It's no secret that I love planning my trips in great detail (God forbid I stay at a hotel that I have not read the review for) although I try to be extremely nonchalant about this habit of mine. This stems from not wanting to annoy whomever I am travelling with or worse not wanting to be perceived as being borderline crazy. I remain normal in all other aspects of life.
And while I don't claim to be an expert, I have picked up a thing or two along the way. And I'm in the mood to share so lucky you.
DIP Travel Tips
Disclaimer: These tips may not work for you as well as they work for me. Please don't take everything you read here too seriously.
1. A little research goes along way. Its good to look up on tourist passes for attractions/transport etc for ultimate savings. Also, find out the best way to purchase said passes as they might not be so readily available or in some cases only available from the airport. However tourist passes might not always work out to be the cheapest option. For example, when I visited Paris I got the tourist pass for the museums but opted for a carnet of metro tickets (pack of 10) instead of the daily metro pass.
2. Remember to also find out the best, cheapest and fastest way to get from the airport (which are often located away from the city centre)to your hotel. This especially critical for Europe where taxis are expensive.
3. Plan your trip. I'm all for being spontaneous and going with the flow BUT planning your trip does help you save both time & money. Its good to have a rough itinerary of things you intend to see & do and a good way to group your proposed activities would be based on location. This avoids having to spend a lot of time travelling to different places which in turn can not only end up making one very tired but cost more. You would think that this would be somewhat common sense but sadly no. I know people who travel all around the city ticking off to dos only to waste a lot of time commuting.
4. While train rides tend to be cheap in Asia, they aren't as cheap in Europe. I haven't fully figured why yet. If you do decide to take a train say from one city to another, check to see if there are cheaper advanced fares online. I did this a number of times in Germany and managed to save quite a bit then if I were to purchase the train ticket from the station itself.
5. When it comes to accommodation, booking.com should be your new best friend. I find the rates on this site tend to be cheap than on agoda.com though both are reliable. Once you have shortlisted a few places to stay at, remember to also check the reviews on tripadvisor. This is a serious must. Photos can be deceiving and its always good to know the proximity of your hotel in relation to attractions, city centre, airport etc. Its worthy noting that these website have a tendency to exaggerate when it comes to advertising how many rooms are still avaible. I wouldn't fret too much.
6. When checking in, there are two critical questions to ask. The first is to find out the wifi password (duh). The second is to find out if there is a supermarket near by. Supermarket are underrated attractions in any new city. Its a great places to get cheap food/snacks/drinks and to just have a browse around. Plus, not all hotels have complimentary water bottles (a growing trend in efforts to be more environmentally friends- bah). Also the alcohol sold here would be obviously cheaper than the hotel mini bar. Tokyo had the best convenient stores!
7. While eating out can be fun, it can also be expensive. Avoid any place thats near a main tourist attraction. Walk two streets away and then turn left. Look for a local eatery which will no doubt be a lot more pocket friendly and serve more authentic food. Rules to live by in Rome especially. You also don't have to eat out every meal of the day. If your hotel stay includes a breakfast buffet than good for you. Otherwise bakery and supermarkets have plenty of cheaper options. Also, opt for a heavy lunch as lunch specials tend to be cheaper than dinner and you can spend the rest of your afternoon walking and working it off. Dinner can be something lighter. Never skip tea though. You deserve that coffee and gelato.
8. Take breaks! If you don't take breaks in winter, you'll freeze. If you don't take breaks in summer, you'll melt. There is no fun in cramming too many visits in a day. Its imperative that a small part of your day is allocated to getting some rest.
9. You don't have to pay for everything. There is usually always a free museum and viewing platform. Google will help you figure it out. If all else fails, there is always the beach.
and lastly
10. Don't be a tourist, be a traveller. You don't have to visit every single site just because some guide book says its a top ten attractions. Visit places and do things that interest you. Don't be afraid to explore and get lost. Even when I visited Barcelona as an architecture student, I spend a lot of time just wondering around Barri Gotic & La Rambla instead of visiting every single Gaudi building. Its a much more exciting experience than waiting in line for some pointless attraction.
oh and one more because I just remembered.
11. Before you even start to plan your trip you have to first decide on the nature of your holiday - to see stuff or to relax. An ideal holiday would combine both although this would also depend on the destination. Its also best to quickly double check with everyone else who is also going on holiday to make sure everyone is on the same page. Had I learnt this earlier, I could have skipped out on a number of family vacations - they never even left the pool!
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