As you can see, I’ve started my map & pin method; yellow being “must-see”, smaller pins as “worth a look”. And, continuing with the tactile theme, I’m still eschewing digital sources: I’m still working off of my lovely books. In this case I think my map is a little too small – it came with one of the books – and I may have to upgrade to a proper Michelin map.
I have a small thing for travel books – small, indeed, barely half a shelf – but I find them useful to have on hand for this purpose (aside from being fun to breeze through on occasion). What gaps I may have for a chosen destination, I can fill with my local library. Actually, that’s an even better resource: more than a few of my books I’ve bought for 50 cents from the library, when they decided the info had become stale – maybe two years after publication.
You may see that some of my books are much older than two years. Sure! I’m not going to a “hot” destination, I’m choosing to vacation in an area known for its…timelessness? The Loire Valley chateaux aren’t supposed to change, that’s the point. Most of the sights worth seeing haven’t changed in 100 years, much less 20. For my purposes, the old-ish books are perfectly useful.
Now, they fail on the practical details. Operating hours and contact information changes annually; hotels wax and wane in quality; restaurants come and go in short intervals. But those are exactly the things in which the web excels. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll happily use Yelp to help narrow my restaurant choices. But for sightseeing, I want a more curated approach, which is what the books do best.
Most of the books, in fact, do a pretty good job of creating a suggested itinerary for you, based on number of days in the region. I often start with those, and add & subtract based on my particular interests. E.g., I love secluded ruins, and scenic drives. I’ll add those in when I find them.
Base itinerary selected, I’ll go back to the web to fill in the gaps – sometimes much later. Only high-end dining needs to be scheduled this far out, everything else can be managed on short notice. I’ll also use the web for scheduling activities (as opposed to sights). By that I mean, oh, a winery, or a river boat, or a flea market. No problem, since I try to save some open time in my itinerary for such things.
It helps, in fact, to make your itinerary somewhat modular. This is especially possible if you’re working off of a centralized base, so you don’t need to adhere to a progression in one direction. E.g., categorize one day as “in case of rain” if it has a lot of indoor activities, and use it accordingly. And another as “light walking” for when you get tired and need some recovery. Or, “short drive” if you want to sleep in late. Then, adjust to local conditions when you’re there. You’ll be grateful you have options, especially when you realize how inclement Northern European weather can be.
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