Planning a summer trip used to mean poring over guidebooks, bookmarking a dozen travel blogs, and crossing your fingers that the AirBnB with five stars wasn’t just good lighting and a wide-angle lens. Now, with virtual reality (VR) in your toolkit, you can step inside your vacation before you ever book a ticket. Yes, VR is more than a gamer’s playground. It’s your new travel assistant.
Here’s how to use it to design your best summer yet.
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Virtually walk through destinations before choosing one
You’re torn between Cinque Terre and Santorini. Both are postcard-perfect, and both have been sitting in your saved Instagram folder for months. Enter VR headsets like the Meta Quest 3S.
Pop on your headset, open apps like Wander, Alcove, or National Geographic Explore VR, and immerse yourself in each location. Roam the cobbled alleys of Vernazza. Gaze across the caldera in Oia as the sun sets. Listen to ambient street noise, peek at crowds, and see if the vibe matches your expectations. This isn’t just dreaming, this is research you can feel.
Preview hotels and rentals as if you’re already there
Hotel websites can be deceiving. That “ocean view” might be a glimpse between two buildings. Many hotels now offer full 360-degree VR tours through platforms like Expedia, Marriott’s virtual tours, or YouVisit, showing you exactly what you’re getting.
With certain platforms or apps, you can explore every inch of your room. Walk from the bed to the balcony. Check the bathroom lighting. Stand at the window and see if you’re looking at waves or a parking lot. You’re not imagining your stay, you’re test-driving it.
Test out experiences before booking
Should you book that zip-lining adventure over the rainforest? Is scuba diving worth it? VR lets you preview popular activities in immersive detail. Travel content creators and tour operators are uploading full VR experiences that give you a first-person taste of excursions. From ramen street tours in Tokyo and snorkeling in the Maldives to camel rides in Morocco, you can make sure that every activity is up to your standards. This helps you prioritize what’s truly exciting to you and dodge the overhyped tourist traps that might look better in brochures than real life.
Plan your itinerary spatially
Traditional itinerary planning is a mess of tabs and pins. VR changes that. Apps like Google Earth VR allow you to fly over your destination, zoom in on neighborhoods, and figure out distances on a real-world scale. This means no more misjudging travel time between landmarks. You can plan each day by virtually “walking” your route, seeing what’s nearby, and uncovering hidden gems you might miss otherwise, like that little gelato spot tucked behind the cathedral. This is an itinerary planning for people who think in 3D.
Use VR to involve the whole family
Getting buy-in from everyone on a family trip can typically feel like herding cats. But VR makes it collaborative and fun. Let your kids explore the waterpark you’re thinking of. Have your partner compare ski resorts by virtually standing on the slopes. Everyone gets a voice, and everyone gets excited.
Better yet, use multiplayer VR spaces to explore destinations together. Apps like Wander or Engage let families and friends explore digital versions of real places together as avatars, chatting and pointing things out in real time, chatting and pointing things out as if you’re all there.
Reduce travel anxiety before you go
For travelers who feel anxious about new places, whether it’s an airport layout or unfamiliar public transit, VR can be a calming tool. Explore a virtual JFK or Heathrow. Get a feel for navigating a Tokyo metro station or the layout of a foreign hotel. You remove the unknowns before you leave your home. For neurodivergent travelers, first-timers abroad, or those with mobility issues, this can be a game-changer and settle a lot of nervousness from traveling.
Try on outfits without packing yet
Some fashion retailers like ASOS and Nike now offer VR or AR try-on experiences through mobile apps or smart mirrors. So if you’re wondering how that linen jumpsuit or those hiking sandals will look against a Mediterranean background, step into a virtual fitting room. It’s not a full solution (yet), but it makes shopping for vacation feel a lot more like part of the adventure. And it might even prevent that one suitcase-overload moment we all pretend won’t happen again this year.
Conclusion
VR isn’t just changing how we play—it’s changing how we plan. From exploring destinations in real time to easing travel anxiety and helping families make joint decisions, virtual reality is becoming a practical tool for smarter, more confident travel planning. Whether you’re previewing a hotel, testing activities, or mapping out your days, VR lets you experience your trip before you even leave home. This summer, don’t just book it—try it first
