into your trip itinerary. Include small details such as where the bus stops too to have everything in handy.
Take care of your leisure while on a bus or train. It may take hours to get from one place to another, and landscapes behind your window might become pretty monotonous after some forty minutes of staring. A book or a pre-downloaded film or tv series would be great. Or you can always learn more about the place you’re going to while commuting.
Also, it’s advisable to have a backup time-spending plan in case you need to wait for something.
The xTiles Trip Itinerary template has separate sections for each transportation with the ability to add your tickets, so you will have them handy.
Plan your meals
That step is especially important if you have some dietary restrictions or you’re going to a country where local cuisine is far from what you’re used to.
Look for restaurants and cafes near your hotel or hostel and your attractions so you won’t be hungry. That step is optional if you’re about to try all the street food you can put your hands on. However, you still need to find reputable street food restaurants to avoid food poisoning or digestive problems.
For your research, you may use Google Maps and check the reviews. We also recommend checking the cafe’s social media to ensure everything is as they promise. Please, remember to look at their tags and mentions. Thousands of subscribers and pretty pictures might be elusive and indicate the good work of their SMM teams, and you need to know that their cooks work great too.
You may add the restaurants you want to visit to your attractions section when using the xTiles Trip Itinerary template or create a separate section to have everything divided and organized.
Book accommodations
Once you plan your trip, you can choose your accommodation. There are many options to save money on hotels, like CouchSurfing. However, if you’re not ready to be a guest of an entirely strange person, you can find many economical options, like hostels or Airbnb.
Before booking your room, look at the city’s map and see how far it will be from your main planned activities. Keep in mind that not all cities have great public transportation systems. What is worse, each city has its own system, so it might take you a few days before you get accustomed to it and learn how to use it to your advantage.
That’s why it’s better to make your accommodations a great starting point for your daily outings, saving time for something more enjoyable than the metro or buses. Be ready to spend some time looking for an option that suits you well.
The longer you stay somewhere, the more comfort you will need. Accommodation for a few days might be less comfortable, especially if you’re out most of the time.
Review and adjust
Finally, put your itinerary aside for a couple of days. You won’t be able to see its hardships just after you’ve finished it. You may also show it to someone you rely on or someone who is a tough traveler to ask for advice.
Review it and check whether all the information is correct. You won’t have time later to solve puzzles.
If you prepare a trip itinerary for other people, be ready to check and double-check everything. You may easily guess what you wanted to say, while others will likely not know your way of thinking.
Have a nice trip!
Now that everything is planned and pre-discovered, you can safely depart. Without constantly worrying about where to stay, where to eat, how to get to another destination, where you have saved your tickets, etc., you can freely enjoy everything your trip and the places you visit can offer you.
Whether creating a good-old Europe trip itinerary or a Grand Canyon trip itinerary to gain new experiences, a ready-to-use trip itinerary template will make the whole planning easier.
