Saving money on travel plans starts with knowing where to look. When I was planning my first couple of trips to Europe, I was frustrated. I kept having to jump around the internet to find the best websites to check prices and book things. I didn't know which sites offered the best prices and which ones to trust. That's why I create this page of travel resources for planning your trip to Europe.
I wanted everyone to have a place to come to find the best travel booking sites all in one place. These sites also had to be highly trusted travel sites. No more jumping around all over Google. While some may seem the same as others, they all offer something different from each other.
I use these sites for my planning and booking my trips. Here you will find links to flights, accommodations, transportation within Europe, guidebooks, SIM cards, luggage storage and tours you can do when you get there.
Have a look through it all. You will find things you need, like travel insurance and things you didn't know you needed, like luggage storage.
To help keep this site going, I use some affiliate links. These links will take you to trusted travel partners and it costs you nothing extra to purchase a product or use their service. I may receive a small commission, which I use to keep this site running.
If you found this site useful and want to support it, all you have to do is use the links. It's that simple.
Some people just want to say thanks by buying me a coffee. I do love coffee. Like a lot. I have seven different ways to make coffee at home....okay maybe it's an obsession.
Travel Insurance
eSIMs & Portable WiFi
TOP PICK
Airalo
Airalo offers a seamless solution for travellers seeking easy and affordable mobile data abroad. Unlike traditional SIM cards, Airalo provides eSIMs that can be purchased and installed directly on your smartphone before you even pack your bags.
Some of the standout benefits include:
-Instant access to data in 190 countries.
-Easy setup with no physical SIM card required.
-Transparent pricing with no unexpected charges.
With Airalo, you can choose from a variety of eSIM plans tailored for your European adventure, ranging from as low as $5 (USD) for short trips to $50 (USD) for more extensive data needs.
Sim Options
Sim Options is a great way to get an eSIM for Europe before you go. They activate instantly when you arrive.
They have a bunch of options to suit a variety of needs.
Some of the benefits are:
- High-speed internet across Europe
- No roaming charges
- No complicated contracts
- No hidden costs
There are a variety of eSIM options for Europe, depending on your needs. They range from $24.90 (USD) to $79.90 (USD), with the average at about $30.
Skyroam
Skyroam is a great way to stay connected no matter where you are, not only through your phone but all your devices.
Connect up to 10 devices, like your laptop, tablets and other phones. You can have WiFi for your whole family.
With Skyroam you need the device which you can buy or rent, and then choose a plan. Europe has a great GoData plan that is a pay-as-you-go plan and pay per GB of data.
They also have options for a monthly unlimited plan or daily unlimited plan. It's much cheaper than your providers "roam like home" plan, and you can have 10 devices, not just one.
Guidebooks
Better World Books
Guidebooks have been a staple for travellers around the world for years.
Regardless which guidebooks you like, Rick Steves or Lonely Planet, get them at Better World Books. Why?
You can find new copies and used copies of books. Used copies help reduce waste in the world, and that's what we need.
Also Better World Books has raised over $30,000,000 for literacy and libraries. Supporting them, supports literacy.
Flights
Flight Delays and Cancellations
Have you had a flight delayed in the last 3 years? You could be eligible for up to $700 USD (€600). This isn't some weird loophole, it's a European law.
Check your flight below and see. Airhelp will check and do all the legal fighting for you. It costs you nothing to check, and they take a fee off successful cases only. It's win-win.
Flight Booking Sites
Not all flight booking sites are the same. Yes, they all have flights. All the sites I picked here have something that the others don't.
Read about how each of them differ and how you can save time and money.
TOP PICK
Skyscanner
100 million daily users can't be wrong. Skyscanner is a flight search aggregator searching all the best flight booking sites and direct with airlines as well.
It is one of the few sites out there that gives you a full month view of ticket prices. This helps you see which week and day is the cheapest day to fly.
Omio
Omio is one of my favourite sites for travel within Europe. Put in point A and B, and it shows you the travel time and cost for flights, trains and buses all at the same time.
Everything is very well laid out, clear, and shows you the extras right away.
Overall Omio is a huge time saver and the prices are good too.
Kayak
Kayak is a flight search aggregator. It searches all the airlines and booking sites and shows you the best flights.
One of its best features is the filters. The filters really help find the cheapest flights, and best flight times that work for you.
They even have a great feature allowing you to add luggage. Luggage is always that extra costs that often doesn't get factored in. Now you can.
Airfarewatchdog
Airfarewatchdog is a unique site. They search for flight deals all over the internet, but the searches are done by humans. Why is that different? Some airlines don't list their deals or any of their flights on flight booking sites. So humans can catch them, while computers won't.
The site takes a little getting used to in how it works. Knowing your airports is important. You may find that deal that no one else will.
Air Canada
Air Canada, the largest airline of Canada, is a prominent member of the Star Alliance, the world's first and most comprehensive airline network. Through this alliance, Air Canada offers seamless connectivity and an expanded route map that includes numerous destinations across Europe. From the historic streets of Paris to the scenic landscapes of Iceland, Air Canada provides direct flights and smooth connections via its major hubs in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
FlightHub
FlightHub is a flight booking site that has a knack for finding flight combinations that other sites don't.
This means you might fly on different airlines for different legs of your flight, but that can save you money or find you a more desirable time. Flexibility can let you get creative.
Airline Baggage Information Links
Before you book your flights, it's always good to check the baggage allowances and fees that each airline charges. Below are most of the links for airlines flying to and from Europe and the discount airlines within Europe. To learn how to find cheap flights to Europe here.
If any of these links are dead let me know here!
Flights to Europe - Airlines - Baggage Information
Discount Airlines within Europe - Baggage Information
Accommodations
Hotels
TOP PICK
HotelsCombined
Hotels Combined is my favourite hotel booking site. It's the world's best hotel comparison site.
It searches all the top hotel booking sites so you don't have to. No more opening four tabs and going back and forth.
HotelsCombined will show you all the prices for your hotels all on one page.
Booking.com
Booking is a well known and trusted name in the hotel game. It has over 28 million reported listings in 147,000 locations in 229 countries and territories.
That being said it also has 5+ million homes, apartments and other cool places so, don't overlook it for things like that.
Agoda
Agoda has really grown. Here you will find over 2 million listings. They are well known for their hotel listings first and foremost.
They are also offering vacation homes now, so you can have your home away from home.
They also offer flights (powered by Kayak), ground transfers, and airport transfers. So they are a great place to sit down and book everything through.
Vacation Homes
TOP PICK
Agoda
Agoda is my new favourite website for vacation homes.
They offer such a good mix of properties. Now the big trend is Aparthotels also called Self-catering hotels or Serviced Apartments.
The hotel industry is giving people what they want, kitchens.
That advantage to these types of accommodations over an Airbnb or VRBO is that they have more availability and set standards for cleanliness and safety.
VRBO
Vacation Rentals By Owner is what it stands for. They are a competitor for AirBnB.
The difference between VRBO and Airbnb is VRBO focuses on "whole home" rentals, whereas Airbnb also has the option to rent rooms.
You can find lots of unique places here too. It's an easy to navigate site, so you'll find what you are looking for.
Airbnb
Airbnb connects travellers seeking authentic experiences with hosts offering unique, inspiring spaces around the world.
Look for super Superhosts. These are hosts that are consistently highly rated and reviewed. Set your filter to Superhosts to find the best.
Hostels
TOP PICK
Hostelworld
Hostelworld one of the largest networks for hosteling, has access to 17,400 hostels in 178 different countries.
If you are looking for a social environment to "Meet the World" then this is the place to find it. Great for solo travellers to meet fellow travellers and stretch your dollar.
They have over 12 million reviews available so you can really find out what a place is like.
Hostelsclub
HostelsClub offers a large selection of smart and affordable accommodations worldwide (we are available in 176 countries), including more than 30.000 hotels, hostels, campsites, B&Bs, guesthouses, and apartments.
They are based out of Venice, so they know Europe.
A&O hostels
a&o Hostels is a chain of hostels (and hotels) exclusively covering Central Europe mostly.
Most of the hostels are in Germany & Austria, along with a few other cities like Amsterdam, Warsaw, Prague, Venice, Budapest, and Copenhagen.
They also specialize in school trips or groups of 10 or more.
Bed and Breakfasts
B&B's
B & B's on Booking.com
Booking has much more than just hotels. They also have a large listing of Bed and Breakfasts all over Europe.
That being said it also has 5+ million homes, apartments and other cool places so, don't overlook it for things like that.
Give it a try and compare price. Booking is so big that great B&Bs list here knowing they will get found. Go find yours.
TOP PICK
Bed and Breakfast.eu
With no less than 4,220,009 rooms and apartments, it is the largest B&B website in the world.
At Bedandbreakfast.eu you don’t pay reservation costs. You pay straight with the B&B owner, usually upon arrival or departure.
You usually pay cash, although ever more bed & breakfasts are offering the option to pay with PIN.
Bed and Breakfast.com
With 48,206 in Europe alone, you should have no problem finding something here.
It is owned by Expedia, so you can expect the same level of service as their parent company.
They cover almost all of Europe, even in little places like Andorra. It's worth checking out and comparing with other sites.
Glamping and Farm Stays
TOP PICK
Feather Down
Feather Down is for everyone who enjoys a cosy setting on the campsite, but would also like the luxury and quality. You’ll experience the feeling that you’re camping and have the luxury of a proper bed, kitchen, shower, and toilet.
Overall, there is always something to do when you’re staying at a working farm!
Trip Advisor
Trip Advisor is mostly a review site but it does link to sites where you can book accommodations.
Here's a great page where you can see a listing of farm stays across Europe. If you are travelling with a family, a farm stay is a great idea.
They also have glamping, so just search glamping on Trip Advisor to find all the listings.
Farm Stays
Farm Stays on Booking.com
Booking once again has you covered here. You can find farm stays across Europe.
Make sure to read all the details. Since B has everything on its site from hotels to hostels, you want to make sure the farm stay is truly that.
Read reviews and do your research!
Couchsurfing and Dormitories
Couchsurfing (Free!)
Couchsurfing is pretty much what it sounds like. You stay on someone's couch. Sometimes you can get your own room.
The idea is that you stay in someone's place and then eventually you offer the same back home. It's meant to encourage the cultural exchange idea, and that your host would help you experience things locally.
It's free. So if you were considering renting a room on AirBnB, look at this too.
University Rooms
In the summer months when universities and boarding schools across Europe are out, the dorm rooms sit empty.
In comes University Rooms. They rent out those rooms. It often gives you access to some of the facilities like the gym.
Sometimes you can get lucky and find an empty room throughout the year too. These are a great unknown option when travelling around Europe.
Transportation within Europe
Car Rentals in Europe
Depending where you travel to, you may consider renting a car. Seems simple enough, go online pick a car, the number of days, decline the insurance (because you're a good driver) and off you go! Easy there Goggles Pizano. If you think that's a good plan, you might be up for a rude awakening. Here are things to know before renting a car
TOP PICK
Auto Europe
Auto Europe is my top choice for renting cars in Europe. There are so many reasons they are a top choice. They show you all the car companies, size of vehicle and prices all in one chart so you can compare. They often have the best prices too.
You can then click to see an individual offer or compare all, for example, economy cars. There you will see the cost of the basic rate, and rate with deductibles. They also have a view to see what the rental includes and doesn't include. This is huge when it comes to renting a car.
Rental Cars
Rental Cars lists the cars they find by price from the cheapest to most expensive by default.
They give you a good filters to work with so you can search by which company you want to rent from and other useful filters.
They list all the features for each listing, giving a good overview of what you are getting.
Holiday Cars
Holiday Cars is a simple site. A little limited in options, but their prices are decent.
They have limited filters compared to the other two. They do list whether or not insurance is included. This is good to know, since a listed price can look cheap on other sites, but then by the time you add in insurance it jumps up.
They do default to a NoRisk warranty which you can decline (don't do it, you need insurance!) or upgrade it. That is nice, because you should always have some kind of insurance.
Train Tickets in Europe
TOP PICK
Omio
Omio is the best website for travel within Europe. It searches the route you are looking for and finds any buses, trains or flights. Then it compares the travel time and cost for all three.
This really opens up different options you may not have considered. Sometimes, even a flight will be cheaper than the train. Omio saves you from checking three different sites.
Their checkout process is also very simple and easy to understand what you are getting and any extras you may be able to purchase.
Rail Europe
Rail Europe leading worldwide distributor of European rail products and train tickets from over 50 European train companies.
Their specialty is Rail Passes like the BritRail Pass, Balkan Flex Pass, Eurail Passes, European East Pass, Swiss Passes, Scandinavian Pass and single countries passes for most countries. and train tickets from over 50 European train companies.
On board you’ll find a variety of sleeping carriages - including women-only carriages, restaurants and of course washrooms.
Trainline
Trainline is your one stop shop for train and bus travel. The have more than 270 train and coach companies they work with in 45 countries.
They will show you trains and buses for the routes. So make sure you are paying attention to whether the route shown is a train or bus.
Their prices are very competitive. They are an aggregator, so they will send you off-site to the train and bus operators to book your ticket.
Bus Tickets in Europe
TOP PICK
Omio
Once again, Omio is the best website for travel within Europe. It searches the route you are looking for and finds any buses, trains or flights. Then it compares the travel time and cost for all three.
This really opens up different options you may not have considered. Sometimes, even a flight will be cheaper than the train. Omio saves you from checking three different sites.
FlixBus
Flixbus has one of the largest networks in Europe with over 2500+ destinations in 31 countries. They have free WiFi on their buses, eTicketing, and GPS tracking.
One of their best deals, is the Interflix 5 cities for €99. You can find tickets as cheap as €11.
They also have trains available under Flixtrain. If you are booking, pay attention to whether it's a bus or train.
Megabus
Megabus operates in the England, Scotland and Wales. It links 90 locations across those areas.
Their buses included free WiFi and charging ports at every seat. All the buses are air-conditioned. They also allow 20kg of luggage for your journey.
The website is very straight forward so give it a try if you are traveling in those countries.
Ferry Tickets in Europe
Direct Ferries
Direct Ferries is the world's leading online ferry booking website. It searches all the ferry operator sites not only in Europe but around the world. They have an extensive list of 229 ferry companies they work with covering 3325 routes around the world to over 764 different ports.
This is a good place to start. Direct Ferries is super easy to use to find your ferry in Europe. Pick a country, route or port. It will show you various routes for you to pick from. It's that simple! If you can't find it here, it probably doesn't exist.
You can go directly to the site using the button below or use the widget here.
Luggage Storage
TOP PICK
Luggage Hero
Luggage Hero is the hero you never knew you needed. Sometimes you have some time to kill in a city. Or maybe you want to go to another city for a weekend but don't want to take a big suitcase with you.
Enter Luggage Hero. They have a network of shops, cafe and hotels around Europe (and the world) that will securely store your luggage for a small hourly fee, but never more than €8 a day (€5 per day after the first day)
They have +1100 locations in 35 cities and growing. Your luggage is also insured for up to €2500 giving you peace of mind.
Luggage Hero's advantage is you pay for the time you use. If you don't show up, you don't pay. It's definitely the most flexible service.
Radical Storage
Radical Storage (formerly BagBnB) is the same concept as Luggage Hero. They store your luggage at shops, cafes and hotels. But there are some differences.
The rates are calculated daily (midnight rollover counts as a new day). It's €5 per day. So whether it's one hour or 10 hours, it's €5.
Bagbnb has more locations at 3000+ but only has €500 insurance coverage per bag.
You also have to book your time slot, and it's non-refundable. So the flexibility is less.
Tours & Tickets in Europe
TOP PICK
Get Your Guide
Get Your Guide is one of the best website for tours of Europe. You can find everything from food tours, pub crawls, historical tours, museum tours, castle tours, or day trips to places like Neuschwanstein Castle, and Stone Henge. Some of these are skip-the-line tickets too.
You can even find City Passes here for some cities which give you unlimited public transit for the days you pick and discounts on restaurants and shops.
Viator
Viator is a TripAdvisor company. They offer the same types of tours and experiences as Get Your Guide.
It's good to check here for tours also as some tour operators only post here, while some post on both sites.
They have a lot of great tours all around Europe that you'll be able to find a great experience.
Sandeman's New Europe
Sandeman's New Europe tours offer walking tours, boat tours, biking tours in cities around Europe. They are fantastic.
In most cities they offer a free walking tour (tip-based) which is a great way to get ideas for the city you want to explore.
Most of their tours are between €18-€24 per person. Private group tours are also available. They cover a range of topics with great tour guides that tell the stories and history of the city.
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Plus as a bonus, you'll get this FREE eBook, that shows you what to do when your European flight is delayed or cancelled. Keep it on your phone or tablet, and if things go sideways, you'll know what to do while others panic. (and you could be entitled to €600 shhh...)