7 Travel Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your Holiday
Today I thought I would round up some of my favourite travel tips into one post, so if you fancy a trip this year, then hopefully these suggestions will make it as affordable and fun as possible. As with anything travel related as it stands, please check the government guidelines for the UK and whichever country you are travelling to.
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Read Blogs and Articles
One of my top travel tips for planning a trip abroad, whether you know where you’re going or not, is to have a look on other people’s blogs for inspiration, especially if you have a place in mind. You can find travel blogs from searching phrases on Pinterest, or a couple of my favourites are The Travel Hack and Twin Perspectives. Blogs are a great way to get tips off other travellers and suggestions of other places to visit which may not have been on your list and are usually the most up to date.
One of my favourite websites to get recommendations from is Time Out. They have an extensive list of countries and places where they round up all of their recommendations and a lot of them are off the beaten track, which is one of my favourite ways to explore. Another website which is great is Trip Scout, which I only discovered on my latest trip to Sweden.
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Google Maps
One of the things I’ve done in the past couple of years is utilised Google Maps more when I’ve found places I want to visit – usually bars and restaurants, let’s be honest! The process is easy: simply find somewhere you want to go on the map, hold down the red pin, and save. You can start a new map just for your trip, and so when it comes to planning your days, you can see which places are close together and do them all in one go.
Not only is Google Maps great for saving places you want to visit, but it’s also really good for getting you from A to B on public transport. I solely use this now when getting trams, buses, and undergrounds as it has live information on when the next one is, and how long a journey may take on different forms of transport.
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Go Off Season
I love an autumn winter trip, and always try and plan at least one for January to have something to look forward to after Christmas. Although Europe can be cold in winter, my view is that the UK is too – so why not discover somewhere new off season? Just remember your thermals!
The great thing about going a bit more off season too is that you usually get cheaper flights as there is less demand so airlines want to make it as appealing as possible to get away. Furthermore, travelling midweek rather than the weekend is usually a way to save money.
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Attraction & Entry Cards
We were incredibly lucky that when we visited Sweden back in January, we were offered their ‘Key of Honour’ card from the Stockholm tourist board, which meant that we could get into a lot of museums for free and get discounts on restaurants, cafes, and organised tours.
What I would suggest doing before a trip is to check out the local tourist board’s website to see if they have any offers going on attraction cards or travel cards and see what sights they encourage you to see as the price is normally less than purchasing entry into lots of different places.
It also usually pays off to buy these before you go, as you sometimes get a discount on the prices when you purchase online, so definitely something to investigate before you travel.
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Travel Cards
The next of my travel tips is if you plan on using the public transport when you’re away, then I would suggest looking into getting a travel card for the duration of your trip. It’s usually easy enough to find the information online, but don’t be afraid to ask at the information points in stations too.
Now that we’re coming out of the pandemic, I’ve found a lot more countries are utilising apps and QR code tickets more and more. Buying a ticket for 24/48/72 hours will usually be the cheaper option too if you plan on doing a few trips instead of purchasing single trips.
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Walk, Scoot, Cycle
Saying that, there is no better way to see a city than by walking everywhere! I’m a big fan of walking in general and this is by far my favourite way to get accustomed with a new city and discover the places off the beaten track.
European cities are usually set up for walkers, cyclists and electric scooters, with their own lanes away from the traffic, so if this is more your jam, then it’s a perfect way to get around.
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Flight Sales
I would 100% suggest that signing up to newsletters from airlines is a great way to hear about their latest offers when it comes to flight sales, which can make a huge difference when booking a trip.
When we booked Stockholm, it was on Black Friday, meaning the flights were 241, and set us back only £16, so it pays to think about when the upcoming holidays are – Easter, May bank holidays, Christmas and New Year are always ones that bring with them some great deals.
Not only should you sign up to newsletters, but I would say follow them on social media in case there is some sort of flash sale.
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And there you have my 7 travel tips to make your planning as seamless as possible. I hope these help and I’d love to hear whether you use any of them for your next trip!