Our Favorite Trusted Travel Tools & Booking Sites
As passionate travelers, we’ve curated our top go-to websites for planning unforgettable trips. From travel insurance to hotel booking sites, these are the resources we use to plan our own trips. We hope these are helpful as you plan your own adventures. — Isabella, Associate Editor
Our Favorite Activity Booking Sites
Get Your Guide
I love GetYourGuide for its user-friendly experience and endless options. You can find tours in virtually every city, and booking is very easy right on the website or app.
Best Way to Learn Spanish
Spanish verb conjugations are what trip up most learners, myself included. VerbMaster tackles that head-on with adaptive repetition that drills the forms until they actually stick, instead of throwing endless vocabulary at you and hoping it sinks in. I wrote about how it finally got me past the verb wall in this article.
Great Travel Insurance Options
Safety Wing
Safety Wing is the best travel insurance if you’re looking for simplicity and affordability. They have a straightforward claim process, a plan specific to digital nomads and travel assistance.
Squaremouth
Instead of being a standalone insurance provider, Squaremouth serves as a comprehensive database of reputable insurance options. This gives you more flexibility to tailor your coverage.
World Nomads
World Nomads is ideal for extreme sports enthusiasts and avid adventurers. They have great emergency assistance that ensures you’re well supported during your adventures.
Best Accommodation Sites
Booking.com
My personal favorite booking site is Booking.com, mostly because of the ease of use and Genius program. They have a huge database of accommodations with ways to filter by amenities, ratings and accommodation types. With the Genius program, the more you book, the more discounts you receive, which is always a win for me.
Expedia
Expedia is another solid option for accommodations, with a huge selection of hotels, resorts and vacation rentals you can filter by price, star rating and amenities. What sets it apart is the ability to bundle your stay with flights or a rental car, which often works out cheaper than booking everything separately. Their rewards program also lets you earn points on nearly every booking that go toward future travel.
Hostelworld
If you’re a budget traveler like me, Hostelworld is a great hostel-specific database that allows you to sort by location, price, and rating. They also offer a loyalty program with discounts for frequent users as well as booking flexibility and free cancellation options. If you want to learn more about hostel life, read my guide to surviving and thriving in hostels.
Our Favorite eSIMs for Staying Connected
Airalo
My go-to for general travel. I used to wrestle with physical SIM cards or face sky-high bills from my local provider, but Airalo lets me grab a data plan in almost any country before I even land. I walk through exactly how I use it in our Airalo eSIM guide, it’s reliable, affordable, and works virtually everywhere I go.
OneRoam
If you’ve ever paid for spotty ship wifi only to lose your connection mid-video call, OneRoam is the fix. It’s built specifically for cruisers, giving you reliable data at sea without the outrageous per-day cruise line rates. For more on staying connected at sea, check out our cruise ship wifi guide.
Best Transportation Sites
Discover Cars
I have never found better car rental deals than I have on Discover Cars. Boasting an easy to use database and fantastic prices, it is by far the best booking site for car rentals. The prices are transparent with no hidden fees. They allow you to add insurance options right during the booking process as well.
Omio
I like Omio because it allows multi-mode search with the ability to book multiple modes of transportation including trains, buses and flights all in one place. It’s easy to book directly through the site and there are reviews and advice forums from users who can recommend the best routes and transportation modes.
12Go
When I was traveling through Thailand and Vietnam, 12Go was a lifesaver for booking trains, buses and ferries. Everything was easy to search and book right from the app, and I never ran into issues with the tickets I bought. If you’re island hopping or crossing borders overland anywhere in Southeast Asia, this is the one to use.
Best Gifts for Travelers
Go World Travel Shop
Our own shop is full of fun travel finds, from mugs and drinkware with our favorite wanderlust sayings to practical accessories worth packing. It’s a great first stop if you’re gift shopping for a traveler.
Bookshop.org
Our curated shelf of travel reads is full of gift-worthy picks, from park guides to armchair adventures. We link here because Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores, and you get to choose which local shop benefits.
Planning on Moving Abroad?
If you’re thinking about relocating, not just visiting, StartAbroad can help. They handle moves to Costa Rica, Portugal and Panama, covering the parts that usually derail a move: visas, housing, banking, even schools if you’re bringing kids. Start with their free consultation call, and use code GOWORLD for 5% off.
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