Do you make an itinerary for holidays?

[winterpastasalad]

We are budget travellers but try to travel as much as we can so every day counts. I bring a book with me with the itinerary in it and we tend to stick with it. I'd feel we were wasting time (and money) if we just went with the flow. I appreciate this isn't everyone's idea of a good time but just wondered how many other people do it?

Thanks for the replies, glad to see I'm not alone. For me part of the excitement is the preplanning and some times it's even better than the actual holiday and being on a budget means I need to work out the most economical way to do things. Eg this summer there were some day trips advertised (this was in Istanbul) for £35 each. I worked out how to get there ourselves (it was the same ferry the group took) and it cost us £3 each.
We usually only go city holidays and maybe do 1 day out of 14 at the beach, so it works well for us. I'm loving the spreadsheeters! Might do that for this year.

It depends. I am going to Amsterdam for a week soon, and I've booked my ticket for Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum, which was almost the only one still available for the dates I'm there. I've also arranged to meet friends in Delft and Dortmund on particular days, and checked public transport makes it feasible. Other stuff - I've a list of things I might want to do, but keeping flexibility.

This is usually how I do things, especially if I'm planning things in the countryside or at the beach. I'll have checked what days any museums or galleries I'm keen to see are open, and if I need to book in advance, but otherwise, I'll play it by ear, according to weather and energy levels.

But I enjoy the planning, too.

We have a very relaxed plan- where we want to visit/eat, etc
that way, we can book ahead, if need be and we don’t waste valuable holiday time
researching and debating what to do
It is flexible though, so the holiday doesn’t feel too regimated, also if we have a good/bad weather day, we can move things around to suit

I do, including restaurants. I wouldn’t be able to relax otherwise. But we do city breaks so a bit of planning is essential. And I do live my daily life with an itinerary also !

Actually I make a list of things to do and dd picks from them and I work out what we can do on each day eg what’s near each other. Then she researches restaurants and gives me a list and I match them to locations we’ll be near.

i really enjoy this too , as I’ve got older I’ve allowed myself permission to live how I want to rather than worrying I’m being odd!

If we're going on a city break, we make a list of everything we want to do, see what needs pre-booking and then plan one thing for each day.

We then have a list of other things we want to do that might depend on weather and then add those in as we go.

We did this for our recent holiday and it meant we did everything we wanted without feeling rushed. We don't really go on sunshine holidays but if we did, we definitely wouldn't do the same.

No!!! Youre on holiday!

We do chat on the plane there about what we want to do /see. And we generally plan while we are having a leisurely hotel breakfast

@maddy68 its funny because in normal life I'm very relaxed and quite aversive to planning. But on holiday I literally cannot relax if there's gaps. I like to fit in as many things as possible and I really can't relax unless I'm constantly doing something.

I understand

We just decide what we're doing that day when we wake up.
We know what we want to see or do, but we don't plan ahead for it unless it's an organised sightseeing thing which you'd have to book in advance.

NY, Paris, Florida etc yes so much to see/do/tick off the list.

Motorcycle tours throughout Europe, not so much more enjoy the freedom but have destinations picked out.

Beach holiday, never that's a chill & go with the flow holiday.

I live for our holidays and love the researching and planning.

I have a bit of a plan if it's a city break which involves booking tourist attractions which needs doing in advance. Generally just go with the flow though.

It usually. But last year we went to NY for 5 nights so had to plan and book ahead to fit everyone in. It worked well but if it was a beach holiday I wouldn’t plan anything. I’d have an idea of things we’d like to do though.

*NOt usually

For City breaks yes - off to Lyon in the morning and we have restaurants booked and good idea of what sight seeing we will do. Longer holiday - normally just a rough idea unless something needs pre-booking like a particular restaurant or trip. We often book up for things like free walking tours though so some things get penciled in in advance.