I like to travel and there is no trip that I do not organize sitting in front of my computer or tablet, pointing, searching, consulting.
But when there are specific questions that I need to know, some advice or selfless recommendation, then I turn to the forums and they always help me. Therefore, here I leave you some of the best forums for travelers.
Traveler Forums
First, what is a forum for travelers and what can you expect from them or give to them? Good question, because here in the forums it's about giving and receiving. The forum community requires it and it is its strongest point. The mutual collaboration.
It is usually a very simple system: one registers, maybe leave some personal information, search for the topic you want to ask about and if not, leave your own question, and the rest of the forum members respond to the extent that they can help.
Are you going on a trip to Inner Mongolia and want to know how to get around that country? Well, surely someone can help you. Questions are thrown like in a bottle into the sea, but that sea is full of rescue ships so one way or another you are going to get an answer.
And if you are not the one asking, then perhaps you have the answer(s) to other people's questions. An intense chain of reciprocity which helps a lot when we are trying to organize a trip and not fall for the misleading sales of travel sites or agencies. We want the opinion of someone who has been there, in the same situation, and who is willing to help with their experience.
There are traveler forums in all languages, but I basically speak Spanish and English. Now one can find a lot in Spanish, but it seems to me that some issues are still more English. Or at least that's my experience.
Also, it depends a lot on what type of content you are looking for. Nowadays, in addition to the forums, there are many groups on Facebook quite useful and even more active are the Discord or Telegram groupsWell, "forology" seems to be slowing down for some time now.
But remember, The first thing is to know what type of tourist you are or are you going to take on that trip you are inquiring about. Are you a backpacker or tourist looking for luxury hotels with breakfast included? Are you between 20 and 30 years old or are you a tourist what they say senior? Will you visit several destinations or will you concentrate on one place?
There are travel forums that have thousands and thousands of members and posts., and others are, on the contrary, very small. There is no need to detract from any of them, perhaps in the small one you will find more specialized information. Bigger does not guarantee better answers to your question.
So, let's divide them into travel forums in Spanish and those in English. This list is personal, they are what I use.
- Lonely Planet: It was born as a travel guide back when one bought little books to travel, but today it is one of the most popular forums. The community is huge and super collaborative. You will find information divided according to topics (LGBT or bicycle trips or trips with children, for example), and you can ask in public or through private messages.
- Travelers: As I write this article I see that it has 381406 registered users and more than 1.200 connected at this moment. It has a section with articles about tourism and travel guides, hotels and various attractions that you can browse by writing the word, country, language or topic you are looking for. There is the general travel forum but there is also about airplanes and airports or even travel agencies and search engines.
- Tripadvisor: Here there are opinions on everything, attractions, destinations and accommodations. It also has its travel forum in Spanish so that one can ask questions or share experiences with other travelers. You can search by country or by topic.
And now the Most popular traveler forums in English. There is not much more to add because the system is the same: you must register and they are organized in such a way that you can do your search first, before asking, because perhaps what interests you has already been asked and answered. That is, you can search by country or topic or even subscribe to a particular forum within the main forum.
- Fodor's Travel Talk It is one of the best, with the English version of TripAdvisor of course. One of its aces up its sleeve is the section Trip Reports that offers deep looks about certain travel destinations, even better than if you were there. It is also quite strong on cruises and although it focuses on European cruises more than others, you can always search this question by country. And it is easy to handle, to move through its sections
- TravelFish It's another but focused more on trips to Southeast Asia. And speaking of specificities, of specific travel forums, we can name FlyerTalk, about air travel, a IndiaMike, about itineraries and super practical information about India o Slow Europe Forum, very inspiring.
- travelerspoint It is one of the traveler forums older since it started far away and long ago, in 2002. It is an active forum that knows what it is doing and also has a trip planner and a blogging platform. Before, anyone who started with WordPress had this site to post their blog, forums and maps for free. It still has the blog function, in case you want to post your travel diary there, available to everyone. And its maps, although simple and rather basic, are sometimes easier to use than those of Google Maps.
- Thorn Tree is from Lonely Planet, it was once a premium travel forum, but began to decline when Lonely Planet was bought by the BBC. Today it provides simple answers about all types of travel. In times of pandemic was transformed and it stopped being a forum to just be Reading. Its content is worth gold, although you can no longer post anything new. LoneyPlanet invites us to its Facebook Travelers Group or search for them on X, Instagram and TikTok.
- Frommer's Roamers Travel Chat, on Facebook, has more than two thousand members and their guides are quite useful. It is not a super active site or as well moderated as one would like, but since it has moved to social networks it has improved a little.
- Finally, one that I usually come across when looking for information and I have come to really like is the Nomadic Matt'sForum, specialized in travelers with limited budget, backpackers and adventurers. I like it a lot. The same Travel Sub-Reddit.
I also add the Japan Guide website traveler forum. I travel to Japan frequently and your forum has resolved more than one issue for me super quickly. Their community is friendly to the maximum.
And you should know that in reality There are travel forums of all types and colors.: for single men and women, for people who rent caravans, for expatriates, for foodies, forums specialized in means of transportation (bikes, motorcycles), and those that focus on jobs and professions, for example.
We must criticize the Internet for a thousand things, the fake news, the operations, the media lobby and the scarce state regulation it has, but the positive is worth gold: this great community of travelers that has been formed and that collaborates so that a trip becomes less and less a procedure and an experience that changes our lives.