It’s a big world out there.

This is my (hopefully) useful list and guide to travel websites and resources. Enjoy! You can also check out my frequently asked questions or feel free to shout at me on Twitter @travelsfoadam.

Hotels, Hostels or Apartments?

Hotels: Finding the right hotels can be a challenge, but I use a few tips & tricks to find cool places to stay. I usually start by checking out what’s listed on Tablet Hotels, TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Lists and Design Hotels. I also sometimes use the Hotel Tonight app for last-minute bookings. I tend to book hotels either directly or through either Booking.com or Agoda.com. Both are popular and easy-to-use websites for narrowing down searches and sorting by location or price. HotelsCombined.com is a useful search site for comparing prices.

Hostels: Hostelworld and Hostelbookers are the two main players here, but if you want to discover some cool indie hostels, try Gomio.com. I also like the search functions from Hostelsclub which includes over 28,000 listings. Hostelscentral includes search filters for gay-friendly, eco-friendly and design hostels.

Apartments: The best options are going to be found on Airbnb.com. Other apartment-rental options include HomeAway and countless smaller, more regional and local companies, but honestly I just always go with Airbnb—it’s reliable and the customer service is pretty spot on.

Read my entire collection of accommodation reviews.

Favorite Airlines

Europe: Unfortunately I’m not much of a fan of the airlines in Germany, but thankfully Europe serves up plenty of budget options. EasyJet and Vueling are more often than not my preferred budget options. RyanAir has more and more routes and has significantly improved their service making it one of the best budget options in Europe.

North America: My preferred airline has (and probably always will be) American Airlines. That’s because I’ve got a bit of a family history with them and I’ve been collecting AAdvantage miles since I was 16.

Booking: I use Dohop, Expedia, Skyscanner and Google Flights to find airfares but generally prefer to book directly through the airline rather than third-parties. That usually ensures I get the most air miles as possible.

Twitter for Travelers

Twitter has long-been one of my favorite secret tools for traveling. Sometimes simply by posting a question and tweeting @ the right Twitterers, you can get some really useful tips. For example, anyone who tweets at me with a destination question, if I can help, I’ll happily reply in 140 280 characters or less!

Foursquare for Travelers

My #1 recommended travel app is Foursquare. It’s easily the most useful app for finding nearby restaurants and things to do. And no: you don’t have to share your location with everyone in order to reap the full benefits of the app. Simply open the app once you’ve checked into your hotel and use it to see what’s nearby. If you are a regular user like myself, you’ll find it’s pretty good at recommending places.

My Foursquare travel guides: Berlin | Cologne | Tel Aviv | Jerusalem | Amsterdam | London | East London | Edinburgh | Budapest | Helsinki | Barcelona | Seville | Brussels | Antwerp | Rome | Toronto | Boston | Austin | More…

Recommended Travel Blogs

What I’m reading regularly changes, but below are a handful of some of my favorite travel blogs. There are lots of other great websites for travel inspiration as well, but these are the personal blogs I find interesting and/or informative.

Moving Postcard | Cheryl Howard | Heart Rome | Young Adventuress | D Travels Round | Fly Brother | Wonderful Wanderings | Amsterdam Foodie | Backpack with Brock | Nomadic Matt | Leave Your Daily Hell | More…

Gay Travel Resources

For LGBT travelers and gay backpackers, there is a lot of information out on the web. Unfortunately much of it is outdated, but below are some useful websites and blogs.

USA State Department LGBT Travel Information | Pink News Travel | Passport Magazine | More…

Recommended Guidebooks

While I increasingly do my travel research online, sometimes it’s still useful to have a guidebook. And even still more useful is a printed & bound guidebook rather than one of those new-fangled apps for your iPhone. Below are some of my favorite guidebook brands but knowing which guidebooks are the best is really a difficult art. It’s important to know who the author of the book is and go from there.

My best guidebook tip? Visit a bookstore before you leave on your holiday and pick up a few different brands. Quickly thumb through them and read the descriptions for their mid-range hotels. Check the variety and if there’s any overlap, compare the writing to see which style you prefer.

Let’s Go | Lonely Planet | Wallpaper* City Guides | Time Out Guides | More Travel Books…

Packing Tips

Determining what to bring on a holiday can be rather challenging. And everyone travels differently, so really you have to determine for yourself what works best. Do you want to escape reality for the week? Leave behind your computer. Do you want to go clubbing every night? Make sure you bring extra shoes. Is it a beach holiday, a city break, an adventure trip? Know what’s needed and make sure you know the weather beforehand! Read the full travel fashion archives here.

* * *

The opinions and descriptions expressed here are solely my own. For more information about the links, comments and content on this website, please read the Privacy Policy.