How to plan a city break
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Planning a Short City Break Abroad
Dreaming of a quick getaway but feeling overwhelmed by the planning process? Fear not, this blogpost guide will equip you with the essential steps to plan and book your perfect short city break.Step 1: Setting the Groundwork
My first step will vary depending on a couple of variables;
Dates/Duration:
- Ideally, have some wiggle room with travel dates to snag the best deals. However, acknowledge limitations due to work schedules or family commitments.
- Could you be flexible with your trip duration? Could you stay an extra night if the flights align or do you need to be back for a certain date? At this stage I’ll make note of the dates I can / can’t do. Typically, flights are most affordable well in advance (when the flights are first released), however, it has been known for flight prices to drop nearer to the travel time when airlines have flash sales (such as RyanAir last minute deals or EasyJet Big Orange Flights).
- Let's use a recent trip to Iceland with my family as an illustration. Due to everyone's schedules, we had a two-week window for travel dates. This became our starting point for planning.
- Open to exploring new places or have a specific city in mind?
- I love exploring new places and at this stage it’s good to consider if your end destination is fixed and there’s a particular place you want to visit, or if you want to find the best deal.Knowing this will guide your research.
- Be realistic about how much you're comfortable spending on flights, accommodation, and activities.
Step 2: Be Flight Savvy
Before jumping into booking my flights and accommodation, or holiday package, I will always start by looking at flights.
- Using Google Flights (Incognito Mode, Declining Cookies), explore flight options and airlines for your chosen dates.
- Explore Multiple Airports: Consider flying out of various airports near you for potentially better deals.
- Filter and Refine: Narrow down your search by selecting non-stop flights within your budget.
- Create a Dates Matrix: Create a spreadsheet listing all outbound and inbound flights within your desired dates and their cost. This allows you to easily compare flight combinations and airlines for best value for money for the number of days at the destination. Alternatively, you can use alternative Tools such as Kayak or Skyscanner for additional comparisons and make a note of the best deals.
Step 3: Compare Accommodation Options
At this stage, I would then use Expedia (or Booking.com or Hotels.com) and AirBnB and put in the dates that correspond with the best value flights, and assess the price of hotels / self-catered accommodation options.
- Accommodation Websites: Use platforms like Expedia, Booking.com, or Hotels.com to explore hotels based on your desired dates and flight information.
- Filters: Refine your search by star rating, customer reviews, and proximity to city centre to get a sense of pricing and make a note of this for the next step.
Step 4: Package Deals vs. DIY Booking
For me, I tend to find it most cost effective to book my flights and accommodation separately, but I’ll always take a look at the airline I’d found the best flights with to see how much their equivalent package costs.
- Independent Booking: You may often find it cheaper to book flights and accommodation separately.
- Package Deals: Consider package deals offered by airlines, especially if they include luggage allowances. Compare these deals to the separate costs of flights with your desired baggage.
Step 5: Securing Your Trip:
Depending on which you’ve found to be best value, it’s now time to book (or time to wait)
- Flight Booking: Use Google Flights' historical price charts to judge if the current price is a good deal. Track prices if you're flexible or book directly with the airline for the best rates. Depending on how the price sits against the average, I will choose to either track the flight prices to see if they’ll come down, or bite the bullet and book.
- Accommodation / Package Booking: Always book through cashback sites to earn money back on your trip.
- Discounts: Look for discount codes like student offers or seasonal promotions. Check app prices; some companies offer better deals for booking through their app.
Step 6: Crafting the Ideal Itinerary
Once I’ve finalised my flights and accommodation, I’ll spend some time researching my destination of choice and saving any key sights or food and drink recommendations into a list of Google Maps.
Gathering Inspiration:
- Google Maps' Explore Page
- Blogs discovered via Pinterest, Instagram, or TikTok
- City-specific guidebooks, such as Lonely Planet
Mapping Your Adventure:
- Google Maps: Save key sights, food, and drink recommendations to a list within Google Maps.
- Google My Maps: Once my Google Maps list is full of the key sites, I will transfer these destinations into Google My Maps (different to Google Maps) in order to optimise my sightseeing plans.
- Day-by-Day Planning: Using the different layers in Google My Maps, group sights by location to minimise unnecessary back-and-forth travel.
- Digital Access: Retain your itinerary within Google My Maps for easy reference during your trip.
- Printable Backup: Consider exporting your itinerary to Google Sheets or a Word document for offline access.
- Price up excursions: On your list on Google Sheets, use Google to search for each of your planned sites and make a note of the cost (if any) in both local currency and £ to help you to budget for your trip.
- Pre-book popular excursions: For sites that are most popular, pre-book using a card that won’t charge you extra (e.g Monzo) so that you won’t miss out and have to queue when youre there.
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