Though it may seems an easy & boring task but makes quite a lot of difference in the end when it comes to trip planning, especially when you are planning to visit Europe. Talking from my personal experience, it becomes overwhelming decision to zero down places you want to visit in Europe. You just have too many options here and gets complicated when you think more. There are 27 countries in Europe!
Try not to be greedy
In order to make it simple, first think you need to understand is that you will never going to cover everything in a single trip, keep that in mind! It is important. I did the same mistake and still end up realising that there was a lot that couldn't explore and that's normal. Every traveller like you and me have this feeling getting maximum out of a trip but sometimes that doesn't work out that well.
Also, you need to first understand what are your options. If you are closer to Europe then travelling becomes easier and short trips can be convenient. However, if you are staying far away from Europe (residing in Asia or US) then you need to see how many days you can spend in Europe (Is it a week, month or couple of months?). If its just a week then you may want to restrict your trip to max. 3-4 cities/places since you want to ensure that you are exploring enough in each city. Cities you visit again depends on your personal preferences whether you want to cover all cities from a single country or main cities (like capitals) of 3-4 nearby countries.
Budget
You need to look at how much budget you have for the trip and how much you are willing to spend over your vacation. That will determine your accommodations, mode of transportation and activities/attractions you want to experience. For e.g. eastern European countries (Austria, Hungary, etc.) would be cheaper compared to central or western countries (Switzerland, France, etc.) within Europe. If you plan your trip better you can enjoy more spending less money!
Accommodation
Accommodation is one of the most important part of your trip planning since it represents majority of your travel cost. Definition of a best accommodation would be different for different people. Some people look for comfort in terms of its accessibility to local attractions or train/tram stations while others look for indoor facilities like breakfast buffet, gyms, swimming pools and sports area. People like me look for most cheaper options with lots of free perks like community area to hangout with other travellers, free wifi, free coffee machine and free guidance from receptionist on things to do nearby!
Depending on your stay preferences you can choose to stay in premium hotels, hostels or service apartments too. Websites like Hostelworld gives you some great cheap stay options where most of the things (washroom, kitchen, washing machines, dryers) are shared except your sleeping room. Such hostels are highly professional and gives you enough privacy since all the tenants respect the protocols. Websites like hotels or agoda would give you thousands of hotel options starting from cheaper till premium ones. Another popular option is to stay at a home with locals who are hosting travellers throughout the year. Websites like Airbnb or Couchsurfing would provide you with such options.
Transportation
While choosing the sequence in which you would be visiting the cities, there comes a point of understanding modes of transport available between them and how long does it take through each mode. If you chose cities from same country then you would have plenty of options including trains, buses, flights and even private rented cars. If you are an optimistic traveller like me who wants to visit more countries with a city each in them then trains/flights would be better option compared to buses. Again, your budget and purpose of trip (road trip or budget trip) would influence your choice of transport options.
When it comes to intracity transportation then most of the European countries offer quite similar options including Trams, Trains, Buses, Taxis, etc.
Activities
Next thing you need to consider is what are you planning to do after reaching Europe? for e.g. Are you looking for skiing spots? or want to just relax and get tanned over a beach or simply want to explore the local food? or someone like me who wants to explore art galleries and museums of Europe? This will help you decide which cities will provide you with that kind of options.
Luggage
Depending on number of days and type of cities you would be visiting in Europe, you will need to choose your luggage wisely. As a rule of thumb, it always makes it convenient if you travel lighter with minimal luggage. Obviously, I am speaking from personal experience here. I had gone on a 2-month trip with lots of luggage that almost broke my back! So trust me, choosing how many cloths you would carry will make hell lot of difference in your travel journey experience. In short, always carry only a bag!
Hope this post was useful for you. Either ways, please share your comments and let me know how do you plan your trips?! Happy travelling!
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