The level of travel planning annoys some people, but I prefer this to losing valuable time on the spot trying to figure things out. Certainly if you are a digital nomad, or have the luxury of travelling for an extended period of time, winging it can be a great option, but for the trips with a limited timeframe, having a clear travel plan and itinerary is a relief. That’s exactly where my travel planning tips can help.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how I plan my trips step by step. You will learn where to search for information for visas, travel timing, transportation, accommodation and much more for any destination worldwide.

Visa Requirements: How to Check if You Need a Visa Before Planning a Trip

Note: If you are planning a domestic short trip or you have a luxury of being an EU citizen and travelling to Schengen member states, you can happily skip this step. 

The visa requirement is the first thing I check before starting to plan any international trip. Having a weaker passport, I don’t take it for granted that I could travel anywhere easily. There are quite a number of places for which I would need to travel to a third country to apply for a visa. So I simply rule out those places for now and go wherever I don’t need a visa or online visa or visa on arrival is an option.

• Your country’s official websites: A good starting point for checking whether you need a visa and how to get it is your country’s Foreign Ministry website. Some countries provide thorough information, others, not so much. Either way, this often gives only a general idea, as the Ministries usually don’t provide sufficient information about online visa options, etc.
• Destination country’s official websites: Next, I start looking at the destination country’s official visa information (it can be from Ministry of Foreign Affairs or any Government websites). Sometimes it’s difficult to recognize, whether the website is official, so do thorough research.
• IATA: It is the most exhaustive information portal about visa requirements, although not always enough on the ways to get the visa.
• Airline websites: Some airlines are also a great source of information. For instance, Qatar Airways has quite good database on travel requirements. I find that it is up-to-date whenever I need to look, but of course it may not be for some destinations. Some other airlines also provide similar resources.

If you don’t need a visa, that’s amazing. But if you do, don’t be discouraged just yet. It may be quite easy to get. Many countries have the option for online visa or visa on arrival. Check all your options and find the best one that suits you. If that also isn’t an option, see if the country has an embassy where you are located. It may be a hassle, but if you really want to go, it can be worth it to get that visa.

Best Time to Travel: How to Choose the Right Season and Avoid Crowds

After I figure out the visa requirements, I look at the best possible times to go to any certain country. This actually depends on your preferences. While I hate cold to the extent that with 0 degrees Celsius outside, I just don’t wanna get out, the winter may be the best time for you. So have a look at the average temperatures per month, the possibility of rainfall and compare this to the prices at the time.

If you can go off season or during the shoulder season, you will save a lot of money. But if it means, your experience will be completely ruined by constant rain, freezing temperatures or extreme heat, count this in your decision. Either way I almost always skip July or August, as this is the busiest time anywhere in the world. But I have the option to get vacation days outside this very high season. If that is an option for you, definitely consider other months, wherever you are going.

Also have a look at the holiday dates in the country of destination and origin. If it’s an Easter weekend, for example, prices for flights and accommodation will be crazy. But I have traveled at the busy times before, whenever that was all I could do because of work.

There are a number of websites to help you check the weather per season/month. For instance, Holiday Weather and Audley Travel. These are just a couple of examples which have helped me, but there are many other resources, where you can get the advice on the weather at your destination.

How to Get There: Choosing the Best Flights, Trains and Buses

One of the most difficult parts can be finding the best transportation option. Nowadays, post-COVID and the attack on Ukraine, the flights have become more of a hassle than it used to be. However, it’s still possible to prepare well.

Depending how far you are travelling, a bus or train can be an option. Bus can be cheaper, while train (at least in my opinion) most convenient for shorter trips. If you book sufficiently in advance, trains can also be very cheap. For instance, Eurostar will get you from the center of London to the center of Paris in 2 hours, without a hassle of going to the airport and waiting. So have a look at your options and decide relevantly.

Rome to Rio  is actually a great website telling you most of the options (although often with wrong prices). But it’s a good starting point. After looking at this, go to the relevant train or bus company website or start searching for flights, if that’s the only option.

Trip.com  – also helps to search for trains in Europe and Asia.

If you figure out that any other option is too long or nonexistent, start searching for flights. I personally first look at the websites providing information about multiple options.

• Google Flights is my first go-to place to start checking.
• Expedia is another great option to look for flights and compare. 
• Skyscanner allows to look at the cheapest month, shows the cheapest options in the month you want, or shows you your best options, if your dates are fixed.

I use all of these for looking at options. These third-party websites can sometimes provide cheaper tickets, than booking directly with the airlines. However, do keep in mind that they can be more problematic in case you need to change anything or if there are cancellations. Some people have found great deals on them and have used successfully, others have been frustrated, so choose carefully. Also, keep in mind that many of these websites direct you to others. Definitely first check the trustworthiness of any website you decide to book with. 

If you are searching months in advance, don’t immediately book whatever you find. Keep looking for a while, as there might be some offers from airlines. I advise registering with all airlines that fly to your nearest airport and monitor their emails and websites for any discounts. If you are lucky enough to live near a major hub, you will have far more options. While living in London, I had my Ryanair, Easyjet, Wizzair, British Airways and other accounts. Currently, I have accounts with Qatar Airways, Aegean, Wizzair, Turkish Airlines – most of those that fly to Tbilisi. 

How to Build a Multi-Stop Itinerary That Actually Works

Once you book your transportation and already know exact dates of travel, it’s time to start thinking about the overall itinerary. First of all, look at the places you would like to visit (if you already didn’t). for this part, I personally look at the blogs, like mine. There are a lot of people writing about their itineraries, which will help you see, if you would like to see all of these places or skip some of them.

If your trip is a few days and you are just staying in one location, then skip this part. If you do a longer trip with several locations involved you need to thoroughly research how long would each location take and then find transportation in-between these places. If you travel shorter distances, you could maybe even get bus or train tickets on the spot, but I suggest knowing what transport options exist. If distances are longer, than you may need to book flights or fast trains way in advance.

Example: How I Planned One-month Southeast Asia Trip

I will give an example of one of my trips to Southeast Asia. I have been looking at a longer trip, given that the flight prices to get there from where I am located were quite huge. I looked at flights to several major cities in the region and found out that it would be cheaper if I flew either to Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. The Qatar Airlines I was looking at is usually allowing to do multi-city flights with which you arrive to one city and leave from another. So I finally booked flight to KL and from Bangkok. 

After booking the arrival and departure flights, I started looking at all the places I wanted to see. For instance, I definitely wanted to see Angkor and stay in Siem Reap for 5 days. So I looked at transportation from KL to Siem Reap and found cheap tickets with AirAsia, which was perfect. After that, I looked at flights to Luang Prabang, from there to Bangkok and Bangkok to Krabi and back. This looks like a lot of flights, but within one month period a few short flights saved us a lot of time and money.

Where to Stay: How to Choose the Right Accommodation for Your Trip

Once you come up with the itinerary and know how long are you staying in each location, you start looking at accommodation options. There are a lot of possibilities – some people love hostels and meeting people there, others prefer the cozy feel of Airbnb, yet others prefer the straightforward option of hotels.

I personally always choose hotels, unless their prices are significantly more than other options. This gives more flexibility and I don’t need to arrange to meet someone upon arrival, inform anyone if my flight is delayed, take out trash before checkout, etc, like in case of Airbnb.

Best Tools for Booking Hotels

Best hotel booking websites I use when planning trips:

Expedia – You can find great deals here too. They also offer some bundles, which may save you money.

Hotels.com – While it doesn’t list any hostels or apartments, it’s a great resource for booking hotels worldwide.

Agoda – This third party started smaller with mainly listings in Asia, but grew to cover quite a lot of the rest of the world. 

Trip.com – Provides great options for Asian destinations.

I usually look at several of these and read the reviews thoroughly. I do suggest to everyone to look at reviews (not just the overall score) with critical eyes. The thing is that low reviews can come from anything, which may or may not matter to you – for instance, the receptionist not smiling at me or the small rooms don’t phase me, I care about cleanliness, staff professionalism, safety and a few other things. You may have other expectations. Therefore, read the reviews and decide for yourself, if those points are important to you. 

Things I normally look at, while choosing an accommodation:

• Price – this is of course an important issue. I usually look at mid-range hotels with discounts or otherwise reasonable prices.
• Hotel location – there are a few things to consider, while choosing the location. Firstly, it should be a safe area. Secondly, how to get around – in some bigger developed cities being near transport stops is very important; in smaller towns with few transport options I prefer to be at a walking distance to the main attractions; if I plan many day trips I prefer to be near a transport hub, like a main train station. Think of what is important to you in a location and choose relevantly. 
• Cleanliness – I read reviews and if too many people complain about cleanliness, I refrain. 
• Safety – for instance, if several people report losing their things from their room, there might be something fishy about the place.
• Bugs and insects – if too many people find some bugs, that’s not for me; nothing to say about bedbugs, which are the stuff of nightmares. That said, things can happen anywhere. So if the issue happened once and the hotel handled it efficiently, then that’s a good sign.

How to Plan a Day-by-Day Travel Itinerary

Some people book these important things listed above and leave the rest to be discovered on the spot. If you have weeks and months in one location, that definitely is a great way to get to know everything with a slow pace and figure things out as you go. However, if you like me usually have limited timeframe and prefer to have things planned rather than stress afterwards, then go on reading.

Once you have your accommodations sorted, start making a day-by-day itinerary. It depends on how much of a planner you are. I myself make a list of places that are closer together and plan what we see after what and how to get to each location from hotel or another place.

For this I need to look at the following things:

Locations to visit: I pin all places I wanna go to and activities I want to do on Google Maps to see which places are closer together. I have green pins for the places I want to see, yellow – for food places, red for accommodation, etc.

Opening days and times: I look at opening times of each of the places I wanna go to – some museums, temples, etc. may have limited opening times every day or be closed on a certain day. So do check all that before making your plan for the day. 

What to book in advance: Some things need to be booked days or weeks in advance. For instance, if you just show up at the Uffizi gallery in high season, you may spend many hours just waiting to get a ticket. While in Nizwa fort you can waltz right in, as soon as you show up. So double check what needs to be prebooked.

Transportation options among the locations: I usually look at public transportation first (I hate haggling with taxi drivers). If a city has metro or tram, that’s my preferred mode of transportation. For some bigger cities Citymapper app can be great, others may need specific local apps. For outside cities I look at prices of hiring a driver or taking a tour. If you need to do either of these, prebooking tours or drivers will almost always be more expensive than if you spoke to the local tour agencies while you are on the spot.

Day-by-day itinerary: Then I decide the sequence of visits for the day. After which I look at transportation options in-between these places. Some might be walkable, which is amazing, others may need metro, bus, tuk-tuk, taxi or whatever else.

Site maps: In some cases, if we are talking about ginormous palaces for instance, I look at all the things I want to see inside the palace, just in case not to miss it. As I never take a guide, I do guide’s job myself and read on the history of the places, stories, etc. For example, the Forbidden City in Beijing definitely required a lot of research, as we spent almost the whole day there. Similarly, you better decide what you want to see in Louvre in order not to miss something important.

Food and coffee: I look at the good and cheap food places and cafes in each area I go to. I make sure to read the reviews before choosing.

Best Resources for Travel Planning and Research

Resources that I use while developing itinerary and planning my visit:

• Blogs and vlogs: I love reading blogs. They give so much advice, which isn’t easy to come by even in guide books. So blogs are my first go-to resource, when making a plan.
• Guidebooks: My preferred is Rough guides, but there are a number of others, including the famous Insight Guides, Lonely Planet, Fodor’s, Brandt and so on.
• Travel Facebook groups: there are a number of groups for travelers, including those for specific regions (for instance, Southeast Asia traveling), specific countries (Jordan backackers), parts of countries (Bali travel), for specific groups (Girls love travel, Solo female travelers group). You can read other people’s experiences and ask questions, if searching doesn’t help for some specific things.

• Forums: TripAdvisor forum is a useful place to ask your questions, if you are stuck with something while planning your trip. Reddit is also a great forum for travel tips. There are a few Reddit communities, where you can find people’s posts and ask questions.

Important Things to Research Before You Travel

Local Safety Situation

Make sure to learn about safety at your destination. You will need to know, which areas are considered sketchy, what scams to expect to avoid them, what not to do. Read other people’s stories to be aware and not to make same mistakes.

Health Environment

Check if you need to be vaccinated for anything and make a decision if it’s just a recommendation and not a requirement. Learn, are there any dangers coming from insects or creepy crawlies to keep in mind and be prepared. If you are going to tropical locations – parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, parts of Latin America, the mosquitoes may carry dengue and other viruses, so you will need to bring mosquito repellents and spray every few hours.

Get the Insurance

Many people arrange entire trip insurance, we usually do only health insurance. Whichever you opt for, you do need at least the basic health insurance. This is requested by many countries and you may be asked to provide proof of its existence upon entry.

Money Exchange or ATMs

Find out whether it’s best to bring cash to exchange or get money from ATMs. In some countries banks have the best rates, in others – you may need to find exchange offices without commission to get the best rate. Before going, research where is better to exchange money and note a few spots near your accommodation. Always try to exchange very little at the airport to only get you to your hotel, as airport exchange rates are almost always terrible.

Mobile Internet

If you are one of the people who can’t survive without internet, learn about the E-SIM cards or prepaid SIM packages in that country. I don’t suggest using roaming, unless you don’t mind throwing money to the wind.

Local Customs and Traditions

Make sure to at least know basics, such as the fact that thumbs up is considered a bad thing in some countries, that you shouldn’t say anything bad about certain important figures in other countries, etc. This will help you not to offend anyone, or to stay out of trouble.

Language

Learn at least a few words, such as “hello” and “thank you”. You will find that even with that locals will be far more friendly to you and will go out of their way to help you, if you ask anything.

Best Travel Apps to Download Before Your Trip

Below is the short summary, while you can find my detailed guide to the best travel planning apps.

Airline apps – many airlines currently have their own apps, which notify you with updates on your flights.

Accommodation app – Booking.com, Airbnb app or another relevant app with the details of your bookings and numbers.

Maps – in most of the world, Google Maps works quite well, but it may not always be accurate. Have Maps.me or any local map, as a backup. Don’t forget to download the area you are going to for offline use.

VPN – many countries in the world may restrict certain apps. For example, in Oman you can’t call via Skype without VPN. I use NordVPN, which is excellent worldwide. There’s also Tunnelbear, which provides a good free option.

Google translate – have the language you need downloaded for offline use

Taxi apps – in many cities, Uber, Bolt or similar international apps work. In others, you may find local taxi apps instead. These may not always be the cheapest, but firstly it will give you an idea, approximately how much should a ride cost, and secondly, you may not want to haggle with the driver, who quite often cheat.

Public transportation applications – examples include Citymapper, Moovit, etc. this will be specific to countries you are going to.

What to Pack for Your Trip

Packing is one of the issues widely discussed now with airlines often losing luggage, introducing new fees for checked bags, etc. Besides travelling light makes you more flexible and sometimes makes things easier, when taking local transportation. So if you can help it, bring only a carry-on size suitcase. I personally can fit into this for up to two-week trip, but I understand other travelers prefer to check a bag instead.

I can’t really give generalized advice on what to pack, as this highly depends on the purpose of your trip. If you plan a beach vacation, you will have an entirely different packing list to that for the skiing trip. I and many other bloggers write what not to forget while travelling to a specific country, so be sure to check the posts out.

Check how locals dress and what is frowned upon, even if you are a tourist. Most countries may not have any official prohibitions on clothes. However, you may feel more comfortable, if you dress a certain way that is acceptable at your destination. I personally try to accommodate – for example, I bought some long lightweight dresses just for travel to conservative countries. I dislike long dresses, but they are useful for travelling to hot destinations, where knees and shoulders need to be covered. 

Clothing tips for female travelers by destination and climate.

I guess I gave the short info on the basics that may help you guys out. I am always happy to answer any questions you may have while planning your trip. Just drop a comment below.

Happy planning!

<p>The post How to Plan a Trip: A Step-by-Step Travel Planning Guide first appeared on Hit the Road Ket.</p>

Recommended Vaccines: Cover your Bases

First of all I check travel advisories of several different countries regarding the health situation at my destination. Most of them suggest to have routine vaccinations, as well as some destination‑specific vaccines – for example, Hepatitis A and Typhoid for many tropical regions, or Japanese Encephalitis if you’ll spend time in rural areas. Malaria pills are also suggested in some of the tropical areas, so if your itinerary takes you off the beaten path, discuss prophylaxis options. 

You may also want to check with the travel cliniques or your GP and do the vaccines according to your itinerary and medical history.

Some of the recommended vaccines you can consider getting or not, depending on your travel habits. For example, we have had the routine vaccines. Personally, we chose not to get Hep A and Typhoid vaccines for SE Asia or for Latin America, but we were extremely careful with food. If you are adventurous with food, you may consider these. 

Insect and Bug Defense: Choose Your Repellent

Mosquitoes, ticks and sand flies can carry diseases from dengue to Lyme. Mosquitoes can be particularly dangerous in many countries, as they carry dengue virus, Japanese encephalitis, Zika virus, Malaria and some other diseases. 

After doing a thorough research on this, I found out that there are 3 options for bug repellents: the products containing DEET, the products with picaridin and the natural options (citronella, lemon eucalyptus, etc). 

I rely on DEET‑based roll‑on or sprays. An important thing to know is that the percentage of deet in a mosquito repellent tells you, how long will it work. 7% means that it works 1-1.5 hours. To be on the safe side, count it as 1 hour. So the 25% Off repellent we brought worked up to 4 hours. We also used 50% Jungle Formula and 40% Repel repellents. My favorites have been Off! and Jungle Formula brands with high percentage DEET.

There are spray, lotion and roll-on varieties. Spray just made all around terribly smelly. Roll-on seemed to be much easier to apply and to carry.

Note: Deet based repellents apparently don’t have expiration date. I double checked this with producers. So unless your repellent also contains sunscreen, it can be used over the years. I did use a couple of them after 3 years of first opening and they worked well. 

Whatever you choose (DEET, picaridin or natural repellents), you will definitely need to bring one with you to any destination where bugs and mosquitoes are common, and make sure to apply it, as often as needed (considering the information above0. Keep in mind that most of these repellents will not work after you get into sea, so you need to reapply them.

In Asian countries, if you don’t bring any repellent, you can find them in local stores, like in 7-11 in many South East Asian countries. However, the easily available ones are the ones with 13-15% deet, which only works for 2 hours. As a result, I prefer to bring stronger ones along.

Smart Food & Water Precautions

Many travelers love trying local cuisine whether at street food stalls or other people’s homes. This can be an amazing experience, however, apart from the issues related to safe preparation in some countries, our gut microbiome may not be as adaptable. As a result it pays to be cautious. I take several precautions:

Water Safety Tips

• I only drink tap water in countries, where I am sure the water is clean. In most countries though I stick with the bottled water.
• I also skip ice in many locations, as ice cubes are prepared in huge factories and can be from contaminate water. That said in some countries ice can be safe. For instance, drinking tap water in Vietnam is not ok, but ice is produced cleanly, so we drank ice coffee in a lot of locations without any issues.

Food Safety Tips

• I avoid street vendors anywhere but the countries with strict food safety laws. I have heard that if food is well-cooked, fresh and at the locations with high turnover, it can be fine. I personally am extremely cautious and still avoid it in most places. 
• I choose the locations we eat at carefully. I check the reviews and observe, if the place is popular. 
• I might skip fresh food, like uncooked vegetables and go for the cooked hot meal, if in doubt. 

In addition to all this:

• I carry hand sanitizers.
• I take probiotics before the trip.
• I carry the activated charcoal tablets and the electrolytes for in case we get diarrhea.

Sun Protection

Whether you are going to the Middle Eastern deserts or the beaches of Philippines, walking around in the sun all day can be damaging. So whenever I travel in a hot season, I bring along small sunscreens. While one can buy them at the destination, they can be quite expensive. For example, in my experience sunscreen prices are triple of what you can get them for in the US or in Europe. 

According to my research, it is best to apply sunscreen first, wait for at least 15 mins and then apply mosquito repellent. If you don’t wait or put them other way round, you may be decreasing their efficiency.

Don’t forget to reapply sunscreen every 2 hours or after swimming and heavily sweating. 

Personal Medications & First‑Aid Kit

I try to always bring the basic medications that one might need. I am especially thorough about this when I travel to the locations with limited options of obtaining medications. Here is the list of things I usually have with me:

• Paracetamol – if we get a flu/temperature (you should not take any medication for the temperature under 38⁰ though). 
• Ibuprofen/Naproxen – for any pains.
• Plasters/bandages – for any cuts.
• Antibiotics – the prescription can be difficult to obtain and take a lot of time in many countries. But it can save your trip, when you absolutely need it for a bacterial infection, for example a uti. That said, absolutely make sure that you don’t take them without confirming the need.
• Lactase tablets – due to my lactose intolerance.
• Hydrogen peroxide – for cuts. I once needed it a lot after a fall, it took us a while to find a pharmacy to get this. 
• Antihistamines and the Epinephrine – for any alergies.
• Charcoal tablets and electrolytes – for the cases of diarrhea.

Depending on your particular needs, you may have to take some specific medications, but the above list is what would be useful for most people. Let me know what else have been useful during your travels?

Travel Insurance: Your Safety Net

Even minor unexpected injuries or illnesses can ruin one’s trip. I always travel with worldwide medical coverage. I also have a digital copy of my policy not only for use in case of emergency but for showing at the passport control, if asked. Many countries require travel insurance, as one of the documents you need to present to enter the country for tourist purposes.

Besides this, have the contact details of local emergency services saved. 

These are the general health precautions I take for many destinations. Of course, it changes according to where you are traveling and what you are planning to do. For any destination specific advice, check my guides or send me the question. 

Safe and healthy travels!

See also:

Useful tips for planning independent trips

List of the apps you need for planning your travels and during travelling

<p>The post Travel Health Tips from a Seasoned Traveler first appeared on Hit the Road Ket.</p>

For travel I usually go for dresses and skirts/shorts, whenever possible – unless I am going to somewhere with freezing weather or extremely conservative. In this post I will list a few options I found, which worked perfectly depending on the season.

The Basics

I usually pack one outfit per day of travel and very rarely re-wear things, as I travel the way that I don’t do laundry (unless I go somewhere for months). With this, I can usually do carry on only luggage for up to two weeks for my own clothes, especially easily if I am going to a warm destination. I can do that for Spring-Autumn season as well.

That said, I am the one who takes max 2 shoes and very little number of toiletries – I don’t bring my own shampoo or hair styling products, for instance. I only bring a small pouch with creams and foundation/liner/mascara. Plus, I include mosquito repellent/sunscreen where needed. That’s basically all my liquids.

For longer than two weeks it’s harder with carry on and I may need to bring checked-in luggage.

Travel Clothes According to Seasons and Destination Countries

Travel Clothes for Warm Seasons in Non-Conservative Countries

If I am travelling in summer to European countries, Latin America or some parts of Asia, I go for short/mid-length dresses or skirts/shorts. First of all, they allow me to move around easier, but also they take up much less space in the suitcase

This is the type of travel that allows me to not even think about what to bring, I just choose from what I wear on an everyday bases.

Travel Clothes for Warm Season in Conservative Countries

The most difficult thing is finding clothes for conservative countries, while it’s terribly hot. Long sleeve tops and trousers are simply too suffocating in this season. So the best solution is bringing long dresses (if you like wearing them). I personally never owned a long or even midi dress before travelling to Arab and South East Asian countries. As I only needed those items for travelling, I tried to find cheap options, disregarding the quality – my thinking was that I will only wear those maximum a couple of times a year, so spending a lot of money on them would be illogical.

There are a few options for finding cheap things – I look at heavy discounts on Debenhams for instance, there are also H&M, Forever 21 and similar. But I found Shein to be the best option for cheaper dresses, which don’t easily get ruined by washing and look nice. Most of their items (polyester and cotton) say to wash on cold, but I usually wash them at 30 C and they are fine. Also I had to wash them at 60 C once, because of the bed bug scare and they held up.

You could look through Amazon as well for cheap items, however, I find that the same quality things are triple the price than Shein and not really worth it.

I do know that there are concerns about Shein for not following labor rules, but to be honest most of the companies, even those priced significantly higher (unless they are Fairtrade and so on), are using cheap labor in Asian countries unfortunately and I am not in a position to afford only the environmentally conscious, Fairtrade, clothes. If I did that, I would not be able to afford anything else but basic living expenses, and wouldn’t be able to travel at all. That said, I don’t use anything, as fast fashion. I use the same clothes until they get completely ruined. Hence, many items are in my closet for 10+ years,  I just have enough to switch them up.

So here are a few of the items I wore in Thailand Royal Palace, Angkor, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, etc.

For some people, dresses may not be as comfortable while walking a lot. I hiked all around Petra and Angkor with long dresses without problems, but most people will prefer trousers.

I supplemented the dresses and skirts with lighter weight trousers, whenever I didn’t have enough dresses for my trip.

Some of the countries are more complicated – for instance, Saudi Arabia and Iran. For those one would need to be covered to the ankles and ¾ sleeves. To meet those needs, you may look at leggings and tunics or trousers with tops covering bums.

Travel Clothes for Spring and Autumn in Non-Conservative Countries

For these mid-seasons I usually take layers, which can be switched up to make new outfits.

I personally adore tights, especially colorful ones, which are perfect for autumn season, as they don’t weigh much and light up the outfit. So, I normally would wear a short or knee length skirt and top or a dress with a cardigan or jacket and colorful tights (I have thicker and thinner tights depending on the weather). That’s my go-to outfits for daily use as well in Spring and Autumn. I feel like I can make very cute outfits this way, while keeping my luggage lighter.

This may not sound comfortable for some people, but for me this is very comfortable, as my tights are usually not too narrow and I move around much easier in them than trousers, but of course this is a personal preference and may not work for everyone.

I also supplement them with trousers, sweaters and a trench coat for particularly cold days and for flights, but as I don’t much like those and they are heavy, I try to minimize their use.

Another suggestion I have for this season is cashmere and merino wool cardigans and/or sweaters. I own several pieces of those, and they turned out to be the best for travel, as they are very light, compared to other types of warm clothes and they don’t easily smell, so can be re-warn a few times. Cotton and synthetic warm clothes are actually much heavier and difficult to carry. While these are not cheap by far, you can find basic pieces on discount on Onequince website and on Macy’s (in winter season). For instance, this cardigan was 42 USD on Macy’s:

Keep in mind, these may peel sometimes. You can use the cashmere comb to get rid of those peels.

My other cardigans and sweaters are cheaper and less warm for relatively warmer days. I try to go for cotton, but some are synthetic. Those come from different places, including Zara, H&M, 6pm website offers and wherever else I find discounts.

Travel Clothes for Spring and Autumn in Conservative Countries

This one is easier in conservative countries, as on colder days cover-up doesn’t feel suffocating. For this I use my least favorite style – trousers and/or midi skirts with a top and cardigan or sweater. As I hate flowy trousers, I wear skinny trousers with items that cover bum, depending on how conservative the country is. If you wear flowy trousers though, you don’t need to do this.

Here is what I wore in Morocco for instance (it was winter when we visited, but the weather was like spring in Europe).

Travel Clothes for Winter

I don’t usually travel in cold seasons, as I hate cold So I am not the right person to give much advice on this. But when I do, I love my cashmere and merino wool sweaters (see above) under a coat and La Canadienne boots for the combination of warmth and lighter feeling.

Shoes for Travel

I have heard from many people over and over again that the wrong shoes can ruin a trip. Well, maybe not ruin, but it will certainly complicate things and cause a lot of pain. Just on a recent trip I took boots, which were not sufficiently tested and I regretted it a lot. Had to go and buy new fabric shoes to help my feet recover.

Here are a few things which worked for me pretty well over the years:

Shoes for City Walks in Summer, Spring, and Autumn

I always despised sneakers, so for cities and other surfaces, which don’t require hike, I used to always wear flats – my go-to flats have been Crocs, Walking Cradles, Softwalk, Vionic, Cole Haan, Aldo and some other cute flats with rubber soles for comfort. I did have some more stiff ones too and I’ve walked a lot in them, but they were not as comfortable certainly

Lately, I have tried Skechers slip on shoes, which is something in the middle between the flats and sneakers. They aren’t useful for rainy weather, as they are fabric, but they are certainly extremely comfortable because of foam sole and arch support.

Another similar slip-on I recently tried (basically bought because I needed something to help my feet), were Puma shoes. They aren’t something I would normally wear before but once I tried them, they work quite nicely with most things and don’t look chunky and ugly, like usual sneakers. These work fine in complicated terrain as well.

If you love sandals and other open shoes – all the brands I listed above for flats are pretty good. I personally prefer to have my feet fully covered when travelling, as I walk too much and they get rather dirty if I am wearing open shoes.

Shoes for Beaches

Most people prefer sandals or slippers and then go barefoot on a beach. I hate walking barefoot anywhere public, so I have Crocs cutest sandals, which double down as beachwear, slippers for shower, as well as sometimes city walks (if my feet are tired and need a bit of space). If you walk too much in these (I am talking nonstop all day, not a few hours), they will still eventually hurt your feet, but otherwise they are perfect.

These are my trusted Crocs:

Shoes for Colder and Rainy Weather

This is the most complicated type of shoes I always have a hard time choosing. There are hardly any comfortable boots, which don’t look clunky and ugly. Plus, whatever its soles, boots are never sufficiently comfortable because they are heavy.

I normally am not able to walk a lot in heavy rain or cold, so I am ok with semi-comfortable as a result. I have successfully used La Canadienne waterproof leather boots in the past. They last rather long and fit fine. They are quite expensive, so look for discounts, when you can get them for about 100 USD (lately that has been more difficult).

Other comfier boots include Rockport, Vionic and Dr. Scholl’s. I have lately been hearing about Vessi, as great waterproof option. I am now planning to try it out and will give info, once I do.

I will be happy to get any other recommendations for comfy shoes for colder weather.

Accessories for Travel

Scarf for travel

I always have a scarf or two in my suitcase, notwithstanding the country I am travelling to or the season. The thing is that you can use scarves for so many purposes:

• First of all, if you are visiting less conservative countries, but you need to cover up for religious sites, scarf is a perfect accessory to allow you to wear anything throughout the day and just quickly cover up, when needed.

• Obviously, scarves also serve the purpose of making you warmer, when needed. Even a thin scarf is good if you enter an air conditioned, cold supermarket or transport during a hot day. Similarly, they are great for Autumn or Spring evenings, when it gets colder.
• Scarves are also great for modifying your look, giving you some color, etc. They can be making a whole differently looking outfit. I have scarves in most colors: red, blue, purple, pink, green… Just putting them on a dull black coat will make the outfit nicer.

Umbrella for Travel

I try to carry an umbrella during my travels, unless I go to a place, where rain is impossible during that season (or unless I go to Japan, where every hotel has an umbrella to borrow). I have a couple of colorful umbrellas, which I love. They make for great photos Alternatively, I have purchased an umbrella at the destination a couple of times. You find some lovely ones in China and Korea for instance.

Obviously, it’s a heavy thing to carry, if you are only bringing a carry-on, so you may substitute this with a cute colorful raincoat.

Bag for Travel

I always try to go for crossbody bags, when it comes to travelling. While in some safer countries I have used a shoulder bag, crossbody bags are easier to keep an eye on. For me basically any small crossbody bag is fine, as long as it looks sturdy. I always keep it at the front of my body and if anyone at all comes close to me, I clutch it.

Lately, I was suggested to try Travelon crossbody bag, which has numerous anti-theft features. If you have used it, let me know what you think of it.

I used to carry bigger bags before to make sure to fit some things I thought I would need throughout the day, but really, unless I went out of the city for the day and I found no water or food there, bigger bags were not really necessary and just tired me. Nowadays, I carry a cotton tote bag in my small bag. In case, if I need to carry anything additional, I dump them into this cotton bag. I have several given to me at various events and they come handy.

Socks for Travel

I guess many of you think this is a strange addition. However strange it may sound I often carry spare thicker socks in my bag. This is unnecessary in Western countries, but anywhere else in the world, it can come handy. I use them to enter religious places, which require you to take your shoes off, people’s homes and even some cafes and restaurants in some countries. This way, I don’t go barefoot or in my thin socks somewhere, where tons of people walk around.

Belts for Travel

While belts may be considered heavier accessory and not so comfortable, they can be useful for finishing a look. I usually bring a couple of belts mainly for dresses.

See also:

Useful tips for planning independent trips

List of the apps you need for planning your travels and during travelling

<p>The post Travel Fashion for Women: Stylish & Comfortable Outfit Guide first appeared on Hit the Road Ket.</p>

Here is the list I am compiling. I tried to find the most reveled writers/novels from each country. I mainly go for fiction and try to forego poems, biographies, etc. Of course, given the limited number of languages I can read in and the limited availability of some books, finding the titles on this list is not always easy. As a result, some of these are the novels I liked, others are simply the only ones I have read from that particular country.

Many of the books on the list I have already read, some are waiting on my bookshelves to be read and copies of some I am still looking for.

This list is missing titles from a lot of countries and I will be happy to receive recommendations.

1. Afghanistan

Khaled Hosseini – Kite Runner

Atiq Rahimi – Patience of Stone

2. Albania

Ismail Kadare – Broken April

3. Algeria

Mohammed Dib – Algerian Trilogy

Assia Djebar – So Vast the Prison

4. Andorra

Albert Salvadó – The Teacher of Cheops

5. Angola

Agualusa – My father’s wives, The Book of Chameleons

Ondjaki – Good Morning Comrades

6. Antigua & Barbuda

Jamaica Kincaid – Lucy

7. Argentina

Julio Cortázar – Hopscotch

Borges – Ficciones

8. Armenia

Khachatur Abovian – Wounds of Armenia

Hovhannes Tumanyan

9. Australia

Colleen McCullough – The thorn birds

Markus Zusack – the book thief

10. Austria

Stefan Zweig – Mary Stuart

Elfriede Jelinek – the piano teacher

11. Azerbaijan

Ali and Nino

12. Bahamas

Ian Strachan – God’s angry babies

13. Bahrain

Ali Saeed – Quixotiq

Sarah Shaffi- Yumai

14. Bangladesh

Tahmima Anam – Golden Age

Zahir Raihan – For Thousand Years

15. Barbados

George Lamming – In the Castle of My Skin

16. Belarus

Svetlana Alexeevich – Voices from Chernobyl

17. Belgium

Amelie Nothomb – Bluebird

18. Belize

Zee Edgell – Beka Lamb

19. Bhutan

Choden – The Circle of Karma

20. Bolivia

Alcides Arguedas – bronze Race

21. Bosnia & Herzegovina

Ivo Andrich – The bridge on Drina

Meša Selimović – Death and Dervish

22. Botswana

Bessie Head – When rain clouds gather

23. Brazil

Jorge Amado – Gabriela, Dona Flor

Machado de Assis – Dom Casmurro

24. Brunei

Aammton Alias – The Last Bastion of Ingei, Imminent

25. Bulgaria

Ivan Vazov – Ude Yoka

Georgi Gospodinov – Natural Novel

26. Burkina Faso

Norbert Zongo – Parachute Drop

27. Cambodia

Vaddey Ratner – In the Shadow of the Banyan

Loung Ung – First They Killed My Father

28. Cameroon

Mongo Beti – Mission to Kala

Ferdinand Oyono – Houseboy

29. Canada

Margaret Atwood – Handmaid’s tale

30. Cape Verde

Germano Almeida – The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo

31. CAR

Pierre Makombo Bamboté – Princesse Mandapu

32. Chile

Isabel Allende – House of Spirits

33. China

Mo Yan – Red Sorghum

Cao Xueqin – Dream of the Red Chamber

Eileen Chang – Love in the fallen city

34. Colombia

Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Love in the time of cholera

35. Comoros

Mohamed Toihiri – The Kafir of Karthala

36. Congo

Alain Mabanckou – Broken Glass

37. DRC

Valentin Y Mudimbe – Before the Birth of the Moon

38. Costa Rica

José León Sánchez – Island of Lonely Men

39. Cote D’Ivoire

Ahmadou Kourouma – Allah is Not Obliged

40. Croatia

Krleza – Edge of Reason, Return of Philip Latinowicz

Diakalic – Café Europaine

41. Cuba

Alejo Carpentier – Explosion in a Cathedral

Leonardo Padura The Man Who Loved Dogs

42. Cyprus

Panos Ioannides – Census

43. Czech Republic

Bohumil Hrabal – I Served the King of England

Milan Kundera – The Unbearable Lightness of Being

44. Denmark

Henrik Ibsen – Doll house

Blixen – out of Africa

45. Djibouti

Abdourahman A. Waberi – Passage of tears

46. Dominica

Jean Rhys – Wide Sargasso Sea

47. Dominican Republic

Junot Diaz – The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

48. East Timor

Cardoso – The Crossing

49. Ecuador

Jorge Icaza – Huasipungo

Martinez –

50. Egypt

Baha Tahir – Aunt Safiya and the Monastery

Naguib Mahfouz – The Cairo Trilogy

51. El Salvador

Horacio Castellanos Moya – Senselessness

52. Equatorial Guinea

Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo – Shadows of Your Black Memory

53. Eritrea

Sulaiman Addonia – The Consequences of Love

54. Estonia

Kross – The Czar’s Madman

Mati Unt The Autumn Ball

55. Ethiopia

Dinaw Mengestu – All our names

Maaza Mengiste – Beneath the Lion’s Gaze

56. Fiji

Epeli Hauʻofa – Tales of the Tikongs

57. Finland

Väinö Linna – Under the North Star

Tove Jansson – Tales from Moominvalley

58. France

I simply can’t make a choice here, I have too many favourates, what with Hugo, Stendahl, Dumas, Verne, Balzac, etc. etc.

59. Germany

Herman Hesse – Steppenwolf

60. Georgia

Guram Dochanashvili – First Robe

As his novella – The man who loved literature is not translated, if at all translatable

61. Ghana

Armah – The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born

Gyasi – homegoing

62. Guatemala

Asturias – Senor President

63. Guinea

Camara Laye – The Radiance of the King

64. Greece

Nikos Kazantzakis – Zorba the Greek

65. Guyana

Wilson Harris – Palace of the Peacock

66. Haiti

Danticat – Breathe, Eyes, Memory

67. Honduras

Ramón Amaya Amador – Cipotes

68. Hungary

Antal Szerb – Journey by moonlight

Imre Kertész – Fatelessness

69. Iceland

Haldor Laxness – The Fish can sing

70. Israel

Amos Oz – My Michael

71. Italy

Italo Calvino – If on a winter’s night a traveler

I will bypass the classics like Dante and Bocaccio.

I quite like Eco and Pirandello as well J

72. India

Arundhati Roy – The God of small things

Amitav Ghosh – the Glass Palace

73. Indonesia

Pramoedya Ananta Toer – The Buru Quartet

74. Iraq

Fadhil Al-Azzawi – The Last of the Angels

Ahmed Sadawi – Frankenstein in Baghdad

75. Iran

Goli Taraghi

Marjane Satrapi – Persepolis

76. Ireland

As Ulysses is one of those few books lying on my shelf for ages, though I just can’t get around reading it, here are some other books J

George Bernard Shaw – Pygmalion

Oscar Wild – Picture of Dorian Gray

77. Japan

Kobo Abe – The woman in sand

Haruki Murakami – Norwegian wood

78. Kazakhstan

Mukhtar Auezov – Abai

79. Kenya

Ngugi Wa Thiong’o – A Grain of Wheat

80. Kiribati

Teweiariki Teaero – Waa in Storms

81. Kyrgizstan

Chingiz Aitmatov – Jamila

82. Kuwait

Saud Alsanousi – Bamboo Stalk

83. Latvia

Alberts Bels – The Cage

Blaumanis – in the shadow of death

84. Lebanon

Amin Maalouf – Samarkand

85. Lesotho

Mofolo – Chaka

86. Liechtenstein

Iren Nigg

87. Libya

Ibrahim Al Kuni – The Bleeding of the Stone

88. Lithuania

Ričardas Gavelis – Vilnius Poker

Balys Sruoga Forest of the Gods

89. North Macedonia

Venko Andonovski – Navel of the World

90. Madagascar

Naivo – Beyond the Rice Fields

91. Malaysia

Tan Twan Eng – Garden of Evening mists

Samad Said – Salina

92. Malawi

Steve Chimombo – The Basket Girl

93. Maldives

Abdullah Sadiq – Dhon Hiyala and Ali Fulhu

94. Mali

Amadou Hampâté Bâ – The Strange Destiny of Wangrin

95. Malta

Immanuel Mifsud – In the Name of the Father

96. Mexico

Carlos Fuentes – The Death of Artemio Cruz

97. Morocco

Taher Ben Jelloun

98. Mozambique

Mia Couto – Terra Somnambula

Paulina Chiziane – Niketche

99. Nepal

Narayan Wagle – Palpasa Cafe

100. Netherlands

Anne Frank’s Diary

Herman Koch – Naked lunch

101. New Zealand

Keri Hulme – Bone people

102. Nicaragua

Ruben Dario – Azul

103. Nigeria

Chihua Achebe – Things Fall Apart

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

104. Norway

Hamsun – Mysteries

105. Oman

Abdulaziz Al Farsi – Earth Weeps, Saturn Laughs

106. Palestine

Ghassan Kanafani – Men in the Sun

107. Pakistan

Mohsin Hamid – The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Mohammed Hanif – The case of exploding mangoes

108. Panama

Gloria Guardia – Freedom in flames

109. Papua New Guinea

Vincent Eri – The Crocodile

110. Paraguay

Augusto Roa Bastos – I the Supreme

111. Peru

Ljosa – Aunt Julia and the Screenwriter

112. Philippines

Rizal – Noli me Tangere, El Filibusterismo

Bob Ong – ABNKKBSNPLAko?!

113. Poland

Sienkiewicz – Quo Vadis, With Fire and Sword

Boleslaw Pruss – The Doll

114. Portugal

Saramago – Blindness

115. Romania

Herta Müller – The Hunger Angel

Mircea Eliade – The Forbidden Forest

116. Russia

Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev – choice is very difficult

Dostoevsky – Crime and Punishment

117. Rwanda

Scholastique Mukasonga – Our lady of the Nile

118. Saint Lucia

Derek Walcott – Omeros

119. Samoa

albert wendt – leaves of the banyan tree

120. Saudi Arabia

Rajaa al-Sanea – Girls of Riyadh

121. Senegal

Mariama Ba – So Long the letter

122. Serbia

Milorad Pavich – Khazar Dictionary

123. Sierra Leone

Aminatta Forna – Memory of Love

124. Singapore

Rachel Heng – Suicide Club

125. Slovakia

Peter Pišťanek – Rivers of Babylon

126. Slovenia

Vladimir Bartol – Alamut

Drago Jančar – I Saw Her That Night

127. Solomon Islands

Rexford Orotaloa – Two Times Resurrection

128. Somalia

Nuruddin Farah – From a Crooked Rib ; Crossbones

129. South Africa

Coetzee – Life and Times of Michael K , Disgrace

Nadine Gordimer – Burger’s Daughter

130. South Korea

Han Kang – the Vegetarian

131. Sri Lanka

Michael Ondaatje

Shyam Selvadurai – Cinnamon Gardens

132. Spain

Cervantes – Don Quixote

Unamuno – Mist

133. Sudan

Tayeb Salih – Season of Migration to the North

134. Suriname

Cyntia McLeod – Cost of Sugar

135. Sweden

Astrid Lindgren – well, anything J

Selma Lagerlof

136. Switzerland

Max Frisch – Homo Faber

Friedrich Dürrenmatt – The Pledge

137. Syria

Rafik Schami – Dark side of love

Salwa al Neimi – The proof of the honey

138. Taiwan

Li-Hung Hsiao – A Thousand Moons on a Thousand Rivers

139. Tanzania

Abdulrazak Gurnah – Desertion

140. Thailand

Kukrit Pramoj – Four Reigns

141. Tonga

Joshua Taumoefolau – A Providence of War

142. Trinidad &Tobago

V.S. Naipaul – A House For Mr Biswas

Shiva Naipaul – Chip Chip Gatherers

143. Tunisia

Hassouna Mosbahi – A Tunisian Tale

144. Turkey

Reşat Nuri Güntekin – The Wren

I am not such a fan of the famous modern authors, Pamuk or Shafak.

145. UAE

Maha Gargash – The Sand Fish

146. Uganda

Isegawa – Abysinian Chronicles

Plot p’Bitek – White Teeth

147. Ukraine

Gogol – Taras Bulba

148. UK

Shakespeare to Austen, Dickens to Hillary Mantel it’s extremely difficult to choose a favorite

Orwell – 1984

149. USA

Another difficult choice, but I will go for

Bradbury – Fahrenheit 451

Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby

150. Uruguay

Juan Carlos Onetti The Shipyard

Eduardo Hughes Galeano – Walking words

151. Venezuela

Rómulo Gallegos – Donna Barbara

152. Vietnam

Viet Thanh Nguyen – Sympathizer

Bao Ninh – The Sorrow of War

153. Yemen

Zayd Mutee Dammaj, The Hostage

154. Zambia

Luka Mwango – Perdition

155. Zimbabwe

Tsitsi Dangarembga – Nervous Conditions

Charles Mungoshi – Waiting for the rain

<p>The post World in Books: Travel through Reading first appeared on Hit the Road Ket.</p>

Also check out my post providing useful tips for independently planning your trips.

Note: I will include links of each website/app for ease of reference.

Best Map Apps for Navigation and Offline Use

First and foremost, your essential trip planning toolkit should include a thorough map. I still remember the time when we were exploring the city with the actual paper maps. Many of you probably can’t even imagine that any more. But I still like having paper maps sometimes and keep them, as souvenirs from my trips.

Google Maps: Of course, nothing beats Google Maps so far. It’s the most comprehensive map out there, constantly updated and loaded with data about most of the countries in the world. However, it doesn’t work properly in every country. For instance, South Korea doesn’t provide Google with sufficient data, so you can’t search for the walking directions between two points there (although it still works fine for noting things down and finding public transportation routes in big cities). China has blocked it and you can only use it via VPN. Another limitation is that in the offline mode, even though you see everything, including your pins, you can’t search for directions.

Maps.me: From my experience this is the most comprehensive map you can use in an offline mode. Once you download the relevant areas, you can easily search walking or driving directions between two points. However, it doesn’t always provide sufficient information on transport routes.

Apple Maps: I have heard a lot of good things about these maps, however, it’s exclusive only to Apple users, while I use the cheapest phones possible.

OsmAnd: This app looks similar to maps.me to me. I have used it a bit, but it somehow didn’t stay in my phone, as I use a combination of Google Maps and maps.me, with a local map app. However, if you want a good alternative to the first two I listed, this could be for you.

Sygic GPS Navigation & Maps: If you want to have GPS for driving directions, Sygic works quite well. However, it doesn’t provide information on walking routes or public transport.

Top Public Transport Apps for City Travel

Citymapper: I really love this app for the big cities I have lived in or visited. It provides excellent public transport information, as well as walking directions. The main issue is that it only works well for the listed 105 cities, while having limited data for other parts of the world.

Moovit: Another app providing great information about public transport in cities particularly. I prefer Citymapper in the cities it’s available in, but Moovit covers more cities. So do check this one out.

Rome2Rio: A great app providing you with information about transportation options all over the world. I mainly look at it to see which transport runs in this area and then I book the transport via their own websites. It gives you all your options, including trains, ferries, buses, etc. However, keep in mind that it does not have all information and sometimes some of the options could be missing. The most recent example of missing information was when I was searching for options to get from Kuala Lumpur to Penang. It thought the train is only running to Ipoh and was telling me to take a bus from Ipoh. While in reality the train runs all the way to Butterworth, from which its just 10 minutes ferry ride to Penang. So do double check the information you get from here on other apps and websites.

Accommodation Apps

Whether you prefer to stay in a hostel, a rented apartment or a hotel, here are the apps that will help you book your preferred accommodation. I usually check all the apps and compare their offers and prices, before I commit to book with one of them.

I also thoroughly assess the reviews of the accommodation I plan to book. I start reading the lowest rated reviews and see if the points made there matter to me. For instance, if someone was unhappy that hotel staff didn’t smile at them or that the hotel is on the main road and not so quiet, those points don’t matter to me. On the other hand, if too many low rated reviews say that the bathroom smelled or sheets were not clean, that matters to me a lot.

Apps to Book Hotels

Booking.com: This has been my go-to app for booking hotels and sometimes apartments for many years. I am a Genius member for a long time now. My search criteria are the following: Private bathroom and 8+ ratings. However, if I am travelling to European or East Asian countries and aim at mid-range hotels, then I give 7+ and Hotels, simply because some good hotels have lower ratings (because people have higher expectations from 4+ star hotels and may not like things like hotel staff not helping them carry their luggage, which doesn’t matter to me).

Agoda: Lately this became my second go-to app. I have used it around Europe and Asia. Especially if you are booking closer to your travel dates, Agoda can provide good discounts and offers. Searching here is also quite easy with one problem – you can’t indicate private bathroom in search. Still, it doesn’t have too many hostels, so it’s not difficult to search.

Trip.com: This is a Chinese owned website/app. It is quite useful in Asian countries with good rates. I have used it in several countries, including in China, in smaller locations, like Pingyao where accommodation options on other websites were very limited.

Hotels.com: Another good app for searching hotels. I found a good deal here a few times.

Expedia: While Expedia is not only for hotel bookings, it’s a great tool for this as well. You can search for hotels, flights, as well as ground transport here.

Apps to Book Apartments, Hostels, etc.

Airbnb: This app was very popular over the years. Although it is slowly declining in popularity, it is still widely used. I have used it a few times, especially in locations, where hotels are too expensive. However, when possible I prefer to avoid the hassle and go for the hotels. I have had some bad experiences with Airbnb, like most people: once the sheets and the whole apartment smelled terrible; another time the building security didn’t let us in, although the host told us they would. That just creates additional hassle.

Vrbo: This app is similar to Airbnb. I have never used it, but the idea is the same as with Airbnb.

Homestay: Another app with the similar idea of booking apartments, or rooms. One thing is that in some parts of the world, where Airbnb is banned, this one isn’t. For instance, I booked places on this for Iran.

Hostelworld: This app allows to book hostels around the world. I have used it to book a separate room in hostels a couple of times.

Couchsurfing: This app connects you with locals who offer their couch, spare bedroom, etc. to travelers for free. Many people use this to get to know people from different cultures. However, I am quite careful about this sort of things. Make sure to vet the person and follow the safety rules.

Airline Apps

Definitely download the app of the airlines you are flying with for that particular trip. All airlines I can think of have their own apps, which not only keep your flight information and boarding passes but notify you with updates on your flights. You can often see your gate and the gate changes through those apps and get a lot of useful information.

I always have the relevant apps in my phone, depending which airline I am flying with at the moment. I find that low cost airlines have very well-developed user friendly apps – in many cases even better than higher end airlines.

Flight Searching Apps for Finding the Best Deals

While I usually book directly with the airlines, the third parties are great to look at different options and compare prices. You might find great discounts you want to use.

Skyscanner: This is my go-to search engine for comparing flight prices and finding dates when it’s cheaper to fly. If you are flexible with your dates and destinations, it is possible to give “everywhere” in the destination field and choose “cheapest month”, instead of indicating the exact date. This way you can find the cheapest destinations and find out when is it better to fly there. If you want to go somewhere specific and have specific dates, Skyscanner is still good in providing you with all airline options you have.

Expedia: Another search engine that works similar to Scyscanner.

Hopper: The advantage of this app is that it gives you an option to save your search and updates you on the price changes. It gives you advice on when is it more reasonable to book your flight.

Apps for Booking Trains, Buses, and Ground Transport

Trainline: This website is great for booking train tickets around Europe. I find the app very comfortable to use. Their rates are same as the official train website rates although they add a small commission in the end (it’s about 4%). I used it multiple times in Spain, UK, Germany, etc. and I always have the app on my phone, while planning or traveling in Europe.

Omio: You can use Omio for trains, buses and flights as well. It’s very convenient, as it shows you all options you have between the locations you indicate. It offers options around the world. I have used it in Asia and Europe successfully.

12Go: They mainly work for traveling around Asia, although they have outliers, like New Zealand and Australia, as well as several European and Middle Eastern countries. I have mainly used them in South East Asia and it was very convenient showing options for trains, buses and minivans.

Trip.com: Great option for booking train and bus tickets, as well as hotels. I have used it in several Asian countries and it’s very convenient to book and use your tickets.

Klook: Klook not only has options for a number of attractions and tours, but also for train and bus tickets. It’s one of my favorite apps conveniently allowing to book tickets and collect points to use on future bookings.

Flixbus: I have used it for bus travel in Europe. While there are sometimes delays, the company offers a great way for budget travelers to explore multiple cities. If you are ok with long bus journeys and sometimes overnight travel, Flixbus will save you a lot of money.

Busbud: If you don’t have options with Flixbus, Busbud has a huge network of buses around the world.

Rail Europe: Similarly to Trainline, Rail Europe allows to book train tickets around Europe for a small commission.

Car Rental Apps for Self-Driving Trips

I mostly travel by public transport, therefore, my knowledge of rental cars is relatively limited, compared to booking all the other modes of transportation. However, I have rented cars together with hubby a few times.

Discovercars: This is one of the biggest rental car sites/apps, which works in many countries around the world. I have booked them a couple of time with no issues. Make sure to double check the driving license requirements in the country you are visiting. Some countries may allow, if you use your home country license, others require international driving license.

Best eSIM and Connectivity Apps for Travel

Airalo: I have only recently started using E-sims, as none of my previous phones were compatible for this. Therefore, I have relatively limited experience with this and haven’t used in many countries. However, Airalo worked well for me recently. I will report back once I use it more extensively.

Review and Recommendation Apps for Places to Visit

In addition to Google reviews and information, there are some other options you could look at to get suggestions. I don’t use any of these for booking anything, just to search information.

Tripadvisor: Even though Tripadvisor lately has evolved into tour booking engine, it still remains a good way to look at attractions, food places, hotels, etc and read people’s reviews. Besides, it has quite good forums, which provide you with substantial advice on different destinations.

Culture trip: Like Tripadvisor, this also became more of a tour booking website lately. But I still do like this for its guides. I have found many interesting cafes and restaurants, as well as authentic places to visit via this app.

Headout: It’s a great way to find out about different things to do while travelling

Likealocal: A very lovely app providing guides and recommendations from the locals about places to visit, eat and do.

Weather Apps for Travelers

You probably already have weather apps for where you live, however, they are even more useful while travelling to make sure that you pack what you need according to the weather, as well as don’t get caught in rain without an umbrella or in a cold weather without your coat. None of these forecasts are full proof of course and they can be wrong, however, they give quite a good idea.

Yahoo Weather: I know not many people use this app, it is less popular among the weather apps, however, I find that it has given me quite accurate information most of the time. Currently, I only have this weather app on my phone.

Weatherbug – I found this one to be quite useful as well. The best part of it is that it warns you when there’s rain within 10 miles from your location. The warnings don’t necessarily mean that the rain will come to you but, hey! Better be warned, no?

Meteoblue: Gives more accurate information when you are in relatively remote villages.

Itinerary Planning Apps to Organize Your Trip

I use Google maps for planning my itinerary through pinning everything I want to visit and color coding them. On my map, greens are the sightseeing spots, yellows – restaurants and food places, blue – for cafes, while red – for hotels. This way I plan my way around according to which places are closer together.

However, some people prefer to have step-by-step itinerary with their flight and train booking information, etc. for this the following apps are useful:

Wanderlog: Lately, this is the most beloved map for people planning an itinerary. Its free version provides you with an option to pin places and make an itinerary. However, the free version doesn’t have access to Google maps, which I use extensively. I prefer not to input all mypins in another map.

Tripit: Another app, which uses your flight, train and hotel bookings and other information from your email to come up with an itinerary for you. I have never allowed it this, but from what I understand, it can search your email to find all bookings itself, so that you don’t have to input the information.

Visit A City: This app provides preplanned itineraries for various cities. It doesn’t have them for all cities, generally only for major ones, however it can be useful sometimes. You can also add or remove places, as you prefer and customize the offered itineraries. I have played with it quite a lot and it really is very useful and an easy way to make the itinerary.

Currency and Budgeting Apps

Xe currency converter: Always a very useful app for whenever you forget the exchange rates.

Translation Apps for Language Help Abroad

Google translate: I have extensively used this app, particularly in countries, the alphabet of which I can’t read. Its option of translating from a photo (even in the offline mode) is very helpful. You just need to download the relevant language pack in your phone to use it in offline mode.

DeepL Translate: I haven’t used this in action so far, but from what I have heard, it gives more accurate translation, than google.

You can also get the country specific translate apps, which are usually more accurate. For instance, Papago is great for Korean.

VPN Apps to Access Restricted Services While Traveling

Some countries in the world restrict certain apps. For example, in Oman you can’t call via Skype without VPN, in China you can’t use Google maps, etc. To find a way around this, you will need a VPN downloaded to your phone, preferably before your trip. All VPNs, particularly free ones, will slow your phone down somewhat. If you want better connectivity, you would have to get a paid VPN.

Tunnelbear: Its free version has limited data connectivity. However, among the free options I have checked, it works best. On top of its efficiency, I also love the cute bear on my screen

ExpressVPN: Its free option is only temporary, after that you would have to pay the monthly fee. If you definitely need good connection with vpn not significantly slowing your phone down, then you would need a paid app.

NordVPN: If you need a reliable connection either for work or being in touch with family, NordVPN is one of the best options. It doesn’t have a free trial, but has a money back guarantee, if it doesn’t work out for you.

Taxi and Ride-Hailing Apps

I prefer public transport over taxis due to budget and safety reasons. However, sometimes taxis can be very convenient or your only option. Rather than hailing one on the street, using an app is safer. Plus, you won’t have to haggle with the driver, you will have fixed price on the app. In many cities one of the internationally used apps works, however, for some you have to download local apps. Make sure to double check in advance.

Uber – this still remains the most widely used taxi service in the world. It is used in over 70 countries, but it’s still not available in many parts of the world.

Bolt – an Estonian company, which nowadays already works in 45 countries, although it started only from Europe. I use this app in my daily life, as well as while traveling.

Lyft – a US-based company, which has connections with other networks and can be used in many countries in the world.

Grab – works in South East Asia. We have used it extensively after getting local numbers.

Careem – covers Middle Eastern and African countries.

Didi – a Chinese company, which can be used in some Asian and Latin American countries and even Austalia.

Other more country specific apps include: Kakao T – Korea, Ola – India, Otaxi – Oman, etc.

Apps to Book Attractions, Tours, and Events

Depending on a country, the museums, palaces and so on can be cheaper on their own official websites. However, there are many cases, when third party websites and passes offer better deals. Besides, if the attraction you want to visit is sold out, you can still get some skip the line tickets through third parties most of the time. So definitely have a look at these and compare with the official website prices:

Klook: I find that this major app provides discounts on many major sightseeing spots. Plus, it has Klook passes in many cities and depending on which attractions you want to see, this actually can get you a good discount. It saved us 20 USD per person on 2 attractions in Singapore for example.

Tiqets: They provide reasonable prices for booking attractions around the world. I have used them in Italy, UK and other mainly European locations with great success, whenever the official attraction websites were inconvenient.

Ticketmaster: They started in the UK and now they cover a number of European countries, plus US and Australia. They offer good resource for concerts, theatre and sports events.

GetYourGuide: A large database of activities, including attraction tickets and tours. The biggest appeal of it is that it provides options for booking last minute. If certain attraction tickets are sold out, you can still join GYG offered tours or just buy Skip the Line tickets from them. This will definitely cost you extra, but you won’t miss out. So double check the prices of the attractions before booking.

Viator: Viator also offers numerous options for tours and attraction tickets. It can also be a good backup plan, when tickets are sold out. So definitely keep this app at hand when traveling.

GoCity: Go city has a coverage of 28 big cities around the world from Sydney to Singapore to Amsterdam to New York. If you are planning a whirlwind itinerary of one of these cities, the passes can save you a lot. The app and website will even build you an itinerary if you indicate your preferences. I have used their London Pass several times, including for my parents and it was a great option that saved us a lot of money. I also got the Amsterdam Pass. However, if you are a slow traveler or if your interests include less expensive attractions, definitely make sure to calculate, if the passes will be reasonable for you.

Big Bus Tours: The company is one of the well-known city sightseeing buses around the world. It’s for the first time visitors, who want to get a feel of the city and hop on and off the transport. I use them, when I travel with parents, as they get tired walking too much. These buses allow us to easily commute around the main attractions without much effort.

There are also local third party apps and sites, such as Trazy for Korea that you could use with relatively reasonable prices, if you won’t be able to get tickets on official website.

Whichever third party app you use, always double check the prices before booking.

Flight Tracking Apps to Monitor Your Journey

Flightradar24 – a great app for tracking the flights in real time.

Apps for Socializing, Meetups and Local Events

Meetup: I have used this app extensively and found it very useful. For instance, in London the London Cultureseekers group had great joint short trips or visited theatre and museums together, etc. I have met a lot of great people through this group. This app is not working in all locations that well, but do check it out.

Eventbrite: It provides you with information about events happening nearby and details on how to book.

Another great way to connect with people and socialize is Facebook groups. They are organized by destination and interests, so you may find other like-minded travelers via them. Also Couchsurfing mentioned above works for this as well.

Some people use different dating apps, like Tinder, for socializing or casual dating as well and have many good and bad stories. That’s something I never tried so I am not sure how likely is it for you to find people to socialize with.

Fun Travel Apps to Track and Record Your Adventures

Places been: This app won’t help you in planning or during your trip, but it’s a fun way to keep record of your travels. It records the countries and cities you have been to and shows them on the map, as well as allows you to list all the UNESCO world heritage sites you have visited.

Note: There are numerous country-specific apps, which you can also use. I include them in my country guides throughout this blog. 

If you know of any other great apps that would substitute or supplement this list, I would be happy to hear about them. I am always in search of different tools that help with my travels.

See also

Step-by-step guide for planning an independent trip 

<p>The post Must‑Have Travel Apps: Your Complete Trip Planning Toolkit first appeared on Hit the Road Ket.</p>