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INSPIRATION FOR WOMEN TRAVELLING ALONE
The Best 24 Trip Planning Websites & Apps
Table of Contents
Updated on June 6th, 2023
There are now so many travel planning websites & apps to choose from, it’s hard to decipher which are the most useful. I scour the internet regularly on the lookout for how I can use technology to make my travelling life easier. As a result, I have compiled a list of all the trip planning websites & apps that I cannot leave home without.”
I am hoping that Sue Where? Why? What? will develop into the go-to place for women over 40 looking for ideas, inspiration & everything else you need to embark on your first adventure alone. As a result, it felt important to share my favourite ways that the internet & apps can help to make our lives on the road easier. Therefore, I have compiled my list of the 24 best travel planning sites & apps. Many are well known, some less so. Most I use regularly; some I have only discovered recently & will be invaluable on future trips. I hope to help you uncover a few unknown gems too.
Where to go?
Now I’ve got that out of the way…on to the technology…
The Best 24 Trip Planning Websites & Apps
Keeping organised.
for me is the ultimate in trip planning websites. It keeps all your planned trips in one place, either online or on the free App. It scans your email to pick up any future bookings, or you can simply forward messages & it automatically adds your activity to the plan. I believe it is an essential tool for those of us who love independent travel , pulling bookings from all sorts of providers together for you.
Tripit keeps everything in order, which makes it easy to see when you have an issue… Please tell me I’m not the only one who sometimes books for the wrong month by mistake?”
When I spent 6 months exploring the Caribbean , I was regularly asked to show evidence of my onward journey on arrival at immigration. Countries often need to know that you are not planning to outstay your welcome. Tripit was always accepted. It allows me to share plans with others, be they travelling companions or friends & family back home. In addition, I recently discovered is that it even adds up your mileage, cities & countries for those of us who like that sort of thing. Currently, my total since starting with Tripit is 50 countries & over 760,000 km…that’s pretty mind-blowing!
Where to stay?
Booking.com is my go-to for all my accommodation needs. It offers a bed for the night at all levels of budget & includes hotels, hostels & homes, as well as flights, car rentals, attractions & handy airport taxis. The website also has a loyalty program (Genius) which gives you a 10% discount just for signing up. After that, all you need to do is book 5 stays within 2 years & you have lifetime access of up to a 15% discount, free breakfasts & room upgrades. The app is really user friendly too!
Or how about free accommodation if you’re a pet lover?
What about flights?
is an excellent resource for flight information, airlines & routes. It searches for the quickest & cheapest routes which cuts out a lot of site juggling when you are looking for the best deal. Skyscanner also offers hotels & car hire, however, I have only ever used it for flights.
What I especially love is the option to choose to fly “Everywhere”. It gives you a list of destinations & prices that are available from your starting point & can be a great source of inspiration.”
A new discovery for me is Jacks Flight Club . They search the internet constantly for discounts, hidden offers & error fares which could mean saving a lot of money on your flights. Once you sign up you get regular emails with flights they have found & how much you could save through booking now. For example, recently their searches found London to Tokyo for £261 or Glasgow to Toronto for £142, both return trips.
Getting Around
Bookaway is also a new discovery for me as an online ground transportation booking system for bus, train & ferries across the most popular routes around the world. Their activity is mainly focused on travel in Europe, Central & South America & Southeast Asia. If you’re planning on exploring these areas more, then it will be a valuable trip planning website at your fingertips.
Meeting people
Wanderful embraces women across the ages (their oldest member is over 90) with all levels of travel experience. It encompasses women from the well-worn nomads among us to those just embarking on their journey.”
They also organise trips (currently on offer is a very tempting one to Antarctica), events (such as the first outdoor travel festival (in 2022), webinars & local groups (chapters) for you to get involved with. Since joining I have found the group an excellent resource. It is welcoming, supportive & inclusive. You can even purchase a membership as a gift card for fellow travel lovers.
Finding your way
It’s the Dominican Republic & I’m about to set off on a solo road trip. While checking the route, it seems straightforward enough. I get a flash of concern & decide to write down each part of the directions. I leave my hotel & my wifi connection only to discover that I can’t access the route…& that none of the roads has signposts, even highways.
Female intuition had served me well as I went to my notebook for directions & the distances between each stage. With several incidences of doubling back & the occasional need to drive over 40 kilometres before I could tell that I was headed in the right direction, I knew there had to be a better way!”
Planning your activities
Get Your Guide also offers vouchers that you can gift to other travellers, check out all the details and loads more in my 26 Travel Gift Ideas for Travel Lovers .
Staying Safe
On the site are over 30 sessions, involving 35 experts across 50 hours of content. Therefore, if safety is one of your concerns, signing up will gain you access to all of this resource.”
has divided the entire planet into 3-metre squares & given each one a unique combination of 3 words. It is now the easiest way to share & identify your exact location. Anywhere in the world.
For example, Machu Picchu sits at referred.grilled.folktales, the Tower of London is swift.blitz.funds & Uhuru Peak on Mount Kilimanjaro , repair.speeds.kilowatts.”
Communicating
If you don’t speak the language, then you could try taking lessons or use an app. The one I have been trying to boost my Spanish skills with is . If learning an actual language isn’t accessible for you then there is always the genius of the app which now even uses your phone’s camera to decipher menus or instructions. I have no idea how it works but it is genius!
Deciphering money
And finally…
Mark O’Travel is a fun app that tracks the countries, states, regions or even World Heritage Sites that you’ve visited. You can add areas to your wish list, keep an eye on your travel stats, & add photos or notes as you go.
So, there you have my top 24 trip-planning websites. Have I missed any that you feel are invaluable? If so, I would love to hear from you. I’m always on the lookout for anything that will make my travelling life easier. If some of them are new to you then I hope you enjoy making the most of your next trip, with all these tools at your fingertips.
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Sue Cockell
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28 comments.
That’s a really exhaustive list, Sue! I’ve hosted on Couchsurfing but have never been a guest myself. Met some really interesting travellers that way, quite different types than guests that when I host as an Airbnb host.
I’d like to contribute my go-to airline booking site (well, at least back when travel was normal). I’m the first to admit it has a doubtful name, ‘Cheapoair’, but it’s actually good. Best rates (at least for the places I wanna go to) and if I need to make changes, the processes actually do work – there’s a person that gets back to you!
Thank you! Very interesting re your experience with Couchsurfing & Airbnb. Thanks for sharing. Also, I need to check out Cheapoair – always great to have recommendations. 🙂
I am a bit of a planning nerd. So I was interested to see your list of trip planning websites and apps for something new to add to our arsenal. We use AirBnB but have yet to try VRBO. Something we need to try as we look for alternatives to hotels in busy season. I must admit that Rome2Rio is one of my all time favourites. We use the transportation options and times to help plan the routes and travel times. Good to know that GetYourGuide is a good one for planning things to do. Might cut down on our research time. We put all our travel planning details in MS OneNote and share it. But are looking for options to that right now.
Thank you Linda – I’ve never used OneNote so will look into that too. It’s always good to share resources!
Like you, I love TripIt. But I didn’t know that it is often accepted as proof of onward travel, that’s really helpful. I also use many of these other tools–Booking, Rome2Rio, Uber, etc. There is so much great technology these days that really makes travel easier.
Thank you, Wendy – great to hear that we are on the same page 🙂
I love your list! I am aware and use some of the apps already but had not known much about What3words! There are so many travel apps and lists these days but your list really does top them all. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you! It’s always good to share these things – whatever makes our travel lives easier!
We use several of these for planning our trips, as well as use during our trips. Maps.me is a game changer for us, especially when we’ve been exploring Europe. We will check out more of these sites too – what a great resource!
Thank you! Maps.me is so useful!
This is awesome…a few on here I don’t know about so I’ll check it out. Thanks for all your research and insight. Always valuable.
Thank you Laureen – I hope you find something new & useful. x
A fantastic list to refer to. I have saved this for future use! Thanks for all this info.
Thank you Alma & I hope it’s useful for you!
These websites all look so useful! Id love to be able to travel again – this is making me jealous!!
Thank you Amy-Anne – fingers crossed we can all use them again soon!
This was so helpful! I will definitely need to check out Tripit!
Thank you, Elena, I find it invaluable, hope you do too.
This is a really helpful list! I often use Skyscanner for my flights, but haven’t tried out many of the other ones that you’ve listed. Thanks for the tips!
Thank you, Krista, I hope you find a few of them invaluable in the future too!
Good list, I used a lot of these apps myself. I’ve recently joined wanderful, looking forward to engaging in the community.
Thank you Cosette & hope you enjoy Wanderful too!
I love your list as I’m always looking for great apps to help my Uber planning obsession. I will use this in future and try some new ones.
Thank you Renee, I’d love to hear which ones stick for your future planning!
What an amazing resource Sue! Some of these I’ve used a lot, some I’ve never heard of and am glad I finally did. Excellent!
Thank you Alison, I hope you find them as useful as I do!
I couldn’t find the empowerdul or wanderdul apps are they still in use??
Sorry, Kerrie. Both are websites with info & connections as opposed to Apps. The links are below for you: Wanderful – https://sheswanderful.com/join/?sc_ref=Y0ebgPJ4ltTz7Cff Empowerful – https://learning.solofemaletravelers.club/courses/empowerful?ref=3c6d4a
I hope that helps & apologies if it wasn’t clear enough from the post. Safe travels
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Hi, I'm SUE!
I aim to inspire women in mid-life to embrace the power of solo travel. I have been a passionate traveller for more than 30 years having visited over 80 countries across 6 continents. Here I share my travel tales, tips & recommendations to help you rediscover yourself while exploring the world. I’d love for you to join me on the journey.
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