Online resource for international travel

[DisneyandBeerLover]

What's your favorite resource for international travel? I'm interested in going multiple places all over the world (South Africa, Tanzania, Qatar, Netherlands if you're wondering where). Websites, books or any form of social media are welcome! I'm just not interested in tours or trips like ABD, I'm more of an explore for yourself kind of person as well as kind of on a budget.

Thanks!

 

[NYCgrrl]

What's your favorite resource for international travel? I'm interested in going multiple places all over the world (South Africa, Tanzania, Qatar, Netherlands if you're wondering where). Websites, books or any form of social media are welcome! I'm just not interested in tours or trips like ABD, I'm more of an explore for yourself kind of person as well as kind of on a budget.

Thanks!

Doha, Qatar :CIA and State Department websites and people I know who live there recommendations.
Durban, SA: CIA and Dept of State websites; acquaintances. Was a stopover for me that lasted 2.5 days.
Amsterdam, and Rotterdam, Netherlands: you gotta have friends in my life, LOL

No guided tours with the exception of booking an overnight tour of the Mesaieed desert via dune buggy. This was truly necessary.

I read anything and everything about somewhere I wish to travel long in advance. Lonely Planet, Travel and Leisure. Books set in the country/region both fiction and non fiction. Fodor's, Michelin Guides. Virtual museum tours, music, language websites. The world is your oyster so just open it and feast.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We also like Lonely Planet guides. And we like Rick Steves, too -- the shows, books, blogs, and chat boards. Tons of up to date information. And totally agree with the pp about books, movies (especially on location, in the language of that country), virtual museum tours, music, language learning, etc. If you can find any restaurants with the cuisine of a certain country of interest (after the world returns to normal, of course), try them and get to know the staff and owners. So much to learn through food -- culture, geography, history, language, etc.!

 

[shelemm]

I start off with Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, an online forum. Emphasizes off-the-beaten track and 'backpacker' travel. Right now they've parked the website, so it is read-only.

These days it is so cheap to buy used travel books, so look for Moon, Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, Bradt, or even better any unique books about the places you'd like to go. For used books I look up Abe Books online.

Next stop would be YouTube, where people from these places show off what they've got going on.

 

[soccerdad72]

I always like Trip Advisor's forum section for researching any trips we make.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Rick Steves is great for do it yourself trips. I also like to look at the tours that companies like Gate 1 travel, go next or other more budget oriented companies put together. And see what they put on their itineraries. If you like to drive there are great books with driving trips through different countries or areas.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Last summer I took my family of 4 on a two week trip to London (4 days) and South Africa (9 days) for sight seeing and safari. I researched, planned, and saved for it for about 3 years. We didn’t go with a tour company because none of the packaged tours did what I wanted to do. I booked all our travel, lodging and activities on my own. And I saved a ton of money this way too. For the South Africa portion of the trip, the Fodor’s Africa forum was invaluable. The helpful folks on that site helped me establish a budget and then told me about some wonderful safari camps to look at that fit my small budget. I wouldn’t have had the trip I had without their help!

I also did research on TripAdvisor, the Kruger Park forum, and other travel sites.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I use Lonely Planet and Rough Guide books and I watch YouTubers, like Vagabrothers. Don’t rule out hostel sites, such as Hostelworld, as many hostels are quite decent now with private en-suite rooms etc., and they often offer free walking tours and offer far more flexibility for spontaneous travel than hotel booking sites. Have fun exploring.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I love Rick Steves! I've been "traveling with Rick" since my early 20s, before the internet made it easy to secure lodging in advance. I'd show up in a town, find one of the recommended cheap hotels in the book, and show the hotelier their entry. These were all mom and pop type places where the owners were running the show, and they always got a big smile when I showed them their blurb in the book and would almost always give me the rate listed in the book. If they didn't have anything available they'd help me find something similar nearby. I miss those days!

My favorite date night with my husband is to go to Barnes & Noble, chose a place we want to "travel" to, get a stack of travel books for that destination, and sit down with a cup of coffee and read about it. Sometimes we end up going to that place eventually and sometimes not. Good times!

Enjoy your travels!

 

[lovesmurfs]

When starting, I like to begin with reading the TripAdvisor forums for the areas I'm wanting to go. I also like Rick Steves' forums.

For larger cities, VisitACity.com is absolutely amazing, and there's a nice app with it. You put in the city, and how long you'll be there, and it comes up with a reasonable touring plan. You have the ability to build in start and end times, as well as break times. It really helped me on our trip to England last June -- we only had 3 days in London and I wanted to make the most of it.

Some countries have interactive websites as well. For example, we went to Scotland in 2017, and VisitScotland.com was really helpful as we planned.

 

[Lollylow]

My go-to sites for planning are Google Flights, Wikivoyage, Viator, Atlas Obscura, Skyscanner, Airbnb, Rome2rio, Tripadvisor, Booking, Lonely Planet and also https://aktis.taxi/ for taxi transfer.