Summer is finally here! It’s my favourite time of the year — it’s hot and sunny, the days are longer, and there’s a playful atmosphere in the air.

Most importantly, summer is the time to travel. Almost everyone in Spain travels at this time of the year, whether it’s a whole month on the beach, two weeks camping around Europe, or Weekend trips to explore and make use of the beautiful weather.

We, too, are traveling a lot this summer and making use of every weekend to head to the beach or go on short city breaks. In fact, we’ve just returned from a weekend in Malaga, a vibrant beachfront city in southern Spain just a short drive from where we live, and next weekend we’ll be heading to Madrid for World Pride Day!

Planning Weekend Trips with TripVerse

To plan these weekend trips, I enlisted the help of my favourite travel app, Tripverse.

If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably heard me rave about TripVerse several times. I’m their unofficial ambassador and the biggest fan. I really do think TripVerse is an incredibly useful app that can get value to your life if you travel as much as I do.

Here’s some background info for those who aren’t familiar with them: TripVerse is a travel planning app lets you plan an itinerary and navigate your way around a destination, without an internet connection.

It’s part travel planner, part booking agent, and part journal. I love using TripVerse to get ideas from other travellers based on their itineraries and then create an itinerary of my own. Once I have my itinerary, I can also share it with my husband or friends who are on the trip with me, so they can add in activities that they want to do as well.

Then at the destination , I’ll use the TripVerse app to locate the various places of interest or activities I want to do — while offline. TripVerse app’s offline accessibility can save a lot of hassle, time and some money while traveling.

READ MORE: 10 BEST TRAVEL APPS

TripVerse’s New Booking Feature

Recently, TripVerse introduced a new booking feature that’s definitely their coolest function to date. You can now book your flights, attraction tickets and tours on TripVerse, choosing from a database of walking tours, food tours and many other unique experiences. It’s currently only available on the web platform TripVerse.co, but it should be available on its app shortly.

Over the weekend, I tested it out on my short trip to Malaga and the booking feature worked brilliantly. It literally took me two minutes to book a tour on TripVerse, and another minute to get the confirmation. I love how easy it was to put a trip together at the last minute on TripVerse and have everything planned and booked in just minutes.

My husband and I decided to go to Malaga for the weekend on Wednesday; that evening, I  looked up TripVerse and booked a few interesting tours and museums to visit; and by Friday, we were off to Malaga! It was as easy as that.

Booking a Weekend Trip with TripVerse

I personally found the booking system to be very easy to use and straightforward. It didn’t take long to fill up the form required (only a few blanks asking for basic info like name and date) and the payment process was fast and pain-free. I liked that I could choose from a few payment methods, including my favourite Paypal.

Once I booked the activities, I received the vouchers (in PDF) in my inbox almost immediately. The vouchers, as well as the meeting place and date/time, also appeared in my trip details on the TripVerse app. All these info can be accessed offline on your app as well, which makes it easy for those traveling without internet on the go.

The weekend trip turned out to be plenty of fun! We did an awesome sightseeing treasure hunt (I had no idea such things existed!) that brought us all over Malaga, solving puzzles and learning about the city. It made me learn to look beneath the surface, and observe things that I had never noticed before. We also booked tickets on TripVerse to a few museums, such as Centre Pompidou and Picasso Museum, which were more than enough to keep us busy that weekend.

It wasn’t my first time in Malaga, but I found myself really getting to know this city this time round and seeing a whole new side to it. I’m definitely coming back to Malaga in future and I plan to try out the other tours available in Malaga, such as the wine and tapas tour and cooking class.

How to Use the Booking Feature:

Step 1: Create a Trip

Sign up for an account on TripVerse. It’s as easy as clicking on the ‘Sign Up’ button on the top right corner and connecting your Facebook account.

To start planning your trip, all you need to do is click ‘create a trip’ on the top bar of the main page.

Enter the location (city) and write a short description of your trip. You can also upload a photo or choose one that is automatically pulled from an online gallery.

Step 2: Start Booking!

Once the trip is set up, you’ll be able to book flights and add activities. On the header of your trip profile, you’ll see an aeroplane button with a price ($) beside it. To look at more airfares, simply click on the button and you’ll be directed to a list of airfares from your home city to the destination.

Create your itinerary by clicking on the green ‘Add Activity’ button to see a list of recommended sights, restaurants, bars and shops. This is where you can get inspiration on what’s best to see and experience. Choose whichever sight you want to see, click ‘Create’ and it will be added to your itinerary. You’ll be able to see the address of the sight, phone number, photo and even local tip.

To book an activity, select the ‘Tours’ tab when you add an activity . You’ll see a list of day tours or experiences available at the destination. For instance, in Malaga, you can choose from tapas tours, treasure hunts, cooking classes and even a free walking tour. Under the ‘Arts’ tab, you’ll be able to book museum tickets and skip-the-line express entrances.

Get the Newly Designed TripVerse on iOS

Besides rolling out the new booking feature, TripVerse also has a new design for their iOS app. It looks very clean and slick now, making it really user-friendly especially for those who are new to it.

The user timeline now offers a streamlined view of all of your past, present and future trips. This way, you’ll be able to relive your travel memories at one glance. On the top of your timeline, you’ll also see your unscheduled trips (trips that you’ve created without dates), as these are the trips that still need more planning.

In the new design, the app also lets you see preview images for each activity in your trip details. You can easily see all your activities on the map view, which has been completely redesigned to let user horizontally swipe through the cards to see where each activity is on the map. User can always dismiss the cards by tapping on the map or jump to a card by tapping on a map pin.

I also like the new ‘Profile’ tab in the TripVerse app, which lets you store important info like passport number and frequent flyer number in one place and easily access them offline.

Join Me on TripVerse

All in all, TripVerse makes a useful tool for smart, modern travelers who like to plan their trip efficiently. You don’t need to be tech geek to use this app and it works wonders when you are on the road. If you are the type of traveler who wants constant access to your travel plans while on the go, then this definitely makes a great travel companion.

Download the TripVerse app here!

Disclaimer: This post was produced as a collaboration with TripVerse. As always, I only endorse brands and products that I have fully tested and support. All opinions remains my own.

The post How to Plan Your Weekend Trips with TripVerse appeared first on Wild Junket Adventure Travel Blog.