What do you do to research places to visit...

I love to read all the info online about each port we will visit and to bookmark and save all the TONS of info available that I find in the months before our travel. I do print some out to reread and put important info into an app on my phone.

Does anyone obtain hard copies of some of this information from the cities? Most everything I find on websites is for online viewing.

Also have been listening to podcasts!

I'll try to be brief (i'm a young-retired history teacher and research is my thing!) and the following is for the DIY traveler.

I purchase a lightweight 3 ring binder with inside pockets and tabbed dividers. Each port gets its own tabbed section.

1st page of each section is for maps, general and specific. Next comes the specific history of that port and places to see with a brief descriptions.

I also write a brief history (maybe a page) of the entire trip (so think "Holy Roman Empire" or "A/H Empire") so that when we see/hear a reference to an event or person Mr. Wonderful has a reference to it. This is page 1 of the entire binder and can be skimmed in a few minutes.

I go to frommers.com and hard copy the walking tours of each town with the accompanying specific maps. Frommers is excellent for this. I also use fodors.com, rick steves, and tripadvisor.com regularly. Sometimes lonelyplanet is excellent. These are the notes for a specific day/port and can be 2-6 pages.

I purchase some of those heavy plastic sleeves and stick "today's notes" into that and carry it in my backpack leaving the binder on board.

Typically those notes get thrown away on the last day in that port.

I also look for old paperback travel guides in thrift shops and library sales and tear out the pages of the area we're interested in and insert those in the pockets of the binder. I tuck a few pages of interest into the daily plastic sleeve as well. Often i save those pages and return home with them.

When we get to the port, if there are additional hard copies of things I like I grab those and they go in the binder pockets to go home.

At home he has downloaded maps into a handheld gps and when we arrive in port off we go. (He also geo tags the pictures we take helping us remember where we were when we them!)

I've also hard copied bus/metro stops in relation to where we want to go--tripadvisor is best for this.

all of this is done at home and several family members & friends have used our info and don't have to do it themselves.

For me, half the fun of going is the preparation for it!! (sorry, it's just the way I'm wired!)

This wasn't my question but thank you so much for your reply. I have two trips planned over the next year and getting ready to book by first trip for 2016 and this was really helpful.. I'm doing a lot or research(as you say it is part of the fun) and I'm starting to drown in notes and files. This gives me an easy process to copy and implement.

I'm relatively new to CC and have been about ready to stop coming to the site due to all the fussing and snippy response to questions and comments. But this is the kind of response that will keep me coming. Thanks again for sharing.

I love Abe Books (abebooks.com) for cheap travel guides. The guides may be a couple years old, but they still contain valuable information. I have picked up books for as cheap as a dollar or two, and some with free shipping.

I always look for information on line for the various cities we will be visiting, but the local guides are so informative, plus the information that is provided by the cruise line (either in the form of a travel guide or hand outs) often is enough for me. I find the guide books are more helpful for the larger towns along the route.

Well I suppose my CC name says it all! I obsessively research each of our holiday and have done all my life. I usually purchase a little black book use it to note all the holiday details and then head pages for each day where we should be and any information about that day I get from the trip supplier. I then note anything special I come across about things on that day, not in depth but just to jog the memory. In our case for river cruising so far has been Scenic, who supply a travel information book for the area you are cruising this arrives with your final tickets etc. On board each day there were fact sheets about where we were plus about each of the excursions so almost information overload.

CC is a useful tool but be aware Wiki is not always correct.

Happy researching for your cruise.

in my computer i keep a "dump document" with the geographical location in bold ("machu pichu" or "Christmas river cruises") and whenever i find something that may someday be of interest to me i copy/paste it (with date and citation) into my document.

Over the years I've collected volumes of cool info; where to take a great picture in Oia, Santorini, where to get the ferry to Capri, the sweater market in Copenhagen, what metro stop for the Acropolis. When i return I revise it, if necessary, based on our experiences.

When I'm going someplace new i refer to my document. I've learned over the years not to take a guide book because it gets too heavy for me in my backpack.

Other women have gorgeous bags, I have a Columbia backpack that is at least 10 years old but i like the freedom of a pack. I stuff a sweater (the poncho lives in the bottom) snacks, bottle of water and the plastic sleeve as well as travel sized sunscreen, a couple of band aids, hand wash, and reading glasses.

If you are a photographer i rec'd ponchos; they can be wadded up and stuck away in a small pouch but they also cover you and the camera when it is bucketing down.

My 2nd tip is to grab those shower caps in hotels; they make cheap camera covers when it is drizzling and can be pulled slightly aside to shoot and quickly be put back. When they get holes or lose elasticity, replace!

He carries a backpack as well but his is filled with lens, extra Sim cards, small binoculars,etc.

always look around for pamphlets & maps, etc that the local tourist board hands out. Tourist locations are also great places for toilets.

Don't pass up McDonalds...they have clean bathrooms for the cost of a coffee or coke and usually have wifi in most European locations...win-win location!! We haunted one in Lisbon & Barcelona!

Go over a couple of days early, which i highly rec'd, because it allows your luggage a chance to catch up, and provides a lovely way to get over jet lag. Most of the departure cities are worth days of exploration on your own.

Tripadvisor has a lovely feature. Look on their maps where your hotel is located and it will show you the restaurants that are near. Then read what others have to say about your hotel and those restaurants. For instance, I found a great hotel in Athens and learned to ask for 6th floor facing west--sure enough there was the view of the Acropolis--all thanks to tripadvisor.com.

Some do seem to be getting grumpy don't they? We're blessed to be able to travel! Have fun planning!!

I research both on-line sites and purchase travel books. Oftentimes, you can find info in the guidebooks that are not on-line and vice versa. I also find the guidebooks handy to travel with.

For my coming up trip, I also purchased maps of each city that we'll be doing on our own. We purchased Streetwise maps.

You can also go to the library and check out different travel books. If you decide to purchase any then you'll know which one's you like the best.

T

I'm relatively new to CC and have been about ready to stop coming to the site due to all the fussing and snippy response to questions and comments. But this is the kind of response that will keep me coming. Thanks again for sharing.

Some people are a bit snippy, but some don't mean to come across as such, it's just difficult to read "tone" in a written comment. The river cruise board is relatively tame compared to some of the others. :rolleyes:

If you stick with the CC forum, you'll find that most folks are more than eager to help and you'll get tons of information.

There is also the "ignore" feature under your User CP that you can activate if someone really gets under your skin.

I too love to research b/f a vacation. Lonely Planet has .pdf books available for download to an e-reader or iPad. Love those and they are frequently on sale. You can also just purchase a single chapter or two of a particular book, which may be nice for some of the river cruises that only visit select cities of some countries. Also, Trip Advisor has free great downloadable City Guides for many major cities (Budapest, Amsterdam, Prague, Paris, etc.) They have terrific interactive maps that work w/o internet once downloaded, and show points of interest, restaurants, and have recommended walking tours.

Becki

CBB - we do the exact same thing. Are you related to me?

For quick ideas,

go to Frommers.com or google frommer and your city.

They have great plans for what to see

- in 1 day, 2 days or 3 days

- walking tours

- favourite things to do

- what not to miss,

etc, etc.

It is quick and easy. When you see something that interests you, then google it and get some more details.(from city sites, tripadvisor, wikipedia, etc)

Also google using google images to give you a visual of what you are thinking of.

valley girl...we well could be related. I had some folks come through your part of the country a very long time ago, stayed a while, and then went through the Gap on their way to Kentucky and then on to southern Indiana!! I think the Staunton area.

CBB - that is the city we live in though truth be told, we only moved here 6 years ago from another part of our great state.

I too am a passionate travel planner...it is a great downtown distraction from a busy work career. I use most of the techniques described by others here. I usually compile all my key research notes about the ports for a specific cruise/trip into a word document. I copy and paste all the tips I find on line, from this forum, trip advisor and others, as well as from library books and at least one purchased travel book for each country or region we visit.

I also find visuals really help me decide what I want to see/experience and what to rule out. Particularly for cruises with limited time in port, I don't want to waste our time figuring out what to do or doing something that really isn't our kind of thing. I rent DVDs from our local library and view lots of youtube videos on the specific cities, attractions or tour operators. Google street view is really great for zooming in right to specific locations too.

I love reading photo blogs of other travelers which triggered me to also develop my own share site on shutterfly. On my share site, I create a separate page for each trip and then save informative reference links, my itinerary as it develops, key documents, create my trip journal, post my pictures and videos and eventual photobook. The share site becomes my trip in development storage, then serves as a way to save and share our photos, journal during and after the trip and is also where I can direct friends who ask me things like where I would recommend to stay or see etc. I don't have to remember all the details of each trip as it is easily found on the share site. My share site link is in my signature if anyone wants to see. Very easy so start your own too. :)

banditoo--glad i'm not the only one with a word document. Mine's the infamous "dump document" and, as its name implies, I dump all sorts of stuff in there. I try to date it and cite where i got the info (NYT, CCrit...etc)

It has proved invaluable. Mine also has stuff such as "how to get to xyz from port", the discussion of which Christmas markets are best, where to find chocolate....you know, the essentials of travel!

We post pix as well but on google+.

I use a combination of web and paper. First I do a search on "(name of city) tourism." Then I visit the official site and look around to see if they have an e-form to order information and request a map and select brochures. If the is no form, I send an email, in English, requesting a map and information to their info or contact us address.

Even it cities/towns that don't have an English site it's not hard to find an email address or fill in and send the form . . .

Then it's a matter of deciding what to do and what to take. Sometimes I do a more targeted web search to help our decision making.

If you don't mind, let me piggy-back a question into this one.

My last (road) trip I researched Obsessively. Whole museums cataloged on a tablet, battle maps that would pinpoint actions taken in a skirmish from 1380, the entrances to caves last discussed in archeological journals from the 1800s...

It was all incredibly interesting, in an academic kind of way. But as I traveled further afield, my notes ran dry, and I was left to blindly wander bogs and forests and just discover things as I found them. I have to admit, as a researcher type, non-research exploring beat researched touring hands down.

Cruises are vastly different from road trips, of course. But has anyone found that vigorous research handicaps their joy of blind discovery?

Hi Perigee 123, in my opinion research is a tool it leaves the way open to discover and learn even more. Reasearch opens your mind to what is there and when you get there you are able to see or discover even more because you already know or appreciate all the other stuff. If we only relied on research would we see or discover anything else? This is why in many ways CC and it's like is so useful because we each look at or get an impression of a place or thing differently so when a question is asked there is often more than one answer, occasionally a bit controversial which makes us look or notice even more.

Just think on your road trip you were actually doing your own research.

Research is a tool to help you appreciate what is to come.

Happy cruising all.:)

As CTP Trips first of all I go an research for the official tourism website of a city. With German towns it´s usually pretty easy as you just have to type in the name .de for the official website of the town and usually you will find a link there for tourism. Most of those websites do offer leaflets or brochures for download including city maps.

Although I do have a smart phone and tablet I´m more the print type. So I print out the basic information (especially city maps) and add notes (like opening times or how to get there/which public transporation to use). All printed information (plus airline "tickets", hotel reservation confirmations and more) does go into separate sheet protectors (one for each town) and into a flexible binder - of course sorted in the way you need it first (usually the airline tickets). Evernote or any kind of travel organizer app might come in handy too. But I´m relying on print outs in case the electronic device doesn´t like me anymore (happend once).

Additionally I do work with a word document where I "store" the links to additional information plus copies of information which I might need. This document is also my trip review starting with Day 1 (Flight...)....

steamboats

Perigee123--as a crazed researcher I find comfort in my notes, walking tours, etc. but that comfort then allows me to get lost. If I have gone to the researched garden, cathedral, chocolate store, etc then I can just immerse myself in everything else that comes my way.

It is delightful to see the garden or cathedral 2 hours later when you approach from another direction...whole different perspective!

(quick personal story: The first time we visited San Francisco we missed Muir Woods and were devastated when we returned home to discover how close we had been. We vowed to never leave home unprepared again!)

I also do extensive research (guidebooks, local tourism sites, etc) and absolutely agree with printing out Frommer's walking tours. I also check out library guide books and photocopy the maps; they are often clearer than ones I download.

Love hop on hop off buses for an initial overview of a new place or cheap transportation around a big city.

On several trips where we knew we would have free time for independent exploring we took our GPS. It can be set for pedestrian mode and then put in your goal, or wander without fear of losing track of the hotel or the subway station. We first used it in Rome and it was great. I have a charger I can plug into the hotel.

Months before we leave we will check out of the library, Fedors, Frommers, Lonely Planet, Rick Steves, and any other guide books we can find. We read up, take notes and make up our own little guide book. Sometimes just before we leave we will check out 1 or 2 of the most informative guide books and take them with us. I just find it easier bookmarking a page and turning back and forth then trying to find something on an e-reader. We do this much more so when we take a land tour. When cruising, the first thing we do is check out the ship's tours to see what and where they are going. The one's that interest us, we will the do greater research on the "what and where" and decide what we want to see whether we take the ship's excursion or not. When cruising, you really don't have that much time in any one port to see a lot, so after checking out guide books, it's kind of like, "pick one",..... OK, maybe two!

Marco is right about limited time and picking "one." We like to have several "ones," nice weather, rainy day, strenuous and easy options. After all, we can't guarantee how we will feel.