Planning a Trip
In life, we find that there aren’t many things more exciting than planning a trip – obviously other than experiencing it, but sometimes it can be challenging to start especially considering all the countless options we have these days. So, here’s a bit of a guide to making your life easier during this planning stage. Once you’ve decided on the destination where do you stay?
In the City?
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Write a list of all the places you want to visit, sight-see, eateries, night-life, etc
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Plot them on the map
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Use the map function page for the city destination rather than just the list of hotels (e.g., This one here for New York)
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Choose and book a hotel that is central to all your places of interest
Pro’s
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It’s a timesaver when you’re staying close by to all your places of interest.
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As the distance between your hotels and points of interest is shortened, the cost of using public transport, taxi’s or even an Uber is minimized, which is helpful.
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There’s always a hive of activity around which can be a great addition to the excitement factor of your vacation.
Con’s
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It can be significantly more expensive to stay right in the heart of a city.
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Some cities can be noisy, and if you’re not used to noise at night then, you may have interrupted sleep. While noise might not seem like much of an issue at first, after a few sleepless nights in a row, it can undoubtedly make it harder to maintain ones’ joy for travel!
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Parking can be expensive and even difficult in some city hotels. So, if you’ve got your car with you, then you will have to make allowances for that too.
Outside the City?
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Choose a friendly neighborhood that is close by to the city of your choice and put that into the search box instead. Or just click the surrounding areas box to help guide you.
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Make sure you choose a hotel close to public transport that will make it easy for you to get in and out of the city to your places of interest. Again, this is easy using the map function page rather than just the list of hotels.
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Alternatively, make sure you’ve chosen a hotel close to main roads that will connect you with the city easily.
Pro’s
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A more suburban stay can be significantly cheaper, making it a more budget-friendly option.
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The hotel choices can be a little homier and with larger rooms.
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Suburban hotels often don’t charge for parking. Plus, with self-parking options, you don’t have to tip the valet every time you access your car. So, this can be a great saver if you’re in and out a lot!
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It can be a little less crowded.
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You can often find “non-tourist” priced restaurants or cafes that gives you that feeling of living more like a local.
Con’s
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If you’re using public transport to get in and out of the city – then make sure you know your prices. If there is only yourself, or a couple, you can still come out cheaper. However, if you’re traveling as a family or group – then the hotel cost savings may not be enough to cover the additional transport cost.
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This too would be the case if you drove in and out each day and had to park your car somewhere. Make sure you know the cost of any tolls and also the parking lot charges.
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Due to the additional travel time, you’ll need to make sure you’re efficient with time management otherwise you could face missing out on certain things. This can be because you either couldn’t get moving early enough in the morning or because you were going to be coming back too late at night and didn’t want to be on public transport late at night.
Summary
So, as you can see, there’s a case to be made for a city-based stay versus the hanging out in the burbs. But at least with this quick pro and con list, you can make a more informed decision. It just depends on the type of your vacation at the time and what your needs are. Please feel free to add any pros and cons that you can think of too in the comments section below
