I will start by saying that I’m fairly new to the traveling scene and that I’m by no means a travel expert. But I love traveling, therefore I do plenty of research to make the most out of my traveling experiences. And I’m more than happy to share the tidbits I come across that I believe you can benefit from.
On the way to the airport!!
-SECURE THE FLIGHT
So first, Try to secure your flight in and out of the country, for example booking a round trip ticket from Miami to London was the first thing we got on lock.
That way it becomes easier for you to kinda ”fill in the blank” your trip with the different country/city stops you may choose.
Note: avoid doing a lot of back and forth between countries to save on time and money.
Plane rides, my favorite!!
That’s how our itinerary was set up:
-Miami to London
-London to Paris
-Paris to Nice
-Nice to London
-London back to Miami
Our small but cozy bedroom hotel in Paris.
Note: We ended up doing a flight to Paris but taking the train is also a great idea when traveling between adjacent European countries. Eurostar is the most popular and offers discounts on museums and other activities, and it can also be cheaper, but book early because if you wait too long the prices go up at almost the 400s. For the brave of heart, Eurostar has a different site that you can check for very cheap train tickets. The catch is that they will be the ones giving your train departure time, the site is EuroSnap .Definitely worth the try, considering the prices.
-BE ON THE LOOKOUT
To find cheaper prices for the flights you kinda have to always check. The best times to check are late at night, they reduce the prices a bit. Crazy but true, try it out.
And sign up for alerts as much as you can to get notified via email if the price goes up or down. The ones we used most were Expedia and google flights, but you can also try Hopper or Scott cheap flights (which offers crazy amazing airfare prices but you just have to be ready to leave at any time a deal comes up).
-MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME
When booking your flights or train rides, try your best to schedule as early or late as you can to maximize your time there and be aware of the time difference.
Like in our case we booked our flight to London late in the evening. With the time difference when we arrived it was morning so we were able to catch a nap and still have some time to do plenty of activities on our first day. For when we were going to Monaco we booked a very early flight in order for us not to lose an entire day traveling. We had time to take a very nice scenic drive to Monaco, visit the hotel we are staying at, and take an afternoon stroll after a nap. So plan accordingly and smart to maximize your time at your dream destination.
Familiarizing yourself with the public transportation system of the city you are headed to is a good idea. Trust me, Uber isn’t always the best way to go. Next time we head to London or Paris, we will for sure use public transportation more. And don’t worry about looking weird or awkward pulling your luggage around, Paris and London are heavily touristic cities, so you’ll be surprised by how many “luggage buddies” you come across. But always stay vigilant with your belongings.
What I found that was super helpful was doing this. After you secure your flights, hotels and some activities go on google maps and look up the distance between the places you’ll go. That’s how I was able to fit in going to Saint-Aymes after our Bus Tour. The last stop was just a few minutes walk to the cafe.
So plan your days as much as you can, even if you don’t know exactly what you’ll be doing put it in as free time and look up restaurants, parks that are in your surroundings that you can check out.
Back to “Filling in the blank”, make a list and confirm all the sites, restaurants you know you want to check out for sure and fill the blank spaces/free time with other easy access things for you to do. You travel all this way to be here you gotta make the most of your time!
Do let me know if you have more questions I’ll be more than happy to answer them for you and thank you for stopping by and reading.
XOXO!
