Hello,

I'd like to dedicate this thread to discuss travel-related topics in response to these posts, alongside experiences in the selection of the tickets, hotels, visas, time-frame, etc.

Of those not aware of the recent flight additions to Cyprus (Paphos) and Austria (Vienna), by RyanAir, tickets as the following:

Paphos
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
It can go as low as 10€ per flight.
Vienna (Starting on the 29th of March 2020)
Wednesday, Sunday
It can go as low as 36€ per flight.

Important note: Prices do not include any checked-in or on-board luggage (except for a small 10kg handbag with a specific size)

Prior content as of 14/11/2019

The primary purpose of the thread is to help new and old-style travelers through their trip organization, as I've noticed even several people tend to purchase tickets on specific dates and places rather than the more efficient and cheaper alternatives. (or reasons such as "I prefer X airlines", or "that's the cheapest I could find to X country")

I'd like to initiate the topic by sharing my personal experience in simple steps to follow, any advice and criticism are much appreciated as these are merely the fruit of my research and conclusions.

Who is traveling?
To organize any trip or vacation, the age and mental health of the people going is at play.
Several questions to take into consideration:

Are the people willing to take long flights (hence, patient)?
Does the people's mental and physical condition allows them to take long walks (20 minutes+)?
Are they able to wake up very early?
Are they able to sleep late?
What is their budget?
Do they have a visa? And if not, is it easy for them to obtain?

Purpose of the trip
People tend to travel for different reasons; each would have a different objective. For example:

Business trips are usually time-frame enclosed (such as an event, or an exhibition), hence being at the location at the right time is the primary purpose. Being efficient would consider going for the cheaper economy ticket, and usually playing with the departure and arrival tickets, as well as the hotels.
Family Vacations tend to be the most costly in terms of the tickets and hotels rather than entertainment costs. Individual offices may offer you a package deal that may appeal to you, yet most of the time, you can create your own far more enjoyable trip with a self-satisfactory outcome for around the same price.
Friends Vacations are often the cheapest as students (several discounts with your student card/ISIC), at a younger age, you wouldn't mind sleeping in less fancy hotels/Airbnb's, taking the train daily, a lot of walking, doing several activities per day...
Pilgrimage or religious trips are best to be done with offices or religious associations. (although a lot cheaper when done alone, the experience differs)

Planification
Planification for the trip should happen two months before the trip. The cheapest tickets are available between 1-2 months before the flight. Applying for visas should happen as soon as you have an accurate timeframe of when the trip is going to take place. The purchase of tickets and hotels as soon as you get visa approval.

Visa
A nice website to know the countries of which you may or may not need visas for is https://visalist.io/.
Some charming countries to go to with a Lebanese passport (without a visa): Turkey, Jordan, Georgia, Armenia (VOA), Bali (Indonesia)...
A tip for Schengen visas: Apply for the first country you are going to land on, and in case you are traveling to several countries in Europe, apply at the embassy of the country in which you are staying the most.
Note: You must not purchase the tickets nor reserve the hotels before getting the visa approval. They require you to present an itinerary (also known as a fake ticket or hotel) and not the item itself. You do not have to go with the same ticket/hotel after your visa is accepted.

I would appreciate if someone can provide further details on the visa process, and perhaps some tips that may help us all.

Tickets
After selecting the timeframe of which you can travel, it is time to select your tickets. The big question is, where are you going? In case the general case of which it is not specified, I suggest using Skyscanner.
It is preferable (and sometimes cheaper) to select 'Direct flight', as well as faster and safer (in case you miss a flight, or it gets delayed).
Type in 'Everywhere' for the country you're traveling to, select the month of which you are going as well (not the days unless necessary).
In case you're planning to go to one country, select 'Return' as a round-trip ticket, otherwise, 'One-way'.

You will find several options listed for you; for the sake of this example, I've picked one of the cheap ones which I have got listed, which is Greece. Upon its selection alongside its airport, you will get a monthly calendar with the price of each day available. (in case the price is not listed for a specific date, press on it and press on search)

After selecting an appropriate flight, study what to do in such a city and how much time is worth staying. (Check the section 'What to do there?')
Recreate the previous scenario, this time going from Athens airport to Anywhere (except if you have a specific country in mind)

I selected Germany (Nuremberg), received a price of 50$ on the 12th of January. This is a good deal since that would allow me to stay three days in Athens before heading towards Germany.

Assuming a stay of 2-3 days in Nuremberg is enough, and a friend wanting to visit someone special in Austria (Vienna), we select Vienna next, yet this scary thing appears:

There are no cheap tickets from Nuremberg to Vienna within a week from arriving in Nuremberg. What to do?
In Europe, everything is connected by train/metro; long-distance train tickets should be bought at this stage. I suggest using Omio for the selection of the cheapest ticket. For the sake of this example, I've set leaving Nuremberg on the 14th of January.

162$ for four people leads to ~40$ per person, against the prior 142$ per person as a plane ticket!
Okay, time to head back home.

18th of January seems adequate, we select and finish with the tickets.
Total tickets for three countries and nine days: 250$

Note: Make sure you carefully check the baggage policy upon purchasing your ticket.

Flight Delayed/Cancelled?
EU airlines follow a protocol at which refunds you up to 600€ per flight in case it gets delayed for more than 3 hours or canceled. (also refunds necessities in case baggage is delayed or lost)
An easy way to get your money is through ClaimCompass, which I recommend checking out.

Location
I highly recommend Airbnb, a way more comfortable experience, as well as way cheaper in bigger groups. You can get a bigger room/apartment at a better location for a lower price than a hotel.
Note that some countries may have hotels cheaper than Airbnb's (Germany, for example), so it's worth taking a look at both Airbnb and Booking.
Tip: If you're going with Airbnb, make sure you ask them about the time you can obtain access to the apartment (check what time you arrive from the airport/train station). An excellent way to receive a discount is to tell them you are a student and whether they can provide a student discount (be honest in such topics). Make sure it's not too far from the place where you'll often be visiting, e.g. the city center.

rolf wroteLikewise, you can stay at a hostel (look on hostels.com or other sites), where you could for example rent a bed in a 12-bed dorms for 10 euros a night or even less, breakfast included. Be aware that you will not get the best sleep, it is likely that you would be waken up in the middle of the night by a group of drunken teenagers coming back from a party, or that for example, your neighbor would have very strong smelly feet.
There are also free options although I never tried these. Specifically couchsurfing or workaway where you get a bed and possibly other facilities in exchange of putting in a few hours of work on some project.

Transportation
Google maps is a necessity; make sure you download the map of the city you're traveling to offline.
For countries of which you're staying for a few days, try looking up day passes for buses and train/metro. Example: Greece gives you a 3-day bus and metro pass (including the airport transfer) for 22€. Paris has similar to its Navigo pass (which is extremely useful). This research is country-dependent. Renting a car is also an option.
Never take a taxi from the airport or the metro station to your destination unless necessary. (their prices are exorbitant)
I use Citymapper for the bus/metro transportation, sometimes Google Maps, to double-check.

rolf wroteFor going from one city to another, you can get good deals on airplanes or trains if you buy in advance. However you can get really cheap deals on coach (eg: eurolines)(if you are willing to spend 8 hours sitting in a bus), or carpooling such as blablacar or mitfahren.de (for Germany).

Communication
Staying communicated with family and friends is important. You can take your mobile phone with you, yet never use your Lebanese SIM in a foreign country. For the EU specifically, you can buy any SIM card (e.g. Vodafone) that gets you an internet connection (which is relatively cheap). The sim will work at no extra cost in any EU country you are visiting according to their roaming policy.

A website to plan which SIM is the most adequate to purchase: https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Prepaid_SIM_with_data (Thanks @samer!)

Language
Google Translate will translate anything, a conversation, signs on the street with its camera feature, etc. Make sure you download the languages you'll need before your trip.

What to do there?
Setting up a day plan may be quite the hassle, thankfully, VisitACity does that for you. You can even select the number of days stayed (defined by the ticket pricing).

Getting ready
Make sure you download a template online for what you may need and serve it as a checkbox list.
Some airlines (including Ryanair) may require you to check-in 24 hours before the flight to avoid paying a fee.
Print all your tickets and reservations on paper just in case!

The following details the prior process applied in my trip to Europe in August 2019.
My Trip
Greece (Athens): Aug 3 till Aug 5 - Tourism, Food, Beach
Italy (Rome): Aug 5 till Aug 9 - Food, Tourism, Museums, Vatican City, Party
Germany (Nuremberg): Aug 9 till Aug 11 - Beautiful city, Castle, Beer/Food
Germany (Stuttgart): Aug 11 till Aug 13 - Relaxing Park, Zoo, Pig/Mercedes Museum
France (Paris): Aug 13 till Aug 17 - Tourism, Food, Parc d'Asterix
Netherlands (Amsterdam): Aug 17 till Aug 20 - Parks, Museums, Relaxing
Total days: 17
Total tickets per person: 420$
Total accommodation per person: 380$
Total spendings in the trip: ~720€
Average steps daily: ~20,000 steps
Total outcome: Amazing vacation, 3kg lost, german curse words.

Check out @backpackin.trails' trip and guidelines to South-East Asian countries!

I highly anticipate sharing information, tips, experiences, and places to travel. Hoping this guide would provide some new information to the community.
Thank you