Trip Planning
Plan your trip with recommendations from friends and travelers – Trip.com Rated by Time magazine as 50 best websites in 2011. It connects users with friends and travelers to make plans and share travel ideas. Helping you to discover the best restaurants, hotel, shops and fun things around the world.
Reviews and advices for travel related products and services from users – tripadvisor.com is a website providing information and reviews of hotels, flights, restaurants and travel related contents.
Plan your tours with suggestions from local experts – YourTour.com is a personal tour planner with suggested day by day itineraries from local experts. A map with suggested traveling routes and description of each activity provide convenience and take your guesswork out from scratch in planning.
Wealth of data for planning trips around the world – BootsnAll.com Travel planning tools and resources in one place. Good resource for planning hostel hopping between places and RTW trips for budget travels.
Exploring a city in a day or even in a half day – 12HRS.net provides 12hours itineraries of major cities around the world for travelers whose time is limited.
The concierge for the world premier ticket events – Beck & Score.com is an exclusive member only web site offering tailor made travel service to world premier events such as world cup……..etc.
Smithsonian tours – SmithsonianJOURNEYS.org Smithsonian offers 200 tours worldwide, behind the scenes access.
Budge your trip – Budget Your Trip.com provides travel expense guide line for cities and countries around the world to help travelers to plan and track their travel cost.
Travel Planner
Vacation builder – inspirock.com a plug and play vacation builder makes trip planning simple and fun.
Get ideas for place to go and plan your trips – travelmuse.com an online travel planning website with city and country guides allows users to research and plan their trips on a single interface.
Travel Abroad Like Locals
Unique things to do with locals – bubble-globe.co a marketplace for travelers looking for authentic experience with locals.
Unique travel experience with the locals – showaround.com connects travelers with locals who are ready to show them around.
Private tours by locals – toursbylocals.com connects travelers and arrange tours with private local guides.
Get travel advices and tips from travel agents in 170 countries worldwide – localyte.com a travel platform connecting travelers and 70,000 travel agents across the world.
Ask a question and get answer from local people. – nileguide.com provides recommendations from local perspective. You may find things that are not listed in tour books.
Neighborhood guides around the world – onthegrid.city views of city by local artists, stylists, photographers and more.
Travel Ideas
Theme park vacation – Themego.com source for theme park reviews, top attractions, top restaurants and theme park vacation planning,
Tailor made trips offer unique experience – Blacktomato.com run by an award winning tour operator offers creative and cutting edge tours such as honeymoon around the world, 10 night trip cycling Himalayas, learn the way of Ninja in Japan etc.
Planning an African safari tour? – Safaribookings.com the largest online marketplace with 939 specialized safari operators, covered 8 major safari countries and 138 parks & reserves. The ultimate place to research and book your safari tours.
The best of the best in Paris, London, New York... – thepurplepassport.com provides unbiased info on what are hip and cool in the most exiting cities across the global.
Cool events around the world – musement.com an online platform allows you to book activities, guided tours, tickets to museums, attractions, shows and events around the world.
Handpicked travel suggestions for family with kids – Minitime.com a travel web site that introduces kid friendly hotels and destinations. Travel suggestions are based on the age of your kids. Great travel planning resource for family with kids.
Sailing with chartered sail – Intersailclub.com a planning and booking platform enable people who love the open sea to joint in for chartered sailing vacations.
Scenic drive around the country – Myscenicdrives.com a road trip planner features interactive maps, drive overviews, places of interest, side trips, weather forecast and directions. Great resources for road trip planning.
Educational travel – Roadscholar.org a not for profit organization that provides educational tours in US and 150 other countries.
Festival around the world – Everfest.com a festival community connects festival goers and share contents about festival experiences.
Get inspired and tailor to your taste – Zaptravel.com inspires travelers with special events, activities and deals. Plan trips tailor to your taste and travel budgets.
Get inspired for travel ideas – Travelmuse.com an online travel planning web site provides travel ideas based on destination, travel theme and activities.
Global inspiration from Conde Nast Traveler – cntraveler.com tips for food, fashions, and top destinations.
Party location of your dreams – Venuereport.com offers a list of venues for parties and events in 615 cities in 63 countries.
View the world from bird’s eye – Travel by Drone.com a website with collection of video footages taken by drones all over the world. It is fun to see the places from an aerial view.
Train travel around the world – seat61.com a complete train travel guide with detail information and tips for train travel around the world.
Discover activities and attractions in Asia – klook.com a tour guide that shows you where to go and what to do.
Special interest
Plan your golf trips around the world – golfscape.com golfscape lets you plan and book golf games in the US and 47 countries.
Dine with locals – eatwith.com a global market place to connect local hosts with travelers seeking special culinary experiences.
Wine travel around the world – winerist.com a wine travel encyclopedia, a travel guide to winemaking region globally. It features wine hotels, wineries, wine tours and special offers.
Unique adventure travel experiences – manawa.com an online platform offers extreme and outdoor sport activities around the world.
Camping around the world in luxury – glamping.com a complete source for luxury outdoor accommodations from floating lodges in Cambodia to tree houses in Italy.
Bike rental or bike sharing – spinlister.com a worldwide online service that lets you rent a bike or list one.
Bicycle tours around the world – biketours.com represents 100 local bicycle tour operators in 70 countries with more than 400 tours.
Deals on lift tickets – liftopia offers discount of up to 80% off ski lift ticket at more than 120 resorts in the US and Canada.
Best of the best festivals around the world – everfest.com the fortune 500 list of the festivals around the world. It is a complete resource for festival goers with reviews, travelogues and directories
Tours for crafters – craftours.com connects crafters and craft instructors around the world and allow crafters to combine travel with their hobbies.
Spiritual and wellness retreats around the world – retreat.guru with a list of 6822 retreats around the world, Retreat Guru is an online global community for retreat teachers and students.
Tours
Handpicked tours and activities – viator.com a leading provider for city tours, helicopter tours, day trips, show tickets and sightseeing day tours
Tours and activities in Paris, London and 17 US cities – peek.com serves as travel agent and tour guide for sightseeing, day trips, food and walking tours.
Unusual tours around the world – gonomad.com a travel resource and data base of unusual tours and unique trips to exotic destinations around the world and around US.
Bicycle tours around the world – biketours.com represents 100 local bicycle tour operators in 70 countries with more than 400 tours
Expert guided tours – contexttravel provides small group tours that engage travelers with local experts for in depth experiences in history, culture and art
Tours for crafters – craftours.com connects crafters and craft instructor around the world and allow crafters to combine travel with their hobbies.
The trendiest places in town – thrillist.com thrillist has specific information on what to do, what to eat and what to buy in major cities around the world.
Find the best tours – stridetravel.com a tour search engine allows you to discover and compare tours from more than 400 operators with user reviews of their services.
Free walking tours – freetoursbyfoot.com and freetour.com offer free walking tours in major cities around the world.
Deals
Travel smart – smartertravel.com an online resource for unbiased travel news, deals and timely travel advices.
Last minute travel deals – lastminutetravel.com a provider of last minute travel deals on hotels, flights, rental cars and cruises.
Attraction pass save up to 55% in major US cities – gocity.com offers city attraction pass that save up to 55% on combined admission price for top museums and attractions.
Travel deals – travelzoo.com a global internet media company employs more than 250 deal experts worldwide to search and evaluate deals from 2,000 travel, entertainment and local businesses.
Vacation packages for costco menber – costcotravel.com offers special deals on vacations, hotels, cruises, rental cars exclusively for costco members.
Looking for a travel partner
Find a travel partner here – cstn.org a network that connects partners for someone who travels alone. This is a not-for-profit international organization of individuals sharing tips on solo traveling and promoting hospitality.
Find an Earthwatch partner – earthwatch.org will hook you up with a roommate on research expeditions. Most members are paying volunteers who travel alone.
Where lone-travelers meet- Post your destination and find a suitable travel partner at – travelersmeet.com and lonelyplanet.com
Tours and vacation travel for women traveling alone – women-traveling.com provides small group travel services for single women or women traveling alone.
Educational travel for solo travelers – roadscholar.org a not for profit organization that provides educational tours in US and 150 other countries for single and older adults.
Need a cruising roommate? – singlescruise.com offers free roommate matching service for cruises and other onboard programs for those looking to save money by taking advantage of double-occupancy cabin rate.
Road Trippers
Inspiration, maps and advice for your road trips – roadtripamerica.com
Road trip planner and guides – roadtrippers.com
Interstate exit guide, the road trip stop finder – iexitapp.com
Find the cheap gas station near you – gasbuddy.com
Car Rentals
Worldwide car rental – rentalcars.com offers car rental services in more than 6,000 locations worldwide at discount prices.
Compare and get the cheapest rate – vroomvroomvroom.com worldwide car rental services allows you compare price from all suppliers and pick the cheapest rate.
Deals for Costco members – costcotravel.com offers special deals on rental cars exclusively for Costco members.
Car rental deals – carrentals.com compares rates from all names and find rental that fits your budget.
Rent the car you want – turo.com a nationwide car sharing marketplace which allows private car owners to rent out their vehicles.
Rent car by the hour from the people around you – getaround.com platform for social car sharing, to rent a car or to rent out yours.
RV Rental
Local RV rental – rvshare.com a community driven RV rental marketplace comprised of independent dealers and private owners.
Boat Rental
Boat rental around the world – getmyboat.com a market place for boat rentals and charters in 143 countries.
Transportation
One stop shop for train and bus in Europe and North America – wanderu.com allows you to compare and book bus and train in Europe and North America.
Door to door transportation – rome2rio.com a global trip planner connecting you from your home to the door of destination with info of local transportation of bus, train, ferry and flight.
Travel Europe by rail – raileurope.com a one stop shop for European rail travel with maps, schedules and fares for over 50 different train companies across Europe. – eurail, Eurail sells global pass that allow you to travel up to 24 European countries by train.
Megabus – megabus.com a bus company operating throughout Europe and northern America.
Greyhound – greyhound.com the largest intercity bus provider with 3,800 destinations in US and Canada.
Flixbus – flixbus.com a low cost and limit stop intercity bus carrier in northeast and west coast in United State.
Ride on demand – uber.com a transportation network connects drivers with someone looking for a ride.
Alternative to taxi and bus – lyft.com a transportation network match drivers and passengers.
Charter a rail car. You can charter a rail car from $3,500-$5,000 a day for family gathering or corporate events, which includes crew and food.
Airport Transfer
Transportation from airport to city center – airportrs.com displays transportation options and costs for getting from airport to city center in 40 major cities around the world.
Connected Abroad
Stay connected while you are on the go – boingo.com provides global wi-fi services at more than 1 million hotspots worldwide, including airports, hotels, cafés and more.
Global wi-fi hot pot rental – xcomglobal.com an international wi-fi hot pot rental offers portable internet access in over 175 counties.
International cell phones and SIM cards –cellularabroad.com offers affordable cell phone and internet services for travelers aboard.
Budget Travelers
Travel on a budget – priceoftravel.com Price of Travel provides pricing guide for more than 100 cities around the world, great source for budget travelers.
Attraction pass save up to 55% in major US cities – gocity.com offers city attraction pass that save up to 55% on combined admission price for top museums and attractions.
Culture exchange through travel – iceoinc.org a non-profit community based travel organization promoting study tours.
Travel with Pets
Plan a pet friendly trip – vacationpetfriendly.com a pet friendly travel guide offers 25,000 plus pet friendly hotels in America with listing of pet events, pet shops, pet sitters, veterinarians, pet friendly airlines, parks, beaches, and restaurants.
Door to Door Luggage Shipping
Ship luggage internationally – luggageforward.com Luggage Forward specialize in door to door luggage and sport equipment shipping services to more than 200 counties worldwide.
Outdoor adventure in US and aboard
Meet new friends and great people in outdoor adventures – gociety.com a social network to connect adventurers and fun seekers with the same interest.
Fall Color in West Coast
californiafallcolor.com tracks and provides update reports with real time photos for more than 50 foliage spots around California.
monocounty.org where you can find information, maps and tips on fall color spots along Hwy 395 in Eastern Sierra.
Wine Road in Sonoma California
Wine Road – wineroad.com provides information for 186 wineries and 56 lodging in Sonoma County, California.
Health Advisory for International Travel
Information and tips for staying healthy aboard – CDC.gov Center for Disease Control and Prevention has up to date information about disease and health news around the world.
International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers – IAMAT.org provides up to date travel health advise and directory of local doctors and clinics.
For Students Traveling Abroad
Students Abroad – travel.state.gov a government website provides practical information for students traveling abroad.
Special Diet on the Road
Gluten free travelers – glutenfreetravelsite.com with user submitted dinning and travel reviews, this site gives you access to restaurants, hotels and cruises that can accommodate gluten free diets.
Travel Insurance
Make the right choice of your travel insurance – squaremouth.com voted best travel insurance review and comparison web site help you to pick the best deal with zero complain guarantee.
Travel insurance review – covertrip.com resource for travel insurance guides and how to compare and find the best travel insurance.
Compare and find the best – insuremytrip.com compare plans from 25 companies and find the one that fits your situation.
My Time Zone
The world time zone map – timeanddate.com it features world time zone map, world clock, worldwide weather, and holidays worldwide.
APPS
Mobile Applications
All in one travel organizer – tripit.com, are trouble free apps to keep all of your travel plans in one place. Simply forward your email confirmation of booking to the app platform and it will manage your itinerary.
Plan and organize your trip – get.google.com it maps out a day trip with suggestion for things to see and do.
Book taxi on your phone – gocurb.com book a ride to your location on your phone.
Easy ride sharing on your fingertips – tripda.com connects drivers and passengers for long distance travel.
Street maps and GPS – google.com/maps street maps, turn by turn driving direction, street view.
Database for more than 28,000 destinations around the world – triposo.com lets you download maps, city guides and recommendations and use them offline.
Find nearby restaurant, hotel and shops – yelp.com to find nearby restaurants, hotels, shops and local business with user review.
Find nearby restaurants and see real time table available – opentable.com to find nearby restaurant, make reservation and get directions.
First aid – redcross.org American Red Cross first aid app give you instant access to information you need to know to handle most comment emergency including bleeding, hypothermia, meningitis and more.
Universal voice translator – sayhitranslate.com interprets 32 languages in voice. Cost $2.99 for iphone, ipad, ipod touch.
Connects you for quality care around the world – mpassport.com lists medical providers and pharmacies in cities across the global as well as lets you make appointments.
Live translation to help to facilitate emergency communication – verbalizeit.com provides human power translation service, powered by a global community of 23000 translators speaking over 150 languages.
Apps for iPhone & iPad Only
Personal safety App protects you for unforeseen situation – iwitness.com is a personal safety smartphone app that captures and safeguards video and connects to local emergency services with 146 countries. Cost $2.99 per month.
Fund your road trip by carrying cargos – roadie.com a neighbor to neighbor shipping network allows shippers to find someone going the same directions.
Keep your friends and family updated with your travel journal – journiapp.com an APP allows you to make a travel journal with photos, notes and locations where you have been to keep friends and family in the loop.
Find the cheapest gas nearby gasguru and gasbuddy.
Tips
Check your passport before you go, some countries require your passport has six months remaining before expiration or has certain number of blank pages. Check entry/exit requirements of foreign countries at State Department web site, travel.state.gov
If you plan to drive abroad, you should be aware that many countries do not accept U.S. driver license, but most honor the international driving permit (IDP). An IDP is an official translation of a U.S. driver license with 11 languages and is available at any local AAA office.
Safe guard your identity while you are away home. Do not use public Wi-Fi hotspots, these will give chance for the thieves to hack into and steal information on your device. Create and use hotspot on your mobile phone.
You pay fees on both end with traveler’s check, cheaper by using credit card.