Upgrade your travel itinerary with these unique vacation excursions

You've finally nailed down where you'll be vacationing next and you're counting down the days until you can check out of work and spend your days indulging in some much-needed R&R. And once your flights are ready to go and hotels have been booked, the next major step will be planning your itinerary.

The obvious approach is to search for traditional tourist activities in the area. However, if you're looking to upgrade your travel itinerary, we recommend checking out Viator for unique excursions across the globe.

Viator, a TripAdvisor site, showcases sightseeing adventures in major tourist locales. And many of the offerings involve surprising twists on your traditional activities. Take, for instance, a trip to Paris. You'll likely want to visit the Eiffel Tower or take a tour of Versailles. But to up the ante, maybe you'd rather see the Eiffel Tower from a bird's-eye view in a helicopter or explore the grounds of Versailles via electric bike. If that sounds more up your alley, Viator is a perfect fit.

Our favorite trips right now include a six-hour "Game of Thrones" hike in Reykjavik, Iceland, where you can explore the White Walker's stomping grounds; a tour of historic London in an iconic Morris Minor convertible; and an underwater exploration of the Hawaiian island of Oahu on a submarine scooter.

There are also money-saving deals on more traditional purchases like museum passes or walking tours. Viator operates on a low-price guarantee, so whether you're looking for an airport transfer or hoping to take a hot air balloon ride, you know you're scoring a good deal.

And much like TripAdvisor, Viator showcases real travelers' reviews on each excursion. For example, the "Game of Thrones" tour has been rated 5 stars on the site by 139 past participants, and the Oahu underwater scooter journey scored 5 stars from over 200 travelers. On the activity's comment board, you can peruse people's experiences as well as see some of their photos to help ensure that the excursions you're booking are worth the price.

If you're about to take a trip and need a little more inspiration as to what to see and do, you can check out the full list of Viator offerings here. Your travel itinerary will thank you.

Note: The price above reflects the retailer's listed price at time of publication.