If you haven’t read Part 1 of the How To Make An Itinerary, check it out now!
Now that we have decided which cities we are going to, our mode of transportation, and where we are staying, it’s time to plan in details!
(Side note: Since I’ve published part 1, I realized that we are unable to travel via train from Seville to Tarifa (to board for Morocco). So after some more research, we have decided to make the two hour ride by renting a car. Also, instead of boarding to Morocco from Tarifa, we will board the ferry from Algeciras, a bigger town. Surprisingly, the car company in Spain is a part of Enterprise from the US. So we were able to book the car online using the Enterprise website (in English!). We can pick up the car in Seville at the train station and drop it off in Algeciras, right next to the docking station. )
One thing we had to do as a part of the planning was get an international license. It’s fairly easy to get one, but you must do your research on how safe it is to drive in another country. Check out the steps here to get your International Driving License.
*Tip: If you have to book on a site that is in another language, open up a web browser with google translate. Copy and paste what you want to have translated and Ta Da!
…And now for the details!
I looked up everything there is to do and see in Madrid & Seville, our first two cities. I wrote all the things we are interested in seeing and doing. Here is a list of other details I wrote down as well.
- Name of places & it’s address
- Open days/hours
- Cost/Ticket price
- How/where to get ticket
- Any related phone numbers
- Any other information/rules regarding dressing, baggage, etc.
If the ticket lines are long or more expensive and we know for sure we will be around the area at a specific time, I’ll book the tickets online in advance.
Tip: Communicate with your Airbnb host about how to get around, what to do, what to see, etc. Ask for resources, such as a driver or a tour guide. Most Airbnb hosts have one or two people they usually recommend.
In Morocco, we decided not to venture off too far since my parents are with us. We needed a personal taxi since it’s not walk-able distance to the medina (middle of town) from our stay. So I messaged our host on Airbnb and asked her if she knew any drivers and sure enough, as always, she did. I contacted him and set up taxi rides the day we arrive and the day we leave. I also set up a one day trip with him to Chefchaeoun, the Blue City!
Tip: When setting up tours/pick ups, talk to the guide/driver and fix the price before agreeing on them.
Other things I’ve added to the itinerary:
- Time difference between cities/countries. This applies to us here because there is a one hour difference between Spain and Morocco.
- Currency and exchange. We will be dealing with three different currencies (US Dollars, Euros, and Moroccan Dirhams). To avoid confusion while paying for something, I want to make sure I know the rates and conversion rates on the top of my head.
- Driving Routes: Since we will be driving in Spain, I copied and pasted the whole route in detail and have it saved in my email as well.
Other things I do prior to the trip:
- Print out a copy of the itinerary for each person (hey, you never know!)
- Download a copy to my phone for offline use
- Email a copy of the itinerary to a sibling, close friend, or an emergency contact (someone whom I’ll probably keep in touch with daily)
- Sign up with STEP (For more details, click HERE)
- Download offline maps of places/cities/directions that we will need for the trip. (I do this just a few days before the trip)
- Call phone company to get better range for data / update data plan for this month
- Put travel notifications on credit cards
Do you have any must-do’s while detail planning? If so, comment below!
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