Itinerary Draft

During the term break, my sister and I worked on our itinerary. We began with our arrival in the UK and wrote a ‘brief’ so that we could co-ordinate every booking that needed to be made.

Budget offered the best deal for a car, so that was our first step. The only difficulty I had was deciding from which terminal we would collect the car when we arrived. The Budget site was not helpful in this regard. I guess that it would be too much to ask that the airline or the airport would have this information so far ahead. I checked online for a map of Heathrow and decided that it wouldn’t matter too much, that they are all fairly close together, so I just chose one (eliminating Terminal 4, which is further away) and nominated a time that should allow us to get through customs and to the pick-up point in plenty of time without rushing.

We could have chosen to pay later, but it was more economical to pay in advance. There was a slight extra charge for the privilege of returning the car to a different airport (Gatwick) but worth it. There will be extras to pay for when we get there – such as a GPS, WiFi, fuel in advance for return of the car, etc – but the basic charge is done and dusted. I also went online to check the price of fuel in the UK so I could factor this into our budget.

The next step was booking a hotel for our first night’s stay. We arrived at Heathrow mid-afternoon, and although I have never experienced jet lag (I can sleep anywhere, anytime), my sister might be another story. We chose Oxford because it’s on our way west, and it’s not too far away from the airport. I tried a few different sites but found that booking.com was the best for the short stays we plan for places in the UK. Signing up at booking.com gave us access to special deals and so we planned where we would travel to each day and booked a hotel in those vicinities. Most of them gave us the option to pay now, or later. We chose to pay some now, and some later (with a guaranteed rate in British Pounds), to spread the risk of the Australian Dollar falling or rising against the British Pound. Some include breakfast, others do not but they do offer it on the day, so I built this into our budget too.

For our last few nights bar one in the UK, we wanted to be close enough to London to take a train there to see the sights. Before booking that hotel, I checked the maps of trains the cost of train tickets and the timetable to London, and factored that into our budget as well.

Our last night in the UK needed to be close to Gatwick and booking.com listed a hotel that is connected to the terminal we need by a covered walkway. Perfect.

A detailed Itinerary was my last step for the UK section of our trip. This lists each step of our stay there, from times, distances to travel, and places paid in advance, and those that will need to be paid for when we arrive. At the same time, I added details to our budget.

Next step, Italy.