Why plan your trip to Barcelona?

Information on January 31, 2011 5:37 pm

You work hard all year through. Finally it is the day of your well deserved holidays. You feel excited and wake up before the alarm rings. You jump out of bed and you are ready to go. You wish you felt like this each morning when you need to go to work. A few more hours and you are there. Yippee…

Finally you arrive. You feel that excitement that surrounds everything new in life. You wonder what the people are going to be like, you think of nice restaurants and wines … You pick up your luggage and head out. But wait a moment. What’s next? You realised that you have no idea how to get into the city; you don’t even know the options. In fact you don’t even know the address of your hotel. Did you print your reservation at all?

If you have been in this situation before, don’t worry. You are not alone. Vast numbers of people travel without actually planning their trips. I can hear you say: Isn’t spontaneity better?

No, it is not. You don’t believe me? I know what you are thinking of now. I used to be the same type of guy. Until I actually planned my trip for the first time. I hated to admit but the old saying that my father used to tell me was true: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

So what are the disadvantages of not being prepared?

1. Your trip will always be more expensive.

When we travel we step into the unknown. We find ourselves in situations that are not part of our every day routine. As a consequence we have no answers to these situations. The unknown always creates stress, and it is our nature to try to get out of it as quickly as possible. In a situation like this, we tend to take the first option that seems to answer our problem. This is seldom the best solution and can often be the most expensive.

For example there are 3 ways to reach Barcelona from the airport: Taxi, Aerobus and RENFE train. If you have no idea about these options, the first thing you will see when you step out of Terminal 2 building are the taxis waiting in line. Only after some inquires will you be able to find the Aerobus stop in front of Terminal 2B. The option that is the least obvious is the train. You need to walk through an overpass that connects the airport terminal with the train station.

Do you know what the differences are? It costs about 30€ to take a cab, 5,5€ if you ride the Aerobus and only 0.79c if you take the train. 30€ vs. 0.79c. Wouldn’t it be better to spend that money on some tasty tapas or paella?

And there are numerous situations like that when we travel such as eating lunch, dinner, or renting a car. All of this can add up considerably by the end of you trip. Now I don’t mean to say that you should save as much money as possible. But why waste it? Wouldn’t it be better to spend the amount you save on another trip? A trip that you actually plan?

2. You will waste time instead of doing something fun

If you plan your trips you can have much more fun.

As I said before, when we travel and we are in a new place, we don’t have the standard answers to our daily needs. If you don’t plan your trip you will always find yourself in a situation where you need to solve a problem. Where to go next, how to get there, where should I eat etc. All this problem solving takes time, a lot more time than at home.

Another very time consuming thing is lack of local knowledge. For example, in high season people wait in front of the Sagrada Familia, sometimes up to 3 hours to get in. Even in low season you need to stand in line for at least 30-40 minutes to enter. Do you like waiting in line? I don’t. All you have to do to avoid it is to buy your ticket online. With an online reservation, you can pass by the queues and walk right in. 1 min vs. 3 hours? Which sounds better to you?

A big time waster when we travel is not knowing what to do. Picking attractions randomly form your travel book seldom yields the best alternative. For example in San Francisco I travelled from point A to point B at the other end of the city just to come back to point A again. If you don’t prepare and don’t know the city you are visiting you will likely waste your precious time in the wrong places.

Waste time flickr image by bjornmeansbear

3. You will cause yourself unnecessary hassle

The third consequence of not being prepared for your trip, is that you will cause yourself unnecessary hassle. Once in London I had been walking up and down the street for more than half an hour in the pouring rain with all my luggage before I finally found my hotel. Feeling hungry, and being dehydrated from my flight I trusted the locals. But they neither knew the street nor the hotel. And, of course, nobody was on the streets in the rain.

As a result of these disadvantages, and troubles I always felt that I missed out on something. That I could have had a better trip. My trips were always nice, but I felt that something was missing.

Left out in the rain flickr image by Martin Cathrae

After one of my trips I decided that next time I would force myself, no matter what, and start planning my journey in time. Now I take the time to read about my destination, check what there is to see and do, consider a number of restaurants and roughly plan where I will eat and when. I also go though reviews to pick up a few local tips and insights. Since then, my trips are much more enjoyable. I no longer have the worry that my trips could have been better. It may take time to plan but it is very well worth it. I even enjoy planning my trips now.

I hope that I was able to convince you and next time you will prepare for your trip. To make the beginning easier and save you time on planning your itinerary, I put together 3 Barcelona preplanned guides. They are optimised for 1, 3 and 5 days and show you in a step by step, easy to follow itinerary how to best see Barcelona.

We know that few people like to spend time on planning their trip. As you can see it is worth being prepared. The benefits clearly outweigh the costs. Let us help you! Let’s do it together!

Bon Voyage. Have a hassle free trip to Barcelona.

About the Author

PromptGuides.com is a travel web site that specialises in preplanned city guides. The guides are optimized for 1, 3 and 5 days and provide travelers with complete day itineraries for their holidays.

Available destinations currently include Barcelona, London and Paris. Other destinations are coming soon: Rome, Budapest, Boston… Check back frequently.

About the author Oh-Barcelona

We are a leading holiday accommodation provider, with a fantastic choice of affordable rental apartments, hotels and hostels in the Catalan capital.
Oh-Barcelona.com