Before you fly: a trip checklist that won't go out of date

Passport: count the months, not just the expiry date

A passport that is valid on the day you fly can still get you turned away. Many destinations want it to stay valid for a set period after your trip: the US State Department notes that some countries require six months beyond the dates of your trip, and that some airlines won't let you board if the rule isn't met. The Schengen area in Europe asks visitors from outside the EU for a passport valid at least three months after the date they plan to leave, and issued within the last ten years.

The rules also differ in what they count from — arrival, departure or the end of your stay — so read your destination's official entry page instead of relying on a rule of thumb. A cautious habit: if your passport expires within a year of your return date, renew it before you book anything non-refundable. Check that you have blank pages, too: the State Department suggests at least two, as some countries require them for entry.

Visas and travel authorisations: only from the official site

Whether you need a visa, an electronic travel authorisation or nothing at all depends on your nationality and your destination, and these schemes are introduced and changed often. The answers that count come from the destination's own government or its embassy, and from your own country's foreign ministry page for that destination.

The trap is in the search results. The US Federal Trade Commission warns about copycat websites that use names, flags and seals that look official, charge high fees — sometimes for forms or services that are free on the government's site — and, in some cases, may never submit your application. Reach the application page by following the link from the embassy or foreign ministry, not from an ad, and compare the fee with the one the government publishes before you pay.

Travel insurance: know what each part is for

A travel insurance policy bundles several kinds of cover, and it helps to know which part does what. The US National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) separates trip cancellation, interruption and delay cover, which pays back prepaid costs; travel medical cover, for short-term care if you get sick or hurt; and medical evacuation, which pays for emergency transport to the nearest hospital. The medical parts are the ones that matter most when things go badly: the UK government warns that emergency medical treatment abroad can cost thousands of pounds.

Check whether your health cover at home applies outside your country at all; the NAIC notes that some people buy travel insurance precisely because their health insurance doesn't cover them outside their home country. The NAIC also says policies usually cost 5% to 10% of the total trip price and lists pre-existing conditions as a common exclusion. The UK government advises buying cover as soon as you book and declaring every medical condition, including ones still being investigated. Before you buy, ask:

• Does it cover the whole trip and every country on the route, including transit stops?
• Are hospital treatment, emergency transport and getting home after treatment included?
• Are the activities you plan covered, such as winter sports or adventure tourism?
• How are pre-existing conditions handled, and what do you have to declare?
• Does the cover still apply in places your government advises against visiting?

Money and phone: make sure both work abroad

Carry at least two ways to pay and keep them in different places, so a lost card or a blocked payment doesn't leave you stuck; the UK government's checklist asks travellers to make sure they can reach enough money if their main payment method fails. For card fees, ATM charges and the question card machines ask about paying in your home currency, see our guide Paying abroad: cards, ATMs and the “pay in your home currency?” trap.

For many travellers, the phone plan at home doesn't cover use abroad, or only at extra cost. The US Federal Communications Commission advises asking your provider about roaming rates before you go, turning off automatic downloads, and keeping an eye on your bill, because roaming charges can show up a billing cycle after you're back. The alternative is a local SIM or an eSIM, which only works in an unlocked phone. On an iPhone, Settings > General > About shows whether there is a carrier lock; on other phones, look in the settings or ask your carrier. Apple notes that eSIM setup on an iPhone generally needs Wi-Fi, so install it at home rather than at the arrival gate.

Download offline maps of the cities you'll visit before you leave. On our site, tap ☆ on any place page to save it to My list; the list lives in the browser you used, so use “Share this list” to move it to your phone.

Jet lag: what the CDC suggests

Jet lag comes from crossing time zones quickly; the CDC Yellow Book, the US public health agency's travel medicine reference, defines it as following travel across at least two. The body clock catches up gradually — on average about 1.5 hours a day after flying west and 1 hour a day after flying east, which is why eastward trips feel harder. The CDC's advice that doesn't involve medicine:

The same chapter covers melatonin and sleep medicines. Whether any of them suits you is a question for a doctor or pharmacist, not for a checklist. Either way, plan an easy first day: a park, a market or a café near where you're staying.

• In the two or three days before you leave, shift your sleep about an hour a day toward destination time.
• Use light: after flying east, get bright light early in the morning and avoid it in the evening; after flying west, avoid bright early-morning light. The exact timing depends on how many zones you cross.
• On the plane, drink water and keep alcohol low; alcohol and caffeine can both dehydrate you.
• Plan meals, sleep and time outdoors around the destination's clock.
• Short naps of 20 to 30 minutes help you stay alert; longer ones can spoil the next night's sleep.
• For trips shorter than about two days, the CDC suggests not adapting at all.

Copies, contacts and official advisories

Keep a backup of what you can't travel without: the passport photo page, visas, insurance policy and emergency number, bookings and key phone numbers. The UK government's checklist suggests sharing it with family or friends or keeping it in secure online storage, in case you lose your phone, and carrying a printed copy of your health insurance documents. Leave your itinerary with someone at home as well: the same checklist names accommodation and flight details among the information to back up and share.

Then read what your own government says about your destination. Foreign ministries publish country pages with entry rules, safety levels, local laws and embassy contacts, and some let you register a trip so the embassy can reach you in an emergency. Check the advice level before you book: the UK government, for one, warns that travelling where it advises against all or all but essential travel may invalidate travel insurance, so ask your insurer how it treats your own government's warnings. Where to look, with a few examples of these services:

• Your own country: the travel-advice or consular pages of your foreign ministry, and its trip registration service if it has one.
• United States: the State Department's travel advisories, plus STEP, a free service that sends embassy alerts for your destination (for US citizens).
• United Kingdom: GOV.UK foreign travel advice, with email updates for each country.
• Australia: Smartraveller, the Australian government's travel advice site.

Choosing what to do once you're there

The last item is the one that shapes the trip: a short list of places worth your time. Ratings help, but only in context. Among the places on our lists (snapshot of 13 October 2026: 9,778 places in 92 cities), the median Google rating is 4.5 and 59% are rated 4.5 or higher, so a 4.5 is the middle of the pack, not a standout. A 5.0 from a dozen reviews tells you even less.

Our city rankings sort by Most reviewed by default. The Best sort weighs the rating against the number of reviews, so a few perfect scores can't outrank thousands of good ones, and Hidden gems brings up highly rated places with between 40 and 2,500 reviews. For the reasoning behind this, see “5.0 from 12 reviews or 4.5 from 3,000? How to read a rating”; for warning signs, see “Tourist traps and fake reviews: how to spot them in the ratings”. Check opening hours on each place's page close to the date, as they change with seasons and holidays.

The checklist in one place

Copy it into your notes and tick it off as you go.

• Passport valid for as long as the destination requires after you leave, with blank pages.
• Visa or travel authorisation, if needed, applied for on the official government site only.
• Insurance bought when you book, covering medical care, evacuation and every country on the route.
• Two ways to pay, kept apart; card and ATM fees checked with your bank.
• Phone unlocked; roaming plan or eSIM sorted and installed over Wi-Fi; offline maps downloaded.
• Sleep shifted toward destination time in the last few days, and an easy first day planned.
• Copies of documents stored online; itinerary left with someone at home.
• Your government's advice for the destination read, and the trip registered if it offers that.
• A short list of places saved to My list.