Get some help planning your next trip with the right team of apps! See the 10 best trip planning apps of the year that make travel easier and more convenient.
From finding cheap flights to booking hotels and navigating around your destination, there’s an app for that. Check out our list below to download your way to easier travel!
What Are the Best Trip Planning Apps?
Customdesigner/Shutterstock
You already use apps to manage your money, schedule, and shopping – it only makes sense to enlist the help of apps to organize and plan your vacations!
Trip planning apps take the headache and guesswork out of travel. We scoped out the best trip planning apps to show you the ones that truly make travel organization and itinerary planning dead simple.
So what types of apps are used for planning a trip?
Itinerary-building apps use your travel booking confirmation emails to cobble together a working itinerary to schedule each leg of your journey and ensure you’ve got time for everything on your list.
Booking apps help you quickly take care of the reservations and tickets needed for your hotel, flights, campsite, and the attractions you plan to visit.
Flight tracking apps are a lifesaver to keep tabs on flights – whether they’re running right on time, delayed, or canceled.
Packing apps develop a checklist to make sure you don’t leave essentials – or extras – at home and take your trip dates, length, destination weather, and planned activities into account to build your personalized list.
Navigation apps allow you to pre-plan your route for a road trip or navigate around a new city with different views – satellite, map, and 360-degree street views – that make new places feel easily navigable.
Attraction and tour booking apps use GPS to show you cool attractions, tours, and events happening nearby as you make your way to and arrive at your destination.
Here’s a look at the best trip planning apps we found on the Google Play and Apple App Store:
- Best App for Trip Planning: TripIt
- Best App for Hotels: Booking.com
- Best App for Flights: Skyscanner
- Best App for Flight Tracking: Flighty
- Best App for Packing: PackPoint
- Best App for Navigation: Google Maps
- Best App for Road Trips: Roadtrippers
- Best App for Camping: The Dyrt
- Best App for Attractions: GetYourGuide
- Best App for Unique Stops: Roadside America
We’ll tell you about each one next and show you how you can use them to make travel and vacation planning more enjoyable and less of a nuisance!
The 10 Best Trip Planning Apps for Every Journey
Planning every leg of your upcoming trip requires some organization, time management, and a “big picture” view of the trip – the length, your travel dates, the weather for your trip, where you’re heading, and how you’ll get there.
The best trip planning apps make it easy. It’s definitely worth delegating your vacation planner role to one or more of these helpful apps.
Take a look at the 9 best trip planning apps to see how you can start simplifying your travel to-do list and creating coherent itineraries in a fraction of the time!
1. Best App for Trip Planning: TripIt
TripIt Travel Organizer app in Google Play storeclose-up on the laptop screen June 2018, Indonesia/PREMIO STOCK/Shutterstock
From start to finish, TripIt helps you put together an itinerary and trip plan by pulling dates and times from your travel booking confirmation emails.
This app makes travel planning seamless and fast so you can spend less time planning and more time counting down the days to your trip!
TripIt is available free on the Google Play or Apple App Store. It gets 4.8 stars overall with over 231.3K reviews on the App Store. And our editor Andrew LOVES TripIt.
His favorite feature is that the technology recognizes what’s an itinerary and what’s not, letting you simply forward confirmations to your designated TripIt email account, with then automatically builds your itinerary.
We love that all of your information is in one place, and is a must-have for complicated itineraries or trips with multiple people (the latter for which the trip-sharing feature is invaluable).
Do yourself a favor and get TripIt today. It’s free, amazing, and extremely helpful for all types of trips. Trust us — you won’t regret it.
2. Best App for Hotels & More: Booking.com
Booking.com app in Google Play Store via smartphone screen in August 2022/mundissima/Shutterstock
Use the Booking.com app to start booking and price checking your entire trip, from hotels and rental cars to flights and attractions.
You’ll even get exclusive discounts on travel booking by using the app and 24/7 customer service to make trip planning a cinch.
The Booking.com app is available on the Google Play and Apple App Store. It gets 4.8 stars from over 822K reviews on the App Store, and best of all, it’s free!
3. Best App for Flights: Skyscanner
Skyscanner app icon on phone screen with logo on blurry background, Los Angeles 2019/Postmodern Studio/Shutterstock
Track flight prices with notifications that tell you when prices go down, up, or limited-time deals become available. Calendar views let you check out how different trip dates can make your trip cheaper!
You can also find the lowest prices on hotels and rental cars and compare prices to make sure you’re getting the best deals for your trip.
Skyscanner is available free on the Google Play and Apple App Store. It gets 4.8 stars from over 407.5K reviews on the App Store and 4.7 stars with 940K reviews on Google Play!
4. Best App for Flight Tracking: Flighty
Flighty Live Flight Tracker app store logo on phone screen. New York 2020/Postmodern Studio/Shutterstock
This free live flight tracker lets you quickly identify delays and flight arrivals and departures so you can stay on track for your trip.
Get notifications when a flight is delayed, when it’s departed, and when it’s expected to arrive. Plus, it’s fun to track flights even when you’re not on vacation!
It’s the #2 travel app on the Apple App Store and has 4.5 stars with over 2.3K reviews. Flighty is available on the Google Play and Apple App Store.
5. Best App for Packing: PackPoint
Phone with PackPoint app resting on notebook, Barcelona 2020/Sulastri Sulastri/Shutterstock
PackPoint is like a digital assistant that takes your trip dates, plans, and weather into account to build you a complete, sharable packing checklist. Tap each item as you pack to check it off at the start and end of your trip!
Enter your destination, travel dates, and planned activities to generate a list of everything you might need – from laptop chargers to clothing items.
Packpoint is available free on the Google Play and Apple App Store. It gets 4.6 stars from over 38.4K reviews on the Google Play store.
6. Best App for Navigation: Google Maps
Google Maps app icon over a blurred map in Moscow, October 2021/Primakov/Shutterstock
Download Google Maps before your trip to start planning your route according to your goals for the trip. Want to skip the highways and take the scenic route? Maybe you’re looking for the shortest route to get you there faster.
Google Maps can do it all and help you point out gas stations, rest stops, shops, and restaurants on your way. Google Maps lets you check out satellite, map, and 360-degree street views so you’ll never feel lost.
Download it free on the Google Play or Apple App Store to start planning your route and navigating around your destination. It gets 4.7 stars with millions of reviews!
7. Best App for Road Trips: Roadtrippers
Roadtrippers Trip Planner app icon from the Apple App Store on phone screen in jeans pocket/Postmodern Studio/Shutterstock
Start planning the best road trip ever by creating a route with turn-by-turn directions and potential stops and attractions that are on your way.
From must-see national and state parks to the quirkiest attractions, there’s always something cool nearby! It’s great for open-ended trips and families looking for neat things to do on vacation.
Roadtrippers is available free on the Google Play and Apple App Store. It gets 4.7 stars overall with 53.8K reviews on the App Store.
8. Best App for Camping: The Dyrt
The Dyrt Tent and RV Camping mobile app logo on phone screen, New York 2020/Postmodern Studio/Shutterstock
Blind-booking campsites in places you’ve never been can be a hit or miss, but with The Dyrt app, you’ll see reviews, photos, and tips for over a million campsites all over the U.S.
Tent sites, cabins, RV sites, and more are included in your search so you can plan the best camping trip. You can also unlock discounts and offline search with downloadable maps on the $35.99/year PRO version!
The Dyrt app is available free with a paid pro version on the Google Play and Apple App Store. It gets 4.8 stars from over 67.1K reviews on the App Store.
9. Best App for Attractions: GetYourGuide
GetYourGuide app and icon on phone screen in front of logo, Germany 2021/Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock
GetYourGuide is a hub where you can book tickets to attractions, guided tours, and live shows anywhere you go around the world.
You can also access special attraction discounts and score last-minute tickets before or during your trip! It’s great to have on a rainy day when your outdoor plans get derailed.
GetYourGuide is available free on the Google Play and Apple App Store. It gets 4.9 stars with over 31.4K reviews on the App Store.
10. Best App for Unique Stops: Roadside America
BublikHaus/Shutterstock
Find cool, uncommon attractions and roadside stops with one of the most popular trip planning apps for off-the-beaten-path activities and sights.
Get directions, maps, photos, and stories about unique and weird stops you can make along the way. Families love the real-life rabbit holes this app can lead them down.
Roadside America is available on the Google Play and Apple App Store. It’s the #5 travel app on the App Store with 4.7 stars from 2K+ reviews and costs $2.99.
Things to Consider
GaudiLab/Shutterstock
Here are some tips to make the most of your trip planning apps and ensure they’re working to simplify, not complicate, your next vacation.
- Forward trip confirmation emails. If you’re using an itinerary building app like TripIt, you’ll have the option to grant access to the app to “read” your emails and pull the travel confirmation emails to build your itinerary or you can simply forward your confirmation emails to a special email address to avoid granting access to your inbox.
- Don’t bog yourself down with apps. You may not need every single one of the best trip planning apps. If you’re heading out on a tightly scheduled vacation without much room for random stops, you probably won’t need GetYourGuide or Roadside America, for example. Too many travel planning apps can make things more complicated than necessary, so stick to the basics!
- Price check everything. The Skyscanner app finds the best flight prices across all airlines and seat classes so you can be sure you’re not paying more than necessary to get to your destination. The Booking.com app finds the best rates on hotels and rental cars, while GetYourGuide finds discounted attraction and tour tickets. You can price check everything with just a few taps!
- Get travel insurance. While some of the best trip planning apps – like Booking.com app – can offer free cancellation for some hotels, rental cars, and attractions, only travel insurance can fully protect you if something goes wrong leading up to or during your trip. Compare the 3 best travel insurance plans next to find the right protection for your trip.
- Be flexible with your travel dates. Using travel apps like Skyscanner will help you find cheap flights and Booking.com accesses the best prices on hotels, but if you’re locked into specific travel dates, you might miss the lowest prices. Use the Anytime option on Skyscanner or the calendar view on Booking.com to see the dates with the cheapest prices.
- Use a VPN when booking. Using a VPN ensures that you’re being shown the best deal when you book. This is important since visiting a page several times from the same browser or device signals demand interest, often resulting in a higher price being displayed on subsequent visits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock
How can you put these travel planning apps work for you in the most effective way? Get the lowdown on the best trip planning apps by taking a look at the most frequently asked questions below.
What is the best trip itinerary planner?
TripIt is the best trip itinerary planner app and gets excellent reviews on the Apple and Google Play App Store. Use it to turn your booking confirmation emails into a working travel itinerary that schedules every part of your trip!
Is there an app that will plan a trip for you?
TripIt can help create a trip itinerary for you, but you'll need to do the initial booking. If you're not sure where you want to go, use the Skyscanner app's Explore Everywhere option to get destination ideas for cheaper rates all over the world.
Is TripIt or Wanderlog better?
TripIt is a better trip planning app than Wanderlog, boasting more features and many more users. TripIt has over 231K positive reviews on the Apple App Store, while Wanderlog has under 10K reviews.
Which map tool is best for trip planning?
We like Google Maps the most for planning custom trip routes and getting around the city or town you visit. The Dyrt is a great app with downloadable offline maps you can use when camping in places without good cell service.
What map app lets you plan your route?
Plan your route with Google Maps, choosing to bypass highways on more scenic routes or take the shortest route to get to your destination.
Roadtripper and GetYourGuide can help you plan stops along your route to see cool attractions and landmarks.
So, What Are the Best Trip Planning Apps?
Enlisting the help of the best trip planning apps is going to simplify and streamline the way you plan and arrange your next vacation.
Every step of the way, from trip research and route planning to booking cheap flights and hotels, is taken care of when you’re using the right travel apps.
With excellent user reviews and thousands – or millions – of people vouching for each app’s usefulness on trips for business and pleasure, you can trust your plans to these tried-and-true apps.
You’ll feel like you’ve got a team of digital travel assistants organizing and planning your trip. All that’s left to do is choose your destination! Start by checking out the 15 Best Places to Visit in the World next.