How to plan your perfect Euro-summer holiday!

Are you dreaming of a European summer getaway? Check out my step-by-step guide to planning your ideal trip!

Starting an itinerary for a big overseas trip, like a European summer holiday, can be very overwhelming. It can be stressful deciding your country list, timings, how to link up with friends, budget and most of all logistics.

The below step-by-step process is how I make all of my itineraries. It is a tried and tested approach that will not only save you time and money but will make the process way more enjoyable.

Step 1: Write a wish list

The best place to start is with a wish list. Forget budget, forget logistics, and purely write your dream list of countries. Rank them in order so you can prioritise where you want to go later on.

Step 2: Determine your dates

Now that you’ve got your list, make note of certain cultural events, music festivals and sporting events that you’d like to attend. Even make notes of your friend’s travel plans if you’d like to meet up with them in certain places. Also start thinking about the months you want to be travelling for. This will start giving your itinerary structure and you’ll start setting rough dates for the whole trip.

I’d also suggest you start writing things into a calendar (I use Google Docs) so you can see how it’s coming together.

Step 3: Determine your budget

At some point, you’ll have to come back to reality and realistically determine your budget for the holiday. Set your budget as that will determine what you can and can’t do and how long you can go for. You’ll start having to cull some countries and events from your itinerary, which will further develop your itinerary.

Step 4: Look into travel logistics

Now you’ve got a list of countries, identified key events you’d like to attend and set a budget, you have to start figuring out how you’ll travel between each country. The best resource is Rome 2 Rio, where you input countries and it will tell you your travel options, how long each route will take and the price range.

My number one tip is to create a logical itinerary. Travelling across Europe multiple times is not only expensive but it will be exhausting and take up a lot of your time. If possible, go from the top to bottom, or bottom to the top. Group countries together and do them together.

With this approach, you may start cutting countries and events that don’t work logistically. This is why prioritising your country list and events is important so you can determine the places you must go.

Step 5: Plan itinerary

Now you’ve got your country list, rough dates, budget and travel logistics determined, you can start to confirm your itinerary. However, your first itinerary will rarely be your final itinerary. Start talking to friends who will be travelling as well, people who have done the trip before, research on TikTok and read blogs. Be flexible about shifting your itinerary as you start to learn more about each place and most of all enjoy the journey - you’re planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip!

Tips:

Included places to relax: When you plan a holiday you never consider that things will go wrong, but realistically, you may get sick, injured or just want to chill for a bit. My number one tip is to add in places to relax. While planning I guarantee you’ll have the “she’ll be right” mentality, but speaking from experience you need to rest.
For example, have a gap between Sail Croatia and partying in Greece. Split up the Greek Isle with relaxing places like Milos and Paros rather than hitting the party islands back-to-back. Chill out in Mallorca before heading to Ibiza after Lisbon - you get the point.
Travel days: Travel days can be long and exhausting. When planning your itinerary look at how quickly you’re travelling around. You want to avoid moving around quickly and you also want to have enough time in each place.
Rule of 3: If you can, try to have 3 days or 3 nights in each place. This gives you plenty of time to settle in and see everything before you travel again. This won’t be feasible in every place but if you can apply the rule of 3 every couple of places, it will give you time to chill out (see tip number 1)
Group travel: If you’re travelling in groups make sure you’re all contributing to the itinerary and you listen to everyone’s ideas. Also don’t be afraid to go off on your own in parts.
Use Google Docs: Google Docs is a fantastic resource to plan your trip and how I’ve planned every trip. It’s particularly useful if you’re planning with a group as you can all work on and contribute to the itinerary without being together.
There are no direct flights between Croatia and Greece: you’ll most likely fly through an Eastern European country such as Prague, Austria or Germany. If you have any of these places on your country list, it’s a great time to include them and stay there rather than just transiting through.

If you’re looking for inspiration, check out my itineraries from past European trips!

3-month Europe itinerary

In 2019, I spent 3 months in Europe with my 2 best friends. We travelled to the UK, Iceland, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece and Dubai. Regardless of how long you’re travelling, our detailed itinerary has tones of food, activity and accommodation recommendations as well as price guides and tips!

Explore my 3-month Europe itinerary