Here is your ‘clearing head’ itinerary from The Women’s Travel Group. First Read Part 1. Arrival Day after a 2-3 hour nap, eat a healthy lunch include fruit/salad. Drink more water than you think you need. Ask the Front Desk for a hotel card and a map. Mark the hotel clearly on the map-you are tired—make the mark BIG. Ask staff to color a line for a neighborhood walk. Stroll the neighborhood monitoring landmarks. It is pretty easy to get lost when exhausted. Remember you can always put your phone cellular on for a minute or two to look at a street map. The one we chose is of Edinburgh. Check out a local food market; a hotel room is not home until you bring in pretzels, snacks, your own bottle of wine? Whatever you import through the lobby be discreet.
If you decide to do your own thing on day 1, there are many free walks on line. The one we use as an example is from the Irish Tourist Office. If you are exhausted, stop and sit down in a park, even a church.
Day 2 in town should start with an organized walking tour to relax and get rid of sea legs. A hearty lunch (more like a cooked dinner) is important; your time zones are still a mess. If in Europe, you will feel peppier after lunch Now attempt a museum. An enhancement before the museum is to listen to the museum app or video. Save the heavy duty museums for later. Example, if in Nice today see the Matisse not the Museum of Art. If in Paris, the Orsay not the Louvre.
Too tired for a museum consider the Hop on Hop Off Buses. They seem cheesy but orient the newcomer. You will always return to your first stop.
Have a snack with again lots of water in the museum cafe. Museums invariably have free wifi and good bathrooms. You do not have to rush when finished. Linger for your much earned rest. Americans rush; Europeans linger.
Day 3 This year European museums and monuments are pre booking weeks in advance. Definitely pre book the big sites/museums. Today see the heavy duty exhibit in the morning; if possible take the English language tour. (You might meet other solo women in the tour). So now go for something light: a street market? Canal ride? Hop on Hop Off second day ticket? Food tour? Top the day off with dinner in an outdoor cafe. Now enjoy your wine; linger.
Day 4 Today get out of Dodge. Sites like Viator and Getyourguide etc offer day trips. A bus tour might feel good after all the walking. The countryside is a relaxant after city days. Loch Lomond outside Edinburgh? Chateaux outside of Paris, Medieval monastery outside Dublin?
Day 5 You are a veteran. Now is when you dine at that special restaurant you were afraid to enter alone. Or try out a serious walk out of the city center. You are ready to take a train now to your next stop. (PS locate the train station ahead of time to know exactly where it is, stairs? restaurants? crowds?
The Women’s Travel Group organizes inclusive small group tours for women. Tours include highlights and private visits. There is space left on Scotland/Ireland and on Sicily, plus a long weekend in Mexico City. We are at 646 309 5607 and happy to chat.
