How to plan a multi-city trip in Europe?

Traveling to a single destination requires a lot of planning and thinking in advance. You need to figure out the logistics like how you will get there, spend the night, where you will eat, and what you will do. But wait, did we hear you say you want to visit a few cities in a single trip? Well, planning just got a little more complicated. However, it will still be very manageable if you follow our tips for arranging a multi-city trip in Europe.
 

1. Consider what day/time you arrive at each city

It's essential to plan when you arrive at every city carefully to avoid wasting time in traffic and overpaying for your accommodation. Here's the full list of reasons:

• If you arrive too late, you might not make it to your pre-booked accommodation in time and will have to pay extra for the late check-in or, even worse - look for a new place to spend the night.
• Some cities have shops operating only until 5 pm, so if you arrive past that, you will struggle to find a place for your late evening shopping.
• Also, if you come around 7-8 am or 5-6 pm on a weekday, there's a chance you will waste time in traffic jams, as these are usually the busiest hours for commuters. 
• If you choose Sunday to arrive in the city, you might experience a lack of things to do or places to shop at, as in most sites, shops and museums are closed on Sunday. Great day for a walk around the city and a meal at the restaurant, though!
   

2. Check for local happenings

If attending local performances of art, music, and other types of shows are important to you, check what's happening in the cities you're planning to visit before your trip. Maybe you will find an exhibition or a comedy show to spice your evenings with, and it will be worth moving cities around in your itinerary to ensure you make it in time. Even if local happenings are not of interest to you, we advise checking the city's agenda anyway to avoid street closures and crowds of people.
 

3. Book your tickets & hotels in advance

Kick off the planning process early, so you take advantage of better rates and availability of hotels, bed & breakfasts, Airbnb accommodation, as well as tickets for getting there and attending events. Usually, we recommend planning a trip three months before the trip. However, if you will be traveling during a particular time of the year, like Christmas, New Year, or Easter, you might need to start planning and booking as early as six months before departure. 
 

4. Travel by train

We might be a little bit biased, but we genuinely believe there's no better way to plan a multi-city trip in Europe than by taking advantage of the advanced European rail system. If you're visiting the neighboring countries' capital cities, it's often more time-effective to take the train.  Keep in mind that if you choose to travel by train, you can use there are many comfortable ways to travel around, like the Prague to Vienna train. There's no better feeling than leaving one city in the morning and arriving straight in the heart of another only a couple of hours later. Use Rai.Ninja online ticket booking platform to purchase train tickets for your trip in a matter of minutes. The best thing is you can do it in your language and currency with your chosen method—a lot less hassle than booking it elsewhere.

5. Have an itinerary in place

When it comes to traveling, it's always handy to have a plan in place of what your week, day, or even a month will look like while on a trip. They are also known as itineraries. You might want to draft it with pen on paper, save it in your notes on your phone or take an even better approach - do it online. Once you create your itinerary, you can then save it as pdf on your phone or tablet, or, if you like - print it out. 

If you take this modern approach, we recommend giving the best travel planning tool for Europe on the market currently - Triptile a try. This European travel planner allows you to create your dream itinerary in minutes, selecting cities, activities, and even hotels all in one place. Travel agents are using it to create detailed travel plans for their clients, and you should give it a go for your multi-city trip to Europe.

To take everything into account, your multi-city trip needs to be carefully considered in advance. It would help if you dotted down cities you'd like to visit, research local events and opening hours, have a preliminary plan of arrivals/departures, and book your tickets in advance. Make the planning process easier by using Rail.Ninja for booking your tickets and Triptile for putting an itinerary together. Enjoy traveling in Europe!