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Travel ResourcesMarika Devan2023-03-09T18:50:06-08:00

Below I have listed my FAVORITE tools and resources I use to plan my trips

Travel planning is far from easy. In fact, it’s pretty stressful and at times confusing. There is an overwhelming amount of information out there and it’s almost impossible to know where to start. You have to figure out how much to save, where to go, where to book flights, accommodations, activities and transportation and not to mention figuring out what to pack. It takes some serious dedication and commitment. But not to worry! These tools are the very ones I use to make my trip planning process much easier.

Are you ready to plan your dream trip?

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trip planning

Look, I get it. Planning a trip is not a walk in the park. It’s confusing, stressful and just plain frustrating (bang-head-on-table frustrating). So I went ahead and put together an in-depth guide on planning the perfect trip step-by-step.

Let’s Get Planning!

Trip Planning

Pinterest is one of my favorite trip planning tools. You could spend hours on end browsing and saving pins to boards you have created. Do you want to know the best day trips from London? Or where to eat in Singapore? Or do you want to learn how to train your poodle to do the hoky poky. (There is probably a pin for that!)

Trip Advisor is the world’s largest travel planning platform. It’s filled with helpful user-generated content, and reviews for attractions, restaurants, tours and more! You can also book flights, accommodation, tours and attraction tickets.

Earth Roulette is a fun (and addicting) site. It works by generating a random city anywhere in the world OR within a specified continent. Then it gives you a list of popular attractions in that city. If you are unsure where you want to go on holiday this would be an interesting way to pick a destination.

I absolutely LOVE My Maps! It’s a great itinerary planning tool. I use it one of two ways. One way I use it is by pinning things I want to do in a city, restaurants I want to eat at etc. Another way I use it is by pinning cities and locations I want to visit in a given country.

Instagram is where travelers go to show off all the amazing places they have been and a fantastic trip planning resource. When I am planning a trip using Instagram I check relevant hashtags and when I find a picture I like I save it so I can refer back to it later.

Another addicting site that allows you to explore the world from home is Google Earth. If there is a city you want to explore but don’t know if you would like it, you can get a sneak peak using “street finder” I also love their ‘I am feeling lucky’ feature that takes you to random city anywhere in the world.

Travel Insurance

Travel Resources 7

Anything can happen on a trip. A good travel insurance will cover things like lost or stolen items, medical & dental expenses, trip delays & cancellations. and emergency evacuations among other things. World Nomads is my go-to insurance company and I never leave home without it!

Flights

Skyscanner is a great place to start when looking for cheap flights. They compare hundreds of airlines to find the best deals.

Momondo is one of the best flight booking engines. They seem to always have the best deals! One of my favorite features on their site is the search “anywhere” tool that allows you to search for flights that fit your budget.

Airfarewatchdog is an excellent site to find cheap flights. They allow you to pick a city you want to fly out of and will email you alerts whenever cheap flights are available from that city.

Scotts Cheap Flights finds mostly ‘error’ and ‘mistake’ fare tickets. Just sign up for his mailing list by choosing what airport(s) you want to fly out of and then you will be emailed cheap international flights. He claims you can save up to 90% on the flights he sends you!

Hopper works differently than a lot of other flight booking engines. All you have to do is choose where you want to fly to and your dates and then Hopper will save your query and notify you when the best time to book is.

Google Flights have so many cool features that I admittedly spend maybe a bit too much time exploring. One feature I really like is their map that shows you the cheapest cities to fly to from your airport. You can choose your dates or the “flexible” option to give you the cheapest dates. I have found some really affordable flights to Europe and South America using that feature.

Accommodation

Hostelworld is my favorite hostel booking engine. They have thousands of hostels in hundreds of cities all over the world. They guarantee every booking and have no booking fees.

I book almost all my hotels from Booking. You can find anything from affordable hostels, hotels and cozy bed and breakfasts to luxury resorts and everything in between. You’re guaranteed to find a property that fits your budget and travel style.

Have you ever dreamed of staying in a luxury treehouse, a cottage in the English Countryside or a cozy airstream? Cool Stays has a decent selection of unusual places to stay all over the world and honestly who wouldn’t want to stay somewhere out of the ordinary?

Sometimes, you want your own space and don’t want to pay a crazy price for a hotel. Airbnb offers room and apartment rentals (some of which can be pretty affordable). There are lots of properties to choose from, and it’s easy to find a room in your price range.

I use Hotwire for last-minute bookings. They work by surprising you with the name of the hotel after you book. You provide the area you want to stay in and check off any amenities you want, and they will show you a list of hotels with the prices and star rating, and then once you book, you get emailed the confirmation with the name of the hotel. I find it pretty fun.

Do you have a furry friend that you want to travel with? Bring Fido helps dog owners find dog-friendly hotels worldwide.

Activities

Viator is a company owned by Trip Advisor, and when it comes to booking activities and tours, they never disappoint!

If you are tired of all the tourist traps check out Like a Local! Locals from cities all over the world will write recommendations for offbeat attractions, restaurants, cafes, bars and some locals will even give tours. I always check Like a Local when I am planning my day in a city.

If you are looking for really cool & quirky things to do, look no further! Atlas Obscura is one of the best places to find unusual attractions. If you are anything like me, you will be down an Atlas Obscura rabbit hole in no time learning about a farm in Sweden that makes Moose Cheese (but that’s a story for another time!).

If you use a lonely planet, I suggest getting the app. They have guides you can download to your phone, and each guide is in-depth, giving recommendations for the best things to do, where to stay, and tips to make your visit easy & fun.

Spotted by locals is a fantastic app full of local city guides that give readers insider tips and offbeat experiences.

Musement has discount tickets for hundreds of attractions, museums, shows and more worldwide! If you are stuck in a city wondering what to do, musement is worth checking out. They also have a pretty fantastic blog with tons of useful guides.

Food

Zagat is one of the best places to discover restaurants within the US. It’s filled with informative guides and reviews to help you find the perfect restaurant!

Happy cow is a fantastic app that allows users to search for vegan/vegetarian restaurants world wide.

Instead of giving you a list of every restaurant in a given city, Foursquare focuses on smaller and independent restaurants.

Cookly is a website that lets you book authentic cooking classes & foodie experiences with locals all over the world!

Bonneapeteur is another site where locals offer foodie experiences worldwide. You can book food market visits, cooking classes, food tours and much more!

If you love food trucks check out Roaming Hunger! This is the ultimate database of food trucks in the US and beyond. They list the schedules of the trucks so you can find out if they will be serving food near you!

Tours

Urban Adventures is one of the best tour companies. They have tours in over 100 cities offering visitors unique and offbeat experiences like, food tours to local restaurants, cooking classes with market visits, home visits where the host cooks for you, seasonal tours for holidays like Christmas, Easter, seasonal tastes of Ramadan and so much more! I highly recommend Urban Adventures for memorable & local experiences

Sandman’s was one of the first walking tours I took when I was in Europe and one of my favorites. The guide was informative and all the tours city tours are donation based making it an affordable option for those on a budget. They also have a wide selection of tours that can be booked like beer tours, history tours, food tours, day trips and more!

Originally offering tours only in NYC Secret Food Tours has expanded offering tours all over the world. Their mission is simple: they highlight delicious & mouthwatering food by taking visitors to secret establishments that are loved by locals but often overlooked by tourists. My favorite part of the tour is the secret dish at the end that is handpicked by the guides. When I took the tour in NYC, the secret dish was one of the best I have had in my life. I went back to NYC just to eat it again.

How to Get Around

Wanderu makes booking transportation a breeze. Here you can find and compare prices for bus & train tickets in Euope and North America.

Another transportation comparison site that focuses on Europe, Canada and the US.

If you have traveled to Europe you are probably familiar with Eurail. This is the go-to site when it comes to train travel in Europe. It can be done affordably by purchasing a Eurail pass which you can read more about here.

Amtrak leads the way when it comes to train travel in the US. They have routes spanning almost all 50 states and although train travel in the US isn’t fast or necessarily cheap; it’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Direct Ferries is the best website to book ferries! Their easy to use system allows you to search and book thousands of ferry routes worldwide.

Discover Cars finds and compares car rentals in over 145 countries worldwide.