I truly geek out over planning travel because it’s one of my favorite parts of the whole process, long before the trip actually starts; while I love being on site and exploring new places to see, it’s the joy of finding places that makes me super excited about traveling, especially when I’m figuring out where to go, which is often the hardest part since there are many places I want to visit this year, forcing me to condense a list down to a few places, and once that’s done
the fun begins with a FREE guide I use to discover unique places at any destination of choice, packed with tips and tricks I use to research destinations, a system that hasn’t failed me yet and that readers can subscribe to via my newsletter for instant access to a FREE download, after which I shift into logistics, lock in the final destination, and build a compiled list of places to visit to make it all happen, relying on a carefully compiled list of my favorite travel websites and apps that I personally use all the time when researching and planning a trip.
Airbnb:
Airfarewatchdog:
Roadtrippers:
Rentalcars:
Skyscanner:
Roadtrippers:
HotelTonight:
Hopper:
Once I have the cities I want to visit, I always head to Airbnb to find a place to stay, and on my last trip to Europe, my sister and I stayed in Airbnbs in every location, including London, Nice, Positano, and Rome, where I especially loved the finds in Positano and Nice because they were very clean, had responsive hosts and helpful hosts, were close to areas we wanted to explore, and honestly I’ve yet to have a bad experience using Airbnb, whether through the website or the app.
I found some of my best travel deals using Airfarewatchdog, including a $400 RT flight to Paris, and it’s become another travel deal site I use all of the time because Anytime I’m interested in a new place, I simply set an alert on the site, then sit back, relax, and review a daily email recap of deals based on my selected destinations, which makes using it feel effortless and reliable.
I discovered this awesome app last year and I’ve been using ever since—it quickly became a must-have because I’ve even bought a few plane tickets through Hopper; basically, the app allows you to set alerts for different destinations, then send notifications when prices on flights change, and its algorithm can even tell you whether to Wait or Buy Now by suggesting when prices likely will go up or go down again soon, which is perfect when you’re currently in the logistics stage of a trip—even right now I keep multiple travel alerts set, I’m reviewing my Hopper alerts each day, and it helps me stay calm and make smarter booking calls.
I noted this app in a recent post about apps to use when traveling abroad, because what I love most is finding awesome travel deals on hotels, and while there’s a clear timing factor with the HotelTonight app—they only give hotel deals about 20 days out from the present date—I usually start looking about a month before my travel dates, which has been super helpful when looking at hotels for an upcoming trip to LA.
7 BEAUTIFUL HOTELS IN CALIFORNIA :
If the name obvious hint doesn’t give it away, Roadtrippers is a great site and app I rely on when planning a road trip, because the interface is really nice and visual, making destination-to-destination mapping feel super easy; you can tell the map to pinpoint Accommodations, Attractions, Points of Interest, and Vacation Rentals, then map them along with your route, which honestly feels cool, whether you’re using the website or the app on the go.
My first port of call when searching for flights is Skyscanner, because it finds every flight price within seconds and lets me choose preference for direct or non-direct routes and the airline I prefer, while also allowing me to set up price alerts that notify me when price drops; I use it to find out the cheapest times of year to fly to any destination I’m researching, and I love searching for multi-centre trips that break up a long journey, make travel cheaper, and feel more enriching, but I always choose option to book directly with the airline to avoid issues when dealing with third parties.
This great app has become my go-to for finding the cheapest prices on car hire abroad, and what keeps me using it is how easy to use and reliable it feels every time; it almost always finds the best deal, which makes planning road travel smoother, and the added free cancellation gives me peace of mind when plans change.
Roadtrippers is a great site and app I use for planning a road trip, and what stands out immediately is the interface, which is really nice and visual, making destination-to-destination mapping feel super easy; you can tell the map to pinpoint Accommodations, Attractions, Points of Interest, and Vacation Rentals, then map them along with your route, which feels genuinely cool whether you’re using the website or the Website / App on the go.
The best trip planning app depends on your needs—use Wanderlog for collaborative map-based planning and budgeting, TripIt for automatically organizing confirmations into a master itinerary, Roadtrippers for discovering points of interest on road trips, Google Maps for essential navigation and custom maps, and TripAdvisor for quick reviews.
Yes, there are great group trip planning apps that make group travel much smoother, and from experience tools like Wanderlog, TripIt, and SquadTrip help teams build shared itineraries, use maps, and stay aligned through real-time collaboration, while Splitwise and Splittr manage shared costs, giving you options for everything from casual outings with Howbout to detailed logistics handled smoothly by Roadtrippers.
Yes, ChatGPT can act as a powerful travel planning assistant, generating personalized itineraries, activity ideas, and budget breakdowns by processing preferences, but it lacks real-time data like prices, availability, and closures, and can make errors, so it’s best used for initial brainstorming and structuring, with final details requiring human verification on real booking sites.
The best trip planner depends on your style, but most travelers use a combination of tools: Wanderlog for collaborative visual planning, TripIt for automated itinerary building from emails, Tripadvisor for reviews and activities, Google Maps and Google Travel for essential navigation and local discovery, Roadtrippers for road trips, Booking.com and Expedia to handle bookings, and Evernote to keep notes organized.
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