Itinerarly
How to plan a day in a new city (and stop walking in circles)
Most wasted time on a city trip is not spent queuing. It is spent walking back and forth between sights that were never put in a sensible order. Here is a simple method that works in any city, with or without an app.
1. List what you actually want to see
Start with five to eight places, not twenty. A realistic day in a city is three to four visits inside buildings plus a few sights you only look at from the outside. Mark which ones are must-sees and which ones you would happily drop.
2. Check the fixed constraints first
- Opening days. Many museums close one day a week (in Paris, the Louvre on Tuesdays and the Musée d'Orsay on Mondays).
- Timed tickets. Places like the Colosseum, the Sagrada Família or the Anne Frank House sell entry slots. Book these first, then build the rest of the day around them.
- Light. Viewpoints are best at sunset; famous squares are emptiest early in the morning.
3. Put the places in the best order
With the fixed slots in place, order the remaining stops so that each one is close to the next. This is the classic "travelling salesman" problem: with six stops there are already 720 possible orders, and the obvious one is rarely the shortest. Group places by neighbourhood, start at one end of the city and finish at the other, and avoid crossing the river twice.
4. Account for how you will move
Walking times are predictable; bus, taxi and car times are not. If part of your day is by car, live traffic can change which order is fastest, especially at rush hour.
5. Leave room for food
Plan lunch near the middle of the route rather than at a specific restaurant, and look for somewhere close when you get hungry.
How Itinerarly does this for you
In the free Itinerarly app, you add the places you want to see and it puts them in the best order, with travel times that take live traffic into account, then guides you turn by turn (also on CarPlay on iPhone). When you want to be told where to go, its Suggestions mode finds food, cafés and things to do nearby, and in 44 cities you can follow a ready-made audio walking tour instead.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best way to plan a day of sightseeing?
- List five to eight places, book the ones with timed tickets first, then order the rest so each stop is close to the next, grouping them by neighbourhood.
- Is there an app that puts my places in the best order?
- Yes. Itinerarly, a free app for iPhone and Android, puts the places you add in the best order with live traffic and guides you turn by turn.
Read next
- One day in Rome: a walking route in the best order
- One day in Paris: a walking route in the best order
- One day in London: a walking route in the best order
- One day in Barcelona: a walking route in the best order
