Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Poll: How do you do your research?
I freely admit that I'm a bit of a slacker. I don't really plan trips, instead I tend to just book a ticket and a hotel and figure almost everything out once I get wherever I'm going. However, I'm trying to broaden my horizons a bit and branch out.
For those who obsessively plan, what do you do? How do you go about researching a place? If you have a general idea of where you want to go (like the country or region) where do you go to for information to narrow it down? Travel books (if so do you actually read the whole thing?)? Blogs? Trip Advisor?
Re: Poll: How do you do your research?
Travel guidebooks and TripAdvisor.
I usually start by reading up on the city/country, then figuring out a general sense of what I want to do while I'm there (e.g. in Barcelona I knew that I wanted to see the Sangrada Familia and Las Ramblas).
Then I skim through travel guidebooks and tab what looks interesting (e.g. in Barcelona I didn't know that I wanted to go on a cava tour until I read the guidebook) - Lonely Planet is my favorite but it doesn't have enough photos for my husband.
Then I go to TripAdvisor.com for recommendations on hotels that are either 1) close to the things I want to see, 2) in the center of the city or 3) highly recommended and close to transportation.
Then once the trip gets closer I read the guidebook for restaurant recommendations and compare them with reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor.
If it's a long trip with multiple cities I tend to create a shared spreadsheet in Google Docs so that we can keep track of "must sees" and any tour or restaurant reservations.
I hope this helps!
Oh my gosh....I could write a novel on how I plan!
We start off with a basic idea of what we want in the vacation. It is usually a turn-taking between my husband and I. I prefer unique foreign countries and he prefers US soil. We've done quite a few tropical vacations and agreed that the next would be different, so we went with Alaska.
Then I start researching high travel times, availability, and weather. If there are certain things we'd like to see/do, I make note of when they are available. I research festivals or events that might be nearby.
Like PP said, I spend a lot of time on TripAdvisor reading reviews on every hotel. For our last trip to Hawaii, we needed to be near a certain building, so I made a map of all decent hotels in the area with prices, reviews, start ratings, etc.
My husband likes to make lists of all restaurants in the area that have been on the Food Networks: Driver's, Dine-in, and Dives. We hit as many as we can.
I search Kayak.com to compare travel prices and start making lists of the best I find. I usually spend a few months watching prices to really know what a good price drop might look like.
I watch TravelZoo for specials.
I'll usually pick up a travel book for the area. I'll skim it before the trip, fully read it on the plane, and keep it with us on the trip.
I also have a few apps on my phone that have helped once we are on the trip - Yelp, maps, translators, etc.
It really depends on what you like to do on vacation. We really care about food, so I spend a lot of time researching that. I also really care about getting the best deal possible, so I obsess over finding the best price possible.
If it were up to my husband, he'd book in 3 minutes and be done with it.
I started planning more when I was DX'd with MS so I could figure out the easiest way from A to B. Planning's even more iportant now that we have DS.
Basically I establish where most of the stuff I want to do is then book a hotel there after checking out reviews on Tripadvisor or Expedia. Then I check out Yelp or local blogs or whatever to figure out what sight, restaurants, cafes or whatever I want to go to.
It depends on the type of trip, how much time I have, what I want to get out of it.
Usually I start with a lonely planet to get some sort of framework. I'll likely fill in tripadvisor details. If it's food I'm travelling for, I'll check out chowhound.
But, often I just show up, after having done enough research to stay in the right location, and ask locally for advice.
I still do a fair amount of this. I always have good intentions to have things planned before I leave home, but I often find that going on a whim and figuring it out when we get there is when we see, do and experience the best things.
I usually start with Lonely Planet and/or Rick Steves and Trip Advisor (particularly the forums, not the lists of things to do) and see what the "must sees" are for each place, decide whether we can or can't live without them, and then leave some time to wander and explore on our own.
Sometimes if I feel like TA and LP aren't particularly helpful, I'll just google for images of the country/city and see what looks interesting and then research from there.
I also have an ENORMOUS pile of Budget Travel and Conde Nast here that I use when I have the patience to go flip back through them.
Depends on where we are going. Until DH got downsized we flew stand by which isnt always the best way to travel if you like to plan down to the minute. Our travel plans always included multiple trip routes (plans A-D) for both the outgoing and return flights.
The only country where we actually planned every single day was Croatia and that was because we had such a short time and wanted to see multiple things.
We use travel books, online resources and friends suggestions. We never plan any meals; we dont eat fancy when we are overseas and like to just grab stuff on the go. Our last trip to London consisted of breakfast at the hotel every day, a snack while we were out and then sandwiches and cheese back in the room for dinner. I think we managed to eat for under USD$25 per day for the 2 of us.
I have a trip to Germany coming up this fall and I am dreading the planning stage. I will be forced to plan out almost every day of the trip and I will be on a very tight schedule some days....but I know it will be worth it! The things us crazy fans do for our favorite musicians
I definitely fit in the category of obsessive planner! I literally have lists and lists of countries I want to visit/trip ideas. I am actually in the process of combining all of these lists into one master list on my computer. Under each country/trip I am interested in visiting is a list of the places I want to see/things I want to do on each particular trip. Every time I hear of something new or different that I am interested in I add it to my list.
In general though, I usually have an idea of where we are going over the next 18 months, sometimes longer. Obviously these plans can change (and frequently do) but since we book many of our airline tickets using frequent flier miles, most of our trips are decided upon 10-11 months in advance. Planning in advance also enables me to visit a locale at its "best or most desirable time" in terms of weather and crowds.
Once I know for certain that we are going somewhere and the airfare is booked, I immediately begin researching accommodations and usually book within a few days or weeks of purchasing the airfare. Like many others, Trip Advisor is frequently used for this purpose but I do sometimes check hotel reviews on Yelp and sometimes take a peek at whatever guidebook I am using for the trip.
Speaking of guidebooks, once the hotel and airfare have been finalized, I then consult my guidebook (Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, Moon Handbooks, & Eyewitness are my favs) to see if there is anything in particular that needs to be booked well in advance (i.e. tickets to the Last Supper in Milan, tour of the White House in DC, etc). I make note of the recommended deadline on my calendar. The actual planning of the daily itinerary/restaurants doesn't usually occur until 1-2 months prior to the trip. For this I consult my guidebooks, Trip Advisor (forums & attraction listings), Rick Steves travel forums, Lonely Planet website, Moon Handbook website, and travel blogs. Additionally, I refer back to my master list to see if there is anything in particular I had written down for the trip/region I am visiting. I also like to look at the UNESCO World Heritage List and 1000 Places to See Before You Die to see if I have missed something important.
For me personally, when I go on intensive sightseeing-oriented vacations (i.e. Europe) I love having a daily itinerary. I like to wake up and know exactly where we are going, how to get there, what it's going to cost us, etc. I don't want to have to think and stress about these things while on vacation and I definitely don't want to miss something important due to poor planning or not researching enough ahead of time. I've also done vacations where I have absolutely no solid plans and while I can appreciate certain aspects of traveling in that manner, I personally prefer to do all of the research prior.
TripAdvisor
Blogs
Online guidebooks - Lonely Planet is good for general info, but for actual activity ideas I've been using Moon Guides lately because I like their style
That said, I plan because I enjoy myself more when I have a plan. I've tried to be the cool, relaxed traveler and end up feeling bored and like I'm not getting the most out of my trips. I don't think my way is objectively better, just better for me, so if you're happy with your way then there's no reason to start planning more!
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I have to be super organized with work so when I go on vacations I try not to plan hardly anything. We pick dates, we find flights, and we book a hotel, then take it easy and decide what to do when we get there with maybe a few excursions planned.
It was completely different when we decided to do a roadtrip in Europe a couple years ago. We had 2400 miles to go in 8 days so we had to plan every detail right down to the hour, but also plan for delays since we were driving.
First we chose the stopping points and there were lots of them on the way to each destination, then we chose the route to get there. There were a lot of back roads that H wanted to take so we had to make sure there was time for it. We used and printed a bunch of google maps to map out where we planned to stop. Then broke the map down into individual days and wrote out an itinerary with times. I had 20 pages of maps, directions, and itineraries once I was done lol. Then we booked our flight and hotels and used trip advisor to help us decide which one.
It was a lot of fun, but we were so tired for going non stop for 8 days that by the time we got back we slept an entire day. We're taking another big vacation this fall, but this time all we're doing is booking the hotel, flights, and a couple excursions. The rest will happen when we get there.
I'm a hardcore planner. I do leave blocks of time on any trip to allow for spontaneity (for example, have plans for the morning but nothing in the afternoon), and I usually don't go as far as picking out restaurants. However, I really do like to have a firm idea of what I want to do and a basic itinerary - it makes me enjoy the trip more. My husband is decidedly not a planner, but now he really likes when I do an itinerary for our trips.
I am constantly reading travel magazines, blogs, etc. to get ideas for trips. I have an entire backlog of trip ideas. When I come up with a location, I do some Internet research on frommers and tripadvisor. When I'm sure of the location, I get a travel guide (I like Frommers, Lonely Planet, Rough Guide) and start coming up with dates, things I want to do, etc. I definitely use tripadvisor for lodging (almost always find a small hotel, b&b, or rental). I book the airfare first, usually relatively early (I set up a fare alert on kayak). I continue reading about the location leading up to the trip. I also try to get a book just about the history/culture of a place - I've found this really enhances sightseeing.
I keep a "notebook" in a Google Doc with links to articles about places I might visit someday, so I will review any links I have saved there.
I like to use frommers.com to get a general overview, because they post a lot of their content on the website. I can get an idea of must-see attractions, suggested itineraries, etc.
Once I've booked something, I'll usually buy a guidebook. I like the DK EyeWitness guides for browsing and looking for things that look interesting. I don't read them cover-to-cover, but I skim them looking for things that jump out as particularly interesting (I'll read more details once I'm into detailed planning - often once I'm already at the location).
If I'm considering an entire country and want to choose an area to focus on, I'll usually use skim the EyeWitness guide looking for areas that are particularly interesting. I had a similar photo-heavy guide for China that I would skim to find destinations for short trips.
For more remote destinations, where I need help figuring out how to get around (e.g. bus routes, train info, etc) I'll usually buy a LonelyPlanet book instead. But they're definitely not easy to skim. I usually find another way to determine a rough itinerary and then use the LP for logistics.
In some cases like Western Australia that don't get a lot of coverage from traditional sources, I've used the official tourism sites to get ideas.
If I have particular questions about a place, I might do a general internet search, and for more off-the-beaten track destinations I might ask on Thorntree (the Lonely Planet forums). For info on small unusual destinations (like cruise ports in unusual places), I'll browse VirtualTourist because it's usually not worth paying for a whole guidebook that only has one paragraph about the random town I'll be in. For slightly bigger one-day destinations, I've started buying digital chapters from the LonelyPlanet website, so I can buy only the part of the book I need.
I use TripAdvisor only for researching hotels.
Destination research: Frommers.com, Lonely Planet, top-rated travel books (such as: Revealed for Hawaii or Rick Steves for Europe).
Hotel/restaurant/attraction reviews: TripAdvisor and Expedia (for hotels)
Booking/prices: Kayak, Expedia
I do it different every time, but I have done one or more of the following:
Looking at the place's tourist board website
Flip through travel books (mostly to look at pictures)
Do a general blog search, wiki-search, then go into a clicking on links frenzy until I find something that interests me. This one works great for me.
Read a book that's set in that place (or watch a movie)
Look at a travel book's website (frommers, lonely planet, rick steves)
Read suggested itineraries on websites
Wait until I get there and see what people at a restaurant/hotel suggest
Wait until I get there, take a 2-3 hour bus or walking tour and see what interests me
Wait until I get there and just walk around until something pops up. Usually with this option it's more of a city place where I have some idea of what's there and I might use a hotel map and stuff at the hotel to help guide me
I rarely use tripadvisor for anything more than hotel reviews, but I've heard good things