The toolkit that supports our Platinum Travel Planning Roadmap, from foundations to coming home. You do not need to read this page top to bottom; jump to the stage that matches where you are right now.
Planning a trip should be part of the excitement, not a source of stress. This page is designed to support the Roadmap by giving you the tools, guides and checklists that bring it to life. If you are new to Love Travel Planning, start with our 9 Steps to successful travel planning to see how we build itineraries that work for real families and mixed groups, then come back here for the detail.
Plan a holiday in the Roadmap’s order. Decide who is going and what the trip is for before you pick where. Set the budget and put your reward points to work. Pack and prepare with the checklists. Sort insurance and the backup plans. Then keep planning lightly while you are away, and review the trip when you are home. Each stage below has its guides and its free tools.
Before you open a single guide, answer these five questions. They tell you which stage to start at, and they catch the two or three things that derail most trips.
Our planning spreadsheet is the working document behind every trip we take: one tab per stage, from the audit to the review. Open the Excel sheet, import to Google Sheets or use natively, and fill it in as you go down this page.
Just want a quick itinerary?
Our free travel itinerary template is the lighter, simpler version of this spreadsheet. There’s no method to work through, just dates, days and bookings in one clean layout. Fill it in over a cup of tea and you’ll have a working itinerary by the end.
Steps 1 to 4
The secret to a balanced trip is to start with the people, not the place. Most travellers pick a destination before they have thought about the group’s energy, interests and limits, and the itinerary pays for it around day four. These first steps define the shape of the trip before anything is booked.
The Roadmap has a page for each kind of travelling companion, from teenagers and young children to empty nesters, friends and solo travellers, and that is where to start: who are you travelling with? If the anchor of your trip has a severe food allergy, the allergy safety guide below is the first stop, before the destination is chosen, because it changes which airlines, cuisines and accommodation make sense.
How to travel with a severe nut allergy, from choosing the airline to eating out: the pillar guide, free translation cards in nineteen languages, airline audits, and our guides to restaurants, hidden nuts, insurance and where to stay.
For the “what” and the “when”, the Roadmap’s experiences and length of stay pages help you decide what the trip is for and how long it needs. Guides on planning around school holidays and on multi-generational groups are next on our list.
Only then, where. The destinations section is where the places themselves live; the ideas come from here:
The books, films, series and apps that have put places on our list, starting with a novel for every destination we have visited, and growing as we add the screens and the tools.
Step 5
Value-based spending: where to splurge and how to save. Budgeting is not about spending less; it is about spending smarter. We believe in value travel, the sweet spot between a shoestring and unnecessary luxury, and in understanding the true cost of a trip before the first flight is booked.
One rule we always apply: set your daily experience budget before you choose accommodation. It is better to stay in a three-star hotel and have a five-star experience than to be hotel-poor and unable to afford the best activities.
Reward points are the biggest lever a family has here, and they are a long game, so start early.
How air miles and reward points work, from nothing: the two kinds of points, how you earn without flying much, why the flights are never quite free, and whether it is worth it for a family. Five guides sit beneath it.
The guides in this stage:
Guides to travelling on a mid-range budget and the hidden costs of a road trip (tolls, parking, the snack fund) are coming to this stage.
Step 6
Efficiency on the go: the digital and physical essentials. This is where the plan becomes real, and the aim is fewer decisions, fewer documents and fewer things to carry. We pack intentionally, only what serves a purpose, and use digital tools to remove bulky paperwork.
The only holiday packing list you need to print: documents, hand luggage, the suitcase, the first aid kit and the children, with the free PDF and the detailed lists behind each part.
The rest of the toolkit:
A guide to the travel apps we rely on, from offline maps to instant translation, and our road trip gear list are next for this stage.
Step 7
Preparedness, not pessimism. These are the un-fun but vital parts: insurance, contingency plans, and knowing what to do when plans change so that you already know the answer when they do.
Guides to your rights and rebooking when flights are cancelled, and to using AI assistants as a 24-hour concierge on the move, are planned for this stage.
Steps 8 and 9
Planning does not stop at the departure gate. Travel planning doesn’t end, even when you’re away is about the light-touch planning that keeps a trip on track once it has started: the next day’s timings, the booking you meant to make, the restaurant you need to ring ahead. And when you are home, review your trip, because the notes you make in the first week back are what make the next plan better. Our own reviews are how this site came to exist.
Love Travel Planning is built on real travel experience as a family of five: school holidays, peanut allergies, road trip mishaps and all. We use the same framework whether we are planning a simple European city break, a multi-week road trip around South America, or a long haul family adventure. The destinations change, but the principles stay the same, which is why the Roadmap scales to different budgets, ages and travel styles.
Many of our readers share their experiences publicly, with consistent feedback around reduced stress, clearer planning and more confident trips, reflected in our independent Trustpilot reviews.
What our travellers say
Stress free holiday planning
"The itinerary struck a great balance between must-see highlights and enough flexibility to explore at our own pace. It felt like having a well-informed guide without losing the freedom to personalise our experience."
Once in a lifetime experiences
"Lucy was so helpful when we were planning our trip to Tromso and gave us great tips ref accommodation, restaurants, trips and what clothes to pack to keep warm. We thoroughly enjoyed our 4 days in Tromso."
Costa Rica with Love Travel Planning
"Every moment of the holiday had a purpose and the holiday flowed so smoothly, it was the perfect balance between adventure and relaxation. The route was mapped out perfectly, with hidden gems along the way."
Unforgettable Seville
"Their tips were clear, authentic, and made me feel like a savvy local even though it was my first time in the city. It was like having a well-travelled friend whispering local secrets in my ear."
A wonderfully unexpected experience
"If it weren't for Lucy's recommendations, we would never have spent a glorious day visiting Greenwich while traveling in the UK. Thank you for great suggestions and easy to follow directions."
Really inspiring travel website
"Packed full of really useful advice and inspiration for fantastic holidays. I love the road trips and can't wait to go to Australia to follow the itinerary for the road trip from Perth to Esperance."
Informative and user friendly
"I have been able to find some hidden gems in terms of food and drink in Harrogate, currently working my way down the list of both! Will absolutely be using this website again."
For a long haul trip in the school holidays, nine to twelve months out, because that is when reward seats and the best accommodation are released. For a European city break, two to three months is plenty. The audit at the top of this page takes five minutes whenever you start.
Decide who is going and what the trip is for first, then choose somewhere that suits the group’s energy and any specific needs, such as a food allergy. Our travel inspiration hub and the destinations section are where we keep the ideas; the Roadmap’s companion pages help you match a place to the people.
Flights or fuel, accommodation, a daily experience budget for food and activities, insurance, transfers and parking, and a contingency of around ten per cent. Set the daily experience budget first, then choose accommodation that leaves room for it. Reward points can remove the biggest line, the flights, if you start collecting early.
For reward flights with BA, about 355 days before departure, which is when the seats are released. For cash fares, most long haul routes are cheapest three to six months out and short haul six to twelve weeks out, though school holiday dates are the exception and go early whatever you pay with.
Check passports have six months’ validity after your return, apply for visas or waivers, buy insurance that covers everyone’s conditions, sort currency and cards, download offline maps and the translation cards, pack from a checklist, and work through the countdown to departure in the last few weeks.