5 Best WordPress Themes for Travel Bloggers

Travel bloggers often have a really challenging time finding a good WordPress theme (or template within their theme). 

There are so few that capture the essence of a travel blog.

If you do happen to find one, it’s often hard to customize and not optimized for ad space. Travel bloggers also have to factor in page speed and SEO (because it’s really hard to rank on Google in the travel niche). 

This is probably because, in the grand scheme of it, travel blogs only make up a micro-percentage of all websites.

Theme builders are probably more concerned with creating e-commerce sites, service-based businesses, event promo pages, and other websites. 

But there are a few diamonds in the rough!

Here are all the best WordPress themes I’ve found that are well-suited for travel bloggers, from more popular themes to lesser-known options. I’ll even share the one that I personally use for my travel blog!

Themes vs. Templates

I always hear the terms used interchangeably. But hear me clearly: A Theme is different from a template. 

Your theme is the base layer of your website. It’s not really meant to be ‘plug-and-play.’ Themes give your website a certain amount of code on your website that serves as a starting point to build and customize into something that fits your unique brand. From there, most people will use page builders and additional plugins to customize it to their vision. 

A template, on the other hand, is a pre-designed, customized version of your theme. Most themes (and some page builders) will offer a library of templates to either use as is or as a placeholder until you have time to make custom changes yourself. 

Best Themes for Travel Bloggers

So, what are the best themes for travel bloggers?

When choosing a theme for your travel blog, I typically focus on three key factors: page speed (for SEO), customization options, and user experience.

A great travel blog theme should be SEO friendly, offer enough flexibility to match your brand and have a fairly simple page builder so that you don’t feel overwhelmed when building and maintaining your site.

Kadence is one of the few themes that checks all the boxes, so that’s what I use.

It’s incredibly fast, and I picked it up in less than a week to create a website I loved!

But it’s not the only one.

So, starting with a bit about my experience using Kadence, let me tell you a little more about the top WordPress themes for travel bloggers.

1. Kadence

Switching to the Kadence Theme was a game-changer for me as a blogger.

It’s a lightweight and highly customizable theme with a huge selection of starter templates available for travel bloggers.

I specifically appreciate Kadence for its speed, but I also love its intuitive design tools that helped me start building my site without any coding knowledge.

What I Love about Kadence

The biggest reason I switched to Kadence was its speed and lightweight code.

Before the switch, I’d used a standard WordPress Theme with the Elementor page builder. My site was unbearably slow, which led to a bad user experience and poor SEO. I consistently failed Google’s Core Web Vitals and couldn’t rank for anything.

After moving my site to Kadence, my page speed and pageviews shot way up!

I also love that I have complete control over each page’s layout. It integrates with the standard WordPress block editor (Gutenberg), so editing feels very similar to when you’re already using WordPress.

Additionally, Kadence has many specific features (especially in the Pro version) that make customization really easy, such as;

• WooCommerce Integration
• Hooked Elements + Patterns
• Mega Menus
• And More!

Potential Challenges

The Kadence Theme does have a bit of a learning curve, though. This is mainly because it’s not quite as ‘drag-and-drop’ as other page builders.

It can take some practice to really understand how to really customize it.

Some people also find the free version limited, but honestly, I’ve been able to create beautiful sites with the free version alone—it just takes a little more effort!

Using Kadence Child Themes

My most popular products are my pre-built, fully customizable Kadence Child Themes.

I would have travel bloggers talking all the time about how they were struggling with where to start their web design but didn’t have the resources to invest in a custom designer

So, I started building WordPress templates for Kadence (confusingly called Child Themes by Kadence) to help get them started.

And two of these child themes are curated specifically for travel bloggers!

Memories Kadence Child Theme – a visually appealing and user-friendly design, perfect for travel bloggers who want to showcase their journeys with elegance

Postcard Kadence Child Theme – a clean and modern layout, ideal for bloggers who prefer a minimalist yet stylish presentation of their travel experiences.

2. Trawell

Trawell is the only theme I’ve found designed specifically for travel bloggers.

It offers interactive maps, itinerary layouts, and other travel-specific features that make organizing and showcasing your adventures effortless.

Its user-friendly interface and mobile optimization make it an excellent choice for bloggers who want a polished, professional look without the hassle of complicated setups.

What I Love about Trawell

Trawell’s biggest strength lies in its travel-specific features.

These include interactive maps, custom itinerary blocks, destination guides, and other custom photo-heavy posts for travel content.

The other great part is that it’s actually really easy to set up. If you aren’t picky, you can have your travel blog up and running in just 5 minutes!

Potential Challenges

Trawell excels in many areas, but its design options are somewhat limited compared to those of other themes like Kadence, GeneratePress, and Astra.

So, while almost all the tools are specifically created for travel bloggers, there are not endless options.

Additionally, there isn’t a free version.

The cheapest option is a single license, which costs $69.

3. Generate Press

GeneratePress is another lightweight and highly customizable WordPress theme.

Like Kadence, it’s a great choice for bloggers seeking a fast, responsive, and adaptable theme to showcase their adventures. Its free version offers plenty of options for customizing a stunning website.

What I Love about GeneratePress

GeneratePress’s standout feature is its speed. The theme adds less than 10 KB to your page size, so you can be sure you’ll get quick load times for an excellent user experience.

I’ve also heard from some of my friends who use Generate Press for web design that it has pretty extensive options through the WordPress Customizer.

You can adjust layouts, color schemes, typography (i.e., custom fonts), and more. So, even without any coding knowledge, you can create a unique and personalized travel blog that reflects your brand.

Potential Challenges

While GeneratePress offers a free version, its features are somewhat limited. You can’t even access the pre-built templates without upgrading to the premium version.

The other big thing is that Generate Press doesn’t have a ‘drag-and-drop’ page builder, so many people need to add a bulky plugin (Elementor/Beaver Builder)

This basically nullifies the lightweight nature of the platform.

4. Trellis (by Mediavine)

Trellis is one of the newer kids on the block.

It was created by Mediavine, and if you’ve been a blogger for any amount of time, you probably know about it. Mediavine is one of the premier ad networks for bloggers to join and start monetizing their sites through advertising.

So, as you can imagine, they created a theme optimized for ad monetization.

But it’s actually pretty good outside of that, too. The theme is designed with a focus on site speed, ad optimization, and an emphasis on performance, contributing to an engaging user experience.

What I Love about GeneratePress

Trellis’s standout feature is its optimization for speed and ad integration.

Developed by Mediavine, it’s specifically tailored for bloggers looking to monetize their content (with features like a sticky sidebar) Therefore, its ad management system helps ads display efficiently without slowing down your site.

Another significant advantage is its mobile-first design. With so many readers browsing on their phones, having a theme that prioritizes mobile responsiveness is a game-changer.

Potential Challenges

Trellis does have a few limitations, though.

First of all, Trellis is exclusively created for Mediavine publishers. If you’re not already part of the network, you don’t have access to the theme at this time.

The theme also falls short in the level of customization you can do. All of the options in the page builder portion are more limited (especially compared to themes like Kadence or GeneratePress). This means you may have to compromise on certain design preferences.

5. Astra

Astra is one of the most versatile WordPress themes out there, so it’s no surprise that it’s a popular choice for travel bloggers.

With a massive library of starter templates, including options tailored to travel and tourism, it enables bloggers to quickly and easily set up a professional-looking site.

It’s also compatible with all the major page builders, but you don’t NEED them to make a beautiful website in Astra.

What I Love about Astra

Astra’s greatest strength is its speed (if you can’t tell, I think that’s the MOST important factor when choosing a WordPress Theme), which helps improve your site’s loading times and overall SEO performance.

I also love the vast selection of starter templates that help people who are unsure where to start with a creative website layout. If you’re looking for inspiration, these pre-built sites by Astra make it easy to hit the ground running.

Potential Challenges

While Astra excels in many areas, there are a few things to note.

Many advanced customization features are only available in the premium version, which costs $59 annually, so it’s not for people looking for a free theme.

I also find that although there are quite a few templates, they tend to lean toward a more generic design, so you have to put a lot of time and effort into customizing them to make your site stand out.

Final Thoughts

Each theme is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a solid design for your travel blog, but they also have pros and cons.

I do think that, for most people, Kadence is the way to go.

It’s fast and easy to customize, and you can do almost anything you need to do with the free version. That’s also why I created my child themes to be compatible with Kadence and build almost all of my client’s custom websites through the Kadence Theme.

It means that once I’ve built their website, they still retain full creative control and don’t have to reach out any time they want to change something.

If that sounds like something that would benefit you and your business, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to chat with you and see how we can help you create a website you love!