Travel Itinerary Template: What 8 Real Travel Forms Ask For, on One Page

To decide what belongs on that page, we did not guess. We read 8 travel forms that US universities make their staff and students fill in before a trip abroad, and the sample trip plan the National Park Service (NPS) gives visitors. Below are what they ask for, a travel itinerary template in that order, and an example laid out on one page.

What a travel itinerary is for

An itinerary does three jobs, and a list of sights only does the first:

A list of sights is a wish list. An itinerary is a list of sights with times, addresses and the way to get between them.

What 8 real travel forms ask for

Universities ask for a trip's details before staff or students leave, so they can find them in an emergency. We read 8 of these forms from 6 universities: the University of Nevada, Reno (two forms), California State University, Dominguez Hills (two), California State University, Long Beach, the University of Texas at Arlington, Cal Poly Pomona's student association and the University of Toledo's global health program. They date from 2014 to 2024.

What it shows:

• The night matters more than the day. Every form asks where you sleep. None asks for a list of sights.
• Flights are written down in full. Airline, flight number, date, time and both airports, for every leg. Toledo's form asks for each flight in order, up to four each way.
• "Or attach itinerary." Both Nevada forms print it beside their flight boxes, and the faculty form beside lodging too. A good itinerary already holds what they ask for.
• Copies go to other people. Toledo's form recommends giving a copy, with your passport, to your emergency contacts and next of kin.

The itinerary that stays at home

The NPS publishes a Trip Planning Guide with a sample Trip Plan, Form 10-1700. It is an itinerary written for the person who is not going. It asks:

• Who: each person's name, age and phone number.
• Where: the park, the visitor center, how you are getting there and where you are staying.
• When: when you arrive, when you leave and when you expect to be back.
• What: each activity, with its start and end place and time.
• Equipment: the car's make, model, color and license plate, plus tents and backpacks.

The rules that go with it apply to any trip. Leave it with a trusted contact who is not travelling with you. Tell them if you change your plans, because if you leave the route on the plan, nobody will know where to look. Tell them when each activity is done. And do not hand it to the park: the guide says the park will not accept it.

Travel itinerary template

Copy this order. The fields come from the forms above.

The trip (one line)

• Who is going, where, and the dates: "Carter family, 4 travellers, Lisbon and the Algarve, 4 to 11 May."

Day by day (one line per day, two at most)

• Day and date, the one thing that must happen, its time and its place.
• Travel days get the flight or train number and the departure time.

Where you sleep (one row per stay)

• Name, address, phone, nights, booking reference.

Getting there and around

• Every flight: airline, flight number, date, departure and arrival times, both airports.
• Trains, ferries, car hire and transfers, with their references.

Before you go (four to six items)

• Passports, visas, insurance, tickets on your phone, the bank told.

Contacts

• The person at home with a copy, the agent or organizer, the insurer's emergency line.

A travel itinerary on one page

A typed list works. Laid out with the days on a timeline and the bookings in a box, it is read in a glance, which is what you need at a ticket barrier. This sample was made with MakeOnepagers, and it opens ready to edit: every word, chart and color.

Edit this template

The trip in one line, six days that matter, every reference number, four things to do before leaving, and one phone number.

What to copy:

• The trip in a headline: "8 days · 4 travellers" and "four nights in Lisbon, three by the sea in Lagos."
• Only the days with something fixed: six of eight days are listed, each with its time: land at 6:10 am, the guide at 10:00, the Sintra train at 9:15, the boat at 10:30, the shuttle at 7:00 am.
• Every booking with its reference: flights, both stays with their nights, the train, and timed entry tickets.
• Before you go: passports valid three months past the return date, train tickets downloaded, the bank told, a jacket.
• One person to call, with an after-hours number.

Edit for free: travel itinerary template.

How to make a travel itinerary in 7 steps

1. Fix the frame first: the dates, the cities and the nights in each. Everything else hangs on it.
2. Write in every booking as soon as it is made, with its reference number. An itinerary built from memory at the end misses one.
3. Add the travel legs: every flight, train and transfer, with the departure time and where it leaves from.
4. Fill each day with one fixed thing, the thing with a time or a ticket. Leave the rest of the day open.
5. Check the gaps: the time between landing and check-in, the last train, how long the transfer really takes.
6. Add the before-you-go list and the contacts.
7. Give a copy to someone at home, and send them the new version if the plan changes.

How much to put in each day

One line per day is the goal. If a day needs five lines, it is probably two days.

Itineraries for different trips

Who gets a copy

• Everyone travelling with you, on their phones and on paper.
• One person at home, with the flights, the addresses and when you will be back. This is the copy the NPS and the university forms are about.
• Your employer or school, if they ask; two of the forms above accept an itinerary in place of their flight boxes.
• Not the internet. A public post of where you sleep and when your home is empty helps no one you know.

Travel itinerary mistakes

• Sights without times. "Visit Sintra" does not say which train to catch.
• No booking references. The reference is what the desk asks for, and it is not in your inbox when there is no signal.
• Local times and home times mixed up. Write every time in the local time of the place it happens, and say so.
• Every hour planned. Late trains and slow lunches happen. Fix one thing a day and leave the rest open.
• One copy only. If it is only on your phone, a flat battery takes it, and the person at home never had it.

Travel itinerary checklist

• The trip in one line: who, where, dates
• One line for each day, with times in local time
• Every stay: name, address, phone, nights, reference
• Every flight and train: number, date, times, both stations or airports
• A before-you-go list
• A phone that works while you travel
• An emergency contact at home who has a copy
• The insurer's emergency number and your policy number
• One page

Make your travel itinerary

Open the free travel itinerary template, put the trip in the headline, one line for each day that has a time, every booking with its reference, and the number to call, then download it as a PDF for everyone travelling and one person at home.