This page includes links to the best travel brands, products and services that I use when planning my own trips. Many of these companies I have used for many years.

Accommodation

Booking.com

I book all of our hotels through booking.com.

I find the hotel selections excellent and free cancellation is available on most of their bookings.

They have over 1 million properties to choose from so you are sure to find the perfect accommodation for your needs.

Airbnb

I use airbnb from time to time for our accommodation. I find them great when we want something different and to ourselves.

Trip Advisor

Check out reviews of restaurants, hotels, and tours on Trip Advisor. Although I don’t find their website the easiest to use we do check out restaurants on Trip Advisor wherever we go!

 Travel Gear

Anti-theft bags and backpacks

These are the essential items of travel kit that I always take with me.

I have a number of Travelon and Pacsafe bags and would NEVER travel without them.

After a trip to Paris when thieves attempted to steal from my backpack (unsuccessfully) the bags have paid for themselves.

You can find out my recomended bags in my guides – one for bags, purses and backpacks and one to mini bags.

Kindle

I love books but traveling with a bag full of books is not practical. I always take my Kindle when I travel. The ability to be able to read in full sunlight is for me one of the best things about having a Kindle. That and the luggage space it saves!

You can find more travel gear suggestions in my travel shop

Travel money cards

I have a Transferwise account and card which I use as well as my normal credit cards when I am traveling. The Transferwise card works like a debit card and can be loaded up with your home currency and converted into whichever currency you need when required.

It avoids the charges you would incur using credit cards or your normal bank debit card and is an excellent way to handle spending money when traveling.

The exchange rate is excellent and I recently held Australian $$’s, Hong Kong $$’s and UK ££’s on my card. At the end of my trip I was able to transfer any unused currency back into my bank account.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE TRANSFERWISE CARD

Book Your Tours

Get Your Guide

For day trips and city guides I recommend Get Your Guide. They have more than 30,000 activities available in 7500 destinations so are sure to have something you will want to do.

Great prices and reliability make this the number one choice for me!

Transportation

Flights

There are lots of different companies available when looking for good deals on flights.

I use skyscanner for the ability to compare flight times/connections as well as cost.

Trains

We love traveling by train as you will have probably discovered on this website. We have lots of favourite journeys and have learnt tips along the way to make our journeys as comfortable as possible.

For UK train travel I recommend using the trainline.com

Man at seat 61

I know I am recommending another website but this is really the BEST site for planning your train travel anywhere in the world. This is the first place I turn when thinking about logistics when we travel by train.

Car hire

We do occasionally hire cars if we can’t depend on trains and/or other public transport. Try Auto Europe for competitive deals.

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