If you have troubles with planning your next trip or you feel overwhelmed by not knowing where to start, then this is the right article for you. With this ultimate list of best travel resources, you will find it much easier to find transportation, accommodation and everything else you need for your next trip or vacation.
There is a crazy amount of free tools that help us plan our next holiday but not all of them are good and some will only waste our precious time and energy.
So stay tuned and read on to find out what are the best online travel resources out there and enjoy while planning your next holiday!
This is the only list you’ll ever need!
Transportation
1. Flights
One of the best sites for comparing flight prices. It is especially good for Europe flights as well as for budget flights provided by budget airlines.
A great Skyscanner feature is a search option to EVERYWHERE where you will get a list of the cheapest flights to destinations at a certain time (great if you are flexible with your travel time). Skyscanner also offers hotels and car hire.
Momondo is another flight search engine where you can find the cheapest flights. The site compares fares from more than 1000 airlines and travel sites, giving you the best rates.
A great feature is their calendar view which lets you see which days are cheapest to fly. They supposedly search the small booking sites no one else does.
Hopper analyzes billions of prices daily to predict how prices will change and tells you whether to buy or wait. Its a great app for those who travel on a budget as well as for anyone wanting to save some money. You can save up to 40% on your next flight using Hopper.
Expedia is an amazing travel resource since it covers all areas of travel. It offers great flight prices as well as great deals on hotels, rental cars, activities and more. And if you book it all together you get nice discounts. It may be more practical to book it all on the same site but it is not the cheapest way.
Google Flights helps you to find cheap flights as well as seeing the flights on a world map, so you can see where you can fly for the cheapest price.
The site uses smart search to compare flights and it gives you the cheap deals on regular flights as well as last minute flights.
This company is the best if you are searching for an RTW – round the world tickets.
You can design your preferred itinerary by using multiple airlines and put together the best deals. They also have great customer support.
Best Flight Deals
This site tracks the best deals on flights all across the world and if you subscribe to their newsletter you will be notified about the great offers. They also offer great money saving tips.
Very similar to Airfare Watchdog this is is a website which sends emails to users about cheap airline tickets. It has more than 1,500,000 subscribers.
Yet another site for great cheap and budget-friendly flights all around the world. You can find some really amazing deals here. They post lots of great offers on their Facebook page.
A budget-friendly site which offers deals on flight tickets, hotels and car rental deals year round.
A website which offers great package deals on cheap flights and accommodation, holidays, honeymoon destinations, summer holidays, cruises and late deals to locations all over the world.
You can find thousands of cheap tickets and cheap flight offers to destinations around the world. They also offer deals on vacations, hotels and rental cars.
2. On The Road Transportation
Buses
A great choice if you want to travel by bus around Europe! There are numerous routes and the ticket prices are very budget friendly. There are also sales at all times. Another great thing they offer is Interflix Voucher – it lets you visit 5 cities for only 99 euros.
Eurolines is a bus company which connects all the major European cities as well as the more secluded areas, which are sometimes not accessible by any other form of travel.
They cover 26 countries and they always offer good deals.
Busbud is a site which offers the world’s most extensive inventory of buses: 3,900+ bus companies connecting 21,000+ cities across 80+ countries with 2,300,000+ bus routes.
Trains
GoEuro is a European resource site where you can compare the prices and duration of trains, buses and flights as well as book your tickets. You can categorise your search by prices, duration and departure time.
An amazing website with information on train and metro rides all over the world. You can see the number of stations as well as the distances and the metro map for almost every city in the world. You can’t buy tickets on the site though.
This site is great for planning a long train trip since it offers amazing info on routes, times, prices and train conditions for trains all over the world. It tells you how to get from point A to point B by trains.
A great website which offers train and bus tickets all over Europe. You can find info on routes, fares and journey times from more than 190 train and coach companies in 44 countries.
Cars
A great car rental company which operates worldwide. You can book a car online and just pick it up at your destination.
BlaBlaCar is a ridesharing website which offers shared rides with local drivers, you only pay a part of gas expenses.
Uber is a transportation network company which offers ridesharing, taxi cab hailing, food delivery, and a bicycle-sharing system. The company has operations in 785 metropolitan areas worldwide.
3. Boats
This company searches the web for the cheapest budget friendly cruises. It is especially good for repositioning cruises across oceans.
Accommodation
1. Hotels
Booking.com is one of the best if not the best source for hotel booking as well as other accommodation searches. There are tons of options for you to choose from, you just type in your destination, the dates you want to visit as well as your price range. You can find super luxury hotels as well as budget-friendly options on this site. There are often great deals and discounts as well.
This is a great booking site for those of you who often stay in hotels since they reward you for your loyalty. The rule goes like this: for every ten nights you book with them, you get a night free. They also offer many discounts.
Trivago compares 200+ booking sites worldwide and finds the ideal hotel for you and your wallet. It covers more than one million hotels worldwide.
Agoda is definitely the best accommodation website for Asia. If you plan your trip to Asia you can find tons of guesthouse and hotel offers on this website. There are over a million properties to choose from and they also offer great deals every now and then.
This website compares 1000 sites to help you find and book the best hotel for your trip or vacation. They also don’t charge any booking fee and offer great deals all the time.
A site which offers amazing last minute deals. You can book hotels throughout the Americas, Europe and Australia. Due to the last minute nature of the bookings, you can get great discounts off the listed hotel rate.
Priceline is a website which lets you bid on hotels. You can find a great deal and budget friendly accommodation on this site, you just need some patience. But if you are not willing to bid there are also many Express Deals which are great for last minute bookings.
2. Hostels
Definitely the number one site for hostels. This website has the largest amount of hostels to offer as well as great and easy to use search interface. I always use this site when I want to stay in a hostel.
Hostels.com is another great sites to check for hostel accommodation. They offer more than 35,000 hostels in more than 180 countries and they don’t charge booking fees.
Yet another good site for hostels with 30,000 hostels to choose from worldwide. They also don’t charge booking fees.
3. Other
Airbnb allows you to rent space in locals’ homes – it can be only a room, a whole apartment or even a whole house! The greatest part is that the prices can be extremely affordable! There is a crazy amount of different accommodations to choose from, all the way from luxurious places to budget-friendly ones.
Staying in an Airbnb can be a very unique experience since you stay with locals and can experience the local way of living much more than if you stay in a touristy hotel.
This website offers information and reviews of camps in over 190 parks in 10 European countries. You can also book your stay in any of these camps using the site.
A great site for campers which gives you info and honest visitors reviews as well as the chance to book your stay in more than 24,000 camps in Europe.
Wimdu is a site similar to Airbnb where you can find rental accommodations worldwide. You can choose from over 350,000 vacation rentals starting at just $13/night…
FlipKey is a site which compares over 10 million places to stay at and allows you to rent a place from 1 week to 1 month.
HomeAway is a vacation rental website with more than 2,000,000 vacation rentals in 190 countries listed on it. It operates through 50 websites and you can find rentals of cabins, condos, castles, villas, barns, and farmhouses.
Travel Zoo offers a little bit of everything: you will find deals on hotels, flights, vacation packages, cruises and local & entertainment deals too. They publish offers from more than 2,000 travel, entertainment and local businesses such as restaurants and spas.
4. Free Accommodation
A very unique website which offers FREE! accommodation on people’s couches or spare rooms. It’s great for those who travel on a budget or if you just want to save some money and meet some locals. They also organise meet up events all over the world, you can find events near you on the website’s groups.
HouseCarers is a website which offers free accommodation in exchange of house sitting (taking care of the house or place) for people who go away and want their house not to be empty in the meantime.
Another website which offers free accommodation in exchange for house swapping with someone else. The idea is for two families to agree to exchange their homes for a period of time for vacation and the offers are worldwide.
You have to pay some fee to get the membership though.
This site offers more than 1000 house sitting opportunities (free accommodation!) in exchange for pet sitting pets for house owners who want to travel. They offer locations all over the world. It is a great and unique experience if you love taking care of animals.
Yet another global house sitting website which brings together homeowners and house/pet sitters. Homeowners can join for free but house sitters have to pay a small fee (20$).
Hospitality Club is a platform for members to arrange homestays and offer hospitality, join events, and meet other members. Hosts are not allowed to charge for lodging and the membership is free as well.
Another site that offers free stays and accommodation for the price of a small membership fee. Members can then exchange their places for a free stay and it is also a great way to meet and connect with locals.
Tours & Activities
One of the best and my go-to website for booking tours and activities. They offer activities all over the world and it is very easy to find something for everyone. You should pay attention to reviews though since Viator works with a variety of tour providers and the quality is not the same with all of them.
Another great place to book activities and tours if you plan your trip on your own. It’s great to book tours online if you don’t want to waste your time waiting in a line. You book and pay your activity online and all you have to do when you get there is show the voucher on your phone.
Great website for tours and activities from all over the globe. What makes it different from other websites is that it offers niche, unique and offbeat tours that bigger tour companies might not. Another advantage is also the smaller size of the groups which allows for a more intimate experience. Just be sure to check the reviews before you book!
This site also offers tours for smaller sized groups. They use guides who are the experts in the field concerned. They also offer multi-day tours.
Peek is a website full of amazing activities and tours organised by categories like sightseeing tours, outdoor activities, workshops, classes etc.
Airbnb recently started the Airbnb Experiences where you can book from over 15,000 unique experiences, activities and tours. These are hosted by locals.
Another unique tour and activities website which offers in-depth history, food and cultural walking tours in cities all over the world but especially in Europe. Tour guides are experts in the field – for example chefs lead food tours etc.
Headout is a site which offers great tours and activities in numerous cities around the world. The prices are very affordable and you can choose from a variety of tours and activities – there is something for everyone.
A great website for all the foodies out there! This site offers food experiences with locals in more than 130 countries. You can enjoy dinner parties, cooking classes and more in beautiful homes as well as in luxurious restaurants.
This website offers entrance tickets for museums and attractions in numerous places all around the world and you can find great deals on it.
Isango offers tours, experiences and attraction tickets. They have more than 10,000 tours in more than 300 major destinations.
City-Discovery has over 9000 tours & activities on offer. The site offers tours in numerous cities around the world. Their special deals are up to 76% off the original price so it’s worthy to check it out.
A great source of amazing activities and tours from all over the globe. I recommend you to check it out.
This site lets you book tickets for museums, attractions and activities all over the world.
The best website for outdoor activities – they offer more than 3800 different offers worldwide.
Civitatis offers a wide selection of tours and activities, mostly in Europe but also in other places around the world.
This is another great source of tours to select from since they offer more than 10,000 tours and activities worldwide.
Food
Foursquare website and app offer great recommendations for restaurants, bars, cafes, nightlife and things to do in the area you are searching for. It’s also helpful to check out the reviews before you decide where to eat. You can save the places you’ve already been to and the ones you still want to go to.
Google Maps is not only amazing for navigation but it also offers the greatest source of food places, bars and cafes in the area you want to check. You just zoom in the area of interest on the map, click on the restaurant tag and you can see the customer reviews as well as photos of food and everything else they offer. It is a great help when deciding where to eat and I love it and use it all the time!
A great website for all the foodies out there! This site offers food experiences with locals in more than 130 countries. You can enjoy dinner parties, cooking classes or just a normal meal while also meeting the locals and getting to know the local culture. You can get a culinary experience in people’s homes as well as in restaurants.
Trip Advisor is a great source for tips on everything travel. It offers more than 600 million reviews of travellers in all areas as well as for places to eat and drink. You can find great recommendations and ideas to plan your food experiences on your next trip.
Happy Cow is a great website where you can find info on healthy vegetarian restaurants, vegan restaurants and natural health food stores in the area you are travelling to.
Another website with useful reviews and recommendations of best restaurants as well as shopping, nightlife, entertainment and things to do.
Travel blogs for me are still the best sources I always check when I’m planning my trip. There are so many articles about the best places to eat and the best foods to try in certain places so travel blogs remain one of the crucial information sources on food planning.
Planning & Research
Research
One of the best route planners which shows you how to get from point A to point B in the most convenient way. You just enter your departure and arrival destinations and it gives you all the possibilities by bus, train, plane or boat that can get you there as well as the prices.
Sometimes their fares aren’t necessarily the cheapest though, so you can use it as a starting point for further research.
Google Maps is one of the best navigation sites as well as a great source for research and planning your routes. I use it all the time and it is my go-to for navigation and maps. It is updated on a regular basis so the info is always up to date. It also has some great extra features like the ability to save the places you want to visit in your favourites or calculating the distances between two points. There are bus and tram stations listed on their maps as well.
As the name tells you the site calculates the distance between point A and point B. It is great for research and planning of your routes.
Trip Advisor forums are a great source of info on just anything you need to know about certain topic or destination. There is already a ton of info out there but if you can’t find the right answer for your question, just ask it and you will get the answers you need from other experienced travellers.
This is like Wikipedia for travellers.
You can find info on destinations, attractions, hotels, restaurants, as well as travel tips and more. It is written by other travellers.
Very similar to Wikitravel, this site offers useful info about the destinations, best places to visit, attractions, hotels, restaurants and more.
One of the greatest resources for researching and planning your trip. The online Lonely Planet website offers tons of information on where to stay, where to eat, what to do etc. You can also check their website for some travel inspiration or buy their destination guides which are full of useful tips and advice.
Pinterest is full of articles by different travel blogs with tons and tons of information on basically anything you want to know. So if you are doing research for your next trip you shouldn’t skip checking Pinterest. Just type the desired destination in its search bar and start exploring. Check out my Pinterest boards as well for great travel tips and inspiration.
Youtube is full of amazing and informative videos with tips and things you have to know when travelling to a certain destination. Watching these videos can also inspire you to choose your next destination. You can also find tons of general travel tips and ideas on Youtube.
Spotted by Locals is a great website with information directly from local people of the place you want to visit. The site offers insider tips for more than 70 cities from around the world.
Planning
Google Trips is a great planning app which puts together all your reservations such as hotel bookings and plane or bus tickets that are in your Gmail account. It also gives you tips and ideas of things to do for the destination you are travelling to. It is a great way to organise all your travel documents in one place.
Tripit is another online place where you can organise your travel plans in one place. In this case, you have to forward all your hotel, flight, car rental and restaurant confirmation emails to their email. TripIt than transforms your emails into a master itinerary which you can view anytime, on any device, even when you’re offline. There is also an app which allows you to share your travel plans and sync them to your calendar.
This is a site with tons of useful information about airports from around the world. It offers airport guides, reviews as well as layover sightseeing ideas and things to do while on a layover. There are also tips for sleeping in the airport overnight or while stuck in the airport during transit.
Work Abroad
This is the most popular Au pairing agency and it has the largest selection of Au pair opportunities. In case you don’t know: au pair means babysitting and doing easy household chores in exchange for a free stay for a certain amount of time. In your free time, you are able to explore the area and the country you are staying in. You don’t get paid for it though.
Another site where you can find au pair opportunities and work in exchange for free accommodation. This is an excellent way for cultural exchange and the opportunity to explore something new.
This is a website on which you can find numerous opportunities for work, volunteering and studying all around the globe.
A site which serves as a travel guide for paid work, volunteering, interning, study, language learning and living abroad.
Upwork is the world’s largest freelancing website where you will find freelance work opportunities. You just register and offer your work while being location independent.
Another web portal that brings companies and freelancers together. You can find freelance work here as well.
Volunteering
Volunteer World is the best resource for volunteer abroad programs and projects all around the world. If you want to travel while you also make a difference and help the world, definitely check out this website.
Another great website with numerous volunteer opportunities as well as chances to intern, teach English and work abroad. You will find things like helping the animals, teaching kids etc.
This site offers volunteer work in exchange for free accommodation and food on farms, backpacker hostels, lodges, horse stables and even sailing boats.
Workaway is similar to HelpX but on this site, you can also find some paid work opportunities.
A site which helps you find the best jobs teaching abroad. Whether you’re a certified teacher, ESL instructor or a college graduate.
Useful Apps
A must have app when you travel. As the name already tells this is a translator which translates words and phrases in more than 100 languages. A great and very helpful feature is the instant camera translation – you can take a picture of the text and the app will detect the language and translate it for you. You can also download the dictionary for most of the languages which allows you to use it even when you’re offline.
Here We Go is a great navigation app which lets you download the maps and later use them even when you’re offline.
It also offers information on other transport options such as subway and bus ticket prices, taxi fares as well as real-time traffic and transit info.
Maps.me is similar to Here WeGo. You can download maps for certain destinations where you are going to travel through and use them offline any time you need them.
A great app to organise your packing lists and never forget anything again! 🙂 The app generates your personalised packing list based on destination, planned activities, transport and other personal needs.
PackPoint is another great travel packing list organiser and packing planner. It creates a personalised packing list based on the length of your travel, weather at your destination and any activities you plan to do during your trip.
Travel Insurance
One of the best and easy to use travel insurance out there. They provide extensive coverage around the world and they are also recommended by Lonely Planet and National Geographic. Their customer service is great as well.
You should remember to never travel without TRAVEL INSURANCE!
I hope you find this huge list useful and that you will come back to it whenever you need some resources for travel planning.
Which of these websites is your favourite? Are there any you didn’t hear of before?
Let me know in the comments.
And help your fellow travellers by sharing this Ultimate list of BEST travel resources.
Happy travels!
