How to plan for your Ala Carte Travel Plan for Europe.

For those of you who do not prefer Group Tours in Europe, ala carte traveling is the alternative option for you.

From personal experience, it hasn't been easy, especially if you are to travel to places you have never been.

Here are some tips you might want to consider.

Itineraries
Check out itineraries of established Tour Agencies. I got a book on traveling in Europe and London from the local Price Breakers outlets here and its for free. It offers several comprehensive itineraries that covers places worth visiting in the countries.

Accommodations
Depending on your budget, one foolproof way is to visit www.tripadvisor.com for reviews written by people who have been there, done that. They provide reviews on sightseeing venues, hotels, restaurants. What I especially like is to be able to see the real-life photographs taken by tourists because hotel websites are only full of professionally taken photographs which may not be accurate.

There are automated links to several hotel booking websites from Tripadvisor which I dislike. So it may be a better idea to just write down the shortlisted hotels and then search them online as well as the Hotel's website before you make the decision. It is also important to note that some third party online booking companies may not have the latest status on the rooms' availability, resulting in overbooking. Best bet for me is always to book directly with the hotel than the third party websites.

Internal Transfers
This the simplest one. You either book with the Flight Company directly, or book it with travel agents. But be careful if you book it yourself and you want to change your flight later on, it may not be as easy as just a call or email to your travel agent to do the necessary for you.

For Europe internal train rides, I always book with Price Breakers. Their service is quite good so far. It is also a good experience to try a sleeper train when one travels across countries in Europe.

For internal flights, I often book with EasyJet.com. But beware of their limit on baggage weights (I was charged EUR50 for 5kg in excess of baggage weight!). Another alternative is Ryanair. Many internal flights are pretty strict.

So what goes first?
First step is to always ensure you get your flight ticket. Then accommodation of the different countries you plan to visit. The last should always be the internal transfers.

Good luck and enjoy the planning process!