Book your trip
Everything for your trip, in one place
Flight, night bus, hostel, tour or a week-long retreat: below is the platform we book each part with ourselves. You pay exactly what you would pay going direct, and we get a small commission. That is what keeps everything on this site free.
- 5 booking steps from your flight to your last tour
- No surcharge you pay the same price
- 5 countries Thailand to the Philippines
- Booked it ourselves we travel with them too
Step 1 of 5 · Sort it from home
Book your flight
We book this through Trip.com
Your flight out is the single biggest cost of the whole trip, so this is where there is most to save. Trip.com lines up hundreds of airlines at once and shows you in one glance whether a stopover saves you a hundred euros. Already on the road and after a flight inside Asia? Go to 12Go instead: the bus, the train and the ferry sit right next to it, so you see straight away whether flying is even worth it.
- Return or one way to Bangkok, Hanoi or Manila
- Airlines and stopovers side by side
- Last-minute tickets within Asia too
Step 2 of 5 · On the road, leg by leg
Book your transport
We book this through 12Go
Night bus to Chiang Mai, train down Vietnam, ferry to Koh Tao or a transfer from the airport: in Southeast Asia you sort all of it in one place. 12Go shows you per route what runs, how long it takes and what it costs, and your ticket lands straight on your phone. No more queueing at a counter where nobody speaks your language.
- Night buses and night trains, berth included
- Ferries and speedboats out to the islands
- Private transfers from the airport
Step 3 of 5 · A few days ahead
Book your bed
We book this through Hostelworld
Hostelworld is where the backpackers are. For every hostel you see what other travellers thought of it, how social it is and whether anything happens at night, which is exactly what you are after when you travel solo. Want a private room, your own bathroom or just one proper night of sleep after a long travel day? Compare hotels, guesthouses and resorts on Trip.com.
- Dorm or private room, from chilled to party
- Reviews from travellers who were just there
- Free cancellation at plenty of hostels
Step 4 of 5 · On the spot or a day ahead
Book your activities
We book this through GetYourGuide
Sunrise at Angkor Wat, a cooking class in Hoi An, snorkelling off El Nido or just a ticket without the queue. GetYourGuide shows you what there is to do where you are, what other people thought of it and what it costs. Most tours cancel for free up to 24 hours before, so you are not stuck with it when the weather turns.
- Day tours, excursions and multi-day trips
- Entry tickets that skip the queue
- Free cancellation on most tours
Step 5 of 5 · Plan it a week ahead
Book a retreat or bootcamp
We book this through Tripaneer
Sometimes you do not want to move on. A week of yoga on Koh Phangan, learning to surf on Siargao, a Muay Thai camp in Chiang Mai or a few days of doing absolutely nothing. Tripaneer lets you compare multi-day programmes where your bed, your food and the coaching are usually already in the price. For a lot of backpackers it ends up being the part of the trip that sticks the longest.
- Yoga, meditation and wellness
- Surf, dive and Muay Thai camps
- For beginners and old hands alike
Three things to lock in before you leave
You do not book these per leg but once, for the whole trip. Do it before you go: after that it is harder, and for a bank card that comes in the post it is simply too late.
- Travel insurance One night in a Bangkok hospital costs more than your whole trip. Sort it before you fly, and read what it does not cover: a medical policy is not the same thing as cancellation cover. To travel insurance
- eSIM Online the moment you land, without hunting for a SIM counter. You need data to order your ride and to find your hostel again, so this one pays for itself on day one. To the eSIM guide
- Bank card Pay and withdraw without your bank skimming a few euros off every time. Depending on your bank, over a few months that is easily an extra week on the road. To the bank cards
How to keep money in your pocket
Six things we learned on the road, mostly the hard way. Each one costs you an extra minute when you book and saves you a whole lot of hassle.
- Book popular routes in time In high season and around holidays the night trains and the ferries to the small islands fill up fast. Three days ahead is usually plenty.
- Check where it leaves from Big cities have several bus stations and piers, often kilometres apart. Look on your ticket where you need to be and find that address before you get in a taxi.
- Save your ticket offline Download it or screenshot it the moment you have it. On the road you often have no signal, and that is exactly when the conductor wants to see it.
- Look past the ticket price Budget airlines charge extra for checked bags and sometimes for a seat. Add that on before you pick the cheapest flight.
- Mind the arrival time A flight that lands at three in the morning looks cheap, and then you pay it back in a pricey taxi and an extra night in a hotel.
- Always pay in local currency When a booking site or an ATM offers to charge you in euros, pick the baht, dong or peso anyway. The exchange rate they use is always the worse one.
One more thing
Does it cost more if I book through you?
No. You pay exactly the same price as when you go to Trip.com, 12Go, Hostelworld, GetYourGuide or Tripaneer yourself. Book through our link and the platform pays us a small commission. That pays for the site, so every route, guide and tip on it stays free.
Do you actually use these platforms yourselves?
Yes. Everything on this page we used on our own trips through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines. Nothing is on here because the commission is high: if we would not send a mate there, it is not on this page.
When should I book my flight?
For a long-haul flight to Asia you are usually fine booking two to four months out. Around Christmas, New Year and the summer holidays prices climb earlier, so get in a bit sooner then. Flexible on your departure day? Check a few days either side: one day's difference regularly saves tens of euros.
Do I need to book my hostels in advance?
Only your first few nights, so you have somewhere to go after a long flight. After that you book a day or two ahead as you go. The exceptions are high season, holidays and small islands: lock those in earlier, because when they are full they are properly full.
Can I just sort buses and trains on the spot?
Often, yes, and at the counter it is sometimes a few euros cheaper. It does cost you half a morning of searching, though, and on night trains, popular routes and ferries to the islands you risk waiting a day. We book the long legs ahead and the short hops on the spot.
Should I book tours ahead or on the spot?
Most tours you can book a day ahead, even from your hostel. Booking early pays off for the big names where it gets busy, like sunrise at Angkor Wat, and for anything with a time slot. Plenty of tours on GetYourGuide cancel for free up to 24 hours before, so you can lock it in without being locked in.
What if I need to cancel or change my plans?
You sort that with the platform you booked on, because that is where your booking lives. Check the terms before you pay: plenty of hostels and tours cancel for free, cheap flights and bus tickets usually do not. We are not in between you and your booking, so we cannot change anything about it either.
How do you make money from this?
Through affiliate links. You click through and book something, and the platform pays us a small percentage out of its own margin. You see nothing of it in the price, and we do not know who booked what, only that something was booked.
Route first, bookings second
Booking is a lot easier once you know which way you are heading. Our destination pages have the route through each country, how long to stay and roughly what it costs. After that you know exactly which flights, buses and hostels you need.
The booking buttons on this page are partner links. Book something through them and the platform pays us a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Which partners we recommend is our call and nobody else's. Read how we do that.