World's 101 Best Travel Websites: 2016 Edition

World's 101 Best Travel Websites: 2016 Edition

In my position as the Event Director of the annual world travel championship, The Global Scavenger Hunt--some liken me to a traveling circus ringmaster--I have a lot of planning to do. Ten countries spread out around the world, all the personalities, all the logistics, all the hotels.


There are indeed a lot of moving parts in realizing this international event; and frankly, I don't think it could have occurred before the Age of the Internet.

But we are in the Age of the Internet, and online information has never been so plentiful for us travel planners; making us both better informed and more confident travelers than ever.

That said, I am continually asked what websites I count on for reliable, up-to-date, news-I-can-use travel information. My answer is this annual 101 Best Travel Website listing. Among the 101 website stars below are passionate blogs, travel news aggregators, useful research and booking tool sites, traditional weekly travel sections and excitingly irreverent takes on 21st century travel by some thoughtful travelers. They are useful, fun, fresh, informative and entertaining websites...and yes, it is a lot of work compiling them.


Listed A-Z is the 2016 edition of the 101 Best Travel Websites™. (I have hyperlinked my indispensable top ten favorites.)

1. ● 12 HRS - Offers a Euro-sensibility to traveling urban jungles.
2. ● 48 Hour Adventure - We like 48-hour adventures.
3. ● ABC News Travel - Mainstream reliable travel coverage.
4. ● About Travel - Budget Travel's website chalk full of useful info.
5. ● The Adventurists - Never boring. 
6. ● Airbnb - It is the 21st century.
7. ● Atlanta Journal-Constitution Travel - One of the dozen dedicated travel sections still around.
8. ● BBC Travel - Still England's best travel section.
9. ● Boston Globe Travel - One of the dozen travel sections still around.
10. ● BreakingTravelNews - A daily barrage of PR pieces that are actually very telling.
11. ● Business Travel News - Well, err, business travel news.
12. ● BuzzFeed Travel - New to the travel scene in 2015--who knew? 
13. ● CBS News Travel - Filtered headline travel news.
14. ● Chicago Tribune Travel - Last travel section left in The Windy City.
15. ● Conde Nast Traveler - The magazine, just online.
16. ● CNN Travel - Up-to-date travel news.
17. ● Consumer Traveler - Know your traveler rights...all three of them!
18. ● Eat Your World - Yum, food good. 
19. ● Elliott - Christopher Elliott's consumer-oriented travel website.
20. ● Fest 300 - Might as well do a local festival when you get there.
21. ● FlightStats - A great way to find alternative airport routes.
22. ● FlyerTalk - For road warriors and mileage geeks alike.
23. ● Fodor's Travel - The guidebook online.
24. ● Frommer's - The online guidebook.
25. ● Frugal Travel Guy - Helping regular travelers travel at their own speed.
26. ● Frugal Traveler - NYT's resident travel blogger Seth Kugel.
27. ● FT Travel - England's Financial Times travel section.
28. ● The Global Scavenger Hunt - An always interesting, fascinating & colorful look at the world. 
29. ● Globe & Mail Travel - Canada's largest weekly travel section.
30. ● Gogobot - A fun and useful site that you need to try to understand.
31. ● Google Flights - Reliable research tool that is poised to take over the world...
32. ● Google Maps - Never get lost, ever. 
33. ● Great Circle Mapper - Fun site to map out all your travels.
34. ● Guardian Travel - England's Guardian weekly travel section.
35. ● Gulliver - England's Economist magazine travel blog.
36. ● Hipmunk - Keeps Kayak honest.
37. ● HomeAway - To see like a local you have to live like a local.
38. ● HomeExchange - To see like a local you have to live like a local.
39. ● Houston Chronicle Travel - The best dedicated travel section in Texas.
40. ● Huffington Post Travel - Interesting lists from both established and aspiring travel writers.
41. ● Independent Travel - England's Independent newspaper travel section.
42. ● Intelligent Travel - National Geographic's travel blog site.
43. ● International Travel News - Information for high-frequency travelers. 
44. ● In Transit Blog - New York Times daily travel blog. 
45. ● ITA Matrix - An online software like the old-timey Official Airline Guides (OAG). 
46. ● JohnnyJet - The established travel insider.
47. ● Kayak - Still the best way to check all your flight options.
48. ● Lonely Planet Blog - Always motivating.
49. ● Lonely Planet Thorn Tree - A good place for travelers to ask questions about places you want to go.
50. ● Los Angeles Times Travel - One of the dozen dedicated travel sections still around.
51. ● The Man in Seat Sixty-One - When getting there is still half the fun.
52. ● MapQuest - Tried and true, gives you the options you need.
53. ● Miami Herald Travel - Florida's last dedicated travel section.
54. ● The Middle Seat - Wall Street Journal's travel outlet.
55. ● Moving Worlds - A website that matches your skills assets with global volunteer opportunties. 
56. ● National Geographic Travel - Old yellow--the travel edition.
57. ● Naughty Nomad - Politically incorrect travel.
58. ● NBC News Travel - Mainstream travel coverage.
59. ● New York Times Travel - Still the best, but changing a lot lately.
60. ● Nomadic Matt - He's come a long way from dancing Matt. 
61. ● Nowhere - Travel site for arty folks. 
62. ● The Points Guy - If you're going to travel, you might as well maximize it--or so they say!?
63. ● Rick Steves Travel Blog - We like it when he gets political. 
64. ● RoadJunky - The drugs, sex & rock n' roll of travel.
65. ● Rome2Rio - How to get from here-to-there.
66. ● San Francisco Chronicle Travel - Still around.
67. ● San Jose Mercury News Travel - They try really hard.
68. ● Scribo Travel - Breathtaking stuff.
69. ● SeatGuru - Helps you pick a good seat.
70. ● Skift - Real travel intel for real travel geeks.
71. ● Skiplagged - Pro-consumer site that exposes airline secrets. Try it!
72. ● Skyscanner - Another great flight research tool. 
73. ● Skype - Still the place to go for free international conversations.
74. ● Smarter Travel - Lists and travel articles.
75. ● The Times Travel - England's infamous Times travel section. 
76. ● Timeout City Guides - I saw my first one in 1985 and fell in love.
77. ● Today in the Sky - USA Today's Ben Mutzabaugh's daily travel takes.
78. ● Tony Wheeler's Travels - Lonely Planet founder's personal website.
79. ● Travel Detective - Peter Greenberg's travel website.
80. ● Travel Independent - Everything you might need to know.
81. ● Travel Mail - England's Daily Mail dedicated travel section.
82. ● Travel News & Deals - LA Times travel blog.
83. ● Travelers United - A pro-consumer travel site that affects change. 
84. ● Traveller - Australia's Sydney Morning News take on travel news.
85. ● TripAdvisor - Who doesn't still check these (mostly) user-generated reviews?
86. ● Uber.com - Great for when you arrive and don't want the hassle of negotiating a ride. 
87. ● Uncornered Market - Travel wide on sabbatical
88. ● USA Today Travel - One of the dozen dedicated travel sections still around.
89. ● US Department of the Interior - Just amazing natural photography. 
90. ● Vagabonding - Rolf Potts keeps writing...
91. ● View from the Wing - Road warrior frequent points guru Randy Peterson's website.
92. ● Wanderlust & Lipstick - An amazing collection or regular travel bloggers. 
93. ● Washington Post Travel - Every Monday at 2PM ET you can Talk about Travel with writing staff.
94. ● WikiTravel - Crowd sourced travel info.
95. ● WikiVoyage - Crowd sourced travel destination info.
96. ● World Hum - High-brow travel pieces.
97. ● World Travel Guide - Just a great source of useful city data. 
98. ● XE - My always reliable currency converter.
99. ● Yapta - This site could save you money after you book a flight.
100. ● YouTube Travel - An unending supply of great travel videos. 

Those are our's, what are your favorite travel go-to websites?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-d-chalmers/worlds-101-best-travel-we_b_8931752.html