Best Traveling Apps to Have
Are you a digitally savvy traveler? No need for all of those paper maps and books that take up a lot of space – right? Even if they are always good to have and are very interesting, apps are always very useful to have – you can have anything you need right in your pocket ! Smartphones have totally changed the game.
Here is a selection of some of the best and most practical travel apps which are free and available both on Android and iOS:
→ Firstly, good flight apps help in planning a trip or small excursions. Whether it is for a weekend or a few months, it is always good to know where to look for good flights. Planning is always essential to have the best trip. It makes the difference between a relaxed, worry free trip and a stressful one.
• Tripit
Tripit is your portable travel agent. This app has every travel information necessary to plan a trip. On the app you have the confirmation emails for flights, hotels, hostels, rental cars and many more. It is a very easy app to use and very practical. You can also benefit from real-time flight notifications and updates. You can create an account and have all of your information synchronized with your cell phone.
• Hipmunk
Hipmunk is another travel travel planning app with both flight and hotel search engine.On this app you can also find criteria such ad flight duration, number of stops, price..etc. This app is practical because you can also take advantage of last minute hotel bookings and see reviews from other travelers.
→ One very important factor while travelling is knowing where you are going. Having paper maps is practical, but having them on your smartphone is even better. You can take it anywhere without having the space issue. The best is that in smartphone you have GPS tracking, giving you exactly your location and where you are going.
• Citymapper
Citymapper is an app which is comprehensive, easy to use and playful. It offers detailed journey planner, real-time departures and traffic information. It is available for 30 cities in the world.
• Heremaps
Heremaps is another app used for getting around somewhere. Like other apps, this one offers live tracking, GPS, traffic information and all the other basic needs. However, sometimes, when you go to another country, you don’t always have internet/3G everywhere, or it might just cost too much. This is why Here maps is practical: The app lets you download maps and reuse them offline.
→ Money is important when travelling –obviously. It isn’t always that easy to travel to a country that doesn’t have the same currency you are used to. Also, when you travel in a different place, it keeping track of your spending can be tricky. Here are two great apps to have the be more organized with your money:
• Expensify
Expensify is the opportunity to keep easy expense reports. It allows you to manually keep track of expenses, receipts (photolog) and import information from your credit card. For the receipts, you just have to take a picture or Smart Scan the receipt and it is then kept in your expense log. You can also have the option of automatic currency conversion.
• XE Currency
XE currency is a wonderful app to have anytime and anywhere. This is one of the best apps and sites for currency conversions. It also is practical for exchange rates. It is able to convert every world currency instantly. You just have to type the price and the two currencies. On this app, there are also other features such as rates and currency charts. I also function offline which is great if you don’t have any internet sports and you don’t want to use your mobile data.
→ Activities are the biggest part in travelling. When you get to a place, you have to find out what there is to see, what there is to do and try to find the best places to go to. You may have heard about some of the most popular and touristic places, but sometimes it’s always nice to discover the true city away from all the attractions.
• TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor is a crowd-sources guide app. This app guides you to restaurants, hotels, attractions, bars and everything to know about a city. It allows you to look at millions of reviews from visitors all over the world. You can get every information such as pictures, reviews, timetables, prices, contact details, flight details, maps…etc. You can ever post your own review to let other visitors know what you think.
• Timeout
Timeout is another app to guide you to go to the best places. It is a wonderful directory to get ideas of what to do and where to go. It covers every activity from bars, restaurants and attractions to concerts, events and weekly “things to do”. With this app, you will never miss an event or popular activities around you. You can even book restaurants and concert tickets through this app.