How to Plan Your Dream Trip to Europe: A Step-By-Step Guide

How to Plan Your Dream Trip in Europe: A Step-by-Step Guide

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So you’ve decided that you are ready to plan a trip of a lifetime. Well, you’ve decided that this is something you really want to do, but you’re not sure how or where to start. It is all so exciting, yet daunting. How do you pick out the best and most affordable flights? How do you find the right accommodations for you? How do you plan a trip to multiple countries? How do you figure out transportation once you’re there? How about navigating through all of the different languages? And planning things to do?! The list seems to go on and on and on.

There are many steps to planning a trip, but like many things, once you break it down, it really is attainable. With the right mindset, creating and taking actionable steps, you will be on your way to living your best life :). You can create your dream travel experiences. Most of the steps I will share work hand in hand with each other. For example, the length of your trip will likely determine the how long you stay in each location (if you decide to go to multiple), which can determine where you go, which can determine your budget, and vice versa. I hope this guide can make the planning process a little easier for you, and a little less daunting. We will start with the big picture, and get more and more specific! Here are the 10 steps to help you plan your dream trip!

1. Mindset: Believe, Dream, Plan!

Beliving in your dream is very important in going after any dream, no matter how big or small it may seem. If your lucky enough to have people around you that have experienced what you want to experience or believe that it is possible and attainable, you likely have a mindset that it is possible and that you will live this dream. On the other hand, for some, it is hard to imagine that their dream vacation is a possibility. If you have any limiting beliefs from yourself or others, it may be worth reflecting on them. What are these limiting, negative beliefs that you have? Where are they coming from?

With some reflecting, you will have a clearer picture of what your limiting beliefs are and how to navigate them. I know I had a lot of fears before planning my trip backpacking Europe for two-months. Some were valid, to me, and others were just stories and fears that weren’t helping me get to my goals. I needed to change my mindset and believe that I could do this and that this was going to be an experience I was going to have in my life. And with actionable steps, it did :).

One of the most important things I did for myself at the planning stage of my trip was to surround myself with positive and inspiring quotes—maybe this isn’t your thing but it definitely helped me. Do what helps you feel inspired. Seeing the encouraging words everyday helped me to remember that this was my dream, and that I was going to attain it. I used a daily planner that helped me to reflect on my goals and plan out the necessary steps to attain it. This planner truly helped me do this The Happiness Planner (there are many inspiring planners out there, but this is my favorite for goal setting, it was an investment, but worth it for me!). One of the quotes that really helped me was:

The Happiness Planner

This is so true. If you take anything from this article, this quote would be a very important one. I looked at this quote daily on the refrigerator for months, and also wrote it in my planner for January 2019 when I started planning my trip. It helped me to keep the big picture in perspective so that I wouldn’t get lost in the details of planning. It was all for a dream, and a dream that I was going to live. So, surround yourself with positive beliefs, start believing it, learn and prepare, plan, follow the steps to creating your dream adventure, and live it!

2. Get clear on your dream

Okay, you have the mindset ready to achieve your dreams. Now, get clear on exactly what your dream is. First, start with the big picture and set no limitations on yourself and dream big! This is the fun part :). For example, save inspirational pictures that bring you joy to your Pinterest of places you want to go on this trip and experiences you want to have. Make a vision board. Again, do what inspires you! Get as specific and clear as you can about your dream travel experience.

Start off with the big picture, for example, you might say: “My dream is to go to England”

Get more specific, for example, where you want to visit in England: “I want to walk around London and explore the city”

Where else do you want to go in England? How do you want to feel? “I also want to experience the countryside of England in a cottage and feel like I am in a movie”

What do you want to do in England? “I want to learn about history in England”

How are you going to do that? “I am going to go on walking tours in London”

This turns into a clearer vision and you can add more to it as you get more and more specific: “My dream is to go to England, explore the city of London and go on walking tours to learn about history. I am going to experience the countryside staying at a cottage, away from the city. Then, I will explore York and visit the Shambles. I want to do this over the course of 2 weeks and spend about 1 week in the city and 4 days at a cottage and 3 days in York.”

Now, you can plan how you are getting to England, where you will stay for 6 nights in London, 3 nights in the countryside, and 2 nights in York. Then, you can plan activities in each city. A walking tour of different parts of London each day, a very quaint and relaxed experience in the English Countryside, and wandering around York and visiting chocolate shops, for example. This is a reflection of what you want out of your trip. And, if your going on an extensive trip, you can do this for different parts of your trip and start with the big picture: “My dream is to go on a backpacking trip through Europe for 2 months, and visit England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, etc.” And the types of experiences you want in each place. This is a great way to get clear on what you want to do and experience by breaking it down!

York, England

3. Location, location, location

There are so many options! How do you even choose? Well, you might already know exactly where you want to go. Deciding your must see locations will be helpful in planning the rest of your trip. These are the places you’ve dreamt of visiting ever since you could remember or places you’ve been really wanting to go recently and can’t stop thinking about. These are the places that you know you want to visit without much thought: If you could visit any part of the world, where would it be? Many people will have a quick answer without much hesitation. These are their “must” see locations. Then, you can decide based on your budget, time of year, how long you can stay, if the must see location is where you are going to go on this trip that you are planning now, or if there is another place that seems to fit better after doing more research.

Once you know how long your trip is going to be, you can pick and choose if there are any other places that look interesting to you, that are close to where you will be going. Make it the best trip for you. For my 2-month trip in Europe, I had about 6 countries I definitely wanted to go to prior to my trip, others I was interested in, and some that I was curious about. I stayed the longest in places I had always wanted to visit (a few weeks at a time), and spent shorter times in the other locations. I even went to some places I was curious about, because why not, I was so close! This worked for me, as I was able to visit places I may not have other wise and learn loads. It opened my eyes to new places that I would want to spend longer times in for my next trip too :).

Florence, Italy

4. Time: How long is your trip going to be?

How long do you want your trip to be? Do you want it to be a short get-away? Do you want it to be extensive? Do you want it to be somewhere in between? It’s really what you want out of your trip! As noted above, this will determine how long you stay in each location (if you go to more than one). Your experience will also be shaped by the length of your trip. Do you want to add some homestays in your trip? Do you want to explore cities and rural countrysides? The length of time you choose for your trip will also coincide with how much you are comfortable with budgeting for and spending. The more time you spend on vacation, the more you are probably spending, and the less income you are making (unless you set up some passive income sources!).

5. Experience: What do you want out of your trip?

Okay, so you know where you want to go, ideas of other places you might want to go on this trip, and how long you want it to be, and a general idea of what kind of general experience you want to have. Now, what do you really want from this trip? What do you hope to get out of this? Why are you doing this? Is it for relaxation? To learn about the history and other cultures? Expand your perspectives? Challenge yourself? To meet and learn from the locals? Meet other travelers? Learn more about yourself? Empowerment? To just be and experience life and be a free-spirit? Some of the above? All of the above?

We all have different reasons why we want to travel. It’s actually a really great way to get to know people hearing about where they choose to visit and why. It’s so interesting to hear their answers and what is important to them. That is one of my favorite things about traveling. Everyone has their own reasons, dreams, and experiences. Everyone is different, and there’s still so much to connect on. You can learn so much about yourself and others.

So, you get to choose what you want this experience to be. For example, you might be interested in doing a homestay for a portion of your trip for an authentic experience and meeting and learning from locals (you can read my blog post about a homestay experience I had in the South of France if you are interested). Get clear on what kind of experience you would like to have so that you can pick the activities during your trip that will give you the exact experience that you want :).

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

6. Flights: Get those tickets 🙂

Now on to the details. Time to get your plane tickets. After doing some research, you know where you want to go. If you are going to multiple locations, do you know where you want to start your trip? Do you want to fly home from the same airport or a different one? Round-trip vs. several one-way tickets, there are many options.

For example, I wanted to fly into England, because that was a place I had always wanted to go to, and I knew I’d spend at least 2 weeks there. It was also a English-speaking country, which would help me ease into the trip. I chose to get a one-way ticket to England, because I wanted to fly out of Iceland at the end of my trip. Make sure to have transportation out of the country you are flying into and research regulations regarding this wherever you go. Have a copy of all the places you are going to, accommodation wise and flights and transportation for this too.

Sea-Tac, Norwegian Air

It is very possible to get affordable flights, and that is a whole nother topic. There are budget airlines in Europe if you are visiting multiple countries (some even cheaper than trains). For example, Dublin to Paris cost under $30 for me (seriously). A few airlines I flew on were RyanAir, Vueling, and WizzAir. There are affordable tickets through Norwegian Air and Iceland Air for tickets from America to Europe and vice versa, from my experience. I flew to London for under $200 on Norweigian and flew back to the states on Iceland Air for about $400 (check out their Iceland Stopover packages too!). I thought I’d be paying above $700 just for a one-way ticket to London, but with lots of research and setting budget goals, I came in well-under.

I would start planning and researching flights and flight prices as soon as you know you want to go on this trip. There are many websites to do this, and I used Google Flights. You can check the prices and once you see a great deal, go for it. The more flexible you are with what dates you can leave and come back, the more room there is for possible better ticket prices. I bought my tickets around the later winter months, for tickets in spring/summer.

7. Accommodation

Where will you stay? This depends on your budget, the experience you want, and the kinds of places you want to stay in. There are so many options nowadays from hotels, hostels (Hostelworld), Airbnb, homestays, etc. I would also talk to your friends and family. You never know if you have family or friends that have recommendations for a stay or know someone (who knows someone, who knows someone) that loves hosting in the country you are visiting. Hotels are going to get expensive quick. If you can afford it and that is how you want to experience your trip, then that is great! Everyone has a different budget. It’s all personal preferences too. There are pros and cons to different accommodations, but make sure you are safe and feel safe wherever you are. Do your research and read reviews online, find out from others who have stayed at places before you. You can also gauge what the place might be like by the receptionists or customer service even before your trip. Some places I stayed in had great reviews and were great. Some places I have stayed in had amazing reviews, but the actual stay was not good. Some I even changed accommodations. Do your research and stay safe: always have extra funds just in case you don’t feel great if you get there, and need to change accommodation or upgrade. Give yourself the option and flexibility to change accommodations if needed.

If you are on a budget, airbnbs can cost as much as some hostels. Some places I stayed in were really nice and I had the whole guesthouse to myself. In regard to hostels, I stayed in all-female rooms.  It was nice because it made it easy to make friends. I stayed in rooms where it was just 2 people, and the largest that I stayed in was 16 in Venice, Italy. Check out Hostel World for hostels, that is mostly what I used (also check individual hostel websites before booking, just in case they have a better refund policy or are cheaper).

Airbnb Guesthouse in Glasgow, Scotland

8. Other Transportation

How are you going to get from the airport to your accommodation? From your accommodation to all of your fun activities that you planned? Research transportation methods prior to your trip, and be flexible about also learning as you go. I used the Eurail Pass (I got the 1 month 7 day pass, you have to purchase this prior to your trip and get it mailed to you) and budget flights for most of my two-month trip or I walked—a lot :). I only used a taxi once (when I was in a rural area with no other way to get to the airport). Taxis can get pretty expensive, and trains in Europe make it very convenient to travel. There’s also great bus companies! I used FlixBus a few times, which was affordable, and had wifi and comfy seats (sometimes better than trains, especially if you are relying on wifi for communication/data). If you do not use a Eurail Pass, you can purchase single tickets prior to the day of your transportation (alot of times this will be cheaper). I used LNER to purchase train tickets in the UK, and I used Omio to purchase tickets in other countries when I was not using the Eurail Pass.

Transportation within the countries was one of the aspects of traveling I was most concerned/confused about prior to my trip. It all worked out, and I figured it out. Ask lots of questions to the transportation employees at train stations if needed, it will save you a lot of time, and they are there to help. And, ask a few. If you ask a person (traveler or local), ask others too and make sure it’s the same answer. Stay smart, vigilant, and safe.

9. Itinerary

Taking everything above into account, decide what you want to do day to day and week to week, whatever your timeline is. Honestly, most of the things I did during my trip I decided once I got there. There were some things I preplanned like tickets to the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, or paid-tours that required reservations (but even this, by pre-planned I mean a few days in advance—maybe I got lucky). For example, if you want to visit museums, see if there are any times of the week or month that admission is free. Or, if you are on a budget, find free-walking tours. They are very informative and fun, just remember to tip them at the end :). I used Strawberry Walking Tours and Sandeman. Your itinerary will be very personal to you! I am usually a planner, but for my trip, I just wanted to explore and be. I didn’t want to stress out about planning every little thing (it is important to plan where you are going to sleep, transportation, etc. though) or spend money on a bunch of activities. Being there and exploring was exactly what I wanted. I also like to just have a whole day to explore places without a plan, so I would give myself days for that too. I loved it :).

10. Write it down

Now that you have all of these ideas, write it down into your planner, calendar, notebook, whatever you would like. I started with scratch paper, then transferred it to my Happiness Planner, which was perfect for planning this trip. I wrote in where I wanted to be in the timeframe that I gave myself, and wrote down the accommodations, and what my budget was for each day. It made it easy to have a snapshot of my plans. And it was so exciting to see it all written down!

11. Make sure you have everything you need

Make sure you have everything you need for the type of trip you are creating. If you are planning a trip to Europe, you might find my blog post about what to pack backpacking through Europe helpful. Have all of your ducks in a row, and also remember, it doesn’t have to be “perfect”—whatever that means. Do your best, and let yourself learn and grow along the way. Be flexible and kind to yourself, you are embarking on a new journey :).

12. Go live it

Okay, you have the mindset to live out your dreams, you know where you are going, how long you will be going for, how you are getting around, and the types of experiences you want to have. Now, go live it! Be safe, have fun, and enjoy every single moment. I am so excited for you. Please share your experiences with me! I would love to hear about the trips you are planning, your dream trips, and how your trips went!

Venice, Italy

Enjoy your trip!!!

Live Wonder Freely,

Megan