We tend to (in part due to having a small but rapidly growing person accompanying us) take an approach of having bases and full or half-day "things to do", including blanks, which we can then juggle as needed, while leaving things that need advance booking as anchor points. It means you can sort out the logistics easily, while still leaving flexibility and spontaneity. For example, going to the railway museum instead of Nara in the pouring rain.

However, cities are not the only game in town. On previous trips, I've loved visiting rural areas, by car, train and bike. You can't always do this as a day trip, but that doesn't mean you have to plan your whole trip in the same way.

It is worth remembering, though, that we are discussing this on Flyertalk, a board for frequent travellers. We've all got a good degree of confidence in ourselves when it comes to travel, and the means to do so in a large number of cases. That's not the case for many, probably most people. People travelling abroad, especially to countries perceived to have very different cultures, are nervous, may be doing it for a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and detailed planning is often a reaction to this. (I used to work for a holiday company - we would often segment customers according to confidence in travel, as the level of service expected would vary along these lines.)