If you know me, you know I like trip planning. I spend many hours of closed season with my laptop looking on google maps dreaming of where I'll visit that season. Trips I do generally sort into 3 sections: cred runs, days/weekends out or road trips. I'm going to talk about road trips now, but will probably go into the others in the future. So, without further ado, let's get into it!
Where you want to go:
It might seem a bit weird and obvious, but the first thing to do is decide where you're going. Decide if there's a certain park/area you want to visit and build around that. For example, I've always dreamed of visiting Phantasialand, especially now F.L.Y is open. So, I planned a trip to visit there, but with everything at Plopsaland and Ride to Happiness, and Kondaa at Walibi Belgium I planned a longer trip to do all of it and get back to Efteling as I haven't been in ages. I have all the parks I want to visit marked on Google Maps, so I can see it all better. I mark different things with different colours to show where I've been and where I want to go.
E.g: on this map, I've marked the trip I'm doing in yellow as 'starred places', and other places I want to go in the future in green as 'want to go'.
Travel:
I usually wouldn't be the one doing this part, but it's something to consider so I've gotta mention it. You're either gonna fly/ferry wherever you're travelling, and then have to travel around either in your own vehicle or a hired one. When I'm going to Europe or the UK, I'd opt for using you're own vehicle and staying in hotels, but in general just go for what's open at the time and what is cheaper. When I did the UK this year, We hired a campervan because we still had the booking from our Europe trip, but it worked out well as it was so much easier to drive further because we were in a larger vehicle. It also meant we could stay in a campsite which was easier in the current situation. In general, we tried to keep the drives under 3 hours if it was after a day at a park but we did have to do a straight 4hr drive from Towers back down home before we went to Adventure Island. For flights/ferry trips, I'd just get an idea of prices/times and then just book whatever's cheapest. I always search by all London airports, as you can sometimes get a good deal from somewhere different, for example flying from Stansted because there was a better times flight for cheaper, even if it means being in a bit of a weird hotel room😂.
Hotels/Stays
I'm not gonna say I'm really clued up in this section, so I'll just go through the basics. If you're in a campervan, book a campsite, and if you're in a car, book a hotel. Try and stay at places that are halfway between wherever you are the day and day after you stay there to keep driving long distances in the morning/evening to a minimum. On resort hotels can be really nice, but are obviously more expensive. If you're willing to pay and want to experience them, of course go ahead. this can also sometimes give you the bonus of breakfast and exclusive riding or fast passes, which can be good at larger parks.
Websites I plan/book with:
Thanks for reading! I'm definitely not a professional, so all of these tips are just from experience. I'm always open to helping with trip planning, it's something I really enjoy. Hope my tips help you with your next big trip plan!
Cleo.
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