How to plan your itinerary?

Best way to prepare an itinerary is to keep an eye out for happenings and reviews for a particular destination – social media platforms, news sites, generative AI chatbots and travel platforms.

One of the most common dilemmas you are likely to face while travelling is whether you should actually plan an itinerary or just be spontaneous. Although spontaneous travel is liberating, you would need a broad plan, if not for anything but for getting your travel visa approved seamlessly. 

So, how does one plan an itinerary?

First, decide on how many days you can afford to spend at a destination. Take into account distances, size of a destination and travel time. You cannot tick off everything a place has to offer in two days, so being selective helps. On the other hand, if you have four or five days, you could indulge in some slow travel.

Broadly list out the key sights of a destination. Don’t pick every monument or museum, park or palace – instead, ask yourself what you seek from a destination. If your interest is history, you certainly would like to visit museums and monuments. If you are a nature lover, make sure that a national park or a forest trek features on your list. 

Check for museum, gallery and event timings and plan your visit around the spot. 

Keep an eye out for happenings and reviews for a particular destination – social media platforms, news sites, generative AI chatbots and travel platforms are buzzing with information and reviews about a particular cafe, an entertainment hub or a market.

There are plenty of user-generated reviews, and even ready-to-use itineraries on online travel planning sites. You could have conversations with other users who will offer tips on how to build an itinerary for a particular destination.

Use apps tailor-made to build itineraries or use note taking apps that can store your calendar, links to spots in a city, and maps that are available offline as well.

Once you have a broad list for a specific city ready, you could divide the city into smaller sections, and combine all the attractions and things to do in one section for a time slot. Say you are planning a trip to Jaipur – combine all the sights around the City Palace and try to have a meal in the same area as well. Head to Amber Palace and the sights nearby at a separate time or day.

Last but not the least, allow for some free spaces on your calendar to just stroll around or revisit a favourite spot, sit at a cafe or by a lake. 

(Toolbox is a column that gives you simple hacks to plan your travel better.)