Perfect Travel Photo Book Ideas - The Ultimate Guide

All of us love to mark every trip, vacation, or journey with a set of beautiful photos, giving us a chance to share our memories. The right images, curated perfectly, capture those life-changing moments when we travel. But there’s a difference between an album of random pictures and the perfect travel photo book ideas come to life. 

But why design a photo book when random images stored on your cell phone will suffice? 

Well, no matter how different we all may be, everyone across the globe shares the desire to travel. Heck, it’s why travel posters are so popular! We all love to explore, see new places, eat amazing foods, and experience different cultures. From Paris to Rome to New York City, travel unites us and has done so for centuries. 

With the perfect travel photo book, we can go beyond simply sharing our travel experiences. We can use the story told through pictures to learn, grow, and come closer together. Are you looking for the perfect travel photo book ideas? Do you want to capture every lesson, memory, and life-changing experience? Read on for our ultimate guide.  

What Is a Travel Photo Book?

The perfect travel photo book keeps your trip alive long after you unpack your suitcase. But, when it comes down to it, what is a travel photo book, and why would you want to make one anyway? After all, how can a photograph compare to seeing the pyramids in Egypt or drinking a bottle of wine at the Trevi Fountain in Rome? Pictures are nice, but they don't compare to the real thing, do they?

A great travel photo book is an opportunity to bring your trip to life and share your memories. When done right, it can add new perspectives and value you hadn't seen the first time. Plus, designing a travel photo book is a great way to relive your journey! Turn the process into a project. As you recall the memories, share them with family and friends. You can get closer to loved ones who went on the trip as you create your photo book.

Why Should I Make a Travel Photo Book?

Why, though — why design the perfect travel photo book after taking the ideal journey? Can a photo book really capture everything you felt on your trip? We say emphatically, yes! When done right, a travel photo book can enhance your trip or vacation in many ways. It can become the perfect coffee table memoir of your favorite places around the world. In fact, there are numerous reasons to create a travel photo book. 

Photo books are a great way to display pictures and tell your story. Here are a few more reasons why a travel photo book is the way to go:

With a Travel Photo Book You Can Say Goodbye to the Digital Screen

We live in a digital age. Everyone spends their working and off hours on their cell phones, tablets, and computers. But a travel photo book lets all of us, for just a brief moment, say “no” to our digital screens. Even in this day and age everyone loves a physical book. Why? We all long for something intimate, like a book. Travel photo books give us a minute to put down our phones and flip through our memories. They bring us closer to our loved ones.

A Travel Photo Book Is a Work of Art

You can’t put the digital photos from your phone on your coffee table. Photo books, on the other hand, make a great addition to any room. Add a photo book to your coffee table, bookshelf, or living room as an accent piece and watch as the compliments roll in from your friends and family.

Your Travel Photo Book Travels Well (and No Help Desk Is Needed!)

Sure, you can pull out your phone and laptop to share your photos from your last trip. But what if the wi-fi is down or your battery is dead. Travel photo books travel well. Moreover, they come with no battery and no need for 24 hour customer support. You can take a book to family occasions, friends' houses, or anywhere you wish to share your memories.

These are only a few reasons why travel photo books are the perfect way to memorialize your latest journey. But how do you go about making one? Read on for more tips and tricks.

How Do You Make a Good Travel Photo Book?

How do you make a good travel photo book? You use MixPlaces, of course!

Making your very own travel photo book with MixPlaces is an exciting journey of its own. Thanks to our photo book-building algorithm, which uses the data in your pictures to lay out the images for you, you can have a unique, beautiful travel photo book within minutes.

Our one-of-a-kind photo book options are customizable, too, letting you create something extraordinary. You’ll be able to capture old memories and create new ones, thanks to MixPlaces.

But how does it work? How have we blended technology, art, and of course, your memories, to allow you to design something truly unique?

How to Download the MixPlaces App

The process begins with our app — or our desktop version for those who prefer to do things in classic mode. We use the metadata in your images to create a truly spectacular travel photo book (but more on that soon). And while everything may seem like magic at first glance, it’s all powered by the latest technology. As someone famous once said, magic and science, when done correctly, are indistinguishable. 

Downloading the app is easy. Go to either the App Store or the Google Play Store (it’s available on both Android and iPhones), search for MixPlaces, and download. Once completed, the real fun begins!

Different Types of Travel Photo Books: Chronological vs. Place

While a great travel photo book is, in many ways, the antithesis of digital photography, it’s also built upon its foundation. Nowadays, everyone's photos are on phones, computers, SD cards, and hard drives, where they can disappear into a black hole, never to be seen again. But at MixPlaces, we can help you use the metadata in your photos to create a travel photo book that’s powerful — one that brings your pictures out into the light for everyone to enjoy. 

There are a couple of different ways to do this. With MixPlaces, you can build two different types of travel photo books:

• Chronological Photo Book - Transform your travel memories into a stunning story with a personalized chronological photo book from MixPlaces. Our easy-to-use builder organizes your travel moments into a sensational story, breaking down every milestone by day, date, week, month, or year.
• Place-Based Photo Book - Design a unique and personalized Places Book with MixPlaces to turn your travel memories into a captivating story that can be cherished for years to come. Our builder organizes your moments by location, breaking down every milestone by neighborhood, city, town, country, or place.

The best travel photo books aren't anything in particular (after all, creating something unique means creating something personal). But, like a journey, a travel photo book goes wherever you take it. Let’s take a deeper dive into MixPlaces photo books.

A Chronological Travel Photo Book Tells Your Story From Beginning to End

With a chronological book, you can share your adventures, from the planning stages to the final moments of your journey, and gain a deeper look at the story behind them.

Capture your wanderlust and create a travel book that includes all of your favorite travel moments, from the breathtaking views to the delicious meals and exciting activities. Whether it's a solo trip, romantic getaway, or family vacation, a chronological photo book will allow you to relive your experiences and share them with loved ones. Let MixPlaces help you turn your travel moments into a stunning album of enhanced memories that can be treasured for a lifetime.

Let our algorithm highlight your most memorable moments and lay out your images based on different dates. With a chronological travel photo book from MixPlaces, tell the story of your journey from beginning to end — and create that story in minutes with our app!

Place-Based Travel Photo Books Focus On the Places You Hold Deep in Your Heart

With a places book, you can relive your travel adventures and gain a deeper understanding of the places you've been, from the vibrant streets of Tokyo to the stunning landscapes of New Zealand.

Capture every detail of your journeys, including your favorite sights and experiences, and bring them to life in a beautifully designed Places Book. Whether you're an avid traveler or just looking to preserve your memories of a special trip, our builder makes it easy to create a custom photo book that tells your unique story.

From exploring new cities to discovering hidden gems, a Places Book from MixPlaces is the perfect way to showcase your love of travel and preserve your most cherished memories.

Whether you celebrated life-changing events in Paris or have special memories in and around your house, we’ll find the sites that mean the most to you and build a book focused on them.

How to Make a Good Travel Photo Book With MixPlaces

After choosing between a chronological or place-based photo book, it’s time to hop into the MixPlaces app and build your travel photo book. How do you make a good travel photo book? Below, we explain in detail the steps you need to take. We’ve also included the following quick reference guide that will help you build a beautiful book in a snap.

Follow these steps, and before you know it, your journey will jump off the page:

How to Make a Good Travel Photo Book With MixPlaces

Step	Action	Tips
One	Choose Chronological or Place-based Book	Do you want to highlight places you’ve been or special moments?
Two	Select a Hard or Soft cover book	Looking for something to display or a book you can tyake with you on the go?
Three	Pick Orientation & Size	Choose from landscape, portrait, or square and 11x11 or 8x8.
Four	Upload Photos	Choose which images you want to add to your travel photo book.
Five	Edit Photos (if necessary)	Some photos may need their date or location edited manually.
Six	Mark your favorite pics.	Which photos do you wish to highlight?
Seven	Choose a design style (Classic, Modern, Minimalist)	How you design your project will help your story come to life.
Eight	Choose a name, date, and image density for your project.	Here you will organize and save your project.
Nine	Identify chapters.	Photo books will have the option to create chapters.
Ten	Let MixPlaces build your book (in seconds!)	Our algorithm reads the metadata on your photos and uses it to create your book.
Eleven	Edit pages (as necessary)	Edit titles, fonts, colors, and more. Add or edit Street Maps, Star Maps, and Coordinates too!
Twelve	Review proof, order your book, enjoy the memories!	We ship worldwide!

Hard or Soft Cover? Yes Please!

Whether you choose a hard or soft cover book from MixPlaces, you’re getting the best we have to offer. Our binding, building, and production is all done locally, giving you a final product that lasts forever.

Orientation and Size Really Do Matter!

The next step to creating the perfect travel photo book with MixPlaces is a simple but crucial one. You need to choose both the size and orientation of your book. While it may seem small, every detail counts when building your book and telling your story. Do you want a portrait, landscape, or square? Regarding the size, are you thinking 11x11 or 8x8? Don’t worry. You can always go back and change it.

Now For the Fun Part: Upload Your Photos

It’s time to upload your photos and build your book. Once you choose your best shots, the MixPlaces app will ask you to pick a few favorites. You’ll also have a choice between a few different design styles, including the following:

• Classic
• Modern
• Minimalist

You’ll name your travel photo book and, depending on the type of book you’re creating, designate chapters too. After that, the real magic begins!

A Quick Edit

You may need to perform a quick edit on some of your photos. MixPlaces will review the data on your photos and ask you to fill in any missing information. `

Pick Your Favs (It’s Hard to Choose, We Know!)

Next, the app will ask you to choose a few of your favorite images from the ones you’ve uploaded. While picking a favorite photo is like choosing a favorite child sometimes — difficult, if not impossible — this tells the builder which photos to highlight when creating your book.

Choose a Design Style

Here you’ll have three options — Classic, Modern, and Minimalist. Whichever you choose will inform how the MixPlaces algorithm designs and builds your book. For example, if you choose minimalist design, the algorithm will choose colors, artworks, and layouts from within tht family and randomize them throughout your book.

Don’t Forget to Save!

You’ll be asked to choose a name, date, and even image density for your project. In this area is where you will save your project.

Chapter 1: In the Beginning…

Next the app will identify chapters for your travel photo book. For example, if your book can be broken down by place, the app may give you several options, asking if you want to create chapters based on country, region, or city. You are also given the option to skip, thereby not adding chapters to your photo book.

Using the Data in Your Photos, MixPlaces Builds a Layout in Minutes

How do we create these beautiful layouts for you? We design the picture-perfect book based on whether your photos are in landscape or portrait layout and how many there are. It's all determined by the number of pictures per page and the orientation of the photos. Everything is done by our algorithm — and done in minutes.

And then, we choose the artwork. Based on the dates and locations of your photos, we add custom street maps, coordinates art, custom star maps, and more. Each piece of information highlights your trip and brings out more detail. Where were you standing when you took that picture in Scotland? How were the stars aligned on that one unforgettable night in Brazil? What streets were near those monuments you saw in the United Kingdom — the ones where you kissed for the very first time? 

Customization: What Makes MixPlaces Travel Photo Book Unique?

Of course, no one wants a travel photo book that's entirely computer-generated, and MixPlaces understands that better than anyone. What makes MixPlaces travel photo book so unique is the fact that our powerful app lets you customize your book in myriad ways. Once your book is built, our Editor takes you through various steps, giving you so many options to add a personal touch. 

What really makes MixPlaces stand out from others on the market today is how we connect the metadata in your images with real artwork. What do we mean? Just take a look at what you can add to your travel photo book:

• Star Maps - see what the stars looked like on any given night of your trip.
• Street Maps - create beautiful, customizable street maps that highlight memorable locations to which you went.
• Coordinates Art - commemorate your favorite place with a coordinate image, marking the exact location of those very special moments.

And that’s not all. With MixPlaces, once our builder creates your book, our editor let’s you view different layouts for each page, change page layouts, change the order of pages, add or delete a page, and change specific photos on a page.

Mix and Match Photo Groups Too

You can even mix and match photo groups in the MixPlaces Editor, though, in this case, the app will ask the user if you want to rebuild (start over) or continue as is. If you upload new images to the book, the Builder will re-organize based on the latest data, making the book look different. Either way, users have a gorgeous travel photo book that brings out their memories in mere moments.

All of the above are just the basics, of course. Let’s look at what goes into making the perfect travel photo book.

What Should Be Included in a Photo Book?

Now that you know how to create the perfect travel book, what should you include? Most vacations are filled with unforgettable moments — from historical monuments to romantic evenings. But how do you decide what makes it in the book and what goes on the cutting room floor? What about your memories from small road trips or weekend getaways? Can you create a book out of those too?

When you design a travel photo book, many decisions go into the process. But the process should be fun too. And while you're at it, make it a collaborative process. Invite your travel partners to bring their photos and include them in your book (unless the book is a gift. Then, mums the word!).

Let's relive vacation memories the best way we know how with an adequately curated travel photo book. Here is our ultimate guide on what you should include.

The Top Moments You Remember From Your Trip

First things first — what were the top moments from your trip? These can be more than just vacation highlights, such as prominent monuments or sightseeing spots. After all, we've all seen the Eiffel Tower. What about the more intimate moments (don't worry, not too intimate)? Or maybe a special place where you felt changed.

Find memories that mean something to you and add those to your travel photo book. Save the sightseeing photos for T-Shirts and knick-knacks. Here, you want to capture unique, memorable, and life-changing moments.

Stories and Anecdotes That Made the Trip Special

Share your stories and anecdotes! Every trip has a funny story — remember that time you tripped on the Spanish Steps (don't worry, no one got hurt!). Use your text to add the stories everyone remembers, along with the inside jokes and touching moments that made the trip one you'll never forget.

Twenty years from now, when your kids ask why you were lying down on the Spanish Steps, you can smile and tell them the story! Vacations are about adding to your personal story, and travel photo books are a place to write the next chapter.

Pin Your Favorites Sites On A Map

Maps are a great way to highlight your journey in a travel photo book (and MixPlaces is perfect for this). Outline your trip with an image of your route Indiana Jones style! Adding a street map is a fun touch if you take unique pictures at a particular location.

Adding your favorite sites complete with maps or routes can make a travel photo book pop. Whether you went to the Eiffel Tower or caught a baseball game in every stadium in the United States, a map can help your book tell the story. Turn your travel photo book into something more by bringing the sites you saw to life!

Add Some Personality To Your Travel Photo Book

Your book's first page should feature pictures of your traveling companions with captions describing who they are and what they do. For example, if you took a road trip with the fam, you may note that Dad took the wheel while Mom was the navigator. This works well for extensive group trips with lots of people, especially when you start to add funny anecdotes next to everyone's name. For example, Missy: Trip Comedian; Dave: Vacation Tour Guide (Who Always Got Us Lost).

Show Everyone Pictures Of Your Food (Really!)

Food — sometimes, a great trip can be all about food. Where you ate, what you ate, and the conversations you had at every meal. Food can bring us together, and the perfect meal can change your life.

Add food to your travel photo book. There's a story behind every nosh, and your book will bring it out (and make you hungry while doing so). Put everything from fine French dining to hot dogs at the carnival. Show people the exotic meals you had while traveling to new places and prove to everyone you ate the world's biggest steak. Nothing makes for a better memory than the food you ate.

Collaborate With Family, Friends, and Travel Companions

The best travel photo books are like the best vacations — better with friends! Add to your book by inviting your travel partners to collaborate with you. Multiple points of view will help you tell a well-rounded story. Plus, your friends and family will have great pictures that you may not have seen. Add a special section for friends and family, or mix their photos throughout the book.

Either way, the story of your journey will be richer and all the better for it.

Simply ask your travel companions to upload their photos to MixPlaces. Upload them to the app and customize your album in any way you like! Have a travel photo book party and together, you can go through all of your vacation photos and decide which ones will look best in your book. You can even make a day of it.

Add Your Travel Schedule For More Flair

Some trips are spur of the moment, while others are scheduled tight. If yours was the latter, why not include a copy of your trip schedule in your book? Give yourself a lasting reminder of how much fun you had darting from one place to the next. Did you go from museum to monument to lunch? Or was there time for sightseeing on your own? Did you have a tour guide (did you get their picture)? An itinerary can add some much-need flair to your travel photo book.

Travel itineraries don't have to be complicated either — a simple list will do the trick. For example:

• Monday - Breakfast, Eiffel Tour, Lunch, Musée du Louvre, Dinner, Drinks
• Tuesday - Breakfast, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Lunch, Walk down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Dinner
• Wednesday - Early Breakfast, Musée d'Orsay, Lunch, Arc de Triomphe, Dinner, Palais Garnier, Opéra National de Paris

You can give as much or as little detail as you want. But with a schedule, you'll be able to note everything you did and everywhere you went, adding to the story of your travels.

How Many Photos Can You Put in a Photo Book?

How many photos can you put in your travel photo book? Better still, how do you prepare you book? No matter where in the world your journey takes you, you want to make sure that you design a travel photo book that brings your travels to life — and that lasts a lifetime. While many different apps can help you create a travel photo book, only MixPlaces can build something unique that tells a real story. Still, there are a few steps you'll want to follow as you prepare your book.

The beauty of MixPlaces is that it's simple. The app's intuitive algorithms take your photos and build not just a book but an enhanced memory. Your travel photo book becomes something you will cherish for years. It's a premium, quality memento that repeatedly takes you back to your trip. Moreover, it's a fantastic value for the money.

Here are a few simple steps to help you get things started. Follow along and have a photo book that brings your journey to life. Your memories will jump off of every page!

Organize Your Photos

What photos say the most about your trip? The first thing you want to do when creating a travel photo book is organize your photos. While MixPlaces will create layouts and organize images in the app, you still want to go through your images beforehand to decide which pictures to upload and add to your book.

Go through your photos and put them in a file marked "trip" or "vacation." Take an afternoon alone or with friends and choose which pictures of the most likely hundreds you took on your vacation you should add to the book and which you should cut. It's an excellent opportunity to reminisce while going through everything. With everything properly organized, every other step will be much easier.

Choose a Story and Theme

How you tell your story is essential. Sometimes these things happen naturally, and sometimes they need a little push. Look at your photos and think about the story they tell. Was your journey fun? Enlightening? Educational? Romantic? The answer may not be so apparent at first glance.

What do you want to remember about your trip — the journey itself or the moments that made it up (there is no wrong answer here)? You may want to create a chronological photo book, guiding readers through your journey, or more of a place-based one that highlights special moments. How you curate everything is up to you. 

When you look back on your travel photo book in 20 years, you want to remember your trip exactly as it was. Use photos that will capture the reader's attention. More importantly, organize your pictures in a way that will add truth to your story.

Selecting and Editing the Best Images for Your Book

Though it may seem obvious, you always want to choose the perfect pictures. Before designing a travel photo book:

• Don't just organize your photos.
• Find the best photos too.
• Go through your trip's images and find the perfect shots.
• Be highly selective — no blurry photos or cropped images.

You're creating a book meant to last, so find picture-perfect... pictures. The best stories always shine with the best images.

Do You know the adage "less is more?" Well, that most definitely applies when creating a travel photo book. Nobody wants to see 50 pictures of you standing in front of a mountain (no matter how beautiful the mountain, or you, maybe). Moreover, you only need a few shots. Choose one or two perfect photos, and let the moment speak for itself.

Customization: Choose a Unique Look and Feel for Your Travel Photo Book

As you begin to wrap up your travel photo book, you want to add a bit of personal flair. Customize the book with a unique size, cover type, paper, and other trimmings that fit your style. Find something that works for you and matches your journey's feel. Make your book feel romantic or adventurous. 

Most of all, give your travel photo book a high-end touch. Every detail helps your journey come to life. The book will sit on your coffee table or bookshelf for years. It will be a part of your home. Will a hardcover or soft cover work for you? What type of paper do you want for the pages?

Some other small details to help your travel photo book feel notable include:

Clean and Balanced Designs

Simply put, don't overcrowd the photos on any page in your book. Give everything room to breathe and stand on its own. Let the reader experience each photo. You're not creating a collage, so don't put 50 images on one page.

Playing with Typography

Words are important — and how you present those words is even more important. How will you arrange the titles and words on the page? What fonts will you use? What font size will you use? Will you choose large header styles or smaller, more discreet types? Spacing, copy length, and more should all come into consideration.

Using Negative Spaces to Your Advantage

This may sound a bit opaque, but negative space can make your travel photo book pop. Don’t be afraid of a little negative or white space on the page and how it can add to your story.

Adding Meaningful Quotes or Phrases to Your Travel Book

“Not all those who wander are lost,” wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in The Fellowship of the Ring. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page,” St. Augustine was quoted as once saying.

“This vacation rocks,” you might have said on your last trip. Think about adding it to your travel photo book, whether it’s a deep and meaningful quote or just something fun from your travels. The perfect travel photo book ideas include placing quotes, anecdotes, and other tiny sayings throughout your book. The right amount of words (not too many) can complement your photos, making your book go from good to great.

How Do You Protect Your Photo Books?

Protecting your travel photo book isn’t easy. However, it all starts with quality. With MixPlaces, you’re guaranteed a premium, high-quality photo book that will last for ages. We use only the best paper and the best materials. 

Creating the perfect travel photo book isn’t easy — but the perfect trip is like finding the perfect gift, it’s very hard to pull off. But with our Ultimate Guide by your side and help from great apps like MixPlaces, things just got easier. So, hit the open road, grab the next flight, or just take a short overnight to the closest bed and breakfast. Wherever your next journey takes you, the proper tools can now help you build your trip into the perfect travel photo book.