Searching for budget flights? Want to save money on accommodation? Need help planning your route? These 7 essential sites for travel planning are just what you need.

Travel planning can be stressful. Narrowing down the ideal destination is hard enough but then you have to shop around to make sure you are getting the best deals and not paying over the odds.

But luckily there are some great sites out there to help you do exactly that. Here, I’ve compiled a list of the travel sites I use most often for finding flights, plotting routes and catching trains, which should give you a helping hand.

Deciding when to go

Travel advice calendars – trivago

Unless you have friends in good places or are a serial couch surfer, accommodation will generally make up the bulk of your travel costs – but picking when you go can help save you a bundle. trivago’s travel advice calendars show you the most expensive and cheapest times to visit popular cities across the world, using past hotel price data.

Read more: 10 travel hacks to save you money on your hotel room

Finding budget flights

Skypicker

Like most frequent travellers, I have spent far too long daydreaming with Skyscanner’s addictive ‘Everywhere’ travel option. However, I am around an hour to 90 minutes’ travel away from four different airports.

Move over Skyscanner, Skypicker lets you set a search radius encompassing several local airports in one search. Dates are also flexible: you can search for flights by the number of nights you wish to stay. It also features all budget airlines (including Ryanair and WizzAir) which aren’t always found on Skyscanner.

Fare Finder – Ryanair

The budget airline that everyone pretends to hate, Ryanair has really upped its game recently, with a better site and very responsive Twitter team.

Part of the new site includes the new-and-improved Fare Finder. Simply enter your closest airport and your budget and you’ll find a list of destinations available, ranked by price. You can even filter by departure time and trip length (either 1-3 days, 4-7 days or longer) – perfect for weekend breaks.

Ryanair has even started its own blog, Into the Blue.

Planning your route

Rome2Rio

Probably the travel planning site on this list I use the most often, Rome2rio is great for plotting the best way to get from A to B.

Much more comprehensive than Google maps, Rome2rio shows you a number of different routes via plane, train, bus, car, taxi and more to give you a sense of how long it will take. I haven’t tried booking anything with them yet, but the site is great for checking the feasibility of day trips.

Top tip: consult travel forums to find recent threads about local bus routes or train routes if you’re worried they might not exist anymore.

On the ground

DB navigator app – Deutsche Bahn

Though it might not be the most exciting app in the world, you can’t beat the wisdom of Deutsche Bahn. Functional but entirely uninspiring, the DB navigator app is perfect for checking train connections and invaluable when it comes to checking platforms when making a tight changeover.

Android | iPhone

XE app

Again, while it won’t win any prizes for its simple design, you simply can’t beat XE when it comes to exchange rates. The XE app is very quick, so it’s great to refer to on the road.

Android | iPhone

Feeling lucky…?

Blind Booking – Eurowings

Of course, you could throw caution to the wind and forget planning entirely. If the idea of booking a mystery flight appeals, then Blind Booking from Eurowings (formerly Germanwings) could be for you. Simply enter your dates, pick and theme and book. Only then is your destination revealed.

Read more: Blind Booking: only the brave?

Looking ahead to travel in 2015

So there you have it. This list is definitely not exhaustive, but these are the sites and apps I depend on the most when I’m planning a trip – or even pre-planning a trip. I’m always keen to discover new sites, so please comment below if there is another site you couldn’t plan without!