Updated October 2026
Choose Wanderlog to build a day-by-day itinerary with friends, TripIt to organise flights and hotels you have already booked, or Google Maps for a short trip that only needs a shortlist of places. Tripomatic is another option for sightseeing routes and offline maps. TravelSpend and Rome2Rio help with separate jobs: managing spending and comparing ways to reach the next destination.
You do not need to install everything. A shared plan and a map may cover the whole holiday; several flights, changing hotels or a group budget create different needs.
Wanderlog for building an itinerary with other people
Wanderlog is my first choice for a trip where several people are adding restaurants, hotels and things to do. The itinerary and map sit together, so a restaurant suggestion has a location as well as a name. That matters more than a long list of recommendations when everyone has saved places in different parts of the city.
Add the overnight stops, then move sightseeing and food suggestions into individual days. Companions can contribute to the same plan instead of sending separate lists. Keep undecided ideas separate from confirmed bookings: a saved cooking class is not a reservation.
The free version supports unlimited trips and planning with other people. Wanderlog Pro adds offline access and automatic route optimisation. Arranging stops yourself is different from paying the app to reorder them. A short city visit may need neither upgrade; a complicated driving day or a trip without dependable mobile data gives them a clearer purpose.
Invite a companion early and have them add a place from their own phone. That confirms you are both editing the same trip before the plan fills up with suggestions scattered across messages.
TripIt for flights, hotels and booking confirmations
TripIt is useful when the bookings exist but the details are spread across emails. Forward confirmation messages to plans@tripit.com and the app assembles an itinerary. Plans without a suitable confirmation email can be added manually, along with notes.
Individual email forwarding is my preference here: the flight and hotel confirmations go into the itinerary without connecting the whole mailbox. For a journey with a Bangkok arrival, a later flight north and different hotels, that puts the dates and booking references together.
The basic itinerary service is free, including offline access. TripIt Pro costs US$49 a year at its standard published price and adds features such as real-time flight alerts and help finding alternative flights. You do not need Pro simply to collect reservations.
Check imported dates, airports and hotel nights against the original confirmation. An organised itinerary does not change a booking, and an alert does not replace an airline’s instructions. Keep the original tickets available for check-in and changes. The Bangkok time guide explains the local-time and midnight-date mistakes that can make an otherwise tidy itinerary wrong.
TripCase is no longer available. If you previously relied on it for booking details, choose a replacement before the next trip.
Google Maps for a straightforward city break
A short stay does not always need a dedicated itinerary app. In Google Maps, save the hotel, places to eat and sights into a named list. Lists can be shared, and companions can be invited to add and edit places.
For a Chiang Mai visit, separate Old City ideas from places farther away instead of treating every saved pin as something to fit into the same afternoon. Once a temple visit is fixed, nearby lunch options are easy to keep available without making another reservation. Put booked tours and transport departure times in a calendar or note; a map of places alone does not protect those appointments.
Download the destination area before travelling, but understand what that download does. Google Maps can provide offline driving directions when the route is inside the downloaded area. Offline walking, cycling and public-transport directions are unavailable, as are live traffic information and alternative driving routes. A downloaded map is still useful for finding your bearings, but it is not a complete offline navigation service for a walking holiday.
Tripomatic for sightseeing routes and offline maps
Tripomatic is the current name of Sygic Travel. It combines places to visit, a day-by-day itinerary and routes between stops, with a web planner and apps for iOS and Android. It is worth considering when arranging sightseeing on a map is the main job.
Tripomatic Premium includes offline maps and walking navigation; paid features also include itinerary exports such as PDF. Check the price offered in your own app store before subscribing, especially if the trip only needs a single downloaded itinerary.
In Tripomatic 26, downloads are tied to the trip rather than a whole region. Open the trip menu and choose Offline Maps; the download covers the places included in that trip. Add the places you need before downloading, then open the plan without a connection to check it on the phone you will carry.
This is an alternative to Wanderlog for the main sightseeing plan. Maintaining the same changing itinerary in both creates extra work whenever a hotel or travel day moves.
TravelSpend for keeping the trip within budget
TravelSpend helps when the question is how much money remains, rather than which attraction comes next. Enter expenses in the currency you paid, including Thai baht, and view them against the trip budget in your home currency. Expense entry works offline.
Basic expense logging is free, with optional Premium features. Shared-trip tools can record who paid and who owes whom; recording a balance is separate from actually paying someone back. Check the upgrade screen for any extra features your group needs before committing everyone to the app.
For a Thailand trip, include the small cash purchases as well as flights and hotels. An ATM withdrawal is money moved into your wallet: counting it as spending and then recording every purchase made with that cash counts the same money twice. Record withdrawal fees separately.
The converted total is a budgeting estimate. TravelSpend’s exchange rate can differ from the rate and fees on a bank statement, so use the actual charged amount when settling exact costs with companions.
Rome2Rio for deciding how to get between places
Rome2Rio helps compare transport options before fixing the itinerary. Search between two places to see available combinations, estimated journey durations and indicative prices, then inspect the travel date and operator details.
For a Bangkok-to-Chiang Mai journey, the useful decision is not simply which vehicle moves fastest. Compare the complete journey, including reaching the departure point and getting from the arrival point to the hotel. Once a suitable service is found, confirm its schedule, fare and availability with the operator or booking provider. Add the confirmed journey to the itinerary afterwards.
Roadtrippers serves a different market. Its supported places and content cover the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. For discovering stops on a Thailand road trip, choose a planner with coverage of the route you are taking.
Turn the app into a plan you can actually use
For a Bangkok and Chiang Mai holiday, put the booked flights, hotel nights and any fixed tour times into the plan first. Then group the remaining places by area. Leave room to change a meal or sightseeing stop without having to move a prepaid booking.
Choose accommodation with that map open. A cheap room on the wrong side of the city changes the daily transport budget and the time available for sightseeing. The Thailand hotel guide covers comparing the location and booking conditions alongside the room price.
AI suggestions can supply ideas, but a generated schedule still needs editing. Check that each place exists, opens on the intended date and fits the route. Leave time for the actual visit, meals and transfers; the travel time between two pins is only part of the day.
Keep one shared version of the itinerary and retain the airline or booking app for managing the reservation itself. Before paying for an upgrade, check the feature you need on the devices your group uses: a view-only link is different from permission to edit, and an offline itinerary is different from offline navigation.
Before departure, save the first hotel’s name, address in English and Thai, phone number and confirmation where they open without mobile data. Download the relevant maps and itinerary, switch the phone into airplane mode and open them. Discovering a missing download at home is much easier than trying to retrieve an address outside the airport.