Useful travel websites

Need some useful travel websites for your backpacking trip?

This useful travel websites page is for your convenience, to give you easy access to over 100 sites and apps that will come in handy during your backpacking trip

I know what It’s like, trawling through the internet to look for not just useful travel websites but the right type for backpackers. So much time can get wasted, searches after searches, and being a long term backpacker myself I know how a lot of the times we need sites at our fingertips. So that’s why I decided to put all the sites and apps we need on one page.

The useful travel websites on this page are all carefully sought out, they’re sites I’ve used, come across or been told about by other backpackers. They cover everything from planning and researching, lists of budget airlines all over the world, websites for accommodation, useful travel websites for transport, travel insurance companies. There are useful travel websites and apps for things you’ll need in your everyday backpacking life.

Some of these useful travel websites and apps you may already know about, some might be game changers for you as they were for me, some you’ll wish you knew about earlier. Whatever backpacker and useful travel website you need either for budget, solo or long term backpacking will be listed here. However if there are some you know about which you don’t find, let me know and I’ll add them to the list.

Useful travel websites & blogs for research and planning

Useful travel websites for visa information

Gov.uk – Official visa requirements page from the UK government. Use this page to see what visas are needed for your destination. VisaHQ – Enter your nationality and your destination and it will provide all the information you need. You can also apply for visas from here. Project Visa – Provides full information on visa requirements and embassy information for your targeted destination. CIBT Visas – Search and apply for the correct visa.

Useful travel websites and search engines for flight research/bookings

Sky Scanner – A worldwide and popular flight compare site, offers single, return and multi-trip flights. Also will forecast when cheapest tickets are available. Kayak – Another popular site amongst backpackers. Offer single, return, hotel, car rental, and packages. Will forecast when cheapest tickets are available. Expedia – Compares airlines, offer single, return and multi-stop. STA Travel – Offers student discounts, can offer tour and adventure packages to go with your flight. Can plan your whole trip for you, specialize in backpacker packages. Student universe – Flight search engine catered specifically for students. (UK students only) Cheap flights – Finds cheap flights from across the world, offer flights, hotel, and car deals. Air wander – Launched Dec 2016, a new flight search engine that also will include free stopovers if you are looking to break up your flight. E-bookers – Cheap online flights. Flight Center – A little more expensive than the others but helpful to compare prices.

Sometimes a good option is to look at regional budget airlines, Below is a list of popular budget airlines in different regions.

Useful travel websites/apps for accommodation

Where do you start when you’re looking to book accommodation? Well the more you travel, you’ll have your favorite go-to booking websites. The useful travel websites for booking accommodation listed below are used by 99% of travelers all around the world. Booking.com – One of the largest, most comprehensive and trusted booking portals in the world. They offer rooms from campsites, small family run B&B’s to 5-star resorts. Whatever type of accommodation you want, you’ll find here. Hostel world – A worldwide hostel booking portal – Offer a full range of hostels for every type of traveler. Includes reviews from fellow travelers. One of the most popular sites amongst budget travelers. Hostelbookers.com – A worldwide hostel booking portal – Offer a full range of hostels for every type of traveler. Includes reviews from fellow travelers. One of the most popular sites amongst budget travelers. (Part of the hostel world group) Nomads – An international chain of hostels around the world popular with backpackers. AirBnB – A site to find private short-term lodgings in homes and apartments rented out by homeowners. Couchsurfing – Stay with locals rather than in hostels. A community of travelers and local hosts from around the world, exchange work for accommodation. The site has a community of over 14 million in over 200,000 cities around the world. AllTheRooms.com – A worldwide accommodation search engine and provider. They compare all the rooms from all the different accommodation sites to give you a comprehensive result. Homestays – A program that lets you stay in other people’s houses while they are away from their property. Accommodation is free in exchange for general upkeep or house, looking after pets or some general maintenance on the property.

Useful travel websites for transport

Something that you will definitely need while traveling is how to get from one place to another. Or you might want to book transport tickets in advance. Here are some useful travel websites that will help you plan your journey before or whilst you’re traveling. Check my bus – A good site that lets you check and book local bus journeys all around the world. Routes international – Covers every mode of transport from all around the world. Wikipedia – Free online encyclopedia, covering almost every subject. The man in seat 61 – One of the most comprehensive train travel guide, search and booking portal on the internet. Includes local, trans-country and trans-regional train journeys from all around the world. Rome to Rio – A global trip planner by any mode of transport in any country around the world. For the best underground/subway/metro maps, you need to look up for each individual country. Simply download their Apps onto your phone or device. STA travel worldwide bus passes – Offer passes for bus companies around the world. Kilroy –Offer bus passes for backpackers worldwide. BlaBla Car – Great rideshare taxi company

Useful travel websites for money/budgeting/exchange rates

Money is always at the forefront of your minds when backpacking especially if you’re on the tightest of budgets. You will always want to compare rates, check if you can budget a little better or want to check out cost comparisons. Here are a number of useful travel websites that will help you. XE.Com – My go to exchange rate and currency converter, live currency rates, add multiple countries to compare. (great for multi-country trips) Visa Card ATM locator – Locates all ATMs linked to Visa Card worldwide. Master Card ATM locator – Locates all ATMs linked to Master Card worldwide. Expatistan – Compares general costs between any country or city you need (compare the cost of traveling, local transport, groceries, Drinks, cigarettes etc. Helpful with controlling your budget) Numbeo – Compares costs between any country or city you need (compare the cost of traveling, local transport, groceries, Drinks, cigarettes etc. Helpful with controlling your budget) Travelex budget calculator – Helps give you a rough idea of the budget you might need for your trip. Western Union locator – For those times you’re in a sticky situation and need to manually send or receive money. Worlds most recognized money transfer company with locations worldwide. Moneytravelmax.com – Another great currency converting tool recommended by a fellow traveler and travel blogger Always carry on You just put in the amount you want exchanging and it shows you what the conversion is.

Useful travel websites for travel insurance

A must for some, a nuisance for others and a headache finding the right one for you. There are so many travel insurance companies out there it really is like finding a needle in a haystack. However the useful travel websites listed below should help ease that burdon. True traveller – Specialist backpacker travel insurance, can cater to your specific trip. World nomads – flexible travel insurance, can be bought from home or while on your travels endorsed by Lonely Planet and National Geographic. STA Travel insurance – backpacker specific travel insurance for budget travelers. (very cheap) Virgin insurance – full range of travel insurance options depending on your trip. Adventure insurance – Taylor made adventure insurance covering over 400 activities, includes search and rescue insurance for those who like to wander off. Confused.com, moneysupermarket, gocompare – Comparison websites for all travel insurance companies.

Other useful travel websites

Skiddle – A guide to international music festivals. Global surfers – A worldwide surf spots and guide. Surf spots Atlas – An International ultimate guide to all things surfing: includes worldwide maps, gear, forums, schools, and guides. World snowboard guide – Ultimate guide to where and when to snowboard around the world. Sports events – A comprehensive guide to major sporting events around the world. Travel Blog – A site full of travel blogs written by fellow travelers, covering destinations all around the world. TripHappy – A site that lets you plan out your route and trips, share it and let other travelers see where you’re heading. Road Trippers – A cool sight I just stumbled upon. A site that you can plan out your route and it shows you all the attractions, places to stay, eat, national parks along your preferred route. Gumtree – Classified ads site, buy and sell, find and look for work or find online communities. Craigslist – Classified ads site, broken down into cities all around the world.

Useful travel websites for volunteering

If you are looking to volunteer whilst backpacking here are some useful travel websites to help you. Workaway – Offer all sorts of volunteering work across the world from helping families renovate homes to working in local communities. Woofing – Your opportunity to work and live on organic farms in exchange for board and food. Recognized the world over and has a network of national organizations. GVI (Global Vision International) – Offer all types of different programs all over the world for different age groups. Working abroad – Offer worldwide volunteering programs from human rights, wildlife surveying, agriculture to teaching. TEFL – Enroll in the teaching course and apply to volunteer teaching around the world.

Useful travel websites to find backpacker communities online

Travelers point – Online community of fellow travelers, plan your trip, share blogs, pictures, and your adventures. Lonely planet’s Thorn tree forum – Travel forums for travelers by travelers. Bootnall – Travel guide and community for long-term travelers. Reddit – Has many sub-Reddit’s dedicated to travel, ask and answer any travel questions you have. Couchsurfing – Not just an accommodation site, also a huge travel community to get to know fellow travelers and locals. Facebook – Search for groups like – NOMADS, Me want to travel, travel, backpackers to get in touch with people traveling in the same areas as you.

Useful backpacker travel apps

Here are some apps that will help with your travels. Many of the websites I’ve mentioned above have apps so I won’t list them below. Google maps – Will help you navigate wherever you are in the world. City mapper – Comprehensive city maps with public transport routes and schedules. maps.me – Comprehensive and detailed maps that can be used offline. Hopper – A flight comparison app that tracks when the prices will drop and will send you alerts advising you the best time to book trips. Around me – App that lets you know everything that’s around you wherever you are. Google translate – Very useful to help communicate in foreign countries. Uber – Can be a cheaper option than taxi’s – Now operate all over the world. Grab – Cheapest and safest private Taxis around southEast asia, much cheaper than normal taxis. FourSquare – Finds the best places to eat wherever you are Duallingo – Fun language learning app. Yelp – Great app to find bars and restaurants with lots of reviews wherever you are. travelstoke – Online community app, find fellow travelers close to you and discover new places. fieldtripper – App that finds places and things you don’t know about wherever you are. REI national parks – Locates and tell you all the national parks and hiking trails around you. Packpoint – Great app if you’re forgetful, automatically generates a packing and essentials list once you type in your destination. Trail wallet – An app that helps you manage your daily spend. Toye in your maximum allowance for the day and track what you spend so you don’t go over your budget.

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Any useful travel websites you know about?

Feel free to bookmark and share this useful travel website page, and if there any sites you know of that are not listed above, drop me line below and I’ll happily add it to the list to share with other backpackers.

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