How to Plan Your Own Europe Trip [Employee Edition😉]
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Thinking about going to Europe next year? As the number of visitors are increasing post-pandemic, plus, are you an employee with quite limited day off?👀
Well, you'd better plan it out! Here is some ideas on how to start planning your own (yes your own, not joining the tour agent) trip.
DISCLAIMER: below is based on my last experience, it might not be the most perfect, but I added some points which are learnt through our mistakes!
- Make Sure Your Savings is SAFE
image cr: wirestock Since we are still an employee, please make this item as your number one. Having a trip abroad, is by all accounts not exactly cheap, especially to Europe. Now the question is, how much safe is SAFE? Calculate roughly the basic necessities (visa, flight and accommodation - for Indonesians should be around 20-30 mil IDR for these 3 items) for the trip, and reduce it from your account. If you have at least 6 months (at the minimum) monthly spending rest in your account, then you should be okay! - Going Solo or Group
Palais du Royale, personal document It seems like a little thing, but honestly, a decision to go solo or by group, will put you in a very different plan! Going solo will give you all of the flexibility you want, it includes the schedule, which cities or tourist spots you'd like to visit, etc. Also you need to have extra budget because yeah, there's no one for spend sharing!
But if you choose to have a trip with your bestfriends or family, therefore a group, you will need their cooperation in this! Who really (seriously) want to come? Are they really your 'person'? Going together with your friends, will be much more fun indeed (with all of the sharing - room, foods, moments, etc), but it will give you (and them) more homework especially for the schedule alignment. - Knowing How Many Days to Take.. and When?
image cr: AtlasCompany Speaking of the devil, deciding WHEN will be the D-Day, will be slightly challenging for you guys who choose to fly with a group. If all of the participants are employee, it will double the effort. List all of your available dates and compare it with your dream timeline (favorite season or national holiday period).
Deciding the date, will make a huge impact on your plan. If you want to go during summer break (June - August) or winter holiday (December - January), surely average prices or fees will be more likely expensive compare to other months, because it is the peak season when everyone is on their vacation even for the Europeans! Taking winter trip also will force you to pack smarter, since the clothes need to be warm or thick enough, but sadly the allowed baggage still the same number as in summer's. Midyear would be lovely, nice weather, and colorful dresses, if only not for the crowd! You should consider this if you go with the summer plan. You might want to purchase those premium pass to avoid the queue 👀.
My favorite time is the shoulder seasons! They are what we call a transition period during spring or autumn. Not just less tourists, but also the weather is still comfortable and prices are usually lower.
Having a splendid time in Europe, especially for multi cities, will require you to take leave for at least 10 days or 2 weeks. Less than that? You will be awfully tired due to the hop on and off countries. Unless.. you'd like to visit only 1 city or area. What about more than two weeks? You absolutely CAN! If your employer permit you to do so! Please take note that for those who live far from EU, your flight journey for one-trip only, will eat up a whole day if not two. - Will It be Secure Enough to Take Leave?
Is WFA possible?
Interlaken, personal document Next question of course, does your company give you enough personal leave days? If your employer is still offering WFA (Work From Anywhere), it might be helpful for the 'leave numbers', but if you decide to take WFA, choose it wisely. Because the jetlag is reaaal babyyy and the time difference is far from short! So I'd suggest just take your annual leave chances to really enjoy your vacation time. Therefore, you need to be certain if your future chosen dates will give you enough breath (no urgent or super important project or deadline coming up) without interruption from works! Planning 3-4 months prior should give you enough time to consider (I mean depending on your job...😉). - List All of Your Number One Where-to-Go Cities
image cr: josemiguelsangar via freepik When preparation with your job is (almost) settled, it is time to list all of your city priorities! What country do you want to visit the most? Like, "It's not a complete trip without coming there! It's been my long-time dream to go there!"- kind of thing. It's kind of basic prep to be foundation on your next to-do-list, which is ... - ... Flight Ticket Hunting!
image cr: volody10 The most impacting factor in your whole trip! Finding the right route and fare will be a good start. Fortunately, when you already knew which prioritized cities you'll visit, you can do the 'mix and match' airport and dates better. Important point that might save you the trouble to spend more money on this, be flexible! Do not fixated only on certain airport or flight type. If you want the fastest duration, sure you can go with a direct flight and 5 star airlines. But certainly it will cost more. Try all the airports in your prioritized cities, in your favorite OTA (Online Travel Agencies) websites or directly go to the airline official homepages.
If you have enough time, it'd be better to register to those newsletter from darling airlines or even follow several travel agencies social medias to know when the promotion period start. And do not forget, to always compare fares on OTA with the ones in official pages. Sometimes the airline will offer more and even certain discount that OTA couldn't give. Besides, if you are a frequent flyer, you can redeem those point into class upgrading or just as discounts!
If you need more reference which OTA is better, or where to do the hunting, simply visit here. One more thing, just make sure your flight is already booked when you're going to the next step, that is.. - Viva La Visa
image cr Freepik Visa seems like an important thing, but in actual, people are easy to forget to book the appointment as soon as they can! If flight tickets is the impacting factor, then visa is the final decider whether you can go or not. Please do not start to book very very late or close to your flight dates! As the tourist number is increasing, it would take 2-3 months alone just to get the appointment date! Crazy I know..
But, don't be too prior. As your visa active period usually will be around 6 months. Taking first step as early as 4 months, it should be working. For more details on visa application go check here. - Dear My Superior..
image cr: yanalya Once your visa is approved, it's time to submit that leave! Everything is set, and following your consideration, the time is right to leave the job for a while, talk to your superior and make sure he or she is in a good mood 😉
Do not delay this step, because when something going south, you still have time to do rearrangement! - Scheduling the Cities, for Real This Time!
Main route comparison, personal document Pre-visa is for prioritized cities only, but once you get the green light, it's becoming realer. Time to plan the cities and main routes! Do you only wish to visit one or two cities, or do you want to hop on and off each country boundaries? And according to your flight plan, which city is the first hello and which country should be the last goodbye? And can you make the right route which cover those cities without having to bounce back to previous cities?
For example, if you'll arrive in Amsterdam, and will return from Rome, it'll be better if you consider either going west to Belgium and France, or going east to Germany. You can not do both if you wish some slow travel in a very short of leave period. Or, you can go directly to Switzerland and Italy, just keep in mind that it'll be okay to skip cities among each flight point. - Book Those Airbnbs, Now!
image cr airbnb Okay so your city list is already firm, meaning the next step is finalize where to stay, in short, book the hotel slash airbnb ASAP! And let me tell you when I said ASAP, I really mean it as soon as possible! Reserve the places in prior, let's say, two until one month before the d-day, will save you from trouble of finding nice room with affordable price. You'll get more options!
But how to decide which place is the best stay?
First of all, as a tourist, always, always find which city area is the safest for first-timer, with a simple google search. 'Safe' is defined as, the area is populous enough but not too crowded, and is not red light district. Normally, this category includes near-by convenience store that can provide our daily needs.
Second, make sure the public transportation is accessible and easy to reach. How far is the station? Can I take bus to the front of my hotel? Unless you're planning to rent a car, you should take note of this second item. Trust me, you don't want to walk far with your heavy luggage, on those cobblestone roads!
Third, it is actually a major thing you should check, whether the hotel would allow baggage drop before check-in time or after check-out hour. It will actually reduce your spending cost to rent a locker which of course, a bit pricey.
And last but not least, never skip the reviews! Personally, I'll have my doubts whenever it come to hotel with zero review or less than 4 stars (out of 5). If I want to travel as far as Europe with packed activities to do, I need to make sure my body can have a good rest. - Highlighting the Maps
Google My Maps, personal document Another tips that can be a service to your plan, is highlighting the map for each city you'll visit. If previously you just save those favorite places in Instagram reel or post, transfer them into your own google travel map! It will help you to arrange things to do everyday, without forgetting any spot, especially for the most prized places to go.
Just go directly to this Google My Maps and log in using your Google account. Click 'Create a New Map' button to start. Enter city name and start surfing the places.
Creating My Maps, personal document - Planning the Route Day-to-Day, Mind the Luggage!
image cr: raul mellado Using your highlighted maps, now you can easily plan day by day strolling around. Now spreading around the map, will help you see the places in a bigger view. Go for one area after another instead of jumping around and taking too long transportation time, will absolutely save your energy and time better.
If you are leaving the hotel but still have time to visit one or two spots, as I mentioned earlier, use the baggage drop facility from your place, or, take a look if there's available locker storage near by the attractions. Except you want to go to a shopping mall, which mostly will allow you to bring your own luggage, it will be troublesome having your things all around the city. Imagine you need to move around using subway and there is no elevator.. hmm. And don't forget, in most of European cities, the road is made from cobblestone! - Considering Rail Pass(es)
image cr: eurail Europe has one of the best railway system in the world. As one union in single land, it is so easy to cross countries using train or bus. For you guys who is strict and can commit to the timeline, you can buy point to point as it will be cheaper. But as a first-timer, I strongly recommend using Eurail pass, to get from one country to the next.
Eurail is an all-in-one train ticket, which is giving you most of available train routes in Europe for you to hop on and off. Starting from 196 USD for 4 days access to 718 USD for whole 3 months, they offer so many ticket options, including mobile (electronic) or paper pass, following your needs. The most ideal for 2-weeks trip is either 5 days passes (225 USD) or 7 days passes within 1 month (266 USD).
As a whole day pass, worry no more of getting 'left behind' possibilities. Just hop on to the next board and reschedule your ticket all within your finger snaps. Not just international route, Eurail also give you few discounts for selected local trains or attractions.
Beside this powerful pass, another popular one is Swiss Travel Pass (STP)! By offering 3 up to 15 days pass in full and half fare, STP will give you full access every tourist can dream of! All access to public transportation (train, bus, boat, etc), museum admissions, and several mountain excursions, within selected Switzerland areas. Even in some attractions, you can skip the line just by flashing this pass. - Museum Entries
image cr: Louvre France Another predeparture cost that should be in your list is collecting museum admissions in advance. Not only museums, any attractions that need reservation, better to avoid any 'sold out' ticket and eventually guarantee your seat at selected time. If you are interested in guided tour or fully package entry, you can compare prices from official museum site to travel agencies, like Klook, Traveloka, etc. If you're lucky and look it up to 1 month at the latest, you might get fascinating discount! - Prepare for the Season,
Packing Always Starts Tomorrow
image cr: freepik & getty images, Natalia Kostikova When all of the above items are in your hand, you can start your packing planning too. Wait what? There is a plan for packing too?😩
Well, whether you realized it or not, you are actually planning for your packing, when you are listing all of the important things you should put into your luggage. Since Europe has four seasons, take a note of how much the temperature will be, or how the area is built, will give you an advanced preparation.
Planning to visit on colder months, meaning you should carry your coat or even winter jacket. Don't forget your leather boots or waterproof sneakers if you'd like to visit some snowy areas. Going on summer? Flowery dresses and sunhat are great, but you should consider to pack up a raincoat too! Always do the packing (or the planning..) at latest 1 week (two weeks are preferable!) before your departure, just in case if you need to secure some clothes or other travel kit first.
One of very good advises I got from travel bloggers, is to purchase travel cubes, to help us organizing things inside our luggage! Not only they will help you sort all of those various attires, but also squeeze the baggage space better.
image cr: Pactive on Amazon And when you are flying with national flag carrier flights, don't bother pack your neck pillow. Seriously though, they are already providing seat and pillow, designed for the overnight journey. But, if you fly with a low-cost airlines, you should double check this facility!
Last but not least in the slightest, DO NOT OVERPACKED. Check your luggage allowance, how much can you bring in cabin and checked baggage? Never depart with full weight! Unless you are planning to pay more for additional luggage, always leave the room at least 5-10 kgs or maybe half of the allowed number, for souvenirs, gifts or just new bag, new shoes, you may purchase later!
Okay now that you are 90% ready to go, small things (but great impacts) to do, is obviously, finish those jobs ASAP and happily counting the days! If you have other great things for this Europe trip planning, please share to the class by commenting below. Have a great vacation!
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