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Travel resources 3
Tips for creating your travel itinerary 4
How to get from A to B 6
Where to stay –booking hotels and holiday homes 14
Driving abroad – tips for road trips 20
Money matters – dealing with foreign currency 24
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• Momondo
• Skyscanner
• Booking.com
• RentalCars
• iCarHire Insurance
• Klook (for Asia)
• GetYourGuide (for
Europe)
• Revolut
• Transferwise
• Rome2Rio
• Google Maps
• Waze
• Maps.me
• Little Holidays travel
guides
• Travel planner
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Plan and book your trip as early as possible – for trips
lasting more than 2 weeks, I usually plan 3-6 months in
advance.
As you do your research, write your ideas down and
plot them on a map. I like to use Excel or Airtable to have
all my ideas in one place, and Google Maps to see how
everything fits.
Use travel booking platforms that have free
cancellation policies so you can stay flexible – I use
Booking.com for hotels, GetYourGuide for activities, and
RentalCars for cars. You can find a complete list of my
recommended travel companies in the PDF guide.
Plan and schedule activities that you want to do. I
personally love food, nature, and road trips so my research
usually revolves around must-try restaurants, gorgeous
driving routes, and scenic hiking trails. If you enjoy these
things as well, you’ll find my guides super useful.
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Savor and enjoy your holiday – find the perfect balance
between a hectic travel schedule and a bare and boring
one. I personally enjoy spending 3-5 days in one
destination (so if I have 10 days to travel, I would divide
that into 2-3 bases). I allot 1-2 days to explore the city or
town’s historical center, and the rest of the days to explore
surrounding, offbeat destinations. I plan for visits to a local
farmer’s market, a beautiful viewpoint, and a park or lake.
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I always use Skyscanner or Momondo to look for flights.
You can plug in where you’re coming from, where you
want to go, and your desired dates and these flight search
engines take care of finding the best flights for you.
Here are some tips to find the perfect flight in Momondo.
Add nearby airports when searching for flights.
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If you have flexible dates, choose the green-colored
dates to get the best prices.
If you have preferred airlines, price range, flight times,
and travel duration, set your preferences so Momondo
will fetch you only the flights that works for you.
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You can arrange the results by price (cheapest) or
travel time (quickest). “Best” ranks the flights by
balancing the price and the flight duration.
Once you find a flight option you like, you can book it with
the airline or the flight booking platform. You don’t need
to scroll so far down – Momondo is great at finding the
best flights so you’ll usually find flights that work for you
right away.
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Once you’ve booked your flights, it’s time to figure out
land routes. For this, I use Rome2Rio and Google Maps.
Rome2Rio is particularly great at figuring out how to get
from A to B using public transportation. If I want to go
from Prague to Vienna, for example, Rome2Rio gives me
these choices:
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Pick a mode of transportation that looks most convenient
for you, and Rome2Rio will show timetables, a list of
operators, and links to where you can book your trip.
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For traveling within a city or region, I use Google Maps to
find public transportation routes. For example, if I need to
go from the Budapest-Kelenföld bus stop to my hotel in
District 5, I simply put it into Google Maps, select public
transportation, and it gives me several options.
Some cities and regions will have their own public
transportation apps where you can find routes and pay for
your ticket. I add this information under the “Planning
your trip” section in my travel guides.
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You’ll find Google Maps with must-see sights, best hotels
and restaurants, and other important landmarks in all of
my travel guides. You can copy and customize them
according to your itinerary (click: view larger map > copy
map).
You can also get offline versions of my maps using
maps.me. Here’s what to do:
1. Download maps.me to your phone.
2. Open the Google map you want to use on your
desktop web browser.
3. Click on the menu icon on the right side of the map
name and select “Download KML.”
4. Export the map as KML.
5. Send the file to your mobile via email or messaging
app.
6. Open the KML file using maps.me.
7. Download the country map on maps.me when
prompted while you have an internet connection.
8. You’ll then be able to use maps.me offline – you’ll find
the map you saved in your Bookmarks.
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For driving, I use Waze to navigate. Set your driving
preferences so the app can give you the best routes. If you
have any vignettes or passes (for tolls and cities with
restrictions), add that also to the app.
• Find the best flights using Momondo or Skyscanner.
• Use Rome2Rio to find public transportation routes
between cities and countries. Use Google Maps to find
public transportation routes within a city.
• Export Google Maps to maps.me for offline use.
• Use Waze to navigate when driving.
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Recommended platform: Booking.com
You’ll find a lot of great accommodation choices in all
price ranges in both popular and more offbeat
destinations. From luxury hotels to apartments and
holiday homes, Booking.com has a wide range of property
types available on their site. Also, the platform’s design is
so user-friendly and intuitive that you’ll quickly find
everything you need to know about the hotel – its
location, room types and prices, availability, amenities,
and guest reviews – and easily manage your bookings.
Here are some of my favorite and most-used features
when I’m looking for an accommodation in Booking.com.
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1. Map view – Location is one of the most important
things to consider when looking for an accommodation,
and Booking.com’s convenient map view makes it easy to
look for the perfect place to stay.
Once you’ve entered your destination and dates, click on
“Search” then “Map view.”
Zoom in on your desired location – in this case, if you
wanted to stay somewhere near Lake Bled, you’ll easily see
hotels that are by the lake. You can also see prices, ratings
and reviews, nearby landmarks, and other useful
information at a glance.
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2. Filters – Using the filters on the left side can help you
narrow down your accommodation options to the ones
that suit your tastes and needs the best.
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Some of my favorite filters are: free cancellation, superb:
9+ review score, property type: apartments and hotels,
and, if we’re arriving off-hours, a 24-hour reception.
3. Free cancellation and flexible payment options – I
recommend booking your accommodations as early as
possible but stay flexible with free cancellation and
convenient payment options. That way you can lock in a
great place to stay at the best prices, without worrying in
case your travel plans change.
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4. Instant confirmation – Once you’ve chosen your hotel
and your room type, you’re a few clicks away from a
confirmed booking. Simply enter your details and any
special requests, click to confirm, and your booking is
confirmed.
You’ll also receive an email with your booking details and
all essential information.
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5. Itinerary at a glance – When you’re booking for a
multi-city trip, Booking.com shows your itinerary so far
and smartly suggests other destinations and
accommodations based on your preferences. I’ve
discovered some really interesting side trips thanks to this
feature!
Apart from these features that really making the booking
process smooth and streamlined, Booking.com has great
customer support, a loyalty program, and robust reviews.
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A road trip is a great way to explore a new destination. If
you’re planning to drive abroad, here are things you need
to know.
• Make sure you have all the requirements and
documents you’ll need for driving and renting a car as
a tourist in the country you’re visiting. This usually
includes: a driver’s license, international driving
permit, passport, and a credit card in your name.
• You’ll need to get your international driving permit
from your country of residence’s automobile
association.
• Know the speed limits and driving laws.
• Know how to use the toll roads – any vignettes you
need, any special lanes you have to be on, how to pay
for tolls.
• Have a list of emergency contact numbers.
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• You can find my guides to driving in specific countries
here.
• Book as early as possible and use a comparison site
like RentalCars to compare offers from major car hire
companies. You can compare prices, car models, and
inclusions easily in their simple online booking
platform, plus they give you instant confirmation, free
cancellation, and big deals and discounts.
• Read the fine print – take note of the fuel policy, any
excess charges, insurance policies, and any extra fees.
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• Consider getting a one-way rental – this means you
can pick it up and drop it off in two different locations.
This is ideal if you’re going on a multi-city trip.
• Get a personal car hire insurance – they will reimburse
any excess fees the rental car company may charge for
damages.
• Double check that you have all the necessary
documents with you when you pick up your rental car.
This usually includes: your driver’s license,
international driving permit, passport, and a credit
card in your name.
• Inspect the rental car when you pick it up and when
you drop it off. I usually take a video on my phone
while going around the car and take note of any
damages.
• Make sure to ask the car hire service attendants for any
help you need. Some things you should know before
you go: emergency numbers and other useful
contacts, how to use the GPS, where to drop off the
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car, which fuel you need and how to fill up the tank,
and how to use the motorways.
• Take your time to get familiar with the car. Adjust your
seat and the mirrors, check how to use the lights and
indicators, adjust the radio volume and the
temperature, and do a trial drive around the parking
lot.
• Have all your documents (driver’s license, passport,
insurance, car registration papers) within reach.
• Have local currency on hand in case you need to pay
a toll or for parking.
• Take breaks or take turns driving.
• When booking your hotels, look for accommodations
that have private parking spaces for their guests.
• When planning your road trips, look for parking lots
close to your destination. Make sure to set your GPS
or Waze to navigate to a parking spot.
• Useful things to have: car phone charger and mount,
WiFi device.
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Foreign exchange and ATM fees are necessary evils when
on holidays abroad, but here are some tips to lessen the
pain.
• If you haven’t yet, register for online banking so you
can keep an eye on your card transactions while you’re
on your trip.
• Call your bank and tell them the specifics of your trip
– dates and countries you plan to visit – so they know
not to block your card when you use it.
• If you can, get a borderless bank account like Revolut
or Transferwise. You can use it like any debit card plus
you can withdraw cash with minimal conversion fees
and minimal ATM fees from local banks.
• I recommend withdrawing cash from a local ATM once
you’re in your destination, but if this makes you
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uncomfortable, exchange currency at your home bank.
Don’t exchange too much (as rates won’t be that
favorable to you) – just enough to pay for food and
transportation on your first day (USD 100-150 is a safe
estimate).
• Check your hotels and other bookings if you can pay
using credit or debit cards so you can have an estimate
of how much cash you’ll need to bring.
• Pay with a credit card or debit card when you can,
especially in hotels and restaurants. Credit cards
usually give the best exchange rates but remember to
choose to pay in the local currency.
• Whether you’re paying by cash or card, always pay in
the local currency. When paying with a foreign credit
card, some terminals will make you choose if you want
to pay using your currency or the local currency –
always pay in local currency and let your home bank
do the conversion.
• Get cash abroad by withdrawing from an ATM –
ideally, an ATM in a bank. In my experience, even if you
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pay the conversion fees and ATM fees, this usually
ends up being the safest, cheapest, and most
convenient way to get cash.
• Avoid using ATMs that are not affiliated with a local
bank. Some ATMs, like Euronet all over Europe, will
give you unfair conversion rates.
• While some foreign exchange booths and money
changers do give fair rates, I’ve had enough bad
experiences with them that I just generally avoid them
when I can.
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Thank you for downloading this guide! I wish you happy
travels and exciting holidays. If you found it useful, please
forward or share it with your friends and travel buddies.
Using the links on this guide and the blog also helps
support the Little Holidays (at no extra cost to you), so
thank you so much for that!
This guide was downloaded from the Little Holidays
travel blog and the information is current as of July 2020.
Please check the website for updates.
If you have more questions about travel planning, send
me a message, and I’ll get back to you ASAP!
Lastly, I’d love to know what you think! Please take 2
minutes to help me make better guides in the future.
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Thank you and enjoy your little holidays! ♥
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