14 Best Travel Websites in India to Plan Your Trip
We love to travel. It is our natural desire to explore new places and after covid has decreased, people are excited to travel again. Many people who didn’t like travelling are also packing their bags. In the list given below, you will find the sites that give you the best travel deals and ensure your trip goes smoothly.
1. MakeMyTrip
No Indian kid who grew up watching TV can deny that they have come across this name. Growing up this was probably the most common travel website that you heard about or saw ads for and that is because it is the top-ranked and largest online travel website that India has to offer. The website was founded in 2006 and since then this company has gone on to establish itself as a strong player in the travel and tourism websites space. It is one of the first of its kind websites that made its way to India and they have received various awards for its contribution to the travel and tourism sector in India. You can book flight tickets, holiday packages, accommodation, and other travel-related stuff from their platform for which you can pay online through their secure payment options or can even cancel them.
2. Yatra
Yatra.com was founded in 2006 by Manish Amin and Dhruv Shriki, along with Sabina Chopra in Gurgoan, Haryana. In just 6 years the company became the second-largest travel website in India and even today it is one of the best travel websites in India. It is one of those websites which helps you get the cheapest flight tickets and for this reason, it is preferred by backpackers, frequent corporate flyers, travel agents, and others alike. Their service is available in 5,000 cities and using this website you can get yourself rail, road, and air tickets while also being able to book hotel accommodations and holiday packages. You can also use this website in or outside India to book car rentals.
3. Cleartrip
If you are looking to make a flight booking then you might not find a better website than Cleartrip in India. The headquarters of this company is in Mumbai. Apart from flight bookings, you can also use this website to get yourself train tickets or to book a domestic or international trip as well as get yourself a hotel reservation. This website offers a cheap fare calendar feature that helps you find the best rates based on your travel date and budget. This company managed to establish itself among the top travel companies in a short span which is very commendable and noteworthy.
4. Goibibo
Goibibo was launched in 2009 and it is a subsidiary of the Ibibo group. I remember playing a game made by them and also remember seeing their ads as a kid. There is no doubt that this is one of the best travel websites in India and that is the reason that even after all these years the website is still going strong and features on a list like this. If you want the best prices for your flight or train tickets then this is the website you need to head to. The website also provides regular updates on hotels in addition to flights and trains. You can use this platform via the web or the app and book a domestic or international flight. The website also offers lots of cashback making it a bit more nicer and attractive to the users.
5. Oyo Rooms
You must be lying if you say you haven’t heard of Oyo Rooms. The company is fairly new compared to other names on the list but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a hit with travelers. Currently, this company runs operations in 200 cities in India and Malaysia and is a hotel booking website. You have tons of hotel options to choose from on this website and you don’t just get nice rooms but also the great amenities that come with them. Making bookings using this website is simple, easy, and affordable and that is why this needs to be your primary hotel booking platform for your next trip.
6. EaseMyTrip
One of the most well-known travel websites on this list of travel websites in India is EaseMyTrip. As the name says it is a website that is here to make planning and executing trips easier for you. The company was founded in 2008 and by 2019 it had more than 50,000 travel agents partnered with it. The company has more than 9 million direct customers in addition to other customers which shows how well they have established itself. EaseMyTrip is also listed on the stock market and it is among the top 3 to 5 online travel agencies in India. You can use their services via the website or the app and through it, you can book flights, trains, buses, hotels, holidays, charters, and more. Also Read: 13 Best International Airlines in India to Travel Abroad
7. Booking.com
This platform was founded in 1996 and is now almost three decades old and that should tell you that they are not only well-established but also an experienced company. The services of this company are available to people in more than 70 countries which makes it a global company and this is also why it is the only travel platform to be available in more than 40 languages. Be it flights, hotels, attractions, taxis, or cars everything can be booked from this website and you can also list your property on the website to make it available to others and earn money from it. The website has more than 28 million listings from which you can choose.
8. Ixigo
Founded in 2007 Ixigo is just another special travel website that can claim to be one of the best travel websites in India. This website which boasts more than 170 million users is surely one of those websites that many of us might have come across while trying to book a trip. The platform has a trip planner feature using which you can get the best possible travel itinerary for yourself. Using this website you can book flight tickets, train tickets, bus tickets, and hotels as well. The company headquarters are in Gurgaon and it was created by Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar.
9. RedBus
Founded in 2006 this company’s parent organization is Ibibo. This is an online bus booking agency for which we all must have seen Allu Arjun’s ads. This company boasts a huge customer base of over 36 million and they have more than 3,500 buses that run in various countries like India, Indonesia, Peru, Singapore, and more. They have to date sold more than 220 million tickets and have won quite a few awards for their work in the travel industry. The website also has a feature that makes it possible to get a bike or car-sharing ride while also being able to hire a bus. The app is responsible for making travel cheaper and that is what makes it one of the top travel websites in India.
10. IRCTC
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation is a name that every one of us knows and we can be woken up in the middle of the night and be asked about it and we would still have a clue about what’s going on, that is how popular this travel brand is. This is an online train ticket booking service where you can book charter train tickets, religious holiday packages, tourist train tickets, and more. Recently the company also got listed on the stock market further boosting its business. Using this website you can also book international flight tickets, hotels, meals, a special train, and more and that is what makes it a useful travel and tourism platform.
11. Thomas Cook India
Founded in 1881 Thomas Cook is one of the most well-known travel booking websites not just in India but globally as well. The company headquarters are in Mumbai and the first office was also opened in India. The company operates in 233 locations. Be it Thailand, Dubai, Malaysia, or any other trip, Thomas Cook can take care of it all. Be it honeymoon packages, visas, or any other travel-related help that you need, they can look after it too. It is one of the best travel websites in India and there is no doubt about it especially when you see that they have existed for and have an experience of more than 140 years.
12. Club Mahindra Holiday
You can try hard but not afford to leave out Club Mahindra Holiday when talking about tourism and travel websites in India. With this company, you get access to more than 100 resorts across India as well as around the world. If that’s not it, you can also buy tickets for various attractions around the world. You can visit some of these places from the comfort of your home as the platform allows you to take a 360-degree virtual tour of partner resorts and there is surely nothing more that you can ask for. Without a doubt at some point in our lives, our own family or someone we know has used this platform and has had a memorable trip. Also Read: How to Become a Travel Agent? Job Profile, Salary
13. The Travel Guru
Founded in 2005 we have yet another top travel website in the form of Travel Guru in India. Currently, the company is run by Sanjeev Kumar and the platform looks to help users with transparent pricing for more than 60,000 resorts at more than 1,100 locations in the country. Do you need a holiday package? You get that here. Do you need a hotel room? You get that here. In addition, you can also get airline tickets as well as bus and auto reservations through this platform. The headquarters of this top-quality travel agency is in Mumbai, just an additional bit of info in case you were considering making them your primary tour booking platform.
14. SOTC
This is a travel agency that was established way back in 1949 and is still going strong which should tell you why it is placed on this list of travel websites in India. The headquarters of this company is in Mumbai. This company is a step-down subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Group. The company has won quite a few accolades, one of which came as recently as 2019. They offer holidays to their users and you can book great international tour packages via them which makes the prospect of being their client even better.
What are the best Travel websites in India?
A travel website would be the one using which you can book yourselves a trip. Most good websites take care of all the trip-related bookings like getting you a place to stay, sorting out tickets, and planning an itinerary for you to enjoy during your trip. In India, we have no less than 1.4 billion people, and out of this even if just 20% of the population were to or could afford to travel then that would mean 28 crore people to serve. Such a huge population has given rise to a lot of travel and tourism websites coming into existence. Not many companies from any particular industry today can boast of having a monopoly in the market as this huge population of ours needs service and that too quickly and to be able to cater to them all at once is an impossible task which is what paves way for newer companies to emerge in each sector. The travel industry is no different, I am sure we all know at least the names of 3 to 4 companies that could easily be amongst the best travel websites in India.
Top Travel websites in India
We have all grown up hearing names like MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Cleartrip, Yatra.com, and more. As a kid when our parents would plan a trip we would not pay much attention but still must surely have come across these names. If not through them then surely we saw these names on our TV screens and other devices. As we entered the 21st century and the internet started to become a household thing more and more such travel websites started becoming common as the tourism craze now started to take over the nation. Today you have school picnics that are not just limited to water parks or gardens but extend to city or country visits, honeymoons have become a popular concept, destination weddings have become a thing and day by day there are more such things becoming routine which is further making travel an essential part of of our lives as the industry is thriving. Also Read: 10 Best Credit Cards for Travel in India
Travel and Tourism Websites
There are much smaller and niche-based travel and tourism websites that you come across when searching for the best ones. We have put in the research and found these to be the best websites out there when it comes to travel and tourism but that does not mean there can’t be better ones. That is why it is always better to look for alternatives and emerging or existing websites. There is a chance that you may come across websites that offer a specific tour package or have expertise in providing travel packages in a particular country and that might make them a better option in cases like these and so while you refer to our best travel websites in India article don’t hesitate to go for another website which might be a good find.
