How to Plan Things to Do on Vacation
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As fun as it is to secure flights and hotels, when it comes down to it, I really think planning the vacation activities are the most fun part! That’s why you’re traveling right? To try new things, experience history, arts, and science of the culture, and of course, taste all the food!
But, how do you find the best activities? How do you know you’re not missing something awesome? That’s what this post is all about. I’m sharing exactly how to plan the best things to do on vacation.
A note to travel planners
Before we begin, I want to share my thoughts about consulting sources on the internet about travel activities.
Don’t believe everything you read. Scouring the internet for reviews and tips can be helpful, but it can also be confusing and inaccurate. Just because someone had a bad experience somewhere, that doesn’t mean it’s automatically a terrible activity. And just because they said it was terrible in winter, doesn’t mean your summer bucket list item is ruined! All this to say, keep an open mind when reading reviews on big name sites.
This goes for travel bloggers too, who often “claim ownership” of a place after having only visited once or twice. Meaning they’ll claim they know the 100 best things to do or they know secret underrated things to do or locals’ secret spots! Well, you can’t possibly know that much after visiting only once.
What is helpful is seeing what travel bloggers did when they visited, hearing their insight about what they learned from locals and otherwise, and what they wished they had done. I’ll speak more on this in a bit.
Anyway, please remember that you’re the one doing the traveling. You’re the one making the arrangements and buying the tickets, so you can choose to do whatever you want. Just because the Hollywood Sign is a popular tourist destination, if you have no interest in hiking up a mountain to glimpse the backside of the letters, then don’t!
Who do you consult about the best activities?
The big names
Google Travel Portal
More and more, I’ve started consulting the Google Travel portal and using it as an integral part of my travel planning process.
The portal is so helpful for finding the BIG ticket items and sometimes less popular stuff.
What I like: It shows you a map, pictures, brief description, and reviews all in one spot. If you like what you see, you can click further to learn more. It’s concise and easy to navigate.
What I don’t like: Sometimes I feel like it’s lacking in substance and the hidden gems get buried. Often you’ll see lots of commercial activities as well, like theme parks.
TripAdvisor
Of course, Trip Advisor has lots of things to do including the big name and smaller attractions. There are usually lots of reviews and pictures from the reviewers.
It will also tell you key information like how long you’ll likely spend there, how the activity ranks compares to other things to do in the area, and what else is nearby.
Trip Advisor is nice too because it has direct booking options if you want.
What I like: I like to see the rankings and many photos
What I don’t like: Because it’s not as popular as Google, there are fewer reviews so that’s not ideal
Atlas Obscura
If you haven’t yet used Atlas Obscura, it’s a very interesting site to find unusual things to do. These are typically off the beaten track, hidden gems, and odd activities.
For example, in Atlanta you usually see the big ticket museums on activity round-ups but on Atlas Obscura you’ll find the awesome Krog Street Tunnel, where graffiti is not only tolerated, it’s encouraged, and the Tiny Doors of Atlanta, which are little art pieces all over the city.
What I like: The pure weirdness and hidden gems. There’s often things here that won’t show up anywhere else.
What I don’t like: Sometimes the picks are too weird and slightly uncomfortable, like taking you to the middle of the woods to see some slightly historic cemetery.
Yelp
Usually, I only use Yelp for food recommendations, but you can also look for things to do. It often has random less popular things to do, which may make the reviews more few and far between.
What I like: Occasionally you’ll find something neat on Yelp.
What I don’t like: It’s really not the best search engine, but I wanted to include for completionism sake and because the food recommendations are great!
Social Media
After going through the main channels, I do like to consult social media, namely Instagram and TikTok. I like to search a destination and see what comes up. Especially on TikTok, you can find lots of locals with suggestions on what to do, see, and eat!
Instagram is also great, but please remember that it’s a highly curated highlight reel. The reality may be very different.
What I like: The photos are dreamy and I always find beautiful places I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. TikTok has great tips from locals.
What I don’t like: Social media is the highlight reel and lots of what you see is highly edited or taken at ridiculous hours so it makes it hard to get realistic travel ideas.
The smaller names
Tourism Websites
Who knows a destination better than themselves? Check tourism websites for their insight on things to do.
I’ve done this many times and I’ve never been let down. One memorable example is when my boyfriend and I visited Kitekite Falls in New Zealand’s North Island and Piha Beach nearby only because of the tourism website! They totally sold me and they weren’t wrong!
To find the official tourism sites, you can quite literally google “destination + tourism.”
Sometimes there are multiple so dive in and enjoy!
What I like: These websites are always curated so beautifully to showcase the destination and the insight is incredibly valuable.
What I don’t like: Make sure you’re on the destination’s tourism site, not just a tour company or other business charading as the official destination’s site.
Travel bloggers
I might be biased, but I personally love hearing from travel bloggers about the best things to do in destinations. I especially love when they have beautiful photos to accompany their ideas. Travel bloggers are likely looking out for things regular visitors may not be, like ticket prices, parking logistics, public transportation access, and the time you may want to spend there.
Like I said in the beginning though, there are some things to watch out for. Make sure the travel blogger isn’t coming off like they know the place like the back of their hand if they only visited once.
Instead, look for suggested itineraries based on their own and in depth guides to specific activities that they participated in.
For example, I have a whole guide dedicated to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens based on my experience visiting with parking tips, admission prices, and more. It was easy for me to get all that information from visiting once.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t write a post about local’s favorite restaurants in South Beach since I’m not a local…unless I got recommendations specifically from locals like I did in Dublin.
All this to say, scrutinize what you read from travel bloggers, but either way you’ll likely see awesome photos and get logistics info. We like doing the research so you don’t have to!
What I like: The beautifully curated photos, helpful visiting information and insight, tips, and personal anecdotes about visiting.
What I don’t like: When travel bloggers falsely “claim ownership” over a place making it confusing to weed out what’s actually a worthwhile activity.
Facebook Groups
You might not think of this one immediately so I’m including it under “smaller names” even though Facebook is obviously a BIG name.
On Facebook, on the Groups tab or page you can search “destination + travel” and you’ll see a bunch of groups dedicated to travelers who are all visiting that destination.
Not only can you consult the group for things to do, but they’ll likely have itinerary suggestions, hotel recommendations, and more!
I think Facebook groups are so underrated!
What I like: Having a community of fellow travelers including experienced ones who can help with any questions you may have and help give you ideas.
What I don’t like: The only negative is sometimes there are a lot of posts so it can flood your feed, which could also be a positive to help you stay on track of your travel saving goals serving as a constant end goal reminder!
Locals
If the Facebook groups don’t have locals in them, I highly recommend staying open to asking locals when you arrive at your destination.
You’ll always meet people when traveling so don’t be afraid to ask what there is to do nearby or what they recommend. This has led to some great restaurant discoveries, including my all-time favorite restaurant I’ve been to while traveling, which was in Dublin.
Some ideas of who to ask if you aren’t sure:
- waiters/waitresses
- hotel front desk staff
- tour guides
How do you know how much to plan in a day?
This can definitely be tricky and will get easier as you plan more trips and learn what your preferences are.
If you want a more active day, I recommend starting with one activity in the morning and one in the afternoon.
You’ll also learn how long you need to spend at typical attractions. For example, I can spend HOURS at aquariums and observatories, but only an hour or two at art or history museums.
Getting a feel for your timing can be tricky, but it gets easier.
Where should you book activities?
There are lots of sites that can help you book things so here are my favorites.
The actual website
First I prefer to book on the website of the thing to do. You can often save money by booking online ahead of time and you know it’s a reliable place to purchase tickets. Not to mention that they will have the most updated ticket prices!
Plus, if anything goes wrong when you arrive in person, they’ll have an easier time dealing with their own website’s orders than a secondary partner’s.
Get Your Guide
For tours and other experiences, Get Your Guide is one of the most trusted by travelers. They have awesome guided tours, general admission tickets, and even CityPasses.
They also have reviews and the duration for each experience so you can see how people like it and how long it will take.
Airbnb Experience
I haven’t done it yet, but I’m always so intrigued by the options on Airbnb Experience. You can book so many awesome things like walking tours, kayaking lessons, pub crawls, private photoshoots around the city, and so much more!
Like Airbnb Stays, the Experiences have reviews so you can see what people like and don’t like.
TicketsAtWork.com
If your place of employment partners with TicketsAtWork.com you can get discounted tickets and vacation packages to popular spots like Universal Studios Hollywood, the Universal Parks in Florida, Walt Disney World, and more!
Obviously, this doesn’t work for everyone but it’s a great option if you have it.
CityPASS
For CityPASS, you get discounted access to a bunch of big name attractions at many cities across the US. You can purchase these on GetYourGuide or at CityPASS.com.
They really are great if you’re trying to see the main attractions in a shorter amount of time. They often come with private hop on hop off bus rides too, so that can make it worth it!
I personally have never done CityPASS because I haven’t been in a place where I’ve wanted to do everything on the CityPASS list. This is important because if you go with CityPASS, you really need to use it to it’s max to squeeze out its worth, so make sure it’s worth the price tag for your itinerary.
Free Tours By Foot
Lastly, I absolutely love Free Tours by Foot. They’re exactly as advertised…although, I’d call it more of a “pay what you like/can” tour because at the end the tour guide accepts tips.
I’ve done a walking ghost tour twice now in New Orleans and each one was a little different in the best way so I got new stories!
As a broke traveling college student, these tours are so awesome. If you can tip your tour guide, they’re the best and deserve it!
Things to Do on Vacation
Regardless of how you search for things to do on your vacation, there are a number of things that always come up or are always options! Here’s a list of common activities to keep an eye out for when doing your planning.
- Arts Museums
If it’s a big city or even a small one, you’re bound to find a museum of the arts – actual art, history, music, and more!
- Tours
A great way to explore a new destination is by tour. Try a walking tour, a hop on hop off bus tour, or even a Segway tour.
- Food tasting or cooking class
This one is always something I look out for when traveling! I love traveling mouth first so food tours, tastings, and cooking classes are so fun. One of my favorites was a food scavenger hunt I did while in Tel Aviv on my Birthright Trip.
- Science museums
I love a good science museum whether it’s a general science museum, observatory, or aquarium. They’re always a go-to for me!
- Attend a performance
Can’t go wrong experiencing a performance in a new place, whether it’s a cultural demonstration, touring musician, or local comedian. As a kid, cultural performances were always so memorable! I attended a tea ceremony in Japan, aboriginal performance in Australia, and even a fire dance by Tahitians in Bora Bora.
- Find famous statues and monuments
Doing a guided tour, you’ll likely be shown statues and monuments, but it’s always fun to find them on your own and do a little self-learning.
- Venture to nature
Take a hike, go mountain biking, hunt down a waterfall, or go birdwatching. Nature is your playground!
- Do a local recommended activity
Not sure what to do? Just ask! Locals always know. When we were in Ireland, we had locals recommend Trim Castle, which was one of the most unique things we did on the whole trip!
- Find a birds eye view
New perspectives of your destination are always awesome! Find a skyscraper with an observation deck or level. See if there’s a gondola or funicular to scale a mountain without hiking…or if you’re able and up to it, hike! You could even look for a hot air balloon ride, hang-gliding or para-gliding experience, or helicopter ride. So many options!
- Stay in unique lodging
Sometimes your accommodation can be just as amazing as the destination itself. Stay in a yurt, treehouse, glass paneled home, or even a themed Airbnb!
- Find a piece of history
These can be castles, ruins, cemeteries, ghost towns, jails, or whatever else history has left behind! For example, just outside Zion National Park, you’ll find Grafton ghost town with some spectacular uncrowded views of the surrounding peaks.
- Visit a farmers market or food hall
Again…travel mouth first. Food halls are one of my favorite ways to sample local food because there are always many options within one building. Some of my favorites have been Faneuil Hall in Boston, Ponce City Market in Atlanta, and Grand Central Market in Los Angeles!
- Find a new mode of transportation
Never been on the subway before? Now’s your chance! You can also bike, Segway, kayak, snowmobile, or even ride a horse.
- Study the animals
Try visiting a zoo, aquarium, or nature center. We spontaneously visited the Otorohanga Kiwi House in New Zealand and it’s still one of our favorite things we did there!
- Get your adrenaline pumping
I love seeing if there are any unique adrenaline inducing activities when traveling like zip-lining, ropes courses, hang-gliding, para-gliding, or para-sailing. Other options include rock climbing, bungee jumping, skydiving and cliff jumping!
- Browse a local book shop
Basically the opposite of #15 above, but browsing a local book shop is always a fun chill activity. You can even look for local authors!
- Have a night on the town
If this is your cup of tea, go for it! Dive into the local nightlife.
- Unleash your inner child
See if your destination has any special things to do like laser tag, mini golf, go-karting, or arcades. I personally have really loved playing in Asheville and Chattanooga’s Pinball Museums. So fun! And I’ve always wanted to try an immersive travel experience like the Stranger Things themed escape room in Hopper’s actual cabin in the Georgia woods.
- Visit a local botanical garden
Another one that’s one of my favorite things to do when traveling! I love seeing and learning about local plants.
Looking for more travel planning posts? Check these out:
How to plan a trip — the ultimate guide
How to travel as a broke college student
How to save money for traveling
How to explore your own backyard
How to use Excel to plan your vacation budget
My Travel Essentials
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- Travel Insurance – Going on an international trip? Don’t forget travel and medical insurance with SafetyWing.
- Travel Card – If you’re new to travel hacking, fear not! My favorite card for beginners gives you $750 in rewards when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months, plus lounge access, 10x points on hotel bookings, and free TSA pre-check!
- Get Your Guide – Check out Get Your Guide for a one-stop-shop for booking travel activities.
- Booking.com – This is my favorite hotel search aggregator, specifically for reading reviews. On Booking.com, the reviews can be searched for keywords like WiFi, breakfast, pool, amenities, etc.! So helpful!
- Anti-pickpocket bag – Worried about having your valuables swiped? PacSafe makes the best travel bags with zippers and straps that lock and with mesh steel enforced fabric.
- Merino Wool – Where are my chronic over-packers? Merino wool is the material you’ve been looking for. It’s naturally anti-microbial, so you can rewear it…so, less clothes to pack! I’m a fan of WoolX Merino.
- Give the Gift of Travel – This is the perfect gift for travelers in your life! Tinggly allows you to gift experiences around the world, perfect for birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries.
- Staycation Idea – Check out Resort Pass, which gives you day passes to resorts so you can use their pool, spa, and fitness center, a great staycation idea!
