Years of accumulated experience allow me to recommend companies and platforms to make planning your next adventure easier. These travel resources have been personally tested — often to exhaustion — to plan trips.
My promise is: I only recommend companies that I have used and whose service has passed my demanding satisfaction test.
Before searching for a flight, choosing a hotel, or buying travel insurance, visit the blog and use the links to the respective platforms.
Why should I use these links or platforms?
- Because, in my opinion, these are the best platforms to prepare and plan trips or vacations.
- These are the platforms I use and consider essential for planning trips and, in many cases, saving money.
- At no cost (or effort) to you, you are helping to keep the Lugares Incertos blog alive. Absolute guarantee: using these links will not cost you a single cent more.
Bookmark this travel resources page and when you want to book a hotel, flight, car, travel insurance, buy books or gadgets on Amazon, use this page or the recommended links in the articles and blog pages.
Thank you very much for your valuable help.
If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected] and I'll be happy to clarify.
ACCOMMODATION
When it comes time to search for accommodation, I almost always choose Booking. Most of the time, it has the best price. The mobile apps work very well.
One that I use the most is Expedia. This company is part of the hotels.com group (the option on the side). In fact, sometimes it pays off to buy the flight and accommodation as a package, because you also save.
When it comes time to search for accommodation, Hotels.com is one of my main alternatives. Besides good prices, it also offers 1 free night for every 10 stays.
Trip.com is one of the world leaders in hotel price comparison, especially in Asia. When I travel to China, it is the tool I use most to make my hotel, flight, and train reservations.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
Take out travel insurance with IATI or with Heymondo (if you use one of these links you get 5% off and Covid-19 cover). Read all the conditions of the contracts and compare the amounts of cover and exclusions and see what best suits your needs.
Situations such as medical evacuations, lost luggage, or missed connecting flights are usually covered. In any case, the most important advice I can give you is: never travel without travel insurance. In this article, you can read which is the best travel insurance.
FLIGHT SEARCH
This is by far my favourite tool for finding cheap airfares, as it searches a wide variety of airlines. What's more, the Skyscanner allows you to view dates for an entire month, making it much easier to find the lowest fares.
NO BANK FEES CARD
I use Wise to save a lot on bank fees. The savings are so great that I haven't had a debit card from a bank for years.
CAR HIRE
When I talk about searches for car rentals, I use Discovercars, as I have_
How many times have you come across the following situation: you've booked a car for a week for 50 euros and when you get to the counter the rental company tries to sell you extra insurance - in some cases you have to agree to it - and the cost of the rental skyrockets to double the amount or you're forced to leave a large deposit.
There is a solution to avoid paying these additional costs. The company http://www.insurance4carhire.com/ offers low-cost insurance, less than 60 euros, valid for one year, which covers all these costs. I've been using this company for several years and I've already had to activate the clause, due to the fault of a third party, and the resolution was swift.
Please note that the insurance does not cover motorbikes, commercial vehicles and caravans and is only valid for residents of certain European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands or Sweden.
e-SIM
Airalo offers affordable eSIM solutions for travelers, ensuring instant connectivity in over 200 destinations. Say goodbye to roaming charges and enjoy hassle-free mobile data. 15% discount with this link.
Holafly keeps us connected during travels with easy-to-activate eSIMs and no roaming costs. Choose a plan, install it, and enjoy unlimited internet. 5% discount with this link.
PHOTOGRAPHY
If you are passionate about photography, then join my photography workshops. The workshops consist of technical, aesthetic, and practical components so that you return home from your travels with better images. Whether you use a smartphone or a camera, you will learn a lot.
DJI is the market leader in easy-to-fly drones and aerial photography systems. DJI drones have become the standard in consumer drone technology and are precisely the brand I use for photography. I currently use the DJI Mavic Pro, but I previously owned the Mavic Air.
I cannot do without Adobe for photo and video editing. I use several products every day, especially Lightroom and Photoshop (image editing), InDesign (creating and publishing books, digital magazines, eBooks), Audition (audio editing), and Premiere Pro (video editing).
TRAIN TICKETS
For those who want to travel across Europe by train (whether you call it Interrail or not), this is the only place to buy the pass. Passes are available from 5 days up to 3 months to travel through 33 European countries without having to worry about buying individual tickets.
If you want to buy train tickets in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, or Belgium, then Trainline is the most suitable tool to do so. It compares all schedules and ticket prices from various operators.
Raileasy is another tool I use a lot as an avid train traveler. It allows you to compare all schedules and ticket prices in the United Kingdom. It also uses the so-called “Split ticket,” a way to find cheaper tickets.
The Man in Seat 61 is an absolute encyclopedia for anyone who wants to travel by train anywhere in the world. The author, Mark Smith, provides detailed information about railway connections from India to Portugal, and from Mongolia to South Africa. The site not only describes the travel conditions in each class and suggests the best way to buy tickets, but also presents images, schedules, and updated prices.
GUIDED TOURS
This is one of the most used companies for day trips, hikes, wine tours, or experiences like cooking classes, tango lessons, or balloon flights. Viator claims to cover over 1500 destinations worldwide.
If you want to buy tickets for attractions anywhere in the world (without waiting in lines) or book guided tours, then GetYourGuide is one of the best platforms to do so. Book activities and tourist attractions anywhere.
Activities, tickets, guided tours, and excursions in Portuguese worldwide. Additionally, Civitatis allows you to find free tours around the world. A great advantage is that it focuses on Portuguese-speaking services.
TECHNOLOGY
With the current ease of ordering through the Worten website, you can have your order delivered to your home. Here you’ll find everything from photography to electronics and even household appliances.
TRAVEL GUIDES
Despite the arrival of the Internet decades ago, I still rely on the Lonely Planet guides to help plan my trips. I appreciate the detailed information about places and recommendations for some restaurants and hotels. The publisher has refreshed the look and graphics, with more color, maps, and quality photos.
CREATE A BLOG
If you are thinking about creating a blog, I highly recommend the Genesis Framework, as it is not only easy to use but also simple to maintain when there are WordPress updates. Besides that, the templates you can purchase are well designed and are the best for achieving good SEO results.
For several years, I used Bluehost’s services, but without a dedicated server, I began to notice slow page loads and decided to migrate to Siteground. The experience couldn’t have been better. Pages load much faster, and the 24-hour support is good. Another excellent option is Cloudways.
WP Rocket is essential for improving SEO and conversion rates. Additionally, it is the best tool to automatically boost website performance. The setup is easy and can be done in just a few minutes. If you are going to create a blog, don’t skip using this plugin with WordPress.
Whenever you want to book a flight, a hotel or buy travel insurance, use the platforms I recommend and trust. All you have to do is click on the links below before researching your trips.
You don't pay extra for using these links.
- Hotel at the best price
- Travel Insurance at IATI or Heymondo (5% discount with this link)
- Cheap flights for your next trip
- Rental car with reduced rates
- Bank card without commissions for travelling
- Store your luggage safely and cheaply
- Photography workshops — learn photography with me
Note: This text may contain affiliate links, but you don't pay more for using any link (and you can even save money). Guaranteed!