When you are embarking on a travel, the planning is the most important thing you need to do. You have to make sure everything is in order. Even the best things-the best vacation destination, the best hotel, etc.-can be of no avail if you have planned incorrectly.

Here is a travel planning guide you can use. It tells you of a systematic approach to plan your travel, which ensures you have a great time.

Research for the Destination

Where will you be going? This is the first thing you need to decide. The destination should be something that everyone in your party wishes to visit. That makes the vacation more enjoyable. It is great if there’s someone in the party who has visited the destination before, but if not, you need to get as much information as possible. Every popular vacation destination has a tourist website of its own, which is mostly run by the government of the place. Take some time out to research for your options through this website. Get somewhat acquainted with what kind of place it is-conservative or liberal as regards tourists, what kind of food you will get there, the climate, the appropriate dress to wear, the language to speak, etc.

What to Visit

Most people think about the hotel first and then what they would want to visit. This is the wrong way to go about it. First, you must draw up a list of the attractions the place has and then decide which of these you want to visit. Then you must chart out your route, or you could even call it your itinerary. This helps make more focused plans.

The Accommodation

Once you have the places you want to visit listed, you must look for accommodation in the nearby areas. This reduces the hassle and the cost of inner-city traveling. For accommodation, the Internet is your best guide. Every hotel worth its name has a website and you can book from there. Don’t underestimate the power of travel directories either. They will give you good comparative rates of different local hotels from which you can choose the one you like best. You can also read reviews here.

The Travel

You need to make your travel arrangements. Choose the mode you will need to, or like to, take-flight, rail, road, ship, whichever. Then see what dates are available. Getting tickets could be a problem if the place is very popular and it’s the peak season. That’s the reason why you should book travel and accommodation simultaneously, after finding out what options you have with both of them. Also, there are various websites that can give you great packages for travel and accommodation together, with goodies such as sightseeing trips thrown in.

Other Necessaries

Inner city travel is an important thing to book beforehand, or you should at least know what options you have. If the party is big, it makes sense to hire a private vehicle. Otherwise, you must find out about how you can use the local public transport. Also, find out about what sightseeing trips, cruises, adventure packages, etc. the place has. Book anything you want to check out, especially if it is very popular. Try to do your travel planning beforehand which ensures a relaxing time during the entire trip.

Planning the right traveling experience could prove to be a veritable nightmare for the inexperienced. What could be the best place to stay? What kind of food could be expected? To take care of all this and more, people these days are turning towards the travel professional for help. But the problem does not end here, how is he/she to know what your likes or dislikes are? There could be as many reasons for travel and there could be many destinations. So, instead of just handing over your work to the professional, talk to them and work with them to make your travel a truly delightful memorable experience.

Freezing on the right place to travel is not always as easy as it seems. If you are planning on a vacation, start with your budget and the number of days you can give for the vacation. Also decide whether you would like to travel within the country or abroad. With these details in mind, the travel professional will come up with a possible list of destinations for you. Nowadays, most of the places have their travel and tourism information displayed in their website. You can do your research online and decide on your destination. Here, you could also make use of the travel agent’s personal knowledge.

If your travel plans include airline, cruise or rail travel or if you intend to travel in a large group, making your travel plans early would be advisable. The travel professional will be aware of offers and discounts available in such cases and you can make the best use of this. You would get better prices and try to avoid last-moment rush. You can make clear and detailed tour plans by planning well in advance.

Spend some time explaining your choices to the travel professional. It is possible that you might not like to mingle with certain type of people. For example, if you are planning a family trip, you might feel uncomfortable in the presence of a honeymoon couple. Or if you are going on a retirement vacation, you might not like to spend time with a rock band. The professional can provide useful input on the profile of people staying in a particular resort or the kind of people that choose a particular cruise. Armed with this information, you can plan you trip better.

Many a time we travel to bond closer to people- family, friends, partners, parents, etc. But if your choices are different, traveling together could become tough. Once again, take your travel professional into confidence. Involve the people you intend to travel with in your dialogue with your agent. Together you can come up with a plan that offers something for everyone. Yes, taking the help of a professional makes travel easier but to make it more comfortable and enjoyable, you also must work with the professional. With their expertise and know-how and the inputs from your side about the choices, budget, time, etc your trip can become a fantasy that would forever replay in your mind.

If you travel frequently or travel a lot then you must have realized the importance of travel planning. A well planned trip really gets you your money’s worth. You are aware of your schedule, plus you are not wasting your time in figuring out (at the last minute) what to see, what to do, where to eat, etc. But still a lot of people travel with vague plans and without a complete picture. A lot of people say to me that travel planning is hard and time consuming and that if they were to wait for a travel plan then they would not be able to travel at all.

I disagree with all of them. Yes, it takes time to plan a trip but whats the point of traveling to another country or city if you are not going to see the best sites, taste the local food, or experience the top activities. Following are some of the tips that you can use to plan a near perfect trip for yourself.

First of all, zero out on a location where you would like to travel, it may be another city, state or another country.

Second, Why you would like to go there? Maybe some friend or family member went there and were full of praise or may be you read about it on internet or magazine or saw it on TV. Realizing WHY you want to travel to a particular location will help you plan the trip properly. For example, you may want to travel to the New York city to see the skyscrapers, or/and see Statue of liberty or/and may be visits the Museums.

Third, How long i.e. How many days you want to spend in the new place.

Once you have decided WHERE you want to go, understand WHY you want to travel there and decided HOW long you want to visit for, you can then begin preparing your itinerary.

You should start by asking your friends, family & co-workers about the destination that you have selected. If they have not been there, you should ask if anybody they know have traveled to that place. If yes, then don’t be shy of talking to that other person about their experience. Realize that people love to talk about their trips. This way you would learn a lot and maybe make a new friend in the process.

You can watch YouTube videos or watch Travel Channel to get ideas about the place you would like to visit.

Further, Google is your friend, you can search for the location to get tons of information about any place. There are thousands if not millions of Travelogues written virtually about all places on this earth.

Tripadvisor.com is an excellent site to research about any destination. You can ask questions, read about other’s experience etc. But the research on internet is time consuming and you should be diligent.

Lastly, you can even read the travel books, city guides by Frommer’s, Lonely Planet and Fodor’s. These are very well written and cater to all level’s i.e. Newbies, repeat, expert etc.

All these will tremendously help you plan your ideal trip and make the most out of it.

To get more tips and to see how Travel Planning Helps visit Travel Haggler’s Blog.

A Green Travel Plan is a document which identifies how to reduce reliance on private cars by encouraging residents, staff or customers to adopt more sustainable methods of travel.

Each site has a unique set of issues and opportunities relating to access and travel options. A green travel plan consultant is usually required to assist in identifying current travel patterns, and formulate individual measures which can encourage and facilitate alternative means of travel, thus reducing, or in some cases removing, the need for on-site parking facilities, and achieve a more sustainable form of development.

The key to providing a successful green travel plan is to identify public transport options and other more sustainable ways of travelling to a site, and formulating ways in which staff and patients can be encouraged to choose greener methods of travel.

By formulating a series of short and longer terms objectives, it is expected that the Green Travel Plan, through ongoing monitoring and revisions, will play an important role in reducing the number of vehicle trips associated with the new surgery. An initial staff travel survey will be carried out once the facility is operational, and this will establish existing travel patterns and identify ways in which changes to travel patterns can be encouraged.

Targets will be set with key objectives to encourage car sharing, increased use of public transport, and more cycle trips. These are relatively easy and achievable changes in behaviour which will have a significant and positive benefit in terms of the impact of this new health facility on its surroundings.