How to plan your road trip in 6 steps
1. Decide where to go!
What is there to plan if you’re staying at home? Nothing. If you already had a place in mind, then go on to the next step. If not, I’ve got plenty of beautiful holiday destinations that I’d recommend. What about camping on the beach in Australia? Or do you want a more active week away in the mountains in Europe?
2. Set up your timeline
Every destination comes with a best time to visit. If you search for ‘Japan’ in google, you see quite a few photos with cherry blossoms. But you wouldn’t be the first one to go there with that expectation and then get completely disappointed because it’s not the right season. So, think about: seasons, rainfall, closure of national parks, prices of flight tickets, cultural celebrations, etc.
Don’t make the mistake I once almost made! I saw tickets to the North of Norway for less than €40, and wanted to book straight away (obviously!). Then I did some more research and found that the city had polar nights where the sun doesn’t rise during that period…
How much time are you going away for?
This is completely up to you and is depending on how much time you can get off work, your budget, the places you want to visit, homesickness, etc. If you’re unsure of how much time you would need to visit a place, check some itineraries online. They don’t only give you the most popular or interesting spots, but often also tell you how much time you should spend there. Useful!
3. How are you traveling around?
Do you have your own vehicle? Or are you renting one? Or is it easier, faster, and cheaper to take flights? Is it safe to take a taxi in the country you’re going to? What is the most common type of transport for that destination? These are all questions to consider and think about when you’re deciding on how to travel.
4. Your itinerary
Make an itinerary for your roadtrip with all the locations you want to visit. There are multiple sources that you could use for inspiration: Instagram, Youtube, travel blogs, google maps, Polarsteps, and travel books. Search the destination and pick what you like to do or see: castles, beaches, mountains, hiking trails, etc.
In my opinion, the best source for tips are always the locals or others that have been there frequently. They guide you to less populated places, the places that are less hyped up on social media, that are off the beaten track and can completely surprise you!
If you’re detailed planner like me, you might want to use the 'roadtrip-planner' template at the top of this page. It gives you an overview of your whole trip, including travel times, activities, budget, accommodations etc.
5. Make bookings
Now that you’ve made your overview of the roadtrip, you can schedule the things that need a booking in advance. It’s not necessary to book everything already (unless you want to). For example, you might want to wait with booking that guided hike. If you have two free days, you can decide closer to the dates which day has the best weather forecast for your activity. Or if you want to be a little more flexible in how many days you want to spend in a city, then leave the accommodation as something to book that day.
But keep in mind that popular activities and destinations are often fully booked! So, book the activities/accommodations that are otherwise full, and you don’t want to miss out on.
6. Have fun!
Planning and living towards a holiday are already part of the holiday happiness! Getting excited to finally go to your dream destination is the best feeling!
Last tip! If you’re travelling with a van, there are amazing apps that show you free parking spots, and the amenities on that location. This is the ‘park4night’-app for Europe and ‘CamperMate’ for Australia.
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