Bonjour tout le monde. I%26#39;m not going till January, but I can%26#39;t stop thinking about and planning my trip! How far back have you guys started planning your trips to Paris?
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Hi, sometimes I%26#39;ll start planning a year in advance. It depends on how long the trip is for. For instance, I just rented an apartment today for 17-31 March 2007 in Paris. Then I will read posts on TA for a few months. 3-4 months from the departure, I will ask questions from the Paris experts and others who choose to reply, explore out of town trips, dream about grocery shopping in Paris and other shopping also. Then about 90 days ahead of time I begin the serious planning of routes, reserve train tickets, get metro cards, pick museums we plan to visit. Of course airline tickets fall in there somewhere, but that%26#39;s the easy part. This time we plan a train trip to Normandy and to Bordeaux, so will study up on those two places. To me, its all part of the trip and keeps the impatience to be there at bay.
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Oh, I forgot, thanks to, I think, Truffant, we are going to try getting a driver from elyseecars for the trip back and forth to the airport. The others we have used have been fine, but we%26#39;ll try this one because of the recommendation. So I have to schedule that also.
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I usually start pretty close to a year ahead for a European trip. I travel with my Mom, and the planning is half the fun for us. We pick the city, then spend alot of time resarching the different areas. We feel the hotel location is critical. We end up booking up to 6 months ahead of time. Then I cruise the forums and take alot of notes. I also try to get a few language basics down. That and lots of guidebooks and movies that take place in the location. All of this planning has made our trips very succesful and tons of fun. We don%26#39;t plan our days too heavily once we get there. We just play it by ear depending on our mood. We hit the big sites, but also love to wander. The beauty of planning is that even when we%26#39;re out wandering, we%26#39;ll spot a cafe or shop that we%26#39;ve read something about, stop in and then end up having a wonderful time. God, I love to travel...............
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My wife has been planning for over 20 years and i finally gave in and leaving in September.My sis who has been living in France for over 20 years still can%26#39;t believe we are coming.
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Booked our Christmas trip in March. Hired private french tutor in May. And STILL trying to work off those stubborn 10 lbs. Those french locals we know are so damn skinny!
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I start planning for the next trip as soon as I get home from the one before! My husband calls this %26quot;scheming%26quot;... lol
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Mrs Wiz plans about 8 months in advance. I either don%26#39;t plan, or plan a year in advance - or do both. I get cross at her for always booking before the special appear, she gets cross at me for not being predictable.
My mode of the moment is to decide to go, book the basics immediately and then leave the rest to the fates. Once upon a time I used to decide early where I was going (about a year in advance) and then not book anything except fares. Now planning anything over 3 weeks in advance is seen as being a bit obsessive and controlling. I have also (as I am sure many here have done) not even been thinking about a trip, but check the airfares weekly (or daily if Im bored), and then decided to go somewhere because the fares were cheap. So far I have Canada, New York and 2 trips to Australia under my belt because of this method.
Oh - and the occasional trip to Paris (for lunch, or meeting someone at the airport who didnt know I was coming) which were literally last minute decisions (as in www.lastminute..........etc)
I am ALWAYS thinking about holidays though. Especially ones involving camel travel and Krak de Chavaliers (this week%26#39;s flavour of the year)
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%26gt;%26gt; My mode of the moment is to decide to go, book the basics immediately and then leave the rest to the fates..... Now planning anything over 3 weeks in advance is seen as being a bit obsessive and controlling.....%26lt;%26lt;
I believe there is a big difference here between males (such as the highly irresponsible, laissez-aller Wiz !!!!) and females. As I belong to the latter category I%26#39;d say 8 months ahead is not a sec too much....
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Scott,
When I travel to Paris in January, if i use my frequent flyer miles to upgrade to Business/First Class, I try to buy my tickets about 250 days in advance. If I am not upgrading, I would probably buy them in September. I would book my hotel probably in November.
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I totally fall into Gitte%26#39;s scheme: I%26#39;m going to Paris this Friday and I haven%26#39;t even booked a hotel yet, have to do that later today...
I usually book the travel as soon as the date is fixed, as this is a real money saver, but everything else I do on short notice, this time I%26#39;ll read my travel book on the train to Paris (about 4h), but usually I have some idea of what to do.
I also agree to some of the comments here that preparation is already part of the fun and the voyage. I love buying and reading travel books, even of places I won%26#39;t be going soon (currently e.g. Indonesia, Ecuador)
So, Scott, summarizing I%26#39;d say: if you love preparing a trip in detail, do it, otherwise let it happen and just do the basic stuff a few days before...
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