Travel Booking Tools
You’ve Planned It. Now Book It!
This is when it gets real! After you’ve done all the research and planned out a great itinerary for your trip, it’s time to start making some bookings. From booking flights, rental cars, hotels (even campgrounds) and fun activities – we’ve included links and resources below to the same tools that we use when booking our trips and a quick description of how we use them and what we like best.
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* These are all tools that we use and they may contain affiliate links, which allow us to earn a small commission if you make a purchase through these links.
Hotels & Accommodations
Every trip is different. And every type of accommodation gives you a different experience. We often use a combination of different types of accommodation when we travel. Because it really depends on the trip and what we want to get out of it.
- Booking.com (our go-to for most of our hotel searches including B&B’s, resorts & luxury hotels)
- VRBO or AirBnb (for vacation rental apartments and homes)
- Hostelworld.com (for budget-friendly and social options great for solo travelers!)
- CampSpot (for our fellow RVer’s and campers out there!)
Tips:
If you are planning more of a relaxing getaway, then you might pay more for a nicer hotel with amenities or even a luxury resort that feels like a vacation by itself! Other times, your itinerary is so busy that you just want a budget place to sleep. You may also enjoy quaint bed & breakfasts for a local and homey feel (we prefer these when we are in Europe) or even hostels for budget-friendly unique accommodations that have a fun and social atmosphere.
Rental Cars, Trains & More
How you get around during your vacation is a critical part of your experience. From rental cars, to trains, buses, boats and more!
- DiscoverCars.com – great option for rental cars around the world
- Rentalcars.com – another alternative we use to research options & prices
- Omio – great comparison tool that shows you trains, buses, flights, boats and more to see which will work best for your needs & budget!
- Rail Europe – fantastic for buying train tickets but especially their “rail cards” for multi-day trips and cities for 1 price
Tips:
Having a rental car during your vacation really makes sense if you want to have the freedom to explore on your own. And it’s not just for trips around your home country. We’ve rented cars in Mexico, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Germany, New Zealand…and even Thailand! Having your own car can allow you a lot more flexibility and fun.
However, in many parts of the world such as Europe and Asia, trains are a fantastic way to travel from point A to B while also enjoying the scenery around you in a relaxed way (and those bullet trains are an AWESOME experience!).
Activities, Tours & Things to Do
Experiences Make the Trip. At the end of the day, it’s really the experiences you have and the fun things that you do on a vacation that create some of the best memories!
- GetYourGuide – A huge selection of activities and tours in destinations all over the world. Our top choice and first place we search for activities and tickets.
- Viator – Another option we use to search tickets and activities during our trips
- Klook – A great tool for “independent travelers” who want one site to plan their whole trip & experiences
- Big Bus Tours – These are a fun way to combine your transportation & sightseeing in major cities. We’ve done them in Hong Kong, London, Shanghai and even NYC!
- Go City – Great site for finding city “multi attraction” cards to make it easy and with 1 price
- EatWith – A super fun and unique experience of being able to dine with a local to learn about the culture and the food. An fantastic way to immerse yourself and meet new people! (we love it!!!)
Tips:
Try something you’ve always wanted to do or unique! From something as simple as a great walking tour or museum tickets to something exciting like a boat excursion or zip lining! Go on a food tour or have a unique experience of actually dining with a local!
Flights
Finding just the right flights for a trip can be one of the most important things that you do. We find the best flights by searching on different platforms, changing dates, and even changing departure & arrival airports.
- CheapOAir
- Booking.com – Great if you want to use the same platform for flights and hotels
- Trip.com – We find this to be a good tool for Asia, especially
- Omio – Especially good for comparing flights vs. trains (for example, my parents researched travel between London Amsterdam & decided to fly instead of taking the train. But last summer, a friend of mine decided to take the train from London to Amsterdam to meet myself & Josh at a friend’s wedding). It’s a great tool to easily compare and decide!
Tips:
For example, when we fly to Europe we might fly into Paris because the flight is cheap and then take another internal flight (or even a train) to somewhere else, like Switzerland! You can also fly “open-jaw” which means into one city and home from another (we actually do this a lot to save time). Or maybe even one way flights could be cheaper (not always, but sometimes). The key is being creative.