When it comes to planning a vacation on a budget, you came to the right place — in fact, you may regret coming here. Because this is the most detailed list you've ever seen.
Like I said, it's the ULTIMATE GUIDE. Not your just-like-every-other-guide-out-there list.
Before you continue below, open my Southern Belle Trail Itinerary to see a real-life example of a trip I planned recently that followed these steps.
How to Plan a Vacation on a Budget
Locations
Make a list of all the locations you plan to visit. Go ahead, just write 'em down on a Google or Word Doc.
Dates
Determine the dates you want to travel. This can be based on your work time allowance, flight costs, or even off-season prices.
Put those dates next to the cities you plan to visit so you're aware of when to plan activities.
Budget
Determine your total trip budget.
The main costs you're really budgeting for (at least starting out) will be lodging and transportation, which are typically the two largest expenses for most trips.
Transportation
Determine how you will be traveling to these locations.
Then determine an estimate of miscellaneous transportation costs while you're traveling.
- Gas estimate
- Uber, Lyft, Taxi, etc
- Hop-On-Hop-Off Buses / Trolleys
- Public Transportation
- Apps (Hopper, etc)
Reserve Transportation (at least flights and car rentals, or where applicable) before moving forward with all other planning.
Lodging
Lodging is your next big ticket to getting your trip confirmed.
When it comes to budgeting, you need to figure out the average (or max) price per night you're willing to spend. The cost may vary based on location, proximity to common activities (meaning potentially less transportation costs but higher price per night), or on a specific budget.
Search the following sites for lodging quotes:
- Airbnb, VRBO
- Hotels (Trip Advisor, etc)
- Hostels
- Apps (Hotel Tonight, etc)
Tips: Watch for fees — some hotels are cheaper than Airbnb due to fees. Just because a hotel or Airbnb has a cheaper cost per night doesn't always mean it will be cheaper once all fees are added. If you're not going to spend hardly any time at your lodging, consider a cheaper stay like a private bedroom of an Airbnb home or a motel — basically just somewhere to sleep and take a shower.
Reserve all lodging before moving forward with all other planning.
Activities
Now it's time to determine the activities that will take over your itinerary.
Under each location, create a list of possible things to do in that area. Later, you will be able to narrow down this list to build your official itinerary.
Search for the following activities:
- Events: Check Facebook events, contact your lodging accommodations for tips, look at the city's CVB/tourism websites, etc.
- City's CVB/tourism website
- Groupon
- Social media: search for the city keyword, look through pics see where people have visited.
- best things to do in [city]
- cheap things to do in [city]
- free things to do in [city]
- live music in [city]
- city tours in [city]
- outdoor activities in [city]
- comedy shows in [city]
- hidden gems or best kept secrets in [city]
- parks in [city]
- historical landmarks in [city]
- hiking trails in [city]
- shopping in [city]
Food & Drink
Now it's time to determine the activities that will take over your itinerary.
Under each location, create a list of possible places to eat/drink in that area. Later, you will be able to narrow down this list to build your official itinerary.
Search for the following activities:
- City's CVB/tourism website
- Groupon
- Social media: search for the city keyword, look through pics see where people have eaten.
- Google the following:
- best places to eat and drink in [city]
- cheap places to eat and drink in [city]
Google things to do based on interest:
- rooftop bars and restaurants in [city]
- food tours in [city]
- happy hours in [city]
- farmers markets in [city]
- speakeasies in [city]
- coffee shops in [city]
- BYOB in [city]
- breweries and wineries in [city]
Tips: look at photos in the restaurant/bar's GMB (Google My Business) profile to see the vibe, food, drinks, menu, etc. To find this, just Google "restaurant/bar name in [city]" and the profile should appear. Sometimes their website will also show a gallery of images for you to browse.
Reservations
Reserve a table in advance! Trust me on this on.... from my own hard-learned experience.
Food & Drink
Many popular restaurants and bars (or in general) in tourist destinations can get filled up very quickly. Like even months in advance.
Once you determine a smaller list of places you want to go, visit their GMB, website or social media to find a link or app that allows you to reserve a table in advance.
This can not only help you plan your itinerary, but also ensure you have a good place to go when you visit. You can always cancel in advance.
Tours/Activities
Especially during covid, may tourism attractions that require entrance fees, tours and more require in advance reservations due to limited capacity and ticket sales.
Tips: set a phone alert/reminder to cancel every single one of your reservations (including restaurants) before their minimum time to cancel without payment or penalties.
Create Itinerary
As mentioned above, here's an example of a real-life itinerary I created using these steps.
- Categorize your list by timeline > city > time of day > activity.
- Add costs or details next to the items as needed for budgeting purposes.
- Bold or highlight items that you already have reserved and/or paid for.
- Add total spent so far at end of doc.
Get Packing
Check out my blog about tips for packing light for a long vacation!