This post is all about how I planned a 2-week trip to Europe in 4 months
So you want to know how I planned a 2-week trip to Europe in four months. Let me tell you now that it’s not as stressful as it sounds. Four months is definitely plenty of time. You just have to be 100% sure you want to take this international trip. As long as you stay organized, and prioritize accordingly, you’ll successfully be on your way to Europe stress-free.
The Ultimate Step-By-Step Guide to How I Planned a 2-Week Trip to Europe in 4 Months
1. Checked Our Passports’ Expiration Dates
Before you do anything, you have to make sure your passports are up to date if you want to go to Europe. If you don’t have one or you have an expired one, you need to go get a new one ASAP. It can take up to 3 months for your new passport to process and come in.
Considering you only have 4 months to plan this trip to Europe, you need to go get your passport now. If you have a passport that hasn’t expired yet. Make sure it doesn’t expire close to your departure date or soon after your return date.
There is always the chance you may have to extend your trip such as if you become ill and can’t fly home or potential flight delays. The last thing you want is to be stuck in a foreign country.
The rule of thumb is, if your passport is expiring within the next 6 months, get a new one.
2. Booked Our Flights ASAP
The absolute first thing you want to do when planning a last-minute trip to Europe is book those flights NOW.
We all know how expensive flights can get and the closer you are to your departure date, the more expensive your plane tickets will be. Jamie and I bought our tickets in early September (4 months before our planned departure date) but we didn’t buy them right away.
We actually started looking in late August but we waited a couple of weeks to see how the tickets fluctuated. Because of our waiting, the prices went up. We could’ve had tickets for $1100 but we ended up paying $1200+. Not -too- much of a difference but every little bit helps.
3. Know What Kind of Flights Seats I Want
I guess I should also mention the different types of flights you can book such as economy, main cabin, first class, etc. (those are the ones I’m most familiar with). The economy is your cheapest, the main cabin is the second cheapest, you have a bunch of upgrades after the main cabin, and first class is your most expensive.
I wanted to fly economy because I was all about saving a couple of hundred dollars. It’s just a flight. But Jamie on the other hand wanted to guarantee that we would be sitting next to each other so we upgraded to the main cabin so that we could choose our seats ahead of time.
I will admit that sitting next to each other for an almost 9-hour flight was worth it even though we paid an extra $200 per ticket.
There’s still a chance you can sit next to your travel buddy even if you fly economy, it’s just not guaranteed. It also depends on what time of year you’re traveling. (We went less than two weeks before Christmas)
4. Research Locations/Activities
Now that you have your flights booked and are guaranteed to have a trip to go to, you can start researching more specific locations and activities. Think about where you’re flying into and what is around the area for you to do.
Jamie and I went to Europe for 2 weeks and we visited 5 different countries. So I had to research each country and figure out what we were interested in doing there.
In Zurich, we did the Top of Europe Tour, Skiing, and the Lindt Factory.
In Paris, we went to the Eiffel Tower and went on a dinner cruise.
Belgium was mainly walking around trying waffles, chocolates, and hot cocoa. But we also did a chocolate-making workshop.
In Amsterdam, we went to the Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh Museum.
In Germany, we went to an underground Christmas market.
Those were the main events that were researched and planned into the schedule. Every other day that didn’t have an activity planned was all walking around and exploring the area.
I recommend focusing on touristy attractions. I tried to find local things to do but with how little time we had in each country, just hit all the touristy spots that you know are good and just enjoy yourself. Save the local experience for when you have more than 3 days per country.
5. Reserve/Book the Activities I Researched
After you’ve chosen your activities, you’ll want to go ahead and book them to solidify your spot. Especially if it’s a tour or a chocolate-making workshop. Those spots can fill in quickly, especially around the holidays.
Keep in mind that I said to book them, NOT pay for them. Most activities don’t require you to pay right away and you’ll want to pay attention to those options. In the next point, I’ll explain why.
6. Pay for Reservations/Booked Activities Throughout the 4 Months
For all the reservations and activities that I reserved and booked, it was almost $2,000 for the 3 of us.
So instead of paying the full $2,000 in December while we were on the trip, I distributed the expenses over the 4 months leading up to the trip.
Most of the activities that I booked gave the option of leaving your card on file and not be charged until 24 hours before the activity was set to happen. They did it this way so that if I decide to cancel the trip for whatever reason (before hitting the 24-hour mark till the activity), I would not have been charged yet.
So for example, I would combine small activities like the chocolate-making workshop and the Eiffel Tower tour into one month and pay about $200 in October. For the next month, November, the top of Europe tour was about $800 for the 3 of us. So, I only paid for the top of Europe tour in November. Now, all my activities are paid for before I even go on the trip AND I didn’t pay for them all at once so it didn’t hurt my credit utilization.
Hopefully, you understand what I mean. I just recommend not paying for all your expenses at once while you’re on the trip. You’ll look like you’re going broke quickly and if you charge it to your credit card, your credit utilization would get high quickly as well.
You want to make sure you still have more than 70% of your credit utilization available for you to spend on souvenirs and food too. So if you can afford it, prepay for your activities as much as you can. You’ll thank me later.
7. Have a Widely Accepted Credit Card with NO Foreign Transaction fees
At the time I was planning this trip, I only had my Discover It cashback card. Although this credit card has no foreign transaction fees, it’s not widely accepted in Europe.
So, I had to sign up for another rewards card as a backup in case my discover card didn’t work.
I decided to get a Bank of America Travel Rewards card. It gives me 1.5x points on ALL purchases, has no foreign transaction fees, and it’s a visa so it is widely used in Europe.
You don’t want your trip to cost more than it already does. Avoiding that extra 3% foreign transaction fee would save your wallet by the time the trip is over.
You may also like How to Reach and Maintain Financial Success
8. Research/Book Hotels and Lodging
Start researching and booking all the hotels you’ll need throughout your stay.
Since we stayed in 5 different countries we needed 5 different places to sleep. You can imagine how much research went into that.
Jamie and I got lucky with this part because my uncle was in charge of lodging. He’s more familiar with the European area.
Based on the activities you chose to visit, choose the lodging areas that are close to those activities, or at least within 30-60 minutes of a drive.
9. Research How to get Foreign Currency for the Country or Countries we were Visiting
Are you planning on doing a currency exchange at the airport? There are plenty of ATMs around for you to take out currency. But be careful. Make sure you go to the ATMs in populated areas.
The last thing you want is to get robbed before you can enjoy your trip.
Jamie and I were also lucky in this regard because we had my uncle who already had the proper currency so we just exchanged currency with him. Hehe. I’m pretty sure he went to some European banks for his.
If it’s accepted, try to use your credit card as much as possible. This will save you the stress of having to get the right currency and you’ll be in the comfort of spending like how you would if you were home.
10. Plan/Shop for What I Want to Bring
By this point in my planning process, I’ve already booked the flights, booked the activities, and booked the lodging locations, now I need to shop for any travel essentials such as a suitcase, warm clothes, or toiletries.
I ended up buying a new medium to large-sized suitcase because all I had was a carry-on.
Jamie and I were sharing suitcases so we didn’t have so many bags to worry about. Also, the fact that we were going on a two-week trip and we haven’t yet mastered packing 2 weeks into a carry-on.
You may also like 5 Reasons to Only Use a Carry-On + Backpack
11. Go to Europe!
By this step, you are all set and ready for your Europe trip, now you just anxiously wait for your flight day and go.
Ending Note
I hope this step-by-step guide to how I planned a 2-week trip to Europe in 4 months was helpful to you.
Hopefully, you aren’t trying to plan a trip to Europe in less than 4 months especially if you don’t have an up-to-date passport. That would suck.
If I forgot any tips, please let me know! I’d love to know more ways to make planning an international trip less stressful. Thank you so much for reading and have a safe flight!
Charity says
This is an ultimate guide for sure! I would love to go there someday. Will keep this post in mind for when I do!
Lily-Anne says
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it ☺️
Charity says
This is such a great guide! Thanks so much for sharing it!
Lily-Anne says
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
Mind Beauty Simplicity says
loved this post!! would love to visit Europe one day!
Lily-Anne says
Thank you for reading!