How to Plan a Europe Trip: Step-by-Step Travel Planning Guide
There's a specific kind of person who has had a Europe folder on their laptop for three years, flights screenshotted, hotels tabbed, a half-finished spreadsheet that stopped at "Day 4: Florence?" They know the trip they want. They just can't seem to start the one that actually gets booked. If that's you, this is written for you. The question of how to plan a Europe trip doesn’t have a complicated answer, but it does have an order. Skip steps, and you pay for it sometimes literally. Budget and Time: Get Ruthlessly Honest Early Not "I have two weeks of PTO", honest. Actually honest. Factor in the jet lag day you're probably going to lose, the day before departure when you're packing and anxious and useless, and whatever buffer you need on the back end. Many people effectively have 10 real travel days inside a 14-day trip. Plan around that number. Budget next. Western Europe is expensive in a way that sneaks up on you: a coffee in Zurich, a cab i...