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41 Insanely Helpful Travel Planning Tools and Apps

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Traveling can be overwhelming. Whether it’s the planning process up front, figuring out the details when you’re actually in your destination, or even settling the finances after the fact. Luckily, there’s an app for that! Turns out the saying is true, and even when it comes to all the nitty gritty details of travel planning, there really is an app for everything. These are the best travel planning tools to help make the process easier and put the power of organization at your fingertips!

Best Apps for Finding Flights

1. skyscanner.

Airfare is usually the culprit for the most expensive part of a trip. Luckily, there are a number of useful travel apps that can help you find cheap flights.

SkyScanner is one of the absolute best free resources for this! On their app, select the “Explore” tab at the bottom, input your home airport, and set the destination to “Everywhere”. For the date of travel, you can select the Whole Month, Cheapest Month, or Anytime to get the most flexibility.

Now SkyScanner brings up all the destinations that are cheapest to travel to! Just like that.

If you select a Destination from the list, it will show you a rundown of the cheapest travel dates and costs.

Once you find a cheap flight, I do recommend booking directly through the airline or through your travel credit card portal. Sometimes SkyScanner will direct you to some shady websites for booking and they often have poor ratings. Avoid them if you can!

Recommended by me (Alanna) from this blog (Periodic Adventures)

Hopper is a great, free app if you know your travel destination and a ballpark of (or exact) dates. It watches flight prices for you then notifies you when the lowest prices come up. It can also predict when the lowest fare will arise.

You can set up notifications so you don’t miss the deal!

Hopper is also helpful because it shows a color-coded calendar that displays the best priced days in green with the highest priced days in red. This helps give you ranges of dates that are lower priced than others.

This helpful tool is great if you’re traveling on a budget .

Apps to Find Accommodation

3. booking.com.

The app from Booking.com is definitely one of the best and most useful apps for traveling. With it, you will find the best accommodations all over the world.

The great thing is, the app is completely free and on top of that, has a great Genius (loyalty) program. That pays off if you travel often! The more often you book accommodations, the better the discounts, and there are often free upgrades and sometimes a free breakfast is included in the room rates.

Under “bookings” you’ll find all your bookings summarized. Very handy if you are planning a round trip, for example, or want to check the past bookings.

In addition to the practical accommodation search, you can also find a search function for car rentals. There is also a booking program for taxis (eg pick up from the airport, or from the ferry) and you can now even book excursions and entrance tickets. In principle, you have almost everything you need to organize a trip in one app – it doesn’t get much more practical than that!

Recommended by PlacesofJuma

One of the best free apps that you should be using for all of your travel planning is Airbnb. Airbnb is a well-known and popular free app that provides travelers the opportunity to book unique accommodations around the world. The online platform connects people who want to list or rent their property for short-term use. 

How it works is you search the app by filtering your results with your desired dates and destination. From there, you can browse the selection of accommodations and select the one that is the best fit for you.

Airbnb is ideal for a group of people traveling together. Depending on the type of Airbnb, it typically can be cheaper than hotels, especially for a large group splitting the costs. It also is beneficial for longer stays since you usually have access to a kitchen and have more space than a hotel room. 

Another feature Airbnb offers is experiences. They provide memorable activities hosted by a local tour guide in the destination you are visiting, such as a street food tour in Sicily, Italy. On the tour, you explore the local markets and taste the delicious and authentic Sicilian cuisine as you discover the magical streets of Palermo.  

Airbnb has been a reliable and incredible resource for travel planning over the last ten years. It helps you plan an epic vacation by finding those hidden gem accommodations and booking a one-of-a-kind local experience.

Recommended by Alisha from  Travel Today Work Tomorrow 

5. HostelWorld

If you are looking to book the perfect hostel while travelling , then one app you should always have on your phone is Hostelworld . With this free app , you can find a huge selection of hostels all around the world, keep track of all hostels and countries you have stayed in, and there is even a function to chat to travelers staying at the same accommodation as you beforehand. 

Especially as a solo traveler, it is a great idea to book your hostels with Hostelworld, as you can find a lot of information about what to expect at the hostel. You can find out if there are social common areas, see which activities the hostel is offering, and filter hostels based on your preferences to find the best hostel for you. 

Hostelworld makes it very convenient to book your next hostel on the go and keep track of all your booking information in one place. Most hostels also offer free cancellation, so it is easy to cancel them as well if your travel plans change unexpectedly.

Recommended by Becky from Beckspore Travel

Maps Apps so You’re Never Lost

The app Maps.Me is free to use for iOS, Android and BlackBerry users and serves as a GPS navigation app that every traveler should have installed on their phone. It includes worldwide maps and is the perfect open-source alternative to Google Maps and Apple Maps. Once downloaded on your phone, there is no need for an internet connection, and you never have to worry about saving mobile data during your travels again. There is also the possibility to save your favorite locations within the app and to share them with other people.

Another amazing feature of Maps.Me is the great amount of predesigned travel guides you can find within the app. Whether you are traveling in the city or wanting to explore the outdoors, Maps.Me provides numerous travel guides for your specific destination and routes. To sum it up, the offline usage, appealing design, and user-friendliness make Maps.Me an absolute must-have on every trip.

Recommended by Carolin from  happywhenabroad

7. Google Maps

While it may seem basic, Google Maps is inarguably one of the most helpful (and free! ) travel planning apps. Most people think of Google Maps primarily as a GPS tool to navigate between destinations, but it’s so much more than that. You can search for and compare prices at gas stations or pick the coffee shop with the absolute best reviews on your route.

Given its integration with the public transit systems of countless cities around the globe, from Rome to Tokyo, you can effortlessly figure out how to get around, whether or not you have a car.

Another handy tool is the ability to save or “pin” destinations within the app, which can be super helpful whether you’re trying to save cool hikes around your hometown or plan out the best stops along a road trip to the Utah national parks . Plus, if you’re headed someplace with spotty cell service, there’s even a way to download maps so you can access them- and a ton of information, like businesses’ opening hours- while you’re offline.

Whether you’re headed to the streets of Bangkok or going on an epic road trip through the United States, Google Maps is every traveler’s best friend.

Recommended by Jessica from Uprooted Traveler

Apps to Stay on Top of Your Travel Budget

8. travelspend.

TravelSpend is the handiest and easiest app to use for recording all of your travel expenditure. All you have to do is plug in how much you spent in the local currency and the app does the rest by translating the expenditure into your home currency. The app also allows you to categorise your spending so you can keep track of what you’re spending your money on. 

However, the best feature is its ability to set an overall budget for a specific length of time. The app will then work out your average expenditure per day to prevent you from going over budget. 

Whilst the basic version of the app is free, a premium version is available for £15.99 for the year or £1.33 per month . This will allow you to edit multiple documents/trips and eliminate ads (amongst other benefits) which the free version does not. However, there are constantly offers of up to 50% so it’s definitely worth keeping an eye out for these deals. 

Overall, this app is an absolutely god-send and allows you to keep track of all your spending no matter where you are in the world.

Recommended by Alex and Leah from Alex and Leah on Tour

9. XE Currency Converter

One of the most useful and free apps that you’ll (almost) always use when you’re planning a trip is a currency converter. 

Because especially in the planning phase, you are not familiar with the new currency yet.

An accommodation of, let’s say 2.319.000 Vietnamese Dong per night, doesn’t mean anything yet.

Can you afford that? Is it expensive? Or is it really cheap?

Sure, you can look up the exchange rate yourself, and you’ll find that one US dollar equals 23,190 Vietnamese Dong (meaning that your accommodation will cost 100 US dollars a night). But it’s so much easier if an app just does the calculation for you.

One of the most popular converter Apps is XE Currency Converter. It not only converts the number you put in straight away, but it also shows the exchange rates of the past. And this is information which you can use as soon as you arrive at your destination. When there is a good exchange rate with your home currency, it might be time to hit the ATM again and withdraw a large bulk.

Recommended by Lara from The Best Travel Gifts

Wise (previously called Transferwise) is a free app available on iOS and Android. Through the Wise app you can access a multicurrency travel card that can be loaded with multiple currencies and used around the world.

The app is particularly good for travelers who are visiting several different countries on their trips as it avoids the need to get cash out in different currencies. You can add the Wise card to your digital wallet and use Apply Pay or equivalent to purchase things while travelling. This means you don’t need to carry an extra physical card or cash so it’s great for security. However, you can order a physical card if you prefer to have that option too.

You can load up the card via bank transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay or a range of other methods and the conversion rates at Wise are usually much lower than the rates at major banks or travel exchange companies. Wise is ideal for expats as you can use the app to transfer between bank accounts in different currencies for low fees.

Recommended by Kate from Kate Abroad

11. SplitWise

Planning a group trip can be incredibly difficult as is, so when it comes to splitting the cost, it can get confusing. But don’t worry, there is an app for that!

SplitWise makes splitting any bill incredibly easy! When I planned my family vacation to Disney World , I used it to figure out how much each family group owed and how much individuals owed.

To use the free app , you’ll need to add the people in your group and each expense. For each expense you can select who it was paid by and how you want to split the expense.

For this you can split equally between each person, split by exact amounts (if different people owe different amounts of the expense), split by percentages, split by shares (if you need to split by family or by night), and split by adjustment if certain people owe more than others.

Overall, this is such a useful app when you’re traveling in a group!

Useful Apps for Road Trips and Camping

12. roadtrippers.

If you are thinking about taking a road trip, one of the best travel planning apps you can invest in, is  Roadtrippers . Specifically designed to help you plan a road trip anywhere in the world, the Roadtrippers app will assist you with routes, accommodations, restaurants, attractions, gas, and so much more.

And whether you are creating your own road trip routes, or using one of the app’s pre-made trip guides, planning your adventure couldn’t be easier. You can even collaborate with other users to create joint itineraries when creating your trip!

And the advantages of using this app don’t end in the planning stages. While you are on the road, Roadtrippers will give you live traffic or road closure updates, estimate your arrival time, and suggest new routes if needed.

Unfortunately, the free version of this app no longer gives you enough waypoints to really create a decent road trip. The free version , however, will allow you to take the app for a ‘test drive’ and see if it’s the right fit for you.

If you decide to take the plunge, the $29.99 per year subscription fee for Roadtrippers Plus will give you full access to all the app’s great features. If you love road trips, then this app is definitely worth the small fee.

Recommended by Marianne from Pasta Pretzels and Passports

13. GasBuddy

GasBuddy is a free travel app used to find the cheapest gas prices in your area or along a travel route.

The app uses your location to find the closest gas stations and then displays the prices of each one. You can search for specific types of gas, such as regular, premium, or diesel. The app also has a feature that allows you to see the prices of gas stations nearby on a map, and you can even enter your destination and see prices along your route.

GasBuddy is an excellent tool for finding the cheapest gas prices, and it makes route planning convenient if you’re taking a road trip or traveling in an RV. You can even refer to the app for gas station reviews when selecting where to fill up.

In addition, GasBuddy offers its Pay with GasBuddy program. It’s also a good way to save on fuel costs because you can apply for a debit card that links to your checking account, which allows you to save up to 25 cents per gallon at participating gas stations.

The app is available for free on iOS and Android devices and is the perfect tool for saving money at the pump.

Recommended by Morgan from The Home That Roams

14. iOverlander

iOverlander is a must-have app for anyone taking a road trip or  driving abroad . It is an extensive, crowd-sourced database of places to stay and gas stations as well as border crossings on international itineraries. From wild-camping and unofficial car-camping spots to campgrounds and quality hotels, it offers more information than any other resource that tries to compete with it. 

The best part is that  iOverlander   is free to use . It does ask for donations though, so anyone who finds it helpful should consider giving even a small amount to help the site stay running. 

There is an iOverlander app. However, it is a bit limited. Most of the helpful information is on their website, which is pretty mobile-friendly. This can be cumbersome if you’re accessing it while driving. Instead, it’s best to do research on the site ahead of time or have a passenger do research while the driver focuses on the road.

Recommended by Brodi from Our Off Beat Life

15. Park4Night

Van lifers, campers, and road trippers: the next time you’re looking for a safe spot to catch some Z’s, consult Park4Night to find the best hidden gems. 

Pop open the map feature to browse the best overnight spots near you and check out its reviews (often featuring photos from past campers) to make sure the location fits your vibe. Filter your search by free or paid spots, parking lots or nature escapes, rest and picnic areas, campgrounds, accommodations, day-to-night parking, off-road spots, and whether or not you require services like water, power, toilets, etc. The app also allows you to organize the list by distance, creation date, locality, country, number of comments, and their rating. If you stumble upon a sweet spot, add it to the app for other users to enjoy too! 

If you’re venturing off-grid, consider upgrading to the paid option to unlock advanced features like their off-line mode, which allows you to download maps and use the app without an internet connection. You’ll also get a satellite map option, advanced search filters, no advertisements, and more.

Recommended by Eva from Wander in Raw

16. Campermate

The Campermate app should be at the top of your camping checklist   if you are visiting New Zealand and Australia and are taking a road trip, camping or campervanning.  It is completely free to download and is packed with useful features.

If you are camping or driving a motorhome, you can find freedom campsites (free), local campgrounds, dumpsites, showers, access to water etc. You can even find good campervan day parking and filter by the type of campsite you are looking for. It is extremely easy to use and the search by map feature is fast and simple.

Even if you are just taking a road trip, the app is super handy.  You can find public toilets, fuel stations, rubbish bins, playgrounds, EV charging stations and even road warnings.  

It also has a great community where you can review and comment on the locations, for example if a dump station is often full, or a campsite is noisy, providing great extra information to make your road trip decisions.

Written by Jennifer Parkes from Backyard Travel Family: Active Family Travel Specialists in New Zealand

Recommended by Jennifer Parkes from Backyard Travel Family

17. WikiCamps

Wikicamps is an essential travel planning app for campers or campervanners.  The app is available for different regions, each technically with its own paid app .

Separate Wikicamps apps can be found for the USA, Canada, UK, New Zealand, and Australia, with the cost ranging from $1.99-4.99 .

It is an invaluable tool when  campervanning New Zealand , or on a US road trip, for example. It can help you discover free places for boon docking safely or find a campsite with full facilities if you’re in desperate need for a shower! As it has the option to work offline, you can research on the go without having to worry about cell service.

In addition to helping you find both paid and free campsites, it’ll also help you discover places you can find water taps, points of interest, cell service, showers, dump sites and more. As the content is user-generated, it provides one of the largest databases of camp-related amenities and it is regularly updated. You can read real-person reviews on each site, helping you to plan your travels effectively and find plenty of hidden-gems along the way.

Recommended by Sophie and Adam from We Dream of Travel

18. Campendium

Campendium is a helpful app for RVers and tent campers alike. It is most commonly used for finding campsites (both free and paid) but there are a lot of extra helpful features in the app as well. There is both a free and paid version . 

The free version of Campendium allows you to search for campsites with filters for price, distance and reviews. It primarily shows public land, RV parks, parking lots that allow overnight parking, and dump stations. Each campsite shows the amenities provided, the cost, and has detailed reviews from other campers letting you know everything about the location…both the good and the bad. 

The paid version which is available with a Roadpass Pro account provides extra features like smoke map overlays, cell coverage overlays, cell service reports, hiking trails, and more. It c osts $49.00/year but does have a 7-day free trial. 

If you are looking for  amazing boondocking locations  or just need a helpful app to find the best campsites, Campendium is an excellent option. 

Recommended by Janae from Adventures with TuckNae

19. The Dyrt

This is a very helpful app for road tripping and hiking. “The Dyrt,” as it’s called, is a camping app with thousands of campgrounds in the United States for tents, RVs, trailers, glamping, and more.

One of the most handy features of this app is the map and filter of all nearby campgrounds, making it easy to find somewhere to stay in the area where you’re traveling. It also has lots of campground pictures and reviews from other travelers, as well as a bunch of info and details about each campground’s amenities like showers, picnic tables, trash disposal, cell phone reception, WiFi, and more.

The  Dyrt app is free , but there’s also a paid version for $35.99 per year . The main difference in the paid version is a trip planner and offline search, plus discounts at more than a thousand campgrounds across the United States. If you’re not sure about the paid version, they also offer a 7 day free trial so you can check it out before buying!

Recommended by David & Intan at  The World Travel Guy

Apps for the Outdoors

20. alltrails.

AllTrails is a hiking app that has various features that help you get the most out of your outdoor adventures! The app helps you discover new hiking trails, find information about trails, read reviews of trails, track your outdoor activities, and stay safe while in the outdoors. 

The best part about AllTrails is that it’s community based. Through the app you’re able to connect with other outdoor enthusiasts and share your experiences. This is a fantastic feature because it means you can access real-time information. For example, reading through the recent reviews will provide you feedback about the trail as well as helpful info about its current conditions. 

Another great feature of AllTrails is how easy the app makes it to find trails that are near you. When traveling, the app will show you trails that are close to your location, so you’re able to discover trails that you otherwise may not have known about. 

The free version of AllTrails is totally sufficient for most people. The paid version, AllTrails Pro, costs $29.99 per year . It’s ideal for people who spend time outdoors regularly, especially in regions that are remote, because AllTrails Pro provides many offline features.

Recommended by Erin from Pina Travels

Related read → How to plan foolproof hiking itineraries

21. Recreation.gov

Do you love spending time outdoors and taking trips in nature? If so, you’ll definitely want to check out the recreation.gov app to help you plan adventures on federally managed land in the U.S! This app is great for finding information about national parks, national forests, lakes, rivers, and other federally managed recreational areas. It’s really easy to use and can help you plan your next outdoor adventure.

You can use the recreation.gov app to find  camping in National Parks . You can also apply for permits and lotteries or buy tickets for tours. This handy app makes trip planning a breeze – you can book campsites, apply for backcountry permits, and more in no time.

So, if you love recreating on federal lands in the U.S., this app will help you plan fantastic outdoor adventures.

Plus, the app is totally free to download and easy to use. Get started planning your next adventure today— download the recreation.gov app!

Recommended by Ashlee from The Happiness Function

22. National Park Service

If you love exploring the  US National Parks , you absolutely need to download the NPS app! With this app you’ll have access to information about all the National Parks, National Monuments, and National Historic sites! There are more than 400 sites on the app, and it’s all completely FREE !  Its free to download the app, and there are no in-app purchases either! 

You can use the app in three different ways.  The first way is if you know where you want to go already.  Just type in the name of the Park, and all of the information will pop up. From this screen, you can see what the hours are, the fees and any important notifications like closures or permits. You can also see what there is to do at that park, such as hikes, or drives, and what services are offered there.  

The other way to use the app, is if you are exploring somewhere new, and just want to see if there are any sites nearby that may interest you.  You can open the app, turn on your location and ask the app to find parks near you.  This is a fun way to find National Park Hidden Gems when you are traveling! 

The final way to use the NPS app is to use it to learn more about the parks, plan trips and keep track of which parks you have visited. There are areas to add personal lists, like favorites, or places you want to visit. You can also watch webcams from different parks to help you learn more about them.  

The best feature of the app, and what makes it a must have, is the ability to download information.  Most often, while in a National Park, you will not have good cell service or wifi.  The NPS app lets you download all of the information you’ll need so you have access to it even when you don’t have service.  You will be able to locate hiking trails, services, visitors centers, and maps even when you don’t have service.  This is so much easier than taking screen shots of different things you need, and then trying to find them all later! 

Recommended by Chantelle from Flannels or Flip Flops

The Komoot maps, outdoor navigation, GPS tracking and trail & route guide helps you discover off the beaten path destinations and prevents you from potentially dangerous mistakes when traveling in Nature.

Komoot is a freemium model and you’ll get 1 free region to download to your phone so you can navigate even without mobile service.  With mobile service you can use all regions.

The user interface is phenomenal and you can also publish your routes to its social network to stay up to date with your friends’ adventures. 

It includes routes for hiking, bike touring, mountain biking, road cycling and running.  

If you want to download more regions they are $3.99 each or $29.99 for the entire world .  If you want full access to plan multi day bike or hiking trips, it costs $59.99 per year and it will also include the maps of the entire world. 

Recommended by Morgan Fielder from Crave the Planet

24. Tide Times

Going on a coastal journey of any sort, understanding your tide times is an absolute must! Many beaches can be impassable at high tide, or natural phenomena you’ve driven out of your way to see only possible to view when its low tide or vice versa. Whether you’re camping and on foot, making road-tripping stops, or seeking out the day’s biggest swell, My Tide Times is a simple but invaluable daily planning app for travelers.

The great part is, My Tide Times App is free and easy to use . With location services on it will automatically display the tide times at your nearest coastal location, or you can search over 30 countries using 9000 weather stations.

The app allows you complete control whether you use feet or meters, kilometers or miles, and 12 or 24-hour clock, as well as the ability to change the underlying map and contrast if you’re hard of sight.

Tide Times is great not just for the current day’s information but up to 2 months in advance if you’re a true planner! You additional get sunrise and sunset times along with moon information and swells to completely capture the most important points of every day while you travel.

Recommended by Family Road Trip

25. My Aurora Forecasts and Alerts

If you are planning to visit Norway or  Iceland during winter  to see some of the best Northern Lights, make sure to download this app. My Aurora Forecast & Alerts is perfect not only for professional Aurora watchers but also for those who would love to see this natural phenomenon for the first time.

This free app is simple to use and will notify you when there is a huge chance of seeing the Northern Lights in your current location. You can also check the long-term forecast to see which days are the best to watch the sky at night. 

In the My Aurora Forecast & Alerts app, you will see a few diagrams showing cloud coverage, solar wind, density, etc. It also shows the best Northern Light locations in real-time, so if you are planning a spontaneous trip to see Aurora Borealis, look no further than My Aurora Forecast & Alerts.

Recommended by Paulina from ukeveryday

Reliable Transportation Apps

26. citymapper.

When traveling to a new city, navigating the public transportation system can be daunting. However, there are now many apps that can help make transportation planning easier. One of the most popular is Citymapper.

Citymapper is a popular transportation planning app that is available for cities around the world. It provides information on public transportation options, including bus, train, and subway routes and schedules. Citymapper also offers walking directions to help users get to their destinations.

If you’re planning a trip to a new or unfamiliar city, consider downloading Citymapper. The app is free to download and use , and it is available for iOS and Android devices.

To use the app, simply enter your destination and the app will show you the best routes to take, with a recommended route. You can also view information on transit times such as when the bus or train will arrive, how much it’ll cost, and how long it’ll take you to get to your destination.

One con to the Citymapper app is that it’s only set up for medium to large cities mostly in Europe and the United States. So before you go, double-check that Citymapper has the information for your destination city for easy traveling and creating memorable experiences .

Recommended by Pafoua from Her Wanderful World

27. Ridesharing apps around the world

An essential part of travelling is getting around the place you are visiting.  For some destinations public transport or walking is suitable, but there’s no doubt you’ll find a time when you need to book a taxi or private driver.

In some destinations you can simply wave down a taxi, but in many places taxis can be less frequent, not to mention dishonest. Ridesharing apps remove the stress of negotiating and finding a driver by handling the entire process on your phone.

Ridesharing apps vary in prices and uptake all around the world.  Regions like Southeast Asia will be a lot cheaper with rides costing as low as $1 in places like Cambodia.

The global market leader in ridesharing apps is of course Uber .  Having this app installed on your phone is a must regardless of where you’re heading as it’s the most widely used app.  This should be the first app you check wherever you are.

Lyft is the main competitor to Uber and works in pretty much the same way, however, coverage is limited to only North America.

Grab is the market-leader in Southeast Asia and is a great alternative to Uber.  Being tailored to this region means you can also order food, scooter rides / rentals and hire a driver by the hour within the app. This makes getting to  activities in Singapore , Vietnam or Indonesia incredibly simple with Grab.

Gojek is Grab’s largest competitor in Southeast Asia and offers comparable services – it’s worth having both installed if you’re in this region.

Finally, Bolt is a major player in the ridesharing space throughout Africa and Europe .

Recommended by Delilah from Our Travel Mix

28. Rome2Rio

Rome2Rio is an essential travel planning app for helping you determine the best way to get from point A to point B for your schedule and budget.   It’s a huge time saver when doing travel planning.  Plus, it’s free !

Let’s say that you want to travel from London to  Paris .  You just enter your origin and destination cities and your desired travel date into the app.  Then Rome2Rio works its magic and provides you with a comprehensive list of all of your transit options. 

In this example, Rome2Rio came up with eleven different ways to get to Paris—everything from trains, to flights, to rideshare, to driving and using the car ferry.  The app lists the travel time and cost ranges for each option.  It also flags a recommended option (in this case, the train) and the cheapest option (in this case, the bus).

Once you’ve selected your preferred method of transit, drill down to learn more details (for example, to view the train schedules).  Continue to drill down and you will be transferred through to a sister site (Omio, Expedia, blablacar), where you can purchase your tickets.

Recommended by Lisa Garrett of Waves and Cobblestones

Related read >> 4 day Paris itinerary

29. Wanderu

Wanderu  is the easiest one-stop shop to find, compare, and book cheap bus or train tickets anywhere in the US and Europe. It’s the perfect, free app for planning cheap transportation between cities in advance, but also comes in handy when plans change unexpectedly. Instead of paying an arm and a leg for a last-minute flight, you can purchase a bus or plane ticket for a fraction of the price.

All the big names in ground travel, including Greyhound, Amtrak, MegaBus, VIA Rail Canada, and so many more partner with Wanderu to help make buying tickets simple. With so many different carriers, you’ll find that most routes have a variety of different schedules, amenities, and, most importantly, prices. When you book through Wanderu, you’ll get your ticket via the carrier’s website with the best possible price and no additional fees. 

Wanderu can also help find car rentals and cheap hotel rooms once you’ve got your trip.

All in all, Wanderu is the best app for last-minute adventures or planning your next trip on a budget. 

Recommended by Rachel from Bucket List Places

Essential Communication Tools for Traveling

Yolla is an app that I accidentally stumbled upon when I was frustrated in a foreign country and I have used it many times since then. It’s an app that helps you call a local number to any country for a lot more affordable price than using roaming services or calling from your local sim card in your current location.

It saved me so much money when I had to call my bank when my bank card was blocked in France. I was able to call airlines to fix my travel booking during the height of the pandemic.

After installing the free app , you can add credits using your bank cards or PayPal. Depending on the payment method, you can top up from $5, $10, and up without other extra fees and it doesn’t expire. Once it’s ready, simply type in the number you are calling including the country code. You have to be connected to the internet to use the app.

Recommended by Elizabeth of Three Week Traveller

31. Polar Steps

Family and friends, you gotta love ’em. And you do! But when travelling away from your loved ones it can be overwhelming attempting to keep everyone updated on your adventures. You want to share the fun things you’re doing and the magical places you are going, but when do you have the time? You are focusing on your adventure!

Enter Polar Steps, the best free travelling app for keeping the important people in your life apprised of your adventures, without having to inform them one by one!

Sure, social media can do the same, but not everyone’s grandmother or best friend is online anymore. By sharing your unique link, your friends can view the travels and photos you post in the app without being required to sign in to the app, have a Facebook account, or wade through any other information paywalls.

It also has a range of privacy settings, so you can limit who can see your link and whether they can see your future plans or just where you’ve visited so far. You are in full control of the information you share!

The added trip planning features and local guide info make Polar Steps one of the best travelling apps to take with you, wherever you go.

Recommended by Shev from Shev Strolls

32. Google Translate

One of the best travel apps is Google Translate. It’s extremely helpful when traveling to a country where you don’t speak the native language. Google Translate covers more than 50 languages, which is great for international travel.

Google Translate is a free app and you should definitely download it prior to leaving on your trip. When traveling internationally to a place where you don’t speak the language, learning a few key phrases are helpful. For everything else, there’s Google Translate.

The app can help you communicate directly from person to person by listening and translating via voice. You can also take photos in the app and it automatically downloads to your preferred language. This is helpful for street signs, menus and more!

Whether you’re enjoying the  best beaches in Manuel Antonio , Costa Rica, exploring the famous shrines in Kyoto, Japan or marveling at the incredible coast in Cinque Terre, Italy, you’ll want Google Translate on your phone!

Recommended by Nikki from She Saves She Travels

33. WhatsApp

WhatsApp is the go to communication app for millions around the world. What sets it apart is that it sends texts and makes calls solely through WiFi. This means you don’t need to worry about SIM cards or an international data plan when communicating between countries.

Another perk of WhatsApp is that it is fully encrypted so not even the app itself can see your messages. You can send your location securely through the chat as well as photos, videos, and voice messages.

The best part is that WhatsApp is completely free !

This app was essential for my Birthright group trip to Israel and I’ve used it to communicate with my family who were traveling in India and Thailand at the same time!

Other Helpful Travel Tools and Apps to Add to Your Arsenal

34. find me gluten free.

For some this may not be the most popular or important travel planning app you’ll read about in this list, but for those travelers with food sensitivities, it definitely is. The most critical and important part of travel planning for those with food sensitivities like celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity is, w here can we eat?

While some destinations clearly cater to food allergies and sensitivites (like   Topolino’s Character Breakfast at the Riviera Resort in Walt Disney World), it can be hard to know which places will be food allergy friendly. The Find Me Gluten Free app helps take the guesswork out of choosing celiac friendly restaurant locations.

They have both a free and a paid (premium) version . The premium subscription is $19.99 USD per year which allows for no ads, specialty filters, and more. The great thing about this app is that it’s mainly being used by a community of other celiac or gluten sensitive people. With this the reviews have more value and tackle pertinent questions. So, be sure to download this app. 

Recommended by Dr. Rachel from TheRxForTravel.com

35. Day One

Day One is an easy-to-use journal app. First created in 2011, this iOS app is also available for Android phone users on Google Play. Day One is a free app with a subscription for additional features called Day One Premium ($34.99/yr) . You can use it with iPhones (free version) and sync with iPads, Macs and Apple Watches (premium version). 

The best things about this app are its simplicity and versatility. You can write a long journal each day or simply take a photo with a short, descriptive sentence. 

The premium version bumps it up a notch. You can use the automatic location and weather logging, create multiple journals, incorporate video clips, add sounds, and use tags to categorize journal entries creating a powerful search tool. 

Day One Premium also provides unlimited encrypted storage to ensure all data and entries are kept private and secure. You can save or export your journal in a PDF file or order a printed book of all your journal entries (for an extra fee).

Start writing and add a photo from your camera roll. It’s as simple as that. You can easily revisit the journey via timeline, media grid, or calendar view.

Recommended by Megan from Time.Travel.Trek.

36. Get Your Guide

Get your Guide  is a fabulous traveling app that allows you to book day trips and excursions online. This means no more visiting an agent and negotiating the price and terms. You also don’t have to wait till you reach your destination, you can plan and pre-book before your trip.

Get your Guide is particularly helpful with  destinations in Europe  and North America, but also covers other popular tourist places around the globe. Apart from excursions, you can also book specialized guided tours by locals (e.g. food tours), airport transfers, admission tickets to attractions, and hop-on hop-off bus tickets. From browsing to booking, the whole user experience of the app is fluid and effortless.

Similar to TripAdvisor, in Get Your Guide you can see ratings and reviews for the tours, so even if you don’t book with the app, you will still get helpful insights to help you plan.

The app is available for free in the play store and the apple app store, you only have to pay for booking the tours.

Recommended by Vidyut from Triplyzer

37. TripCase

TripCase is a fantastic free app that is intended to take the pressure off organizing your next trip! This app is available on both iOS and Android and it helps organize all your travel details into one location.

Forget searching through your email account for your hotel confirmation or looking up your flight status on Google, TripCase manages all these details for you.

With TripCase, as soon as you book your flights, hotels or transportation, you can forward the confirmation email to [email protected] from the email linked to your account. The intelligent app then pulls your travel details into your account and consolidates these bookings into their corresponding trips.

In TripCase you can review your trip’s upcoming itinerary and easily ensure accommodation and transportation are booked for each leg of your trip by reviewing the ‘timeline view’ which provides a high-level overview of which activities or transportation you have booked on which date.

One of the best features is the flight status updates. The app will track your upcoming flight, letting you know which terminal and gate the departure is from and will send out notifications if there is a change to your flight.

This app is so handy in organizing all the small details of your upcoming trip that it is a must-have for all travel lovers!

Recommended by Roxanne from Wild About BC

38. PackPoint

Figuring out what to pack for your destination is always a challenge but packing just got a lot easier with PackPoint. PackPoint is a free mobile travel planning app for iPhones and Androids. 

The simple interface makes it user-friendly to create a custom packing list based on a multitude of factors, including the weather forecast of your destination, trip length, activities you’ll be doing, and even whether or not you will be doing laundry.

What makes PackPoint so helpful is the detail in which it can generate your custom packing list. Once you tap Begin Packing, you’ll have a complete packing list that takes into account all the variables you’ve inputted about your trip!

You can continue to customize the list by adding your own items or deleting suggestions provided by the app that don’t fit your personal needs, helping you maximize space in your suitcase . And you can stay organized by checking each item off within the app as you pack! 

To customize your trip even more and have access to integrations with the apps Tripit and Evernote, you can pay $2.99 for PackPoint Premium .

Recommended by Michela from She Goes the Distance

A helpful app that most travelers probably overlook is a period tracker app. While ‘time of the month’ apps tend to be used by those looking to track their ovulation calendar to help aid pregnancy, these apps can also be used by people who want to know when their period is due, so they can plan accordingly.

Women’s health apps, such as Flo, provide various options to track menstruation, predict cycles, and record symptoms. This allows you to get to know your body a little bit better.

Knowing when to expect symptoms such as cramps and tenderness can help you plan comfortable trips. In addition, some travelers may prefer to avoid certain activities while on their period, so they will find the predictions helpful.

For example, if you use a menstrual cup and are working out the best time to do a multi-day  East Coast road trip  in an RV with no running water, you might consider the road trip outside of your period window. 

Flo, and other health apps, are available on IOS and Android and tend to have a free tier with adverts and a premium option to remove ads. Flo has a 1-month subscription for $9.99, 3-month subscription for $19.99, 6-month subscription for $39.99, 1-year subscription for $49.99. 

Recommended by Amanda from Hey! East Coast USA

40. Wanderlog

The Wanderlog app is a fantastic app that allows you to cut down on the various travel apps you’re currently using by being a conclusive app. It manages your itinerary, lodging, flight overview, and route management to ensure you’re saving time on transportation.

This app is also great because you can see top-tier guides and itineraries related to the place you’re visiting; this is essential to make sure you’re not missing out on any crucial and unique excursions.

Another noteworthy helpful point is this app recommends places to explore, optimal routes, and highly rated restaurants of various styles.

Wanderlog is a free app that can be used for most of the planning portion. However, you’ll be missing out on valuable features such as using the app while offline, real-time flight deal notifications, optimization of travel routes, and importing of lodging, flights, and rentals via your Gmail. Access to these premium features will cost $49.99 annually and is well worth the price due to the well-rounded features that allow you to eliminate using multiple sources. All in all, this travel app is a must-have for planning your next trip. 

P.S. Make sure to tag a friend in your planning as it allows tripmates to be added.

Recommended by Sierra and Yesenia from The Sisters Who Voyage

41. Theme park apps

If you’re planning to visit a theme park during your travels you should absolutely add the park’s app to your phone before your trip.

For example, the Walt Disney World app allows you to manage your group’s plans, reserve Genie+, schedule dining reservations, and more!

You can even download the Play Disney Parks app to have interactive experiences around Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge (Batuu).

Another great perk of these apps is ride wait time monitoring.

When I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando , I found it very helpful to set wait time notification so if the wait time for specific rides dropped below a certain time, the app would let me know. No more waiting in long lines, when the wait time will be shorter later!

Looking for more planning resources?

• How to plan a trip with a step-by-step walkthrough
• Tips for finding the best things to do on your vacation
• Useful tips for traveling cheap
• Ideas for how to travel as a college student
• How to plan out your vacation budget using Microsoft Excel
• Walkthrough on how to plan a local trip

Save to Pinterest

My Travel Essentials

• Travel Insurance  – Going on an international trip? Don’t forget travel and medical insurance with SafetyWing .
• Travel Card  – If you’re new to travel hacking, fear not! My favorite card for beginners gives you $750 in rewards when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months, plus lounge access, 10x points on hotel bookings, and free TSA pre-check!
• Get Your Guide  – Check out Get Your Guide for a one-stop-shop for booking travel activities.
• Booking.com  – This is my favorite hotel search aggregator, specifically for reading reviews. On Booking.com , the reviews can be searched for keywords like WiFi, breakfast, pool, amenities, etc.! So helpful!
• Anti-pickpocket bag – Worried about having your valuables swiped? PacSafe makes the best travel bags with zippers and straps that lock and with mesh steel enforced fabric.
• Give the Gift of Travel  – This is the perfect gift for travelers in your life! Tinggly allows you to gift experiences around the world, perfect for birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries.
• Staycation Idea  – Check out Resort Pass , which gives you day passes to resorts so you can use their pool, spa, and fitness center, a great staycation idea!

previous post

Alanna Koritzke

Recent PhD graduate and hyper-planner of Periodic Adventures, my goal is to share travel inspiration, budget tips, detailed guides, and fun travel stories!

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I definitely need to check out some of these apps. Do you also have a find Veggie/Vegan restaurants app?

I’ve heard good things about HappyCow for finding vegan spots, but it does cost $3.99 to download. Probably worth it though!

Fabulous post! I’m familiar with many of them and was delighted to find some new ones I didn’t know about before.

I’m glad to hear that Heather!

Such a helpfull post, thank you for sharing it. I know some of these apps, but I found out that there are some other apps I have to download!

I’m glad to hear that! happy to help!

what a great list! Would also recommend ATM Fee Saver – it helps find fee free and lower fee ATms abroad along with withdrawal limits for foreign card holders, use it quite a bit, helps in saving up on those costs! Worth adding to your list!

Ooh yes, great addition! That’s certainly helpful!

Caroline Smith

Your blog is not just a guide; it’s a travel companion. The practical tips and advice make it clear you’ve been there and done that. I appreciate the insider insights that will undoubtedly enhance my travel experience.

I’m so glad to hear that!

These are great examples! I would also like to introduce https://holiwise.com/ which helps you find travel destinations based on your preferences, finding the next adventure has never been easier 🙂

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35 BEST TRAVEL PLANNING TOOLS AND APPS

Travel planning tools and apps are critical for a great trip. Knowing how to plan a trip will help you pull it off seamlessly.

First, put yourself in a “plan to travel mindset.” Next, research the best travel planning tools you can find to help you plan a trip that will be truly memorable.

From logging on to Google Maps to get directions anywhere to using booking.com for hotel bookings and rental cars to knowing where to go for cheap flights. It pays to have the best apps and travel tools to ensure your best trip.

Here are some of the best travel planning tools and apps we’ve identified, contributed by frequent travelers to help you with your travel plans for your next trip. Most are available in the App store.

Best Travel Planning Tools and Apps

Table of Contents

Plan your foreign currency needs

One of my favorite travel planning tools is XE Currency .  With this app, you plug in an amount in whatever currency you want converted, then select the currency you want to convert to and voila! It’s the best way to organize your foreign currency.

Say you think you’ll need abut US$100 every day while you’re in Spain. Insert US$100 into XE and select Euros. This is a great tool for verifying the amount of money you need from an ATM abroad, converting restaurant bills, and so much more. 

It helps you keep a grasp on your spending while you travel.  Quotes are live and, it converts all currencies and, being an app, its ready when you are.

XE Currency Converter also has a handy tool to assist you in keeping tract of your business expenses. Just fill it out as you go along and print out/ submit when you’re done.  It’s like having a private assistant. One of the best travel planning tools.

This travel planning tool will save you money and time and give you peace of mind. It’s one of the most useful tools I use regularly to plan travel.

Talek blogs at Travels with Talek   

Quickly identify best camping sites

Simply download the app, and search the area you want to camp. You select an area of the country (big or small!), national park or not, set your filters, and browse the campsites.

There’s something for every type of outdoorsy traveler: glamping, KOAs, national parks, and even dispersed camping in national forests.

The filters are great for finding spots to fit your preferences, as you can search by price (I often use it to find free camping), rating, hike-in vs car camping, and much more. 

The Dyrt is so fun and addicting to play around with, I’ve planned dozens of dream camping trips with it. A cool feature is the downloadable topo map option.

This allows you to find and plan travel to your campsite in those off-the-beaten-path areas where you might not have cell service.  One of the best travel planning tools for the outdoor lover.

Kaisa blogs at Glam Granola Travel

Save your itinerary and tips to Google Sheets

Easy and free to use, Google Sheets, is the Google equivalent of Excel.

When planning a trip, we tend to use many sources to gather information, which can sometimes mean anything we’ve found has the possibility of being lost or forgotten about.

So inputting all of the information discovered into one sheet makes it simple to access and plan your travel itineraries.

If you’re going on the trip with others, you can also share the sheet and work on it together to help plan the trip of a lifetime!

Creating new sheets for every adventure I go on, I use the same layout each time, and it’s simple to create a new one for every trip you go on. I tend to split the sheet into three tabs; itinerary, things to do/see and sources.

Available as an app, it’s helpful on the go as you’re able to access the sheet wherever you are in the world, even if you have no WiFi.

If you couldn’t fit something into one of the days, for example, you can move your itinerary round, to ensure you’ve seen everything you wanted on your trip! How’s that for cool travel planning tools?

Kim blogs at The Adventure to Me

Shoot for cheaper airline tickets

The cost of your flight is pretty much guaranteed to be one of the most expensive parts of any trip abroad.

Having the free app Hopper up my sleeve has been a life-saver every time I’ve been planning a trip to South America , the region that I cover as a guidebook author and blogger.

Hopper works like a charm. It’s one of my favorite travel planning tools. All you need to do is plug in the dates you intend to fly (or you can set up a few different options if they’re yet to be fixed) and it’ll tell you when it predicts flight tickets will be at their cheapest.

It does this by looking through years of historical flight pricing data and using this to determine whether buying now, three months in advance or even just three weeks out is likely to be the kindest to your pocket and score you the cheapest flight.

Sure, it can be a little bit of a gamble as it’s using historic data, not a crystal ball.

However, it has personally helped me score extraordinarily cheap flights to Easter Island, as well as some pretty sweet deals between the UK and Colombia, so it’s one of the travel planning tools that I now use on each and every trip. It’s a great travel planning app.

Steph blogs at Worldly Adventurer.com

Map your city

One of the best travel planning tools for detailing a city break is the Citymapper App.

I use it almost every day for getting around my home town of London, but it’s equally useful for finding the easiest, quickest, cheapest or fastest way around in any one of 41 cities around the world, including Paris, Berlin, Rome, Istanbul, Vancouver, Tokyo, Sydney, Mexico City and Singapore and other popular destinations.

The app is so brilliant because it merges information on every available type of transport in that city.

Not sure if it’s quicker to get the bus, train, taxi or walk? Citymapper will give you every alternative and show you all possible routes so you can decide.

It tells you how much each type of transport costs and includes helpful hacks, like which exit to take from the station or where to stand on the platform.

It’s also connected into real-time travel updates so it will tell you how long you have to wait for the next bus or if your service is disrupted.

The best part is that you don’t have to BE in that city to use it. Just click the settings button and you can easily switch cities, allowing you to plan your trip in precise detail before you even get on the plane.

Bella blogs at Passportandpixels

Staying loyal to a specific booking app pays off

For example, Hotels.com, a booking platform (which also comes with an app) where you can find accommodations all over the world offers a program that allows its customers to get a free night after 10 stays.

What’s great is that the value of your free night is based on the average price of 10 properties where you stayed, so if you stay at more expensive accommodations, your free night will cover the price of mid-range-to-expensive accommodation.

Likewise, if you stay at less expensive hotels, the value of your free night will be lower, and you might have to pay the difference if you want to use your free night for a stay at a more expensive property.

In addition, users also collect points which can boost their status over time and provide better prices on many accommodations. The app tells you about your status based on your bookings and overall history.

You should especially follow this advice if you are doing a road trip along the West Coast USA and need to watch your travel expenses.

However, it’s not just Hotels.com that rewards loyal customers. Many other platforms such as Booking.com offer free nights and perks for those users who stay with them for a while.

Daria blogs at The Discovery Nut

Use an itinerary planning app

GPSmyCity is an app that features self-guided city walks in 1,000+ cities worldwide – from Voodoo tours in New Orleans to the  best things to do in Moscow . Of course, this essential tool also provides travel inspiration.

The app includes detailed tour route maps and powerful navigation features, to guide you from one sight to the next. You can follow GPSmyCity’s expert guides or take their suggestions and create your own custom walking tours.

It’s a great way to plan and explore all of the best tourist attractions on your own and at your own pace. Another awesome thing about this app…you have the option to “upgrade” any walking tour and download it, so it will work offline.

No internet connection, no cellular data, no problem! (It costs $1.99 per tour to upgrade, or you can get a yearly subscription for $12.99 for unlimited upgrades.) This way you can access offline maps and offers a user-friendly interface.

I, personally, love this because any time we are on a trip and trying to navigate…finding a data connection can be tricky. Plus, having GPS running in the background drains your battery life, big time.

But these are problems you won’t have to worry about with GPSmyCity!

Lindsey blogs at Have Clothes Will Travel

Compare flight prices with search engines

One of the most important things about traveling is finding the best flights possible.

The definition of a “good” flight really depends on your travel preferences. Some people want long layovers to skip out of the airport and do some quick explorations of the city.

While others just want to get there as fast as possible. But something we can all agree on is we want cheap flights!

The best way to do this is with online flight search programs like the popular Skyscanner ( https://www.skyscanner.nl/ ) and the less known flight finder from the popular Youtube channel Yestheory ( https://travel.yestheory.com/flights/ ).

By using both these websites you are able to find the absolute best and cheapest flights for your dates and destinations.

One great feature includes making multi-route plans like flying Amsterdam, to Singapore to Bali to Amsterdam.

Plus, you can see the prices per month and use this to find the absolute best time to fly.

Be sure to use these websites for planning your your leisure or business trip and enjoy great flights that make people look at you in shock when you state how much they were!

Samantha blogs at Samseesworld 

Score free resources

The free version of Touring Plans is great to use to plan out your family’s  Magic Kingdom  itinerary  as it is customizable to your needs. You can input things like the rides and attractions you’d like to visit and your desired break times.

It will also make suggestions about the best way to minimize wait times when it comes to the rides. The best thing about it though is that you can get an updated plan if you make changes to it throughout the day.

Websites and apps like these are very helpful, especially those with free versions, and should be used to make your trip planning easier – especially those travelling with young families.

Plan your train journeys

The Man in Seat 61 ( www.seat61.com ) offers a comprehensive guide on train travel around Europe and other continents and is an excellent travel planning tool.

The website was created by an independent traveler who shares information, his experience, as well as gives advice on best train routes all around the world.

If you plan on having a trip with a train anywhere, this is your best option for go-to travel resource, hands down.

You can find various information about timetables, prices, train station and the best train options for you depending on the country you plan on going to.

It goes as far as providing photos of different train cabins or even vending machines for train tickets at particular stations.

Also, you can get detailed instructions on how to book train tickets and where to find official vendors.

It is so detailed that yo most likely won’t even need to check any other resource page for the information you’re looking at.

Organize a hassle free-by-day itinerary

My all-time favorite app to use while traveling is Sygic Travel.

It’s completely free to use, and I actually stumbled upon it while trying to plan out my last-minute itinerary while I was visiting Vienna last spring! What’s so great about Sygic

Travel is that it will literally plan your whole day of travel for you. So, all you have to do is have a set plan of everything you want to do and see, and the app will do the rest!

An account is absolutely free to make. Once you make an account, you tell the app everything you want to do, and then you will get an itinerary that will reorganize your day in a way so you spend the least amount of time on transportation.

In addition, the app will give you directions from place to place, and you can let the app know whether you’d like to walk, use public transportation, or drive. It has saved my butt when I’ve been on a time crunch many times, and I can’t recommend it enough!

Use a guidebook as a journal

As much as I love technology to help with some travel planning tasks, I’m also old school. I LOVE travel books from Lonely Planet.

They are always my first stop when I’m planning a trip. They do have a decent website, however, I prefer the physicals guide books as these become working documents.

I start on their itineraries page, and them write notes and draw stars on other places I want to add into my own itinerary.

Throughout the book I highlight anything I think is really important as well as cover the pages with other helpful information I have found on notes.

Sometimes I will get a tip-off from a local or another traveler and rather than just write it on my phone, I find it much easier to write it on the margins of the location or note it on the map.

Another advantage is that the book doubles as a travel journal and travel guide. You always know what you did on what date. Here’s a tip. Put tickets in the relevant pages.

My shelves are full of old Lonely Planet guidebooks which also serve as a great mementos of my trips.

Becki blogs at Meet me in Departures

Plan around your travel highlights

Planning a trip is fun, but sometimes it can be stressful as well. What do I need to pack? What area should I stay? What are the main attractions I have to see in this city?

One of the best travel planning tools that has helped me seamlessly plan my trips is an app called Visit A City . The best part about the app is that it’s completely free to use. Visit A City features over 7000 detonations.

Just type in the destination you’re going to and you’ll be given an option of popular attractions in the city, day tours and trips you can take from that destination, things to do in that city, walking and biking tours, and customized itineraries.

My favorite feature about this app is that you can tell it how many days you plan on being in that city and it will create a custom suggested itinerary of the things to do and see for you.

You can even create your own itinerary based on their suggestions on the app as well.

All in all, Visit A City app helps you create a personal travel guide that’s packed with valuable information right on your phone.

Disha blags at Disha Discovers

Get from point A to point B many different ways

One of the most useful travel planning apps I have come across is Rome2Rio .

The app lets you find routes to some of the most remote places.

The app has additional local bus, train and ferry route details that even google maps doesn’t know about. With direct links to timetables of local transports, the app really lets you plan for the off-the-beaten path hidden gems.

Say you want to go from Havana to Hanoi, New York City to New Delhi or anywhere else. 

This cool little app will not only show you all the transportation options and alternative routes, it’ll tell you the itineraries, the cost and even the seasonality!  Just plug in the trip origin and destination and see all the different ways to get there.

Many times I’ve saved tons of cash by finding an alternative airport to fly into then taking local transportation to my final destination. 

Or, I found that I can get somewhere by a different option like a ferry making the trip that much more fun. I’ve even use the app to help me identify a brand new destination to visit that I would not have thought of before.

How cool is that!? This is definitely one of my favorite travel planning apps.

Merryl blogs at Merryl’s Travels and Tricks

Planning your trip ahead of time can make all the difference between a hectic, stressful trip and a relaxing, fun-filled vacation. That’s where mobile travel apps come in.

We asked our fellow travel bloggers what their recommendations for the best travel apps for Europe, Asia, and the Americas are. Here’s what they had to say.

The Best Travel Apps for Europe, Asia, and the Americas

Find the perfect venue.

Drinkspal is the perfect mobile app for anyone visiting a new town and looking for the perfect venue.

You can filter down on what you’re specifically looking for, so it could be a pub that has WiFi within a 5 mile radius, but then you can further filter to find ones that are dog friendly, sell bottles of prosecco at under £15, sells Thai food and has a beer garden.

While many apps or sites list the different venues in a city you might visit, none have successfully allowed you to filter down until you reach the perfect option.

But the best little addition is the drink deals and highlighted bars that are offering happy hour, meaning you can pick the bar in your area that will save your pennies, meaning your money can go towards the important things in life, such as activities and experiences.

Obviously, this is a completely free app and doesn’t take up a huge amount of space on the phone.

Tom Bourlet blogs at Spaghetti Traveller .

Complete immigration forms on line

U.S. Customs and Border Protection created the Mobile Passport app so that passengers can complete immigration forms on their smartphone and use a shorter line when they arrive in the United States.

You will love the time that it will save you! It’s similar to the Global Entry program but it is free! Unfortunately, only US Citizens and visitors from Canada can use the app at select airports and ports, but they are looking to expand the program.

You can download the app and set up your profile before you travel.

Once you land, answer the standard questions inside the app. After you have WiFi or data on your phone, submit your answers.

Within a few seconds, you will receive a receipt with a barcode that is valid for four hours. Once in the immigration hall, find the designated mobile passport line.

When it is your turn, show your passport and the barcode to the customs officer. It’s that simple!

Anisa blogs at Two Traveling Texans .

This travel search engine is available in the form of an app making finding cheap flights on the go pretty simple. All you have to do is entire your dates and destination and all the work is done for you.

The app isn’t unique to searching for just flights as you can use the app for hotels and rental cars. What I like about the app is the ability to search to anywhere from your chosen destination should you need some travel inspiration.

There is also the option to search by month, which comes in handy when doing some travel planning.

If you do know your exact travel dates however, the app’s easy interface makes it easy to see all pricing and flight details brought up from the search.

Skyscanner is one of the best tools to help you get great travel deals by finding the best routes, best flights and best time to score your best travel experience.

The app also provides recommendations for last-minute trips with pricing for a variety of destinations. Skyscanner is free to download.

Rai blogs at A Rai of Light .

Get accurate directions quickly

The best travel app that I love using is Google Maps. I’ve used it all over Europe and North America and think it’s the most reliable directions app.

My favourite and most used feature of Google Maps is the directions functionality.

Just input the address of wherever you want to go and it will give you directions in multiple formats: walking, cycling, driving, public transit and rideshare (if available).

The directions are different depending on your mode of transportation and are super easy to follow.

Google Maps is also great for planning a route and we use it this way all the time for planning our motorcycling trips.

You can add multiple destinations and stops in between and Google will tell you how many kilometers are between each stop as well as the elevation change. Very handy on a motorcycle!

I’ve even used Google Maps offline when traveling, which is great if you don’t want to use cellular data or don’t have an internet connection.

Download a map ahead of time and you’ll be able to use a map and track your location without using cellular data.

Lesley blogs at Freedom56 Travel .

Adam Groffman blogs at Travels of Adam .

Keep your expenses in check on the road

Our recommendation for the best travel app for Europe, Asia, and the Americas is the travel budget app – Trail Wallet. It was created by travel bloggers Never Ending Voyage several years ago.

As bloggers on the road continuously, it is important for us to keep to a budget. Our first year we used an Excel spreadsheet and to be honest it was time consuming.

Trail Wallet has simplified our life on the road whilst keeping our expenses in check. We create a trip, which for us is a year, add in our daily budget, the categories and the currencies we will be using.

As soon as we have an expenditure we enter the cost into the app, into the category, add the amount, and press save and away we go.

The app calculates our daily spend, what is remaining, our average spend and our total for the trip. We can even add a note, e.g., the restaurant we had lunch in.

We can even view our expenditure in a graph. The app cheekily gives us a reminder if we blow the budget for the day.

Trail Wallet has been a time saver for us. It is available as a download from iTunes and is suitable for iPhones and iPads.

Jane Dempster-Smith blogs at To Travel Too .

Listen to music on the go

In general, music is an essential part of my life. I like to listen to music in the background to match my mood and to motivate me to get things done.

When I first started using the Spotify app, I got hooked because it solved different problems for me. First, it’s pretty easy to create playlists and categorize my music accordingly.

Second, I have access to my music library with all my devices, and everything gets synchronized no matter if I’m using Android or iOS.

Third, Spotify offers me several ways to discover new music and keep growing my library, such as a personalized playlist created just for me or by showing me my friend’s public playlists.

Also, as you’ve probably already guessed, I pay for a Premium subscription so I get some extra perks, like no ads. Plus, I’m able to listen to my music offline as well.

The two playlists I always have on my phone are my Roadtrip and Running ones. The first one has songs that are fun to listen to while on a ride, and the second is mostly upbeat pumping music to drive my pace while jogging.

Also, sometimes when I travel, I search for music that relates to a destination to enhance my travel experience and even give me some insight into the local culture.

Bianca blogs at Nomad Biba .

Converse in any language

Google Translate has been an absolute lifesaver on my travels and is my top recommendation for the best travel apps for Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

While I try to learn a few words or phrases in the local language of the country I’m visiting, there are situations that come up that just can’t be solved with “delicious” or “thank you very much”.

With Google Translate, you can type in the phrase you’d like to say in English (or your native language), and it will translate it into the language of your choice.

Say you want to be sure the meal you ordered is vegetarian, or you want to know what time the next bus arrives.

You can choose to either have your phrase spoken so the person you’re interacting with can hear it, or you can show them the translated text.

My husband and I have used this to flag down a local man in Vietnam and tell him, “Our motorbike has a flat tire,” to which he helped us back to his home where he fixed the tire and his wife served us noodle soup.

Sometimes you have the opposite problem: You want to know what something in another language means.

Perhaps you’re reading a menu and you want to know exactly what you’re ordering.

You can either type in what you see, or you can use the photo-to-text feature. Simply snap a shot of the text in question, highlight it, and it will be translated for you.

This is especially helpful when you’re traveling in a country, like Thailand, where the alphabet is totally different from what you’re used to and typing it would be extremely difficult.

One thing I’d recommend is when you’re planning a trip, be sure to download the language package for the country you’re visiting ahead of time.

That way, you can use the app even if you don’t have cell service or Wifi (aka you’re on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and desperately need directions!).

Katie Diederichs blogs at Two Wandering Soles .

Plan trips and share details with others

Sometimes the most useful things are free and right front of us. One such thing is the Apple Notes app. It’s my favorite app for planning my trips. I start it with a list of blogs to read. Gradually I build it up to have all the information in one place, including:

• Airline, car and hotel booking numbers, timing and other notes.
• Lists of things to see and places of visit
• Restaurant recommendations

During the course of my planning, I shortlist the categories and end up with an itinerary, which I refer to during the entire trip.

Some of my favorite features are:

• The ability to share the notes doc with everyone on the trip so we can all use it simultaneously.
• Notes is easily accessible and everyone with an iPhone has the Notes app at their fingertips – no need to install or learn a new app.
• The app is simple to use and has all the features I’ll ever need in my planning – tables, pictures, formatting etc.
• Notes syncs to iCloud when a connection is available. All the notes are available on all my devices, seamlessly. It doesn’t need WiFi. It always just works online or offline.

It really makes staying organized when I travel a snap!

Jyoti blogs at Story at Every Corner .

Convert currency on the go

GlobeConvert is a fantastic little app for travel. When you’re moving through multiple countries it can be hard to keep up with exchange rates.

In Southeast Asia one day we were in Cambodia using US Dollars, the next in Vietnam where it was nearly 30,000 Dong to the Pound! That takes a lot of working out.

A conversion app like this shouldn’t be that noticeable. It needs to do its job and nothing more.

For this, GlobeConvert is fantastic. It’s really fast, has large touchscreen buttons which make it easy to use and resets with one touch (quick tip, hold down the backspace key to reset all digits rather than tapping multiple times).

Importantly, it also doesn’t need to use data. You can refresh the exchange rates when you have a WiFi connection, and after that it will work without using expensive roaming charges.

You can add favourite currencies if you’re traveling to a lot of different countries and quickly swap the exchange rate between your home country and others.

It seems quite a boring app to recommend, but once you’ve used it you’ll see exactly why I won’t use a different one ever again.

Ben Reeve blogs at The Sabbatical Guide .

Hail a cab in China (there’s an English version)

If you are traveling to China, then you need to download the Didi app. In short, Didi is the Chinese version of Uber/ Lyft, and it’s the most popular ride-sharing app in China.

Similar to Uber/ Lyft, you can use Didi to book different types of cars and services. The major difference is that Didi also calls taxis for you in addition to regular drivers and some services provide a premium service.

Without Didi it’s virtually impossible to flag down a taxi on the streets in China now.

Once you download the Didi App (there is an English version) you can register with your non-Chinese phone number or Wechat, another very important app in China that’s similar to WhatsApp but much more.

There are four different categories on Didi, Luxe, Express, Premier and Taxi.

Taxi is pretty self-explanatory and actual fare is charged by meter. Luxe is when you want to schedule your ride with a luxury car and suited driver and it’s best for business purposes.

Express is similar to regular Uber and under Express there is “Express Pool” like Uber Pool, Express (like regular Uber/Lyft) and “Select”, which has newer cars and more experienced drivers.

Premier is a service with professional drivers and drivers with 5 stars and hence more expensive. Payment with Didi is simple, you can add a foreign credit card or simply use cash.

Most Chinese people use Ali pay or WeChat Payment but as a traveler, you may not have those set up, so cash or credit card works better.

Serena blogs at Serena Lenses .

T ranslate in China and elsewhere

Baidu Translate is a real lifesaver during your trip to China and is my recommendation for one of the best travel apps for Europe, Asia, or the Americas.

You don’t have to be worried about the language if you download this app before your trip. It’s a voice translation app that works for text-to-text translation.

There are many other popular languages you can translate from English by using this app. Baidu Translate is approved in China, so there’s no chance to be blocked.

You can download it for free on your iPhone or any Android phone. I loved most the voice translation feature of this app. Just turn on the speaker before speaking in English, and it will accurately translate in Chinese and vice versa.

This app also supports camera translation and can translate the text from the image. However, all features are only accessible when you’re online.

Baidu Translate doesn’t work in an offline mode; you must have a good Internet connection when using this most useful and best voice translation app based in China.

Nafisa Habib blogs at My Own Way to Travel .

Count your daily steps and stay motivated

Everyone likes getting something for nothing, am I right? My current favourite travel app is the Sweatcoin app. Sweatcoin converts your daily outdoor steps into currency, which can then be traded in for goods, services and gift cards.

The reason I love this app for traveling is because that’s when I walk the most. Whether you are out exploring a city on foot or hiking in the mountains, every step you do is a little piece of gold.

To start earning things for steps you would be doing anyway download the Sweatcoin app and create an account. The app will run in the background on your phone and use your phones GPS signal to track your steps. You don’t need to have mobile roaming turned on.

5,000 daily steps become 5.00 coins, 10,000 become 10.00 and so on. There are different monthly subscriptions that enable you to convert more steps per day.

Each subscription charges you a varying amount of coins each month (all made from your own steps – no real money is involved).

This app is a great app to motivate you to move even when you are at home and why not start earning something from your steps.

Erin blogs at Curiously Erin .

Plan your road trips

There’s nothing better than a good road trip.

Stock up on the snacks. Put together an awesome playlist. Gather a couple of friends, or go it solo, and hit the open road.

The key to a successful road trip is the planning, which makes Roadtrippers the perfect companion, especially since it’s web AND mobile friendly!

You don’t have to think about how to fit everything in because Roadtrippers takes all of your bucket list locations and creates the best possible route between them.

A huge bonus is the app also estimates how many miles you can expect to drive, AND about how much money you’ll spend on gas.

These are two factors that are very important when it comes to budgeting out a road trip, and two things you don’t need to worry as much about thanks to Roadtrippers.

Once you’ve planned out your trip you can then save it, share it with friends, and even edit it on the go if you have any last minute changes!

An additional perk, and probably one of the best features in my opinion, is the ability to find “hidden treasures” along your route, all thanks to the phone navigation synching which can help you find things in your own city, or in the locations you travel through, that you didn’t even know existed!

Lindsey Messenger blogs at Seven Day Weekender .

Get customer reviews before you commit

We’re full-time RV travelers and are always looking for tools that can help make our road trips easier to plan. One of my favorite apps is TripAdvisor. I love that I can use it on my phone or laptop to accomplish more than one task.

The first thing I use it for is to find campgrounds.

TripAdvisor has such a large collection of reviews that I always feel confident in the location before we show up.

Another terrific feature of the reviews functionality is that visitors can post their own photos.

This way you see what a resort looked like last week, not when it was first opened.

TripAdvisor also has a feature that allows you to message other users if you have questions on their reviews. I’ve actually used the feature a few times and have almost always received an answer.

Finally, TripAdvisor is great once we’ve arrived at a destination to help us find great activities and restaurants.

The other users always provide helpful tips for visiting different destinations.

I also really appreciate how the restaurants are sorted by type of food and price so I can find those that best fit our needs at the time.

Julie Chickery blogs at Chickery’s Travels .

One app that we always use on our trips and suggest everyone download is Maps.me. Maps.me is a free app that provides offline maps to users of Android, iOS, and Blackberry.

When we install the app, no map comes with it, but we only have to select the region and the country we want and download it. Being able to use all the maps information without needing to have mobile data is the biggest advantage of Maps.me.

And, it’s a crucial advantage if you don’t have a local sim card and with the steep prices of roaming data.

With Maps.me you can search and navigate to hotels, attractions, streets or whatever you are looking for.

One thing that I really like about Maps.me is how easy it is to search hotels within the app. The maps show the hotels that are on booking.com and gives information about rating and pricing.

This is great if you arrive at a town without a hotel booked.

Another thing Maps.me excels at (I believe it’s even better than Google Maps) is navigation on foot.

Maps.me has an incredible amount of trails marked and a remarkable detail, even in very remote locations.

When doing a hiking trail, I prefer to use maps.me, even if I have mobile data because it usually has the trail marked while google maps sometimes doesn’t.

Jorge and Claudia Bastos blog at Travel Drafts .

Find off-the-beaten-path locations to include in your itinerary

Here is yet another Maps.me recommendation.

Whether I’m planning a trip from home or while I’m already on the road, my number one travel tool is the free app Maps.me.

As you probably already guessed, Maps.me is an app that provides a map. It’s comparable to Google Maps. Except, Maps.me is much more accurate when it comes to biking and hiking trails and navigating in lesser developed countries in general.

Seriously, anything from small street vendors, hidden waterfalls, local supermarkets, and unknown gas stations are marked on Maps.me. Are you looking for off-the-beaten-path hikes, deserted beaches, or viewpoints?

I guarantee you can find them on this app. I even use Maps.me to navigate hikes that normally require guides! How’s that for one of the coolest travel planning tools!

When I’m planning a trip I always mark all the places I would like to visit on the map to get a general idea of how far apart they are.

Next, I use Maps.me to make a rough itinerary, and lastly, I use Maps.me to navigate to all my destination without using data!

Because the best part about Maps.me is that you can download the map of your destination and use all of Maps.me’s features when you’re offline, making Maps.me the perfect app for both planning your trip and for navigating during your trip!

Lara blogs at Bothe Feet on the Road

Organize your multi-city trips

Organizing a multi-city, multi-country trip can become really stressful really quickly.

I used to rely on emails, individual apps, and even printouts to try to keep everything organized, but inevitably things would get overlooked, or I’d be missing a crucial bit of information along the way.

Just before our last large overseas trip to the US and New Zealand, I heard about Tripit and it was an absolute game-changer!

We were organizing things at the last minute and it could have been a really complicated job – but Tripit made it easy. As soon as you book anything – accommodation, flights, car, etc. – all you need to do is forward your confirmation email to Tripit and all the information uploads into the app automatically. Magic!

You can enter things manually too if you prefer, but when booking multiple flights, places to stay and cars, it was incredibly useful to just flick an email through and everything would be input automatically.

Having all the information in one place also helped spot any gaps in our itinerary – like nights that still needed to be booked! And having all our booking references and flight times in one place while we were traveling was a real godsend.

You can even access it while offline! I still use the Tripit app now, even when booking short breaks, as it becomes a handy reference point of your past travels too!

Nadine Maffire blogs at Le Long Weekend .

Stay vegan while traveling

As a vegan world traveler, HappyCow is the app that I use the most when planning where I am going to eat during my travels. HappyCow is a global directory of vegan restaurants, vegetarian restaurants, and restaurants with vegan options all over the world.

It’s crowd-sourced, which means that users are adding new entries, photos and restaurant reviews every single day.

The HappyCow website has been around for nearly 20 years, but recently it has grown exponentially, thanks to the increased interest in veganism and plant-based eating.

And of course, now that there’s an app version, it’s even more convenient to use.

During the trip planning phase, one of the first things I do is take a look at HappyCow to see what kind of dining options there are in my destination.

But even if I don’t have time to do much pre-trip research, the app makes it really easy to find veggie food on the go.

Just click the “show everything nearby” button, and you’ll instantly see all the dining options that are closest to your current location, along with photos, user reviews and opening hours.

Even if you don’t identify as vegan or vegetarian, HappyCow is a great way to discover healthy alternatives to the fast food that it’s so easy to fall back on when traveling.

Wendy Werneth blogs at The Nomadic Vegan .

Locate vegetarian options beforehand

More Happy Cow raves! If you are a vegan or vegetarian traveller, then you might already know it’s not always easy to find hearty food.

The HappyCow app flags all the local vegan and vegetarian restaurants, along with places with great options and is one of the best travel planning tools for vegetarians.

Users can leave reviews to flag issues and give advice – for example, ‘ask for the veggie burger without mayo to make it vegan’, ‘best place for dairy-free ice cream’ and directions to hidden food stalls.

You can easily search for places in order of which is closest to your location and review the ratings, before bringing your restaurant of choice up on the map.

In challenging countries, this can save hours of researching meal times beforehand. This has been a lifesaver for me, particularly in countries known for their meaty diets.

For example, when travelling in Tokyo I discovered a whole network of amazing, vegan Buddhist restaurants through this app which I’d have never have found on foot.

Cassie blogs at Cassiethehag

I discovered Evernote about 5 years ago and fell in love with it instantly.

Evernote is a note-taking app with a free version and premium version with more functions and abilities. I like this app mostly because it’s simple and easy to use.

That’s the most important thing for me. I’m able to quickly bring up the app, jot down notes, and have all my notes sync across all my devices.

So something I type at home on my Evernote desktop app will show up on my phone when I’m out shopping or traveling.

Another big thing I love about Evernote is its ability to create folders for notes and be able to easily move them around when needed.

For example, when I travel to several cities/countries at a time, I like to create a new folder for each country, and within each folder, I can create separate notes that contain itinerary info, things to-do list, and a journal where I can document my trip!

Evernote is integral to keeping me organized while I’m traveling. If you have the premium version, you’re also able to upload pdf files, photos, itineraries, etc.

I can’t do without it in life! There are many note-taking apps nowadays but if you’re looking for simple and effective, Evernote is all that!

Jason blogs at Mint Habits .

Did we miss any? Let us know what your recommendations are for the best travel planning tools and apps.

If you’re looking for more travel tips, you might like this post:

• Travel Safety Tips You Need to Know

Here is a list of great reference books on travel planning tools and apps. Real time and money savers.

BTW, if you are getting ready for your trip, make sure to take advantage of these useful,  money-saving links  to book your trip:

• Research and  book your flight  with  Skyscanner . I have found them to be the best because they list all airlines including the budget ones. You are always sure of having researched all options.
• For  car rental around the world, Discover Cars has flexible pickup and drop-off options, I recommend   Discover Cars .
• Book your accommodation  with  Booking.com . I find they have a wide selection and a nice, user-friendly, transparent website.
• Protect your trip  and, more importantly, protect yourself with travel insurance. I use  Travelinsurance.com  and have been very happy with them.
• Looking for a  small group tour  to unforgettable destinations with top professionals?  Intrepid Trave l is your choice.
• For more  general tours  to any destination or attraction,  book with   Viator . Check them out.
• Need a visa?   Get your visa  for all countries with   Passport Visa Exp ress.
• Looking for a cool walking tour to explore a city? My favorite walking tours are offered by Take Walks.
• Food and drink tours are the best way to enjoy a city. And Devour Tours are my favorite.
• Looking for a good VPN to protect your security, privacy and freedom online while traveling? Nordvpn is your best option.

I personally use, and can recommend, all the companies listed here and elsewhere on my blog. By booking through these sites, the small commission we earn – at no cost to you – helps us maintain this site so we can continue to offer our readers valuable travel tips and advice.

Want more travel planning tools and tips? Check out these handy guides or this post on travel apps for your international trips .

Talek Nantes

7 thoughts on “35 best travel planning tools and apps”.

Thank you for reading!

what a great list. Would also like to add ATM Fee Saver mobile app – it gives a list of ATMs in foreign countries with no fees or lower fees than others along with withdrawal limits etc., found it quite helpful while travelling. worth to add it to your list!

Thanks. I’m always learning looking for new tips.

Awesome Post… Like it.

Great post! I would perhaps add https://holiwise.com/ – they help you find travel destinations based on your preferences.

Thanks for the tip and for reading.

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Destinations.ai

We make it easy to find the perfect travel destination

12 Best AI Travel Tools & Resources to Plan Your Trip

Author: Destinations.ai · Updated on: February 1, 2024

The world of AI solutions is making amazing new things possible in many industries. Emerging trends in the hospitality business are using AI applications to find the best deals to book flights, plan curated itineraries, and navigate to their destinations — all in a convenient self-service portal. In this article, we compared online reviews from hundreds of users to find artificial intelligence travel tools for your next travel and tourism.

Best AI Travel Tools & Resources

1. best artificial intelligence travel tool overall — destinations.ai.

Destinations.ai is made to be your all-in-one artificial travel assistant in a way that traditional travel companies can’t match. Regarding the travel industry, this is the artificial intelligence you want at your disposal. It isn’t just a travel assistant — it is a total vacation planner that uses customer preferences and data analysis to generate an AI-designed holiday trip.

You put in your preferences for travel dates, airlines, budget, temperature, scenery, and other travel planning needs, and Destinations.ai generates a custom-made vacation destination just for you. That includes hotel bookings, flight reservations, and tourist destinations in just a few moments.

Regarding personalized experiences and virtual assistants in the travel industry, there is nothing quite like Destinations.ai. This savvy artificial intelligence points to the future of the travel business, showing the endless possibilities of travel and AI. If you want to explore but aren’t sure where to start, Destinations.ai could be an excellent choice.

• No plan is needed; completely free
• It only takes a few moments to generate an itinerary
• Supplemental travel guides to learn more about a location
• A new tool, so it may have bugs that need to be fixed
• Few reviews yet available to compare
• I can plan trips only in the US at the moment

2. ViaTravelers Authentic AI Travel Planner

As travelers increasingly look for smarter ways to plan their trips, the  ViaTravelers Travel Itinerary Generator emerges as a notable tool in AI-driven travel planning. This platform utilizes artificial intelligence to craft personalized itineraries, simplifying the travel planning process for its users. If you are GPT Plus member, they also have a custom GPT called ViaTravelers – Ultimate Travel Planner , so you plan your travel on the go.

The AI at ViaTravelers stands out for its ability to select flights and  hotels , among other travel necessities, aligning with a traveler’s preferences and budget. Rather than sifting through myriad options on sites like Kayak or Expedia, this itinerary generator offers a more targeted approach:

• Preferences Tailoring : Users input what’s important for their trip, such as destinations, budget, and themes.
• AI Automation : The AI analyzes preferences against vast data to suggest the most suitable travel plans.
• Personalization : Each itinerary is uniquely generated, tapping into user-specific desires and needs.

ViaTravelers adopts an API similar to that of innovative travel planners, yet it emphasizes authenticity by drawing upon its travel experiences to inform suggestions. This positions the tool as a hybrid between a search engine and a personal travel advisor.

The service also acknowledges the role of AI trip planner tools in streamlining travel planning. By leveraging ChatGPT-like capabilities, it manages to curate personalized travel itineraries seamlessly. Despite these advanced features, ViaTravelers remains impartial, earning commissions on purchases or bookings made through the platform, as is common in the industry. This generator is part of the future of automated travel planning, combining user input with intelligent algorithms for an optimized travel planning experience.

3. Best Tool for Cheap Flight and Hotel Alerts — Mighty Travels

Mighty Travels Premium is a travel platform that provides travelers with a vast array of services designed to enhance the travel experience. It offers an interactive interface providing up-to-date information on flight deals, hotel discounts, and rewards programs.

Mighty Travels Premium can be an invaluable tool for frequent travelers looking to optimize their fare costs and mileage usage. Occasional travelers who prefer a more straightforward booking process may not utilize its full benefits.

• Comprehensive Information: It provides users with extensive flight data, including prices, destinations, airlines, and potential use of miles.
• Updated Deals: Regularly updated fare deals allow users to find the best price for their desired destination.
• Travel Using Miles: The platform indicates how users can leverage various loyalty program miles for their travels.
• Price Comparison: The tool compares the offered and average market prices for each itinerary.
• Global Destination Coverage: Mighty Travels Premium covers a wide range of destinations across the globe, including minor airports and less popular routes.
• Overwhelming Data: For new users or infrequent travelers, the volume of information might be overwhelming and hard to process.
• Premium Feature Accessibility: Some features are only accessible via a premium subscription, which may not be affordable for all users.
• No Direct Booking: You cannot directly book your tickets through the platform. It serves as a search engine redirecting you to third-party websites for actual booking.
• Limited Airline Representation: While it does provide options from various airlines, some low-cost carriers are underrepresented or absent in search results.

4. Best Artificial Intelligence Travel Tool For Groups — KAYAK

You may have heard of KAYAK as one of the top travel metasearch engines for hotel rooms, flights, and car rentals. However, this AI-driven site in the travel industry can also help curate the perfect itinerary for your next trip, all with the most basic information.

It also tracks the flights during your travel dates to help you find the best deals. Most notably, KAYAK’s itinerary function can be shared between users, making it ideal for planning a vacation with family members or a big group of friends. Customers can also approve flight alerts to get the best deals to book airlines and travel without breaking the bank!

KAYAK may still be primarily known as a standard booking company in the travel and tourism industry, but it has a bright future. If you are planning a group travel experience or want to share your travel plans with friends, this could be right up your alley.

Pros: 

• The platform is easy to use and intuitive
• Multiuser sharing makes it easy to plan group trips
• Flight alerts offer the chance to get better deals on travel
• Some reviewers mention information such as travel dates or hotels being changed without their knowledge
• You will need to be cautious of scams, as scammers have found ways to work with KAYAK

See Related: Most Romantic Places in the World

5. Best Artificial Intelligence Travel Tool For Trips With Multiple Stops — Roamr

Roamr is a newer artificial intelligence tool that lets you complete a travel itinerary in mere seconds with a few basic details, including your budget, travel dates, and where you want to go.

But the most intriguing feature of Roamr is that it makes it possible to plan a trip between several cities in the same area in a way that most travel companies can’t. One example: want to explore both Munich and Prague in one weekend? Roamr will point you toward local train schedules and other info to help you make multiple stops on a single trip.

This is especially helpful in places such as Europe, where you can quickly jump between cities and even countries within a day. If you have a lot of quick stops on a more extended trip, Roamr could be the travel assistant you need.

• Making an itinerary is super-fast and only requires basic details
• It helps you plan both international and local travel
• Made to work with mobile devices
• Still in its early days, so there may be bugs to smooth out
• Not a lot of reviews online

6. Best Artificial Intelligence Travel Tool For Business Travel — Amgine

Imagine was designed as HelloGbye, an AI-powered platform with business travel in mind. This tool is intended for people who frequently travel in their line of work and have to deal with the regular hassle of booking flights and hotel rooms. What is more, Amgine isn’t purely AI — it works in a unique human-AI interface that helps the booking process and other travel-related methods go more smoothly and successfully.

Business people face unique challenges when booking travel, especially if their job centers on traveling. Imagine is a travel assistant that takes the stress and struggles out of traveling for work, making the process smoother in a way that is beyond human intelligence or the capacities of most tourism companies. If you travel for work regularly — especially if you often cross borders or fly across the world — Amgine could be just what you need when it comes to AI in travel.

• Designed with businesspeople in mind
• It uses a human-AI interface to help the process be smooth and automated but also relevant and helpful
• Not widely available — customers must request a demo on the website to use

7. Best Artificial Intelligence Travel Tool For Those on a Budget — Expedia

We have all heard of Expedia as a website for booking car rentals, hotel rooms, and other travel needs. However, the popular platform also uses AI to improve its customer experience. Customers start by narrowing their search based on location, budget, travel dates, and other preferences.

Through the artificial intelligence-powered website, Expedia helps you find the cheapest flights and most comfortable hotels with dynamic pricing services. One of the site’s biggest appeals is the helpfulness of the AI chatbot, which can respond promptly to people experiencing travel crises who need to rebook or cancel flights, car rentals, or hotel rooms. If you want to be able to change your travel plans and customize your vacation with a dynamic robot concierge, Expedia could be a perfect choice.

• It helps you find the best accommodation bookings suited to your needs
• The helpful chatbot is widely recognized for its machine-learning algorithms and excellent customer experience
• Travelers can change travel choices as needed, even in an emergency
• Some customers report being able to find better deals by reaching out to hotel owners or travel agents directly
• Cancellation policies may be strict

See Related: Best Spring Break Destinations in the US

8. Best Artificial Intelligence Travel Tool For Those Who Need Offline Access — TripIt

TripIt helps you organize your trip in one place by helping you plan ahead and keeping you abreast of minute-by-minute travel changes. These include everything related to trips, from gate changes to flight delays and other information.

The tools allow users to track their trip even while not connected to the internet, making it a valuable platform for those traveling to places that might not have consistent internet access. The Pro offerings will allow you to track live flight updates, fare adjustments, and other changing information.

• Pro TripIt allows travelers to track live updates regarding their bookings and itinerary.
• An all-in-one platform keeps you organized.
• All you have to do is make a booking and select “forward to TripIt” to have it added automatically to your itinerary
• Offline access to itineraries
• The free version does not offer access to all features, such as live flight updates

9. Best AI Tool For Those Whose Plans Change — iPlan

Are you the kind of person who prefers not to have a set-in-stone travel itinerary and instead see where your trip takes you? Many customers are! Users can still use AI in travel with a tool like iPlan . This platform adjusts your itinerary automatically as you update it, customizing it as much as you want.

Through some savvy machine learning, iPlan will rewrite your plans in moments. To make it even easier to coordinate while still being spontaneous, you can share the itinerary with other travelers, making it simple to travel with a group of friends or colleagues.

Every person with access can edit the plans, too. This handy tool proves that planning things doesn’t have to take the fun and spontaneity out of travel.

• Shared edit access makes it easy for group travelers to collaborate
• Problem-solving AI technology adjusts your itinerary as you edit elements
• Quick adjustments help travelers adapt in seconds
• Completely free to users
• Limited information and customer reviews online

10. Best AI Travel Tool For Exploring a City — Roam Around

ChatGPT is undoubtedly one of the most well-known AI technologies of today. Roam Around works directly with the platform to assist you with basic travel planning needs.

Performing tasks requires only a small amount of basic information — your destination and the length of your time there. It then produces a tailored itinerary with suggestions for what you should do during your stay.

Roam Around is a pretty essential tool for AI in travel, but this could be helpful for those who don’t know how to formulate sophisticated questions for data processing. On the other hand, some people might find it lacking in terms of tools and filters.

• Offers basic information about tourist destinations to visit during your stay
• Works with ChatGPT, a widely-accessible AI tool
• Basic enough for almost anyone to use it
• It doesn’t allow you to filter or refine your queries
• It might not present enough information for many customers’ needs
• It does not track airlines, flight information, or hotel bookings

See Related: Best Beach Vacations in Europe

11. Best AI Travel Tool For Those Who Want a Unique Experience — Vacay

If you’re looking for something genuinely tailor-made for your travel needs and goals, Vacay is a perfect choice. This AI chatbot partners with ChatGPT to help you figure out the ideal vacation for your needs, including destinations, travel dates, things to do, and more.

This is an excellent option for those who want to take a trip but aren’t sure where to start. Vacay will even provide recommendations for local hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. This means that it has many uses, and consequently, you’ll have to know how to use AI chatbots to refine your search.

• Helps design customized vacation itinerary
• Available with suggestions for local hotspots
• Not well-suited for those who don’t know how to write AI prompts
• The itinerary must be copy-pasted to notepad, as details aren’t saved

12. Best AI Travel Tool For Non-English Speakers — Skyscanner

All these travel tools are great, but you might be out of luck if English isn’t your preferred language. If your travel planning happens in another language, you might have an easier time with an AI assistant like Skyscanner . This Edinburgh-based AI tool offers the chance to make an all-in-one travel plan in one of 30 languages.

To make it even more accessible, you can connect to the AI chatbot through social media, including Facebook messenger and WhatsApp . Start by searching with even the barest details — you don’t have to have a destination if you’re unsure where you want to go. To start, you must type “Anywhere,” and you’ll be directed toward the cheapest flights during your travel period.

• Available in 30 languages
• Accessible through social media platforms
• You can get as detailed or barebones as you like
• Not operated on a single platform (you’ll be directed to the website to finish your travel booking)

Related Resources

• Best Destinations in the World
• How to Find the Perfect Travel Destination
• How to Use a Vacation Generator to Find a Destination

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Craft Unforgettable Itineraries with AI Trip Planner

Your personal trip planner and travel curator, creating custom itineraries tailored to your interests and budget.

Everything you need for planning your trip

Adjust your itinerary as needed.

Seamlessly manage your itinerary all in one page with Wonderplan - from reconfiguring the order of your plans, introducing new destinations to your itinerary, or even discarding plans as needed.

Generate richly personalized accommodation recommendations. Driven by your unique preferences and tastes, we curate an array of lodging options which not only meet, but exceed your needs, providing you with the comfort and convenience you deserve on your journey.

Offline Access

Enjoy the convenience of offline accessibility - with the option to download and save your plans as a PDF, you can always have your information at hand, no matter where you are.

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Skip the manual trip planning and start your effortless journey with Trip Planner AI today, at no cost.

Imagine having a personal travel agent in your pocket, available anytime, anywhere. That's what Wonderplan offers: a user-friendly service to "plan my trip", crafting bespoke itineraries at no cost. Enjoy tailored, effortless trip planning with just a click. This is achieved through our advanced AI trip planner that builds personalized travel experiences.

Yes, Wonderplan is a free planning tool (at least for now 🤭). Our AI trip planner is designed to provide high-quality service without any cost.

Wonderplan curates personalized recommendations by taking into account your unique preferences, tastes, and travel requirements, ensuring that every aspect of your trip is tailored to meet your specific needs. The trip planner AI algorithm is key to building these customized experiences.

Yes, Wonderplan provides the option to download your plans as a PDF, allowing for easy offline access whenever you need them.

With Wonderplan, you can easily reorder, add, or remove locations on your itinerary to create a customized travel experience that fits your preferences and schedule. Our AI trip planner makes it easy to build and modify your journey.

If you require assistance or have questions about using Wonderplan, feel free to send us an email at [email protected] . Our team is ready to help you build the perfect trip with our AI trip planner.

© 2024 Wonderplan. A product of Sonderbase Technologies.

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Trip Planner AI

• Community Trips

Your Next Journey, Optimized

Build, personalize, and optimize your itineraries with our free AI trip planner. Designed for vacations, workations, and everyday adventures.

Your AI-Powered Trip

The most optimal.

Craft your perfect itinerary with Trip Planner AI. Our advanced algorithms take into account your selected explore-sights, dining, and lodging preferences to create the optimal travel plan tailored just for you.

Get Inspired

Extract valuable travel insights from Instagram reels and TikToks, explore the mentioned explore-sights, and effortlessly include them in your own adventure with Trip Planner AI.

TRIP PLANNER AI

The only tool youll ever need.

Say goodbye to the stress of planning and hello to personalized recommendations, efficient itineraries, and seamless dining experiences.

Optimal Route Planning

Our AI algorithms analyze your preferences to craft the most efficient route, saving you time and effort.

Personalize Your Adventure

Shape your journey by freely adding, editing, or deleting activities from your itinerary.

Local Cuisine Recommendations

Discover local cuisines and hidden gems recommended by our AI, tailored to your taste buds.

Dont take our word for it

See what our users have to say about revolutionizing their travel experiences with Trip Planner AI.

Trip Planner AI saves time and stress by aiding travel planning, relieving indecision or uncertainty.

Trip Planner AI offers diverse planning options in a user-friendly interface. Simplifies travel planning for enthusiasts.

I love traveling but hate planning. This app quickly organizes trip agendas, reducing decision fatigue.

Our Trusted Partners

Journey inspirations from travelers.

Dive into unique trip itineraries crafted by our global travelers. Find your next adventure and share your own journey with fellow explorers.

Trip to Tokyo

Join me on an exciting 10-day journey through Tokyo, where we'll visit iconic landmarks, indulge in delicious cuisine, and immerse ourselves in the vibrant culture of Japan's capital city.

Trip to Dubai

Embark on a thrilling 6-day journey through Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Explore vibrant souks, iconic landmarks, world-class shopping, and enchanting attractions. Join us as we uncover the hidden gems and unforgettable experiences that Dubai has to offer.

Trip to New York

Experience the best of New York City in just 7 days! Explore iconic landmarks, indulge in delicious meals, and immerse yourself in the vibrant culture of the city that never sleeps.

Trip to Rome

Join me on a thrilling 5-day adventure in Rome, where we'll explore ancient ruins, marvel at stunning architecture, and indulge in mouthwatering pizza. Get ready for an unforgettable experience!

Customized Itineraries for Every Travel Dream

Trip Planner AI is your ultimate companion for any travel scenario. Whether it's a solo adventure, a family vacation, or a group expedition, our app tailors every aspect of your journey. Experience the convenience of:

AI-Powered Route Optimization

Utilize AI for optimal travel routes. Our app ensures a seamless journey, calculating the best paths, travel times, and distances for city tours or cross-country road trips.

All-in-One Travel Organizer

Simplify travel planning with our all-in-one platform. Trip Planner AI consolidates hotel and flight details, manages bookings, and imports tips and guides. Organize all trip details in one place.

Collaborative Group Planning Made Easy

Collaborate on itineraries with companions. Our real-time feature makes group travel planning effortless, ensuring everyone stays informed and involved in the process.

• Get Great Eclipse Photos with Your Phone
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The 9 Best Travel Planner Apps of 2024

Proper planning prevents poor purchasing. Get ready for your trip the right way!

• Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
• Payment Services

Planning the perfect trip can be almost overwhelming enough to take the fun out of what should be an exciting experience. Thankfully, many travel planning apps are available to help you organize your next getaway, right down to the smallest detail.

Best for Predicting Lowest Flight and Hotel Prices: Hopper

The Watch feature sends push notifications about good deals when it's time to commit.

Some fairly large airlines aren't included in Hopper's analysis.

Hopper's proprietary algorithm tries to predict where flight and lodging prices are headed shortly, letting you wait until the right moment to spring into action and book your trip at the lowest price. The app analyzes billions of prices per day and claims to predict what the cheapest one will be with a 95% accuracy rate.

Download For:

Best Overall Trip Planner: Kayak

The Explore feature helps you decide on a destination, suggesting getaways all over the globe based on your maximum budget.

Doesn't always show all available flights on a specific route, potentially causing you to miss out on the best deal.

One of the top all-in-one apps for setting up a trip, Kayak searches hundreds of travel sites instantly to provide multiple deals on a flight, hotel, or rental car in the same location. Kayak also organizes everything in one place and includes up-to-date details on security wait times, along with airport terminal maps.

The app also measures your luggage using your phone's camera, informing you of potential fees and carry-on rules for most airlines.

Best for Helping You Remember the Essentials: Packing Pro

An impressive group of sample packing lists provides a good starting point if you don't want to make your own.

In-app purchases are inappropriate for an app you purchased.

Packing Pro is well worth the $2.99 if stuffing your suitcases isn't your favorite pre-trip activity. The app creates customizable packing lists considering essential factors like the trip duration, destination, expected weather conditions, food preferences, and more. Packing Pro's robust item catalog ensures that even the most unique dietary or religious restrictions are satisfied.

Best for Car or RV Trips: Roadtrippers

The hidden gems that can be discovered with this app.

GPS coordination isn't as good as it is in apps like Waze.

If dealing with long lines at the airport isn't your idea of fun, then Roadtrippers may be the app for you. Whether you're hitting the highway or off-roading, enter your starting and destination points and let Roadtrippers provide everything you need.

From campsites and outdoor attractions to unique adventures that are off the beaten path, this app is the perfect companion for planning an excursion, no matter if your mode of transportation is a small-sized rental car or a giant RV.

An optional yearly subscription unlocks advanced features, including live traffic monitoring and different map styles.

Best for Finding Bargain Flights: Skiplagged

Frequent travelers can save a significant amount of money.

Airline baggage fee policies can be murky, so read the fine print before booking.

By showing fares to connecting cities that are sometimes cheaper than a direct flight to that city, Skiplagged lets you book flights where you stay at the layover location (your destination) rather than continuing with the connecting flight. When it works, you spend less to reach your desired destination. Skiplagged also lets you book last-minute hotel deals.

Best for Avoiding Hidden Fees: Skyscanner

Offers protection to ensure car rental providers don't overcharge for fuel.

In rare instances, flight prices shown in the app are outdated.

Skyscanner should be included in some of the bigger all-in-one planning and booking apps. Offering reliable price alerts, integrated frequent flyer miles, and no additional or hidden fees like you might find elsewhere, Skyscanner usually follows through on its promises and is easy to navigate.

Best Itinerary Planner: Sygic Travel

If you don't want a planned itinerary, Sygic is useful for finding nearby attractions on-the-fly.

Access to Sygic's offline maps requires a paid upgrade to the Premium version.

Sygic Travel lets you plan a detailed itinerary for each day of your trip before you leave home, down to the last detail, like walking distances between attractions.

With over 50 million places included, many with 360-degree videos that make you feel like you're there, the app's smart search filters help you narrow things down to the perfect daily schedule. Collaborative city guides provide an easy-to-use snapshot of the most popular locales around the globe.

Best for Customer Reviews: TripAdvisor

The forums are a great resource for getting specific travel-related questions answered quickly.

Default rankings don't always correlate with customer reviews, so you often need to take a deeper dive to discover the best value.

A stalwart in the travel industry, TripAdvisor isn't unique in providing a one-stop-shop for booking good deals on flights, hotels, and restaurants for your upcoming trip, though it does a dependable job of each. The app sets itself apart with its customer feedback on airlines, lodging, food, and activities. By offering over 500 million opinions from real travelers who've been there and done that, TripAdvisor helps you make informed planning decisions based on others' past experiences.

Best for Organizing Confirmations and Reservations: TripIt

Send information manually, forward confirmation emails, or have the app automatically fetch itineraries from your inbox.

The default notification setting is for an annoying number of alerts.

When you plan a trip, it's not uncommon to receive multiple confirmation emails and itineraries from airlines, hotels, rental car companies, or other sources. Keeping all these details organized can be a hassle.

TripIt solves this problem by taking all your scattered information and organizing it into an easy-to-use main itinerary. This basic functionality is free of charge, while an annual subscription provides the ability to upgrade your seat on upcoming flights and track reward miles, among other perks.

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Plan Your Perfect Trip!

Planapple helps you create , organize , access and share all your vacation plans, what's planapple (watch this short video & see).

How Planapple Simplifies Travel Planning

Organize ideas.

Collect your vacation ideas in an online trip notebook, and keep everything organized in one place.

That's where Planapple comes in. A web travel binder of sorts, Planapple helps you collect your ideas, possibilities, and plans — and saves them all in one place, organized and manageable.

Planapple even creates a custom map tailored to your plans, so you can actually see which hotel is closest to your daily destinations!

Plan Together

Discuss and decide your ideal itinerary with your tripmates.

Planapple eliminates the communication challenges and email negotiations, making group planning far simpler.

And, as your burgeoning itinerary comes together, it's all captured in your Planapple binder for you and your tripmates to see, so no one misses out on one juicy detail.

Carry Your Plans

Carry your plans on your mobile device —  or access them anywhere.

Planapple's mobile app puts your plans right in your pocket. Access your entire trip: itinerary, bookmarks, addresses, phone numbers, emails, even discussions with your co-travelers. (And Planapple can download it all to your phone before you go, avoiding scary international data charges.)

And, if you're a paper person, you can print your plans just as easily and take them anywhere you go. We get it.

Share With Friends

Create recommendations to share on Pinterest and Facebook.

Planapple makes it easy to share what you did, where you went, and what you liked (or didn't!). Offer up your entire itinerary or just a few highlights — either way your friends will marvel at your travel-planning prowess. After all, what good is finding something wonderful if you can't scream it from the tippy top of the World Wide Web?

For family vacations, holidays abroad, or group trips of any sort… from a weekend getaway to an adventure across countries and continents… it's easy to plan your perfect trip with Planapple.

Ready to get going?

What is planapple.

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

The best trip planner apps to make your travels easier

Booking a trip can be an exciting yet daunting task. As if booking airfare, hotel, and transportation weren't enough, you also need to consider food, sights, and attractions. As a travel lover myself, I often dread planning and preparing for a trip. Not only do I never have the time, but I often get oversaturated by the vast amount of information found online and the fear of getting scammed. 

Also:  The best travel credit cards

Over the years, I've found the best websites and apps to help smooth out the planning process. These apps help me keep track of all my reservations, send me booking reminders, and guarantee I always find the best prices -- because there is nothing worse than falling for tourist traps or overpriced offerings. 

Whether you are a spontaneous or a nitty-gritty planner traveler, ZDNET has tested and reviewed the best trip planner apps on the market. Our top pick for the best trip planner site and app is Booking.com due to its easy-to-use user interface, extensive booking capabilities, and pricing. However, since not every trip or traveler is the same, we've included several options to help you plan and stay organized during your travels. 

Keep reading to learn more about ZDNET's expert-tested and reviewed trip planner apps. 

Also: The best travel gadgets

The best trip planner apps of 2023

Booking.com, best overall trip planner.

• Multiple bookings
• Great deals
• Can earn points from bookings and reservations
• Easy to use
• No group planning
• Can't organize bookings per trip

Booking.com features:   Platform: App and website |  Compatibility:  iOS and Android |  Pricing:  Free |  Booking:  Yes |  Group planning:  No

When planning my trips, I always make a stop at the Booking.com app, especially when reserving hotels. I find their user interface visually appealing and easy to use, and that it provides just the right amount of information I need when scrolling through hotel suggestions. Personally, I enjoy that I can add my top picks to my favorites with a quick tap of a heart, glance through reviews, look at cancellation policies, and even find out how far away hotels are from key spots. Through Booking.com, you can also book flights, car rentals, taxis, and city attractions, making it a great all-in-one place to plan and book upcoming weekend getaways or longer vacations. While I have personally never used the car rentals, taxis, or city attractions components of the app, I enjoy knowing that if I ever needed to, I can quickly hop on my phone and glance at the latest offerings. 

My favorite feature when using Booking.com to plan trips is the offers and promotions it displays for users. In the app, when you click your profile, you can see your "Genius" loyalty program status as well as discover the best deals around the world for your specific chosen dates. My only critique of Booking.com is that it does not enable group trip planning or let you organize your bookings per trip. This means if you are planning a trip with a friend, only one person can book and have access to reservations. 

Also: The best luggage

Best trip planner for organization

• Synced with e-mail inbox
• Organizes reservations no matter where you book
• Works offline
• Can't make any bookings
• Need to pay for advanced features
• UI could use an upgrade

TripIt features:   Platform:  App and website |  Compatibility: iOS and Android | Pricing: Free or $49 per year | Booking: No | Group planning: Yes

In terms of planning a trip, creating an itinerary, and keeping all your information in one place, TripIt is one of the best travel apps to keep yourself organized. When you first create an account, TripIt will sync with your inbox and automatically add all of your upcoming flights and reservations to your account. You can then modify each trip to include as little or as much information as you'd like. As someone who likes to be spontaneous when traveling, I usually only add the essentials: flight information, hotel reservations, and important documents. However, if you like to plan your trips down by the hour, you can also include activities, restaurant reservations, transportation, and more in your trip plan to share with fellow travelers.

As your trip approaches, TripIt will also send you packing reminders, give you COVID-19 travel guidance, and show transportation options. While you can get most of the essential features within the free version of the app (this is the one I use), you can also pay $49 a year to get advanced features such as check-in reminders, real-time flight alerts, point tracking, and even notifications for drops in airfare prices. 

Keep in mind that while TripIt gives you transportation options and finds places near your hotel, you cannot book or make any reservations directly from the app. The app is solely used to organize and keep track of all of your travel plans in one place, no matter where you book them. 

Best AI trip planner

• Personalized travel itinerary
• Hotel booking
• Can modify recommendations
• Group planning enabled
• Only available as a website
• No flight or restaurant booking

Guide features:   Platform: Website  Compatibility: all major browsers |  Pricing:  Free | Booking: Yes, but hotels only | Group Planning: Yes  Generative AI is everyone's favorite buzzword this year, and slowly but surely, it has been making its way across all industries -- including the travel industry. Guide is an innovative AI travel planning tool that creates personalized travel itineraries based on your preferences. (Full disclosure, it's also owned by ZDNET's sister company. It's currently in private beta, but you can join a wait list.) All you need to do is select your destination, the dates, whether you are traveling alone or in a group, your budget, and the types of activities you are looking for, and Guide will do the planning. 

After generating a trip itinerary for you based on your prompt, Guide then lets you modify and customize the itinerary to your liking. I recently used Guide to plan a six-day trip to Austin, Texas, and this was the feature I enjoyed the most, since I had specific restaurants and activities I wanted to incorporate into my trip, but I also needed some additional recommendations. While you can't book flights or restaurant reservations through Guide, you can book and find great hotel deals powered by Expedia on the platform. 

Guide will also give you an overall budget for your trip, a packing list, and a comprehensive list of things to know about your destination -- which may be helpful for some more than others. While my trip to Austin was a solo trip, Guide has a feature where you can invite other fellow travelers to collaborate in planning your trip through Guide's chatbot, GuideBot. This chatbot also works sort of like ChatGPT, where you can ask GuideBot questions about your trip, your destination, or recommendations. Keep in mind you can not ask GuideBot to directly modify your trip for you, and instead need to manually do it yourself -- believe me, I tried. 

Tripadvisor

Best trip planner app for reviews.

• Countless reviews
• Used by travelers worldwide
• Variety of information
• Booking capabilities
• Great for local spots
• Booking is not its strongest feature and you may not always find the best deals
• Doesn't vet reviews

Tripadvisor  features: Platform:  App and website |  Compatibility:  iOS and Android |  Pricing:  Free |  Booking:  Yes |  Group planning:  No

Reading customer reviews is one of the most important steps when planning a trip. While you shouldn't base all of your decisions on reviews, you should consider past customer experiences to get a feel for the brand and company you are about to trust, or the experience you are going to pay for.  When it comes to travel reviews, Tripadvisor is the best trip planner app to rely on. Since the platform has so many reviews for restaurants, activities, accommodations, and locations all over the world, it is always easy and convenient to log onto the app or website to help you make an educated decision. (However, remember that not all Tripadvisor reviews are legit, since the platform does not independently verify customer postings.) Beyond reviews, TripAdvisor also lets you book hotels, restaurants, things to do, and more while also providing detailed insights into their offerings -- including cancellation policies, ratings, and features. 

Tripadvisor's "Travelers' Choice" best-of list is also a popular part of its platform, allowing visitors to see top-rated destinations, hotels, restaurants, and things to do around the world. With Tripadvisor, you can plan a trip yourself from scratch, hire a trip designer, or get a custom itinerary built by AI. 

Best trip planner app for transportation

• Great multi-mode travel comparison
• convenient and seamless transportation booking
• Multiple currency and language availability
• Flight deals and suggestions are not the strongest
• Limited offers depending on the country or city of travel
• Not the most reliable customer service

Omio features:  Platform:  App and website |  Compatibility:  iOS and Android |  Pricing:  Free |  Booking:  Yes, transportation only |  Group planning:  No

I first discovered Omio when a friend recommended it to me while I was studying abroad in Spain, and ever since I downloaded it, it has become my go-to app for booking the best deals and fares on transportation within Europe. The concept behind Omio is simple: You plug in your departure and arrival location, including the number of people you are traveling with, and add whether you are looking for a one-way or round-trip journey. Omio will then show you the best deals by train, bus, or plane to and from your desired destination, including how much time each option will take you and the number of stops. 

The German-based travel booking site is great at aggregating travel information from multiple sites, allowing you to view all of your transportation options in one place. This is incredibly beneficial when planning trips within Europe since there are several ways you can cross each border and often various languages and regulations to keep in mind. Omio is set in English but has multiple additional languages available, as well as currency options. During my time abroad, I solely used Omio to book all of my transportation, including planning a 17-day trip across seven different European countries. Overall, using Omio was not only convenient and seamless but also helped me save hundreds of dollars by helping me maximize my travel time by switching between flights, trains, and buses. 

However, since returning from Europe, I have not used Omio as much as I thought I would -- maybe because I have a car and take most of my trips by plane. And Omio's flight deals and suggestions are not the strongest compared to Booking.com or Skyscanner's, which heavily focus on flight deals. I have also found they have some limitations depending on the country or city you are traveling in. Be mindful of the deals and tickets you buy through Omio since some tickets are non-refundable, and some customers complain their customer service is not the best -- although I have yet to have any issues with them. 

What is the best trip planner app?

Booking.com gets our vote for the best trip planner app due to its wide selection of accommodations, its points and promotions offerings, and its easy-to-use user interface. Not only does Booking.com help you find the best deals throughout your trip, but it will also help you stay organized throughout your trip by keeping all of your reservations in one place. To determine which trip planner app or combination of trip planners is best for you, check out this comparison chart below. 

Which is the right trip planner app for you?

The best trip planner app ultimately depends on your travel and planning style. If you like booking and planning everything in one place while also earning points and getting great deals, then Booking.com is your top app. However, if you are looking for a place to keep all of your accommodations, reservations, and activity details organized, then TripIt is a better app for you. Check out the following chart to help you find the best trip planner app or a combination of apps for you to plan your next adventure. 

How did we choose these trip planner apps?

To find the best trip planner apps, we drew upon real-life experiences and tested their performance and capabilities during our latest trips. Ultimately, we weighted the following factors when choosing which trip planners to include on our list: 

• Features: Each app can vary significantly with the features it offers, whether it is solely to book flights and hotels, help you plan your next trip using AI, or help you find the best deals and booking information, each app on this list can help you address several common inconveniences that present themselves while planning that next adventure.  
• Compatibility: An app is of little use if it does not work with your devices, so we look to see what compatibility each trip-planning app offers and which platforms you can access it from. Personally, I enjoy apps that combine an app and website component since this quickly helps me switch between my wide computer screen and my tiny yet portable iPhone screen. 
• Customer reviews: We study real customer reviews and ratings to evaluate customer satisfaction and service. This is incredibly important since most times when you travel, you visit an unknown city or country, and you should be mindful of past experiences others have had. 
• Cost : Most trip planner apps are free, but you may have to upgrade to receive special access to exclusive features or deals. If your app is already free, it means you only have to pay a small amount (often unnoticeable) when you book your accommodations. 

What is a trip planner app?

A trip planner app is an app that provides organizational features for your upcoming trip. It is often free and incorporates trip planning tools, whether you are traveling by ground, water or air.   

How does a trip planner app work?

A trip planner app can incorporate special features, like an itinerary, calendar, reservation and booking hub, and map assistance. Depending on the app you choose, there is even trip-sharing with friends and family to simplify the entire trip planning process.  

How much does a trip planner app cost?

Most trip planner apps are free, but some may offer in-app purchases to upgrade or enhance your experience. Within this list, only Tripit costs money, but only for their advanced features version, which costs $49 a year. However, you can get access to most if not all, trip-planning features, through their free version. 

Are there alternative trip planner apps worth considering?

As I mentioned earlier, trip planning heavily depends on your personal style of travel and preferences. However, whether you like to plan your trips down by the minute or prefer to just have the basics, there are several apps that can optimize your planning. Here are a few apps worth considering that almost made it onto our list: 

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The 19 Best Travel Planning Apps for Every Type of Traveler

December 1, 2021 15 min read

Planning your next travel adventure can be both exciting and stressful. While searching for amazing destinations and attractions to visit is always fun, keeping track of all of the information relating to your trip isn’t the easiest task. 

If you’ve been using Google docs and sheets or simply storing travel inspiration, confirmations, bookings, and reservations in your email, there’s a better way: using a travel planning app! 

You can discover an array of travel itinerary apps on the market, such as Wanderlog , a free and easy-to-use travel itinerary planner. But deciding which is best for your needs can be challenging. To help, we’ve put together this list of the 19 best travel planner apps on the market. 

To create this guide, we started by searching for the top trip planners online and in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. We then tested these apps and looked at user reviews to create this ultimate list of the best travel planning apps. This extensive list includes a range of apps, from road trip planning apps to itinerary planning apps. No matter what type of traveler you are, we have you covered. 

If you’re looking for a way to simplify travel planning and organization, keep reading! 

Best Overall Travel Planner App: Wanderlog 

We truly believe that Wanderlog is the best overall travel itinerary planning app on the market. Wanderlog allows you to plan detailed day-by-day itineraries, import all of your trip information, and search activity suggestions. It’s also perfect for group travelers and those traveling via a range of transport methods, from flying to taking a road trip. 

You can use Wanderlog in-browser, or download the app for iOS and Android. Wanderlog is 100% free to use, and this free version offers access to almost all of the apps’ features. There is an upgrade option, Wanderlog Pro, that offers added benefits with a one-week free trial.

Wanderlog Features

Activity Suggestions and Access to Pre-Created Trips 

You can search third-party websites and add things to do to your itinerary from online guides, like Tripadvisor or Google Trips. Wanderlog also offers activity suggestions, and you can view trips created by other users for inspiration. 

Storage and Organization of Travel Information 

When using Wanderlog, you can manually add travel information or automatically import reservations, bookings, and other email confirmations by syncing with Gmail. This travel information includes flight info, bus or train reservations,  accommodation details, rental car confirmations, and more. You can also add expenses for places and items on your itinerary, and manage your total budget.

Itinerary Creation 

As you upload travel information and add activities you want to undertake on your trip, a day-by-day itinerary will be created. This itinerary is incredibly easy to edit, and you can add notes to each stop. 

If you don’t need a day-by-day itinerary and want more flexibility in your plans, you can simply create lists, for example, a list of things to do or restaurants to try. 

Access to Maps 

When you add stops to your itinerary or lists, they’ll be displayed on a map. The map feature makes it easy to see where all the attractions you wish to visit are located, allowing you to plan the most efficient itinerary. 

Road Trip Planning

Wanderlog now offers the ability to plan road trips! You can add start and end destinations, plus unlimited stops along the way, and your road trip route will be shown on interactive maps. 

It’s super easy to rearrange these plans, and you can even use our “Road Trip Optimizer” to generate the most efficient route. The total time and distance of your road trip journey will be displayed too.  

Group Collaboration 

Wanderlog makes collaborating with others in your travel group a breeze! You can easily collaborate with others traveling with you by simply adding their email to your trip. Alternatively, you can just share a link to the itinerary. Having done this, all members of your group can collaborate on the plans in real-time. 

Wanderlog Pro Added Features

• Offline access to itineraries and maps
• Exporting of maps to Google Maps
• Auto scanning of travel confirmations in Gmail
• Road trip route optimization  

Who Is Wanderlog For? 

Wanderlog is the best app to plan travel for every type of traveler. From solo travelers to groups, and from the highly organized traveler to those that simply need one place to store information and activity suggestions. Wanderlog also has a highly user-friendly interface, and best of all, it’s free to use! 

Who Is Wanderlog Not For? 

Wanderlog is great for all travelers! Whether you want to organize your travel details, search for an array of activities to enjoy on your trip, or collaborate with fellow travelers, the Wanderlog travel planning app won’t disappoint. 

Does Wanderlog sound like the travel itinerary planner for you? Download the app today ! 

Best Road Trip Planning App: Roadtrippers

If you’re looking for road trip planner apps, Roadtrippers is one of the best options out there! This app is created exclusively for those traveling via car. It not only maps out the best routes for you to follow but also offers suggestions of things to do along the way. 

Roadtrippers can be used online and via their iPhone and Android app. Roadtrippers offers a free Basic version and a paid-for version called RoadTrippers Plus, which costs $29.99 per year.  

Roadtrippers Features

Custom Route Maps

Roadtrippers calculate the best route for you. Simply enter your road trip start and end destination, plus stops along the way if applicable. You can choose the fastest route or ask Roadtrippers to suggest additional stops along the way. 

Activity and Attraction Suggestions 

As just mentioned, Roadtrippers offers suggestions on things to do along your road trip route. These suggestions include activities to try and attractions to visit, as well as dining and accommodation suggestions. 

Gas Cost Estimations 

Once you have a route mapped, Roadtrippers provides an estimation of the total gas cost. This feature is great for those operating on a budget. 

Navigation 

Roadtrippers also help guide you once you set out on the trip with in-app navigation. This feature allows you to stay within the app instead of switching to another navigation app, like Google Maps. 

Roadtrippers Plus Added Features 

• Offline maps
• Collaboration features, allowing multiple travelers to add to the road trip itinerary 
• Live traffic updates 
• Special promotions from Roadtrippers’ travel panthers, such as discounts on hotels 
• Dark mode 
• No in-app ads 

Who Is Roadtrippers For? 

As the name suggests, Roadtrippers is ideal for people planning road trips. The app is helpful for all types of road trip travelers, from those looking for a quick route from A to B to those wanting to visit an array of attractions along a multi-city route. 

Who Is RoadTrippers Not For? 

This app isn’t optimal for those planning different types of travel experiences. For example, if you’ll fly to one city and then want recommendations for tourist attractions, this isn’t the right app for you. You also miss out on features without a paid account, so if you want to benefit from all of a travel apps’ features for free, you may not be interested in RoadTrippers. 

Want to learn more about Roadtrippers? Read our in-depth Roadtrippers review ! 

Best Travel Planning App for Trip Information Organization: TripIt

TripIt is one of the relatively well-known itinerary planning apps that stores all your trip details, like transport and accommodation information, in one place. TripIt can be used via web browser or an app for iOS or Android. 

TripIt has both a free version of the app, with limited features, and a paid-for version called TripIt Pro. You can also purchase TripIt for Teams which is targeted at business travelers.

TripIt Pro: $49 per year with a 30-day free trial

TripIt Teams: Starts at $29 a month for one to ten users 

TripIt Features

TripIt allows you to upload your travel information to one place. Things you can upload include flight details, hotel bookings, and activity reservations. You can manually upload information or email it to TripIt. 

TripIt Pro Added Features 

• Transport fare trackers
• Check-in reminders
• Flight updates
• Seat upgrade information 
• Airport security wait time updates 
• Loyalty/rewards program points tracker 
• Baggage claim location notification 
• Interactive maps
• Ability to share plans with others 
• Features to add documents to your itinerary, such as photos or PDFs 

Who Is TripIt For? 

This is a great app for those that only want to store and organize all the information they already have relating to a trip in one place, and have access to this information on their phone. It’s also very easy to use. 

Those that also want notifications related to their trip all in one place will appreciate the features offered by TripIt Pro. 

Who Is TripIt Not For? 

TripIt is quite a basic itinerary planner. In addition, TripIt doesn’t offer suggestions on things to do in the city you’re visiting. These drawbacks mean that TripIt is best for those that only want to store all of their travel information in one place.

If you’re looking for an app that offers travel suggestions, such as activities to try or landmarks to visit, this isn’t the app for you. Travelers looking for a free travel itinerary app will probably not be interested in TripIt either (you should instead try Wanderlog that’s 100% free to use!) 

Unsure if TripIt is right for you? Read our detailed TripIt review to learn more about the app.

Best Travel Planning App for Documenting Your Trip: Polarsteps

Polarsteps allows you to document your entire trip, along with creating itineraries. This travel app can be used in-browser or via an app and is one of the best free travel planner apps, as you can access all features at no cost. You can pay for a printed travel book with pictures and notes relating to your trip. These books start at approximately $40 for a 24-page book.

Polarsteps Features

Trip Itinerary Creation 

You can create a trip itinerary and add as many stops as you like. These stops include different cities, countries, and landmarks/places of interest. A map showing each stop will also be generated. 

Addition of Images, Videos, and Notes 

For every stop added, you can also upload pictures, videos, and a description of the place. This feature is ideal for those looking to document their adventure and makes Polarsteps somewhat of a digital travel scrapbook. 

Access to Pre-Created Trips

You can follow other users (as you would on social media networks) and access their pre-created trips. This is the one discovery feature on the app to help you find additional places to visit. 

Sharing Features 

It’s easy to share trips with other people, like friends and family. You can add followers to your trip, which allows them to see everything you’re doing. Multiple people, however, can not edit and add to a trip from different accounts. 

Who Is Polarsteps For? 

Polarsteps is recommended for those that want to document their entire trip with images, notes, and the like. It’s also perfect for those taking long, multi-city trips, although can be used by those taking shorter trips too. 

Who Is Polarsteps Not For? 

This app isn’t recommended for those looking to create an itinerary that simply keeps all of their travel information in one place. If you don’t want to document your trip via images, notes, and videos, Polarsteps probably won’t be worth using. 

The app also isn’t great for those looking for activity suggestions, you can access the trips of others for ideas, but the Polarsteps will not offer streamlined activity suggestions itself. 

Read our detailed Polarsteps review to discover more about this app. 

Best Alternative to Print Travel Guides: Lonely Planet Guides

Lonely Planet is an extremely well-known travel guide brand. Recently, they launched an app, Lonely Planet Guides, that is quickly becoming one of the  best travel planner apps. Lonely Planet Guides offers attractions and landmark suggestions for over 1,000 cities. You can also access videos, curated collections, and phrasebooks. 

Lonely Planet Guides is accessible via an app for iOS and Android. There is a free version, but it’s very basic, so paying for a subscription is necessary in most cases. Lonely Planet Guides pricing is as follows: 

• One Month: $4.99
• Six Months: $21.99 (or $3.67 a month)
• One Year: $39.99 (or $3.33 a month) 

Lonely Planet Guides Features

Information on Places of Interest 

You have access to information on landmarks and attractions for the majority of cities on the app. This feature is great for discovery and allows you to find the best things to see and do in the city you’re visiting.

If you don’t have a paid subscription, you can only access info on four places of interest per month. 

Custom Maps and Bucket Lists 

If you discover places of interest that you want to visit, you can add them to a map and/or bucket list. Once in the city, you can open your map to easily see where all the attractions you want to visit are located. 

Without a paid plan, you can only add four locations to your map each month. 

Curated Collections

Access to pre-created collections of things to do is available. These are often categorized, for example, the best markets or restaurants to visit. 

Ability to Purchase Tours and Other Tickets 

If you discover an attraction you want to visit or a tour you want to try, you can purchase tickets via a third party directly in the app. 

Paid Subscription Added Features 

• Access to phrasebooks for 19 languages 
• 360-degree immersive experiences 

Who Is Lonely Planet Guides For? 

The Lonely Planet Guides app is ideal for those looking for a digital alternative to traditional print travel guidebooks. It’s also a good choice for those going on a multi-city trip as you have access to information for thousands of cities across the globe, all from your phone. 

Who Is Lonely Planet Guides Not For? 

Lonely Planet Guides isn’t recommended for travelers that are looking for free travel planner apps. It’s also not the best option for those looking to create complete itineraries that include transport and accommodation information as well as places they plan to visit. 

Get all the details on this travel planner app by reading our Lonely Planet Guides review . 

Best Travel Planning App for Those That Want to Explore Like a Local: ViaHero

ViaHero is a travel planning app with a difference. Instead of planning your itinerary yourself, locals to the area (called “Heroes”) will create an itinerary and personalized guidebook for you. Understandably, this comes at a cost. You’ll be charged $40 per day of itinerary planning, with the maximum paid for a guidebook usually being $125. 

Destinations covered include cities in North America, Central and South America, Asia, and Europe. 

ViaHero Features

Custom Guidebook Creation  

After highlighting the types of activities and attractions you’re interested in, your “Hero” will create an itinerary and guidebook. 

A Personalized Map

You’ll also get access to a custom map that features each location mentioned in your guidebook. 

Booking of Activities and Other Travel Arrangements 

If things on your itinerary need booking (and booking doesn’t require prepayment) your local “hero” will make these arrangements for you. 

Ability to Communicate with Your “Hero”  

You can get in touch with your local “hero” at any point before and during your trip. This feature allows you to request changes to your itinerary and ask questions if needed as you explore the city.  

Who Is ViaHero For? 

ViaHero is one of the best travel planner apps for those that have limited time to plan their own trip, plus a decent budget for someone else to do so for them. It’s also a great choice for those that like to explore off the beaten track and get recommendations from locals instead of visiting tourist hotspots. 

Who Is ViaHero Not For? 

Due to the cost, ViaHero isn’t a good option for those traveling on a budget. It also may not be a great choice for those that are visiting a city for the first time and want to see the most popular landmarks and attractions. 

Being a newer service, only “heroes” from a limited number of cities are available at this time. If you’re visiting an area without a local “hero,” you won’t be able to use the service. 

Best Travel Planning App for Those That Love Reviews: Tripadvisor 

Tripadvisor is another of the itinerary planning apps that’s well-known to the majority of travelers. Along with a browser version, Tripadvisor has a convenient app that can help with everything from booking accommodation to discovering places to visit. 

Tripadvisor is free to use and has information for almost every city across the globe. Tripadvisor will offer an overview of the city you search for, along with hotel, restaurant, and activity recommendations. Best of all, all suggestions include reviews from travelers who have visited. 

Tripadvisor Features 

Things to Do  

Tripadvisor suggests a range of places to visit and activities to try in the destination you’re visiting. Along with searching the “Things to Do” section, you can search for specific landmarks and attractions to get more information on them. Whichever way you search, you’ll also have access to reviews from travelers who have visited the landmark or attraction or tried the activity.  

Restaurants 

You can also access restaurant suggestions for the destinations you’re heading to. Again, reviews from those who have dined at each establishment are available. You can also select categories, such as types of cuisine, to narrow down your search. Many restaurants offer the option to reserve via Tripadvisor too. 

Hotels 

Looking for a place to stay? Tripadvisor has you covered! Simply input the dates you need accommodation for, number of guests, and other filters like budget, if applicable, to view hotel results. You can then go straight to the hotel website from Tripadvisor or view deals from hotel booking sites like Hotels.com. 

Itinerary Maps and Lists

When you find activities you want to try, landmarks you intend to visit, and restaurants you wish to dine at, you can add them to a map and list. By adding these things to a map, you can easily see where everything you want to do is located, and develop day-by-day plans. Unfortunately, you can’t create an actual day-to-day itinerary via Tripadvisor. 

Who Is Tripadvisor For? 

This app is great for learning more about attractions, landmarks, restaurants, and accommodation via reviews. If you like to hear opinions from real travelers before committing to plans, you’ll appreciate Tripadvisor. It also has amazing discovery features, making Tripadvisor ideal for travelers that are looking for suggestions on things to do in the locations they’re visiting. 

Who Is Tripadvisor Not For? 

Tripadvisor isn’t ideal for planning day-to-day itineraries. While you can create maps and lists of all the places you want to go, these can’t be separated into individual days. That can be frustrating for travelers, especially if going on a multi-day or week trip. 

Using Tripadvisor to access reviews and combining this research with a full travel itinerary planner, like Wanderlog , is recommended.  

Other Itinerary Planning Apps to Consider 

While we rank the above five as the best travel planner apps on the market, the following eight apps are worth checking out too!

GEOVEA allows you to plan trips, store details like flight and accommodation info, and search for activity suggestions. This travel planning software also has budgeting features. You can estimate the cost of the activities included in the itinerary to see the overall cost of your trip. 

While you can use the company’s website on your phone, there isn’t an app. The standard version of the software is free but comes with limitations. To have full access to the app, you must purchase a subscription which starts at $29.99/year.  

Hipherd is one of the best free travel planner apps for those looking for a place to store travel inspiration. It allows you to save a range of travel content that you find across the web, such as travel articles, videos, and other information on destinations you want to visit.  

As with Pinterest, you can create “boards” to organize content by destination or other categories. You can view the collections of other users too. You can also create maps that show all the attractions you want to visit. Best of all, Hipherd costs nothing to use. 

Inspirock is a free travel itinerary planning  software that creates day-to-day itineraries for you based on data you input. Once a list of suggested places to visit has been generated, you can edit the itinerary to remove and add activities. You can also access accommodation suggestions, car and flight deals, and booking links. 

Learn more about this travel planner by taking a look at our Inspirock review ! 

Jubel is one of the great itinerary planning apps for those that are looking to discover new destinations. You start by answering a questionnaire to highlight travel likes, dislikes, and other preferences. A customized itinerary for a surprise destination is then created for you. This service does come at a cost, with Jubel users needing a trip budget of at least $1,500 for a solo-traveler trip or $1,100/per traveler for multi-person trips. 

Pilot 

Pilot is one of the free travel planner apps that’s perfect for travelers wanting to create itineraries as a group. You can add travel information, like flight bookings, to your online account, along with adding the activities you’ll do each day to an itinerary. It’s also easy to collaborate on one trip itinerary as a group. As mentioned, Pilot is free to use, but there is not a mobile app, so you must use the software in-browser. 

Portico 

Portico is another recommended app for planning itineraries, organizing travel information, and searching for activity suggestions. Travel confirmation emails (transport bookings, accommodation reservations, etc.) can be added manually or simply email them to Portico to add to your account. You can also search for travel inspiration in-app and add places you want to visit to itineraries and lists. Portico is free and can be used in-browser or via an iOS app. 

Tripscout 

Tripscout is one of the best travel planner apps for trip inspiration and high-quality travel content. You can search an array of content in-app to learn about new destinations and attractions. If you discover things you’d like to do and places you’d like to go, you can add them to lists, itineraries, and maps to begin planning your next adventure! Tripscout is also always free to use. 

Tripsy 

Tripsy is another organization-focused itinerary planning app. This app stores travel information, such as flight confirmations and other transport info, restaurant reservations, and the like.  You can also get notifications, for example relating to your flight status, and can easily share your itinerary with friends and family. 

You can integrate your plans with third-party maps and calendars and can email confirmations as well as adding them manually. Tripsy has a free and paid-for Pro version that offers additional benefits, including unlimited itineraries. 

The Best Travel Apps for Flights and Hotels

Need transport or accommodation deals? These four travel planner apps are here to help! 

Snaptravel 

Snaptravel offers amazing deals on flights and hotels. Simply enter your travel dates and destination(s), and a selection of customized offers will be served to you. Customers benefit from rate and fare reductions of 30-50%, and Snaptravel is free to use. 

Discover more about saving on hotels and flights with this app by reading our Snaptravel review . 

Scott’s Cheap Flights 

Scott’s Cheap Flights provides users with incredible flight deals out of their local airport. You’ll receive deal emails each day with fare reductions of up 90% off applied. Scott’s Cheap Flights offers a free version and paid-for options, which allow you to receive business and first-class deals and add multiple departure airports. 

Read our Scott’s Cheap Flights review to learn more about this company! 

Dollar Flight Club 

Dollar Flight Club is another company offering steep discounts on flights. Enter your departure airport at sign-up and you’ll be emailed daily with great deals to an array of destinations. There is a free version, but this only offers access to 20% of deals. For the best results, upgrade to Premium ($69/year) or Premium Plus ($99/year.) Users can expect to save 60-90% on flights, however, you don’t have the option to get deals for specific destinations.  

Want to find out more? Read our Dollar Flight Club review . 

RometoRio 

Rome to Rio offers an array of transport options that work with your trip and are bookable through the app. This free app can show you flights, car rentals, buses, and trains that will allow you to get from point to point on your itinerary. While Rome2Rio isn’t a deal-based app, you can also benefit from cheaper transport rates when using the app. You can also find accommodation and activity suggestions via Rome2Rio, but cannot create itineraries.

Not sure which of these travel planner apps to choose? Give Wanderlog a try ! It costs nothing to do so, and we guarantee that you’ll love it.

The 8 Best Travel Budgeting Tools of 2023

You will never travel without this app again

• Trip Planner

Trip Planner | Travel Itinerary Planner | Plan a Trip

Are you looking for an itinerary planner to plan your next trip? We know creating a customized travel itinerary manually is an overwhelming task. You have to put a lot of time into selecting destinations, booking hotels, flights, and comparing prices. On top of that calculating budgets & booking hotels and flights is another challenge that makes itinerary planning tough.

But what if all of this is done within a few minutes for you? Yes with TripHobo trip planner you can do this smartly. We have observed that many travelers end up spending more time in researching information than enjoying the actual trip. Not only first-time travelers but also experienced travelers struggle in creating perfect travel plans.

Even though it is a tedious task to create a customized itinerary, everyone agrees on the importance of itinerary for an enjoyable holiday. So Triphobo came up with this easy to use automatic itinerary planner.

How Trip Planner Works / Steps to Plan a Trip

Do you want to create your travel itinerary quickly & easily? Are you ready to use this tool now? TripHobo's trip planner plays a major role to ease the itinerary creation process and helps you overcome the pain in the trip planning .  Follow these 4 simple steps to plan a trip & let us know your experience.

1) Choose Your Destination & Dates when you want to travel

Visual algorithmic trip planner lets you choose destinations you want to travel to. You have the freedom to choose the real dates from the calendar. After selecting travel dates, planner runs algorithms to optimize a trip. It starts suggesting activities, sightseeing spots, tours and transport options with the details. For every attraction, it suggests open/close timings, time to spend, and nearby restaurants.

You can drag & drop activities and complete your itinerary within a matter of minutes. You can book yourself a nice vacation once you are sure of all the details, making you plan your trip very easily.

2) Refer to User Created Itineraries

If you have a lot of travel ideas but confused about where to start? Don't worry. Thousands of other people have visited the same destination before and created itineraries with us. Choose from a pool of more than 1 million user-generated itineraries around the globe. You can view other travelers’ itineraries for any location and duration to inspire yourself and then customize them to suit your own preferences.

3) Book Hotels and Flights

TripHobo always tries to offer the best from the travel industry to our valued planners. It has formed alliances with Expedia , Skyscanner, Zomato and Booking.com. Its ratings and reviews come courtesy of TripAdvisor whereas Google (as well as other partners) powers its location data.

TripHobo aims to cater to travelers at every stage of the travel planning process. It provides one platform to create personalized itineraries and hassle-free bookings .

4) Get Ready with a Perfect Itinerary

Once you’ve created your customized itinerary, you can print it. Save your plan for future reference or share it with your friends. When you’re ready, you can finalize and have a perfect travel itinerary ready.

Why Is TripHobo a Smart Trip planner?

There are few things included in the Triphobo planner algorithm & app which builds itinerary within minutes.

• A free virtual map-based trip planner with a smart algorithm
• International trip planner with about 1,50,000 popular destinations
• The largest repository of user-generated itineraries
• Hassle-free booking options for hotels, tours & flights
• Provides local transit options like metro, rail, bus, and car
• Calculates an estimated budget
• Provides options to save, print and share itinerary
• Strategic Partnerships with leading travel companies

TripHobo: Around the Web

• Trip of Your Own
• Traveling made easier with TripHobo
• Making The Southeast Asian Travel Connection
• Ex-HCL employee’s led ‘TripHobo’ is on a mission to become a global brand – a goto place for travel planning!
• Interview: Praveen Kumar, Founder & CEO of TripHobo
• TripHobo inks partnership with Zomato
• How a trip planning startup can succeed
• Karthik Ramachandram Co-Founder COO, TripHobo - Phocuswright Conference

Here's what travelers have to say about our travel planner

• Excellent 238

Great and genuinely wonderful website that makes a proper vacation plan simple, like it should. All reviews are 5 stars. The only suggestion I have to enhance this fantastic website is to include a mobile application. Even paying for a version without ads wouldn't bother me.

Every traveller should use this!

So much easier & more helpful than a travel agency, given lots of fantastic ideas, and was extremely helpful for planning the trip. Would strongly advise my family and friends to use this!

Great tool for trip planning. Impportantly it's free and automatically tailors travel plans to your preferences and is completely customisable. The integration with skyscanner and booking.com, and other OTA like priceline and expedia makes it very easy to plan the whole trip along with the bookings in one place.

Travel Tools

Use these travel tools to start your budget slow travel experience.

These powerful travel tools are made to help you plan where you might like to go, how you are going to get there, where you are going to stay, and where you are going to eat when you get there. You can then book your flights, trains, ferries, cars, accommodations, tours, and insurance right on this page.

Planning Templates

If you are like me, I like to write things down when I am planning. Here is a free collection of planning templates that you can print out and modify. Choose the one that best suits your need.

Google Maps

Discover where you are going. Find the directions from your place to that place. See pictures and find information of the place you want to visit.

World Factbook

The World Factbook  provides basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, military, terrorism, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.

This website helps plan your transportation between destinations hence the name Rome 2 Rio. The simple search feature returns the routes, time taken, and prices of plane, train, bus, rideshare, car and ferry rides from place to place.

Google Flights

One of the most powerful flight search engines. Search over a broad range of parameters. See graphically which days are the cheapest to fly. I use Google Flights to get a good idea of what I can expect to pay on the regular airlines. 

Book Flights Here

Search multiple airlines for best price, cheap-o-air.

Locate the seat details and plans for every plane on every airline. Find out why you should or shouldn’t select that seat.

The Man in Seat 61

The Man in Seat 61 has detailed information on train and ferry travel throughout the world. Take a train instead of a plane and see the countryside where you travel. 

Choose from a variety of car rental companies to get the lowest price available. Remember, it is cheaper to rent by the week than daily. 

Accommodations

Search all the accommodation booking agencies on the Internet for the best prices being offered around the world. 

Searches all the hotel booking sites to find the best deal for you.

Booking.com

It is one of the biggest booking sites in the world and is the one I use the most often.  I have used it to book places all over the world. I like the cancellation feature because plans often change. The more you book with Booking.com the more discounts you get off the accommodation price through their Genius loyalty program. 

Restaurants

I use OpenTable all the time when going out to restaurants. It takes the pressure off of choosing a restaurant in a new place. Great information on every restaurant so that you can pick that perfect restaurant for your meal. 

Personal Tours

Support local people that you are visiting. Tours by Locals has been connecting travelers with local guides since 2008. Each local guide has been carefully selected so that you can rely on their knowledge and expertise. And every guide brings their own unique insights, skill-sets and interests to their tours.

Another good tour company is Viator. Compare tours and prices between the two tour companies.

XE Currency Converter

The standard for converting world currency. Just enter the amount of money in any currency you want converted and get the amount you will receive in the other currency.

Accuweather

Find the weather forecast for where you are traveling. Also check historic weather for the time period you want to go. 

Google Translate

Instantly translate from one language to another language. The app will allow for speech translation and it is an app I use all the time. 

SnapTravel Accommodation

• Destinations
• Mexico Travel News

10 Best Travel TRIP PLANNER APPs To Have in 2024

In a fast-paced world where the stress of work and school is overwhelming, we all need a break to de-stress our minds. Traveling is one good way to take your mind off of stressful things – a breather. And a scheduled vacation gives you something to look forward to.

Whether it’s a local trip alone, a family holiday, or a getaway with your best friends, it just excites you to wish the day would come faster. 

10 Best Trip Planner Apps in 2024

The freeform app.

• TripIt: Travel Planner

Hopper – Flight & Hotel Deals

• Sygic Travel Maps Trip Planner

Roadtrippers: Trip Planner

Tripadvisor, travelspend: track travel expense & trip budget, tripcase – travel organizer app, travel planning apps for your next trip.

The Freeform app is an endless whiteboard that lets users add information from a variety of websites, photos, videos and files.

Because the boards are kept in iCloud, they can be accessed from any device anytime inspiration hits. While you and your travel companions plan your dream trip, the specifics can be shared with several individuals working together on the same whiteboard, making them an ongoing work in progress.

The Freeform app is free to iPhone users on iOS 16.2, iPad users on 16.2, and Mac users on Ventura MacOS Venture 13.1. 

Download the brand-new app here .

Read our full post: Apple Launches New Travel App Freeform – What to Know

Wanderlog Trip Planner App

Wanderlog is your all-in-one destination for planning future trips, sharing travel guides, and blogging past trips.

Its trip planning features are incredibly flexible: you can research destinations and activities, organize reservations by connecting your email, and map out a day itinerary with start/end times. You can also add notes and links all throughout.

Everything is stored offline so you can access your itinerary when traveling abroad. For road trips, it calculates the time and distance between places and exports them to Google Maps (and there are no limits to the number of stops you have on a trip!).

Plus, there’s a fun social component: collaborate with friends on itineraries, write your own travel guide, and blog about past trips. Wanderlog is available on the web and on your smartphone, so you can seamlessly plan while at home and on-the-go.

iOS  /  Android

TripIt: Trip Planner App

If you need any help organizing the dozens of itineraries, TripIt is the app for you. Users simply need to forward your flight, hotel, restaurant, and car rental confirmation emails to [email protected] and the app will create a free master doc for each of your trips. The best thing about this app is that you can get access to your itinerary anywhere, even without an internet connection. 

In addition, the Pro version will find you alternative routes for canceled flights and send out notifications for delayed flights, cancellations, and more from the airlines. 

iOS / Android

Rome2rio is a versatile travel planning app that simplifies the process of finding and booking travel options. It’s a handy tool for travelers seeking to explore various transportation choices between destinations. Rome2rio offers users a comprehensive view of travel options, including flights, trains, buses, ferries, and even driving directions.

Key features of Rome2rio include:

• Route Information: The app provides detailed information on different routes, including estimated travel times, costs, and the number of transfers required.
• Booking Integration: Users can book flights, train tickets, and other transportation options directly through the app, streamlining the booking process.
• Map Integration: Rome2rio integrates with maps, allowing users to visualize their travel routes and explore nearby attractions.
• Multi-Modal Travel: It offers options for combining various modes of transportation, making it easy to plan complex journeys.
• Accurate Pricing: The app provides real-time pricing information, helping users make informed decisions based on their budget.
• Offline Access: Rome2rio offers offline access to previously searched routes, which can be handy when traveling without a data connection.

Hopper is an amazing trip planner app to have on your phone. The app predicts airfares up to 1 year in advance, with 95% accuracy. It analyzes over billions of flight prices and hotels within the day – telling you whether to book your trip now or wait for just a little longer.

Here’s how it works: Key in your destination and a color-coded calendar will display the cheapest and most expensive date to fly. The app will then recommend you to either book the flight now or sit it out and wait for airfare to get cheaper. Also, you can filter predictions to custom-fit your trip – remove long layovers, extra fees, restrictions, and more. 

And if you worry about missing out the cheap flight bookings, don’t be! Hopper will send you a notification when fares have dropped to its lowest point.

SYGIC Travel Maps Trip Planner

Sygic Travel Maps , the new version of Sygic Trip Planner, is the first travel app to display all of the attractions and places a traveler needs to see and visit on a single map.

Sync your trips with the Sygic Travel app and find hidden gems in all cities you visit. The app boast a large database that allows you to find the best hotels, tourist attractions, museums, restaurants, bars, and stores wherever you go.

This mobile app also let you download offline maps and guides, which come in helpful when traveling to remote locations with poor or non-existing Wi-Fi.

It also has a dedicated section to worldwide places of interest for travel business. Get location information for individual cities, countries, continents, or the entire planet.

The app is available in 18 languages.

iOS / Android iOS

Planning on a cross-country road trip ? Roadtrippers is the app for you! Not everyone is fond of waiting long hours at the airport while sitting through your red-eye flight. Hit the road with your friends instead.

Roadtrippers provides everything you need to know on your road trip. Just enter your starting point, destination, and let the app do its work for you! From camping sites to rest stops, outdoor activities, exciting adventures along the way that you didn’t know existed. This app is the perfect buddy for your road trip regardless of your mode of transportation – a sedan, a rental car, or a huge family RV.

Most of us dream of going to places! But planning an amazing trip to places we have not been to is pretty hard as you don’t know where to stay, what to do, places to eat, and adventures to try. We mostly rely on recommendations, most of which are not even right, that we find online. 

TripAdvisor has over millions of travel recommendations on hotels, top dining spots, must-do experiences, and treasured gems to over 8 million destinations at your perusal. It is an all-in-one app that lets you book tables at restaurants and compares low prices on hotels and flights.

You can also follow friends and travel experts for advice that match your interests, watch videos, and read articles. In return, you can share your experiences, reviews, and helpful guides for other users too!

Setting up a budget for your trip is easy, however, sticking to it is hard. TravelSpend will help you with that. It starts with entering your budget and expenses over multiple days so you don’t go overboard. The app helps you in sticking to your budget effectively.

Being in another country is not a problem at all: enter your expenses in any currency and the app will automatically convert it to your home currency.

Track your travel expenses whether going on a solo around-the-world trip or backpacking holiday with your best friends. The app allows you to share your trip with your friends and track your expenses together. Pay debts, split bills, and check your balances – all in the app!

TripCase, a comprehensive travel organizer app, has emerged as a popular choice among travelers seeking a streamlined and efficient way to manage their journey details.

Here’s a breakdown of its key features and functionalities:

Centralized Itinerary Management : TripCase allows users to consolidate all their travel details, including flights, hotels, and car rentals, into a single, easily accessible itinerary.

Real-time Flight Alerts : The app keeps travelers informed with up-to-the-minute notifications on flight statuses, including delays, cancellations, and gate changes.

Itinerary Sharing : TripCase offers a sharing option that enables users to send their travel plans to friends, family, or colleagues.

Travel Directions and Maps : To aid navigation in unfamiliar locations, the app provides directions and maps.

Nearby Recommendations : TripCase offers recommendations for restaurants, attractions, and other services close to the traveler’s location.

Document Storage : For added convenience, the app allows users to store essential travel documents digitally, ensuring that important information like passport details, visas, and insurance policies are readily available.

Customizable Notifications : Users can customize their notification preferences, choosing what types of alerts they receive and how they are notified, tailoring the app to suit individual needs and preferences.

iOS / Android 

Hi, great List. I couldn’t travel without my Apps! I have one App you could check out =) Its called ” ATM Fee Saver” and it gives a list with all ATMs and their fees and limit. I found it super helpful and it really helped me to save some money. Best regards, Charlotte

Thank you for your suggestions! Those apps are very useful and various

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Google for Travel: Plan Better with These 8 Tools

• Updated: 10/28/2023

Google offers a suite of travel planning tools to help you travel better. These tools will make your life easier by saving you time and money and keeping you more organized at every stage of your trip. 

Learn which tool to use and its special travel planning features in the sections below. 

Table Of Contents

Overview: 8 Tools for Better Trip Planning

These eight Google trip planning tools are free, easy to use, and sync seamlessly across devices for excellent on-the-go access anytime and anyplace. Use them for their wide-ranging and flexible travel features.

• Google Maps . More than driving directions—create custom lists and maps.
• Google Explore . Discover where to go anywhere in the world for your budget and dates. 
• Google Flights . Research flights and track price changes for most airlines.
• Google Hotels . More than a hotel search engine—learn the best neighborhoods to stay and ideal times to visit.
• Google Things to Do . Search for top sights, attractions, and activities for any destination.
• Google Chrome . Keep track of trip-related websites across devices.
• Google Docs . Use for itineraries and mobile note-keeping.
• Google Calendar . Schedule bookings and create shared calendars.

Google Maps

If you plan to use any Google tool to help with travel planning, use this one. Its functionality far exceeds driving and walking directions . Use it to create your own custom destination information and route plans in shareable lists and maps called “My Maps.”

See examples of a custom Google Maps list for Saugatuck, Michigan, and a “My Map” for the top things to do near San Ignacio, Belize, below.

How to use this map:  In the map header, click the square tab to the left of my logo or click the enlarge frame to the right to view detail. You can save the map to “Your Places” on Google Maps by clicking the star next to the map name. Or you can share it by clicking the share icon.

When you create your own lists and maps, save places and attractions you want to visit or those you have already been to. Rely on them when you travel or share them with friends and family when you return.

Check out five reasons to use them and how to create your own in “ Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning .” 

Google Explore & Google Flights

Google Explore is a powerful map-based search tool built on top of the Google Flights search engine. Additionally, it offers links to outstanding trip-planning resources.

For any traveler who has puzzled over the question, “Where should I go next?”—Google Explore will be your new favorite shortcut to figure it out. 

It shows all possible travel destinations across a navigable map from one location. A recent upgrade now extends beyond flight destinations. Users can now discover driving and combo flying-driving destinations, like National and State Parks and nearby small towns and resort locations.

For example, see the screenshot exploring where to go on a one-week trip in spring , using Chicago as the origin city. 

Sign up for my monthly Discovery Newsletter & get a free Trip Budget Calculator !

Learn more about using this powerful tool in “ Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore .” 

Google Flights is a top airfare search engine . And it is the first travel planning website many seasoned travelers go to research route options and fare prices. In addition to cross-comparing fares, you can use Google Flights to track any flight. Once you follow a flight, Google will send you alerts about fare changes. When you see a dip, you can buy and save.

Learn more about setting Google Flights price tracker alerts in “ How to Save Time & Money with Google Flights Price Tracker .” 

Google Hotels

In addition to providing an easy-to-use navigable map to search for top lodging, Google Hotels features three little-known helpful buttons that could save you loads of time when you plan your next trip. 

These buttons include: 

• Where to stay?  
• When to visit?  
• What you’ll pay?

Click any of these buttons, and they will quickly, elegantly, and expertly help you answer some of the most essential questions in travel planning. 

The Where to stay? button will provide a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of where to stay in any city—from Miami to Mumbai. Watch this quick YouTube video to see where to find it. 

The When to visit? button will give a month-by-month breakdown of the weather, including temperature ranges and rainfall, crowds, and pricing peaks, to help you determine the best time to visit.

The What you’ll pay? button will show you what you can expect to pay across lodging classes. Then filter your results for hotels in your budget. 

Google also offers a s earch engine for rentals called—wait for it— Google Vacation Rentals . Discover listed rentals from Vio.com, BringFido.com, Evolve.com, BluePillow.com, and others. Find its button at the top of the Google Hotels main page.

Google Things to Do

Once you have your flights ticketed and your hotels booked, your next step is to figure out what you want to do at your destination once you arrive. Google can help with that. Visit its Things to Do page for any destination and get a shortcut to top sights, attractions, and activities. 

For example, see the short clip below showing a scroll down the Google Things to Do page for Paris . 

Scan the page for top sights or take a deeper dive—and search by interest —like Arts and Culture or Outdoors. Or search by neighborhood. 

Click the save ribbon on a place you want to go, and this will save the item to a generic Google Maps list  called Travel Plans. Or you can save it to a custom list you pre-created. 

Learn how to create your own custom Google Maps lists for travel planning in “ Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning .”

Google Chrome

As part of trip planning—you will review websites for hotels, activities, and service providers. When using Google Chrome as your search engine and while logged in, bookmark and save these sites to a destination-specific folder.  

Organize your folders by location , and you will have all your best resources ready for easy reference anytime you need it, especially as your saved bookmark folders will sync across devices. 

Learn how to create, view, and edit your Google Chrome bookmarks on this Google how-to page .

Google Docs

Google Docs is Google’s cloud-based word document editor that you can use to share and collaborate with others with real-time editing. 

If you have a Google account, you have access to Google Docs. And you also have access to available space on your own free cloud-based Google Drive to store your documents. 

If you do not have a Google account, create one here .

Use Google Docs to create itineraries or to save and store travel recommendations and likely lodging options. 

Docs are shareable, downloadable, and sync across devices. Learn more about Google Docs on this tutorial page from Google, or watch this YouTube video . 

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is another free, web-based tool you may already use for your day-to-day time scheduling and can also use to record trip bookings. 

In addition to syncing across devices, Google Calendar works with Gmail to auto-create new calendar events from booking and ticket confirmation emails, sending them to your mobile Inbox for you to accept, reject, or edit. Learn more about how this works in “ Tips to manage Calendar events in Gmail .”

You can even create a shareable trip-specific calendar on Google Calendar, which is helpful for group planning. See Google’s how-to instructions to “ Create & share a group calendar .”

Related Reading

If you are searching for more travel planning tools to help you save time and money and to stay organized, check out the related articles below.

• 49 Things You Need to Do to Plan Your Best Trip (Free Travel Research & Planning Checklist)
• Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning
• Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore
• How to Save Time & Money with Google Flights Price Tracker
• 5 Proven Ways to Simplify and Organize Your Travel Research
• Rental Car Insurance: When You Need It & When You Don’t
• Pack Faster & Better with This Universal Printable Packing List
• 25 Expert Packing Tips to Help You Travel Better
• Pre-Trip: A Practical Checklist to Close the House & Pack

Additional Trip Planning Resources

To further help you with travel planning, I share my go-to resources for every trip below. 

Google Flights. Save money and time by searching this free flight search engine for affordable and direct flight options. Learn more about why to use it here . 

Google Hotels . Use its “Where to stay” button to discover which neighborhood to stay in and which hotel to book. Learn more in this video clip . 

Booking.com. You will love its more flexible cancellation and payment options, user reviews, discounts, and easy-to-use interface for hotels and rentals.

Viator , Get Your Guide , & Airbnb Experiences . Search any of these tour and experience booking platforms to find and pre-purchase highly rated guided activities.

Google Travel Things to Do & Google Maps . Discover more travel things to do on Google Travel, then record the places you want to visit on your own Google Maps lists. 

AllTrails . Use AllTrails to find top hiking and biking trails. Get up-to-date route info, like trail difficulty ratings, what to expect, user reviews, and access points. Sign up for   AllTrails+ to download offline maps.

Guide Along . For U.S. road trips and National Parks. Download these 5-star self-guided audio tours that are GPS-compatible and work offline. Hear stories, fascinating facts, and tips for visiting. We loved the  Glacier National Park tour .

Insure My Trip. Stay protected using this online travel insurance agent and search engine to shop policies from different insurers. Buy from the ones with the highest user ratings. Learn why to buy it here . 

Want to know the 15 travel apps I have downloaded and updated for every trip? Check them out here .

About the author:  Janice Moskoff is a travel writer and blogger who loves hiking, exploring the world, and reading. She writes to inspire travel-loving families, adult friends, and couples on her blog,  Gather and Go Travel . Check out  her bio , learn how she became  a blogger , and discover how to  work with her . Sign up for her monthly  Discovery Newsletter  to get her latest travel recommendations and  how-to’s .

Love to travel? Sign up for m y monthly Gather & Go Travel Discovery Newsletter and get a free trip budget calculator .

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I only recommend products and companies I use. And the income goes to keeping the site community-supported and ads minimal.

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Welcome to Gather and Go Travel , a blog inspiring families, adult friends, and couples to explore US and international destinations and to get outdoors. I am Janice, an experienced traveler to over 50 countries and a travel writer, book lover, and blogger. Learn more about me , read our story , and how to work with me .

Need an Itinerary for a Spring Trip to Europe? Here are 25 Amazing Ideas

49 Things You Need to Do to Plan Your Best Trip (Free Travel Research & Planning Checklist)

Rental Car Insurance: When You Need It & When You Don’t

Your Family Will Love These 30 Road Trips Near Chicago

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Essential Travel Tools

You’ve decided you need a vacation. Now what? Good things come to those who…plan, in this instance. Check out my favorite travel tools below to help make your travel planning a breeze!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, including links through the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases .  At no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I won’t recommend something I have not used/would not use myself, and any income earned supports the upkeep of this site.

Travel Tools to Plan Your Flight

This is often the most stressful part of planning. What’s the best time to book? Is there some curse upon both your houses if you wait ’til the weekend to book? What if my flight drops in price AFTER I book??

To all of these questions I say, it kinda is what it is.

I’ve found that there’s really not a “good” time to book. Certainly, if you see a good deal, that deal’s probably temporary, and in those cases, the best time to book would be NOW.

The more tools you sign up for to watch flights for you the better. Although at times, that can make you a little bit crazier, too.

Sometimes deals drop on weekends. Sometimes it really is the mystical Tuesday you keep hearing about. If you see a deal that is crazy good, go for it. You’ve got 24 hours to cancel it if you change your mind, and that rule applies for any airline.

FlightAware is by far the easiest flight status tool out there. Search by flight number or by route to get up-to-minute info on the flight you’re tracking, whether that’s a connection of your route or your great aunt’s travel from New York.

You need to know when to head to the airport, after all.

If you’re a big nerd, you can also track flight news on the site, and learn all kinds of information about the industry that you didn’t think you needed. It’s just one of those travel planning tools that you’ll certainly end up bookmarking once you’ve seen its usefulness.

Going , formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights, is a subscription service where you enter your home airport(s) and watch the magical flight deals come to your inbox, sometimes on a daily basis. If you’re lucky enough to live within driving distance of a popular airport like LAX, those air travel deals can even come twice a day.

It’s a real problem when you’re trying to decide between an exotic beach vacay in the Carib or a European getaway. Then somehow you’ve booked both and you have some ‘splainin’ to do.

It’s an annual fee of $49 currently, but the amount of money you’ll save on one of the best travel tools online is worth the $49. I promise.

Be forewarned, though, that you may just spend more on travel because the deals are that good. I can manage those kinds of problems.

Google Flights remains a popular free tool when comparison shopping for flights. While I typically start my searches using Skyscanner , I’ll compare what I find using Google Flights and the Google Flight Matrix to make sure that I’m getting the best deal.

I mean, is there anything better than bragging about the deal you just got to Paris to your envious family and friends?

If you’re open about your destination and really only care about finding a good deal, a fun feature of this free trip planner is that you can input your dates of potential travel, and see what pops up on the map as good deals for those dates. It’s pretty handy around peak travel times in the summer and around holidays.

Sometimes, that’s how you get to Omaha. It’s really a nice town, by the way, and came to be thanks to Google’s online booking tool.

I use a variety of tools to find cheap airfare, but when I’m looking to book during a particular period of time, I’ll use Skyscanner . It’s one of my favorite, most intuitive trip-planning tools.

This free tool is great when you’re more flexible, too, as it allows you to compare travel based on length of travel, departure date, etc. Skyscanner is typically Ground Zero for any travel planning I’m doing in regard to the flights portion, especially when I’m in the mood for a multi-destination trip planner.

Seat Guru is useful for its seat maps. According to the site, you can enter any one of 1,261 aircraft into their search engine and come up with seat maps for your flight.

It’s a good way to avoid sitting in a seat that doesn’t recline, or too close to the lav. If you’ve ever sat next to the bathrooms, you know how critical it is to have this information. They’ve got some other features on there now, but I use other sites for those things.

I follow most of the major airlines on social media, as they’ll post deals from time to time you may not catch otherwise. If you’re just looking to go somewhere without a particular destination in mind, it’s not a bad strategy.

I’ve had the most luck with regional travel on Southwest Airlines — and they continue to amaze me with those no-change fees for travelers — but sometimes there are international travel deals that pop up randomly.

I’ll share what I see in my newsletter sometimes, so subscribe today to get down to business on some deals.

Travel Tools to Book Your Accommodations

I don’t only stay in hotels. I love a good bed and breakfast, and find that my social anxiety is lessened when presented with hotcakes and homemade jams. Sometimes my travels, especially when they involve friends, require something a bit more condo-style with access to kitchens.

Maybe I need a cabin in the woods, complete with a hot tub situation.

In any case, check out my favorite accommodation booking tools below!

Agoda is an international booking tool for accommodations that I’ve found is most useful when booking travel to Asia.

We’ve found resort-level accommodations on the site for what I’d consider hostel-level prices by American standards using Agoda when planning trips to Asia.

Bangkok in particular has some fancy places on there for not many baht. That’s the currency in Thailand, if you thought for a second I was having a stroke.

You’re able to book flights on the site, as well, but I’ve never used that feature, so can’t vouch for its effectiveness here!

My relationship with Airbnb is a complicated one. When it’s amazing, it’s  really amazing. We’ve met some fantastic hosts on the site who are in the game for the right reasons, and often go above and beyond to show off their cities and towns and villages and etc.

When it’s bad, it can be really bad, too.

We’re pickier now with our Airbnb bookings, poring through those reviews to make sure we’re not booking with someone who has loads of properties on the site.

We also like doing our research as to whether the site’s even welcome in our chosen destination, because there are some cities out there that have placed restrictions on these kinds of vacation rentals due to the effects on local housing markets.

Do you due diligence when you use the site or use my tips for booking on Airbnb .

Booking.com is a great site to find cheap hotel-type accommodations, with a growing number of apartment-style places, as well. We’ve been primarily using it for travel throughout the United States and Europe, now that Airbnb pricing has become a bit outrageous in the major cities.

The more stays you book with them, the more you’ll get back, too. I’ve achieved a “genius” level with them which means 15% off of my future stays, and the ability to call myself a genius, which is really powerful at my house.

Hotels.com is a common comparison tool for us when we’re looking for accommodations. As with Booking.com , the more you stay with them, the more you’ll get back.

For every 10 nights you book on the site, you’ll get a night free. They average out the cost of your last 10 nights to issue that credit. You have one year from the time your free night is issued to book it.

Lately, they’ve had an influx of condo-style properties on the site, too, which isn’t a bad thing. Just make sure you’re looking at a property’s review history, as you would with any booking.

All hostels aren’t created equal, but the listings on Hostelworld are all vetted and heavily reviewed for all of your budget-friendly accommodation needs.

Hostels are particularly immersive when you’re traveling abroad. They often come with enough private space to be comparable to boutique hotels on the comfort factor. Most recently, we stayed in a hostel that was a converted convent, something I’m sure the nuns in the Catholic schools I attended in my youth would be proud of.

Or maybe they wouldn’t be, considering the time I had there.

Vrbo is our preferred Airbnb alternative for booking properties listed by their users. We’ve used it a number of times, and it’s particularly useful when looking for pads that will accommodate large groups, say, on a ski weekend.

I’ve also used the site when I’m seeking out a particular property based on something I’ve read about it elsewhere. They’ll often have them listed on Vrbo over anywhere else, and you can usually find Airbnb listings also listed here.

When you’re trying to avoid booking with Airbnb, that’s a pretty sweet thing.

Travel Tools to Book Your Car

Figuring out how you’re going to get around your final destination once you’re there is an important part of travel planning. You don’t want to wait until you’re there, as you often miss out on the best deals if you wait until the last minute.

If we know we’re going to rent a car, we’ll usually do so from the airport of our destination unless there’s a high surcharge for pickup/drop-off at the airport. Make sure you know driving regulations of the country you’re visiting before you go.

Typically, you’ll only need a driver’s license and your insurance, but do that research ahead of time.

Need a few ideas on what to bring with you on the road? Check out my guide to road trip essentials .

Typically, the available car rental search tools will have a similar range of prices on car rentals. I use a few comparison tools, but will usually start with Hotwire .

If you’re not loyal to any particular rental car company, Hotwire will offer what is called “hot rate” options with deep discounts from a series of agencies. You just won’t know which company it is until you’ve booked.

Hotwire also allows for searches on hotels, flights, and various bundles if you’re looking to book everything together, but I’ve found other tools offer better deals — and loyalty programs — for those purposes.

Priceline is a good comparison tool when looking for deals, as they have nearly 300 different car rental agencies that they sift through when you’re looking to rent a car.

If you’re loyal to a particular car rental company due to the benefits you receive from renting with them, you can also search by that company. I’m not loyal to any one car rental company, because I like those deals.

You can also use Priceline for searches on your hotels and flights, but I prefer other tools for those purposes.

Travel Tools to Plan Your Travel

I like to fancy myself a pretty good travel planner. At least that’s what I hear from those who have been on trips with me.

I can rattle off all kinds of tips to places I’ve been, especially if I’ve been multiple times, like Australia or France. But where do I get my intel when I’m planning a trip to somewhere I’ve never been?

I’m a Google docs user for most of my trips. I like taking a lot of notes on what I want to see, and organizing those notes by things like neighborhood. I include restaurants I want to try around the sightseeing I want to do. Some of them get quite intense, depending on the timeline I’m working with.

It’s especially helpful when you’re traveling with a group, as they’re shareable with others. Those travel buddies can add notes to the document you create, even highlighting must-sees for them.

It’s perfect for the Type A personalities among you.

If you’re really fancy, I’ve seen friends use Google Sheets to go even further, creating trip planner spreadsheet templates that include their budget, flight details, transportation options, and more. That’s some organizational magic right there.

I go crazy with the pinning when I’m planning a trip somewhere, or when attempting to bake a multi-layer cake, or procrastinating with photos of baby animals. I finally created a board on my own Pinterest account where I can now collect all the baby animals, by the way.

Check it out .

There are so many people out there creating itineraries and sharing their own tips before visiting a particular destination, no matter how far-flung it may be, that it’d be foolish to ignore Pinterest in your own planning process.

It’s definitely one of the more useful social media apps out there, unless you’re headed online for butts and photoshopped islandscapes.

Why start from scratch when there’s a wealth of information out there for you?

We love a self-drive adventure and planning our own travel. It’s part of my Type A personality. I like the control involved with blazing my own path.

Sometimes, though, it’s easier to book a guided experience, especially if you’re having one of those bucket list experiences . V iator is the largest tour provider in the world, and has provided us with some pretty incredible experiences abroad.

They helped us plan a trip to Doi Inthanon , the highest mountain in Thailand. Brian was sick at the time, and I was sick of trying to figure out how we were going to get up there without driving ourselves up a winding, fairly treacherous road.

Viator came to the rescue. Sometimes you need to let the experts do their thing . Oftentimes, you’ll feel some personal bonus points, too, as you’re supporting local guides.

Travel Extras: Helpful Apps

The apps below make travel — and life, to be honest — just a little bit easier for you. Take a look!

If you’re traveling in a group, Splitwise is an essential app to help make the pain of sharing costs among friends on vacation painless.

The app is completely free. Anyone who downloads it is able to add to and access the running tally of who owes what.

That way, when the bill comes around for dinner, someone in your group can handle it on the spot and then split up the tab on the app later, when you’re not all anxious about figuring out who ordered what. You’re able to split costs on the app evenly, by percentage, or even manually enter in who owes what.

Once the trip’s over, the app gives you a complete report of spending that happened and some options on how to pay your tab or how to get paid. Typically we link up our Venmo accounts for the easiest transaction with no fees. There may be associated fees if you go the credit card route.

Another option if you’re not as crazy about your itineraries as I am is the TripIt app . What’s nice about this free app is that it organizes all of your itineraries in one place, making this one a pretty handy addition to your travel toolkit and an easy itinerary planner online.

For example, if you’re staying at a number of places on your trip, just forward along those hotel confirmation emails and the app will organize them for you by date.

You’re also able to access the app anywhere, with or without WiFi. There’s an additional premium service if you’re fancy that includes settings and additional features like a rewards tracker and currency converter, but I find that its most powerful features, namely trip organization, are on the free version.

For more travel tips, check out my best posts on helping you travel better. Interested in nailing those essential travel items? I’ve got a guide for the best travel gear and travel gadgets that will make your travel breezy.

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Make your travel plans easier with Expedia's Trip Planner. From saving favorites and organizing, to deciding with your group and booking your ideal trip, everything is together all in one place. You can select your favorite stays and activities while you search, and then find them later in your account. Avoid the hassle of sending multiple links to a group chat by inviting your family and friends to collaborate on a group trip where they can share ideas and see everything at once. After you've settled on your itinerary, you can make the bookings you need and keep them organized all in one place. Its ease of use makes it one of the best trip planning tools around.

How Trip Planner works

Sign into your Expedia account to save and compare your favorites to a new trip, work together with your friends and family on your group vacation, and keep all of your bookings in one itinerary planner. It just takes a few clicks to get the ball rolling.

Create a trip and save your favorites to plan your itinerary

Go to the Trips tab on the homepage, click on "Create a trip", and type in a new trip name. Start trip planning by searching for stays or things to do at your destination. Tap the heart icon to save your favorites to the right trip.

Invite friends and family to create a group trip

Open your trip and invite your fellow travelers to collaborate in the Trip Planner. As soon as they accept the invite sent to their email, they'll be able to view the itinerary planner, save more items, and even book the options you've decided on.

Book and manage your trip itinerary in the same place

Make all the bookings you need by tapping the three dots on your saved options. You can also change and cancel bookings in the same place.

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FAQ: Learn more about Trip Planner

What should I do to plan my trip?

Get started with our Trip Planner in one of two easy ways:

1. Sign into your account, search for places to stay or things to do, and tap the heart icon on the image of a listing that you want to save. You'll be asked to create a new trip by giving it a name and saving it to your trip planner.

2. Head to the Expedia homepage, click on Trips in the top right corner (on desktop) or in the bottom menu bar (in the app), and then select "Create a trip".

How do I create a trip plan?

Once you've signed into your account and created your trip, you can save accommodations and activities to your trip. Soon you will also be able to save your preferred flights in our Trip Planner.

Why is trip planning important?

Saving items in a travel planner online helps you stay organized by keeping all your favorite stays and activities saved in one place. Instead of switching between multiple browser tabs, just open our Trip Planner.

When you're ready to book, it's easy to compare options , see all your locations on a map, and book directly from your saved items.

When should you start planning a trip?

Any time is a good time to start planning travels, and our Trip Planner can be used for everything from last-minute weekend getaways to a summer vacation planned over the winter. Just click on Trips on our homepage to get started.

How to plan a successful trip?

Saving your stay and activities to a trip helps Expedia better understand your preferences, so we can recommend more places to go and things to do to fill out your travel plans and make your trip unforgettable. Take advantage of our vast inventory and useful filters to make sure you get the accommodations and activities for your ideal trip.

Where can I find the items that I saved to a trip?

Head to the Expedia homepage and click on Trips in the top right (on desktop) or in the bottom menu bar (in the app). Select the trip that you want to view and look for "Saved items" to see all the items you've selected for that trip that haven't been booked yet.

With our trip planner, your booked and saved items are all in one place, which makes it easier to book your trip piece by piece.

Where can I find my booked items?

On the Expedia homepage, click on Trips in the top right (on desktop) or in the bottom menu bar (in the app). Select the trip that you want to view and head to "Bookings" to see all the items booked for that trip.

When you plan a trip online with us, you can keep your booked and saved items all in one place, making it easier to manage and build your trip.

Can I move a booked or saved item to a different trip?

Yes, we've made it easy to move items, because we know that planning your trip can mean adding more places to see or splitting favorite destinations up into multiple trips.

First, select the trip that already has the items you want to move. For booked items, tap the three dots on the top right corner of the item and select "move to another trip". For saved items, follow the same process and select "save to another trip" instead.

How can my friends and family help me plan a trip online?

Friends and family invited to collaborate on a trip with you will be able to view, save, and book items in your trip planner itinerary. All they need to do to start collaborating is accept the trip invite sent to their email.

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Google’s New Travel AI Tools Want to Plan Customer Trips

Justin Dawes , Skift

March 27th, 2024 at 12:04 PM EDT

Google is the among the tech giants investing in a reimagined, AI-powered future of travel planning and booking. How can the smaller companies compete?

Justin Dawes

Google said Wednesday that it is adding several new tools meant to help travelers plan trips and explore destinations. 

Most notably, they include the ability for Google Search to create itineraries based on prompts from users, as well as enhanced information in Maps about certain cities and places to visit.  

AI-Powered Trip Itineraries in Search

Google has added an experimental AI-based itinerary creation capability to its traditional Search tool for users that opt in. 

Users can prompt Search for an itinerary for a certain destination, and it responds with flight and hotel options, as well as suggestions for attractions and dining. Any links that Google provides bring the users to travel company websites, where they can complete the bookings. 

To create the itineraries, Google said the AI draws on information from across the web, as well as reviews and photos that users post about businesses. 

Users can then export the trip ideas to Gmail, Docs, or Maps, the company said. 

Google said in May 2023 that it would be experimenting with integrating generative AI into search and invited users to test the new tech. The trip itinerary capability is a new piece of that experiment. 

It’s available in English in the U.S. only. Users can try it by enrolling in Search Labs and enabling the Search Generative Experience.

Microsoft relaunched Bing in February 2023 with similar attributes powered by OpenAI and has made updates along the way, such as for personalized event suggestions . 

Several startups have emerged with similar products over the months, a handful having received small amounts of venture capital. Since ChatGPT was released in November 2022, experts have questioned whether entrepreneurs stand a chance against giants like Microsoft and Google, which have vast amounts of data and resources. 

Recommendations and Customizable Lists in Google Maps 

Google is adding a capability to its Maps app meant to provide users with more details about destinations for select cities in the U.S. and Canada. 

It includes recommendations from locals and publishers, like The Infatuation, as well as lists of “trending, top, and hidden gem” restaurants created by info from Google Maps. 

When looking at a specific restaurant or place on Maps, a new AI-based feature is meant to show users key photos and reviews that summarize people’s favorite aspects. The AI can also help identify what a dish is called, Google said, which could be helpful for travelers in a new country. 

Another new Maps feature: Users will be able organize lists they create within the app. The list creation tool has existed for a while, but the new capability allows users to organize based on their top favorites or something else. The lists can also link to content from social media channels, meant to add context for anyone viewing a saved list. The list update is being released globally this month for Android and Apple devices.

As Google continues to enhance its trip planning capabilities, it becomes a bigger threat to companies like Tripadvisor, which offers itinerary-creation tools. Tripadvisor’s hotel metasearch business has already taken a hit since Google Hotels entered the market. 

Translation 

Google is “soon” adding a new capability, accessible through select Android mobile devices, that’s meant to translate content on the screen without switching apps. It could be especially useful to travelers trying to find their way around a country where they don’t speak the language. Google used the examples of translating a PDF restaurant menu or a social media post. 

It’s part of the Circle to Search tool that was released in January, which allows Android users to initiate a Google search by circling text or an image on the screen.

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Tags: artificial intelligence , google , maps , online travel newsletter , search

Photo credit: Google is releasing updates to Search and Maps for travelers. Pixabay

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11 Travel Tools You Won’t Regret Splurging On

Shannon McMahon

Editor Shannon McMahon is always planning her next trip and often writing in her travel journal. Follow her on Twitter @shanmcmahon_ and on Instagram @shanmcmahon .

Shannon joined SmarterTravel in 2015. A former news reporter, she's lived in the south of Spain, spotted elephants in Sri Lanka, gone spelunking in the Caribbean, hiked Jordan's Petra Basin, interviewed Sao Paulo's Michelin-Star chefs, and explored China via bullet train. Travel trends, news oddities, and her visits to up-and-coming destinations are some of her favorite things to write about.

Her stories have also appeared online on USA Today, The Sun, Huffington Post, Business Insider, blog.TripAdvisor.com, Boston.com, and more. Her educational background is in journalism, art history, gender studies, Spanish, and film. She's been quoted as an expert travel source by CNBC, People.com, MarketWatch, The Washington Post, USA Today, and more.

The Handy Item I Always Pack : "Plenty of extra thick hair elastics. They tame my frizzy curls and come in handy in a surprising number of packing and hotel dilemmas."

Ultimate Bucket List Experience : "Climbing (yes, climbing, it's steep!) the Great Wall of China before it's gone."

Travel Motto : "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." - Mark Twain

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat : "Window, of course."

Email Shannon at [email protected] .

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Frequent travelers are always in search of a good deal, but some travel tools are worth spending a bit more on. What’s the point in buying a cheap travel accessory if it’s not going to last?

Travel Tools Worth the Splurge

Here are the travel tools worth investing in once—and how they’ll help improve your travels, trip after trip.

Wireless Headphones

Don’t let uncomfortable headphones or a screaming baby keep you from sleeping on your flight. Noise-canceling and sleep-friendly wireless headphones are a travel tool worth splurging on if you have trouble sleeping on the plane, or simply want to block out the rest of the world.

SleepPhones look like a soft headband, but have wireless headphones inside that will allow you to sleep in any position on the plane. You’ll forget you’re even wearing them; I use them to turn on white noise that lulls me to sleep when I’m restless in a new place . Comfortable noise-canceling headphones that pack small like Bose’s wireless QuietComfort 35 are also a wise investment if you’re more invested in blocking outside noise.

Universal Power Adapter

Don’t be the American who blew a fuse plugging everything into one cheap adapter. A universal plug adapter that lasts means you’ll never have to worry about blacking out the hotel or shocking yourself—don’t learn this the hard way, with a cheap $3 adapter, as I did. Instead, invest in one universal adapter that meets your travel needs, like Zoppen’s International Travel Adapter , with Japan, U.K., E.U., and Australian compatibility for small electronics (but not bigger appliances, like hair dryers). It also has four USB ports for device charging, and its retractable prongs make it a super packable travel tool.

Hiking Boots

If you’re a hiker or camper, or you just enjoy a walk in the woods, stop heading out in your gym sneakers. A durable pair of hiking boots will save your feet and ankles from injury and fatigue, and your sneakers from getting ruined—plus, they’re a travel tool that will last you forever.

Keen has hiking shoe variations for every type of adventure, whether you want packable sneaker-like hiking shoes for shorter treks, or true boots with ankle support for rockier adventures. Keen’s waterproof Gypsum II boots come in both a men’s and women’s style and a variation of colors. These were my first hiking boots and may be my last: They’re packable and durable, and they provide all the support I need.

The Right Camera

Good photos will last a lifetime, so don’t settle for blurry smartphone shots: For something more capable of zooming and getting better light, invest in a packable camera—it might cost less than you think. Mirrorless cameras are thinner than a DSLR, and so are notoriously pricier, but Canon options start at around $450.

Not looking to pack a camera? Newer iPhone and Galaxy phones will do for most trips, and can be improved with clip-on lenses like AUKEY ‘s HD wide-angle lenses, which take up virtually no packing space.

Hard-Sided Luggage

Check your bag often? Consider a hard-sided suitcase that will last. Baggage handlers can get rough, and you never know what could end up broken or damaged. Briggs & Riley’s Sympatico hard-sided spinner expands by 22 percent to fit everything you need, and it compresses back down to meet airline size limits if you decide you’d rather take it as a carry-on. It comes with a lifetime guarantee that you’ll never have to pay for repairs, so while it is pricey, it could be the last suitcase you ever buy—making it the ultimate travel tool.

A Combination Back-up Charger

A portable charging bank is a must-have travel tool in case you run out of phone battery in an unfamiliar place—but new versions are combining them with other travel tools like luggage scales and flashlights for added value.

The  Oaxis Air Scale can give you a digital reading of your bag’s weight when it’s not charging your device, and other packable chargers like Xcentz’s flashlight power bank have built-in flashlights that can come in handy in an emergency. Having a multi-use version on you at all times will put more than one travel problem at bay and make the purchase more worthwhile.

A Crossbody Travel Bag

Security, utility, and fashion can all be achieved with the right crossbody bag. Purchasing one on the smaller side is convenient and will force you to carry only what you need, and zippered pouches will keep pickpockets at bay. Travelon’s Anti-Theft LTD Crossbody is fashionable enough for all environments.

Packable Jackets

Bulky coats are not your travel friend, but it’s important to have a warm outer layer as a travel tool in the colder months. Invest in a dense-but-thin jacket with down, like Patagonia’s Nano Puff for both men and women.

Looking for something with more substance? Consider these 10 great travel jackets that are easy to pack .

Cozy Walking Shoes

More from SmarterTravel:

• 9 Travel Products That Will Take the Stress Out of Your Trip
• 10 Controversial Travel Gadgets That May Actually Improve Your Trip
• 7 Tiny Travel Gadgets You Can’t Leave Home Without

Some review products are sent to us free of charge and with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions, positive and negative, and will never accept compensation to review a product.

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in 2017. It has been updated to reflect the most current information. Prices are subject to change.

We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.

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Google will now let you use AI to build travel itineraries for your vacations

As we inch toward the summer holidays, Google is announcing a slate of travel updates that place it squarely in the travel planning process and give it a lot more insight into purchasing intent in the travel sector.

First up, Google is rolling out an update to its  Search Generative Experience (SGE) that will allow users to build travel itineraries and trip ideas using AI, the company announced on Wednesday.

The new capability — currently only available in English in the U.S. to users enrolled in Search Labs , its program that lets users experiment with early-stage Google Search experiences and share feedback — draws on ideas from sites across the web, along with reviews, photos and other details that people have submitted to Google for places around the world.

When users ask for something like “plan me a three day trip to Philadelphia that’s all about history,” they will get a sample itinerary that includes attractions and restaurants, as well as an overview of options for flights and hotels, divided up by times of day.

For now, the itineraries are just that: There are no options to buy services or experiences on the spot. When you’re happy with your itinerary, you can export it to Gmail, Docs or Maps.

Google has not commented on when or if it might roll this out more widely. But it points to how the company is experimenting with how and where it can apply its AI engine. A lot of players in the travel industry may be eyeing up the role that generative AI will play in travel services in the coming years — some excitedly, some warily. But even now, startups like Mindtrip and Layla , which provide users with access to AI assistants that are designed to help you plan your trips, are already actively pursuing this.

But with this new update, Google is taking on startups like these while also gathering data about travel purchasing intent (useful for its wider ad business) and learning what kind of appetite its users might have for such services.

Image Credits: Google

Google also announced that it’s making it easier to discover lists of recommendations in Google Maps in select cities in the U.S. and Canada. If you search for a city in Maps, you will now see lists of recommendations for places to go from publishers like The Infatuation, as well as from other users. You will also see curated lists of top, trending, and hidden gem restaurants in 40+ U.S. cities.

Finally, the company is adding new tools to help you customize lists you create, so you can better organize your travel plans or share your favorite spots with your friends and family. You can choose the order the places appear in a list so you can organize them by top favorites or chronologically like an itinerary. Plus, you can link to content from your social channels.

7 Free Travel Planning AI and ChatGPT Apps to Get an Instant Itinerary

These free travel planning apps use AI and machine learning to prepare a holiday itinerary for you in seconds.

Quick Links

• PLAN by ixigo
• Trip Planner AI
• Vacay Chatbot

Key Takeaways

• Layla, Wonderplan, and PLAN by ixigo are AI travel planning apps with customizable itineraries.
• iplan.ai offers detailed itineraries for popular tourist cities based on interests and budget.
• Curiosio plans road trips on all continents, while Trip Planner AI helps with activity selection and cost estimation.

You can tell a travel agent your preferred dates, the place you want to visit, and your budget, and expect a full itinerary of what to do there based on your preferences. But can AI do the same job?

These free travel planning apps use AI and machine-learning tools like ChatGPT to prepare an itinerary for you in a few seconds, and we took them for a spin.

Layla describes itself as an AI trip planner, meaning you can use it to decide your vacation destination, create itineraries, and find suitable hotels and flights.

If you are uncertain about your destination or would like suggestions, you can ask Layla for advice regarding your trip. Otherwise, enter your destination and ask Layla to create your itinerary. Within a few seconds, you'll get a detailed plan for your trip.

As Layla is a chatbot, you can enter a prompt to ask it to change your itinerary. For instance, ask it to focus more on outdoor activities or include local restaurants. If you're unsatisfied with the activities planned on any particular day, you can give instructions and ask Layla to regenerate that part only.

Once you've perfected your itinerary, you can share it with your friends via a URL or add it to your bucket list.

2. Wonderplan

Wonderplan is a wonderful AI tool for planning your trip. To create your itinerary, Wonderplan first asks you to enter your destination country and city, your budget, the number of days you'll be staying, and your interests.

It then creates a travel plan within a few minutes, displaying various places to visit, their descriptions, and the time usually spent at each location. Although Wonderplan doesn't show the trip map, it does provide a link to Google Maps for each place.

It also displays different types of accommodation available (like Airbnb, hotel, or hostel) and their respective costs. Similarly, there are details about transportation, food, and activities. This way, you can estimate the potential cost of your trip.

In addition to your itinerary, Wonderplan also shows essential information about the country you're visiting. These include the currency conversion rate, electricity plug type, languages spoken, weather, and popular conveyances.

3. PLAN by ixigo

PLAN by ixigo starts by asking you about your dream destination. Then, it provides an option to describe the type of experience you want to have. This is just like a ChatGPT prompt, so you can enter anything you wish.

For example, you can specify the duration of your stay, your interests, the kinds of activities you're looking for, whether you have a family with you, and so on.

But if you can't think of any prompts, PLAN by ixigo provides a few trip ideas, so you can always select those. PLAN by ixigo then shows a day-wise plan, showing what you can do in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

However, if the suggested itinerary doesn't sound appealing, you can again enter a prompt to edit it.

4. iplan.ai

While iplan.ai doesn't mention which AI or machine-learning algorithm it uses, the results are fantastic enough to gloss over that. The app works beautifully on phones to give you a full itinerary for any one city at a time, depending on how many days you have there.

The app first asks you to name the destination city. As far as we checked, iplan.ai works best for popular tourist cities, not offbeat or obscure travel. Next, note how many days you will be there, and then choose your free time each day—a cool step to ensure a better itinerary if you already have some plans, but not a whole days worth.

Tell iplan.ai if you're traveling solo, as a couple, with family, or with friends, and then choose your interest among topics like history, art and culture, nature, entertainment, shopping, food, sports, relaxing, etc. Finally, choose between an economy, normal, or luxury budget.

After a few minutes, iplan.ai gives you a day-wise itinerary for your trip. It's plotted on a map so you can see all the locations, and each point of interest has a brief description along with estimated travel time.

The app has both free and paid plans. With a paid account, you can share the trip plan with your friends and access it offline. Another limitation of iplan.ai is that you can't get an itinerary for a multi-city trip. For now, you'll need to make a plan for each city you're visiting, one at a time.

Download: iplan.ai for Android | iOS (Free, Paid)

5. Curiosio

The easiest last-minute travel plan is to get into a car and drive. Curiosio specializes in helping you plan an itinerary for a road trip to several major countries on all continents. It doesn't cover every single place, but the existing collection is impressive enough.

Curiosio uses its own AI engine, Ingeenee, which is trained on several crowdsourced travel-based resources, such as Wikivoyage, Wikipedia, Wikidata, Freebase, DBpedia, GeoNames, OSMNames, and OpenStreetMap. Through this dataset, it can chart an itinerary that meets your requirements across various parameters.

You can set options for a round trip or a one-way trip with starting and finishing points. If there are any places you want to visit on the way, add them in. Then set the number of travelers, dates of the journey, what vehicle you're using, total budget, and whether you want to visit places that spark curiosity or are obscure. The AI will usually give you multiple plans and routes for these options.

The itinerary includes a map of your route and a day-wise breakdown of where you'll be going and what you'll be seeing. Each point of interest is clickable to find more information about it. There are easy ways to share your itinerary with co-travelers, print it out, or even export it to Google Maps. Curiosio is one of the best road trip planners for your next adventure .

6. Trip Planner AI

Trip Planner AI plans a perfect trip to your dream destination. Begin creating your itinerary by entering the city you wish to visit and traveling dates. You can add multiple destinations here.

Then, select the kinds of activities you prefer, the number of people, and whether you're traveling with friends or family. Trip Planner AI asks you about your dietary preferences and budget.

As an optional step, you can specify the place where you'll be staying so that it creates an itinerary accordingly. If you haven't decided on your lodging yet, you can explore hotels suggested by Trip Planner AI.

Finally, Trip Planner AI generates a detailed itinerary, a map, and basic information about the city you're visiting. For each destination, it provides the details of the place, expected traveling time, and cost. Though it provides a complete plan for your trip, you can manually add or remove activities from your itinerary. You can also invite your friends to edit the itinerary and download it as a PDF.

7. Vacay Chatbot

Vacay Chatbot is not a dedicated itinerary maker but an AI chatbot that acts like your travel advisor. So, you can ask it to give travel recommendations, compare different destinations, and, of course, create an itinerary. If you've previously used AI chatbots like ChatGPT, you'll find this trip planner easy to use.

Just enter a prompt specifying your destination and trip details and ask Vacay Chatbot to create an itinerary. You can include details like your trip duration, budget, preferences, number of travelers, etc. The more details you provide, the better your itinerary will be.

One of the downsides of using Vacay Chatbot is that it doesn't provide a map for your trip. However, you can use these apps to plot your itinerary on a map .

All these travel planning AI apps urge you not to use the itinerary as-is and only treat it as a template or guide to begin planning your trip. This is because they currently have several limitations, like databases that aren't recently updated or require specific prompts from the user.

A real human travel agent will still give you a more customized itinerary, but it will cost you a few bucks. If you want a free base guide, more basic travel planning apps are a good starting point.

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Google’s new travel tools to plan your next trip

Get ready to curate a new travel wardrobe or easily plan a trip’s itinerary.

By Alyssa Bradford

Google has upgraded Search, Maps and Shopping to help users prepare for those summer vacations ahead.

According to Forbes, “These new features can help you easily build personalized itineraries. ... The new perks are in addition to recent travel bookings, including price protection coverage on qualifying flights and AI-powered trip planning functions.”

6 new or improved Google tools

This year, Google has or will release generative AI in Search, recommendation and customization Maps lists, travel wardrobe curation, translation of on-screen text with Circle to Search and multisearch in Lens.

1. Plan a trip without research

To plan a trip using Google ’s AI features:

• Opt in for the Search Generative Experience (SGE) and Search Labs .
• Google “Plan me a (pick a number) day trip to (pick a location).”
• Look at the list of suggestions which will include sites, restaurants, hotels, flights and more options to use or visit.

If you like the given itinerary, Google has export options to Gmail, Docs or Maps, according to TechCrunch .

2. Find lists of attractions or restaurant recommendations in Maps — or make your own

To find a list of the best places to visit while traveling:

• Search a location or general city in Maps.
• Scroll down and see “Lists in (location).”
• Click on the list you would like to see to view locations, reviews and images of the best places to visit.

Per Forbes , the recommendation lists will include a:

• Trending list: Places that have been very popular within the past week.
• Top list: Places that users consistently enjoy.
• Gems list: Places with high ratings but are less visible or visited than other locations.

To create your own list:

• Go to “Saved.”
• Click “+ New List” at the top of the page.
• Name and describe the list.
• Choose to make the list private or shared.
• Click the “+” button at the bottom of the page to add destinations to your list.
• To your description of the destination, add website or social media links as wanted for more information about a place.
• Change the order in which you, or those you shared the list with, see the destinations.

3. Find a new outfit for your vacation

According to Google , to find new shirts, pants, shoes or anything else to add to your wardrobe for your upcoming trips:

• Google a specific wardrobe piece you want to buy.
• Click on the link “personalized style recommendations.”
• Similar to dating apps, swipe right or left to rate which items you like or dislike.
• Find the “liked” saved if you search the same subject later.

4. Translate text while in foreign locations

To translate menus, pictures, music, brochures or anything else with a language you do not understand:

• Download Circle to Search.
• When you come across text on screen that you do not understand, long press the home button.
• Click the translate icon.
• Seek the language change on your screen.

In general, with the app Circle to Search, individuals can initiate a Google search by circling text or an image, according to Skift .

Other AI travel websites

If you enjoy using AI, or need a little more help with suggestions, here are other websites to go try:

• Travel Planner AI .
• Just Ask Layla .
• Wonderplan .
• Build AI – AI Trip Planner .
• Tripadvisor .
• TripGenie .
• Roam Around .
• AdventureGenie .

Is it OK to use AI for travel?

Per CNBC , according to a survey conducted by the market research firm National Research Group on using AI for travel:

• Many respondents were willing to use AI for trip planning: 61%.
• Over half of respondents cited distrust in the technology’s ability to safeguard their personal data: 51%.
• Respondents also expressed concerns about potential inaccuracies the results provided: 33%

According to National Geographic , AI is great for creating ideas, finding businesses or translation. However, AI does not collect all information accurately. It is best to verify if a place suggested to visit on AI is open, what prices are or that information about the place is correct.

Regarding safety while using AI tools, per Wired :

• Check the privacy policy before use: What are you agreeing to?
• Be careful what you share: If there was a data breach, would you want to share that information?
• Explore privacy and security controls: See if you can automatically delete data or clear conversations, for example.

What the Tech: Plan a vacation with Google’s new AI tool

A UGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - When you’re planning a vacation, you might know where you want to go, but you need help with what to do when you get there.

Where to stay, where to eat, what to do during the day and are there any baseball games/live bands/festivals taking place when we’re going to be there?

People have been using Chat GPT to create travel plans and itineraries, but Google believes it can do it better.

And maybe it can because of the billions of pages of information in its search engine. At least we were anxious to see what it could do.

Now, to plan a vacation all you need to do is ask Google and its new generative Artificial Intelligence tool in the normal Google Search bar.

Let’s plan a vacation in San Francisco, California. We’ll add that we are interested in live music and wine and would like to include Napa Valley.

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Add the dates and for how many people. We typed into the search bar “plan a vacation in San Francisco for June 18 to June 28 for four people. We are interested in live music and wine.”

After hitting ‘enter’, Google scans its resources and, in a few seconds, gives us a daily itinerary.

Something for the morning, afternoon, and evening that it thinks we’ll like based on our search criteria.

It recommends Bix restaurant with live music on day one. We can read reviews, see them on a map, visit the website, and see the menu.

AI recommends we spend the first few days in San Francisco and then take the remaining days to travel to popular wineries in Napa Valley. Not only does it deliver recommendations of which wineries have the best tours, but it also includes driving directions and even some cool places to stop along the way.

It also shows available flights and hotel recommendations where we can search for ‘deals’ and vacation rentals.

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We tried it again to plan a trip to Chicago in June and told Google we love baseball.

Once again, it returned a five-day itinerary for those dates and made sure to include a game at Wrigley Field. A link on that recommendation took us to the box office for tickets.

We found the links to Reddit communities to be most helpful. Rather than searching the millions of sub Reddits to find one with reviews and recommendations, Google sent us links to the best ones.

And it’s all in one search.

Since it’s generative AI and like you’re talking to a real person, you can ask follow-up questions rather than starting over.

If you’re happy with what Google’s AI assistant found, you can share it with someone else by exporting it to Gmail and sending it off. They’ll get the itinerary in their inbox with clickable links. Or you can export the trip to a Google Doc to print or share.

Google’s Generative AI for things like this is still experimental but I found it to be extremely helpful in planning a vacation.

It is just part of Google’s new AI platform called “Gemini”.