Planning a trip to Europe can be a really daunting
task for first-timers from picking where to go and finding flights to choosing hotels and building
itineraries - it's all a lot of stress but don't worry I'm here to make it easy today I'm going to
be walking you through step by step how to plan your own trip to Europe Hi I'm Christina from
happytowander.com I've been traveling around Europe for the past 10 years and my goal on this
channel is to help you travel Europe smarter so let's walk
you through the step-by-step process
of planning your own dream trip to Europe This is going to be a pretty long video but hopefully
by the end of it you'll have all the tools and resources that you need to plan your own trip and
stick around till the end and I'll even give you a free workbook that helps you do exactly
that Alright so step one is understanding the Schengen Zone Before we can talk about visas
and entry requirements and all that you need to understand what the Schengen Zone
is so a lot of
people assume that in Europe it's all border free travel but that's actually not the case in all
countries and the whole travel without borders thing only actually applies to a certain zone
known as the Schengen Zone granted this is a huge group covering 27 countries but it doesn't include
all the countries in Europe so a few notable exceptions include the UK Ireland Bulgaria Romania
and a lot of countries in the Balkan region as of 2023 these are the countries that belong to
the
Schengen zone so as you can see it comprises a lot of the countries that a lot of first-time visitors
will be visiting but it's important that you know that distinction practically speaking with the
Schengen Zone it essentially means that if you stay within this zone of countries you're not
going to need to go through passport control every single time you cross the border an important
note is a lot of people confuse the Schengen Zone with the EU and even though there is a lot
of over
lap they're actually not the same thing so there are a lot of EU countries that are part
of the Schengen Zone and some non-EU countries that are part of it as well so just keep that in
mind that they're not the same now the reason it's important to know this distinction is because that
can impact which visas you apply for if you need to apply for a visa and it also impacts how long
you can stay in each of the countries that you're visiting For more clarifications and examples I
have written
a full guide to the Schengen Zone and you can find it on my website now after you
wrap your head around that one we're going to move on to step number two which is how long you're
actually going to be spending in Europe and this is a really important question to ask yourself
honestly my first independent trip around Europe I spent about six weeks and that felt like barely
enough I would honestly recommend a 10-day minimum if you're coming from overseas just because
you have to make that je
t lag worth it but of course it really depends on how many vacation
days you have to work with and don't worry if you even have just a week to spend in Europe I
actually have a video coming out in two weeks time covering 40 different one-week itineraries
for Europe so be sure to subscribe for that of course choosing how long you're going to spend
in Europe really depends on a lot of personal factors so I'll leave that up to you the one
thing that I will say is it is important to keep in min
d the time restrictions that you have
on how long you're allowed to be in Europe many non-EU passport holders are restricted to only
90 days within 180 days when you're visiting the Schengen area and all the non-Schengen countries
actually have their own specific rules on how long you're allowed to stay so if you're smart about
it and you actually wanted to spend longer than 90 days in Europe what you could do is spend 90
days in the Schengen Zone and then spend more time outside of the Sch
engen Zone and then you
don't overstay any of your allowances and you're golden now after you figured out how much time you
have to play with you get to decide the really fun stuff where you're gonna go so I know that Europe
looks really small on a map but it's important to keep in mind that it's a very varied continent
with a lot to see a really high density of sites meaning that you're not probably going to be able
to see every single thing that you want to see in just a single trip so a
lot of first-time visitors
really assume that they're going to be able to do this they're like oh I'm gonna go to Europe
I'm going to cover the whole continent because everything is super close together and yes things
are a lot closer together than cities in North America for example but it still does take time to
travel between countries so my advice to you is to really just pick a few destinations and not try
to overcram your itinerary I remember when I was planning my first backpacking t
rip in Europe and I
planned the itinerary after like a few glasses of wine and I looked at it the next day and realized
it made no sense because I was trying to go to way too many places and it just didn't add up but
for shorter trips what I would really recommend is you just pick one or two countries and explore
them more thoroughly rather than trying to cover a whole bunch of destinations in one go but how
can you decide where you want to go so first of all again cheap plug I do have 40 p
lus different
itineraries for one week in Europe so you can browse out on my website you can also look on my
website for all the different places I visited and can recommend of course you probably have a
lot of places saved on your bucket list as well usually when I start planning for a trip I'll hop
onto TikTok or on Instagram, browse on Pinterest, kind of get some ideas and just shortlist a few
destinations now after you've picked where you want to go the next step is to apply for visas
and figure out any documents that you might need for your Europe trip I of course can't give
specific advice unless you're Canadian because that's what I am and entry requirements do vary
based on where you're from or what passport you have if you are Canadian however and I believe
the rules are the same if you're from the US or from Australia you do not need a visa to enter
the Schengen Zone you're allowed to enter without applying for any Visa beforehand that said
as of 2023 you do need s
omething called an ETIAS which stands for European Travel Information
and Authorization System form which is a very quick thing that you can do online you pay a small
fee but that's not the same thing as applying for a visa don't worry visas take a lot longer to
apply for and it's just generally a more stressful process but the ETIAS is not that difficult now
the best resource for finding out which visas you need is your own government's website okay
when you're Googling things be sure to s
eek out only official sources because I found that when
you search up visa requirements and things like that you often find a lot of third-party websites
that are just trying to persuade you to purchasing their services so the first step is to find your
official government website and they can detail all the different requirements that there are for
entering different countries with your passport now moving on to step five the exciting stuff is
time to book your flights to Europe now before
we go into the step by step something I definitely
consider getting is a travel friendly credit card before booking your big trip just because you
are probably going to be spending quite a bit of money on your flights and on your hotels
and just general spending so it really makes sense to have a credit card that rewards you
for your spending because you're going to be spending that money anyway so you might as well
get some points for it so I personally have the Amex Platinum and I really
do love it I think it's
super worth it you know that the fee for that card is super high but at least for the first year
with the welcome bonus you actually are able to get a free round-trip flight to Europe essentially
so I think it's really worth it and I can highly recommend that card but that is just another topic
for another day so if you're looking for more tips on securing cheap flights I do have a full video
all about that but right now I'm just going to walk you through the proces
s that I typically use
so the first thing I'll usually do is I'll hop on Google flights which is my go-to tool these days I
used to use a lot of Skyscanner but Google Flights just makes things super easy and so I prefer them
these days first off what I'll do is I'll go in and type my departure airport if you are lucky and
have multiple airports to choose from let's say you've got multiple airports in your city or other
airports close by that you don't mind traveling to if It means a better
deal then you can type in
with the passport codes the different airports that you are searching up and then in terms of
the destination if you already have a specific destination in mind of course you can just type
that in but if not then you can also just type Europe because then it'll show you the cheapest
flights just going to all the different countries in Europe and oftentimes that'll save you a bunch
of money if you just fly into a cheaper airport and you have some flexibility so for
dates again
if you have a specific date you can enter them or you can just enter a rough estimate and I'll
show you in the next step how you can then look at a bunch of other dates at a glance so let's say
you're not really sure but you know you probably want to go for a week in June at some point
so just throw that in there and then search so once you're here in this map view then what
you can do is you can you can click on the calendar here and you can click flexible dates
and then that'
ll allow you to search different flight options depending on how long you're going
for so let's say a weekend one week two weeks and also you can select the time frame so you can do
a one week trip in the next six months for example or specifically a one-week trip in February June
July whenever so I'll usually have a little bit of a play with that and then I'll look around
at the map at a glance and see where are the cheapest flights where can I fly into that is the
cheapest so when you loo
k at the list if you see one that you like in particular you're like oh I
don't mind going to London the flights there look cheap so then you can click there and then after
that you can click view flights and then you have my personal favorite tool the date grid that you
can click on so there's actually a button that you can click click date grid and it shows you on a
table how the prices fluctuate depending on when you leave so it'll be like okay well if you left
a few days earlier then it
can actually be cheaper so there's a lot of really cool tools that you can
use in Google flights which is why I really really like using them and so that's just the general
process that I use for finding cheap flights again you can repeat this process for different
cities comparing prices and ultimately you can decide which one you want to go for the one thing
I will say is after you do choose your flight what I tend to do is I always book directly with the
airline just because I feel like
that gives you a lot more protection if anything ever goes wrong
airlines tend to have way better customer service than some of those third parties now step six is
to book your accommodation after you've got your flights it's time to decide where you're going
to sleep now I personally love using aggregators like Google or booking.com just to do my initial
research because I feel like they offer a lot of tools that help you whittle down your options and
if you're interested in the step-by-s
tep process that I use to book my hotels and everything I'm
releasing a full video all about that next week so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss that but
for now here is a quickest rundown so in terms of your accommodation options you've got a huge range
from the cheapest like hostels and guest houses to more expensive like hotels and of course there's
Airbnb and VRBOs you know like vacation rentals that are kind of this awkward in between so I'm
gonna quickly run through the pros and
cons of all these different accommodation options now hostels
are a great option if you're on a budget and or if you're looking for more of a social experience
so in terms of oros hostels in Europe can actually be really nice there's a lot of really beautiful
hostels in Europe and they're very nice for the wallet as well with options for private rooms
in addition to dorms if you want a little bit more privacy hostels are also just really great in
general for meeting new people if your goal
is to make some new friends let's say you're traveling
alone hostels really are the go-to option of course the flip side of that is you don't get much
privacy and honestly even the nicest hostels will seem quite bare bones compared to nicer hotels
and they're kind of an introvert's nightmare so if you're an introvert like me hostels might
not be the best choice now the next tier budget wise would be guesthouses which are typically
smaller than hotels and usually involve a few rooms typicall
y ensuite at their property now
pros are these guest houses are usually cheaper than hotels and they feel a lot homier they also
tend to feel more personal because the owner often greets you and shows you the room so it feels
more like you're kind of supporting a small local business however the cons are they tend to
be more modest and how have far few amenities in hotels they can also be less convenient because
there's not usually like a 24-hour check-in desk so you do have to coordinate a
little bit with the
owner of the guest house and then we have hotels which tend to be larger properties with familiar
amenities like a check-in desk breakfast etc now when it comes to hotels one really important thing
to keep in mind is that hotels in Europe actually operate on a different star system to what we're
used to in North America so whereas in North America if you're staying at a one-star property
you kind of know what you're expecting one star kind of means like low quality like
not not the
best right whereas five star usually you could expect a certain level of niceness the system in
Europe is actually quite different so the star system there is actually based on a checklist of
amenities so I've personally stayed in a lot of really nice two-star properties in Europe that are
just smaller and don't necessarily have like all the big amenities but they've been really really
nice so remember to keep that in mind when you're looking at the different accommodation opti
ons
now in terms of choosing hotels you'll be choosing between either a chain property like you know
Hiltons and Marriott or you can choose Boutique properties which are usually more One of a Kind
personally these days I'm more inclined to pick boutique hotels when I can but I do admit there is
a nice reliability when it comes to chain hotels and of course if you're also racking up loyalty
points or anything like that then it does make sense to stick to a chain but that's a decision
for yo
u to make boutique properties vary from city to city so I'm not going to talk too much about
that I will say if I've ever stayed somewhere really spectacular that I recommend I always link
to it on my website now on to the last option which is vacation rentals like Airbnb or Vrbo now
I used to be a really big fan of renting on Airbnb because it was a really budget-friendly option
once upon a time and you could save a lot of money too by cooking at the property that you're
renting but these
days with extreme fees and just like hosts that are a little bit out of control I
don't actually think it's the best option anymore especially if you're looking at shorter stays,
Airbnbs can come with a lot of additional mental labor you have to correspond with your host you
have to organize a meeting time sometimes they'll ask you to do chores before you leave so there's
a lot of different considerations to be made when you're booking an Airbnb so if it's just for a few
days I personally d
on't think it's worth it now the last tip I'll offer is to always book direct
most of the time hotels will offer some kind of incentive for travelers to book directly with them
just so they can avoid the additional fees that they get when people book on booking.com so for
example a lot of places will offer free breakfast or they'll give you a small discount so if you're
looking to save some money it never hurts to check out the official hotel website and see if the
price is better or you ca
n actually just call them and be like hey I noticed at Booking.com
the prices like this is there something that you can offer me if I book directly it doesn't
hurt to ask. Now step number seven is to choose how you're going to get around here so I will
say overall public transportation in Europe is fantastic and you're probably not going to need to
rent a car unless you're going to be doing lots of nature stuff or you're planning on visiting more
remote locations like little villages so ove
rall I'd say to keep your life simple stick with public
transportation my first move is I usually hop on Omio and this is a really great free tool that you
can use to compare transport options from point A to point B so let's say you're going from Paris
to London it'll show you all the different buses all the different trains all the different flights
and then from there you can kind of suss out which option is probably the best now if you want to
learn more about the cheap ways to travel a
round Europe I do have a full video all about that but
I'm going to quickly run through the options from cheapest to most expensive and their pros and cons
so first is buses buses or coaches is what they call them in the UK now the pros of these is you
know they're really really cheap there's a lot of budget companies that offer bus travel and you can
get from one city to the next for like 10 bucks and usually you're dropped off somewhere close
ish to the city center so it's quite convenien
t as well and the cons are you do have to deal with
traffic and oftentimes it's just not as nice or as comfortable as taking a train now the next option
is trains the pros of trains of course is that they're very comfortable very scenic and it does
feel like a very European experience especially if you're like me and you come from somewhere where
Intercity rail travel is just not really commonly used another great perk is that you do arrive in
the city centers and it can be very flexible if
you get a rail pass the cons of course is that
train travel isn't always the fastest I mean it depends on where you're going but it's not usually
faster than a flight and it can be very expensive especially if you're booking last minute the next
option is flights the pros of course is that it's super quick sometimes it can be very cheap as well
if you're using European budget airlines the cons are that you arrive outside of the city center
because the airport's never actually close to the
center and it can be expensive for flights if
you're booking last minute and of course there's the environmental impact of flying as well now
step eight we're getting into the itinerary planning it's time to decide what kind of stuff
you're gonna do when you end up going to Europe so if you've gotten this far in this video I
think it's pretty clear I am a planner and I really do like knowing what there is to do in
a place before I get there so I can maximize my time now as fun as it is to b
e spontaneous I do
think it is important to do at least some research before you arrive to the destination because the
last thing that you want to do is to be wasting precious time in the destination trying to decide
what to do and trying to figure out what you're going to be spending time doing when really you
could use that time to eat spaghetti you know so here is how I find fun things to do wherever I go
so first I hop on Google of course and I Google things to do in the destination the
n the next step
is I'll usually skim through whatever blogs and listicles come up just to get a general sense of
what the top touristy things to do are and then if I see any that I'm interested in I'll hop on my
Google Map and I'll start now this is where a lot of people will stop their research but honestly
I think that's really just the bare minimum and so usually what I'll do is I'll extend my research
and try to find like more hidden gems and things that aren't commonly recommended so m
y next
stop usually is I'll go on Atlas Obscura which is a really cool website that highlights unusual
things to do in a place again I look through star a bunch of places and that's it then I'll hop
on social media TikTok is actually my personal favorite search tool it's a great search tool
compared to Instagram and you can usually get a lot of wonderful ideas especially in the food
and drinks here so again I'll go through TikTok I'll search up places to eat in X place and then
I'll star t
he places on my Google Maps and last but not least I will usually look on local blogs
especially event and news ones because then you can see if there's any cool events happening or
any cool pop-ups happening in your destination so you might be wondering why I start all these
places on Google Maps and just left them them so the reason that I do that instead of making a
list is when you have the stars on a map then you can actually cluster the different activities
based on location and that
can be really handy when you're in a destination because if you're
walking around and you look at your map you can see oh actually like this cute coffee shop I
saw on TikTok is really close to where we are so then you can just casually stop in and that
is a lot easier to manage I think than having just a list of places because then you don't
know where exactly those places are and it can get kind of messy and here's a pro tip if you are
really struggling to organize all the different activi
ties that you want to do usually if you type
in destination plus itinerary there's probably a travel blogger out there like me who has put
together an itinerary already that you can use for inspiration. Alright lastly we're on to step
nine which is choosing what to pack now I have a lot of other videos and articles about packing
so be sure to check those out but here are some general tips to keep in mind I'm a big believer
in traveling carry-on only especially when you're traveling to Europ
e because navigating cobblestone
streets and really stuffy Metro systems is not ideal if you've got really heavy bags at the very
least any suitcase you bring make sure you're able to carry it because sometimes you'll find that
you know there aren't elevators everywhere you might have to Lug your suitcase up some stairs so
yeah be sure to either work out beforehand or make sure that anything you bring is like a suitcase
that you can personally carry yourself I'd also really recommend buying
packing cubes if you're
new to this channel you might not know this I am obsessed with packing cubes I love them so much
they're really cheap and they're just a reusable tool that you can use for every trip so make sure
to grab a set of those because honestly they can keep your clothes so organized and overall what
I would do is pack just a week's worth of clothes in all instances even if you're traveling for two
weeks or three weeks because you can do laundry on the road and it just makes
more sense to pack
lighter that way apart from that I think packing is just a really personal thing and you should
just wear whatever makes you comfortable but if you do need some inspiration I have two free
printable packing lists that you can steal from my website at one for winter and one for summer so
there you have it from start to finish how to plan your own trip to Europe I hope that was useful
and if you're looking for that free workbook I promised you can find it right here thanks
for
watching if you want more practical travel videos just like this one be sure to like and subscribe
and I will see you next week thank you byeeeee!!
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