Well going to a destination and knowing that destination is two different things, to enjoy the travel & holidays itself you should know the destination thoroughly & for that Research is necessary.
Let’s get into the things you need to know before you visit a place & how to do the research, first thing first you should make decision where you want to go, then for number of days say for example if you have to go to Europe then you should decide which places you need visit, the countries you want to cover, then comes the no of days you want to travel for and also the travel itinerary.
Now the most important things to know is the history Geography and present conditions of the place you will visit, Google the crime rate in that location also, try to find out what is the precautions one needs to take like the no go areas in the city you will visit, this is very important always travel to places which are tourist spots specially in some cities like Paris, Paris is well known for pick picketers also there are some trouble areas which you should avoid, very important part is to know the local transport system and the procedure to use them as some times ticketing etc. has different system in different cities for example in Budapest we purchased the metro tickets and didn’t know the procedure to punch in the tickets so we had to face the ticket checker and pay the fine. Always at the station ask the procedure so that you don’t get into embracing position.
But apart from that it is real fun to travel in local transports in many countries, if it is well maintained you will really love it. Because the route you will take to reach the destination will itself show you many things the tour operators will never show also the opportunity to meet locals and experience there culture etc. is very exciting, most important is the cost effectiveness it is literally 1/3rd cost of a private travel an 50% less then what tour operators charge you to show around and that too they will not cover all the places worth seeing and experiencing. Walking in the market square if a city and seeing their local culture then eating the local food, eating local food will help you develop taste buds of course for people who are vegetarians the choice is limited but still you get lot of options in Veg category also.
Another important part is the timing of the tourist spots you will visit, at many places they are very strict on time so start early and calculate properly how much time you will take to cover each attraction. Sometimes you will experience or see things you couldn’t find in your research so be flexible.
