Planning your trip to Latin America?
Wondering where to find the best accommodation? How to find the best tours and activities? Which travel insurance to buy? What to do about ground transportation – rent a car or book shuttle transfers or take long distance buses? Where to find the best flight deals?
We are here to share with you all the resources and companies that we use to plan and book our own travels.
If you do not have time to read the whole thing, here is a quick overview for you:
💼 Travel Insurance: SafetyWing | Heymondo (Get 5% off)
🏨 Accommodation: Booking.com | Airbnb | VRBO | Hostelworld
🎟️ Tours:
- La Leona Waterfall Adventure Hike (Costa Rica Only) – use coupon paradise to get 5% discount
- Viator
- GetYourGuide
🚙 Ground Transportation:
- Bookaway
- RentalCars by Booking.com
- Tickets Bolivia (Bolivia Only)
- Adobe Rent A Car (Costa Rica Only) – Get up to 10% off + other freebies
✈️ Flights: Skyscanner | Momondo | Google Flights
Related Reading: What’s in our camera bag?
Travel Insurance
A great vacation also requires peace of mind from the uncertainties of travel. So, travel insurance is an essential part of planning any trip.
SafetyWing
SafetyWing is the travel insurance provider that understands the needs of nomads, freelancers, and adventurers. With flexible coverage, including health and travel insurance, it is designed to give you peace of mind when you are living the nomadic life.
If you plan to sign up for adventure activities like paragliding, skiing, scuba diving, you can get additional coverage for those activities by purchasing the Adventure Sports add-on.
For policies of extended stays of 28 days or more, you can buy the add-on for electronics theft coverage.
SafetyWing offers subscription based payment plans, so it is a good way to get your travel insurance plan taken care of while you continue to live the digital nomad life.
You can also buy or renew SafetyWing subscription even if you have already left your country of residence.
Heymondo
Heymondo offers comprehensive coverage tailored to your journey. You can choose from plans for sing trip travel insurance, long stay travel insurance and annual multi-trip travel insurance.
Their policies include coverage for non-refundable trip expenses. We like their 24/7 worldwide chat support for any kind of medical assistance.
Paradise Catchers readers get 5% off on Heymondo insurance plans. Click here to start shopping for the right travel insurance product for your trip. Going through the link will automatically apply the discount.
Unfortunately, the discount does not apply for US residents, however, you still get a competitive price by going through the link.
Do you need to decide on which travel insurance provider to choose – SafetyWing or Heymondo?
We have used both, and this is what we recommend:
✈️ Heymondo for short trips or long term travel
💻 SafetyWing for digital nomads
Accommodation
Whether you like the all-inclusive resorts, the boutique luxury hotels, the best B&B in town, a cool hostel or a budget stay, the accommodation aggregators bring together the amenities, prices, ratings and reviews to choose the perfect options for your trip.
Booking.com
Booking.com has a deep coverage in most destinations. Here you can effortlessly find the best deals for accommodations, whether you’re looking for luxury hotels or cozy budget stays.
This is where we go first to look for accommodation. The user-friendly platform offers a comprehensive listing covering all budgets and facility types.
We like their ‘Genius’ loyalty program, that reveals room upgrades or additional benefits.
Airbnb
If you want to have a localized feel or cook your own food or stay in unique accommodations, Airbnb is perfect for you. As owners list their homes on the site, it takes you to remote places and decors that feel homely.
The prices can range from a few bucks to thousands of dollars. Whether you are seeking a city apartment or a quiet retreat, Airbnb connects you with places that offer convenience, character, and a personal touch.
VRBO
If you are traveling as a big group of families or friends and looking for more space, privacy, and the amenities of a home, start your accommodation search from Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO). It is a trusted platform for finding your home away from home.
Hostelworld
Whether you are a backpacker or a solo travel looking for a budget stay in a dorm or a couple who chooses private rooms but likes to socialize with other travelers, hostels are your best best when looking for accommodation.
Hostelworld lists a large collection of hostels from around the world, listing the availability of key features for each.
Hostelworld community is also great as the user ratings and reviews are really helpful for deciding whether to book a particular hostel or not. We also like how the app also lets you connect with other people traveling to the same location/ staying at the same hostel during the dates of your trip.
Tours
Every destination has something to offer. Some activities are wildly popular while others are more low-key and personal.
Plan in advance so that your bucket list activities do not get sold out for your dates, and you have enough time to also pick some offbeat tours.
Having said that, we recommend you to leave some room in your trip itinerary to allow yourself to “go with the flow” and book spontaneous excursions.
La Leona Waterfall Adventure Hike
This waterfall hike is one of favorite activities in Costa Rica.
You hike in the jungle, swim in the blue river and push yourself against the river current to reach a wonderful waterfall hidden inside caves – Catarata La Leona.
Paradise Catchers readers get 5% discount on direct bookings online. Click here to book and use coupon code paradise.
Viator
Viator offers a galore of tours and experiences offered by the local companies. From city passes to local guided tours, they make it easy to plan memorable experiences and skip-the-line attractions.
Most tours come with the option of free cancellation.
GetYourGuide
GetYourGuide (GYG) offers similar features and options as Viator for tours and activities. However, the diversity of listings may vary depending on places, so you can check listings from both before booking.
With GYG, you can discover hidden gems and popular attractions with ease.
On this platform too, you can book tours with the option of free cancellation.
Ground Transportation
For when you are in your destination, choose your preferred way of getting around.
Rent a car or book shuttle transfers or ride those long distance buses in South America.
Bookaway
Bookaway specializes as a one-stop shopping place for buses, ferries, and trains. The platform offers an easy way to compare schedules and prices, and book tickets online in advance, ensuring a smooth journey.
Rental Cars
Renting a car allows you the flexibility of defining our own schedule and the option to stop at beautiful random spots along the way.
RentalCars by Booking.com lets you compare prices from major car rental companies and find the best deal. Whether you’re planning a road trip or just need a vehicle for a day, Rental Cars provides flexibility and convenience for all your motoring needs.
(Bolivia) Tickets Bolivia
This is a country specific option that we liked using for our own travels in Bolivia.
Tickets Bolivia offers a reliable, simple, and secure way to plan your travel across the diverse landscape of Bolivia. On this platform, you can find buses by different companies, connecting all important destinations in the country.
We like that Tickets Bolivia is available on WhatsApp chat for any kind of support for your bookings.
(Costa Rica) Car Rental Deal
We have an exclusive Costa Rica car rental deal, partnering with Adobe Rent A Car, a 100% Costa Rican company, known for its good fleet of cars, excellent service and transparent pricing.
Click here to get up to 10% discount (automatically applied) + other freebies.
Read this article to know more details about the Adobe Rent A Car detail and our views on if you should rent a car in Costa Rica.
Flights
Since airlines have dynamic pricing, it is essential to find the right deals and price points for airfares.
These are the apps we use to find our flights.
Skyscanner
Our go-to option for finding the best options in terms of flight itineraries and prices is Skyscanner.
If you are yet to decide on a destination, start with the option “Everywhere”. We really like this feature and use it often for mapping our flight routes.
Skyscanner also provides star ratings of the booking companies to help you decide whether to go with them even if they show the cheapest prices.
Momondo
Momondo is a flight aggregator that also provides machine learning based prompts if it is the right time to buy at the price or if there is a chance for a lower price. It is another reliable option to find the best prices.
It is ideal for those looking to stretch their travel budgets and find the best value deals in one easy-to-use platform.
Google Flights
Google Flights is the option from Google to find the flight options and get started with the planning.
We like the price drop alert feature for chosen routes on Google Flights.
That is how we found a really sweet deal for our roundtrip airfare between Santiago and Easter Island. To avail those ticket prices, which were 1/3rd of airfare on other days, we happily moved around some parts of our Chile itinerary.
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