Itinerary is crucial to determine which places you will visit, what transportation you’d use, and what activities you’d do on your trip. Making itinerary might be not very exciting for some of you, but actually it really helps you to plan your activities and discover any places you want to come by –especially when you have never known about it– so I can say it’s challenging yet fun.
To be honest I partly agree with let’s-see-what-happens-there idea for your trip, but I still think that itinerary is needed. Without planning, you will waste a lot of time on trivial stuff that you could have easily done at home then you end up missing a lot of great things.
Based on my experiences listing any idea to arrange an itinerary, there’re some important things to consider plus the explanation on each points.
Where are you going?
Are you visiting one city or more than two cities? If you want to visit more than two cities, of course it requires more work but trust me, itinerary is going to help you a lot especially to arrange your time on the road. Then is it still in your country or abroad? Make sure you check your passport and its expiration date also visa requirements (if needed).
How many days you will spend in your destination?
Three days, seven days, or two weeks? More days, more activities to do, more places to visit.
How many persons will be going with you?
(If you do solo traveling, you can skip this question)
Is it just 2-3 persons, more than 5, or even 20 persons? Make sure you talk about the itinerary with your travel companions. Ask about what places they want to look up, what activities they want to do, then you can combine your plan with them. Also, don’t forget to list their preferences during trip, decide what kind of transportation to use, and choose the best accommodation for your group. It’s very important to do this since every single person has different views and wants. Don’t let your trip get ruined by conflicts that happen among you and your traveling partners.
Are they your friends, parents, or siblings? Are they at the same age, older, or younger than you? I’d say this will affect your plan because age does matter to your stamina. Taking vacation with friends won’t be the same as your trip with parents. You can plan lots of places to visit, but when it comes to your parents, their stamina probably isn’t as strong as yours anymore. It also applies to kids, they can be irritable easily if they’re exhausted, so be more careful to arrange your plan. Related to this, I categorize some plans based on the intensity of your trip: ambitious, moderate, and relaxed.
- Ambitious: I call it ambitious if you have so many things to do in your schedule and you don’t want to waste your time. As the result you only have little time to rest. I think it’s suitable for you who have short trip but you want to visit lots of places.
- Moderate: Time to do activities, visit some places, take a rest, and spend your spare time are balanced.
- Relaxed: From its name, it’s obvious that you really take your trip so easy. You still have list of places to visit but you don’t want to rush anything. Your schedule is flexible due to condition at that time. If you travel with kids or parents, this kind of intensity seems perfect for you.
By airplane, car, bus, train, ship, or even motorcycle, you decide. In your itinerary, write down the airplane, bus, ship, or train schedule along with the code. You don’t need to check the ticket back and forth only to see the code. Just check on your itinerary and everything goes well.
Where are you going to stay?
Is it hotel, hostel, friend’s house, or a room you rent from Airbnb? It really depends on your budget. I suggest you to choose place to stay that is close to train or bus station. Choosing accommodation near a mini market is also recommended. Don’t forget to write down the full address and phone number on your itinerary!
What places you are going to visit?
This is the exciting part! You need to list this categories:
- Places that on your top priority. You’re having this trip because you want to see those places so bad. No excuse to cancel this!
- Places you want to visit. Maybe you want to go there because of curiosity or recommendation from a friend.
- Places you think they’re least important. If you cancel visiting them, no need to worry. This part is more flexible especially when you change your mind because of something more interesting you find there.
What activities you will do in your destination?
Related to no. 7, there must be any activities you must do and cannot be moved to other day; for example, you’ve bought concert ticket of your favorite band or ticket to visit an amusement park. It will be your priority, the rest of it will depend on location you visit that day and the length from one place to another.
What transportation you’d use in your destination?
You can use local public transportation like MRT, bus, or taxi. If the local transportation has interesting rate package for tourist, you better check it and maybe buy it in order to save money. For example, I bought 3 days pass for MRT and bus in Singapore only for $20 (plus deposit $10 that will be returned), and it really saved my money and time. I didn't have to refill the prepaid card every time; just tap and you're okay to go.
Rented car or motorcycle is a good choice if you move a lot around the city and the transportation system doesn’t support your needs.
Rented car or motorcycle is a good choice if you move a lot around the city and the transportation system doesn’t support your needs.
How long it takes to move from one place to another?
Remember, always count how much time you will need to take any transportation from one checkpoint to other. Don’t forget to check the schedule on the nearest train or bus station.
In addition, always bring the map of your destinations and route map of its public transportation. Nowadays you can rely on any mobile applications that provide the route or map you need, but I think the manual one is still very useful; if your cellphone runs out of battery and you need to see the map, don’t panic!
That is the example of my itinerary to Singapore last year. I know it wasn’t too perfect but after many trips I had, I’ve learnt lots of thing about making itinerary and having an awesome trip.
Itinerary is a guidance for you to determine which places to see or what activities to do during your trip. You have better chance not to waste your time because you already arrange all things based on your needs, but of course you're allowed to do something beyond your schedule; well, always be spontaneous!
Enjoy your vacation!
