Planning a trip can be overwhelming at times taking hours of sitting at the computer, especially with the sheer volume of travel websites available. From booking flights and accommodations to finding local experiences, each platform has its niche ranging from accommodation and flight bookings to advice on picking your best seat on the plane. In some cases they can be a useful tool during a trip such as helping you to stay on top of flight information, or giving you some insight into what kinds of restaurants are within walking distance of your given position. To help streamline the process, here’s a guide to the some of the best travel websites and what they specialize in.
1. Kayak – Best for Comprehensive Flight Searches
When it comes to searching for flights, Kayak is one of the most trusted names. The platform scours hundreds of airline and travel websites to find the best deals. It also includes price-trend predictions, helping you determine whether to book now or wait for a price drop. Additionally, Kayak offers car rentals and accommodation bookings, making it a one-stop-shop for travel. When you click to book it will bounce you to the site that offers the deal. This could be anyone like Expedia, Justfly, CheapFareGuru et al.
If you are in to Podcasts there is a really interesting one about the founder of Kayak, Paul English. It is on Guy Raz's "How I Built This" podcast if you fancy tuning in. Anyhow, Kayak is a very useful tool and one that I use periodically to book flights. It has a flight price tracking tool that you can enable that will give you email updates about the price for a selected flight.
Specialization:
Flight searches
Price trend analysis
Multi-platform comparison
2. Booking.com – Best for Accommodation Variety
Booking.com is a powerhouse for booking accommodations, offering everything from luxury hotels to budget hostels and even unique stays like treehouses, caves, or yurts. The website features extensive filters to help you narrow down options based on your preferences, such as location, price, or specific amenities like pet-friendliness or airport shuttles.
This is my go to for accommodations for sure, at least with respect to non-hotel lodgings. I have found some amazing stays here and I love the fact that you can reserve without having to pay up front. Typically the payment goes out a month before but it can be as late as a week before and you can usually cancel without any fees until a week or so prior. The hosts often give a great amount of detail for their bookings including all the nearby venues like restaurants, grocery stores, tram stations, parks, and so forth.
Through the platform you'll be able to maintain a dialogue with the host who'll be able to answer any questions and make recommendations. aAs you use the site more and more you gain "levels" where you can get anywhere from 10-20% off stays, fees like cleaning might be waived or other such perks.
Specialization:
Extensive lodging options
Flexible cancellation policies
User-friendly filtering
3. Airbnb – Best for Unique Stays
If you’re looking for unique, personalized accommodations, Airbnb is unbeatable. From city apartments to countryside cabins and quirky BnBs, this platform offers experiences that go beyond traditional hotels. Many Airbnb properties allow for interactions with locals, providing a more immersive travel experience. It’s also a great option for long-term stays.
Oddly enough I've only actually used them once but I know many who swear by the company. The time I used it was in Georgetown and it was pretty decent. It too has an internal messaging platform where you can connect with your host. I do really like the filter buttons along the top where you can customize your search by things like Cabins, Tiny Homes, Mansions, and there is even an "OMG" filter which you really just need to click to believe it. I recently did a post on some unusual and interesting accommodations around the world and a few of them showed up on this OMG list but wow there are a lot of bizarre BnB's out there!
Specialization:
Unique and homey accommodations
Local experiences
Longer-term stays
4. Skyscanner – Best for Budget Travelers
This one is new on my radar but looks like it might be a good one to check in with once in a while. For those who prioritize getting the absolute lowest price on flights, Skyscanner seems a great option. It features a flexible search option that allows you to explore the cheapest dates to fly to your destination, or even discover the cheapest destination from your home city if your travel plans are flexible. Like many other flight search engines, you will not book directly through Skyscanner but search results will take you to the airline usually.
Specialization:
Budget travel
Flexible date search
Flight deals
5. Expedia – Best for Package Deals
One of the oldest online travel booking sites, and one that I used a lot in the early days. Now I find others like Kayak or Google flights serve me better but that is because I am usually booking just a flight and not a bundle. Nowadays, Expedia is an excellent choice if you want to book everything in one go. The platform is particularly well-suited for package deals that include flights, hotels, and even car rentals. Their bundle options often come with significant discounts, making it a great choice for families or group trips.
Specialization:
Travel bundles
Vacation packages
Frequent discount promotions
6. Google Flights – Best for Speed and Simplicity
Google Flights is a no-frills platform that offers quick and reliable flight searches. It’s ideal for travelers who want a fast and easy-to-navigate interface. It is nice to have the flight tracker available so you can monitor changes in the flights you want and it will tell you whether the prices are typically high, average, or low for a given flight. It will give you the flights listed and then options where to book, either through a third party or often through the airline itself.
The map view in the explore feature is pretty fun if you have complete flexibility and want to be spontaneous. You just pick a departure airport and it just throws out random locations with prices for a weekend, 1 or 2 week vacation in the next t6 months with the ability to refine the search. My trips are usually pretty limited in flexibility so I can't say that I have used that feature but one day perhaps I'll try it for a weekend getaway.
Specialization:
Fast flight searches
Map-based destination exploration
Price-trend tracking
7. Tripadvisor – Best for Reviews and Recommendations
Tripadvisor is a traveler’s go-to for reviews on everything from hotels and restaurants to tours and local attractions. Its extensive user-generated content provides candid feedback and allows you to see how well a particular experience aligns with your expectations. I honestly cannot count the number of times I have made hotel booking decisions based on reviewers input on this platform. I know these reviews have saved me some real headaches a few times. In one case I changed my booking a couple of weeks ahead because one very helpful traveler alerted readers to the fact that the hotel had just begun renovating parts of the hotel during his stay and the noise was dreadful. You get a fair degree of confidence that you want to avoid a place when you see it has 500+ reviews and the majority of which are 1 or 2 star rating!
It has also been very useful for finding nearby restaurants while traveling. When I was living in New York, we'd do day trips to Manhattan and when it came to lunch time I'd just pop open TA and find something close at hand. We found some lovely neighborhood gems that way. The platform is so large and influential I have even gotten a free stay at a hotel after I left a review detailing the issues we had during our stay. They responded indicating that they shared our concern and offered us a free weekend stay. I have over a thousand reviews on the site for hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc. Good and bad alike, but always honest. Trip advisor even sent me a swag bag as a thank you.
Beyond reviews, you can also use Tripadvisor to book experiences and accommodations.
Specialization:
Reviews and recommendations
Detailed attraction information
Experience booking
8. Viator – Best for Tours and Local Experiences
Viator is part of the Tripadvisor family but focuses specifically on tours and activities. Whether you're seeking a guided city tour, a cooking class, or an adventurous excursion, Viator connects you with reputable local guides and curated experiences.
I've used this one a few times when booking a tour to get the skip the line treatment. The latest was in Istanbul for the Basilica Cistern. It only ended up costing about $5 more per person and once we arrived and saw that the regular line was roughly 45 minutes wait, in +30 degrees Celsius heat no less, I knew it was totally worth it. Even if you are not looking for the VIP treatment it is worth looking at booking through them ahead of time as you can often get a better deal and you can cancel most reservations up to 24 hours before if plans change.
Specialization:
Curated tours and activities
Local guides
Specialized experiences
9. Roadtrippers – Best for Road Trip Planning
For the adventurous road tripper, this website helps you plan scenic routes, unique stopovers, and must-see attractions along your drive. Roadtrippers also has an app that lets you save your trips, share them with friends, and even sync with GPS for real-time navigation. They have a lot of tools for RV travelers, as well as ones for those who prefer to camp old school. In the "Campendium" you'll have tools like cellular network coverage maps and public lands maps to help plan your stay.
The platform is available for free but with very limited capacity. The free version will give you the ability to plan and save one trip with 3 stops included. As you pay for each next level the functionality improves with Premium ($59.99/year) giving the most at unlimited saved trips and up to 150 stops per trip as well as other features like RV GPS, real time traffic, etc.
To me it seems the premium is pretty much geared straight towards the RV users as most of the added features support that group. If I were still a road trip kind of traveler I would probably just go with the basic ($35.99) to get up to 20 stops and then just use my Waze app for everything else. Maybe when I retire and RV around America I'll think about it... Yeah, that's not going to happen. RV life is most certainly not in my stars.
Specialization:
Road trip route planning
Scenic and quirky stop suggestions
Multi-stop itineraries
10. Rome2Rio – Best for Multi-Mode Travel Planning
I love this site. I have used it to plan transportation between sites when there were multiple options and I wanted to find the best. Finding out how to get from Napoli airport to Sorrento, for example. Or figuring out a ferry trip to Amalfi and then how to get to Ravello from there. Or getting from Orly to Beaune France in the most comfortable means possible. I learned about the Santa Express overnight train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi on their site.
The site is dedicated to providing information of how to get from A to B to C to etc. in as many options as possible. You don't make the bookings through them but simply find the itinerary you want and use the links they provide to make the booking on the site that it takes you to. Most of the time it is the actual rail company, or ferry company, or such that you are booking with. Sometimes it may take you to a third party booking company like Rail Ninja, for example. If you are ever in doubt of how to get between points, give them a go.
Specialization:
Multi-mode travel options
Route planning for complicated itineraries
International travel support
11. SeatGuru – Best for Finding the Best Seats
Another one of my favorite sites. Part of the Tripadvisor network, SeatGuru helps travelers choose the best seats on their flight based on seat comfort, amenities, and proximity to high-traffic areas like bathrooms. This tool is perfect for those who want to optimize their in-flight experience.
It really is helpful. All you need to do is plug in your airline and route, or flight number and then it will pull up a seat map of the plane that they typically use. It isn't a guarantee that it will be correct but so far I've had 100% accuracy with it. You'll be able to see which seats are close to the galley, which ones might have limited recline, or reduced legroom. It will let you know details like there may be no window, or the table is in the armrest which reduced seat width as in the above image. Overall, it is a great tool to help you avoid getting stuck in a bad seat.
Specialization:
Airline seat maps
Comfort and amenities guide
Passenger reviews of seats
12. FlightAware – Best for Staying on Top of Flight Info
This one is not about planning the trip but is very handy in the execution of it. I've used it to keep updates on arriving flights with friends or family to know when I need to head out to the airport. It is a site that basically allows you to track a given flight. You can even find out where your plane currently is if it has not arrived at your airport yet. You simply click "Dude, Where is my plane now?" and it will show you the status of the inbound flight and you can view the flight live on a map. Ok, it doesn't actually say Dude, but it should IMO.
Anyhow, it is a great tool for predicting actual delay time as opposed to watching the airline app or board to have them adjust it later every 10-15 minutes. Arghhh that is so annoying. I've used the where's my plane feature more than a few times to determine when I needed to leave the Priority Pass lounge and head to the gate.
I need to add as well that it has really come in handy once. It updated a flight cancelation on my phone before the airline announced it while I was connecting through Toronto to Vancouver. Since I got a couple of minutes advance notice, I was able to get to the empty service desk and get put on to the standby list early. As I was walking away, the line had filled with dozens of frantic travelers who just saw the cancelation notice on the board. no guarantees it will do the same for you but it is still a might useful tool to have in hyour arsenal. Thank you FlightAware!
Specialization:
Real Time Flight Tracking
Delay and Cancelation Alerts
13. Hostelworld – Best for Budget Accommodations and Social Experiences
Hostelworld is perfect for budget travelers and backpackers looking for affordable accommodations. The platform has listings for hostels worldwide and offers reviews from fellow travelers. It’s also a great site for finding social activities, as many hostels listed include communal events like pub crawls or city tours. Geared towards the 18-35 crowd the platform Roamies is part of Hostelworld and let's one join fellow adventurers on small backpacking tours with stays in various hostels. Sounds fun.
Not that I ever stay in hostels anymore but I used to and I would have loved this site when I was backpacking around Europe. Just for fun I checked out Amsterdam hostels on the site and sure enough my favorite hostel was there. The Flying Pig downtown was so much fun, and cheap! I think I was paying $10 a night for a dorm room. Even now they are still only $20. Ah, to be young again...
Specialization:
Budget accommodations
Hostel reviews
Social activities for travelers
14. My Pack Wizard – Best for Travel Advice and Packing Lists
You didn't think I was going to write a blog about travel sites and not include mine did you? We may be small but we're determined and growing! We've got a few customizable packing lists (just download the Excel or Numbers file to edit) and are busy cranking out the posts on everything from where to get the best bagel in Manhattan, how to budget for a vacation, the best waterfalls you can swim at, navigating the globe in 80 beers, to tips on travel about items such as Trusted Traveler Programs and ETIAS regulations.
Specialization:
General travel advice
Destination-specific recommendations
Travel gear and packing tips
Destination specific packing lists
Conclusion
Whether you're looking for the best flights, unique accommodations, or immersive local experiences, these websites have you covered. Each one has its unique strength, and knowing which ones are best for your preferences in travel can make the planning stage that much easier. The more you use them the easier they become to navigate and maximize their potential. Whether you fall into the cost-conscious budget traveler category, a first class flyer seeking luxury, or the adventurous experience-seeker, these specialized platforms can help make your next journey unforgettable.
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