In my earlier post on day trips (linked here) I have introduced how I take day trips to Europe. I decided to make a more comprehensive guide on everything to consider once you have decided day trips are for you.

To see the advantages and disadvantages of day trips you will want to check out this post!

Now you know that you want to a plan a day trip, let’s get into it. I have broken down this guide for all to follow:

First things first… Flights!

Looking at flights is definitely the best starting point as the availability of flights will often dictate where you will be spending the day. The key thing with finding the best flights (cheapest and most convenient) is to be open minded with your destination. Often the place you wish to go the most may not be the most convenient for day, the flight times may not work or the flights could be on the expensive side and hence may not be feasible for a day.

To start with I use the Skyscanner ‘Everywhere’ function as I do with all my trips. For a day trip, you are going to want to set the both the departure date and the return date to be the same day, as below.

As I have said before, I tend to stick to Saturday’s for day trips as I like to have Sunday to recover before work. However, if you are able to do day trips during a week day that will definitely go in your favour as often the better deals are on a week day.

I tend to search all Saturdays in a given time period (ie January – March 2024) to get a picture of what deals are the best on each date. I then consider my budget, I usually set a £50 pp max budget for a flight for a day trip. However, it may be if you are not flying from a large regional airport, you may have to up your budget.

I review the list of destinations which fall within my budget. This usually leaves me with 5 or so options. I then go through each destination to review potential flight times which may work. Ideally, you should look for options which allow you to fly out on one of the first flights of the day and allow you to return as late as possible. This will allow you to maximise the time you have in your destination, as its important to consider you need to factor in time clearing immigration, travel time from the airport to the city (and back!) and also that you will need to return to the airport at least two hours prior to your return flight time.

Here is an example of a flight with appropriate timing for a day trip:

The airlines I have had most success with day trips flying from London airports are Wizzair, Ryanair and easyJet. Most of the bargains I have found have been through Wizzair. If booking a Wizzair flight, I would definitely recommend joining the Wizzair discount club if you are a frequent flyer. If you are interested in joining one of Wizzair subscription clubs, you will want to check out this post where I set out all the details. 

Once you have shortlisted your options based on cost and flight times, the rest is just down to personal preference. You may want to consider what there is to do in each destination, the cost of activities/food in the destination, what the travel to and from the airport may be like, what the weather will be like. Don’t be like me and not realise until the day of travel for a day trip to Riga that it will actually be -10c!

My next blog post will cover some inspiration on destinations for day trips from certain UK airports so stay tuned. My last day trip blog post covers some of the destinations that I have already visited and recommend.

Once you have firmed up your flights, the next thing is to consider how you will travel from your home to the selected UK airport.

Travel from Home to the airport

This is an important consideration as generally with a day trip you want to keep costs as low as possible. We all know UK transport can be expensive, and in a lot of cases it may well cost you more to travel from your home to the airport as it does for your flight to Europe. This way if you consider the UK travel early on, you can hopefully find the cheapest alternative.

Luckily, I don’t live too far from Luton or Stansted airports, hence travel to the airport is not a major cost for me. However, for a day trip I do usually find it cheaper to drive and park for one day compared to the cost of a taxi to the local coach station and then a direct coach to the airport.

As well as the airport parking options, I tend to look at parking sharing apps such as ‘Just Park’. This tends to be a lot cheaper than the onsite airport parking. They offer lots of options such as parking at the airport hotels, or parking on residents driveways right by the airport. It is definitely worth considering the cost of parking v train travel, especially if your group consists of more than one person, it will likely be the cheaper option.

Also bear in mind, if you have opted for the first flight of the day (around 6am), you will need to be at the airport for around 4am. At this time, there may be limited transport options available. For example, for me to get to Gatwick airport at that time I am only able to take the last train of the previous evening.

Travel from the arrival destination airport to the City

It’s important to consider early on how you will get from the airport to your end destination. You want to factor in the cost v speed benefit. In countries which have efficient public transport, this may well be your best option. However, you also want to consider the fact that you want to maximise the amount of time you have in your destination and hence may consider quicker taxi/ transfer options.

On a recent day trip to Ljubljana, we wanted to head straight to Lake Bled. By taking public transport we would have had to wait an hour for the next bus into the City to then take a connection to Bled. Hence, we ended up opting for a more expensive transfer which took us straight to Lake Bled.

GetYourGuide also offer some great value transfer such as this transfer from Rome Airport starting from just £5 per person.

Activities

Once you have sorted out the logistics of your transport, it is worth considering what you want to make of your day trip. If you are opting for a more laid back day, where you just see where you end up and go with the flow this step may be less important.

To get inspiration of what to do for your day trip, I usually start searching on YouTube, TikTok, and other travel blogs to get an idea on how to best spend the day.

It is likely if you want to see specific attractions, that you may have to make some advance bookings. I am taking a day trip to Rome and until someone told me the Colosseum tickets sell out weeks in advance, I probably would have missed out in getting them in time.

When booking tickets for attractions/dining reservations you need to keep your flight times in mind. You don’t want to book anything right after your landing time, in the event your flight is delayer or it takes you longer than expected to clear customs. You also don’t want to book a tour that ends just before you need to leave for the airport on the chance that it overruns.

Once I have firmed up my itinerary, I book my activities through GetYourGuide in advance. This way I avoid wasted time through queueing on arrival.

What to take along with you for a day trip

I have had this question a lot! It’s a weird one as you don’t need to pack as such as you aren’t staying over night. However, you still want to be prepared and have everything you may need with you.

You want to make sure any bag you take along with you is practical and lightweight. On a day trip I tend to do a lot of steps and the last thing you want to be doing is trekking around a heavy bag.

I usually take a medium sized backpack, which tends to be sufficient.

When considering what to take along with me, this is the list I use!

Important things:

Passport (of course!)

Details of travel insurance

Money

Debit/credit cards- I would advise a card such as Monzo or Halifax clarity which does not charge transaction fees.

Any medication you may need throughout the day

Phone

Boarding pass

Power Bank (I couldn’t cope with out this, as I use my phone for everything). If you are looking for a good one, I would recommend Charmast such as this one. If you want a super powerful one which can charge a laptop, I use this one. It is expensive, but definitely worth the investment.

Global Health Insurance Card

Additional things to consider:

Mini suncream (depending on destination/time of year)

Fold up raincoat (Don’t be like me searching every shop in Malta in August for a rain coat!)

Umbrella

Sunglasses/glasses

Cap/hat

Smart Tag – I like to put one of these in my bag just in case!

Blister plasters (I always need these after doing 30,000 steps on some day trips!)

Mini toiletries/hairbrush – in case you need to freshen up as it will be a long day

Adapter/phone charger – I always carry an multi function one like this

Refillable water bottle

Headphones for the flight

Eyemask – I like to maximise sleep on the plane!

Camera

Mosquito repellant (again depending on destination/time of year, but I am allergic to mosquito bites and often find for a day it is something I forget to consider)

Tissues

Hand sanitiser

Light cardi/jacket for the plane – Even if you are going to a hot destination, the plane is likely to be cold as always!

As you can see, even when travelling for a day there are still quite a few things to consider. But make sure anything you pack is a mini sized, where possible.

Final things to consider!

Travel Insurance – As I mentioned above, I would still make sure you have travel insurance, even for just a day trip as you don’t know what could happen. Many credit cards come with an included travel insurance policy.

If you are a frequent traveller, it is worth getting an annual travel insurance policy that way you don’t have to take a new policy out for each trip. It will also likely be substantially cheaper. For my annual policy, I pay £20 per year and it covers Europe and rest of the world travel. It is worth reading the fine print to understand if there are any exclusion which may be relevant to a day trip.

Data roaming – One of the many downsides of Brexit is there is no ruling that phone operators cannot charge for data roaming in Europe. It is worth checking your phone contract to consider whether this is included or not, and if not what the cost for your travel destination is. I am with Vodafone, and per my contract for EU countries the charge is £2.25 per day. This may differ per network and the contract you are on. I normally travel with my husband and usually one of us switch our data roaming off and that way only one of us get charged.

If travelling to countries outside the EU, such as Albania, it is worth researching the cost per day of using the internet/phone. In non-EU countries, it is often cheaper to buy a local sim with a data package than it is to use your UK network provider. However, if you are only travelling for a day it may not be worth the hassle.

Currency – Whilst the need for cash has greatly reduced, I would advise having a small amount of local currency even if you are planning to mainly pay with debit/credit cards. For public transport in some countries, they take cash only and sometimes only coins. Therefore, if its possible to come prepared with some smaller currency.

For countries with a closed currency, such as Albania, it won’t be possible to change money prior to departure. Have some cash to hand to change upon arrival, either GBP, USD or EU.

Public transport – It is important to research the public transport requirements prior to departure so you can be as prepared as possible (and avoid any potential fines!). For example, Slovenia required you to have a card similar to the Oyster card which you could only obtain from certain locations. We were not aware of this and tried to take the bus from our hotel (where there was no ticket office) and we were unable to board.

Handy apps to download – You may want to research what helpful apps may help you for your day trip. Such as CityMapper, Uber/Bolt, local public transport apps etc.

If you made it this far, thank. you so much for reading. I hope these tips will come in handy and my slight hiccups will help you have a smoother day trip.

Happy travels!

Ells