Planning a Trip

Modern technology and internet have transformed the ways holidays are planned nowadays. Gone are the days where one will have to refer to a travel agent or be frantically making phone calls to everywhere to make things happen. Neither does one need to fret about having to physically pick up air tickets. Almost anything can be planned from the comfort of one's own home. Planning a two-week trip to a foreign land, where one has never set foot before nor speak the language of the land, is no longer as daunting as in the past. We have visited far-flung places, relying solely on internet resources. In fact, the hardest part is in deciding which places to visit given time constraint and often times conflicting interests. Once that can be amicably resolved, the rest is pretty easy - just a little research, some time management, air ticket and hotel reservations, and one is ready for some adventure!

This is how all of our trips had been planned. Virtually everything is done online - e-ticketing, hotel selection and booking, restaurant reservations and land transportations. With a preponderance of online materials, travelling to Europe has never been easier, and potentially cheaper!

Route Planning

I usually start with a little read-up on Frommers online. The popular website is free and comes with suggested itineraries (for instance a 1-week or 2-week trip). It may not be everybody's cup of tea but it is a good starter kit for first-time visitors. Once a potential route is mapped out, one can then google for the individual cities/places, to decide whether they are worth a visit. Another travel website which is useful is Fodors.

Hotel Booking

For hotel recommendation in the selected cities, I find Tripadvisor highly reliable and easy to use. Hotels are ranked in terms of popularity and one can find just about any accommodation types that fits one's budget. Don't forget to check out other travelers' reviews as they are often very helpful and reliable. I also have the habit of checking out other travelers' photos on the hotels rather than relying on hotel photos (for a more accurate portrayal of their current condition). Another tool that's highly convenient to use on Tripadvisor is the hotel reservation function, where low online rates are available at the click of a button. Very often, one can find bargain rates by booking through these sources. I have used venere.com many times in the past and find it highly reliable.

Land Transport

Depending on the time available, the state of the infrastructure of the places one is visiting, as well as the purpose of visit, one could choose between taking public transportation or self-drive road trips. For this particular trip, we will be taking the TGV from north of France to the south, and we will be exploring each of the region (Normandy and Cote d-Azur) by car, basing ourselves in Paris and Nice mainly. This will allow greater flexibility for time management and broader coverage. Arrival and departure times is an important consideration for a well-planned trip. It is advisable to check out train schedules and estimates of driving time between places well in advance. For our train schedule from north to south, we have referred to the TGV website, while road trips travel time is ascertained via www.viamichelin.com.

We are just a few days away from our trip. Autumn in the city of light, love and romance will be chilly and wet.