If you are traveling abroad, there are certain things you need to ensure that are crossed off your checklist. Amongst one of these things is the surety that you are able to access all the apps and websites you are using in your native country.
As an internet-savvy person, it is important that you have access to all the apps that you were using before you moved to a new country. There are possibilities that some apps might not be accessible in your destination country owing to strong censorship or certain rules of ISPs there. To ensure that you continue using your apps, you can use a VPN.
For those travelers who are unaware of what a VPN is and how it works, here is something about VPN in layman’s terms.
What Is VPN and How Does It Work?
VPN or Virtual Private Network routes your internet traffic through a remotely located server in another location. The data is encrypted before it is sent to the server and then reaches to the destination website. When it routes through another server, the destination website, as well as your Internet service provider, cannot identify your original IP address and assumes that you are sitting in the location where the server is situated.
VPN works by protecting your digital identity and providing you the privacy you would need to surf the internet anonymously. Another benefit of using a VPN is that you can unblock those websites that have been blocked in a certain region because of censorship or other reasons. By connecting to a VPN server where the website or app is functional, you can access it easily.
Why VPN Is Important While Travelling Abroad?
Now that you know what is VPN and how it works, it is not difficult to connect the dots. When you are traveling abroad, a VPN can allow you to access those websites that are blocked in the country you are travelling to. Another reason why VPN must be on the top of your priority list while traveling to a foreign country is your privacy.
Surfing the web using public Wi-Fis poses a dangerous situation in which your credentials could be visible to other people connected to the same network. It is the reason why it is never recommended to use public Wi-Fi for accessing websites like banking sites where leakage of credentials and sensitive information could be devastating.
By using a VPN, you can ensure that nobody is snooping on the websites you are visiting and your personal details could not be accessed by anyone else but you.
I guess we have provided ample reasons as to why you should use a VPN if you are traveling. Now, if you are a frequent traveler or digital nomad looking for a reliable VPN provider, here are some points you must consider before choosing the best VPN for traveling.
How To Choose The Best VPN For Travelling?
You must make sure that you analyze a VPN on following parameters before making it your travel companion on foreign trips.
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Locations Of Servers
Before choosing a VPN for traveling, you should make sure that it offers servers in all the major countries of the world. You do not want a VPN which offers a large number of servers only in certain countries.
Another most important thing while choosing a VPN for traveling is that it must offer multiple servers in your native country so that you can access all the content that you were accessing there. For example, if you are an Indian traveling to the United States of America, make sure that it is offering plenty of servers in India.
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Ease of Usage
Ease of Usage is another important factor for choosing a VPN. Your chosen VPN must be easy to install and set up. Best VPN providers mostly provide apps for different platforms that could be easily installed and used. Most of the apps come with one-touch connectivity feature and the option to choose the server of your own choice as per the requirements.
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Simultaneous Connections
When traveling in a group, always prefer the VPN that allows you to share the VPN service with multiple people. Prefer a VPN provider that offers a maximum number of simultaneous connections. These days, most VPNs offer 5 to 6 simultaneous connections across different platforms. It also helps in sharing the cost of the VPN’s subscription and you can also afford a premium VPN.
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Encryption
One of the major motives behind purchasing a VPN service is security as it hides your real IP address and protects your online identity. When you are picking the best VPN for traveling, choose a VPN with the strongest encryption. Always prefer VPNs with 256-bit encryption as it is the military-grade encryption that encrypts your data when it leaves your server.
Majorly, there are two kinds of encryption offered by VPN providers – 128-bit and 256-bit. Always choose a VPN featuring the latter which is the strongest encryption deployed by VPN providers.
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Additional features
As a traveler, you might need some additional features in your VPN service. You can choose a VPN that bundles an ad-blocker or provides additional security features to ensure that your banking details and other credentials are safe even when you are connected to a public Wi-Fi.
5 Best VPNs For Travelling
Here is a list of five best VPNs that you can choose from while you are traveling abroad.
1. Express VPN
Express VPN is one of the fastest VPNs on the market. It packs plenty of features like 256-bit military-grade encryption, a long list of evenly distributed servers and apps for a variety of different platforms. Express VPN guarantees that it does not throttle internet speed and does not put a cap on the bandwidth usage.
Therefore, you can use it all the time you are traveling without worrying much about data usage. Express VPN is also known for unblocking geo-restricted websites including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Hulu. Therefore, you can continue watching your favorite tv-series and movies even if they are not available in the country you are visiting.
Additionally, Express VPN also provides some excellent security features like kill switch, IP/DNS leak detector, VPN split tunneling and strict no-log policy. The VPN provider offers easy to use apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and routers.
2. Nord VPN
Nord VPN is another strong candidate when it comes to VPNs for traveling. It is a Panama-based VPN provider with a host of VPN servers situated in the different countries of the world. It is one of the best VPNs if you want to unblock websites and apps censored by government and internet service providers.
If you are traveling to China, Nord VPN should be your ideal choice of VPN as it is known to work flawlessly there. Despite the censorship from China’s government, it unblocks all the websites. In fact, Nord VPN is one of the few VPNs that work in the Republic of China.
Nord VPN offers a long list of features to keep your privacy intact. Some of the highlighting features of Nord VPN are the ability to unblock streaming websites, kill switch, IP/DNS leak, onion over VPN, compatibility with different operating systems and more. It also offers 24 by 7 customer support in case you are stuck somewhere while using their VPN service.
3. CyberGhost VPN
CyberGhost VPN is a popular name in the VPN niche. It is a feature-rich VPN service provider with a large number of servers situated all over the world. If your priority is unblocking media streaming platforms like Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO and Netflix when traveling to a foreign country then CyberGhost VPN should be your preferred choice.
It comes with dedicated servers for unblocking such websites that have been blocked due to geographical restriction or restrictions imposed by internet service providers. Apart from unblocking media streaming websites, CyberGhost VPN also brings to table a long list of features like kill switch, 256-bit AES encryption, public Wi-Fi protection, strict no logs policy and an in-built ad blocker.
CyberGhost VPN also offers apps for platforms like Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Additionally, you also get the option to connect up to 7 devices simultaneously. Moreover, CyberGhost VPN is highly affordable if you opt for the annual plan.
4. IPVanish
IPVanish VPN offers 1300 anonymous VPN servers situated in different countries around the world. The VPN provider’s promise of blazing fast servers and its easy to use user interface is quite popular amongst VPN users.
IPVanish VPN explicitly mentions on its website that its servers can unblock websites like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. If you are a traveler and want to continue watching your favorite movies and tv shows even when you are in a foreign country, IPVanish is one of the best VPN you can choose.
Some of the additional features of IPVanish VPN are 256-bit AES encryption, zero traffic logs, SOCKS5 web proxy, and unlimited server switching. One of the most exciting things about IPVanish VPN is that it allows simultaneous connections up to 10 devices which could be great for a large group of travelers.
5. Surfshark VPN
Surfshark VPN has the tagline of ‘Secure Your Digital Life’ and the features it offers definitely falls in sync with it. It is one of the best VPNs when it comes to protecting your digital privacy.
Surfshark VPN offers more than 800 servers in over 50 countries. The reason why we have included Surfshark VPN in this list is the set of additional features it bundles with its subscription.
Along with the VPN service to anonymously surf the web, you also get Cleanweb which blocks trackers and advertisements on the internet, a Whitelister feature that allows specific apps and websites for bypassing the VPN service, a No Borders mode that ensures that the VPN service works flawlessly in countries where VPNs are restricted by the authorities.
Bottom Line
We hope that our list of best VPNs for traveling would have helped in picking the best from a lot of options available out there. We strongly recommend using a VPN service if you are traveling somewhere abroad.