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For low-light travel photography, you really want to focus on sensor size and aperture. The newer flagship phones from Apple, Samsung, and Google all do pretty well here - the iPhone Pro models, Galaxy S series, and Pixel phones have gotten seriously good at night shots. Look for phones with larger sensors and wider apertures (f/1.7 or better). Google's Pixel line has always had strong computational photography for low light, meaning they can pull detail out of darkness that other phones sometimes miss. Samsung's newer models are solid too, especially if you want multiple lenses for flexibility.
What matters most is finding one that feels right in your hands and has the zoom range you actually need. If you're traveling and want to avoid carrying a DSLR, spending a bit more on a flagship is worth it - the difference between a midrange phone and a flagship in dim lighting is pretty noticeable. Test them out in a store if you can, especially in the evening or a dimly lit area. Also check if the phone has good stabilization, because shaky hands in low light will ruin a shot faster than anything else. Manual controls or a solid night mode matter way more than megapixel count, honestly.
If you're traveling and shooting in dim conditions, the real difference maker is going to be how the phone handles noise and processes multiple frames together. Most flagship phones today have gotten pretty good at this, but the ones that let you grab RAW files give you way more control in post-processing if things don't come out perfect in the moment.
Night mode on newer phones is solid, but honestly the trick is keeping your hands steady - a tiny tripod or even propping your phone against something makes a huge difference when exposure times get longer. That matters more than chasing the absolute newest model.
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