How To Plan Your Trip Abroad: 3 to 6 Months Out

trip planning 3-6 months out

With our impending Italy trip just around the corner, we are kicking off a series of posts that takes you through our travel-prep process. This process may not work for everyone, but we hope to give you some insight into what works for us!

Today we're talking about what we've done already to prep for our trip, covering those 3-6+ months prior to departure. 

Flights

Flights

For the best prices and options, we generally aim to book these as far out as we can. We booked our flights to and from Italy about 6 months ahead of our intended trip. For the best prices, it's generally a good idea to fly round-trip in and out of the same airport. However, given our schedule, we decided to fly into Florence and out of Rome this time around. 

Lodging

Lodging

Again, for the best options, and because we were excited after finalizing our flights, we chose to book earlier rather than later. We decided this time around to book Airbnbs for our stays in Florence and Rome. After our honeymoon to Italy last year, we fell in love with certain neighborhoods in each city and were looking for more of a live-like-a-local experience. We couldn't believe the prices, too. For our own private, adorable apartments, we're paying just over $100 a night.

Train Travel

Trains

The Italian train system is wonderfully fast and efficient (as long as there are no strikes)! While you can  wait to buy your tickets at the train station moments before jumping aboard, we chose to book our train ahead of time, for a few reasons. First, we don't need to worry about it anymore, secondly, the price is good the earlier you can book, and third, we can book the tickets in the comfort of our own home without worrying about the language barrier. 

Venice Tour

Tours: a few months prior

If you want to book a tour or two, we find it's best to book it earlier rather than later, that way the tours with available dates aren't dictating your travel schedule. Put yourself in control and book now. Many tours offer a flexible cancellation policy, so if you're unsure, double check their policies and go ahead and book, knowing you can always cancel later. A couple of Italian tour companies we can strongly recommend are Walks of Italy and Tuscan Wine Tours.

Getting these things out of the way early ensures that we can look ahead to our trip with joy. What other things do you do to prep for a trip? Happy traveling!