Top Alternatives to Google Travel Trip Summaries
Jin - October 7, 2024
When Google Travel Trip Summaries was discontinued, it left a gap for travelers who relied on it for organizing trips and managing itineraries. Fortunately, there are several excellent alternatives available. We’ve researched and tested some of the most popular travel planning apps to bring you the best options.
Why Did Google Trips Shut Down?
Google discontinued Google Trips in August 2019, transitioning some features into other services. The closure left users without an integrated travel planning tool, though many have turned to alternatives like the ones listed above. The remaining features in Google Trip Summaries were later discontinued as well, pushing travelers to find new apps for their needs.
What Features Did Google Trips Offer?
Before its shutdown, Google Trips was popular for features like itinerary creation, day-by-day trip summaries, and personalized travel suggestions. Users could sync with Gmail to pull in booking confirmations automatically, while the app provided pre-made travel guides for popular destinations. Many of these features have since been incorporated into other Google services, though not in the same comprehensive way.
Whether you're looking for simple itinerary planning, budget tracking, or travel deals, there’s an app for everyone. Let’s dive into the top alternatives to Google Travel Trip Summaries.
1. Best for Map-Centric Travel Planning: Sygic Travel Maps
For travelers who love a visual approach, Sygic Travel Maps allows you to create detailed, map-based itineraries. The interface is primarily “map-first”. You can select main attractions from a well-populated map and add them to your trip. There are also links to tours and attraction tickets for a one stop shop for planning. While it doesn’t sync flight bookings or provide travel notifications like some other apps, it excels in organizing your trip's logistics visually.
Sygic also includes links to book accommodations via Booking.com, tours through GetYourGuide, and even car rentals, allowing for a more complete trip planning experience.
There is a companion iOS/Android app to use on your trip.
- Cost: Free, with a premium version at $3.99/month or $14.99/year
2. Best Itinerary Creator: Travel Mapper
Travel Mapper is a customizable spreadsheet that has a map add-on integrated on the sidebar that you can use to search Google to add places to visit on your trip. From this spreadsheet, generate an itinerary that can be emailed and shared with your fellow travelers.
The planning phase is also made easy by a drag and drop view that allows you to drag your activities from one date to another which is subsequently updated in the map in the sidebar.
The map created in the spreadsheet can also be exported to Google My Maps which can be used to navigate on your trip. There is also a free companion Google Chrome extension that allows you to copy and paste directly into your spreadsheet when browsing on the web as you plan your trip.
Travel Mapper also offers a free dynamic trip planning template and a budgeting sheet to easily track expenses for your travel group.
- Cost: Free, with a premium version at $24/year
3. Best for Organization: Wanderlog
Wanderlog is an excellent travel planner for organizing trips because it offers comprehensive itinerary creation, allowing users to add destinations, activities, and reservations in one place. It integrates with maps to display all stops visually, making route planning easy.
With collaboration features, trip mates can view and edit the itinerary, making group planning seamless. Users can sync their reservations and manage budgets within the app, keeping all travel details organized. Plus, Wanderlog offers offline access, ensuring travel plans are available even without the internet.
- Cost: Free, with a Pro version of $39.99/year
4. Best for Road Trips: Roadtrippers
Roadtrippers is a great tool for planning road trips with a focus on map-based itineraries. Users can map out their journey by selecting a start and end point, and adding planned stops such as accommodations or activities along the way. The number of stops you can add depends on the type of account, ranging from three with the free version to 150 with the Premium plan.
Creating an itinerary is simple: you select your trip’s destination, dates, and even invite others to collaborate. You can adjust privacy settings, allowing the trip to be viewed publicly, by friends, or privately. As you build your route, Roadtrippers offers recommendations for attractions and restaurants, which can be added directly to your map. The app also provides gas estimates and suggests the most efficient routes based on your stops.
For navigation, Roadtrippers integrates turn-by-turn directions and voice guidance, all within the app, so you won’t need to switch to other mapping tools. While the app offers a free version, it is somewhat limited, with only three stops per trip
Roadtrippers is best suited for those specifically planning road trips. It’s packed with unique features for road travel that other apps may not offer. However, if your trip doesn’t involve a road journey or you need an app for broader travel planning, Roadtrippers might not be the best fit.
- Cost: Free with premium options starting at $35.99/year
5. Best for Email Syncing: Tripit
Tripit allows you to forward all booking confirmations and reservations to an email to build your trip. Tripit builds an itinerary for you that can be exported to your calendar. Tripit is a no-frills app, with a very easy use interface that allows you to “Add a plan” to your trip, select a category and then fill out the details in a form like below:
The final itinerary looks like this:
- Cost: Price: Free; optional $49 / year subscription
