5 best apps to plan a vacation (2023)

It always takes quite a while to put together a trip, even if you’re just looking for a hotel and a flight. These five apps make that a little easier.

Holiday pirates

If you are going to book a trip, you have to consider a few things. What do you want to spend, where do you want to go, when do you want to go and how. You certainly don’t have to know it all, but knowing one of those things is useful in your search. In addition, it is smart to check whether it is better to book separately or to go for a package trip. The advantage of a package holiday is that they often also include a transfer, so that you do not have to look for a bus stop or taxi upon arrival at the airport, but can simply take a seat in a bus and be taken directly to your hotel. Vakantiepiraten is a package travel provider. At least: it is a kind of channel in which you can find well-priced package holidays from other providers such as Tui. It can help you to make a quicker choice of where you want to go, or – if you are talking to friends about where the trip could possibly go – to see if that particular country is not very expensive to travel to.

Download HolidayPirates in the Play Store

Skyscanner

If you travel by train, you are working much more sustainably, so if you stay within the European mainland, it is better to go to NSinternational and see what is possible before you go to Skyscanner. Skyscanner is probably one of the best websites to find flights on. Especially if you don’t necessarily have an idea of ​​where you want to go or when, then this app can help you find an advantageous time to fly. It is also possible to set an alarm, so that if the flight tickets are priced significantly differently, an e-mail will be sent to inform you.

Download Skyscanner from the Play Store

Booking.com

Booking.com is the worldwide app to book hotels. There are certainly alternatives, but the originally Dutch Booking has done very well so far and is simply very clear. You will not only find hotels, but also hostels and private accommodations, making the app a bit more like AirBnB. Be careful, because Booking puts certain hotels at the top when those hotels pay for them, but nowadays it does. By the way, you do not necessarily have to book the hotel via Booking: you can also choose to orient yourself in that app and then go to the hotel’s own site to book directly. That is entirely up to you, but Booking.com is very useful to quickly see what a hotel costs at a certain time in a certain city. It’s a shame if you book a city trip just when there is a major convention and almost all hotels are the main prize. Then you might be better off going at another time and things like that often become clear quickly when you look at Booking.com, which also indicates what percentage of the hotels are already sold out before the moment you look.

Download Booking.com from the Play Store

TripAdvisor

Once you have chosen a destination, you will of course think about what exactly you want to do. The website crazytourist often has nice recommendations, but in the end you will probably soon arrive at Tripadvisor. In any case, a handy app to have, because you can not only find fun excursions in it, but also restaurants and tourist attractions. Includes reviews and photos, so you can quickly see exactly what to expect. Excursions and restaurants can often also be booked via this app, so you can spice up your city trip or holiday with a nice boat trip, a special restaurant or you can check how the hotel you have booked is rated by other travelers, because they too can be found in the app. Plus, also important: once you have done your excursion or booked the restaurant on vacation, you can leave a review so that other travelers are helped with their trip.

Download Tripadvisor from the Play Store.

City mapper

You can use Google Maps and that works very handy. Check how long you have to travel from the airport to your hotel, or see if there are many restaurants nearby, how far the beach is from the hotel or where exactly your excursion starts. Citymapper is a close second though, especially if you’re not necessarily a walker and don’t rent a car either. After all, then you need public transport and Citymapper maps out how to get from a to b of major cities and which public transport you should take. Certainly a good app to convince inveterate drivers of the usefulness of public transport.

Download Citymapper from the Play Store.

Are there certain apps that you find useful when booking a trip? Leave it now in the comments.

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