How to See More, Avoid Crowds & Capture Better Photos, While Travelling.

(Download Your Free Daily Slow Travel Planner + Bonus Slow Morning Blueprint):

If you’ve ever felt like your trips are a constant race — running from one tourist hotspot to the next, standing in lines, fighting crowds to take photos of sights you’ve been dreaming about seeing — than this post is for you. Slow travel isn’t about seeing everything, it’s about seeing what matters and actually enjoying it. That’s why we created our Daily Slow Travel Planner + our Bonus Slow Morning Blueprint — printable guides to help you plan early mornings with less crowds, local food experiences, and relaxing afternoons wherever you travel.

For more on the importance of the early morning experience, checkout our post “3 Significant Reasons to Get Up Early While Travelling”. To book experiences, tours, cooking classes, entry tickets etc. we use Get Your Guide, Viator and Expedia.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a booking or purchase through one of these links, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend places, experiences, and products that we have personally used or genuinely believe add value to a trip.

Table of Contents:

1. Why Slow Travel Works
2. What’s inside the Daily Planner
3. How we use the planner for our trips
4. Bonus Guide – Our Slow Morning Blueprint
5. Get your free Daily Slow Travel Planner + Bonus Slow Morning Blueprint here.
6. The Wrap up

1. Why Slow Travel Works:

For us, slow travel doesn’t mean missing out, it means getting a good early start to your day and seeing sights in a more meaningful less stressful way. We usually get up just before sunrise, coffee, and camera in hand, ready to go. The light is magical, the streets are quiet, and the city feels like it belongs to you, just for a little while, different than the bustling afternoon scene.

If we’re in a busy city with iconic sights, we start our day at the spots we want to see and photograph first — empty streets, perfect lighting, and almost no tourists. By late morning, it starts getting busier, cruise ships are docked, tour groups are assembled, so we pick a café tucked away on a back street (bonus points for a view!) and enjoy a slow, relaxing break.

Afternoons are for wandering — a walk along the water, a hike, exploring hidden corners of the city, museums, food tours, cooking classes or timed entry tickets for popular sights. Then we head back to our accommodation: swim, nap, relax, shower. Evenings are for sunsets, a casual dinner, evening stroll with some exploring, and of course, gelato or a local sweet treat.

This is exactly what our Daily Slow Travel Planner is built around: structured mornings, slow afternoons, and flexible evenings — with plenty of space for personal adventures.

2. What’s Inside the Daily Planner:

The template breaks each day into three easy-to-follow blocks:

• Morning: Pre-sunrise wake-up, sightseeing busy tourist spots first, photography, exploring neighbourhoods, markets etc.
• Afternoon: Cafés, small excursions, hiking, tours, or a swim/nap back at your accommodations.
• Evening: Dinner, sunset walks, gelato, or casual exploring. Another less busy time of the day as the day-trippers have left the city.

Why You’ll enjoy Using this Template:

• It helps you plan your mornings so you can see and photograph iconic sights without the crowds.
• Structures your afternoons for relaxation and exploration.
• Helps you travel at your own pace, seeing what matters to you most.
• Perfect for couples, friends, and independent travelers who want a balanced, mindful travel experience.

3. How We Use It on Our Trips:

1. Pre-sunrise wake-up — we look up the sunrise time in advance, look up a café or bakery on the way to our first stop to grab a coffee & sweet treat, and plan to be at our destination before sunrise.
2. Morning sightseeing — we research the iconic sites form our destination and list the ones we want to see most.
3. Pick 2 – 3 locations/attractions per day – start at the one we want to see most and see what we have time for, but no rushing.
4. Late morning café break — find a quiet, out-of-the-way spot with a great view.
5. Afternoon exploration — we book tours, timed entry tickets, classes, during the busier time or explore nature, walk along the water, take a local hike, or just wander hidden streets.
6. Back to our accommodation — swim, nap (only if needed), shower, relax.
7. Evening — research spots for a romantic sunset, casual dinner, evening stroll with gelato or local treat.

It’s a rhythm that works anywhere — from bustling European cities to coastal Canadian towns.

Extra Tips for Slow Travel:

• Walk everywhere you can — streets are more interesting up close.
• Always plan mornings first — afternoons can fill themselves.
• Scout markets early — less crowded and better for photos.
• Use Google Maps – look up walking distances & routes for you early mornings.
• Take your time in cafés — this is your recharging time.
• Leave your evenings flexible — let spontaneity guide you.

4. Bonus Guide – Our Slow Morning Blueprint:

As a bonus, we’ll add our Slow Morning Blueprint, where we go more in-depth with our 5-step slow travel, morning formula, and why early mornings change everything. We didn’t use to travel this way, we liked to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast in a café, then decide what we want to see that day, we’d hit the popular spots, with the crowds, line-ups, and by the end of the day we were exhausted and stressed out. Then on our vacation to Japan, we flew into Tokyo, and on our first night there, we stayed up till about 10:00pm without a nap, to try and help with the jet lag, by the next morning we were wide awake by 5:30am, so decide to get up and start our day, it was the best day every! No crowds, no lines, no stress, just locals making their way to work, we were able to see so much in those first few hours, then we had a tour booked in the afternoon, so it worked out perfectly. We continued doing this each morning and saw so much, the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, practically by ourselves, (mid-day it’s shoulder to shoulder), the deer in Nara, Inari Shrine, the philosopher’s path and so on. We were actually experiencing these places not just seeing them. By the end of this trip, we were hooked, and we haven’t looked back.

5. Get your Free Daily Slow Travel Planner + Bonus Slow Morning Blueprint:

To get your printable copy of these two guides, click the link here, Free Daily Slow Travel Planner + Bonus Slow Morning Blueprint, or use our opt in at the top of the page or on one of our pop ups, we just need your name and email and we’ll send you your copies of these helpful guides to download. By doing so, you’ll also receive our slow travel emails, filled with travel inspiration, tips, and more, our monthly newsletter “The Next Stop” introducing our newest Travel Series, first look at our latest weekly post, and special offers from our travel partners. Unsubscribe at anytime.

6. The Wrap up:

Slow travel isn’t about perfection. It’s about designing your days, prioritize what you really want to see and actually enjoying the journey! With this template, you can start planning a trip that balances exploration, culture, photography, and pure relaxation — without feeling rushed.

Download your copy of our Free Daily Slow Travel Planner + Bonus Slow Morning Blueprint here!

Thanks,

Beth

Beth de Verteuil

Wild Meadow Studio

Plan. Travel. Capture.

www.wildmeadowstudio.com