Showing posts with label itineraries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label itineraries. Show all posts
Where to next?
Well, we're off again. And yet it seems like we'd only just arrived. After five taxing days of sleeping and eating in Barcelona, and before that seven grueling weeks working on a book in Mallorca, the last 12 semi-sedentary days in the UAE have sped by. It's been busy. We had a few days of restaurant reviews, interviews and photo shoots, then time in catching up on loads of writing and planning our next trip from our friend's colossal Abu Dhabi villa, rightly dubbed 'Falcon's Crest'. Picture this: a monumental Arabian villa, sweeping staircase, 20+ rooms, five bathrooms, one of which is nicknamed Hef's (it's all black!), and a gold falcon over the driveway gate.But, sadly it's all over already and today we're headed back to Dubai to our other 'home away from home', Al Manzil, so we don't miss our early flight to Damascus in the morning. We're trying Jazeera Airways for the first time, and over the next six weeks we'll be testing out a number of low-cost Gulf airlines as we bounce around the region a bit researching stories for in-flights and travel magazines: Syria 2 weeks, Qatar 9 days, Kuwait 5 days, Lebanon 5 days, Jordan 4 days, then back to the UAE again. That's a lot of countries in a short space of time for us with not a lot of time in each place - normally we like to take things a lot more slowly. But it's work, not play: we're doing some feature stories, profiles, and a bunch of hotel and restaurant reviews, as well as having meetings for a couple of book projects we're developing. No, not guidebooks! And for the first time in some years this will be the first trip where we're working on magazine stories only - no guidebooks, thankfully. The last few have really taken their toll... but who's going to listen to a travel writer complain, huh?
Top secrets of travel writers: how to create an itinerary that is inspirational and useful
So you're a travel writer about to create an itinerary? Above all, it needs to be inspiring. You want people to read it and get excited about going to this place. You want them to rip the thing out of the magazine/paper or print it off the web and book a holiday. If you've been commissioned to write the itinerary, it's for a reason. The destination might be hot or emerging, but most likely an airline, hotel or travel agency has bought ad space and they want bums on seats or bods in beds, eg. in the case study of my last post, the itinerary was the result of a junket hosted by the airline and tourism body. As a travel writer, your other main priorities are to ensure the itinerary is useful and that it's loads of fun. Because your ultimate goal is to show your readers the best time they're going to have. Here's how to do it:1) Keep your readers firmly in mind: your editor will give you a brief, but also research the publication's audience. You'll find this info on the advertising section of their site. Build a mental picture of a typical reader or range of readers and every time you select something ask yourself whether that traveller would enjoy it. For a book we wrote last year a high priority for our readers (mature British travellers) was an evening beer at an alfresco cafe/bar with a view and compelling people-watching. Knowing that influenced the choices we made.
2) Refer to a model itinerary: ask your editor for an example of an itinerary he/she think best represents their format. If you haven't been commissioned and are gathering content for future stories, use a model you like, one that inspired you.
3) Write about places you know intimately: writers on 5-day junkets should stick to writing reviews or features on specific experiences. Leave itineraries to writers who know places well. Otherwise, readers who are residents and writers like myself will easily pick up mistakes. That means a loss of credibility and a bad time on the part of the reader following your advice, not good for you or your editor.
4) Do thorough research: prep before you go by studying other itineraries, reading up on the destination, and highlighting things that intrigue you. When you're on the ground, visit those places. Talk to ordinary locals as well as those in the industry (ie, your guides/PR rep). Ask people what they like to do, where they like to eat, how they spend their time, and when the best time is to do what they're recommending.
5) Include a few surprises: in addition to the tried-and-tested and must-do's, make your itinerary stand out from the others by including latest openings, local favorites, hidden gems, and things off-the-beaten-track.
6) Test out your itinerary: develop a rough itinerary, then test it out. Follow the whole itinerary yourself. If you arrive some place and it's dead, ask people why and find out when it buzzes and has the most atmosphere. Plan to return at the time suggested to verify their advice.
7) Consider the pacing: when you're testing out your itinerary, think about how long it's taking to do things. Sure, we're all different: one person might spend 3 hours in a museum another will rush through in an hour. Use averages. But if you're rushing around and not enjoying yourself then you need to spread activities out, no matter how much your editor wants nice neat brackets of time.
8) Avoid including day-specific activities: try not to include something only on a particular night of the week, unless it's really special and then mention it as an aside, rather than the main activity for a specific time.
9) Check practicalities and facts meticulously: note down opening hours, address, contact details, prices, and map location for every place on your itinerary. Don't rely on distances and durations from Google Maps, but ask locals how long it takes to get between places at different times. For instance, a 25-minute 7am taxi ride from Abu Dhabi's Shangri-La to Emirates Palace might take over 45 minutes on a Thursday/Friday night. If a restaurant needs to be booked 6 weeks in advance, say so in the itinerary.
10) Create an evocative itinerary: to inspire readers, include details that evoke the atmosphere of the place and intrigue and excite people enough to want to go there. When you visit the place, don't just make notes about your hotel room, meals and museums, but observe the rhythms and details of everyday life and include description about the sights, sounds and smells.
Pictured? The Lebanese night at an Abu Dhabi club; inclusions like these will set your itinerary apart from the rest.
Itineraries: a case study in how not to create them, OR how to have a bad time in 24 hours
There is an art to creating itineraries that are inspirational (the kind travellers want to rip out of magazines and print off the web to save for a trip) and useful (one travellers can follow and have a great time or pick and choose from and still have fun). It's not rocket science. So I'm always astonished when travel writers get them so wrong. Take this recently published 24 hours in Abu Dhabi itinerary:"Kendall Hill rises early for a taste of coffee and figs, palaces and souks, all set in a desert of gold".
First off, few people rise early in Abu Dhabi. Barely anything opens before 10am. It's sweltering most of the year, so people stay in unless they've got a job or can hit a swimming pool. They head outdoors around sunset to enjoy the cooler temperatures and balmy breezes. Like most Middle Eastern cities, Abu Dhabi is a late night destination; the city is at its buzziest in the evenings. To see it at its best, take it easy during the day, see a sight or two, but you're best sleeping in, relaxing by the pool and conserving your energy for the long, lively, late nights.
7am The first activity is an expensive 'breakfast' of coffee "served on a silver tray with a plump date and a gold-flecked chocolate".
Is that really going to get you through the long day ahead Kendall's scheduled for you? And if you're not staying at Emirates Palace (only 39% of SMH readers probably are; the April rate is AED 2150/Aus$800 for a Coral room, excluding breakfast, and in this economic climate, even affluent travellers will probably opt for a more affordable option), are you really going to get out of bed at 6am to cab it to Emirates Palace for coffee, a date and a chocolate when you could be lingering over the free, lavish breakfast buffet that most Abu Dhabi hotels include with the room? You're on holidays!
8.30am You're off to "the port area of Al Meena" (um, Al Meena means 'the port') to "lose yourself in the souks selling carpets, dates... the cleanest fish you'll ever see and fine fruit and vegetables from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Nearby is the Iranian souk, which houses traders who have crossed the Gulf by dhow to sell household goods and homewares, spices, rugs and fabrics. Prices are tax-free..."
Where do I start? This is full of factual mistakes and bad advice. In the UAE everything is tax-free, even in malls and supermarkets. While it's a good time for the fish and fruit&veg souq, the Iranian Souq and Carpet Souq are best from 5-6pm onwards. The Iranian Souq doesn't 'house' anyone; you'll be lucky to find a soul around before dusk. The atmosphere is best post-sunset when the locals go shopping. The writer is also setting you up for disappointment: he should be warning you these are very modest souqs (far from the sprawling bustling markets in Dubai and nothing like those in Damascus or Cairo), so you're most certainly not going to get lost and there's very little to buy. And you should not be buying anything at the Carpet Souq, which only sells synthetic rugs of the kind you'd find in K-Mart. Authentic carpets are best bought from reputable carpet shops; expats and locals go to the Carpet Souq for the traditional Bedouin cushioned floor seating that's unique to the Gulf.
12.30pm "For a falcon's-eye view of the city, take a lift to the top of the Le Royal Meridien hotel... Here, on the 25th floor, there's a rooftop revolving restaurant that non-diners are welcome to visit for a peek at the spectacular panorama."
A standard on my itineraries, this is where I take guests on their last night in Abu Dhabi - for pre-dinner cocktails around 6pm to enjoy the sunset! Why on earth you'd send people here at midday when it's empty for "a peek" when you could send them here later for drinks is beyond me! ... it's because at 1pm you're tucking into "a Levantine lunch at the Lebanese Flower restaurant in downtown Khalidia" at a simple, casual Lebanese eatery that is likely to be empty once again. Great eatery but it's busiest in the evenings, when you'll have the bonus of people-watching. And why you'd want to fill up on a multi-course Arabic meal in the middle of the day is baffling. Most of SMH's Aussie readers would also want a glass of wine or cold beer with their lunch when they're on holidays. I'd be sending readers to a seafood restaurant or alfresco cafe at a hotel by the beach, so they have that option (like all restaurants outside of hotels, the Lebanese Flower doesn't have a liquor license). Nothing beats a glass of crisp white and Omani lobster or oysters sitting in the sunshine overlooking the gorgeous aquamarine Arabian sea.
2pm "Drop by the Cultural Foundation for an insight into the character of the Abu Dhabi people... the foundation hosts regular exhibitions, events and lectures and houses the national library and a cinema screening Western and Arabic films."
Um, not at 2pm it doesn't. The Cultural Foundation shuts its doors to the public at 2pm, re-opening at 5pm. In the morning the place is dead except for school groups and staff; evenings are when it comes alive with nightly performances, screenings and festivals.
5pm For once, the writer has you doing something at the right time, going on a desert safari, although normally they leave town earlier to try to get you to the desert at this time for some dune bashing, sand-boarding, sunset camel ride, BBQ and belly dancing.
9pm "Toast the day with a cleansing ale in the lush oasis of Le Meridien... home to a lively "culinary village" - Turkish, Thai, French, Tex-Mex and more - and has tap beers in the Captain's Arms pub."
The writer neglects to tell you your desert safari won't get you back to town until 9pm at the earliest, but generally 10pm, and you'll have to change before heading out. Rather than send you for a beer at a smoky British Pub where the bar's propped up by expats at the "culinary village" (restaurants set around gardens), I'd be sending you out for a local experience to one of the city's many sheesha cafes opposite The Corniche (waterside drive) to try aromatic sheesha (hubbly bubbly/narghile/water-pipe) with the Emiratis and Arab expats. Or if you don't inhale, to simply take in the atmosphere over tea. If you prefer something stronger, I'd be suggesting an alfresco lounge bar for a nightcap as you listen to Arabian chill-out music, and if you're up for more, a club to listen (like the one pictured) to live music or have a boogie. One of my favorites hosts a weekly Lebanese night, popular with Arab expats who dress up and dance to improvisational folk-jazz performed by a live band with a DJ spinning. It's a unique experience. But instead...
11pm "Spend the night at the Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri, a striking canal-front complex of hotel, villas, spa, souk..." Lovely hotel. Although not on a 'canal'; Abu Dhabi is an island and the Shangri-La is on the mainland looking across to the island. But when did you check in here? Because you've been flat out since your 7am 'breakfast' at Emirates Palace (30 minute's drive from here), you didn't even have time to return to the hotel to change your clothes for the desert or change for drinks at the Captain's Arms, and there's no way they'd allow you in wearing casual gear. But now you're checking into a hotel at 11pm when you should be out enjoying a sheesha or drink? Nobody should be in their hotel room in Abu Dhabi at 11pm. The restaurants are still busy and the bars are just getting started. If you're not into drinking and dancing then you should simply be doing as the locals do and strolling the waterfront promenade savouring the balmy evening sea breezes. The last place you should be is tucked into bed!
Pictured? The dome at Emirates Palace, a must-visit if you're not staying here, but head here in the evening (not at 7am!) for a meal, cocktails or a coffee, when, like everywhere in Abu Dhabi, the place just buzzes with activity and the people-watching is unbeatable.
The beauty of a good itinerary: it's simply about showing you a good time
I asked you in my last post if you used itineraries and, if so, how you used them. I loved your responses - from Michael who creates his own itineraries but is happy to be spontaneous if an exciting opportunity presents itself (like tapas bar hopping with a friendly stranger in Spain!) to TravelMuse who has planned itineraries for trips with groups of friends with military precision. Zenaida and The Global Traveller both read itineraries for inspirational value then once on the ground discard them to chart their own journeys of discovery. Larry sees following an itinerary as one step up from following a tour guide with an umbrella, while David finds the '48 hours in...' itineraries a dull read, never covering anything particularly well, and Jamie notes that it wasn't always possible to get through everything a guidebook itinerary recommends. Itineraries can be dull to read, and they can be jammed with so much to see and do that following them is more hard work than it is fun. And when they try too hard to please everyone they can ultimately please no one. One itinerary recently published that I came across was in fact all of those things, which is actually what motivated my last post - and I'm going to come back to that tomorrow, because it's itineraries like those that give good itineraries a bad name. Seriously. I've literally written hundreds of the things, for scores of guidebooks, papers like The Independent (on Dubai, Muscat, Doha), in-flight magazines such as Hemispheres (3 Perfect Days in Dubai), which I think publishes some of the best itineraries around, and travel sites such as Viator (see our 3 day Dubai itinerary). Some editors take itineraries very seriously and they want their writers to do so too. They write detailed briefs and if writers diverge from these then they want to know why. I recall an exchange of emails with Simon Calder who had questioned how much eating and drinking I had readers doing on my Doha itinerary, going from a meal at the souq, on to aperitifs, then straight to dinner; he'd wanted them to do something more active in between. Hemispheres editor Randy Johnson was also a stickler for detail, raising concerns about whether I had people doing too much on a particular day in my Dubai itinerary. What I enjoyed about working with these editors on those itineraries is that they cared about their readers. And so do I. When I create an itinerary what is always utmost in my mind is: am I showing my readers a great time? That's where the 'art' of creating a good itinerary lies.
Itineraries: do you use them when you travel? Or do you simply create your own?
Do you use itineraries when you travel? Do you rip out those '48 Hours In...' or '3 Perfect Days in...' pages from travel magazines and newspapers when one catches your eye? Do they end up staying at home lost among your paperwork or do you slip them into your guidebook and take them with you when you go some place? And when you get there, do you actually use them? And what about guidebook itineraries? All travel guidebooks feature them these days; I've just written a bunch myself. They're either organized by duration ("one day in Milan", "weekend at the Lakes" etc) or by theme, with sights and activities suggested by subject or interest, such as "'3 days of food and wine in The Veneto". You get the idea. I'm curious to find out who uses itineraries and how you use them. Or do you simply make up your own? We met a couple of Italian travellers in Australia last year and the woman methodically underlined sights in her guidebook and then wrote out day-to-day itineraries. Her boyfriend was happy for her to do although he didn't seem to mind either way. My interest is partly motivated by comments from readers, in particular Sarah, who in response to my post on casual tourism wrote: "My other half is definitely a casual tourist! Which drives me slightly nuts... I like to plan to ensure I don't miss anything. On our last two holidays, I'm there with the map and the tourist book and he's just like... "can't we just wander around and see where we end up?!" Argh!" I'm interested in hearing from planners like Sarah to find out if you use itineraries and how you use them - what do you do if they're not working for you, say, if you don't like the author's choices, or order of selection, or if there's too much to do on one day? Do you abandon them and create your own? If you're an itinerary user, I'd love to hear from you.