The one thing we LOVE about England is how close it is to so many cities. Of course, London is right on our doorstep but so is much of Europe, such as France & Spain. We aren't really that far from other big cities such as Reykjavík and New York and even the Capital of India is just under a 10 hour flight away. (I know this seems a lot for some, but for those who live in the States or Australia understand that actually, the UK is pretty close to a lot of places in the world).
We're incredibly lucky to live in such a central area of the globe that allows us to easily explore so many of the world's best and biggest cities. Whilst we cherish our more rural retreats that center around slow paced exploring, we also adore being in a busy, bustling city that has so much to see and do.
The dialemma we sometimes find with city breaks though, is how to fit so much sightseeing into a short amount of time.
Over the years, we've learnt a few tips and tricks to help us explore cities much more time-efficiently, making it easier to see and do more in a shorter time frame. This allows us to make the most out of a each city trip. Let us share with you what we've learnt over the years, and how you can take the stress out of planning a big city break.
Do the research
Once you've chosen your destination (I'm going to use our upcoming trip to New York as the example throughout this blog) make a full list of everything you want to see and do whilst in your chosen city, and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Even the little things you're not sure if you'll have the time for. Research all the top sights and use local's recommendations on what to see and do in your chosen area. To do this, I would normally type into google something like 'what to see in New York local recommendations' or you can be more specific if you're planning on staying in mainly one area: 'what to do in Brooklyn local recommendations'.
Another great hack to finding niche, local advice is to head over to THATCH. Thatch is a fantastic resource for planning a trip. It's basically a platform that travellers and content creators use to share their knowledge and experiences. Some of the resources on there aren't free, but there is a lot of free information on there that can be super useful when planning in an area you don't know a lot about.
In addition to researching all the things you want to see and do, also make a list of any bars, restaurants or bakeries you might want to try.
*BONUS TIP: When you're doing all of your research, take an extra minute searching what the average time spent at each location could be. For example, when I planned our NY trip and decided we wanted to do Summit One, I found out that on average people spend around 1.5-3 hours at the landmark. This will help you decide roughly how much you can squeeze into one day.
Pick your absolute MUSTS
Once you've finished your list, pop a little star or some kind of marker beside the things that you absolutely want to fit into your trip this time.
Group your sights & restaurants by area
This is the real trick - the absolute best way to sightsee is to do so by area. By doing this, you're cutting out a bunch of travelling time going back and forth on yourself from one location to another.
We tend to explore area by area, day by day which works perfectly if the amount of areas match the amount of days you're in the city, BUT don't worry if you've more areas than days as you can easily fit more than one area into one day if not too far.
For example:
I have broken our trip to NY into areas: Upper Eastside, Upper Westside, Midtown, Manhattan/FiDi,
Soho/ East Village, Chelsea, Brooklyn/Dumbo + there's Roosevelt Island and the Statue of Liberty. Although we're only going for a week I know that I'll be able to group a few of these locations into one day and hit almost everything on our list (expect Lady Liberty, she's going to have to wait until our next visit).
Once you've separated everything into area's you'll be able to see where you're going to be spending most of your time, you can then begin choosing which days you'll do what during your trip. I always make sure our MUSTS are one of the first things we hit each day and then add on other activities as I go. I also take my list with me so that if we finish something earlier than planned, we'll always know where the next place is and if there's anything else we could squeeze in that day nearby, that I wasn’t sure we'd be able to.
We also tend to choose our restaurants and bars based on the location we're ending at that day, allowing us the maximum amount of time sightseeing without having to worry about rushing to dinner.
*BONUS TIP: Always BOOK the musts if they are ticketed locations before your trip. If you've only got a limited amount of time, you really don't want to be wasting it in lines or queues.
Try to leave a day or afternoon 'spare'
The last hack that I want to share with you is that IF you can, if you have the time - try and leave at least one day 'spare', or if you're on a really tight time-schedule at least an afternoon.
Sometimes, things will pop up whilst you're IN the city that you might want to add on to your itinerary. I can't tell you the amount of times we've been on a trip and have met a local who has given us a recommendation that we'd never even heard of, even with the extensive research. I'd honestly say this happens on most city breaks and when we first started travelling, we always missed out because I'd OVER planned the entire holiday.
So if you can, leave one day where you don't book anything. You can always use this day to tick things off your list that weren't so important but chances are, if you're chatty like us, someone in your chosen city will definitely have great recommendations for your 'spare' day.
This really is my last point...
Although I am highly organised and often plan my trips far in advance, I always allow some flexibilty in every single day of a trip. Book only what you HAVE to (the ticketed stuff) and do all the other stuff based on how you feel that day. The last thing you want during a trip is to have booked 10 things into one day and not really have the energy to do half of it. Life is unpredictable and it's easier to just go with the flow than be on a really regimented schedule.
Happy Travels!
Becca x
PS.
If you've read this blog and thought 'this sounds great, but I really hate planning stuff' you might be interested to know that we now offer travel planning services. You can find more details about this on our > Thatch profile < .
In addition to itinereries, I (Becs) am now a fully qualified travel agent and would LOVE the opportunity to help you plan and book your next trip. To find out more drop me a message here x
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