We share five travel tips that we highly recommend from experience! Everyone wants to make the most of a vacation, especially with limited time and a lot of money spent! Therefore, we hope these travel tips help make your own vacations even better, easier, and more memorable!
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1) Travel Tip: Private Customized Tour
A private tour helps ensure we get to see places and experience the things we want to do! We highly recommend a private customized tour on your travels!
My husband and I booked our first private tour in Florence, Italy! We loved being able to select what to do and the personal attention! Since then, we continue to book private tours on our travels!
*PRO-TIP: Book your private customized tour on your first or second day of travel! Our local guides always gave us valuable travel tips on restaurants, transportation, places of interest, and other helpful tourist advice!
Also, a private tour does not have to be all day! Tours may be available to book by the hour. We have done private tours ranging from three hours in length to nine hours!
Check out our private Golf Cart Tour we did in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A! We toured the city by golf cart, stopping at different spots to explore and take pictures! It is a fun way to explore Nashville – read our review here!
In terms of cost, rates and availability seems to depend on where you are and the type of tour. Prices may not be much different versus a similar group tour! And for us, although a private tour may be more expensive than a comparative group tour, we found it worth the extra cost!
In Japan, we booked a six-hour private tour with a “government-licensed guide” in both Tokyo and Kyoto – highly recommended! Our guide helped us with the language barrier, the transit system, and other invaluable travel tips!
Despite some cost savings with group tours, they may also have drawbacks. Disadvantages of group tours may include too many people; tour stops you are not interested in; not enough time at stops you are interested in, etc.
Therefore, private sight seeing tours are gaining in popularity as more people discover them! And notably, another bonus is that our guides have always been willing to take pictures of us throughout our tours!
Our tips when booking a private customized tour when you travel:
- book with a reputable tour company or guide, and read reviews.
- research the local guides available.
- request a particular guide if you find one highly recommended and reviewed.
- discuss length of time of the private tour.
- discuss your proposed itinerary:
- list the “must-see” places and discuss with your guide in advance if possible.
- discuss if additional time is a possibility at the end of the booked tour if you decide you would like to extend the tour. Confirm additional cost.
On our trip to Grenada, we booked a private tour with a local guide, by the hour! In fact, we enjoyed our day so much that we extended our tour by a couple more hours – check back for our detailed review and article on our full-day tour private tour in Grenada!
Overall, so far, every private tour booked on our travels has been well worth the cost!
2) Travel Tip: Flytographer for Photos on your Vacation
To beautifully capture your vacations, we highly recommend booking a photo shoot with Flytographer!
Hiring a photographer means not having to worry about asking strangers to take your picture! And, although “selfies” can be fun, headshots just are not enough to capture photos from your dream trip!
Click here to save $$ on your first Flytographer photo shoot or copy our link below:
Our Flytographer link to save at least $25 on your first photo shoot:
We have trusted Flytographer to capture our vacations in Paris, France and most recently in Kyoto, Japan! – check back for our separate, detailed review and article on our Flytographer experiences!
Book a local photographer in hundreds of cities worldwide with Flytographer! They can help you photograph your vacation, engagement, honeymoon, and more!
3) Travel Tip: Make Time to Explore Nature
Explore nature on your travels!
Whether snorkelling, hiking, or visiting one of the natural UNESCO World Heritage Sites, experience the power and beauty of nature!
There are magnificent experiences that explore natural wonders and environments!
Also, not surprisingly, experiences involving nature may provide health benefits!
Read our related articles on the health benefits from the beach!
And read our article on the positive effects of being in forests and nature!
Therefore, aside from breath-taking natural landscapes, the health benefits are even more reason to get out and explore nature!
4) Travel Tip: Fast Track at the Airport
There are airports around the world that are known to be small and very crowded at times! Therefore, despite an additional cost, you may want to consider the “fast track” expedited service at the airport.
Many airports now offer an airport “fast track” service at arrival and departure to by pass the lines.
Especially when travelling with elderly companions like parents or restless young kids, “fast track” at the airport may be worth the extra cost!
We certainly thought it was worth trying during the busy season in Turks & Caicos! In the end, it was worth it for our airport arrival! More time for us at the beach!
Read our review and excellent experience when we booked fast track in Turks & Caicos for our airport arrival!
5) Travel Tip: Try The Local Foods & Delicacies
As a foodie, one of the best aspects of traveling is exploring different foods!
Therefore, our final travel tip is to try the local foods and delicacies!
Of course, many people like to stick to foods and typical meals they know. However, we encourage you to get out of your comfort zone! Try new foods and experience the culture!
Even if you are staying on an all-inclusive resort where food and drinks are included, try the local cuisine!
At resorts, staff often encourage us to taste the country’s “real food” and authentic flavours, away from the resort if possible.
Whether street food, a local family-run restaurant, or a Michelin starred restaurant, exploring the local foods is a must for us!
Otherwise, all-inclusive resorts typically have at least one night to celebrate the local food and culture!
Lastly, if you really want to make sure not to miss out, consider taking a guided foodie tour!
Travel Tips: Conclusion
Get the most out of your vacation! We hope our five travel tips help make your trips memorable and even more enjoyable:
- Private customized tour
- Vacation photo shoot with Flytographer
-save money on your first photo shoot by using our link: https://flytog.co/SGHAPPY - Explore nature
- Fast Track at the Airport
- Try Local Foods & Delicacies
Happy travels and adventures!
Our travel experiences described in this article were self-funded. The views and opinions expressed through this website are our own from personal experience(s). Our content and this article is informational only, not facts, and cannot be construed as professional advice. We always give our honest opinions on topics, experiences or products, made in good faith. Any product or service claims, made by the product or service, should be verified with the manufacturer or provider in question. There may be potential errors on our website, for example due to changes and unintentional mistakes. Thank you.
For more articles, be sure to take a look at Nurture Happiness Today‘s features on travel, food, and inspiration for happiness:
- Nurture Happiness Today TRAVEL and RESORTS & HOTELS
- Nurture Happiness Today FOODIE
- Nurture Happiness Today – inspiration for happiness such as quotes, speeches and lifestyle posts.
