How Many Days to Spend in a Destination? A Travel Blogger’s Guide to Planning Your Trip

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So… how long should you go?  3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, forever? Just kidding, don’t plan your move yet. You have a destination in mind, you’re ready to start planning, but for how long should you go? Or better yet, do you even have enough time to go? Spoiler: you probably do.

We have a few good rules of thumb to help guide us along when determining how much time we will need in any given destination, which I will share below, but first a few thoughts:

We see people in Facebook groups, Reddit threats, and DMs asking “do I have enough time to visit [destination]?” Our answer will almost always be “yes!”. 

So, maybe it’s not the ideal amount of time, and you certainly aren’t going to see everything that city or country has to offer, but that doesn’t mean the experience is pointless.

Life.Is.Unpredictable. If you’ve always dreamed of going to Italy, but only have 4 days, Go! Take your 4 days and see Rome or the Amalfi Coast.  Hopefully, you can return again later, but if not, you’ll absolutely be glad you did what you could.

Neither of us have jobs with PTO and we don’t have remote gigs, but we’ve made it work- and made it EPIC.  We’ve gone to Iceland for 4 days and went Hawaii for 5 (that’s a 6-hour time zone change for us). We get creative with our planning and explore the world (sleeping is for airplanes, anyway).   

All that to say, never let time hold you back from travel. 

Now, if your time isn’t restricted, but you don’t know how to figure out the duration portion of a DIY itinerary, this is for you.

Here are 10 things to consider when planning your next big adventure.

1.The further the destination, the longer the duration.

 If it takes you 24hrs+ to get there, at least two weeks is ideal.

When visiting places like Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, or Japan, the journey for us on the East Coast is quite long. We will typically lose 2 days in travel/time zone changes getting there and one day on the return (plus a few solid REM cycles).

That’s 3 days off of your itinerary, leaving you 11 traveling days.

2. Determine your travel style

There are usually two different types of travelers: 

Traveler 1 (we’ll call her Joc): thrives on espresso and would prefer to skip sleep completely because they have too many things to see on their itinerary.  

Traveler 2 (we’ll call him Zach): would prefer to sleep in, go at a leisurely pace, see a few sights, but also make time for naps.

Know thyself- it’s important to be realistic about your own pace.

3.What’s the trip vibe?

 Is this a relaxing beach trip? Maybe you will feel completely fine after resting on the beach for 5 days.

Is this a hiking trip where you’re going to want to include rest days? Are you trying to see all the sights of an entire country?

All of these can have different durations, so it’s important to understand your expectations for the trip.

4.At least 2 nights in each city. 

We frequently find ourselves traveling at a fast pace, but we have decided that at least 2 nights is needed in most places.

Because you will likely spend part of the first day commuting, you really are only leaving yourself 1.5 days in exploring time. This is where day-tripping vs. moving cities becomes an important decision. 

5.Determine how much there is to do vs how much there is to see. 

We’ve put cities on our list because of one big-ticket item, only to get there and realize there is absolutely nothing to do beyond that.

Sometimes there are quite a few sights to see, but they end up being fairly close together and you can complete that in an afternoon.

Experiences, or things to do, take time. You’re going to need a few hours to take a cooking class, go on a whale tour, take a hike, etc. In a place with more experiences, you need more time.

6.Determine your likeliness of returning. 

Is this truly a once-in-a-lifetime trip for you? Then do it big, friend.

Some places are so difficult to get to, or are disappearing from climate changes, or are too expensive to come back.

If that is the case, leave no regrets. Do everything you want to do.

7.Set your priorities. 

Maybe you’ve read through our other posts and decided you want to go to a certain location, but not all of our recommendations appeal to you…cut down the days.

You have our permission. Some of “the best” things to do may not appeal to you, that’s okay. We have skipped out on plenty of recommended things because they didn’t fit our interest and have zero regrets.

8.Consider your comfort. 

Traveling is exhilarating, but, at times, it’s incredibly uncomfortable. We’ve been to a few places that are well beyond our comfort zone, to the point that we couldn’t wait to go home.

That doesn’t necessarily mean we didn’t like it or that we regretted going, but we felt the fatigue of being outside of our comfort zone, and that’s okay.

Travel will grow you and stretch you, like many things in life, but it’s completely fine to have boundaries in that experience too.

9.Money talks. 

Time is money, especially when you’re traveling. Longer time away is usually more costly. It’s more meals you’re eating away from home, more days spent in a hotel, more saying “yes” to things you typically wouldn’t. So, unfortunately, budget should be a consideration in determining your trip duration. 

That said, Joc’s girl math says that we can cut our electric bill in half over the summer if we go on a trip and use the AC in a hotel room.

10.The magic moment. 

Are you heading to Amsterdam to see the tulips at their peak? Trying to witness an incredible display of the Aurora in Finland? Itching to head to the Serengeti for the great migration?

Unfortunately, nature doesn’t factor in our schedule. If your goal is to see a specific *magic moment* give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. Trust us, nothing is a bigger bummer than going somewhere to see something specific and not seeing it.

Final thoughts

Sure- gap years are cool, but you don’t need to completely upend your life to start traveling.

Use the time that you do have, be strategic, and start checking off those bucket-list destinations. If you’re feeling lost when planning, use this guide to help walk you through.