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Plan Your Next Trip with the 25 Best Travel Resources Online

Growing up as an “army brat,” Sydney could not help but develop a thirst for travelin...

• Before You Go
• Travel Apps
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Ah, yes, the five stages of planning for a trip—dreaming, excitement, overwhelm, booking, and eagerness. Well, maybe something like that, right? Most trips involve doing some research, making reservations, and organizing excursions. For many, the hardest parts are getting started and staying within a budget. That’s why we’ve rounded up the 25 best travel resources to help you stay organized and achieve your trip planning goals!

It’ll require some planning and resources to get yourself here!

Whether you’re looking to find the best activities or get the best deals, these travel resources online cover all that and more. Some of them are only online, some are only mobile apps, and some are both—but all of them will help make planning the best trip ever a breeze .

While you may have heard of a couple of these travel tools, other ones have excellent reviews but haven’t achieved household name status (yet!). Either way, you’ll fall in love with them!

READ MORE: 8 Essential To-Do’s Before You Travel Abroad

25 best travel resources online, planning & research, 1. goabroad online advisor.

GoAbroad.com lists thousands of international programs (with reviews!) in 11 directories from studying and interning to working and adventuring abroad. Not sure where to start? Fill out the free GoAbroad Online Advisor form with a little bit about yourself and what you’re looking for, and ideal programs that meet your requests will surf right into your inbox!

Know what country you want to visit but not sure what documents it requires? Hate going through the long arduous process of applying for a visa? iVisa is an online passport and visa service that does all the hard work for you! It’s a safe, affordable, and reliable travel resource that processes your documents in a timely planner.

3. Lonely Planet

As the crème de la crème of travel advice websites, you’ve come to the right place with Lonely Planet. Learn about the top attractions, the best ways to get around, the best times to visit, and more about pretty much anywhere in the world all in one place. The top-notch travel descriptions and beautiful imagery will also pump up your excitement for your getaway!

4. Wanderlog

From gathering reservations to mapping routes, Wanderlog is both an online site and mobile app that helps you keep everything organized for your travel itinerary. You can even collaborate with friends while travel planning in real-time. It automatically stores plans for offline use too. Plus, you can read descriptions and reviews and explore top lists that other users made.

5. TripAdvisor

As another one of the best travel advice websites, TripAdvisor has you covered if you want to go somewhere but don’t know where to start. With millions of reviews and ratings, you’ll easily discover the best things to do, places to eat, places to stay, and even where to park in rural and urban destinations all over the world.

Finding & Booking Flights

6. skyscanner.

Both an app and a website, this travel resource boasts the cheapest flight prices thanks to its price trend tracker and multi-city searches. It has received thousands of rave reviews for helping people find, compare, and nab budget-friendly flights. You can also look for car rental and hotel deals with Skycanner too.

This free mobile app helps travelers save big on flight costs by notifying them when it’s the right time to buy. It also helps you find the cheapest days to travel, provides tips about airports, allows you to freeze future prices, and offers flexible dates and refundable ticket plans. You can book flights, hotels, and cars with Hopper too.

Accommodation & Lodging

Agoda’s a free online search engine specifically made to help you find hotels, hostels, and resorts with over 2 million properties listed worldwide. This site will help you get the best value for your lodging and even offers a best match guarantee, so if you find a better price on the web, they’ll refund the difference.

9. Tripping.com

More interested in a vacation rental? Tripping.com lists over 12 million accommodations to choose from in more than 190 countries. Whether you’re looking for a cabin or a condo, you’re bound to find an affordable and spacious vacation rental at a good price with this online tool.

10. Hostel World

With nearly 18,000 listings across 179 countries, and millions of reviews, this is a fantastic travel resource that helps budget travelers and backpackers find good deals on accommodations. You can find hotels, hostels, bed and breakfasts, rooms, dorms, and more all in one place on the site and the mobile app.

Transportation & Getting Around

11. alltrails.

Looking to hike, bike, walk, and explore the outdoors while you’re traveling? Can’t get more details beyond the driving directions on Google Maps? You’re in luck with AllTrails, which provides more than 200,000 detailed trail maps for your next adventure—and yes, you can download them for offline use too!

12. AutoSlash

AutoSlash helps you save hundreds of dollars on car rentals! This travel resource doesn’t rent out cars itself, but it does all the hard work for you—all you do is enter some information about your car rental needs, it searches all the car rental providers, and it emails you the best deals.

Whether you’re looking for flights, ferries, buses, or trains, Omio is a helpful site for your transportation needs in Europe and the U.S. You can book tickets on the app, and keep them tucked away on your phone. Many reviewers love how easy Omio is to use and also that you can compare prices for different transportation modes.

14. Rome2Rio

If you’re looking for travel resources that help you find the best way to get from Point A to Point B, you’ll love Rome2Rio. It’s a more robust transportation tool that lists flights, trains, buses, ferries, rideshares, and rental car info in more than 160 countries. All you gotta do is plug in your starting location and ending destination, and this app and website will find the best, most affordable route for you.

Food & Activities

15. atlas obscura.

If you’re looking for things to do beyond the landmarks, give Atlas Obscura a try to discover the “world’s hidden wonders” that other travelers recommend. This is one of the best travel resources online that suggests plenty of unusual attractions to visit and places to eat all around the globe. You can even sign up for small-group trips and online courses.

Whether you’re looking for relaxing activities or outdoor adventures, Klook lists a gamut of things to do at great prices. You can book activity tickets and tours on this online site and mobile app. Klook also provides transportation tickets and dining options, more specifically in Asia.

17. Get Your Guide

Get Your Guide is all about helping travelers book last-minute tickets to attractions, tours, and activities. Plus, the tickets have a flexible cancellation policy. Both an online site and mobile app, this resource lists over 40,000 activities for you to discover with insightful tips too.

As far as travel resources go for food, Zomato will help you find the best local eats so you can go beyond the corporate chain restaurants. Hungry for something healthy? Or something theme-related? This will help you discover anything your stomach desires all over the world with lots of reviews to boot.

19. HappyCow

For travelers who are vegan, vegetarian, or for those with special dietary needs, HappyCow offers an easy-to-use app to help you find restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores that meet those needs. With over 156,000 options in 180+ countries, this app makes it easier to avoid spending hours hunting down a place, or worse, feeling “hangry.”

You know how when you travel, you don’t always get a good Internet connection, or you have to be in airplane mode on flights? This can be frustrating when you’ve found things online that you’d like to read later (e.g. articles with restaurant or activity recommendations). With the Pocket app, you can download items when you’re online and save them to later watch or read while offline.

Banking & Insurance

21. digital wallet.

Digital wallets, or e-wallets, allow you to conveniently and contactlessly purchase items in stores, in apps, and online by using your phone instead of cash or plastic. Some examples include Apply Pay and Google Pay. Digital wallets offer enhanced security with how it stores cards and makes payments. You can also save your boarding passes, tickets, and transit cards.

While traveling, it can be hard to track spending and staying on top of a budget. But Mint makes it easy. Mint is a free mobile app that assembles your bills, credit cards, accounts, subscriptions and more all in one place. You can even get notified when bills are due and receive insights into how you can save more money—great for saving up for your next trip!

23. NordVPN

While you may rely on public Wi-Fi while abroad, you take the risk of scammers infiltrating your Internet connection and stealing financial information. Plus, you may not be able to access the same sites and streaming platforms you use at home while abroad. But NordVPN, a virtual private network provider, provides a secure connection and a means for travelers to watch their favorite shows too .

24. SafetyWing

When you travel, you’re open to more vulnerabilities, and you just never know if an accident, natural disaster, or illness will strike. And the last thing you want to worry about is affording a large bill down the road. SafetyWing offers an impressive travel insurance policy that even covers dental and trip delay at a very affordable price.

Most travel insurances don’t cover air-medical transport services, and if they do, they come with restrictions and other costs. Medjet offers both short-term and annual insurance options that cover transport both domestically and internationally. You just pay a membership fee for your insurance, and you don’t have to worry about any bills or paperwork after an incident.

Research Your Trip in Our Travel Article Directory

Do you have the best travel resources to plan your next trip.

Need a plan? The right resources will have you covered.

Planning a trip can feel like a whirlwind, but this list of the 25 best travel resources cover all the bases to make arranging your next getaway much easier. And daresay, more fun! With the vast majority of these tools, you’re in good company with reviews, advice, and recommendations from fellow travelers who have been in your shoes. Your next adventure awaits. Bon voyage!

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33 Travel Resources: The Best Tools for All Your Travels

After 22+ years of traveling and living abroad, we’d like to share with you our best battle-tested travel resources .

From the first steps of getting inspired to booking the best flight and from the safest way to pay to the easiest way to stay connected…

These are 33 travel tools that will help you plan and enjoy your trips to the fullest!

Use the icons for easier navigation.

Note : This article contains affiliate links . In case you purchase something through one of these links, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost for you. Thank you for helping us keep creating the free content on this website!

How to Find Your Next Destination

Use a combination of travel blogs, forums, videos, and guidebooks to get inspired and research your next destination.

We often get inspired for our next destinations by fellow travel bloggers.

We hope our website will help you choose your next trip as well. To start immediately, check our latest blog posts at 33 Travel Tips for the most actionable travel advice online!

Tip : If you don’t know where to find great travel blogs, try searching travel directories, such as itravelnet.com and davestravelcorner.com .

Where to Look for General Travel, Safety, and Visa Tips

Before even starting to plan your travels, get to know the current health, safety, and visa requirements .

Depending on where you’re from and what your destination is, some of the following travel resources might not be applicable. Nevertheless, they’re worth mentioning as you never know where your next adventure takes you.

• U.S. Department of State Travel Website . Check warnings, advisories, and current safety measures for all travelers.
• European Union’s Official Website – Schengen Visa Requirements . A list of all the visa requirements for visiting European countries in and outside the Schengen Area.
• Transportation Security Administration . Everything you need to know about security screenings and what you can and cannot bring on a flight.
• World Health Organization . The latest news about any ongoing disease or emergency.
• CDC’s Travel Page . Information about alerts and emergencies regarding international travel for U.S. citizens as well as other travelers visiting the United States.

Tip : If sieving through countless websites to find the information you need for your trip isn’t your cup of tea, let us do the heavy lifting for you. We’ll compile a handy travel checklist tailored to your needs, so you don’t have to waste time and money on boring research.

How to Find the Best Flights

Here are the top travel resources for finding the best flights to your chosen destination. Some will even give you great ideas about where to travel to depending on your budget , airport , and dates .

We recommend using at least two of them to have a better understanding of the available connections and price ranges.

• Google Flights . Hands-down the best starting point for any flight search. Currently, they even tell you the luggage policies on your selected connection.
• Omio . A great search engine for all possible connections between destinations – flights, trains, and buses.
• Kiwi.com . This travel tool is capable of finding some unbelievable hidden gems (we mean flights ).
• Momondo . The Explore function can locate the cheapest flights from a chosen airport. This might give you unexpected travel ideas to discover.
• Kayak . Similar to Momondo , we use Kayak mostly to find the cheapest flights from our nearest airport. Sometimes we just want to escape without a particular destination in mind.

And here are our tips for finding the best flights :

• Be as flexible with your dates as possible.
• The moment you find a fare that matches your budget , buy the ticket.
• Don’t forget your comfort needs . Traveling for 30+ hours with 4 connecting flights isn’t worth saving $50!
• Sign up for frequent flyer programs and airlines’ newsletters to receive their current promotions and travel deals.
• Set Google Flights alerts and track your preferred flights. Book the moment you know your dates and the price is right for you.

Tip : Use Wikipedia to search for your starting and destination airports. Then, check the list of airlines that serve them. You might find additional ideas for connecting or direct flights from nearby airports.

Where to Book the Best Accommodation

When searching for the best accommodation , use several different websites to compare prices and availability.

As with flights, book the moment you find a match for your dates and budget.

Our recommended accommodation booking sites are:

• Booking.com . It is probably the biggest accommodation booking search engine right now. You can find anything from luxurious villas and all-inclusive resorts to bungalows and city apartments.
• Hotels.com . Although not as huge as Booking.com , it sometimes has better deals for the same hotels. Additionally, you can sign up for their rewards program and earn free nights .
• AirBnB . In many destinations, renting an apartment from a local is a much better option than a hotel room. Make sure to read all reviews and choose hosts with impeccable records.

Where to Book the Best Tours and Day Trips

Do you want to save yourself the hassle of organizing every aspect of your trip yourself but still have some flexibility?

Why not join a few day trips or tours at your destination while planning everything else yourself?

Here are our favorite tour booking tools:

• Get Your Guide . Use Get Your Guide if you wish to book your tours/tickets in advance. Use it if you want to buy them last-minute as well. Whatever your travel style – well-prepared or spontaneous – it has you covered.
• Viator . Find activities for your next trip and book them comfortably with Viator . You can reserve your spot and pay later.

Tip : You can use these links to book entrance or skip-the-line tickets to almost any attraction as well. Also, there’s free cancellation up-to 24 hours prior to the booked activity.

How to Access Your Money on the Road

Although you can use credit and/or debit cards virtually anywhere in the world, there are situations when this is not the best payment option .

For example:

• Your bank may block your credit card because they notice a seemingly suspicious overseas transaction.
• The ATMs at your destination might charge exorbitant fees.
• It might be faster and safer to use a payment app than typing your credit card’s number online.

Here are several tools and services which will make paying for that delicious burrito or awesome show a breeze:

• Xoom . Use it for fast and secure transfers. In some countries, the ATM fees add up quickly. With Xoom, you can send money to yourself and receive it in a bank at your destination. The fees are much more affordable that way.
• Western Union . It’s not the cheapest way to send and receive money, but their offices are virtually everywhere. If, God forbid, you end up without a penny in your pocket, use them as a last resort for receiving emergency cash.
• WeChat . The multi-purpose app has you covered for messaging, social media, and payments. You might not use it at home, but if you’re traveling to China, that’s what you’ll need.

How to Find the Best Public Transportation Options

If you’re not renting a car and driving yourself, getting from one attraction to another or from one stop on your itinerary to the next can be tricky.

We use the following travel resources to find the available public transportation routes :

• Google Maps . Use its public transportation routing option.
• Discover Cars . Your own wheels can take you where public transport can’t. For the best deals, we recommend Discover Cars.

Tip : Timetables and routes aren’t constantly updated, except for big cities and popular destinations. Check the carrier’s website if unsure how recent the information is.

How to Score the Best Deals on Cruises

Do you want to score a good deal on a cruise vacation ?

The following travel resources have you covered:

• CruiseDirect . This search engine gives you not only extensive information on available cruises anywhere in the world but also provides special discounts available nowhere else .
• SeaRadar . Rent a yacht easily and enjoy your greatest sailing adventure.
• Marella Cruises . The leading UK cruise vacation provider, part of the TUI family.
• Iglu Cruise . Find amazing sailing and cruise holidays in every season.

How to Stay Connected While Traveling

Wanna check your boarding times on the road?

Or call your mom to tell her you’ve arrived safely?

Here’s the combo we use to stay connected while traveling:

• Surfroam – internet access for travelers . The only SIM card you’ll ever need on your travels. After trying a few options, we believe this is the best travelers’ SIM card for mobile internet.
• Viber . If you still need to make a phone call, you can bundle the mobile internet SIM card with a prepaid call-out credit from a VoIP app. Viber works best for us, but there are other options as well.

Why do we believe this is a great combo?

• You have only one SIM card for all your future trips.
• You don’t pay exorbitant prices to your home country’s mobile provider.
• You avoid buying a local prepaid card and ending up with unused credit .
• It’s extremely easy to check your remaining credit and top-up your card .
• It works in almost any country in the world . It even works in countries where most other travelers’ cards don’t!

Tip : If you have a SIM card from an EU member country, you can use it within the whole European Union without additional roaming charges .

The Best Travel Apps to Use During Your Trip

In addition to the above travel tools, use these apps at your destination to make the most out of your trip. With their help, you’ll navigate through any foreign country easily.

• Google Translate . We especially love the Conversation mode. You need to be online to use it – but you already know our recommended way to stay connected on the road 🙂
• Google Maps . Navigation has never been easier. Whether you need to find the way from your accommodation to the beach or how to travel from the airport to your hotel, Google Maps is invaluable. You can even download your destination’s map at home and use it offline.
• Google Lens . The visual search is amazing for figuring out what you’re looking at. No matter if it’s a menu in a foreign language, a stunning building, or an exotic flower.
• Currency Converter . When traveling, you constantly need to know how much you’re paying for your lunch or coffee. Or how much of the local currency you need to withdraw. Currency converter apps are a savior. We use the one from Oanda Corp. , but others will do the job as well.
• E-book Reader . Whether you want to read a novel on the beach or take a guidebook with you, Amazon Kindle is probably your first choice for e-book app/reader. However, e-books come in different formats. If your Kindle doesn’t support them, there’s also the Play Books app for your smartphone.
• VPN . Some countries block certain websites. For example, China is notorious for its Great Firewall . To access your favorite services, you’ll need a VPN app. Here’s a list of the ones we’ve used that you might find helpful as well:
• Hola Free VPN Proxy ,
• Tunnel Bear ,
• ExpressVPN ,

Tip : Download any necessary information for offline usage before your trip.

Which Travel Resources Do You Use?

These are our best battle-tested travel resources, tools, and apps .

We use them in the different stages of our travel preparation, as well as during our trips and holidays.

Did we miss a travel resource that you love?

Shoot us a message ; we’ll test it and share our opinion about it.

Happy travels and stay safe!

P.S. Overwhelmed by all the options and steps you need to do before enjoying your vacation? Let us do all the work for you! Book our expertise and profit from a customized travel itinerary , tailored exactly to your needs.

The 50 Best Travel Websites and Travel Resources 2024

March 28, 2024

Here’s my collection of the top 50 travel websites and travel resources for all stages of dreaming, planning, booking and remembering your trip based on decades of professional travel. 

The Best Travel Resources for Booking and Planning Your Trip 2024

As a regular contributor to  The Independent’s 50 Best Travel Websites feature , I know my way around travel websites. As a frequent traveller myself, I practically live on the things.

From dreaming about a trip, planning a trip, writing up a trip and reviewing trips for work, these are the travel resources, online booking sites, search engines and route planners I use to help me get the job done. Booking travel without travel agents has never been easier – even if it doesn’t feel like it at times.

So here’s my list of the best travel websites for 2024. It’s the best time to uncover the best places.

If you book or buy through the links on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. However, we only ever recommend things we believe in and use ourselves. We also don’t earn a commission from all of these travel websites. Alas ;-)

The Best Hotel Booking Sites for Special Occasions

To find the best hotels needs a little bit of legwork. If you’re looking for somewhere beautiful to stay with a real travel experience, then try these sites first. If you’re looking for something more practical, jump on down to the next section.

Here are the top travel websites when it comes to boutique hotels:

Design Hotels

Beautiful, stylish and with up to 40% off for members, the chic and sleek Design Hotels website is a firm favourite of mine. Membership is free, quick and easy on the eye.

Best Loved Hotels

Best Loved Hotels gathers together properties from the UK and Ireland that show a real passion for what they do. From countryside manors to city break boltholes, I’ve stayed in several of their properties and have loved each one.

Mr & Mrs Smith

You may be forgiven for thinking this gorgeous collection was all about romance, but beyond finding great places for anniversaries and honeymoons, Mr & Mrs Smith cover great child friendly places too. Not just a website for inspiration, you can book directly on the site.

Small Luxury Hotels

The name says it all. Small Luxury Hotels   collect together independently minded hotels on their website and promise – and deliver – an authentic travel experience.

Leading Hotels of the World

Another website that wears its heart on its sleeve, Leading Hotels of the World gather together more than 375 luxury properties (including resorts) around the world.

MyBoutiqueHotel.com

With a great eye for design, MyBoutiqueHotel.com , as the name suggests, sources boutique hotels from around the world available for direct booking. Properties are combined into an easy on the eye collection, with curated lists for main cities plus the ability to create your own shortlists as you narrow down your choice. Membership is free and the themed lists save hours of research. You’ll find budget and luxury boutique hotel choices and can drill down to those suitable for work, for the kids, for romantic getaways and more.

The Best Hotel Booking Sites for the Best Deals and Specifics

These are the best travel websites for 2024 for booking flight and hotel packages together or for searching for accommodation when you have very specific needs. These online travel agencies let you trawl through thousands of places to stay in the blink of an eye. Plus, several offer exceptional hotel deals for your next adventure.

cozycozy.com

Describing itself as a search engine for accommodation, CozyCozy.com is an exciting newcomer on the hotel booking block. It rounds up offers from hotels, rentals, hostels, treehouses and boats into one easy to use platform. You’ll find the giants, like Booking.com and AirBnB and VRBO, as well as smaller accommodation solutions too. By searching with Cozycozy.com, you can save yourself a lot of time. They won’t cover everything. But they come pretty close.

A few more things to note. They guarantee that the price you see is the price you pay. They have a range of filters that go further than the rest (think searching for a hairdryer or washing machine.) And, my favourite. They have an “unusual” tab that opens up possibilities you may never have known existed. Yurt for one anyone?

Lastminute.com

I’ve grown old with Lastminute.com , originally because I fell in love with the name. But over the years, I still find them useful for last minute city break or resort based holidays (vacation packages if you’re from the US.) They’re an online travel agency with easy to navigate interface and lots of last-minute deals!

Expedia is SO big and all-encompassing that it’s sometimes easy to get lost within the website. But that’s also its strength for when your travel plans don’t fit into the travel sites I’ve mentioned above.

TripAdvisor

The great green travel website can really give you an inside look at a hotel. Yes, some of the reviews are fake but even the bad reviews can be helpful. One person’s “bad review” because there was no nightlife is another’s blissful discovery if they want a quiet, relaxing stay.

Plus, you get the benefit of booking through a trusted source with backup. AND the TripAdvisor community is really helpful if you have specific niggly questions about tourist destinations or are looking for great ideas.

Booking.com

Booking.com offers more search filters for hotels than anything else I’ve come across in the travel industry. When the specifics really matter (rather than the sense of atmosphere or design) then I turn to Booking.com It’s a powerful hotel search engine, with guest houses and self-catering options as well.

Top tips for finding the best travel deals

• Look for off peak options whenever you can.
• Don’t just stick to the big booking websites. Check out the smaller, unique travel websites as well.
• Consider flying from regional airports.
• Have a system! Our handy Travel Toolbox © will help with this.

Finding Great Flight Deals

There is, quite simply, an art to finding a good flight. Not just in terms of cost but also in terms of comfort and connection. It really is a useful life skill to be able to skip the travel agent and find what you want yourself.

With that in mind, check out our guide to the  best flight booking hacks for savvy travellers here.  

Then, get acquainted with the following flight search engines, for both domestic and international flights.

Skyscanner is the travel agent boyfriend or girlfriend with special deals you never had. Skyscanner listens, remembers your birthday, cleans your windscreen and empties the bin even when it isn’t its turn.

Well, OK, it doesn’t do any of that but  it DOES make it very, very easy to look for flights. Instead of forcing you to enter the same details in, or tie you to a date, Skyscanner uses filters and choices that simplify the flight-finding process. You can also search by price and switch currencies between dollars, euros, sterling and more. For both domestic and international travel.

If you have any flexibility in your planning, Skyscanner can let you search through the whole month for the best fare, slide filters for time of day, number of connections, just about anything. The only weak spot is searching for flights with infants, where the system is a little glitchy. Other than that, it’s one of the best airfare sites.

Don’t be put off by the watery name. Kayak is a meta search engine that crawls the web for flights and lets you sift through the results with ease. If you’re committed to finding the cheapest flights, then make sure you check everywhere you can.

Google Flights

Fellow travel professionals swear by Google Flights, although it’s never quite become one of my favourites. The strength of using Google’s software is that it responds quickly to real time changes. Perfect if your flight has just been cancelled because of weather or some other external event and you need to find your way home quickly.

You can even use Siri. “Hey google, give me search results for flights to New York!”

Travel experiences await.

The Best Travel Websites for Driving Holidays

You’re in road trip heaven here. We love road trips and have everything for them. Check out these great resources for planning a road trip.

Your Road Trip Toolkit

• The road trip essentials you need to know about
• The Ultimate Road Trip Planner  with printables and handbook
• 101 fun road trip questions for your next drive
• I nspiring road trip quotes for your instagram caption ideas.

AA Route Planner

This is another travel website that I love for its simplicity. Want to know how to get from A to B? Enter it in the AA Route Planner. It shows you a map and clear journey times in a split second. You can just leave it at that or add in stop off points and adjust for traffic and so on. The only problem is that it only covers driving in Europe.

MapQuest offers fantastic coverage of the United States and is free and easy to use to help plot our road trips.

Google Maps

Google Maps , on the other hand, cover the world. But it’s slightly more fiddly to use. It’s a lifesaver while actually on the road but it’s also useful in planning.

You can save destinations, plot itineraries and tweak public maps for your own trips. And – did you know that you can download maps and directions offline? Indeed, you can. It’s not only an online travel site.

Car Rental Travel Resources

I’ve driven cars all around the world and used all kinds of car rental companies and rental cars. Sometimes needs must but these days, wherever possible, I book through a reputable, international company. Then I look for car rental deals.

Hertz is one of my favourites. It’s so widespread and well-organised. Plus, as an inside tip, if you sign up to their Gold members programme (for free) you can quickly get lots of benefits.

However, for more of a search comparison site, I use Holiday Autos and then open RentalCars.Com in a new tab.

• Don’t forget to download your free copy of our car rental checklist here.

Healthy Tray of Treats Room Service at One Aldwych, Covent Garden

The Best Travel Resources for Health

Centers for disease control and prevention.

Clearly, you should consult your own doctor before you travel. But, the CDC Travel Website is the one my medical friends recommend. So, don’t rely on it entirely. You do need an appointment with a real person. But it’s helpful to get an idea of what vaccinations and medication you are likely to need for certain countries before you decide to book. This applies all the more if your situation has changed due to a recent illness or pregnancy.

The Best Travel Websites for Saving Money

Money saving expert.

Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website firmly focuses its attention on a UK audience. It provides regularly updated and researched guides on essentials from currency exchange to travel insurance and finding cheap flights.

They also crunch the numbers with credit cards, publishing spreadsheets and tables to help you navigate the world of credit card rewards and the best way to save money.

Travel Insurance

I’d always recommend checking out the guide above before you book. But one of my favourite places to go for travel insurance is Heymondo.

Roaming Costs: Airalo

Unless you have roaming fees included in your usual phone package, remember to switch off mobile data when you travel.

Instead, embrace the brilliance of an eSIM. That means, you switch SIM cards without having to physically pop the plastic cover out of your phone using the back of an earring, hoping you don’t lose it before you head home again.

I’ve tested Airalo all across the world, including North America, Europe and the Middle East. It’s fantastic. So quick. So much money saved.

Train Travel Resources

Db rail planner for train travel in europe.

I love the DB site. It covers almost all of Europe and has an English version online travel website that is so easy to use.

National Rail Journey Planner

National Rail itself may be long gone but as a travel website, the National Rail Journey Planner is the best I’ve found to negotiate the different rail networks of the UK.

Eurail (Formerly InterRail)

Forget the sweaty backpacker image. The Eurail network includes First Class rail travel through glossy transport hubs. You can buy a range of rail passes or simply use their maps, itineraries and suggestions to help you plan your rail trip through Europe.

Heathrow Express

This remains the fastest way to reach the city centre of London from London’s Heathrow Airport, as well as Paddington Station, the gateway to the west, southwest and Wales. Using the Heathrow Express website in advance, you can book tickets for as little as  £5.50. Plus, children 15 and under travel for free.

The Elizabeth Line in London

A sneaky little bit of inside info. To save money on the Heathrow Express, take the slightly slower “normal” train from Paddington to Heathrow instead. Costs a fraction of the price and is generally more comfortable.

If you’re looking to travel through Japan, then you can’t miss their high speed shinkansen trains. They’re part of what Japan is famous for. Buy your Japan Rail pass before you go to get the best deals as a tourist.

The Best Travel Websites for Honeymoons and Anniversaries

While you can build your own honeymoon through the travel resources above, niche travel website 101 Honeymoons takes the hard work out of the equation for you. It filters honeymoons by month, interest and family situation, with trusted input from some of the top travel writers in the trade.

My Favourite Cruise Travel Resources

Everyone has different tastes. I prefer smaller cruises with plenty of cultural and adventurous options and excursions. Look for cruise lines which aim to introduce people to the destination and respect local customs rather than just keep people on the ship.

I would highly recommend Avalon Waterways for cruises in Europe and beyond and Uncruise Adventures for small ship cruising in Alaska.

In 2022, I took my first giant cruise with Princess Cruises – and you can read what that was like here.

The Best Tour Companies

It took me years to believe it but sometimes joining a tour, just for half a day, is a great way of connecting with locals and learning new skills.

These days, it’s easier than ever to find just the tour you need as one of the latest trends has become a permanent fixture. In popular destinations, it’s also useful to use these sites to skip the queues and buy your tickets in advance.

You can search for recommendations on travel blogs (ahem) or head straight to the big search sites.

I’ve tested both of these across the world and would highly recommend them:

• Get Your Guide has great cancellation policies and an easy booking process.
• Viator has a huge collection of local guides, transfers from the airport, cooking classes and more.

The Best UK Travel Websites

Self catered cottages.

For ease of use, the app that comes with Sykes Cottages makes it easy to plan a trip away in snippets of down time in a busy life. Quality Cottages sweeps some gorgeous luxury cottages into view in Wales.

Glampingly remains my favourite site for finding quirky yet comfortable glamping spots in Europe. Want to know why? Check out this collection of the best treehouse holidays in the UK.

With a mix of glamping and alternative places to sleep, C anopy and Stars fills in the gaps.

A special, self-catered foodie twist

To add a sense of luxe to your self-catered holiday, order in a gourmet meal from One Fine Dine. This private jet catering company now packages up incredible meals with full instructions on how to finish them off and plate them up. Adds a lovely sense of occasion to a self-catered trip away.

In Conclusion

And one last note. Are you American and wondering why I’m not talking about dream vacation packages? I am, we just call them holidays in the UK. And car rentals are hire cars. And travel guides are, well, travel guides. I guess some things stay the same after all ;-)

Did you enjoy this collection of the best travel websites and travel resources for 2024? Bookmark this list of travel websites on Pinterest for later.

For more travel tips, check out our travel resources on how to plan your next trip here.

Our Favourite Travel Resources for 2024

• Download your FREE pre-trip checklist
• Download your copy of the Ultimate Travel Packing Checklist

Some of the best travel resources can be those you create yourself. Here are some creative travel journal ideas to get you started. Future you will be grateful!

Best Travel Resources

By Author Rossi Thomson

Posted on Last updated: 25th October 2021

Categories Resources , Travel

These are the best travel resources that I use when planning my travels.

Each has been tested dozens if not hundreds of times on the road. .

They work great to plan your trip ahead of time, book plane and train tickets, help you pick accommodation, streamline your sightseeing, and save you money on activities and travel as a whole.

The best bit is that their websites are very easy to use. Most of them, like Omio and Tourscanner , collate a lot of information from many different providers. This way, I can compare prices, times, and packages on the same screen without the need to open many different tabs in my browser and constantly switch between them to see who is offering what. 

I hope that you find these travel brands and products as useful as I do.

Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Best Travel Resources and Sites to Book Your Next Trip

Book plane, train, and bus travel.

[mks_two_thirds] Omio is my favourite company to search for and book tickets for planes, trains, buses, and even ferries. They cover public transport and plane travel in Europe, UK, USA, and Canada. I can check prices and travelling times at a glance. Omio’s search engine pulls up a page with results from several different travel brands and transit companies. This way, I can see immediately who offers the cheapest prices and the shortest times and I can book my tickets on the spot. It saves me a lot of hassle and switching between the sites of different travel companies. It really makes travel planning so much quicker and easier.[/mks_two_thirds]

[/mks_col] 

Book Accommodation

Booking.com.

[mks_two_thirds] Booking.com is the best to find accommodation when planning a trip. I have been using it for years now. I like that it shows me a great selection of hotels and other forms of accommodation to fit my specific travel needs. I may be looking for a B&B , a guesthouse , a villa or a resort , it’s all there! I love that I can order the results based on many different filters. ‘Distance from city centre’ and ‘Price (lowest first)’ are my favourite filters. I particularly appreciate the reviews left by fellow travellers as they give me a good idea of what exactly to expect. What’s your most favourite thing about Booking.com? Let me know![/mks_two_thirds]

Stay22 is a new way to book accommodation anywhere in the world. I started using it this year and I am impressed. It shows me all available options and their prices in the location I am interested in. I just need to fill in an address or the name of the city or town in the search bar at the top and the map gets populated with dozens of different hotels, B&B’s, hostels, and houses. I can then move the map in any direction, zoom in and out, click on a listing that interests me, and make a booking directly. I like how visual it is and how it gives me an immediate idea of location and pricing. It’s a great app to use! The best bit is that it shows you not just accommodation but also activities and tours in the surrounding area! See what I mean by clicking on ‘Accommodation’ in the top right corner of the map and then select ‘Experiences’ from the dropdown menu. 

[mks_two_thirds]Having a car at your disposal when you travel is such a great way to be able to see more and do more. I love the flexibility of visiting destinations that are off the beaten track and not depending on public transport to get places. This is why before each trip, I check prices for car rentals and Europcar is my favourite company to rent from. What’s yours?[/mks_two_thirds]

Book Tours and Experiences

Tourscanner.

Tourscanner is my favourite search engine for tours and travel activities. Here you can find the best offerings by the most well-established tour companies. I just click on the link and type in my destination in the search box on the home page. Next, a page with a long list with results by many different tour operators loads and I just need to make my choice. It’s very easy and it gives me a great visual idea of prices and offerings. This way I can compare tours and activities provided by different operators without having to open many different websites. It’s super easy and it helps me get tickets for sought-after exhibitions as well as book some truly exciting local experiences.

Buy Travel Books

[mks_two_thirds] Travel books and guidebooks are a great source of inspiration for new travel experiences and destinations. They also come in very handy when travel planning. With its quick deliveries and enormous catalogue, Amazon makes it very easy for me to buy new titles either in printed format or for my Kindle phone app . This way, I always have at least three books on the go and new books are arriving weekly. Do you love reading books? Which travel book is your favourite?[/mks_two_thirds]

In Conclusion

Getting ready for a trip is easy with the right resources.

In this blog post, I shared with you my favourite travel brands, companies, and products. They help me buy tickets, book accommodation and pick great experiences when I am travelling.

Above all, they make it easy for me to always keep an eye on prices and find travel inspiration for my next destination.

I hope that you will find these travel resources as useful as I do.

Enjoy booking your next trip.

Thank you for reading! Please, leave me a comment, pin the images below or use the buttons right at the top and at the end of this page with my best travel resources to share it on social media.

For more useful information like this, please, like my blog’s page on  Facebook  and  subscribe  to my strictly no-spam newsletter.

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Where do you want to go? That's the first question we ask our clients when they contact us, and we are always curious about the answer. No matter what travel destination you choose, our team will get you there. Offering the best rates in the market, we will take care of accommodation, transportation, travel insurance, and all the extras, so you can focus on having fun. Have you started your packing list yet?

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Embark on unforgettable journeys and unveil the hidden gems of your destination. Our handpicked selection of thrilling adventures and immersive tours cater to the diverse interests of travelers, ensuring a truly memorable experience for all. Explore, discover, and create lasting memories – it's time to dive into the world of wonders!

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The Best Travel Resources to Save Time & Money

S ince selling our possessions to travel back in 2012, we've discovered plenty of ways to save money while seeing the world. For us, budget travel is not about doing everything as cheaply as possible. It's about creating the trip you want – no matter what your travel style – for less.

Below is a list of all of the resources we personally use to help us stretch our travel dollars. Simply scroll or click on a section you want to check out below.

• 1.1 Flights
• 1.2 Hotels and Hostels
• 1.3 Car & RV Rentals
• 3 Insurance
• 4 Trip Planning
• 6.1 Luggage
• 6.2 Specialty Travel Gear
• 7 Photo Backup

Booking Sites

Hotels and Hostels

Car & RV Rentals

GetYourGuide has similar benefits to Viator – browse and pay online, and conveniently receive your voucher via e-mail, which you can print or display on your smartphone. However, GetYourGuide has a different selection (and different prices) than Viator , so it's worth comparing the two if you want to ensure you get the best price.

Trip Planning

One of the best ways to save money on a trip is to plan it yourself . You'll also be more likely to dodge tourist traps and have an authentic experience. Here's the tools we use to plan our own trips!

In general, you want a few cards to bring (not just one – in case it gets lost!). Fee-free currency conversion, a good points or cashback program, and ideally one Visa and one Mastercard (some countries only accept one or the other).

• A (cashback/points) credit card with 0% currency conversion fees
• ATM withdrawals using a card with no international withdrawal fees
• As a  last resort , converting your money at an exchange booth.

The card that you should use depends on the country you're from, so check out our full guide on the best travel credit and debit cards  for the full rundown!

Specialty Travel Gear

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• Strategic Account Management
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Experts in Resource Travel Management

Corporate travel management (ctm) prides itself on delivering a unique and valuable travel management experience to the resource sector..

Our experienced resource travel team understands the complex travel needs of the offshore, energy and resource industries, and has developed a range of services and travel technologies specifically for this sector.

From charter and regional airline negotiations to remote accommodation providers, sophisticated roster management and bulk upload tools, to risk assessment and emergency evacuation procedures, we take the complexity out of resource travel management.

Simplify your resource travel processes

Shift Management Tools

Juggling spreadsheets is a thing of the past! Our shift management and bulk upload tools integrate with CTM’s intuitive online booking tool, Lightning, for maximum efficiency and accuracy when booking resource travel.

Our Shift Management solutions will assist you to seamlessly manage flights, accommodation and transportation for FIFO travellers based on scheduled rosters, capturing the information you desire to assist with the reconciliation of a booking – including traveller details, project codes, cost centres and many other information types.

Key benefits

• Makes group and charter flight bookings based on secured allotments
• Ensures allotment allocations are not exceeded
• Can load ad-hoc flights/sectors both pre-departure and in-flight
• Pre-loads camps, dongas and other pre-booked accommodation into the system
• Tailors access levels for certain travel bookers
• Offers tailored reporting – including travel reporting by cost centre/project, roster and month of travel by airline, camp or transfer
• Sends itinerary and booking status directly to the traveller and travel booker
• Flags when an itinerary is incomplete.

Emergency Evacuation

Emergency situations often strike with little warning and when they do, quick and decisive action is required to get your staff to safety.

When disaster strikes, you need to have proven experience and processes on your side to ensure the safety of your workforce.

• Proven experience in crisis management and evacuations
• Strong relationships with suppliers to enable evacuations and access inventory even when capacity is exhausted
• State of the art technology which can quickly locate and communicate with your workforce
• 24/7/365 emergency assistance.

Charter Negotiation

CTM is uniquely positioned to negotiate, coordinate and manage the charter fleet requirements of resource industry customers.

• Centralised management of your charter requirements
• Effective negotiation of charters through leveraging CTM’s extensive supplier networks
• Expert coordination of your charter aircraft fleet
• Accurate management of flight manifests.

Case Study: 25% cost saving

Find out how CTM saved this mining client 25% on its travel spend, despite increased travel activity, through the delivery of a refined strategic travel policy.

CTM identified enhancements to fare class usage to drive significant savings whilst maintaining the highest level of traveller experience.

Enhanced supplier negotiations

CTM provides access to specially negotiated travel rates on scheduled and charter airlines, vehicle hire, transfers and accommodation providers for offshore, onshore, exploration, subsea, drilling, oilfield, mining, wind energy and maritime workers. These enhanced negotiations offer savings, additional flexibility, and enhanced luggage allowances.

Expense Solutions

CTM’s expense management, payment options, and virtual payment solutions can enhance your expense process for cost effectiveness, efficiency and better planning. We have the partners and solutions to take the hassle out of expense management for companies supporting complex crew rotations.

Contact CTM for a customised solution to your resource travel management needs today.

10 Travel Resources I Always Use (as a pro travel writer)

Dear reader: This article contains links to products and services that I may be compensated for, at no extra cost to you.

When it comes to travel, I am a serious planner. While I understanding spontaneous travelers, I am certainly not one of them. In fact, I am often guilty of overplanning. But for me, planning and looking forward to an upcoming trip is half the fun!

Below I’m going to introduce the main resources I always use for planning and actually booking all my trips. And as a travel addict for more than 20 years and full-time travel writer, I go on a lot of trips!

Table of Contents

Lonely Planet Guidebooks: Initial Research

Travel guidebooks may be a dying form, but I still use them for every trip. Often I only need a few chapters from a book, which can be purchased individually for less than $5 on the Lonely Planet website . Still, for me nothing beats having the whole, physical book, which I usually purchase here on Amazon .

Why bother when you can find all the information for free online? Well, I’ve always loved the way LP packs and organizes a huge amount of information into their books. Unlike blogs and other online resources, which are often written by non-experts (or people who haven’t even been to that place!), LP authors are trusted experts.

After I decide on a country, I’ll skim though the entire LP for it. This ensures I have a solid understanding of what attractions are there, where they are, how long I will need to see them, how much it will cost, best time to go, and so on.

At this point in my planning, I just like to get a general idea of how many days I’ll need for the purpose of booking my flight; I don’t make a detailed daily itinerary until later (we’ll get to that below!)

Budget Calculator: Start Saving for My Trip

Once I’ve figured out roughly when I want to go on a trip, as well as how much money I’ll need to execute it, it’s time to start setting aside the cash I need. I use this free budgeting calculator to manage my monthly expenses. It helps me to realize where I’m spending too much money (you’d be surprised; give it a try!) and figure out which expenses I have decrease to set aside more money for my trips.

Traveling frequently is undeniably expensive, but there are so many ways you can cut down on spending, not to mention ways to travel cheaper. But I’ll save that for a different article altogether!

Kiwi.com: Finding Flight Deals

There are countless flight booking websites out there, and many of them use dubious strategies to make more money from you. For example, they advertise super low prices, but the prices suddenly go up when you get to the check out screen. Or they pressure you into thinking a flight is almost sold out so you have to buy seats RIGHT NOW.

To be honest, this is why I actually DON’T recommend using any online third party to book your flights, Kiwi included. When COVID devastated the travel industry, thousands of travelers lost flights and never got their money back from many of these companies.

What I do recommend, however, is using Kiwi.com to find unusually good flight deals or routes (AKA “travel hacking”), then actually booking them with the airline. Booking direct is almost always a better idea when it comes to any changes or refunds, and they are usually easier to contact.

Kiwi has some really cool features to do this. First, when you search for a specific flight, you can add a radius to your destination, so it will suggest possible cheaper alternative routes to nearby cities. Second, if you aren’t even sure where you want to go, just type “anywhere” as your destination and it will show you some low-priced possibilities!

Skyscanner and Google Flights are two others that I also usually try for the sake of comparison.

Booking.com and Agoda: Booking Hotels

When it comes to booking accommodations for my trip, my two favorite resources are Booking and Agoda.

In terms of user interface, I like Booking the best. I find it the most user-friendly. I love the map feature that lets you set various filters and compare prices right on the map. I also love the genius discount which gives you free breakfasts and/or discounts after so many stays in a year. Making bookings on Booking is very straightforward, and cancelation policies are always very clear; you can often cancel a booking for free up to a certain date.

Here’s my referral link for Booking.com . The prices will be the same for you, but I’d get a tiny commission if you booked anything.

I don’t like Agoda’s interface as much, but what Agoda does offer is more selection and often slightly cheaper prices for accommodations in Asia specifically. And because my website is mostly about Asia, I find myself using and recommending Agoda more often for h0tels in Asia.

Here’s my referral link for Agoda .

Another plus of these booking websites is the hotel reviews, which can only be written by people who ACTUALLY stayed in them (unlike TripAdvisor).

Why I No Longer Use or Recommend Airbnb

I used to use Airbnb quite a bit, but I am no longer willing to support them. Traveling with young kids, especially in Europe, I must admit that we found lots of great Airbnb apartments with kitchens.

However, Airbnb has a long list of ethical breaches , including (but not limited to) driving up property prices for locals, forcing locals out of their own neighborhoods, and operating illegally in certain cities and countries.

From a blogger’s perspective, you may have seen lots of us recommending them with a “free voucher for your first stay” so that we could get the signup bonus on our end too; well, they silently cut that program out in 2021, as well as their short lived affiliate program, so that was the final nail in the coffin for us ever using or recommending Airbnb again.

As an ethical alternative to Airbnb, try using Fairbnb.coop , traditional B&Bs on Booking.com or Agoda, or whenever possible, just book directly with the hotel.

Travel Blogs: Detailed Itinerary Planning

Once I’ve booked my flights and hotels, it’s time to get down to the more serious, day-to-day itinerary planning. This is when I turn to my fellow travel bloggers for ideas and start making a schedule of what I want to see and do every day.

Unlike travel guidebooks, travel bloggers can be hit or miss. The information can be more recent than guidebooks, but it can also be outdated and unreliable. They can be more honest, but they can also be fake.

I guess more caution is needed here. But definitely travel blogs often serve to fill in the gaps of places that may have been missed in guidebooks, newer hot spots, or they paint a more honest realistic picture of attractions rather than just trying to make all of them sound amazing.

GoogleMaps: More Planning and Discovering New Local Spots

More and more in recent years I find myself doing a huge amount of travel research and planning using GoogleMaps . From reviews of attractions/hotels/restaurants and route planning to finding the exact location of trailhead or whether a neighborhood looks desireable to stay in.

Often before (or after) I book a hotel, I’ll just zoom in and scan the neighborhood for cool local spots or restaurants. Sometimes these up-and-coming places aren’t mentioned in travel guidebooks or blogs, or haven’t made their way up the rankings in TripAdvisor yet.

As a travel blogger who loves to publish extremely detailed guides, I also use this method for finding awesome things to do in destinations that haven’t been covered by other bloggers yet.

TripAdvisor: Filtering out Overrated Spots

To get a balanced perspective, I always also read reviews of attractions and restaurants on TripAdvisor (for hotels, I tend to stick to the booking sites, where only people who actually stayed there can leave a review).

On TripAdvisor, people tell it like it really is. No one is trying to inspire readers or upsell a destination. If you want to find out the possible downsides of a famous attraction, here you are.

Having said that, people are more like to write a review when they had an extreme experience (either extremely good, or more often, extremely bad). Therefore, you always have to take reviews with a grain of salt and read between the lines.

Also do consider that a lot of TripAdvisor reviews are fake. I tend to scan for reviewers that have many past reviews, write many details, and share both the good and bad.

Cookly: Finding Cooking Classes

Cooking classes a great way to experience local culture and bring some useful knowledge back from your trip. I recommend using Cookly to find cooking courses in whichever city or region your are visiting. There are probably more options than you’d imagine!

Klook: Finding Travel Deals in Asia

If you are heading to Asia, I would strongly recommend using Klook. You can find all kinds of awesome discounts and deals on things that you are probably going to be buying anyway on your trip, such as train tickets, restaurant vouchers, attraction entrance fees, and more. Sometimes you can save you up to 50%!

If you sign up for Klook with my referral code , you’ll get a discount on your first booking.

GetYourGuide: Travel Savings in Europe and Beyond

My final recommended travel resource is Get Your Guide, especially if you are planning a trip to Europe. Like Klook, they have discounts on all kinds of travel services and entrance fees, but they are especially good for small group tours.

We used Get Your Guide to book several small tours and activities on our trip across Europe with our kids, and we were never disappointed!

Here’s my GetYourGuide referral link .

Well, that brings us to the end of my recommended travel resources. I know there are many more out there, but these are the ones I always use. What am I missing? Which ones do you always use? Let me know in the comments below!

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1 thought on “10 Travel Resources I Always Use (as a pro travel writer)”

Thank you for the info about Fairbnb.coop — I had never heard of them previously but it’s brilliant.

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Road Trips: How to Plan an Accessible Getaway

By Syren Nagakyrie

Planning an accessible road trip is getting a little easier for people with disabilities. There are more resources created by and for the disability community, and the tourism industry is starting to recognize the value of accessible travel. As a disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent person, I take road trips every year and have learned some tips and tricks along the way.

Renting a vehicle

Most major car companies offer adaptive driving devices for their vehicles at no additional cost. Enterprise , for example, offers hand controls, left foot accelerators, pedal extenders and spinner knobs to facilitate steering. Budget can provide hand controls, spinner knobs, a panoramic mirror, swivel seats and transfer boards. Be prepared to request adaptive devices at least three business days in advance.

For a wheelchair-accessible van with a ramp or a lift, rent from a mobility company like BraunAbility , one of the largest builders of wheelchair-accessible vans in the country, with rentals at many locations. MobilityWorks , an accessible-vehicle and adaptive-equipment dealer, has rental locations in 34 states. AccessibleGO , which offers a one-stop shop for adapted rental cars and wheelchair-accessible vans, has agreements with 100 wheelchair van rental locations nationwide; request a quote on their website. For accessibleGO’s rental cars, you can request hand controls and a spinner knob at checkout.

Route planning

You can use Google Maps, Waze and MapQuest for initial accessibility research using photos and street view. Google Maps provides directions for some wheelchair-accessible pedestrian and transit routes.

Sites such as Roadtrippers and Furkot can plot an entire itinerary. While these websites are not disability specific, they are invaluable tools. (Roadtrippers does have a wheelchair-accessible check box in the search function.) You can filter by types of destinations such as national parks or museums, and search for hotels and campgrounds. Furkot allows you to input how long you want to drive each day, whether you want to travel on Interstate highways or take more scenic roads. The app will determine the best route and length of time between stops, and suggest where to stay overnight.

Finding lodging

While hotels and other accommodations are required to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, many hotels do not meet all accessibility needs. Most of the booking sites list hotels with accessible rooms for those with mobility, hearing and vision needs, but this information is not always verified. Do additional research on review sites and look for photos. Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton and Fairmont hotels offer allergy-friendly and scent-free rooms in some locations. Call the hotel to verify accessibility and to make sure a specific room is reserved for you.

Vacation rentals are typically not required to be A.D.A. compliant, but some do provide accessibility information. Airbnb recently rolled out an adapted category with accessibility search features and homes that have been scanned for accessibility. Review photos and contact the host for more information. Some hosts will make accommodations, such as changing the cleaning supplies or shifting furniture, but document your request using the in-app messaging system so that customer service can help if you run into issues.

Wheel the World is an accessible travel agency offering bookings at over 3,000 verified accessible hotels in the United States. The hotels have been reviewed in person by trained assessors; only those that meet the criteria are listed. Sign up as a disabled traveler or a companion and complete a personal profile that includes options for a variety of disabilities and accessibility needs. The site will provide listings that match your profile with partial, adequate and outstanding match options.

Food and medication

There are a variety of options to keep food or medication cold while traveling. Electric coolers can plug into your vehicle’s 12-volt outlet, but pay attention to the type of cooling mechanism — the less expensive versions are usually thermoelectric and will cool only to about 30 degrees below ambient temperature (if it is 70 degrees in the car, it will cool to 40 degrees). Compressor coolers are more expensive but maintain normal refrigerated temperatures.

Many hotels provide mini-refrigerators. When you know you will be stopping somewhere with a fridge almost every night, layer large ice packs and supplies in a cooler, then top them with another insulating layer like a cooling bag. This keeps everything cold for a couple of days at a time.

It’s also a good idea to travel with a single-burner cooktop — electric to use inside, or propane to use at rest areas and campgrounds — and a camp mess kit so that you can safely cook meals.

Some of the best apps to find food, restaurants and grocery stores that accommodate dietary needs are Fig for allergy-specific options, Happy Cow for vegan-friendly options and Find Me Gluten Free for celiac-safe spots. Add your favorite options to the route-planning app so that you know where to stop.

Finding activities

In addition to the apps mentioned in the route-planning section, state and local tourism organizations are good sources for accessible destinations.

National parks and monuments, which are required to meet federal accessibility guidelines, typically have visitor centers and recreation sites with accessible features. Each park website has information, as well as programs and services within the park. While accessibility varies, you can usually find information on wheelchair-accessible trails and campsites, tactile and audio features, assistive listening devices, and American Sign Language interpreters.

At state parks, accessibility features may not be consistent, but you can usually find some information on each park’s website.

Apps like AllTrails list wheelchair-friendly trails across the country, but the information may not be verified, so contact the park or land manager for verification. Among the parks with notable accessible trails are Redwood National and State Parks, North Cascades National Park, Badlands National Park, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park .

Syren Nagakyrie, the founder of the nonprofit Disabled Hikers and the author of “The Disabled Hiker’s Guide to Western Washington and Oregon” and “The Disabled Hiker’s Guide to Northern California,” among other guidebooks, leads group hikes and conducts assessments throughout the United States.

Open Up Your World

Considering a trip, or just some armchair traveling here are some ideas..

52 Places:  Why do we travel? For food, culture, adventure, natural beauty? Our 2024 list has all those elements, and more .

Mumbai:  Spend 36 hours in this fast-changing Indian city  by exploring ancient caves, catching a concert in a former textile mill and feasting on mangoes.

Kyoto:  The Japanese city’s dry gardens offer spots for quiet contemplation  in an increasingly overtouristed destination.

Iceland:  The country markets itself as a destination to see the northern lights. But they can be elusive, as one writer recently found .

Texas:  Canoeing the Rio Grande near Big Bend National Park can be magical. But as the river dries, it’s getting harder to find where a boat will actually float .

Resources - Travel

University travel & covid-19.

Western follows current  CDC Travel Guidelines .

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Sally Parsons, Travel Manager

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Surge in Adventure Tourism: Four Big Trends in 2024

Jesse Chase-Lubitz , Skift

April 17th, 2024 at 12:00 PM EDT

New data shows that experiences are the leading factor when choosing a destination.

Jesse Chase-Lubitz

The latest consumer spending data from GetYourGuide reveals a surge in demand for unique travel experiences and activities that align with personal passions.

The report analyzes booking data from millions of travelers and highlights a significant shift in travel priorities. Here are the key takeaways:

Experiences Rule

Travelers are prioritizing experiences over traditional sightseeing. Nearly all travelers (90%) plan to spend the same or more on activities in 2024, and experiences are now the leading factor when choosing a destination (reported by 98% of travelers). 

Passion Drives Destinations

The hottest travel destinations are no longer just about iconic landmarks. Cities like Fajardo, Puerto Rico (up 419% in bookings by American travelers) and Hoi An, Vietnam (up 284% globally) are experiencing a boom, likely due to their unique cultural offerings and adventure opportunities.

Globally Inspired

Travelers are venturing beyond the usual suspects. This year’s top trending tours include the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, kayaking through El Yunque Rainforest in Puerto Rico, and even a hot air balloon ride over Interlaken, Switzerland.

The Rise of the Explorer  

GetYourGuide identifies a new breed of traveler – the “Explorer” – who spends more on experiences, takes longer trips, and travels more frequently. These high-value vacationers are fueling the experience economy.

Get Skift Research

Skift Research products provide deep analysis, data, and expert research on the companies and trends that are shaping the future of travel.

Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch

Tags: getyourguide , tourism , Travel Experiences , Travel Trends

Photo credit: GetYourGuide Walking Tour in London. Source: GetYourGuide

Watch CBS News

U.S. issues travel warning for Israel with Iran attack believed to be imminent and fear Gaza war could spread

By Debora Patta , Tucker Reals

Updated on: April 13, 2024 / 5:25 PM EDT / CBS News

Update: Iran launched drone attacks against Israel on Saturday. Read CBS News'  latest coverage here .

Tel Aviv  — Israel is bracing for a worst-case scenario that U.S. officials believe could materialize within just hours — the possibility of a direct attack on Israeli soil by Iran in retaliation for a strike almost two weeks ago that killed seven Iranian military officers. Iran has vowed to take revenge for Israel killing its commanders, who were hit by an April 1 strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria's capital.

Two U.S. officials told CBS News that a major Iranian attack against Israel was expected as soon as Friday, possibly to include more than 100 drones and dozens of missiles aimed at military targets inside the country. Sources have told CBS News the retaliation could include attacks carried out both by Iranian forces, and proxy groups around the region that it has been funneling additional arms to for weeks.  

The officials said it would be challenging for the Israelis to defend against an attack of that magnitude, and while they held out the possibility that the Iranians could opt for a smaller-scale attack to avoid a dramatic escalation, their retaliation was believed to be imminent. 

Asked Friday how imminent he believes an attack is, President Biden responded, "I don't want to get into secure information, but my expectation is sooner than later." The president urged Iran not to move forward, saying his message to Tehran was: "Don't."

Tehran has not indicated publicly how or when it will return fire, so it's unclear how far Iran's leaders will go. If they decide to carry out a direct attack on Israel, there's fear it could blow Israel's ongoing war against Iranian ally Hamas up into a much wider regional conflict.

With the Iranian retaliation expected at any time, the U.S. State Department on Thursday warned Americans in Israel not to travel outside major cities, which are better protected from incoming rocket fire by the country's Iron Dome missile defense system. The latest guidance noted that travel by U.S. government employees in Israel could be further restricted with little notice as things develop in the tinderbox region.

"Whoever harms us, we will harm them," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday as he visited troops at an Israel Defense Forces airbase. "We are prepared … both defensively and offensively."

On Saturday, all U.S. embassies in the Middle East were put on high alert and required to hold emergency action committee meetings. Diplomats in Lebanon and Israel were specifically told not to travel to certain areas within those countries.

Sima Shine, a security expert and former official with Israel's national intelligence agency Mossad, told CBS News it was a dangerous moment for the region, and the "most worried" she has been. She said anxiety over an all-out war was likely just as high "on both sides, in Israel and in Iran."

If Iran does choose to strike Israel directly, it could involve a complex missile and drone attack similar to the one Iranian forces launched against a Saudi oil facility in 2019 .

"They will try to do it on the military or some military asset," Shine predicted. "But the question will be the damage. If there would be many injured people, killed or injured … I think it has the potential for a huge escalation."

Shine stressed, however, that she still believes neither side actually wants a regional conflict.

U.S. "really trying to avoid war"

The U.S. sent a senior general to Israel this week to coordinate with the close American ally on any response it might make to an Iranian attack. Speaking Friday on "CBS Mornings," America's top military officer said, "we're really trying to avoid war."

"This is part of the dialogue that I have with my counterparts within the region, to include the Israeli chief of defense, who I talked to yesterday," said Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., adding that the U.S. military was "doing things not only to prevent a war, but at the same time, one of my primary things is to make sure all the forces in the region are protected."

"My role, as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, is to plan and prepare," Brown said. "That's one thing we do very well."

Brown's Israeli counterpart, Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, "completed a comprehensive situational assessment on the readiness of the IDF for all scenarios," Israel's military said Friday. 

"The IDF is very strongly prepared, both offensively and defensively, against any threat," Halevi was quoted as saying in the statement. "The IDF continues to monitor closely what is happening in Iran and different arenas, constantly preparing to deal with existing and potential threats in coordination with the United States Armed Forces." 

The IDF said the visiting U.S. general, Central Command chief Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, was taking part in the IDF's situational assessment.

The dilemma for Iran, said Israeli expert Shine, is to figure out how to deliver its promised response to Israel's attack in Syria, but in a way that does not lead to further escalation. Likewise, Shine said Israel could choose to show restraint when it responds to whatever Iran eventually does.

If either side gets the balance wrong, the consequences for the region, and even the world, could be dire.

Weijia Jiang, David Martin, Margaret Brennan and Olivia Gazis contributed reporting.

• Middle East
• Benjamin Neta​nyahu

Debora Patta is a CBS News foreign correspondent based in Johannesburg. Since joining CBS News in 2013, she has reported on major stories across Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Edward R. Murrow and Scripps Howard awards are among the many accolades Patta has received for her work.

More from CBS News

Israel blames starvation in Gaza on U.N. making excuses

U.N. official says Israel systematically impeding Gaza aid distribution

Kenya military chief among 10 officers killed in helicopter crash

Trump allies encourage visits with foreign leaders at Mar-a-Lago before election

Update April 12, 2024

Information for u.s. citizens in the middle east.

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Visa Information for Nationals of Haiti

The Department of State has suspended visa services in Haiti

The information below outlines options Haitian nationals seeking U.S. visas may consider.

Immigrant Visas

Immigrant visas are for foreign nationals who intend to live and/or work permanently in the United States.  In most cases, a relative or employer sponsors the individual by filing a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  Further information on immigrant visas can be found here:  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate.html .

The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince has suspended routine immigrant visa appointments until further notice. Immigrant visa applicants who can travel to another U.S. embassy or consulate that processes immigrant visas and remain in that country for the duration of their visa processing should consider requesting the transfer of their case from U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince using the instructions below:

If the case is at U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince :   Applicants may contact a new U.S. embassy or consulate in writing to request the transfer of their immigrant visa case.  Applicants can find the contact information for Immigrant Visa Units at U.S. embassies and consulates at https://usembassy.gov/ .  The applicant should provide evidence, if possible, of their presence in the country to which they would like their case to be transferred, or documentation of their ability to enter and remain in that country for the duration of the immigrant visa process.

If the Case is Pending at the National Visa Center (NVC):   Applicants may contact NVC at https://nvc.state.gov/inquiry to request a transfer to another immigrant visa processing post.  Applicants should be prepared to provide evidence of the ability to enter and remain in the requested country for the duration of the process.

Applicants may also request NVC expedite their case at the new consular section by emailing [email protected] and providing the specific reason for their expedite request.  Please be aware expedited case processing does not apply to family preference visa categories where a case is not current.

The Department of State continues to communicate with U.S. adoptive families in the intercountry adoption process and adoption service providers regarding recent developments in Haiti, and we are assessing the situation as it unfolds.  The Department is responding to individual inquiries from Adoption Service Providers and prospective adoptive parents. 

We are working as quickly as possible to identify options for continued case processing and assisted departure for Haitian children in the intercountry adoption process, while meeting U.S. laws, regulations, and our Hague  Convention obligations as well as minimizing the risk of Haitian children coming to the United States with no clear path to legal status .

We are also working with Haiti’s child welfare authority, the Institut du Bien-Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR), to assist Haitian adoptive children in obtaining exit permissions, while we work on solutions at other stages of the intercountry adoption process. 

Prospective adoptive parents should remain in regular contact with their adoption service providers in the United States.

U.S. citizens who have adopted Haitian children through the domestic Haitian process (rather than an intercountry adoption) and have an appointment date from USCIS for an N-600K interview may apply for a B-1/B-2 visa for the child to attend the interview and naturalize.  This is appropriate only for children who do not intend to reside in the United States.  See Nonimmigrant Visas  below.

Nonimmigrant Visas

Most nonimmigrant visa categories require the applicant to demonstrate intent to leave the United States after a temporary stay .

The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince has suspended routine nonimmigrant visa appointments until further notice.  T he U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince can only accept expedited nonimmigrant visa appointments for life-or-death medical emergencies (with proof of travel plans) or to facilitate travel for a child with a confirmed USCIS appointment for a naturalization interview based on a Form N-600K .  Applicants can submit a request for an expedited NIV appointment by following the instructions provided at https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ht/en/nonimmigrant-visa .

Nonimmigrant visa applicants may apply at any embassy or consulate where they are physically present and where appointments are available.  A full list of embassies and consulates is available here: https://www.usembassy.gov/ .  Appointment wait times are available at U.S. Visas (state.gov) .  Once an interview appointment is made, applicants can request an expedited appointment but must describe the unique circumstances that justify such a request.

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• Quota Bulletins

Quota Bulletin 24-313 2024 Specialty Sugar Period 4 Results

Commodity: .

Specialty Sugar 

The tariff rate quota for Specialty Sugar Period 4 opened on Monday, April 15, 2024  

and over-subscribed at opening moment.  The pro rata percentage of 23.71155% or .2371155 

was calculated via ACE, a UC message was generated detailing the prorated quantity per entry.  

Reporting Instructions: 

Entries or withdrawals for consumption for specialty sugar presented after the opening moment period were not included in formulating the prorated or reserved percentage. 

Entry summaries (ES) that qualify for opening moment are rejected and sent UC messages indicating the prorated (reserved) amounts.  The reserved amounts must be retransmitted in five days through ACE.  

Please review the following details: 

Transfer Allotment requests must be approved by Quota and Agriculture Branch (QAB).  Please provide an excel file only in the format below, files submitted differently, will immediately be returned for correction. 

Remember entries are processed in the receipt order.  The transfer allotment total requested quantity may be equal to or less than the prorated total quantity.  

When retransmitting an entry summary, the line order should remain as originally submitted.  Additional lines may be added after the original line, for any non-prorated amount entered at the high rate of duty, do not change the original line order, or mix and match amounts differently than what was prorated without approval for an allotment transfer.  Any line adjustments processed without QAB’s approval, may result in a loss of some or all an importers’ quota reservation.   

When the entry summary rejects in ACE, it will come off the statement in ACS and revert to single pay if the final statement has not run.  It can be added back via an ACS HP transmission, or filers may do single pay.  If final statement has run, they will need to pay the original statement, and a refund/bill will need to be processed accordingly. 

On retransmit of the entry summary, the payment type indicator should be left blank, if in CBP Control. 

For warehouse withdrawals, an updated entry summary with prorated amounts should be submitted.  If cargo was involved, and it is still on hold pending a decision on how to handle the excess over proration, a separate warehouse entry can be made, or the excess can be entered at the high rate.  The entry and entry summary transmissions must match. 

A corrected replacement prorated quota entry will not cause an FDA reject for Prior Notice already on file. 

Entries will remain in Trade control for a longer period, this allows more time for filers to adjust.  If the summary is still in Trade control, the filer can delete the summary, by submitting an AE with a D action code. 

The filer/importer has five business days from the date of authorized release to re-transmit the data. The five-business day window expires on April 24, 2024, at 4:30 pm local time. 

Questions regarding this message should be referred to HQ Quota at [email protected] .