2

Travel resources 3

Tips for creating your travel itinerary 4

How to get from A to B 6

Where to stay –booking hotels and holiday homes 14

Driving abroad – tips for road trips 20

Money matters – dealing with foreign currency 24

3

• Momondo

• Skyscanner

• Booking.com

• RentalCars

• iCarHire Insurance

• Klook (for Asia)

• GetYourGuide (for

Europe)

• Revolut

• Transferwise

• Rome2Rio

• Google Maps

• Waze

• Maps.me

• Little Holidays travel

guides

• Travel planner

4

Plan and book your trip as early as possible – for trips

lasting more than 2 weeks, I usually plan 3-6 months in

advance.

As you do your research, write your ideas down and

plot them on a map. I like to use Excel or Airtable to have

all my ideas in one place, and Google Maps to see how

everything fits.

Use travel booking platforms that have free

cancellation policies so you can stay flexible – I use

Booking.com for hotels, GetYourGuide for activities, and

RentalCars for cars. You can find a complete list of my

recommended travel companies in the PDF guide.

Plan and schedule activities that you want to do. I

personally love food, nature, and road trips so my research

usually revolves around must-try restaurants, gorgeous

driving routes, and scenic hiking trails. If you enjoy these

things as well, you’ll find my guides super useful.

5

Savor and enjoy your holiday – find the perfect balance

between a hectic travel schedule and a bare and boring

one. I personally enjoy spending 3-5 days in one

destination (so if I have 10 days to travel, I would divide

that into 2-3 bases). I allot 1-2 days to explore the city or

town’s historical center, and the rest of the days to explore

surrounding, offbeat destinations. I plan for visits to a local

farmer’s market, a beautiful viewpoint, and a park or lake.

6

I always use Skyscanner or Momondo to look for flights.

You can plug in where you’re coming from, where you

want to go, and your desired dates and these flight search

engines take care of finding the best flights for you.

Here are some tips to find the perfect flight in Momondo.

Add nearby airports when searching for flights.

7

If you have flexible dates, choose the green-colored

dates to get the best prices.

If you have preferred airlines, price range, flight times,

and travel duration, set your preferences so Momondo

will fetch you only the flights that works for you.

8

You can arrange the results by price (cheapest) or

travel time (quickest). “Best” ranks the flights by

balancing the price and the flight duration.

Once you find a flight option you like, you can book it with

the airline or the flight booking platform. You don’t need

to scroll so far down – Momondo is great at finding the

best flights so you’ll usually find flights that work for you

right away.

9

Once you’ve booked your flights, it’s time to figure out

land routes. For this, I use Rome2Rio and Google Maps.

Rome2Rio is particularly great at figuring out how to get

from A to B using public transportation. If I want to go

from Prague to Vienna, for example, Rome2Rio gives me

these choices:

10

Pick a mode of transportation that looks most convenient

for you, and Rome2Rio will show timetables, a list of

operators, and links to where you can book your trip.

11

For traveling within a city or region, I use Google Maps to

find public transportation routes. For example, if I need to

go from the Budapest-Kelenföld bus stop to my hotel in

District 5, I simply put it into Google Maps, select public

transportation, and it gives me several options.

Some cities and regions will have their own public

transportation apps where you can find routes and pay for

your ticket. I add this information under the “Planning

your trip” section in my travel guides.

12

You’ll find Google Maps with must-see sights, best hotels

and restaurants, and other important landmarks in all of

my travel guides. You can copy and customize them

according to your itinerary (click: view larger map > copy

map).

You can also get offline versions of my maps using

maps.me. Here’s what to do:

1. Download maps.me to your phone.

2. Open the Google map you want to use on your

desktop web browser.

3. Click on the menu icon on the right side of the map

name and select “Download KML.”

4. Export the map as KML.

5. Send the file to your mobile via email or messaging

app.

6. Open the KML file using maps.me.

7. Download the country map on maps.me when

prompted while you have an internet connection.

8. You’ll then be able to use maps.me offline – you’ll find

the map you saved in your Bookmarks.

13

For driving, I use Waze to navigate. Set your driving

preferences so the app can give you the best routes. If you

have any vignettes or passes (for tolls and cities with

restrictions), add that also to the app.

• Find the best flights using Momondo or Skyscanner.

• Use Rome2Rio to find public transportation routes

between cities and countries. Use Google Maps to find

public transportation routes within a city.

• Export Google Maps to maps.me for offline use.

• Use Waze to navigate when driving.

14

Recommended platform: Booking.com

You’ll find a lot of great accommodation choices in all

price ranges in both popular and more offbeat

destinations. From luxury hotels to apartments and

holiday homes, Booking.com has a wide range of property

types available on their site. Also, the platform’s design is

so user-friendly and intuitive that you’ll quickly find

everything you need to know about the hotel – its

location, room types and prices, availability, amenities,

and guest reviews – and easily manage your bookings.

Here are some of my favorite and most-used features

when I’m looking for an accommodation in Booking.com.

15

1. Map view – Location is one of the most important

things to consider when looking for an accommodation,

and Booking.com’s convenient map view makes it easy to

look for the perfect place to stay.

Once you’ve entered your destination and dates, click on

“Search” then “Map view.”

Zoom in on your desired location – in this case, if you

wanted to stay somewhere near Lake Bled, you’ll easily see

hotels that are by the lake. You can also see prices, ratings

and reviews, nearby landmarks, and other useful

information at a glance.

16

2. Filters – Using the filters on the left side can help you

narrow down your accommodation options to the ones

that suit your tastes and needs the best.

17

Some of my favorite filters are: free cancellation, superb:

9+ review score, property type: apartments and hotels,

and, if we’re arriving off-hours, a 24-hour reception.

3. Free cancellation and flexible payment options – I

recommend booking your accommodations as early as

possible but stay flexible with free cancellation and

convenient payment options. That way you can lock in a

great place to stay at the best prices, without worrying in

case your travel plans change.

18

4. Instant confirmation – Once you’ve chosen your hotel

and your room type, you’re a few clicks away from a

confirmed booking. Simply enter your details and any

special requests, click to confirm, and your booking is

confirmed.

You’ll also receive an email with your booking details and

all essential information.

19

5. Itinerary at a glance – When you’re booking for a

multi-city trip, Booking.com shows your itinerary so far

and smartly suggests other destinations and

accommodations based on your preferences. I’ve

discovered some really interesting side trips thanks to this

feature!

Apart from these features that really making the booking

process smooth and streamlined, Booking.com has great

customer support, a loyalty program, and robust reviews.

20

A road trip is a great way to explore a new destination. If

you’re planning to drive abroad, here are things you need

to know.

• Make sure you have all the requirements and

documents you’ll need for driving and renting a car as

a tourist in the country you’re visiting. This usually

includes: a driver’s license, international driving

permit, passport, and a credit card in your name.

• You’ll need to get your international driving permit

from your country of residence’s automobile

association.

• Know the speed limits and driving laws.

• Know how to use the toll roads – any vignettes you

need, any special lanes you have to be on, how to pay

for tolls.

• Have a list of emergency contact numbers.

21

• You can find my guides to driving in specific countries

here.

• Book as early as possible and use a comparison site

like RentalCars to compare offers from major car hire

companies. You can compare prices, car models, and

inclusions easily in their simple online booking

platform, plus they give you instant confirmation, free

cancellation, and big deals and discounts.

• Read the fine print – take note of the fuel policy, any

excess charges, insurance policies, and any extra fees.

22

• Consider getting a one-way rental – this means you

can pick it up and drop it off in two different locations.

This is ideal if you’re going on a multi-city trip.

• Get a personal car hire insurance – they will reimburse

any excess fees the rental car company may charge for

damages.

• Double check that you have all the necessary

documents with you when you pick up your rental car.

This usually includes: your driver’s license,

international driving permit, passport, and a credit

card in your name.

• Inspect the rental car when you pick it up and when

you drop it off. I usually take a video on my phone

while going around the car and take note of any

damages.

• Make sure to ask the car hire service attendants for any

help you need. Some things you should know before

you go: emergency numbers and other useful

contacts, how to use the GPS, where to drop off the

23

car, which fuel you need and how to fill up the tank,

and how to use the motorways.

• Take your time to get familiar with the car. Adjust your

seat and the mirrors, check how to use the lights and

indicators, adjust the radio volume and the

temperature, and do a trial drive around the parking

lot.

• Have all your documents (driver’s license, passport,

insurance, car registration papers) within reach.

• Have local currency on hand in case you need to pay

a toll or for parking.

• Take breaks or take turns driving.

• When booking your hotels, look for accommodations

that have private parking spaces for their guests.

• When planning your road trips, look for parking lots

close to your destination. Make sure to set your GPS

or Waze to navigate to a parking spot.

• Useful things to have: car phone charger and mount,

WiFi device.

24

Foreign exchange and ATM fees are necessary evils when

on holidays abroad, but here are some tips to lessen the

pain.

• If you haven’t yet, register for online banking so you

can keep an eye on your card transactions while you’re

on your trip.

• Call your bank and tell them the specifics of your trip

– dates and countries you plan to visit – so they know

not to block your card when you use it.

• If you can, get a borderless bank account like Revolut

or Transferwise. You can use it like any debit card plus

you can withdraw cash with minimal conversion fees

and minimal ATM fees from local banks.

• I recommend withdrawing cash from a local ATM once

you’re in your destination, but if this makes you

25

uncomfortable, exchange currency at your home bank.

Don’t exchange too much (as rates won’t be that

favorable to you) – just enough to pay for food and

transportation on your first day (USD 100-150 is a safe

estimate).

• Check your hotels and other bookings if you can pay

using credit or debit cards so you can have an estimate

of how much cash you’ll need to bring.

• Pay with a credit card or debit card when you can,

especially in hotels and restaurants. Credit cards

usually give the best exchange rates but remember to

choose to pay in the local currency.

• Whether you’re paying by cash or card, always pay in

the local currency. When paying with a foreign credit

card, some terminals will make you choose if you want

to pay using your currency or the local currency –

always pay in local currency and let your home bank

do the conversion.

• Get cash abroad by withdrawing from an ATM –

ideally, an ATM in a bank. In my experience, even if you

26

pay the conversion fees and ATM fees, this usually

ends up being the safest, cheapest, and most

convenient way to get cash.

• Avoid using ATMs that are not affiliated with a local

bank. Some ATMs, like Euronet all over Europe, will

give you unfair conversion rates.

• While some foreign exchange booths and money

changers do give fair rates, I’ve had enough bad

experiences with them that I just generally avoid them

when I can.

27

Thank you for downloading this guide! I wish you happy

travels and exciting holidays. If you found it useful, please

forward or share it with your friends and travel buddies.

Using the links on this guide and the blog also helps

support the Little Holidays (at no extra cost to you), so

thank you so much for that!

This guide was downloaded from the Little Holidays

travel blog and the information is current as of July 2020.

Please check the website for updates.

If you have more questions about travel planning, send

me a message, and I’ll get back to you ASAP!

Lastly, I’d love to know what you think! Please take 2

minutes to help me make better guides in the future.

NOT LIKELY AT ALL EXTREMELY LIKELY

Thank you and enjoy your little holidays! ♥

1

2

3

4

5