Goldcote launches four free travel tools for trains, buses, hotels and trip planning

Goldcote Ltd has launched four free Swiss-built travel sites that each solve a specific trip-planning question, from finding direct cross-border trains and buses to picking a hotel and assembling a full itinerary. The tools use published timetables and operator data, and the company says they are now available worldwide.

Why it matters: - Travelers often have to check multiple sites to answer basic trip questions such as whether a direct train or bus exists, which hotel makes sense, or whether rail beats flying door to door. - Goldcote’s new tools aim to cut that search time by splitting the job into four focused sites, then linking users to the operator or booking site to finish the purchase. - The launch is especially relevant for cross-border trips from Switzerland, where rail, coach and night-train options can be hard to compare quickly.

What happened: - Goldcote Ltd launched four free travel websites: PickTheTrain, PickTheBus, PickTheHotel and PickTheTravel. - PickTheTrain checks direct cross-border trains between two cities. - PickTheBus checks direct cross-border buses between two cities. - PickTheHotel recommends one hotel for a trip based on the traveler’s goal. - PickTheTravel combines flights, trains, buses and hotels into one trip-planning search. - The sites are available now at PickTheTrain, PickTheBus, PickTheHotel and PickTheTravel.

The details: - PickTheTrain covers high-speed, intercity and night trains across 320 cities in 30 countries and 2,526 city pairs. - PickTheTrain also includes 1,203 cross-border sleeper routes in Europe, plus 25 famous rail journeys such as the Glacier Express, the Orient Express and the Trans-Siberian. - PickTheTrain shows whether a direct train exists, how often it runs, how fast it is and whether it beats flying door to door. - At Swiss stations, PickTheTrain city pages also show the planned platform. - PickTheTrain includes routes across U.S. state lines, into Canada and in parts of Asia. - PickTheBus covers 1,280 cities in 38 countries and 12,054 city pairs. - PickTheBus tracks around 3,000 international buses a day across 16 bus companies, including FlixBus, BlaBlaCar Bus, RegioJet, National Express, Bus Éireann, Translink and Greyhound. - PickTheBus shows whether one bus, with no change, runs between two cities in different countries, when it runs, and how it compares with the train and the plane. - PickTheBus also includes overnight routes, including Twiliner, the Zurich-based sleeper bus service. - PickTheHotel covers 335 cities in 80 countries. - PickTheHotel recommends a single hotel for the finest stay, best value, budget option or family stay. - PickTheHotel weighs reviews, value, central location and whether family rooms truly fit. - Hotels cannot pay to be picked. - PickTheHotel shows only hotels available for the selected dates, with a live refundable price. - PickTheHotel can find a hotel near a landmark or near the traveler’s current location. - PickTheHotel is also available as an app inside ChatGPT. - PickTheTravel accepts a trip typed in one sentence, such as “Paris to Zurich 10 to 12 Nov,” and returns nonstop flights, a hotel with a live price, direct trains and buses, and a door-to-door comparison of train and plane. - PickTheTravel understands holiday regions, so “Zurich to Lapland” returns flights to Lapland’s closest airports. - PickTheTravel lets travelers save a trip, receive reminders and get a note if a timetable changes. - All four sites use official published timetables and operator data refreshed every week. - All four sites also offer connections for AI assistants so they can use the same answers.

Between the lines: - Goldcote is betting that narrow, task-specific search tools are easier to use than broad travel sites. - The approach also pushes travelers toward the actual operator or booking page instead of keeping them inside Goldcote’s own checkout flow. - The AI-assistant connections suggest Goldcote wants the tools to feed other travel interfaces, not just direct users.

What the founder said: - Sylvain Gordon-Horwood said planning a trip across a border still requires checking several websites to find a direct train or bus and compare it with flying. - Gordon-Horwood said each site answers one question clearly, and PickTheTravel puts the answers together.

What's next: - Goldcote is positioning the four sites as an ongoing planning layer for cross-border travel, with weekly timetable refreshes and AI-ready access. - For Swiss travelers, the company is continuing to focus on cross-border train and coach links, including night trains and routes such as Geneva to Lyon and Zurich to Munich and Milan.

The bottom line: - Goldcote is turning cross-border travel planning into four simple searches: train, bus, hotel and full trip.