Scroll DOWN a bit for Invesp.com’s BlogRank clickable listing of 150 blogs they have ranked, but note they DO NOT RANK most travel blogs.    That’s a project I’m working on now and it’s going to be very helpful to those of us in the sector since there are now tens of thousands of travel blogs, most with almost no traffic at all but many good ones with more than you’d think.

BlogRank’s Top General Travel blogs unique monthly visitors shows how dominant Gadling is in the Travel Blog Sector, though the great folks at BootsnAll up in Eugene Oregon appear to be doing very well also.   I’m skeptical of these visitor numbers and will try to follow up on where they come from.

Compete in the past, based on just a bit of research by me, seemed notorious for underestimating traffic unless you used their (paid) system and installed their counter.    For sites I controlled the underestimation tended to be very dramatic compared to our actual traffic logs and Google Analytics reporting.   I hope they’ve fixed that and a study might be in order, as I’m happy with Google Analytics reporting which seems to match our logs better (again, I’m saying this without enough research to back it up robustly).

1.  Gadling 733,497

2 BootsnAll Travel 178,575
3 MiceChat 89,419
4 The Travel Blog by TravelPod 81,972
5 Jaunted – The Pop Culture Travel Guide 72,462
6 TheJetpacker 69,924
7 Travellerspoint Travel Community 59,745
8 BoardingArea 59,286
9 elliott.org 37,701
10 Europe for Visitors 30,051

———————

Rank	Blog Name	RSS	Monthly Visitors
1	Gadling		733,497
2	BootsnAll Travel		178,575
3	MiceChat		89,419
4	The Travel Blog by TravelPod		81,972
5	Jaunted – The Pop Culture Travel Guide		72,462
6	TheJetpacker		69,924
7	Travellerspoint Travel Community		59,745
8	BoardingArea		59,286
9	elliott.org		37,701
10	Europe for Visitors		30,051
11	Vagabondish		27,879
12	PeterGreenberg.com		25,679
13	Suzannes Files – Luxury Travel Insights		23,176
14	Johnny Jets Weekly Newsletter		20,386
15	Nomadic Matts Travel Site		19,712
16	Go Visit Hawaii		19,266
17	Travel Guides		18,263
18	Kathika Travel Website		15,417
19	OffbeatTravel		14,930
20	The Cranky Flier		13,423
21	Global Grasshopper | Travel Tips and Inspiration		13,223
22	NewYorkology		12,385
23	Touropia		11,488
24	Everything Everywhere		11,185
25	Wanderlust and Lipstick		11,170
26	The Vacation Gals		11,094
27	EuropeUpClose.com		10,464
28	World Hum		10,286
29	My Several Worlds		10,143
30	Upgrade: Travel Better		9,537
31	DeliciousBaby.com		9,235
32	Traveling Mamas		8,937
33	Bonjour Paris		8,868
34	almostfearless.com		8,804
35	The Amateur Traveler Travel Podcast – best places to travel		8,803
36	Uncornered Market		8,798
37	Travels with Children		8,364
38	WanderingEducators		8,254
39	Go Green Travel Green		7,959
40	Holland America Blog		7,415
41	Off Track Planet – The Backpackers Ultimate Travel Guide		7,286
42	foXnoMad		7,023
43	Hole In The Donut		6,851
44	As We Travel		6,526
45	itravelnet.com Travel Blog		6,491
46	Canada Adventure Couple		6,174
47	Indie Travel Podcast		6,145
48	Travelvice		5,827
49	My Melange		5,672
50	Go, See, Write		5,158
51	Fun Things to Do		5,095
52	Solo Traveler		4,946
53	Chris Around The World		4,905
54	GoBackpacking		4,822
55	Online Travel Review		4,506
56	Tales from Technomadia		4,161
57	Gourmeted		4,077
58	Wandering Trader’s Travels		4,005
59	My Itchy Travel Feet		3,922
60	Tech Guide For Travel		3,871
61	Nomadic Notes Travel Blog		3,627
62	RickSeaney.com		3,481
63	Ottsworld		3,438
64	Champagne Living		3,355
65	Get In the Hot Spot		3,181
66	Traveling Canucks		2,996
67	Mommy Musings		2,966
68	Vagablond		2,811
69	soultravelers3		2,805
70	Travel Experta – All You Need to Know About Traveling in Central America!		2,786
71	TravelBlogs		2,755
72	Travel Happy		2,741
73	Alaska Travelgram		2,722
74	Neil Duckett		2,684
75	Johnny Vagabond – Around the World, Low and Slow		2,644
76	Blog about barcelona, berlin, madrid and paris		2,621
77	Travel Wonders of the World		2,608
78	Married with Luggage		2,557
79	Travels with a Nine Year Old		2,555
80	Travel Blog Sites		2,494
81	Family Friendly Hotel, Resort, Suite Reviews: Travel Savvy Mom » blog		2,415
82	Briefcase to Backpack		2,397
83	Europe Travels		2,358
84	SoloFriendly.com		2,345
85	Africafreak		2,341
86	Round the World Travel		2,272
87	The Ticket		2,235
88	The Professional Hobo		2,181
89	Heather on her travels		2,003
90	501 Places		1,979
91	HAPPYTIMEBLOG		1,900
92	Telluride Inside… and Out		1,898
93	Vagablogging		1,890
94	The Brooklyn Nomad		1,889
95	A Luxury Travel Blog		1,871
96	The Road Forks		1,864
97	SimpliFlying		1,858
98	What a Trip		1,761
99	Andy’s Blog – Gone Further		1,697
100	Travel Blog Exchange		1,658
101	Asian Ramblings		1,634
102	PassportChop Travel Experience Blog		1,530
103	TravelBrook		1,497
104	The Longest Way Home		1,484
105	Inside the Travel Lab		1,467
106	Peregrine Online		1,432
107	tripso.com		1,348
108	Travelwires.com		1,333
109	Go Galavanting		1,330
110	Grumpy Traveller		1,309
111	Traveling with MJ		1,285
112	Gap Year Escape		1,266
113	The Gypsy’s Guide		1,250
114	Top vacation spots		1,244
115	Travel Feeder		1,244
116	Travelogged		1,240
117	Travellious.com		1,207
118	Fuzzygalore.com -Girlie Motorcycle Blog		1,195
119	iBackpack Canada		1,171
120	Unearthing Asia		1,106
121	Exposed Planet.com. The world exposed in words and vision, by Harry Kikstra		1,100
122	Wanderlust Journey		1,090
123	MaxaBlog.com		1,073
124	Family Travel Guide		1,051
125	Travels of Adam		1,046
126	VirtualWayfarer – A Place For Intellectual Musings		1,044
127	davidlansing.com		1,006
128	The Seattle Traveler		986
129	Travel Writers Exchange		985
130	Travel Rants Blog		958
131	MuseumChick		947
132	FOGG odyssey		919
133	The Aussie Nomad		870
134	Family Adventure Guidebooks		771
135	Lanzarote Information – Everything and anything about Lanzarote		750
136	Chengdu Living		747
137	hipcompass.com		740
138	MarksTravelNotes.com		738
139	Wandalust		684
140	Double the Adventure		654
141	iKangaroo,		644
142	divehappy.com		578
143	Kyspeaks		576
144	Backpacker Ben Travel Blog		573
145	Tyson Williams		572
146	Vietnam Travel		543
147	thelasvegasadventurer.com		534
148	Lifecruiser		534
149	Ll World Tour		509
150	Travel Junkie Julia		500

As I wrap up our hotel bookings for the Europe adventure I’m very pleased with the many reviews I’m finding at TripAdvisor.com and the booking services at Venere.com, though I think Venere is best for the major cities where TripAdvisor is very helpful even for smaller city destinations like Vernazza in the Cinque Terre.

For Paris, Rome, and Venice I was very pleased with Venere’s ability to sort through thousands of listings and give me high rated properties at lower cost.    Most importantly I was able to reserve them with my credit card with very reasonable  cancellation policies – in one case better than that at the hotel website.     Plans can change in Europe and I’m concerned about the fact that some areas – like the Cinque Terre – are not at all cancellation friendly.     Although my understanding is that you can usually find a nice place in the Cinque Terre without a reservation I’m not risking that with a family in tow and the area surging in popularity pretty much every time a Rick Steves show, book, or magazine extolls the beauty and charm of the area.

Although it’s time consuming, a good approach for smaller destinations is to review the TripAdvisor listings for your destination and then use Google search to find the specific hotel website.   From there I’m finding friendly hotel folks who seem genuinely apologetic when they can’t find me the right room.

Thanks again to Eurail Pass, for helping to sponsor our European Rail Adventure

The Whl Travel Network bills itself as one of the largest collections of locally run travel websites, where your information and transactions are handled at the local level rather than by massive consolidators like Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz, etc.

I’m not clear how much of the network is truly the voice of locals but this is a great idea and a good source for potentially “less biased” information than you will tend to find on the large sites or even local destination promotion websites.

One of the great challenges of planning trips online is that there is a huge incentive for many sites to showcase their areas very favorably. This is likely true at Whl.Travel as well, but at least you are less likely to be led only to the hotels and attractions that have the best ROI ratios for marketing agencies.

A great travel blog to check out is by a Canadian Couple who travel for a few months each year… and write about it.

India is the latest adventure…

Check them out here

Check out India9.com, our companion travel webite.