How To Set Up A Travel Blog

Travel bloggers: if you're running low on ideas, here's a list of blog post topics with real-life examples to inspire your own travel content.

Travel is one of the most popular blogging niches and offers plenty of content ideas, and it's one of the best types of blogs that make money, but if you're short on inspiration, I've put together a list of 50 travel blog post ideas to help get your gears goin'.

If you get a lot of your traffic from Google or Pinterest, you may know that a lot of travel content is templated the same. So people look up "best day trips from…" and then add their city of choice.

The key, then, is to find some of these popular templates and angle them to your blog, audience and topic. If you can do that, you'll have a treasure trove of travel blog topics to choose from. Let's go!

If you need a little motivation, check out 100 blog income reports to inspire your blogging journey. And if you're starting from scratch, here's how to write your first blog post.

50 Travel Content & Blog Post Ideas

Here's a list of 50 topics and ideas you can use for your next travel blog posts. I've also included links to great examples of each type of post for reference.

Trips & Transportation Ideas

1. Day trips

A lot of travelers like to find day trips from a particular city or hub they'll be visiting.

For example, here in Arizona, a lot of people look up "day trips from Phoenix" and searches like that.

This is a great travel blog post idea because the number of hubs you can research is almost unending.

Some popular types of angles and examples:

day trips from Phoenix (any big city)
day trips around Paris
day trips by train from London

Example: 15 Best Day Trips from Portland Oregon

2. Road trips

My wife, kids and I love road trips, and we've tackled routes all over the southwest, midwest and northeast.

So this is a blog post idea I love and have personally searched for (and written about) over the years.

This is also a great blog post category because of the number of variations you can include in your itineraries.

A road trip with kids in the southwest, for example, looks a lot different than an romantic outdoorsy road trip in the Pacific Northwest.

You can also throw in all sorts of helpful content, including where to stay, what to eat and the best times to plan your road trip.

Example: A Perfect 10-Day Southwest Road Trip Itinerary

3. Weekend trips

Living in Phoenix, we're also big on weekend trips – anywhere to get out of the heat during the summer.

Weekend trip posts are great because you can string together a few places together, or focus on one city or destination.

Example: The best weekend getaways from NYC

4. Scenic drives

Like road trips, scenic drives are a great topic because of the endless variation and customization you can add to your content.

Just about every region or state gets searches related to scenic drives, so this is an easy one to cover wherever you live or travel.

Example: Famous Roads for Great Drives in California

5. Train rides

Train rides have a romantic throwback vibe that make them a timeless classic in the world of travel blogging.

You can review a specific route, or curate a list of the best train rides in a region.

Example: 7 of the Best Train Trips in Canada and What You'll See Along the Way

6. Dog-friendly trips

Traveling with four-legged friends isn't always easy, so many travelers find it helpful to look up things to do and places to stay with their dogs.

For more ideas on traveling with pets, check out BringFrido, a directory for travelers with dogs.

Example: 19 Texas Attractions You Won't Believe Are Dog-Friendly

7. Public transportation options

In big cities or foreign countries, travelers like to know which public transportation options are best.

You can also write about places where it's best to get a rental car, or where you'll want to rely heavily on subways, taxis or walking.

This can be part of a larger "what to do" article, but if you find a place that has enough options and content, it can work as a standalone article.

Example: Tips for Getting Around in Rome

Things to Do (or Not!)

8. Things to do with kids

Traveling with kids – especially babies and toddlers – brings a whole new level of research and prep work to the table, even for quick weekend trips.

The first few trips my wife and I took with our baby twins were a real wake-up call compared to the casual, jam-packed trips we normally took as a couple.

Fortunately for blogger, this means lots of content opportunities for travelers with kids.

In addition to things to do, you can also look at where to eat with kids or which places are kid-appropriate.

Example: 100 Things To Do in NYC with Kids Before They Grow Up

9. Things to do at night

Most travel destinations have laundry lists of things to do, but things to do at night is a different story.

These might by more nightlife-based attractions, but it also may include tours and places to see that are best at nighttime.

This particular article is great for big cities with a lot going on – think New York City, Barcelona, Los Angeles.

Example: Things to Do at Night in Barcelona

10. Things to do alone

Solo travelers need ideas too, and this is a great way to niche down into a unique "things to do article."

These articles can include places to visit, where to eat and where to stay if you're traveling solo.

Example: NYC Solo Travel: 22 Things To Do Alone In NYC

11. Things to do in specific seasons

Travel attractions vary by place and season – what you do in NYC during the summer is a lot different than what you do there in the winter.

By covering one specific season, you're able to make a useful, unique list of things to do that's more helpful than a generic checklist that might not apply throughout the whole year.

Example: Beat the winter blues by visiting these Chicago attractions

12. Romantic things to do

There are a few variations here, but the idea with these articles is to write about things to do for couples.

Of course, there are more romantic places than others, but you'd be surprised to learn how many people are looking up stuff like "romantic things to do in Prescott," which means you can write these types of posts for just about anywhere.

Example: Featured Itinerary: 48 Hours of Romance in Sedona

13. Non-touristy things to do

Here's where this type of post gets really interesting: the tourist looking to do non-touristy things.

They're tired of the same old attractions and want something off the beaten path. So give it to them!

If you're relying just on research, this article can be difficult to write, but if you have firsthand knowledge of a place where you've explored non-touristy attractions, it's a great way to differentiate your content.

It's also a great topic to keep in mind for future travels – when you hit a new city, see if you can find under-the-radar attractions and places that would work well for this type of travel post.

Example: 10 Amazing Non-Touristy Things To Do In Dublin

14. Free things to do

Typically, this type of content is part of a larger, broad things to do article, but if you can find enough free things to do in the area of your choice, there's no reason it can't be its own blog post.

You can also get creative with these types of posts because you include anything that's free. So don't fail to mention visiting a good park or taking a walking route through a city, such as the Freedom Trail in Boston.

Example: 15 Fantastic Free Things to Do in Houston

15. What not to do

Like #13, this is about avoiding the tourist traps that plague larger places, and instead focusing on the things and attractions that are actually worthwhile.

That said, sometimes big touristy draws are still worth it, other times they aren't. If you're passing through the four corners in the southwest, for example, you may or may not want to stop at the Four Corners Monument – some travelers dig it, others see it as an kitschy tourist attraction.

These lists can also be about etiquette, safety and travel habits – what you shouldn't do in other cities in order to stay safe and have a good time.

Example: 25 Things Tourists Should Never Do in Japan

16. What not to eat

Eating local cuisine is an exciting part of travel, but there are sometimes where it helps to know what foods to avoid, especially if you have a sensitive stomach.

For a more in-depth article, you can make a list of what not to eat along with what you definitely should try, like the example below.

Example: What to Eat — or Not — in Peru

Entertainment

17. Festivals

Plenty of towns, cities and countries throw festivals throughout the year, no matter what season you travel.

This can be a great blogging opportunity, and the key is to curate the best festivals by niche or season.

You can also offer firsthand experiences of any festivals you've attended in your travels.

Example: 30 Music Festivals in Australia To Experience Before You Die

18. Museums

When we travel to big cities, one of the first things we do is find the local children's museum – it's a great way to see something new and let the kids unwind after long travel days.

Helping people find the right – or best – museums also makes for a great travel blog post.

Like most travel topics, the key here is to niche down to a specific angle: the best free museums, museums for kids, etc.

The problem most travelers interested in museums have is deciding which museums to visit in their limited time, so these posts can highlight the ones worth doing, and which ones you can skip.

Example: 15 Can't-Miss Free Museums on DC's National Mall

19. Specialty tours

Covering something like the best tours in a city might be too broad and competitive to get traffic for, but you can focus on a certain type of tour to get more specific and unique.

Walking tours, ghost tours and culinary tours are some great examples of specialty tours often available in large cities.

If you're having trouble finding a specific angle for this post, you can also create your own "category" of tours.

For example, whenever we visit Salem, we ride the Salem Trolley for an easy way to get around along with interesting history lessons.

In this case, we could write an individual review of the trolley tour, or we could write a larger piece about the best historical tours in Massachusetts and include the Salem Trolley.

Example: The 7 Best New Orleans Ghost Tours of 2019

20. Hiking, camping and backpacking

This type of blog post is my jam, and it's a lot of stuff we do over on my blog, Territory Supply.

Depending on the location you go after, these can be pretty low competition topics, and if you stick to smaller towns and cities they're even more doable for the average travel blogger.

One way to make this topic more focused is to choose an angle on the hiking, camping or backpacking: easy day hikes in a city, or the best car camping for kids in a specific state, etc.

Example: 24 Mind-Blowing Northern California Hikes

21. Swimming holes

Everyone likes swimming holes, and this is a cool under-the-radar blog post you can write up for places that are popular during summer months.

If you go to a site like ahrefs or SEMrush and type in "best swimming holes in" then you'll see how many places this particular type of travel post applies to.

Example:8 Amazing Northwest Swimming Holes Near Portland

22. White water rafting or other outdoor tours

Some places, particularly in the American West, are known for white water rafting, or fly fishing, or other outdoor attractions and activities.

This is a great place to round up some of the best options or review a single tour company if you've gone through their tours.

Example:Top 7 Places to Go Whitewater Rafting in Colorado

23. Water parks

Water parks are a great topic for family-focused travelers and bloggers.

There are all types of variations here, from water parks for small kids to water parks with certain features, like splash pads or lazy rivers.

Example:10 Water Parks Even Adults Will Go Crazy For

24. Best markets

Most big cities – and even a lot of small ones – have a handful of good farmer's markets, or flea markets, or other types of small events that are worth knowing about if you're visiting.

That said, they can be hit or miss depending on the location and season, so this type of post can be helpful as you tell readers which markets are worth visiting and which can be skipped.

Example:The 9 Best Farmers Markets on the East Coast

25. Bookstores

This might be my favorite option on this list: it's focused, interesting and not something every travel blogger thinks about.

But the truth is, a lot of travelers (myself included) love to find the small local bookstores wherever we travel.

Even if we're visiting somewhere for just a few hours, I always look up what bookstores might be in the area, and if we happen to swing by, WELL SO BE IT.

Example:50 Of The Best Indie Bookstores In America

26. State & National Parks

Most of the big travel websites cover state and National Parks pretty well, but because they're such popular destinations, it's still worth blogging about them.

Like most topics here, the key to getting traffic in lower competition areas is focusing on a specific aspect of the parks instead of a general guide to visiting.

That might mean curating the parks in a unique way (which are best to visit during winter?), or focusing on one thing like camping or hiking in different parks.

Example: US National Parks Ranked Best To Worst

27. Churches and cathedrals

There's no shortage of historic churches and cathedrals around the world, and like museums, some are worth visiting more than others.

Most of the church-related travel posts you'll come across discuss the best churches in cities or countries, but you can get creative with how you review and organize them based on age, religion, events and so on.

Example:The 10 Churches In Rome You Have To Visit

28. Abandoned places

This is a great off-the-beaten path topic that might require a little more research, but can be well worth the effort.

In places like Arizona, for example, there are a ton of old abandoned buildings and ghost towns worth exploring, and even within larger cities like Phoenix, there are abandoned places that have an eerie appeal.

One thing to watch for here is making sure the places you visit or cover are legally accessible.

Example:8 forbidden and forgotten spots around Arizona

29. Historic towns or buildings

Historic towns or buildings may be abandoned, but they also might be towns like Jerome, Arizona, where you can see buildings from the 1800s still intact while exploring the parts of the town still alive and kicking.

You can also highlight some of the more historic buildings in big cities like New York City or Boston, where there's a ton of old buildings but maybe a handful that are considered must-see.

Example:10 Historic Nevada Towns That Will Transport You To The Past

Restaurants and Nightlife

30. Kid friendly restaurants

This is a topic we research everywhere we travel – we're not necessarily looking for Chuck E. Cheese in every city, but we do like to find casual, fun places that have good kid vibes while we eat.

Writing about kid-friendly restaurants is specific, but you can go even more in-depth by breaking down options by type of food or type of environment: the best options for casual dining, the best pizza, etc.

Example:15 Spots for Kid-Friendly Dining in San Diego

31. Best dessert restaurants

This is a nice specific type of restaurant to blog about, and you can organize your options into types of dessert, or visit a handful of dessert restaurants for individual reviews.

Example:The 25 Best Desserts in New Orleans to Eat Before You Die

32. Vegan or vegetarian restaurants

Here, the idea is to blog about diet-specific restaurants – not necessarily vegetarian or vegan, but any list of restaurants that offer good options for specialized diets.

Example:Tempe Vegan Restaurant Guide: Best Places to Find Vegan Food in Tempe

33. Restaurants near specific attractions

Travel blog posts about where to eat in cities are a dime a dozen, and it's a competitive space in Google.

To make yourself stand out, consider writing about restaurants near specific attractions or landmarks, like Central Park, Times Square or other touristy places.

Often, people want to weave in dining options with the route or itinerary they're already on, so they'll look up where to eat near these places.

If your blog post can do a good job of rounding up the options, it's a perfect way to get a slice of super specific traffic.

Example:The Best Restaurants Near Central Park, by Location

34. Best clubs

Clubs have never been my seen, but I've done the keyword research and here we are.

There are plenty of types of clubs to write about, especially in big cities, so as usual, try to get as specific as possible with your angle and topic so you're not competing in Google with big travel sites that have the broad stuff covered.

Example:12 Best Clubs in San Francisco to Dance All Night Long

35. Where to find live music

My aunt and uncle took my brothers and I traveling a lot when we were younger, and one of the things we always looked for was live music in the cities we stayed in.

This type of blog post might take some solid research, but if you can find venues or events going on and keep that content updated, this is a nice unique travel blog post idea to run with.

Example: 13 Great Live Music Venues in Music City

36. Food trucks

Food trucks are a great way to experience a city's local cuisine, but not all of them offer the same level of quality.

With this type of post, you can run through the top food trucks in an area and organize by type of food or where they roam throughout the city.

Example:16 Food Trucks You Have To Try in Austin Texas

37. Dispensaries

This one may not be for every one, but the keyword and topic research suggests visitors to states where marijuana's legal do look up which dispensaries to visit while they're in town.

On a related note, you can also blog about marijuana tourism in general: where to go and where to eat if this is your jam during vacation.

Example:How To Save Money When You Visit Denver's Recreational Weed Dispensaries

Where to Stay

38. Ski resorts

One of our staple road trips is out to Colorado, where we like to visit Telluride, Purgatory and a few other places along the Million Dollar Highway.

We're not big into skiing (yet), but we are big into staying at ski resorts for the cozy digs, beautiful scenery and change of pace from Phoenix.

If you're going to blog about ski resorts, try to find a specific city or region, or discuss the most affordable ski resorts, or which ones are best for families or couples.

This traffic may be seasonal, but seasonal topics can be good because some bloggers may skip them in favor of more year-round topics. Their loss can be your gain.

Example:The 4 Best Salt Lake City Ski Resorts for a Weekend Getaway

39. Best neighborhoods

Whenever we pass through a city, we like to know the best neighborhoods to stay since we're traveling with kids.

In our case, we're generally looking for safer neighborhoods that might have parks or things to do for kids.

But you can also cover the best neighborhoods to stay for other purposes, like where to be close to nightlife or which neighborhoods offer the best public transportation options.

Example:5 Neighborhoods To Stay In Barcelona

40. Best cities in specific countries

This is a broad, high-level topic that can be helpful when travelers are planning international trips and still doing the preliminary research.

For example, if you're visiting somewhere like Italy, you'll want to narrow down the cities you visit so that you get a full, rich experience without running ragged between cities.

If you can write blog posts that detail the best cities to visit for different purposes and why, this can be a great travel post for your readers.

Example:13 Of The Best Cities in Germany You Have To Visit

41. Boutique hotels

Covering boutique hotels is a great way to write "where to stay" content without always competing with big travel sites on Google.

You can create lists of boutique hotels by city, do individual reviews, or point to boutique options near specific attractions.

Example:The 10 Coolest Boutique Hotels in San Francisco

42. Prettiest towns

Every year, we spend a few weeks on the east coast to get a break from Phoenix.

This trip usually falls in late summer, but if we're lucky we can go during the fall, our favorite time to be back there.

When that does happen, we do all sorts of research on the towns and places to see in places like Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

This is a great type of post because it stands out from the commonplace "where to visit" article.

There are other adjectives you can use here too, but the point is to find some of the towns and cities that travelers (and locals) recommend visiting simply because of the scenery and charming appeal.

Example:15 Most Charming Small Towns in Vermont

43. Cheap places to stay

Many travelers look for good deals before they book anything, and this is a good way to blog about affordable hotels, Airbnbs and the like.

The most useful part of these types of posts is when you can find value: not just cheap hotels, but hotels that are affordable and still nice and comfortable.

Example:13 Best Budget Hotels in San Diego

44. Places with specific features or amenities

A lot of times, booking a hotel or vacation rental gives you a rundown of specific amenities, like an ocean view or access to an indoor pool.

Believe it or not, a lot of people look up these specific amenities in Google during their research, so this is a good way to meet those readers with useful content before they hit the hotel and rental sites.

If you need ideas here, go to a site like Airbnb and look at the amenities in their search filters, stuff like pools, spas, indoor fireplaces and so on.

Example: 5 Charming Paris Airbnbs with Eiffel Tower Views

Planning & Preparation

45. Planning for trips on a budget

Budget travel is a massive niche within travel that's worth writing about if you can find good angles and topics.

You can focus on specific cities or countries, or discuss how to plan for a type of trip like a cruise, road trip or trip to another country.

This type of post can overlap with personal finance in general, so some of the topics may be competitive, but with the right keyword research you can find some hidden gems.

Example:How to Visit Dublin on a Budget

46. Packing lists

People love packing lists for the same reason they love lists in general: they're easy to read.

They take more time to put together, of course, but if you can find a unique angle or destination to pack for, you have a good chance of making a unique travel post that provides real value.

For example, a packing list for traveling with a newborn looks a lot different than a packing list for a quick couples trip to Vegas.

Example:Packing Checklist for Flying With an Infant

47. Affordable honeymoon destinations

Honeymoons are a nice subtopic within travel, and although it's competitive you can use qualifiers like "affordable" to make the content more specific and less competitive in Google.

Engaged couples also look up super specific phrases like "affordable honeymoon packages in Florida," so if you focus on one region or area, you may have more success getting long-tail traffic to your post.

Example:The 6 Most Affordable Honeymoons in Europe

48. Comparing cities

In the marketing world I come from, people are always comparing stuff – services, software, companies and the like.

Travelers do the same thing with cities, countries and itineraries.

What's better to visit, Seattle or Portland?

Is the Mexico cruise best, or should we take an Alaskan cruise up the coast?

There are a lot of variations here, so the key is to find the comparisons that people are searching the most.

One way to do this is to type a destination into Google followed by "vs."

This will give you some ideas that other people are actually searching online.

One thing to watch here – depending on the city, you'll likely get some sports related suggestions in there, but adding "travel" keywords can help filter out some of that.

Example:Living large in Switzerland: Zurich or Geneva?

49. Best time to visit places

Most cities and countries have peak tourist seasons, shoulder seasons and off-seasons.

It isn't always clear what's what, so this is a great type of post to write to help visitors find the best time to travel.

To get even more specific, find a place like Disneyland or Havasupai where you're discussing a very focused destination rather than a big, broad city or country.

Example:Best & Worst Months to Visit Disneyland

50. What to wear for specific trips

This is similar to packing list blog posts, but here you can focus on a specific type of trip and even a specific season.

What should you wear hiking or backpacking in Arizona in the spring?

What should you take for a European river cruise in the summer?

With this type of content, the more specific the trip, the more unique and useful your "what to wear" suggestions can be.

For example, I've been hiking and backpacking in the Grand Canyon when there was snow and ice on the ground, so I can tell you from experience that it's good to wear traction cleats for the early stages of the trails when the ice is slick and hard to judge.

What insight can you add to unique trips that could make for a good "what to wear" article?

Example:17 Top Italy Packing List Items

What will you write about?

Now that you have at least 50 ideas on what to write about for your travel blog, what'll you tackle first?

If you're still struggling for inspiration, look at some of the blogs I've linked to – check out their top reads and spend time in their archives to get even more ideas.

Remember that most travel blog posts are templated similarly and can apply to many places, so once you find the "formulas" that work, you can scale those however you'd like.

And if you have any epic ideas that I missed, holler at me with your own ideas and inspiration!