Ask people about a trip a few years later and they rarely talk about the flight or the hotel room. They talk about the things they did. The boat tour, the market they stumbled into, the day trip that turned out to be the highlight of the whole holiday. What you do at a destination is what the trip becomes and yet this part often gets the least planning. Many of us book the flights and the beds months in advance and then figure out the days once we're already there.
That approach isn't wrong, but it usually means falling back on the same top ten list as everyone else. With a bit of preparation, you can do better. The most popular sights can absolutely be worth it, but every destination offers much more than its famous highlights and some of the best experiences need to be found or booked in advance.
This page gives you an overview of the topic and links you to our detailed guides on the three big questions. Should you book organised tours or plan everything yourself, how do you find the good activities at your destination and how do you plan a day trip that's actually worth the travel time?
Organised tours or planning it yourself
The oldest debate in travel is whether to book a package or to organise everything on your own. Both have their place and what option you should go for depends on the trip, the destination and your own preferences. Organised tours can save you a lot of planning work and give you access to places that are hard to reach on your own. Independent planning provides more freedom and often more of a personal experience. Our guide on Tour packages helps you figure out when a tour is worth it, what to look out for when booking one and when you're better off on your own.
Finding the local activities
Every destination has two sides. The famous sights that every visitor sees and the things the locals actually do, from markets and festivals to the restaurants and spots that never make it into the rankings. Finding that second side is a skill and it makes the difference between visiting a place and getting to know it. Our guide on Local activities shows you where to look and who to ask, so your days fill up with more than just the standard programme.
Planning day trips
Sometimes the best activity isn't in the city you're staying in, but an hour or two away. The castle in the countryside, the island off the coast, the small town everyone says you have to see. Day trips can add a lot to a trip, but they can also eat a whole day for very little in return if the timing and logistics are off. Our guide on How to plan a day trip covers how to pick the right excursion and how to get the most out of a single day away.
Plan some things, leave room for the rest
The best trips usually follow a simple pattern. A few planned anchors, like a booked tour, a day trip or a reserved table, combined with enough open time for the unplanned things to happen. A trip that's scheduled from morning to evening leaves no room for the recommendations you pick up along the way and those are often the best.
What there is to do also matters when choosing where to go in the first place. Activities are at the heart of the filters in our Trip Finder, so you can search for destinations based on what you actually like doing, whether that's hiking, museums, nightlife or food markets. Pick a place that matches your interests and filling the days becomes the easy part.
