Traveling opens all our senses to delightful new experiences. Planning a trip, especially overseas, is often a daunting task booking planes, trains, automobiles, lodging and sites. 

I have planned two extensive family trips in rented RV’s. The first time from Ohio to Santa Fe, New Mexico, then six years later from Ohio to Bar Harbor, Maine. After the second trip, and on a high from planning other family vacations, I told my best friend if I couldn’t find a writing job, I would start a trip planning business for families with toddlers to teens in tow. But an offer to write a monthly column for a local magazine unexpectedly fell into my lap, ending my grand plan of starting a travel company. I probably saved myself from hundreds of headaches. Trip planning is not for the faint hearted. 

 

When I first traveled overseas, I worked with a travel agent for the hotel bookings, plane and train reservations. Once there, I relied on the concierge service at the hotel for additional excursions and restaurant recommendations. On my first trip to London and Scotland I had some extra change jingling in my pocket so I went the expensive route with fancy hotels and restaurants, private guides, shows and some special day trips. Needless to say, it was a fabulous 10 days.  

For my most recent trip across the pond to London, the English Countryside and Paris I decided to plan the trip without a travel agent. Luckily, I had been to London and Paris previously. My traveling companion and I would also be spending three nights with a long-time family friend while in a village in the English Countryside. My friend would oversee that portion of our adventure. 

Since my daughter had lived and worked in London one summer between her junior and senior year of college, she was happy to put together a suggested itinerary of sites to visit while my friend, who has been attending French classes at a Lycée in Paris the last few years was more than happy to suggest several great potential daily itineraries, including day trips and restaurants. 

 When the time came to really determine what we were going to do each day, what sites we wanted to see, and how we were going to travel from place to place, the planning got a bit difficult. At one point during the planning phase two options were considered - sitting in a café in each city and planning. or spending extra money on private guides. I convinced my friend that once we narrowed down our “must see” places we could book all our sightseeing including monuments, museums and shopping. We had two intense days sitting at her kitchen table hashing out all the details. 

 

There has been a big change in traveling, especially since Covid. When traveling to the larger cities abroad, the museums and most sites, including some cathedrals, now require timed entry tickets. Whereas on my two previous visits to Paris we were able to enter museums and sites without purchasing a ticket in advance. But this trip, we were very disappointed finding there was no chance of getting into the stunning Saint Chapelle Cathedral without a timed entry ticket. 

According to travel websites there is a sweet spot for booking airline reservations, called the ‘Goldilocks Window,’ not too early, not too late, just right, with a recommended time frame of two-six months. We booked our flights nine weeks before takeoff. Booking our hotels proved a bit more challenging as we waited until six weeks before leaving to book our hotels. Our preferred choices were all booked; however, I had a 2015 Rick Steves London guidebook and after much research we were able to secure a reservation at the Sumner, Steve’s home away from home in London. The hotel agreed to honor the Rick Steves discount. 

Paris was more challenging as all my friend’s recommendations were booked; we knew that we wanted to stay in the 6th Arrondissement of Paris where we finally found a room at the Hotel des Grands Voyageurs. The location was ideal. We were walking distance to cafes, shops, Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre. Additionally, we were one block from two Metro stations.  

The next decision we made was to purchase the Go City London Pass for our three days in London. This comprehensive pass offers over 100 attractions, including The Tower of London, The London Bridge, Kensington Palace, On/Off Double Decker Bus, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abby, The London Eye, The Shard and much more. For the price of $217, we found it was a bargain.

The Churchill War Rooms ticket needed to be booked separately through Imperial War Rooms website for $35. Even with purchasing the Go City London Pass top sites require a timed entry, generally allowing a 30-minute window for entry. If you miss your time slot you can still get in with your reserved ticket, but you will need to stand in a long line. 

The Shard entry time was very strict with no second chance if you missed your specific scheduled time to ride the elevator up to the 68th floor with its magnificent 360-degree view of London. Although we did not reserve dinner reservations during our travels, we did prebook lunch at an incredible Indian restaurant, the Cinnamon Club near Westminster Abbey as well as Afternoon Tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace. We also downloaded Rick Steves free audio guides which were very helpful in the museums and palaces. 

 

Although we walked a lot in London and in Paris, we also managed riding the Tube in London and the Metro in Paris with ease. We booked our train on Trainline thru the English Countryside to my friend’s little village and the Eurostar Train from London to Paris a few weeks in advance. I highly recommend taking trains when traveling throughout Europe. It’s relaxing and the views are incredible. 

We easily booked our tickets for the Musee d’ Orsay and the Louvre on the museum’s websites, again with very strict timed entries. Booking the Eiffel Tower, Versailles and a walking tour of the Montmartre area where the beautiful Sacre Coeur Basilica is located was arduous. Finally, after some frustrating hours I found One Journey Tours online. This small company is fabulous! The owner personally took care of me after an online chat. We booked a guided morning tour of the Eiffel Tower with plenty of free time after for our own exploring. After a quick lunch, we met up with the same tour guide who booked our train to Versailles. While riding with the small group we were given lots of insider information about the Palace, plus “skip the line” entry access. Ryan Steele, the owner of One Journey Tours, was also able at the last minute to book us on a Seine River Dinner Cruise on our final night in Paris. 

One Journey Tours offers nine tours in Paris, plus three tours in Lisbon, coming in this spring two tours in Prague. Before I found One Journey Tours we did book Paris Montmartre Walking Tour Best Art, Culture and Food through Tripadvisor. Our guide was fantastic, but there was not the personal touch that we had with Ryan and Linda, our Eiffel Tower/Versailles guide with One Journey Tours. 

Steele knows that it is overwhelming for individuals to scrutinize all the mass amount of information on travel websites. One Journey Tours takes care of all the “nitty-gritty” details, so it’s like having a personal travel agent with their complimentary concierge service. He even gave me his cell phone number. He does recommend booking two-three months in advance especially for cabaret shows and other top attractions. We missed out on a few bucket list events and places. Most of One Journey two-hour tours range from $55-$75, half-day and full-day tours range between $100-$200 per person. They also offer extended packages with curated itineraries and VIP elements. 

One final tip that I have for overseas travel is to hire a driver to and from your hotels. Yes, you can save a lot of money riding public transportation to and from the airports and train stations, however, a private driver is worth every penny after a long flight or train ride, eliminating dragging your bag behind as you negotiate underground or bus transportation. Javier, our driver in Paris, was outstanding. Since my friend had never been to Paris, on the way to the hotel Javier drove us around the city pointing out the top sites, Arc De Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower and Champs de Elysee at no extra charge. He also offers private tours - Javi Transfers and Tours. 

Since this overseas planning experience, I feel like I learned a lot and will be able to plan even better for my next trip abroad. I am still on a trip planning high and have had serious withdrawals from Paris, The City of Lights.