Have an Idea - Its important to have a base idea / concept however sketchy to start with. A travel planner would be able to advise better once they understand what you are looking for. e.g. response you get "I want to do a family itinerary for Kerala. We have never been to Kerala. We would like to visit Guruvayoor temple besides other destinations" would be better than for a vague query like "I want to take my family for a vacation to Kerala".

Decide on Must Dos and Cant Dos in Advance - Its important to ponder on mode of transport and destinations within the sector that are must dos. Its important for any travel planner to understand what you cannot do without and what you cannot do with. 

Budget - Its important to understand what are the costs that can be expected for the kind of hotels you want to stay. You may also indicate a budget based on which the travel planner can work backwards. We recommend that in a trip where budget is a constraint, you can mix and match with hotels. i.e. stay in lower budget options at a few destinations and higher category at others. This typically does the job. It is important that you don't totally compromise on the stay options beyond a point under this budget exercise (to avoid regretting later). 

For itineraries where budget is not necessarily a constraint, most expensive hotels are not always the most suitable and therefore its better to consider options carefully before selecting the stays. 

Some sectors are generally more expensive than others and so at an earlier stage it sometimes is not a bad idea either to cut the number of days or change a sector all together to maintain a level of hotel stays within a budget. 

Plan in Advance - Its important to plan in advance to give choice and options and ensure that accommodation options preferred are available and booked. Every Sector has an indicative time before which one requires to start planning. However as a thumb rule, Festival Periods, Long weekends, holiday season needs at least 3-4 months of planning in advance. Sectors where a lot of overseas guest movements need more than 6 months of advance travel planning  for choice of hotels and resorts.

Do a prior research - Its easy to get caught and lured into destinations that you know very little about. Its possible with a little bit of independent research to get a perspective on various aspects such as min night of stay, what to expect etc. If its too much to do the research then email expert@nivalink.com on the same and we will be pleased to email you the data based on our visit to the area. This helps in ensuring that you plan the right number of days and with the right expectations and perspective.

Involve co-travelers - Its always better to involve those who plan to come along for the trip. Their preference and perspectives may help in arriving at a consensus and avoiding any conflicts later. 

Space out Destinations - Its better to leave time to savour a destination and rest than go on a monument hopping and sightseeing spree. Its better to realise that there is always limit to what one can achieve and there is no point in planning a mad rush.

Variety - Variety is spice of life and therefore secret to a well-planned itinerary is always the variety on offer. Indians States come with a lot of varieties such as Beach, hills, temples, forts, palaces, plantations, lakes, wildlife etc and its important to incorporate a bit of all that in the plan. 

Openness to new Ideas - Be always be open to new ideas. You may be missing out on a major experience. Weigh options and give all options and ideas a careful consideration. 

Duration - There is no ideal duration for an itinerary. However most prefer a weekend to weekend itinerary and so about 7-10 nights itinerary is what is most preferred by the guests. A relaxed and longer itinerary is good for a better coverage of the sector but sometimes leaves homesick and tired. 

For overseas guests a two week itinerary is ideal but there have been instances where we have even planned a 12 week relaxed itinerary for an overseas guests. So totally depends on how long a set of individuals can be away and still enjoy.

Trust the Expert  - It is important to identify a travel planner that you can turn to for any advise. However it is also important to understand the context of the advise and trust it. Too much of asking around with so called "expert" travellers (whose advise is often based on hearsay and their outdated one time travel experience) can lead to a confusion.  Web postings by individual travellers have to be looked at in a context and can be useful sometimes but can also be misguiding some other time (without understanding the context). Not every travel planner has been to the sector you are planning to visit. Ensure that you select someone who has been there recently and understands the issues upfront.

Avoid Too many agencies - For a Holiday reservation its important to do reservations with one or two agencies for a better co-ordinated and hassle free planning experience. Some websites may offer "Best rates" but the do not offer guidance or any allied services or give timely responses.  Please check cancellation policies and policy on "Deficiency of service (In the event services promised were not provided or whatever provided was not satisfactory)" before making reservations with any such "Online" service. In case of any delay in travel or any last minute change in plan, it is important to have fewer agencies so that the changed plans can be communicated and synchronised better.

email to expert@nivalink.com for any guidance (no-obligation, Free of charge) you may require for planning any itinerary within India.