Building the itinerary before you leave
- Type the trip name, the destination and the dates, or leave them empty and write them in later. With both dates set, every day of the trip gets its own block with the weekday and the date.
- Switch on the pages you need. Most trips need the overview, the day pages and the important information page. The notes and expenses page is useful on longer trips or when you share costs.
- Pick three days per page for a full plan in fewer sheets, or two when you like to write a lot. Download the PDF and print it at actual size.
Fill in the overview first, from the bookings you already have: flights or trains in the order you take them, then each place you stay with its check-in and check-out dates. Then go to the day pages. Write the fixed points first, like a tour at 10 AM or a dinner booking, and plan the free time around them. A day with one or two fixed points and room in between is easier to enjoy than one packed from morning to night.
Keeping confirmation numbers in one place
Booking codes arrive by email, in apps and on paper, and at a check-in desk is the worst time to search for them. Copy every code into the Confirmation column of the overview: flights, trains, stays and the car rental. For tours, museum slots and restaurant bookings, use the Reservations lines of the day they belong to, with the time and the code.
Write codes in capital letters and leave a small gap after every few characters so they are easy to read out on the phone. If a booking has a separate PIN or a booking reference for the operator, note both. Keep the emails as well; the paper copy is the backup that works without a battery or a signal.
Leaving a copy with someone at home
Make a second print of the overview and the important information page and give it to someone you trust at home. If your phone is lost or something goes wrong, they know where you are staying, how you travel and whom to call. Tick the Copy at home box for each document you leave with them as a photocopy or a scan.
The Contacts at home table works the other way round. Write down the people you would call yourself, with numbers you can dial from abroad. If you don't know them by heart, a lost phone takes them with it. Add your bank or card company and the number for reporting a lost card, and look it up before you leave.
Time zones on arrival days
Arrival days are where plans slip. Copy departure and arrival times exactly as your booking shows them, and if it is not clear which time zone a time refers to, find out before you go. When you cross time zones, write a note on the day block of the arrival day, such as "clocks 6 hours ahead", so you set your watch and alarms right.
Keep the first evening light. A long flight, a delay or a slow transfer can push everything back by hours, so plan only what you can easily move: a walk, an early dinner near the hotel. Put the first fixed booking on the second day if you can. For calls home, work out once which hours suit both sides and write them in the notes.
Adjusting during the trip
An itinerary is a plan, not a contract. Write in pencil, or leave the lines for the afternoon and evening half empty and fill them in the night before. When the weather turns or a place is closed, cross the line out and write the new plan under it; at the end of the trip, the pages show what you really did.
Use the Where line on each day for the city or the area you are in, so a glance at the page shows how far the next stop is. On the notes and expenses page, write down larger payments in the currency you paid in, and add them up every few days to see where you stand against the budget box on the overview.
Tools and templates for your trip
The time zone converter shows what time it is in other cities for a date and time you pick, with daylight saving time handled for every date, which helps with arrival times and calls home. The currency converter converts amounts at the daily reference rates of the European Central Bank and shows what your bank or card fee takes. The travel budget calculator adds up transport, stays, food and activities and shows the cost per person and per day, with a buffer and a monthly savings plan. The packing list generator builds a checklist from the trip length, the weather, the kind of trip and who is coming. If you would rather start from a printed list, the printable packing list gives you a checklist of clothes, toiletries, documents and tech that you adjust before you print it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the travel itinerary free?
Yes. Download and print it for every trip, as often as you like. There is no signup and no watermark; each page has one small line with our web address at the bottom.
Do I have to enter dates?
No. Without dates, the day pages print blocks named Day 1, Day 2 and so on, each with a short line for the date. Choose how many days you need, up to 21. With a start date only, the blocks get real dates from that day on. With a start and an end date, you get one block for every day of the trip with the weekday and the date.
Why does it stop at 21 days?
Three weeks of day blocks already make seven or more pages, and a longer plan is easier to handle in parts. For a longer trip, print the first 21 days, then set the start date to day 22 and print the day pages again with only the Day by day page switched on. The day numbers start again at Day 1 in the second file, so you may want to number them on by hand.
How are the dates written?
With the short weekday and month name, for example Mon, Mar 15 or Mon 15 Mar, so a date can never be read the wrong way round. The order follows your browser language: month first for US English, day first for British English and most other languages. The names are always in English, like the rest of the template.
Why are the emergency numbers not printed?
They differ from country to country, and a wrong number on paper is worse than an empty line. Look them up before you leave from an official source, such as your government's travel advice for the country or the website of your embassy there, and write them in. The same goes for the embassy address and your insurer's phone number, which you find in your policy documents.
Why are some characters missing from the trip name?
The PDF uses a standard font that covers English and most Western European letters. Emoji and other alphabets, such as Greek, Cyrillic or Japanese, cannot be drawn with it, so they are left out, and a few rare accented letters print without the accent. A note under the fields appears when that happens, and the preview shows the text exactly as it will print.