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A New Time-Travel App, Reviewed

We all know by now that the time-reversal invariance governing statistical mechanics at the microlevel maps by a simple equation onto the macroworld, making “time travel” a wholly unsurprising possibility … but damn! The first time you go back there’s just nothing like it.

I know all these first-person accounts of ChronoSwooping have become a cliché here on Substack, where, let’s face it, anyone can write pretty much whatever they want no matter how self-indulgent and derivative. Nonetheless I think I have some unusual insights to share, which derive from my own experience but which may offer some general lessons as to the nature and significance of time travel, both the original and long-prohibited “body-transit” method as well as the newer and more streamlined ChronoSwoop.

This is not only because I spent some years in the archives of the Stadzbybliotiēka of the Margravate of East K****, poring over the notebooks in which Quast first landed on the Quast equation, while in parallel jotting down sundry philosophical reflexions about the nature of Divine Tempus—as he called it—that have largely been neglected by other researchers. It is also because I have used the ChronoSwoop app in ways that are expressly prohibited by its makers, and indeed by the federal government. In light of this, while I am writing this product review for Substack and in the emerging “Substack style,” until the law changes or I depart permanently from the chronological present, I will be posting this piece only on the Hinternet-based Substack oglinda (Romanian for “looking-glass,” a hacking neologism supposedly coined by Guccifer 3.0), which I’m told is undetectable, remaining entirely unknown even to the original company’s founders. Fingers crossed.

Perhaps some readers on this oglinda will appreciate a brief summary of what’s been happening in the world of time travel since Quast first came up with his equation in 1962. I don’t know what sort of information has been circulating down here, and I don’t want anyone to feel left behind.

The early 1960s witnessed great leaps forward not just in time-travel technology, but in the technology of teletransportation as well—which is to say dematerialization of the body, and its rematerialization elsewhere, but without any measurable “metachrony.” By late 1966 poorly regulated teletransporters had begun to pop up on the state fair circuit, tempting daredevils into ever more foolish stunts. But this practice was curtailed already the following year, when, expecting to reappear kneeling before his sweetheart Deb at the stables with a ring in his hand, Roy Bouwsma, aka “the Omaha Kid,” got rematerialized instead with the stable door cutting directly through the center of his body from groin to skull—one half of him flopping down at Deb’s feet, the other half falling, like some neat bodily cross section carefully made for students of anatomy, into the stable with Deb’s confused horse Clem.

But while this atrocious moment, broadcast live on KMTV, nipped the new craze in the bud, the technology underlying it had already been adapted for use in what was then called “Tempus-Gliding,” which had the merely apparent advantage of concealing from those in the present any potential accident in the rematerialization of the voyager to the past. Of course, accidents continued to happen, and news of them eventually made its way back from past to present, bringing about all sorts of familiar paradoxes in the spacetime continuum. Tempus-Gliding, like any metachronic technology relying on body-transit, was a door thrown wide open to all the crazy scenarios we know from the time-travel tropes in science fiction going back at least to H. G. Wells: adults returning to the past and meeting themselves as children, meeting their parents before they were even born, causing themselves never to have been born and so suddenly to vanish, and so on. By the end of the 1960s people, and sometimes entire families, entire lineages, were vanishing as a daily occurrence (just recall the 1969 Harris family reunion in Provo!). You could almost never say exactly why, since the traveler to the past who would unwittingly wipe out all his descendants often had yet, in the present, ever to even try Tempus-Gliding.

A campaign to end the practice quickly gained speed. By 1973 the “Don’t Mess With Spacetime” bumper stickers were everywhere, and by the following year Tempus-Gliding was outlawed—which is to say, as is always the case in such matters, that only outlaws continued to Tempus-Glide. Scattered disappearances continued, public outcry against illicit Tempus-Gliding became more widespread. In 1983 Nancy Reagan made an unforgettable guest appearance on Diff’rent Strokes to help get out the message about the dangers of illegal body-transit. (“More than 40,000 young lives are lost each year to illegal Metachron gangs.” “What you talkin’ ’bout Mrs. Reagan?”) By the late 1980s a combination of tough-on-crime measures and transformations in youth culture largely ended the practice, and time travel would likely have remained as dormant as moon-travel if it had not in the last decade been so smoothly integrated into our new mobile technologies, and in a way that overcomes the paradoxes and inconveniences of Tempus-Gliding. It does so, namely, by taking the body out of the trip altogether.

This is the mode of time travel, of course, that has shaped a significant subcurrent of science fiction scenarios, notably Chris Marker’s La Jetée (1962), later adapted into the better known Bruce Willis vehicle 12 Monkeys (1995). While these films might seem exceptional, they also share something important with the great majority of what may be called time-travel tales avant la lettre, in which, typically, a man such as Rip Van Winkle goes to sleep for a very long time and wakes up in “the future.” The “zero form” of time travel, we are reminded, is simply to live, which is to say to travel forward in time at a slow and steady rate that only appears to be sped up or “warped” through deep sleep.

Be that as it may, when the new app-based time-travel technologies began to emerge in the late 2010s—relying as they did on a loophole in the 1974 law against time travel that defined it strictly as “metachronic body-transit”—they were all confronted by the hard limit on innovation already predicted by Quast, who remained committed until the end to the impossibility in principle of future-directed time-travel. “If you want to get to the future, you’re just going to have to wait,” Quast wrote in an entry in his Hefte dated 6 October, 1959 (SB-1omk 21.237). “To live in time is already to travel in time. So be patient” [ In der Zeit zu leben, das ist schon in der Zeit zu reisen. Hab also Geduld ]. Rumors of future-transit apps downloadable from ultra-sketchy oglindas have been circulating for years, but I’ve never seen any, and having studied Quast’s work I have come to believe that they are a theoretical impossibility.

The earliest apps, popping up mostly from anonymous sources, were mostly perceived as too dangerous and illicit to gain widespread appeal. “We’ve got that legal cannabis here in California now,” Whoopi Goldberg said on an episode of The View in September 2019. “If I want to take a little trip, I’m sorry but there’s edibles for that. I’m not messing with spacetime [ audience laughter ].” In an echo of the panic leading to the prohibition of Tempus-Gliding in the early 1970s, the government began to issue PSAs sensitizing the public to the serious psychological trauma that a return to our own pasts can trigger. “This is not lighthearted fun,” the messaging went. “Metachronism can ruin your life.”

The campaign against these new technologies would probably have killed them, or at least pushed them so far down into the oglindas as to occlude them from the public’s consciousness, if in 2021, at the worst moment of the pandemic, the ChronoSwoop company had not appeared as if out of nowhere and dropped its addictive new app with its signature “Swoop left/Swoop right” functions. Key to ChronoSwoop’s success was the discovery that users will draw significantly more pleasure from being cast into random moments in the past (Swoop left) than from being permitted to choose particular moments they have deemed significant in the post-hoc construction of their autobiographical self-narrative. And if you find yourself thrown back into an unpleasant or dull moment, then a single swift Swoop right will bring you immediately back into the present. You can of course go into your settings and laboriously reconfigure the app to permit you to choose your precise dates, but the great miracle of ChronoSwoop’s success is that almost no one bothers to do this. The people want their time travel to come with streamlined, easy interfaces. They want to move through the past like they move through their feeds: going nowhere in particular, with no clear purpose.

Quast had remained agnostic as to the possibility of body-less time travel, though he always insisted that, if it turns out to be possible, this will amount to an empirical proof of body-soul dualism. If the “self” can easily be inserted into the body it possessed at an earlier stage of life, while retaining all the memories of experiences from after that stage, this means, he believed, that the memories, as well as consciousness itself, cannot be dependent on the physical substrate of the brain that supposedly hosts them. When people first started ChronoSwooping, there were rumors of “headaches,” which were supposed to have resulted from the transit back in time of the more fully developed neurological structure of the time traveler—essentially cramming, say, a 38-year-old’s brain into the cranium of his 10-year-old past self. But of course no such thing occurs, for what travels back, as Quast predicted, is the immaterial self alone, and the fact that this is possible does indeed demonstrate, whether the scientific establishment is ready to admit it or not, that we do not need to remain anchored to any parcel of matter at all in order to exist as conscious beings.

ChronoSwoop beat out its early competitors (remember TimeDig? 😂) not only by getting rid of the date-choosing option, but also by adding sensorimotor control to the package. The earliest apps only planted your consciousness into the body of your past self and permitted you to “ride along,” to see and feel everything your former self saw and felt, but not to exercise any control over any of this. Quast predicted that only such passive riding would ever be possible, in part because any will-driven intervention in the sequence of past events, such as ChronoSwooping now makes possible, seems to generate at least as many paradoxes for the spacetime continuum as old-fashioned body-transit.

It’s not clear how ChronoSwoop managed to pull it off, but we can at least affirm what the emerging scientific consensus says about this new option, namely that it demonstrates the truth of the so-called “Many Worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics, where each new timeline created by a different course of action initiated by a time traveler through the vehicle of that traveler’s own former self simply places that self on a different timeline of a different world, of which there are in any case infinitely many. These worlds are all self-contained and non-interacting, unless you can call ChronoSwooping itself a form of interaction, so that, however strange it all is, we at least avoid the more awkward conundra of body-transit, as when, for the millionth time, some idiot gets it into his head to “kill baby Hitler,” which of course means that more or less everyone in the world from roughly 1933 on, being affected by different events of the world, also ends up having sex at different times, different spermatozoa end up fecundating different eggs, and virtually all of us children of the 20th century disappear, until someone else arranges to kill the idiot who killed baby Hitler and set us back on our course again.

As an early adopter, I first ChronoSwooped in November 2021. The particular experience might seem unremarkable when I describe it, but for me, beyond being an occasion to see my deceased father again, it was my initiation into a world from which I have not really returned. I ended up, at random, back in December 2003. It’s Christmastime, and I’m visiting with my dad in Little Rock, where, I quickly recall, he has recently relocated after some career difficulties in the wake of the dotcom crash. “Have you seen this guy called Crazy Frog?” he’s asking me, as we stand in front of his desktop. “He’s kind of dumb but he makes me laugh.” I look at the animated amphibian with the aviator glasses, singing his ringtone melody over a techno remix of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit.” I had forgotten all about this. How many other fragments of lost culture, I wonder, lie dormant in me at every moment? Crazy Frog jumps on an invisible motorcycle and revs it along a Möbius-strip highway. “I like it,” my dad says, smiling childlike. I am filled suddenly with infinite love for him. I can’t bear it, and I Swoop right.

I go back again and ChronoSwoop tells me it’s June 21, 1998. I’m sitting on a barstool in a place I seem to remember, but only vaguely. I can tell immediately that it’s very late at night, and that the version of me I have just Swooped into was feeling considerable stress just seconds before. I don’t share his precise memories, or, rather, what happened for him just a moment ago is at a 24-year remove for me, but his cortisol levels are mine now too, and I can tell something’s wrong. After a minute or so my ex-girlfriend S**** bursts out of the men’s room, followed by some miserable low-life wearing a T-shirt with a dumb neon alien’s head on it. He wanders off and she comes sheepishly to me. “We were only doing lines, I swear.” She sniffs and rubs her nose. I am suddenly filled with rage. What a miserable time of my life this was, I think, and again I Swoop right.

I took a break for the next three days, believing I had already had enough. I found myself not quite traumatized, but far more melancholic than I usually am, and largely convinced that what the PSAs were saying was true. This is not lighthearted fun. And yet, for some reason, I went back. I landed this time on February 11, 1979. It’s morning, and I’m on the playground of my Montessori school with Jeremy. He’s wearing an Oakland Raiders windbreaker and has mushroom hair like Nicholas from Eight Is Enough. He’s holding his thumb up to his mouth like it’s a microphone and his hand over his ear as if he has a headset. “This is Howard Cosell,” he says in a funny voice—a “Howard Cosell” voice. I am staring at him confusedly. He sees that I’m not laughing at his imitation. Something in my face frightens him, and he begins to cry. I Swoop right.

What was that all about? Jeremy was always a crybaby, but not like this. What did he see in my face that frightened him so? I drink a Nespresso and I think about what to do next. Maybe I’ve had enough already? No, I Swoop left, and it’s August 18, 1975. I’ve just had a shower and I’m in my long red nightshirt. It’s a summer evening in Rio Linda, the windows are open, and the frogs and bugs are croaking and chirping. I’m lying on the couch, and Mom’s cutting my toenails. I have the strong sense that this entire composition and every being involved in it—the frogs, the bugs, Mom, the sun—is in fact only one being; or more precisely, that it is only one being, and that being is me . This is what life used to be like! Before what? Before things came apart. That’s what it is to grow up: to see the world come apart. It’s too much for me. I Swoop right.

I resolve to end my explorations here, and a good two weeks go by before I find myself quite unconsciously, lying on my back on the couch, moving through the well-hidden settings in my app. I click on “Set Target Date” and immediately I am taken to a screen requiring me to upload a scan of a state-issued ID, which will then confirm my date of birth and prevent me from choosing any target date preceding that all-important threshold. Once this formality has been handled, I aim it back to November 19, 1972, and I set the visit duration for just 30 seconds. (I presume that if I am not yet four months old, even if I have some sensorimotor control over my body as well as my usual 49-year old consciousness about me, I still might simply lack the coordination to Swoop right.) It’s hard to say what I experience when I arrive. It’s warm, it’s light, and all is one. I’m lying there next to a funny man who’s watching something on TV, but I don’t know it’s a TV, and the sound of laughter is coming out of it. “PB&J with pickles,” the man says, repeating what he has heard, laughing. Somehow I don’t understand what this means, but I’m thrilled that he finds it so funny. “Did you hear that one? PB&J with pickles !” he shouts to someone who is not in the room with us, but whose presence I can feel. Such joy. Such love. I disappear.

The block on pre-birth travel is ostensibly to prevent the risk of “ditching,” where someone gets permanently stuck in the past. But as long as we are able to preset the duration of the visit, this concern seems ill-placed, and we can only imagine that the real reason is the one that Quast foresaw: “If it ever becomes possible experimentally to prove the immateriality of the soul,” he wrote, “they will do everything in their power to prevent us from finding out about it” (SB-1omk 24.785).

I’m not the sort of person to break the law casually, but what I experienced in the autumn of 1972 was simply too powerful, and I wanted more. I went to the Pakistani mobile-phone shop down at the corner, and sure enough, what they always say about these places is true. Just as the agile shopkeeper will happily oblige any request to repair your touchscreen or to unblock some old battered phone, no questions asked, neither will he look surprised when you ask him, as the parlance has it, to “take away your birthday.”

When I got back home I drank a Diet Dr. Pepper and I pondered different dates and durations until one came to me as if in a message: 1 minute, July 30, 1971—exactly a year before my birth. I Swooped left. I cannot tell you how or why this is so, but I can tell you that exactly a year before I was born, I was floating in warm liquid, and although I had no eyes to see it, I can tell you that there was light. This scene too was charged up with love.

It was also, somehow, charged up with knowledge. Though I did not “know” anything—about PB&J sandwiches, for example, or about parents, or Howard Cosell, or Crazy Frog—it seemed to me after my return that this is only because I knew everything, and I knew it from a vantage where the sharp differentiation between these sundry things seemed a far greater error than their combination. Seeing them all as one, it seemed to me now, felt unmistakably like what is imagined under the idea of heaven. St. Augustine writes that in death the soul returns to regionem suae originis —to the region of its origin, and here he is adapting within a Christian context the broadly Platonic vision of a pre-life life spent in direct communion with the eternal and unchanging Forms. Is that what I was seeing in 1971? If so, then why was everything so wet? No Platonic philosopher, Christian or heathen, ever conceived “baby heaven” in precisely this way.

You probably have some idea of what I did next. I scrolled back to the earliest transit date possible—January 1, 1900. I would have gone back far earlier, to 500 BCE, to 50 million ybp, to God knows when, but the drop-down calendar made its cutoff the beginning of the 20th century. So that’s where I went; nor did I set a duration for the visit.

I can’t tell you what happened after that, or whether I’m still there, or what is even happening anymore. If you think I’ve been spending my days watching mustachioed men on velocipedes going to the beach and changing there into comical striped one-piece bathing suits to play beach-croquet with ladies in bloomers, you really haven’t understood what pre-birth ChronoSwooping is like. I set the thing for 1900, but the human calendar doesn’t mean very much when you’ve shed your body, and your senses, and any trace of your connection to the world of particulars.

I would not recommend doing what I have done. It is not a question of being able “to handle it”; we “handle” whatever comes our way, even or perhaps especially the most impossible things. Unlike the world I saw in 1971, here it’s not even wet or light, but neither is it dry or dark. I know everything, if by “everything” we mean the timeless and universal truths, but as for individuals, facts, things that come and go, contingent beings and the ever-vanishing traces of events, I just can’t make anything out anymore.

“God made time to prevent everything from happening at once,” the diminutive Billy ponders, while looking up at the bright North Star like some junior magus in a Family Circus cartoon circa 1988 that somehow remains vivid to me in its particularity, like the answer to a riddle I never meant to pose, even as almost all other particulars recede from my consciousness. This too is a cliché, of course. Albert Einstein said something similar; so did many other people in fact, and they were all drawing broadly on a theory of temporal idealism that runs through many philosophical systems, including, on at least one understanding, that of Augustine. But no matter, it’s Bil Keane’s cartoon version that sticks with me. I love the Sunday funnies: so stupid; so comforting; so warm. I love TV. I love memes. They’re kind of dumb but I love them.

On these and other such small things was I trained up, like some innocent AI that knows no temporal flow at all, so that the dim outlines of them still move across memory’s stage even after I have used my app against the rules and withdrawn from Time altogether—before Time was yet able to withdraw from me.

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20 Best Travel Apps in 2024 (Plus They’re Free)

We frequently search for the best travel apps to make travel easier. We’ve tested hundreds of travel apps over the years, and we’re often asked to recommend the travel apps we can’t live without.

So, we wrote this post on the 20 best travel apps that helped us to visit every country in the world!

Hi, we’re Rach & Marty!

We’ve visited every country in the world and want to help you get the most out of your travels!

Whether you need an expertly planned itinerary , some experienced hints and tips , or just craving a delicious food adventure , we’ve got you covered!

We may earn affiliate commissions from websites we link to, at no cost to you. Click here for details.

These travel apps were essential to navigating some remote places, saving money, and communicating with locals to experience unforgettable encounters and find unique places to stay.

Whether you’re looking to reserve a hotel room, dorm bed or apartment, book cheap flights, bus or train tickets on the go, translate a restaurant menu, ride local transport or chat with a local in a foreign language, we’ve compiled a list of the best travel apps you should have!

Let’s Dive In! 20 Best Travel Apps To Make Travel Easy

Table of Contents

1. Skyscanner

Skyscanner is the best travel flight app out there! It’s so easy to use and the prices are unbeatable!

Skyscanner is a metasearch engine that compares multiple airlines’ prices. To find cheap flights, enter your departure airport, destination, and date. 

You can filter results based on stops, duration, and airline. The’ everywhere’ option allows you to discover the cheapest flights from your departure airport. 

Don’t miss out on this one—it’s hands down one of the best travel apps for nabbing cheap flights! It’s worth mentioning here that the Skyscanner app is also a metasearch engine for finding cheap car hire and hotels. 

Our Favourite Feature: Skyscanner  allows you to compare multiple airlines, flight times, and prices. 

2. Booking.com

No travel app comes close to beating Booking.com for reserving accommodation for your trip.

From budget dorm beds in hostels and affordable hotels in great locations to luxury accommodations, including villas, apartments, and everything in between, Booking.com is hands down one of the best travel apps for reserving a place to stay.

Once you’ve made several reservations on Booking.com, you can reclaim awards and discounts on accommodation. Using this app has helped us reach Genius Level 3, saving us up to 15% on future reservations.

The Booking.com app makes it easy to keep all your bookings in one place, and you can impress taxi drivers with the app’s handy hotel address feature, translated into the local language.

Download this must-have travel app before you leave on your adventures!

Our Favourite Feature: Booking.com has i n-app only deals and discounts

3. Airalo eSIM

Nowadays, the best way to stay connected on your travels is with Airalo eSIM . 

The Airalo travel app has been essential for us to stay connected in multiple regions and countries as we traverse the globe. 

This travel app allows you to download an eSIM for 190+ countries effortlessly. It’s so easy, and it’s affordable too! Just download, activate and go! 

We LOVE this product. Read more about why we choose eSIM for International Travel.

Our Favourite Feature Is Discovering eSIMs that cover up to 130+ countries on one eSIM! Choose from a Data-Only eSIM or a Data, Call, and text eSIM to save you   huge $$$. View ALL Discover eSIM Packs here . 

Skype is an excellent means to stay connected with loved ones back home while you’re away.

We use the Skype app when calling a business or private number that isn’t on WhatsApp. 

One of the best things about the Skype app is the ability to make free video calls globally, provided that both parties use Skype.

Additionally, you can place calls to landlines or mobile phones for a fee. 

Keeping your Skype credit topped up with $10-20 allows seamless calling from your mobile or landline, making it a cost-effective way to communicate worldwide.

Access to a wifi signal makes the possibilities endless; you can reach any number globally with super affordable bills.

For digital nomads and business owners who are constantly on the move, Skype proves to be an indispensable app. It lets you quickly jump on work calls, making it an ideal tool. 

  Best feature:  Make free calls/video calls to any country worldwide.

5. Google Maps

Google Maps is an essential app for every traveller. It’s one of our phones’ most frequently used travel apps. We especially love that you can save cafes, hotels or places you want to visit and mark that spot with selected labels. 

We use the ‘heart’ label to add our favourite places to eat, and in the notes section, we add what dish we’d like to eat there.

We like to use the ‘green flag’ label for places we’d like to visit, including attractions and landmarks. There’s a ‘blue bag’ label to pin accommodation options, too. This is handy for saving our hotel or apartment address, and you can customise the label and add notes here, too.

Our Favourite Feature:  The option to download and save offline maps. 

6. WISE 

WISE is an online account that lets you send money, get paid, and spend internationally.

This service has saved us loads of money in international transactions & ATM fees. With a Wise account, you can get paid in other currencies and send money overseas. The app is lightning-fast and super savvy.

This is a must-have travel app for every traveller, especially if you plan to travel long-term.

Sign up for a WISE account here  and send your first International transfer for FREE!

Our Favourite Feature is that fees are transparent and generally low, with no markup on exchange rates. Leave the big fees to the big banks and switch your banking needs to Wise!

7. Google Translate

What a savvy travel app this is! Google Translate is the best travel language app for communicating with the people you meet.

The app translates languages incredibly fast! With 100+ languages to access, you’ll breeze through interactions with locals.

From ordering the best meal, asking for directions or purchasing the correct train ticket or bus route, Google Translate has you covered. 

This app was an absolute gem to help us travel in China, our fantastic trip to Taiwan and decode menu items in Japan and Central Asia. 

Our Favourite Feature: Save particular words or phrases so you can access them quickly when needed.

Imagine checking just one place for ALL your travel details and getting notifications if things happen that may affect your trip. TripIt app is your personal travel organiser, and it will make your travelling life a breeze!

TripIt can organise your travel plans no matter where you book. Simply forward your confirmation emails to [email protected] , and in seconds, TripIt will create a comprehensive itinerary for every trip.

We used TripIt to keep our flights, accommodation, bus & train tickets and even reservations for day tours organised so we could access the app anytime and quickly source the information we needed. 

Believe me, you need this in your life! TripIt is free and one of the best travel apps for staying organised and stress-free on the road.

Our Favourite Feature:  You can also sync your plans with your calendar—no copying or pasting is necessary.

9. Surfshark VPN 

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a must-have tool for protecting your privacy and increasing your internet security.

Surfshark VPN  safeguards your connection with military-grade encryption so you can log into your accounts, make bank transfers, and shop online without worrying that your data may be compromised or hacked.

It works by encrypting communications so you’ll have an anonymous IP address. Surf Shark (or other good VPNs) allows you to access websites that are inaccessible in other countries. 

If you’re in a country like China that bans many social media networks, such as Facebook, you can still access Facebook by turning on Surfshark VPN if you’re travelling there.

Download Surfshark VPN to put your mind at ease while travelling. 

Our Favourite Feature:  Fast connection, easy-to-use app

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Advice & travel tips to visit every country in the world!

10. Trainline

Trainline  is an international rail and coach booking platform. The user-friendly app allows you to buy instant train tickets and railcards and gain free access to live train times and railway station information. 

It’s so handy; we use the Trainline app to book all our train tickets . It’s beneficial for those wishing to travel around Europe by train .

Our Favourite Feature:  The app has a section called ‘my tickets’, which is helpful for quick access to your already purchased train reservations.

RELATED POST –  7 Best Tips for Traveling to Europe

11. Rome2Rio

This app is excellent for comparing transportation options between destinations. 

Once you enter your origin and destination, the Rome2Rio app searches for train, flight, bus, and ferry options between locations. Cleverly, it also shows the driving distance for trips by car so you can quickly and easily see which option is best for your timing and budget.

We use this app frequently to get a quick idea of the options available to get from A to B anywhere in the world. 

Our Favourite Feature:  If you see a journey you’d like to book there and then, the Rome2Rio app connects you with transportation providers to make a reservation.

12. GetYourGuide

Travel with ease! GetYourGuide is great for discovering excellent experiences and tours. Just enter your city, and the app does the rest! 

Find the best food tours, city tours, cruises, wildlife safaris, island hopping adventures, private transfers, skip-the-line entrance tickets and more! 

GetYourGuide offers city passes like the ‘Vatican City & Rome’ Pass . This sightseeing pass provides free entry to Rome’s most popular attractions and museums, saving you up to 55%!

They’ve got everything from thrilling motorcycle tours in Vietnam to invigorating 14-day hikes in Nepal; reserve your spot here .

Book excellent activities, compare prices and read past guest reviews for peace of mind.

The best part is their flexible cancellation policy, no hidden fees, and mobile-friendly tickets.

Our Favourite Feature:  GetYourGuide offers a flexible free cancellation policy.

The ultimate activity and tour booking companion! Viator is a top-notch travel app with a stellar reputation.

Like GetYourGuide, Viator is one of the best travel apps for booking day tours, multi-day adventures, local experiences, entrance tickets, and more!

Viator offers excellent customer service, free cancellation, flexible payment options, and an overall excellent product.

Explore 300,000+ experiences across the globe – USA, Asia, Europe, Australia, and beyond! 

Need travel inspiration about where to travel next? Our guide on the cheapest countries to visit this year will help you decide. 

Our Favourite Feature:  Viator app offers 24/7 customer service & support.

Moovit provides travellers with a one-stop-shop journey experience to help them get from point A to B most quickly and efficiently. 

You may be surprised at how savvy this travel app is; a game-changer in my opinion.

Get train, metro and bus times, maps, and real-time arrival information in cities and destinations worldwide to plan your trip confidently and get mooving!! 

Our Favourite Feature:  The app allows you to add a line (frequent journey) to your ‘favourites’ section for quick access and instant information.

15. Grab (and other ride-sharing apps)

Ride-sharing apps have been a saviour for us as we’ve made our way around the world. 

As I understand, Uber was the first ride-sharing app to launch, but now there are many fantastic apps that can make your life so much easier on the road.

Depending on what country or region of the world you plan to travel to, we recommend downloading the ride-sharing apps below.

• Grab – For travel in Southeast Asia.
• Bolt – For travel in Europe, Tunisia (read these 10 Best Tips for Independent Travel in Tunisia ) and other nations in Africa too. 
• Uber – For travel in the USA, Canada, Europe & Australia
• FreeNow – Travel in Europe (up to 150+ cities)
• BiTaksi – For travel in Turkey.

And there are many more!

Most ride-sharing apps allow you to add your bank card to your profile to take care of the payment. We like this feature because you don’t need any local currency, and it cancels the chance of getting scammed by a taxi driver. Unfortunately, scams do happen.

Read our post about how to avoid 6 common tourist scams in China .

Our Favourite Feature:  Seeing the estimated price and journey time before you make a booking.

16. WhatsApp

Looking for a reliable way to stay connected with friends and family? Look no further than WhatsApp!

This is one of the best travel apps out there, and it’s used worldwide to keep people connected. 

WhatsApp offers a range of features, allowing you to send messages, make calls, and even video call other WhatsApp users for free, as long as you have a wifi connection.

Not only is WhatsApp perfect for keeping in touch with friends and family, but it also comes in handy while travelling. Nations worldwide communicate easily with WhatsApp, so it’s our top choice for the best travel apps to download to your device.

WhatsApp helps you to easily stay in contact with locals, tour operators, hotels, and companies, as many of them are readily available on WhatsApp. 

WhatsApp pairs perfectly with an international eSIM . An easy, reliable and affordable way to help you stay connected with the world.

Stay connected and travel easier out there – choose WhatsApp!

Our Favourite Feature:  The ability to video call, voice call or message other numbers for free, providing you’ve got a wifi connection (or an Airalo eSIM ) 

17. Xe Currency Converter

Use the Xe Currency Converter app to instantly check live market rates for every world currency on your Smartphone or device. 

That’s 170+ currencies that you can convert on the go. If you need to check the conversion of what 1 USD will give you in AUD, you can get your answer on this app within seconds.

We use this app to quickly check the latest exchange rates, handing over any currency in an exchange office or even to a money changer on the street. We frequently used this during our overland travels across Central & West Africa . 

If you’ve ever wondered about what it’s like to travel in this region, here are 17 ESSENTIAL Things to Know Before Travelling to West Africa from our experience.

18. Maps.me

Maps.me app is similar to Google Maps in some ways, but it’s much better for navigating rugged terrains!

Whenever we go hiking, we ensure we’ve got our map downloaded on Maps.me; it rarely lets us down. It does a great job of showing the small trails that Google Maps doesn’t usually pick up. 

It covers six continents, making it essential for unexplored or remote spots.

This travel app was handy in Africa, particularly when directing a taxi driver to our nominated address. Maps.me allows you to set up the navigation and press speak on the app, a voice will then guide you in the selected language. You should see the look on the taxi drivers’ faces when we do this; it’s pure amazement.

Maps.me is a must-have travel app for all travellers, especially those hoping to take off-the-beaten-track adventures.

Our Favourite Feature:  Maps.me offers a bookmark collection that allows you to build your ultimate trip!

19. Trusted Housesitters

If you’re planning to travel long-term, Trusted Housesitters is one of the best travel apps I’d recommend you download right now.

Every traveller finds out that accommodation is one of the most significant expenses on the road, and this app can help cancel that out entirely! 

Being a housesitter means free accommodation for you in return for looking after different homes around the globe. Choosing to join Trusted Housesitters was one of the best things we ever did!

Trusted Housesitters  is a fantastic website for saving money and house-sitting worldwide. 

Join now with our invitation  and receive a massive 25% off your membership!

Our Favourite Feature:  Use the filters on the app to set alerts for preferred cities or countries you know you’ll be visiting in the coming months. 

Omio  is the best travel app and booking platform for travellers on the go.

The Omio easy-to-use app is seamless for booking tickets for trains, buses, flights, ferries, and airport transfers so you can focus on the journey.

They’ve got 1,000+ trusted travel partners listed across the platform, giving you many choices and options to book the most direct route at the best price.

It’s quick and reliable, and most importantly, Omio offers the best deals. 

Our Favourite Feature:  The Omio app keeps your list of ‘upcoming journeys’, which is helpful to ensure your travel plans are organised.

More Travel Tips

We have so many tips to help you travel more!

These 21 cheapest countries to visit will help you stretch your hard-earned dollars further.

Read our top 6 travel hacks to save money and the  20 best travel apps to make travel easier! 

For food lovers, don’t miss our top 10 best countries for foodies. And, if history is your thing, these 30 amazing historical places worldwide will fascinate you!

We have many tips to save money for travel and consider these 20 jobs that PAY YOU to travel the world to help you travel longer.

If you become a trusted housesitter , you can also get FREE accommodation worldwide. Read more about how this works .

Check out our ultimate packing list for travellers , and remember to pack travel insurance! We recommend these two travel insurance companies for excellent coverage.

Our  12 essential tips for safe travel in any country are worth a read. 

You’ll need to stay connected while travelling the world. We recommend eSIM. It’s easy, reliable and affordable. View eSIMs for individual countries , or consider  a Global eSIM if you travel to multiple countries or regions. This eSIM connects you in 124 countries , offering data-only eSIM and data/call/text eSIM .

The Global eSIM has been a game-changer; we couldn’t imagine travelling without it now.

If you want to travel with like-minded travellers, consider joining a group tour.

Check our Group Tours first for any upcoming trips you may be interested to join, or view these deals on worldwide group tours with Tourradar .

Check out our best-ever travel tips compiled from more than twenty years of experience.

Travel Planning Resources

✈️ Flights : We use Skyscanner to book cheap flights worldwide.

🏨 Accommodation :  Booking.com is our preferred platform for booking hotels and accommodation. We use Vrbo to book apartments and long-term stays.

🏥 Travel Insurance : We recommend Heymondo ( Get 5% off Heymondo)  & SafetyWing

🚌 Transportation : Trainline is the best website to reserve trains. We use Omio to book transport worldwide. For travel in Asia, we use 12Go.  

🚘 Car Rental : We use DiscoverCars to book rental cars worldwide.

👫 Group Tours : We now offer Group Trips; check them out here . Alternatively, we recommend G Adventures OR Tourradar .

📸 Day Tours & Trips :  GetYourGuide  & Viator are the only two platforms you need.

📚 Lonely Planet: The Best Range of Travel Guides & Ebooks , and FREE Shipping! (use code RACHELDAVEY10 for a 10% discount)

🎒 Luggage :  Osprey Farpoint 40L Backpack  or  Samsonite Luggage Range.

🛄 What to Pack:  Don’t forget your Universal charger and a good  power bank .  To help you pack the essentials, here is our ULTIMATE Packing List for all Travellers .

🐶 Become a House Sitter:  Join Trusted Housesitters and enjoy FREE accommodation worldwide. Use our invite to receive 25% off your new membership.

💰 Send Money Anywhere: WISE  &  Revolut  are the best online accounts that let you send money, get paid, and spend money internationally. Both are so easy to use and way cheaper than any bank transfer.

📶  Stay Connected: Airalo eSIM allows you to get connected the moment you land at your destination, and you can avoid those expensive data roaming charges. We LOVE this product! Use promo code NOMAD15 for 15% off ALL eSIMs (new Airalo users only) OR use NOMAD10 for 10% off ALL eSIMs (for existing Airalo users)

✅ Check out our Travel Gear  and  Travel Resources for more valuable tips to save you money!

Tasty Food Adventures

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Best Food New York City – Top 10 Eats

What to Eat in Haiti – 10 Best Foods From Haiti

Amsterdam Best Food Tour – 9 Delicious Food Stops

See all Food Adventure blogs

Expert Travel Guides

8 Smallest Countries In Europe On A Map

Is Dubai a Country? Where is Dubai?

Stranded in the Pacific – Cancelled flights, lost luggage, and coronavirus

Final 9 countries remain to visit every country in the world!

See all our Travel Guides

Trusted Hints & Tips

How Many Countries In The World Are There? Best Answer: 193!

20 Best Gifts for Travellers in 2024

9 Best Tips for the Big Lap Of Australia 

5 Things I Really Hate About Air Travel

See all our expert Hints & Tips

1 Comment .

Heyy, very useful article, thanks! Perhaps to add on your list might also be this super useful app – ATM Fee Saver – gives ATM fees and withdrawal limits in many countries, really needed needed these days as atms abroad can become so expensive. Never seen anything like this before – it us sure to help lots of other international travellers like me!!!

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41 Best Travel Apps In 2024 You Need To Download Today

Written By: The Planet D

Travel Tips

Updated On: January 5, 2024

Dave and I have always believed that the best adventures are those unplanned. Spontaneous trips, unexpected layovers, and impromptu road trips have shaped our love for travel. Yet, these exciting journeys would not have been possible without the aid of technology. That’s right, from hailing a ride in a new city to finding a place to crash for the night, there’s an app for almost everything. Let’s dive into some of our favorite travel apps, carefully divided into various categories, to enhance your travel experience.

Table of Contents

The Best Travel Apps

It is hard to believe that we have used all of these at one time or another in our travels around the world. Some of them are free travel apps and others require a subscription or you have to pay for. Regardless, each travel app listed here has either helped us save money, get cheap flights, helped with travel planning, or just made our life easier on the road. Most of these apps are available for both Android users and Apple users.

Best Apps for Transportation

1. Google Maps – Your Personalized Navigator

Remember when we got lost on the way to that hidden beach in Bali? Google Maps came to our rescue! Offering precise directions for driving, walking, cycling, or public transport, Google Maps is more than just a mapping service; it’s like having a local guide in your pocket. With real-time traffic updates, it even rerouted us around a massive traffic jam in London. It is easy to see why this is one of the best free travel apps around.

The feature that allows users to download offline maps was a lifesaver during our hike in a remote part of New Zealand. And let’s not forget the restaurant recommendations, opening hours, and reviews from other travelers that enrich our city exploration. Google Maps doesn’t just show you the way; it makes the journey an experience. Get Google Maps

2. Uber – Your Ride, Anytime, Anywhere

How many times have you been waiting for an overpriced taxi? We have had this happen countless times so always make sure to have the Uber App loaded on our phones. It is especially handy in big cities and can often be cheaper than taxis in certain countries. Our first time in NYC we were out late on a cold winter night and Taxi cabs were nowhere in sight. Thankfully, the Uber app was our savior. With just a few taps, we found ourselves a warm car and a friendly driver.

Uber provides ride-sharing services in cities across the globe. Whether you need a quick ride to the airport or a luxurious car for a special night out, Uber has options for every budget. Don’t let language barriers or unfamiliar streets deter you; let Uber take the wheel! Google Play / App Store

3. Citymapper – Navigate Like a Local

If you have ever been to London you know that navigating the London Underground can be a challenge at the best of times. (At least it was for us). That is one of the reasons we use Citymapper. With real-time updates, the best routes, and even alerts for when to get off the bus, this app turned us into savvy local commuters.

Citymapper is the go-to app for public transportation in major cities. From trains and buses to ferries and trams, Citymapper has it all covered. Save time, money, and sanity by letting Citymapper guide you through the twists and turns of urban travel. Get the Free Version of Citymapper on the Google Play / App Store

4. Lyft – A Friendly Alternative to Ridesharing

You can’t mention Uber without mentioning Lyft. Both basically provide the same service but we recommend having both loaded on your phone so you can compare fares. We were often able to find cheaper fares depending on what app we were using.

Also, when you are traveling to many different countries you soon find out that sometimes Lyft operates in countries that Uber does not and vice versa. Lyft operates in hundreds of cities in the U.S. and Canada. With various ride options and a commitment to the community, Lyft makes getting around town easy and enjoyable. Get Lyft on Google Play / App Store

5. Moovit – Public Transit Unleashed

In bustling São Paulo, Moovit was our guide to efficient public transportation. Providing real-time transit data for buses, trains, and subways, it tells you exactly when the next one is coming. It also offers service alerts, so you know if there are any delays or interruptions. Moovit demystifies public transport, making it accessible to both locals and tourists alike. Get Moovit on Google Play / App Store

Best Travel Apps for Booking Accommodation

6. VRBO – Feel at Home, Anywhere

Who could forget our cozy cabin in the Swiss Alps or that trendy loft in downtown Tokyo? VRBO made those experiences possible. It’s not just about finding a place to sleep; it’s about finding a place that feels like home.

VRBO offers unique accommodations hosted by locals. From apartments and houses to treehouses and igloos, you can find the perfect spot to match your travel vibe. Connect with hosts, explore neighborhoods, and enjoy the comfort of home while exploring the world. It is a great alternative to a generic hotel room Get VRBO

7. TripAdvisor – The Wise Traveler’s Handbook

Oh, the countless times TripAdvisor has been our compass in the chaotic world of hotels, vacation rentals, and even restaurants! We’ll never forget that charming B&B we found in Tuscany or the perfect beachside resort in Belize, all thanks to the extensive user reviews and ratings on TripAdvisor. Its intuitive filters let us tailor our searches to fit our budget, preferences, and even specific needs like pet-friendly accommodations or family suites.

But it’s more than just a booking app; it’s a community of fellow travelers. We’ve laughed and learned from reviews, discovered hidden gems, and even made some travel buddies along the way! The “Things to Do” section led us to that unforgettable cooking class in Paris, too. TripAdvisor is like having a seasoned travel buddy who knows all the insider secrets, making every trip not just a journey but a rich experience. Get TripAdvisor

8. Hotel Tonight – Last-Minute Lifesaver

Dave and I are notorious for not planning well. We often wing it, especially on a road trip. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gotten to our destination without having a place to stay. That is why the Hotel Tonight app has come in handy on more than one occasion.

For last-minute hotel stays, Hotel Tonight finds empty hotel rooms and offers discounts to travelers needing to book right now. Hotels would rather sell a night at a discounted rate than leave a room empty. So if you’re flexible and willing to take a chance (or are completely disorganized like us), Hotel Tonight is a great choice! Get Hotel Tonight on Google Play / App Store

9. Booking.com – Options Galore for Every Traveler

When we wanted to explore a range of options from hostels to luxury resorts, Booking.com was our go-to platform. Its vast selection and user reviews helped us find the perfect beach bungalow in Thailand.

Booking.com offers accommodations of all types around the world. Filter by price, amenities, or guest rating, and find the place that feels just right for your next adventure. Get Booking.com

10. Couchsurfing – Connect with Locals and Culture

Couchsurfing gave us unforgettable experiences and lifelong friendships. During our time in India, we stayed with locals who showed us the hidden gems of their city. The app connects travelers with local hosts willing to share their homes for free. It’s not just about a place to stay; it’s about cultural exchange and community. Get Couchsurfing

11. Hopper – Book Hotels with Confidence

Our spontaneous beach getaway to the Cayman Islands was made flawless with Hopper. It predicts future hotel and flight prices with 95% accuracy up to a year in advance. When we saw the beachfront villa we desired a drop in price, Hopper alerted us, and we snagged the deal! For savings and smart bookings, Hopper is the way to go. Get Hopper on Google Play / App Store

Best Travel Apps For Flights

12. Google Flights – The Savvy Traveler’s Flight Finder

Our last-minute trip to Rome? That affordable flight we found was all thanks to Google Flights. Scouring the web for the best airfares across airlines, it presented us with options we never would have found otherwise. What we adore is the “Explore” feature, where you can search for flights to any destination based on your interests, like beaches, adventure, or culture. Plus, Google Flights’ price prediction tool warned us when fares were about to rise, allowing us to book just in time for a steal! We even got suggestions for alternative airports and travel dates to save more. Google Flights is more than a flight search engine; it’s a strategic travel planner that makes flying as exciting as the destination itself. Get Google Flights

13. Skyscanner – Flights, Hotels, and Car Rentals in One Place

From planning a last-minute blogging trip to New York to a leisurely holiday in Greece, Skyscanner has been our go-to app for all travel arrangements. It searches millions of flights, hotels, and car rentals to find the best deals. Its “Everywhere” feature even suggests destinations based on your budget. Skyscanner turns wanderlust into reality. Get Skyscanner

14. Kayak – The All-In-One Travel Companion

Our spontaneous getaway to Greece wouldn’t have been possible without Kayak. This all-in-one travel platform scours hundreds of travel sites, offering the best flight options tailored to our needs. Whether booking a week in advance or searching for last-minute deals, Kayak never fails to surprise us with great bargains.

The “Explore” feature became our inspiration, displaying affordable trips from our home airport to worldwide destinations. We also love how Kayak provides a fare prediction, guiding us on the best times to purchase tickets. Don’t forget its handy alerts, which notify us of price drops for chosen routes. For flight bookings made as thrilling as the travels themselves, Kayak is our reliable co-pilot. Get Kayak

15. Skiplagged – Uncover Hidden Flight Deals

During our adventurous globetrotting, Skiplagged has been our secret weapon for finding the best-hidden deals. By utilizing loopholes in airline pricing, it exposes “hidden-city” ticketing opportunities that regular search engines miss. This means flying cheaper by booking a flight with a layover as the final destination. It’s not just about the flights; it also offers great hotel deals. For those seeking adventure and unbelievable bargains, Skiplagged is a thrilling treasure hunt. Get Skiplagged

Best Apps for Booking Tours

16. Viator – Your Gateway to Adventures

Standing in line for hours to get tickets for the Colosseum? Not us! Viator took care of that and even threw in a guided tour with an actual historian. It turned a simple visit into an unforgettable experience.

Viator is a marketplace for tour operators, offering access to thousands of sightseeing tours, attractions, and experiences around the world. From skip-the-line tickets to private excursions, Viator connects you with the adventures that make travel truly extraordinary. Get Viator here

17. Klook – Explore Like Never Before

We were clueless about what to do in Hong Kong, but Klook turned our trip into a gastronomic and cultural feast. From dim sum making classes to nighttime harbor cruises, Klook offers activities that go beyond the typical tourist path.

Klook makes discovering activities and experiences in your travel destination easy and fun. Browse handpicked experiences, enjoy exclusive deals, and book with confidence. Turn your trip into an adventure with Klook! Get Klook here .

18. GetYourGuide – Customized Tours at Your Fingertips

We wanted to explore Rome at night, and GetYourGuide made it happen with a Vespa tour! Personalized experiences and excellent customer service set this app apart.

GetYourGuide helps you find and book tours, attractions, and activities. Create your perfect travel experience with exclusive offers and local insights. Get GetYourGuide

30. Airbnb Experiences – More Than Just Accommodations

Airbnb isn’t just for finding a place to stay. We discovered that Airbnb Experiences offers unique activities hosted by locals. In Tokyo, we joined a traditional tea ceremony led by a master. From art classes to food tours, Airbnb Experiences adds a personal touch to any trip, connecting you with the local culture and community. Get Airbnb Experiences

Travel Apps for Staying Connected

19. WhatsApp – Stay in Touch Without a Hitch

When we backpacked through South East Asia, Dave’s mom needed her daily updates. WhatsApp made international texting and calling a breeze. It’s our go-to for staying connected with friends and family, no matter where our travels take us.

WhatsApp is a free messaging app that works over your phone’s internet connection. You can call, text, and send pictures and videos without worrying about international charges. Group chats are perfect for sharing your journey with everyone back home. Get WhatsApp here.

20. Skyroam – Internet Everywhere You Roam

Skyroam is like magic. Seriously, how else would we have had internet while camping in the Australian Outback? It’s a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that lets you connect multiple devices in over 130 countries.

Whether you need to work on the go or just want to share your travel experiences in real time, Skyroam ensures that you’re never without a reliable internet connection. Pay for what you use, and stay connected everywhere. Get Skyroam

21. Google Fi – Flexible Mobile Service for Travelers

In Japan, our usual mobile plans were too costly. Google Fi offered a flexible solution with smooth service even in remote areas.

Google Fi adapts to your needs, providing data and calling in over 200 countries without the need for special plans or SIM cards. Stay connected without the usual travel hassles. Get Google Fi

22. Skype – Bridging Miles with Video Calls

Our business doesn’t stop when we travel, and Skype has been vital for our remote work. Offering video conferencing, screen sharing, and real-time translation, it has helped us conduct business seamlessly across continents. For professional or personal connections, Skype is a global communication powerhouse. Get Skype here.

Never again have we fretted about roaming charges or buying local SIM cards, thanks to Airalo E-Sims. With a wide selection of plans, it let us use our phones just like we do at home. Staying connected abroad has never been easier or more affordable. Get Airalo

Language and Language Translation Apps

24. Duolingo – Your Friendly Language Guide

Hablas Español? We didn’t, but Duolingo helped us with the basics before our trip to Spain. From ordering tapas to asking directions, Duolingo made communicating fun and accessible.

Duolingo offers bite-sized language lessons that feel more like games. Choose from dozens of languages, set your pace, and watch your fluency grow. It’s a delightful way to immerse yourself in the local culture. Get Duolingo here.

25. Rosetta Stone – Dive Deeper into Language

For those wanting to delve into the language’s heart and soul, Rosetta Stone is our recommendation. Dave’s Italian improved dramatically, turning our trip to Florence into a linguistic adventure.

Rosetta Stone focuses on immersive learning, helping you think and speak in a new language. Detailed lessons, interactive exercises, and real-life scenarios make it a comprehensive language-learning tool. Get Rosetta Stone here.

26. Babbel – Conversational Skills in Real-Life Situations

Want to chat like a local? Babbel’s real-life scenarios helped us break the ice with locals in Germany. Practical and engaging, it’s a winner.

Babbel focuses on helping you have real conversations in a new language. Lessons are tailored to everyday situations, making them practical for travelers. Get Babbel here.

27. Google Translate App – Our Multilingual Travel Companion

Let’s take a moment to relive our unforgettable journey to Japan. Without speaking a word of Japanese, how did we manage to navigate the bustling streets of Tokyo, order delectable sushi, and make friends with locals? Our secret weapon was Google Translate! This extraordinary app is like having a personal interpreter right in our pocket. From typing in phrases to translating handwritten kanji characters or even snapping a photo of a menu, Google Translate unlocked doors we never knew existed.

And remember the time we chatted with a delightful elderly couple in Kyoto? We spoke in English; they replied in Japanese, and Google Translate bridged the gap, creating a connection beyond words. With support for over 100 languages, it’s not just an app; it’s a passport to understanding and being understood, no matter where our adventures take us. From “hello” to “thank you,” Google Translate makes the world feel a little bit smaller, and our travels a whole lot richer. Get Google Translate

Travel Apps for Camping and Glamping

28. Hipcamp – Discover Hidden Camping Gems

Remember our night under the stars in California? Hipcamp made it happen. This app unlocks access to unique camping experiences on farms, vineyards, public parks, and more.

Hipcamp is like Airbnb but for camping. Browse thousands of locations, check availability, and book your next outdoor adventure. Whether you’re a traditional camper or prefer a little glam in your camping, Hipcamp has something for you. Get Hipcamp on Google Play / App Store

29. AllTrails – Find Your Perfect Hike

Our hike in the Rockies was unforgettable, thanks to AllTrails. From easy strolls to challenging mountain treks, AllTrails lets you explore the great outdoors with confidence.

AllTrails offers detailed trail maps, reviews, and user-submitted photos. Filter by difficulty, distance, or rating, and find the perfect trail for your next hike, bike ride, or run. Get AllTrails

30. Gaia GPS – The Ultimate Navigation for Outdoor Enthusiasts

Lost in the woods? Not us, thanks to Gaia GPS. From off-grid trails to topographical maps, this app is an outdoor lover’s dream. Gaia GPS provides detailed maps and navigation tools for hikers, bikers, and campers. Customize your maps and routes to explore the wilderness safely. Get Gaia GPS

31. The Dyrt – Camp with Confidence

On our quest for the best beach camping in California, The Dyrt became our trusted guide. With user-generated reviews, photos, and details of over 42,000 campgrounds, it gives you the lowdown on every site. Its community-driven content ensures that you always find the perfect spot to pitch your tent or park your RV. Get The Dyrt here.

32. Glamping Hub – Luxury in the Wilderness

For our anniversary, we wanted something special. Glamping Hub connected us to a luxurious camping tent in California. Offering unique accommodations like yurts, treehouses, and airstreams, it’s the place to find a unique outdoor stay with all the comforts of home. If you seek nature with a touch of luxury, Glamping Hub is your ticket. Get Glamping Hub

Best Apps for Travel Itinerary Management

33. TripIt – Your Personal Travel Assistant

Do you remember our chaotic escapade in Greece, where we almost missed the flight? TripIt was our lifesaver then. It consolidates all your travel details into one place, regardless of where you booked them. Flight details, hotel bookings, car rentals – it keeps everything neatly organized in one itinerary.

Real-time alerts about gate changes, delays, and cancellations keep you a step ahead. Plus, it’s not just for flights; TripIt can store plans for concerts, restaurants, and more. Never scramble through emails again; TripIt keeps your travel stress-free. Get TripIt

34. PackPoint – Never Forget Your Toothbrush Again

From the beaches of Bali to the icy landscapes of Greenland, PackPoint ensures you pack right every time. It creates a customized packing list based on weather, activities, and trip length, even reminding me to pack thermals for that Arctic winter escapade. No more forgotten essentials or overpacking, PackPoint is like having a personal packing assistant who knows exactly what you’ll need. Travel light and smart with PackPoint. Get PackPoint

35. TripCase – Keep All Travel Details Organized

TripCase helped us organize a complicated multi-country journey in Asia with ease. By simply forwarding confirmation emails, it creates a detailed itinerary with all bookings and reservations. With real-time alerts, document storage, and collaboration features, it keeps all travel information in one place. Stress-free travel is just an app away from TripCase. Get TripCase here

36. Pocket Earth – Offline Maps and Travel Guides

When we ventured off the beaten path in Kyrgyzstan, Pocket Earth was our guiding star. It provides offline maps, travel guides, and itinerary planning without needing internet access. Whether hiking in remote areas or exploring a city without Wi-Fi, Pocket Earth ensures you never lose your way. Get Pocket Earth here.

Best Travel Apps for Finding Food

37. Yelp – Find the Best Local Bites

From the finest sushi in Tokyo to Michelin-star restaurants in Spain, Yelp has led us to gastronomic heaven. With millions of reviews, ratings, and pictures from locals and travelers, Yelp provides insight into the best eateries around you. You can even make reservations and order takeout. Whether you want to dine like a local or indulge in gourmet delights, Yelp is your food guide to the world. Get Yelp

38. HappyCow – Veggie Love Worldwide

If you are a vegetarian, dining abroad could be tricky, but not with HappyCow. From vegan eateries in Prague to vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Buenos Aires, HappyCow is the ultimate directory. Browse user-submitted reviews, and photos, and save favorites. Filter by dietary preferences and find eateries that cater to your culinary choices. Don’t just eat; savor the flavors of the world, cruelty-free, with HappyCow. Get HappyCow .

39. OpenTable – Dining Reservations Made Easy

That popular Parisian bistro on a Saturday night? No problem with OpenTable. Browse menus, read reviews, and book tables at thousands of restaurants worldwide. Whether planning a romantic dinner in Rome or a family brunch in New York, OpenTable ensures you have the perfect spot. Customize your dining experience with preferences for table size, location, and time, all at the touch of a button. Dine in style, every time, with OpenTable. Get OpenTable

40. Vegan Maps – Plant-Based Eating Made Easy

A plant-based diet is no longer a hurdle on our travels, thanks to Vegan Maps. It lists vegan and vegetarian restaurants, cafes, and stores worldwide. User reviews and ratings guide you to the best options. In places where veganism was uncommon, Vegan Maps became our culinary compass. Get Vegan Maps .

41. Eater – For the Food-Obsessed Traveler

When we wanted to dive into Tokyo’s food scene, Eater was our gourmet guide. Providing city-specific food news, dining guides, and reviews, it helps you find the best restaurants, bars, and cafes wherever you are. If food is an essential part of your travels, Eater keeps you in the know. Get Eater here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What app do I need to travel?

Apps like TripIt for itinerary management, Airbnb for accommodations, and Google Maps for navigation are essential for smooth traveling.

Which is the most downlo a ded travel app?

As of this writing, apps like Airbnb, Uber, and TripAdvisor are among the most downloaded travel apps.

What app can I use to book a flight and hotel together?

Platforms like Expedia and Kayak allow you to book flights and hotels together, often providing discounts for bundled bookings.

Is there an app to store travel documents?

Apps like TripIt and Google Drive can store and organize your travel documents, ensuring that you have all the necessary information handy.

Traveling can be as unpredictable as it is exciting. Whether you’re like Dave and me, always on a whimsical adventure, or meticulously planning every step, these travel apps will be your virtual companions. From finding the best local food to ensuring you pack your toothbrush, technology has indeed revolutionized the way we travel.

Embarking on your next adventure? Make sure these apps are your travel buddies, and let the world be your playground!

Discover More Travel Planning Resources

• Best Travel Tips
• The Ultimate Pre-Travel Checklist
• What to Pack for a First Aid Travel Kit
• The Best Travel Gear – Unique Ideas for Smart Packing
• Essential Tips for Essential Travel
• The Best Anti Theft Travel Bags and Accessories
• The Ultimate Travel Packing List (By Professional Travellers)

Travel Planning Resources

Looking to book your next trip? Why not use these resources that are tried and tested by yours truly.

Book Your Flights: Start planning your trip by finding the best flight deals on Skyscanner. We have used them for years and have found that they have the best flight deals.

Book your Hotel: Find the best prices on hotels with these two providers. If you are located in Europe use Booking.com and if you are anywhere else use TripAdvisor.

Find Apartment Rentals: You will find the cheapest prices on apartment rentals with VRBO . 

Travel Insurance: Don't leave home without it. Here is what we recommend:

• Safety Wing - Occasional Travelers.
• Medjet - Global air medical transport and travel security.

Book Your Activities: Looking for walking tours, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more? Then we recommend Get Your Guide.

Need more help planning your trip? Make sure to check out our Resources Page where we highlight all the great companies that we trust when we are traveling.

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About The Planet D

Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil are the owners and founders of The Planet D. After traveling to 115 countries, on all 7 continents over the past 13 years they have become one of the foremost experts in travel. Being recognized as top travel bloggers and influencers by the likes of Forbes Magazine , the Society of American Travel Writers and USA Today has allowed them to become leaders in their field.

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12 thoughts on “41 Best Travel Apps In 2024 You Need To Download Today”

Thank you for this fantastic article!

loved your recos on Skiplagged and vegan maps! had no idea these exist. i also came across atm fee saver – this one showed me list of atms with no fees in 4 countries i was travelling in. was suuper happy saving up!! could be on your list also!

Fantastic post! Thanks for sharing.

Great post! Thanks for sharing.

I love travel maybe i’ll visit one of these soon. thanks for sharing.

I really like your blog. I haven’t heard most of these apps before, which can help me to plan my trip. I will check them out. Thank you for sharing.

I love traveling and some of these apps are really helpful. Thanks a lot for sharing this. I might try some of them too.

This is a great list of travel apps and I use most of them especially Hopper, Kayak and XE. For hotels I usually go to Booking’s app but it depends as for Asia Agoda has the best prices. I didn’t know about KnowRoaming and I will definitely give it a try. Thanks

I’d like to share a short story with you and your readers. In January I got engaged in Thailand and my fiance had a visa to come visit me in Spain this spring. Shortly after the Covid virus appeared and basically destroyed our travel plans. Despite the fact I was checking the entry restrictions to Spain twice daily, my fiance’s visa expired yesterday, June 1. Life happens and we will get another visa. But I came up with an idea for an app which allows users to check the current entry restrictions for any country. It is called Open Borders and is very simple but I hope travelers appreciate it. Feel free to check it out on Google’s play store.

its really helpful information for travel blogger. thanks.

These are some incredible recommendations! I’ve used a lot of the “pre-trip” apps, for example, SkyScanner and the like, but not so much of the “while traveling” ones, aside from Uber or Lyft. I’ll be sure to download some of these and try them out on my next adventure. I’m particularly interested in CityMapper because I prefer to take public transportation when I’m in a new city.

ExpressVPN worked great when I was in China. Highly recommended.

I too have been an enthusiastic reviewer and user of TripAdvisor – until recently. One of the best aspects of how TripAdvisor USED to work is your own reviews were categorized by location. So if I wanted to be reminded what that restaurant we loved in Dusseldorf was called it was easy to look it up. About a year ago that system was dropped so now all my 700+ reviews are just listed in reverse chronological order and anything over 5 years old has been dumped – not that anyone has the time to scroll back through hundreds of screens to get back that far. This change is a real disincentive to writing any more reviews. I haven’t contributed in a while as a result. I’ve communicated my disappointment to TripAdvisor twice so far – with no result. If they fixed this I’d be back contributing in a heartbeat.

The 10 Best Travel Apps

These days, everyone travels with a smartphone. Beyond the ability to take endless selfies and keep in touch with family back home, they provide us with a never-ending stream of tools and apps to help us plan our travels and deal with any hiccups we encounter on the road.

Unfortunately, while there’s no shortage of travel apps, most of them are terrible.

To help you avoid downloading (and maybe even paying for) apps that aren’t worth your time, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite travel apps. These apps will save you time, money, and help you make the most of your travels. They’re the apps I think every traveler should have on their phone before they leave home.

Table of Contents

1. GetYourGuide

2. loungebuddy, 3. hostelworld, 4. skyscanner, 6. xe currency converter, 7. google translate, 8. happycow, 9. gasbuddy, 10. wanderboat.

Whether you’re in the planning stages and looking for things to fill out your upcoming itinerary or you’re already in a new country and want something to do later that day, GetYourGuide can help. I’ve used them a bunch and always have a great time!

LoungeBuddy takes the pain out of the process. After entering your credit card, airline status, and lounge memberships, the app tells you which lounges you can access at any given airport. It makes even the longest layover tolerable so you can relax and enjoy your travels. And if you don’t have status, you can book lounge access directly through the app. It’s easy to use, and free to download.  

You can also use the app to see who else is staying at the hostel. You can join a group chat for the hostel and connect with travelers to make plans before you arrive. In short, it’s a must-download app for backpackers and solo travelers. The app is free to download.  

The best feature of the app, however, is the ability to search for flights to everywhere . You simply input your departure airport and the dates you want to travel, and it will bring up all the potential options — from cheapest to most expensive — so you can browse for ideas without needing to check each one manually.

If you want to save money on flights, this app is a must. The app is free too.  

The basic version is free while the pro version is $49 USD per year.  

If you have to stay on budget (and don’t want to get ripped off), download this app. It’s free.  

The app can read out your text too so you can hear how it is properly pronounced, and you can also use your camera to take photos of text that it can translate too (which is helpful if you need to read ingredients while shopping, for example). The app is free.  

The app is free but for $9.99 USD per month, you can upgrade to premium, which saves you 20 cents a gallon (up to 50 gallons) and provides 24/7 roadside assistance.

Wanderboat is an AI-based travel companion site that you can use for inspiration on where to go, what to do, and how to build your itinerary. Its recommendations are highly tailored and customizable to your preferences, and it will provide in-depth explanations, images and video to visualize everything you want to include on your trip.

While it’s important to not spend your entire trip on your phone or social media, there are times when using your smartphone can easily improve the quality of your trip, keep you safe, and save you money. By downloading the apps above, you’ll be able to have a much smoother trip, giving you more time, energy, and money to invest in your next adventure.  

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner . It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld . If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

• SafetyWing (best for everyone)
• InsureMyTrip (for those 70 and over)
• Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage)

Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals.

Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more.

Got a comment on this article? Join the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter and share your thoughts!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to keeping the site community supported and ad free.

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7 Useful Apps Every Traveler Should Know About

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Technology continues to make travel easier for millions of people around the globe. New apps offer travelers fresh ways to research a destination, connect with fellow globetrotters, communicate with locals, and track their flights. As a full-time digital nomad , I’ve learned the importance of having the right tools at your disposal when on the road.

Over the past few years, I’ve visited dozens of countries, flown hundreds of thousands of miles, and tested countless apps to find the ones that prove to be the most helpful. And while tools like Meetup, Google Maps, Google Translate, currency converters, and vacation rental , airline, and hotel–specific apps are in fact indispensable on most trips, I find that many of the best travel apps are still undiscovered by my fellow travelers.

Below, seven travel apps that make life on the go markedly easier (and more fun), from real-time flight trackers to photo-sharing gems—all of these apps are free, but some have paid pro versions worth considering. Don’t think these apps are only for full-time travelers—they prove useful for every type of traveler, whether you're in a brand-new destination or back for a return visit.

Discover the best apps for travelers:

Apps for flying, apps for exploring, apps for photo sharing.

My favorite app on this list is Flighty, a must-have for any frequent flier . The free version is fantastic, but I recommend splurging for the premium version, which gives you even more useful information and comes at a reasonable cost of $48 per year. The functionality it provides more than justifies the price.

The free version allows you to input all future flights plus past journeys you've taken within the last year. It provides updated information if any schedule changes occur to upcoming flights and allows you to track all the miles you’ve flown in one place.

The other main benefit is that it allows you to share your flight information with friends and family members who are also on Flighty. They will receive real-time updates about your flight without you having to text them. My parents love to make sure I’m safe so they appreciate getting detailed information about my travels—even while I’m in the air.

Flightradar24 is a favorite app among fellow aviation geeks. It lets you track almost any aircraft you see in the air throughout the day or night. You can track your own flight, a friend's flight, or any plane you see in real-time. It shares plenty of cool data, like the altitude, speed, arrival and departure airports and times, and tail number.

There are tons of eSIM apps on the market, but Airalo is probably my favorite, with digital SIM cards available for dozens of countries. I find it to be the most reliable and offers the best data packages. It can be a little pricey, but it is the best option if you’re only taking short trips. Holafly is another eSIM app that offers unlimited data and works well, but I find the app to be much more glitchy than Airalo and would recommend using the desktop version.

This one is for the planner of the group. Wanderlog merges the best of a bunch of different apps into one. Imagine an app that lets you plan a trip with ease: collaborate with friends as if you’re on Google Docs, manage expense tracking like Splitwise, and have a central place for your reservations, checklists, and more. Tripit is a similar travel planner app, so you can download both and get a feel for which interface you like better.

Been allows you to track the countries you’ve visited and make a wish list of places you can’t wait to cross off your travel bucket list . It gives you information like the percentage of the globe you’ve been to and shows you a world map of your trips. It’s always fun to add in a new country whenever I reach my destination.

This app was introduced to me by fellow nomads I met at a cafe in Montevideo, Uruguay . It automatically tracks your route across the world, allowing you to quickly upload pictures throughout your travels that can be viewed by anyone who has access to your profile. It’s an excellent way to share important moments with loved ones without needing to send photos to each person individually. Users can also create easily accessible guides filled with up-to-date information to help you plan your own trip.

Steller is another app that a friend recently introduced me to, and I’ve quickly fallen in love with it. It uses a combination of AI and user experiences to help you plan trips around the globe. From recommendations of things to see, like the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires or the Royal Palace of Naples, to full guidebooks created by users, you can get inspired, book experiences, and discover hidden gems within this app.

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30 essential travel apps every traveler needs before their next trip

When it comes to planning and taking a vacation, travelers rely on their phones now more than ever.

Travel apps are a source of inspiration and are extremely useful for booking and managing logistics — even making restaurant reservations or finding a great fitness class wherever in the world you're flying next.

From apps that help with everything from day-of hotel bookings and last-minute flight changes to those that serve as guidebooks and foreign-language dictionaries, travel is infinitely easier thanks to technology.

Apps can help you navigate a new city, make currency conversions, pack a perfect suitcase and even provide on-the-ground local expertise. Whatever you need when you hit the road, there's an app for that.

We've rounded up the most-loved apps here at TPG. Some may be obvious, and others more obscure, but either way, get ready to download.

Best apps for researching and booking trips

In addition to the apps for the airlines you fly most frequently and your favorite hotel brands, these apps can help you save money on flights and accommodations.

Hopper has changed in recent years from just offering a price prediction tool for flights to being a true online travel agency. The app helps travelers find the cheapest flights, hotels and rental cars.

Of course, Hopper also still offers its signature price prediction technology to help you plan out when to book, as well as travel protection options and a price freeze to help you lock in the lowest possible price on hotels and flights.

Kiwi is used mainly to book flights, but it also helps you book hotels (using its partnership with Booking.com) and car rentals (using its partnership with RentalCars.com).

Some of the app's most interesting features include the "Deals" section, which pulls in discounted flights, and the "Travel hacks" section, which includes options for hidden city ticketing, throwaway ticketing (making one-way flights more affordable) and free price alerts.

Hotel Tonight

A dream for last-minute travelers, Hotel Tonight ( now owned by Airbnb ) lets you book stays for the same evening up to a few months in advance in thousands of cities worldwide. Available hotel rooms are categorized into sections like basic, luxe, hip, charming and solid, so you can select what works for your vibe. Take advantage of the daily drop feature, where you swipe to find a personalized deal with a special price only valid for 15 minutes after unlocked.

At TPG, we love a good loyalty program, and HT Perks, the app's nine-level reward program, is extensive. Not unlike a video game, you "level up" by reaching specific spending thresholds on the app, and you'll gain access to perks like discounts, VIP customer support and credits. Also, your levels never expire, so you can only continue to move up.

To book home rentals instead of hotels, use the Airbnb app. After entering your destination and dates, you can filter results based on the home type, price, requisite amenities and more. If you find something you like, you can book directly through the app.

The app is ideal for managing your trips while on the road — you can access all your bookings under the "Trips" tab, where you can view your reservation (and the address or directions), contact the host or change your reservation. Once you have a booking, you can also explore and book local experiences in your destination, such as wine tastings, kayak tours, hikes, shows and concerts.

We can't talk about travel apps without mentioning the TPG App. Use it to track your credit card, airline and hotel points balances; earn points and miles efficiently through using the right credit card ; and research how many points or miles you'll need to book your dream getaway. You can even curate your own news feed so you see the news and advice that matters most to you first.

The TPG App is available for download on iOS . Android users can join the waitlist here .

Related: The TPG App has arrived — here's why you should download it now

Best apps for organizing a trip

From keeping all your documents in order to perfectly packing your suitcase without forgetting a thing, these are the best apps for organizing travel plans.

TripIt declutters your itineraries and documents by keeping them organized in one place. You can set your reservations to automatically send to TripIt, which lets you view travel confirmations, flight itineraries, tickets, hotel and Airbnb booking information, rental car reservations, ferry tickets and driving directions without ever leaving the app.

TripIt also makes it simple to share your trip plans with whoever picks you up from the airport or train station or anyone else who may need to coordinate with you. TripIt Pro subscriptions cost $49 per year and include extras like real-time flight alerts, security wait times, baggage claim information and updates on your loyalty reward programs.

Roadtrippers

Perfect for organizing that epic road trip you've always wanted to take, Roadtrippers plans out your driving route and lets you book hotels and activities along the way. The app is especially useful for finding interesting and off-the-beaten-path roadside attractions, cool restaurants and can't-miss landmarks you can bookmark.

A Roadtrippers Premium membership includes offline maps, live traffic information, overnight RV parking and more for $59.99 per year. For those looking to only venture on a few road trips per year, the app also offers a Pro ($49.99 per year) and Basic ($35.99 per year) membership.

PackPoint takes all the stress out of packing . The app shows you what to bring based on the length of your trip, the weather in your destination and any activities you're planning along the way. If you have access to laundry facilities at your destination, PackPoint even allows you to account for washing your clothes and wearing them multiple times.

Just download and install the app, type in the city you're visiting and plug in your travel details. So, stop waiting until the day before your trip — or the hours before you have to leave for the airport — and start packing now.

Best apps for navigating the airport and flights

Track flights, navigate airports and find airport lounges with these apps.

LoungeBuddy

LoungeBuddy offers access to premium airport lounges around the world, regardless of the airline or class you're flying. When you create a trip in the app and type in the credit cards you currently hold, it will tell you which lounges you have access to based on the airports you'll be transiting through and how to purchase access if you don't already have it.

You can purchase access on the day you're traveling or up to two months in advance if you're the plan-ahead type. If you prefer to search by lounge or lounge program, the app will tell you exactly what is needed to use them.

Priority Pass

Priority Pass offers access to more than 1,300 lounges worldwide and provides meal vouchers at select airport restaurants across the world for an annual fee starting at $99.

Several cards, including The Platinum Card® from American Express , the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve , offer Priority Pass memberships for all cardholders (enrollment required). Otherwise, you'll have to pay an annual fee to be a member and, depending on your membership tier, a fee to enter each lounge on top of the annual fee.

To use the Priority Pass app, enter the name or code of the airport you're in, and Priority Pass will pull up the lounges or restaurants that you have access to, including photos, hours, amenities and specific location information. For more information on the Priority Pass Program and how to gain lounge access, click here . Enrollment is required for select benefits.

Related: The best credit cards for Priority Pass lounge access

FlightAware

The FlightAware app allows you to track flights online, see a live map of a flight and check on delays, cancellations and gate changes. This app is especially helpful if you have a tight connection or want to track your flight.

It's also useful when picking up friends and family at the airport, as you can track their flight and see updated landing times or delays. AvGeeks will enjoy digging into flight statistics, flight maps and community aviation discussions on the app.

Best apps to use during your flight

Timeshifter.

What better way to cure jet lag than with an app? Timeshifter actually helps you avoid jet lag long before your flight takes off and also offers inflight and post-flight suggestions. The app relies on neuroscience research about sleep and circadian rhythms to provide personalized recommendations, taking into consideration your age, gender and normal sleep patterns — as well as specifics about your trip and travel plans. Timeshifter maps out when you should avoid or seek light, take a nap or try to stay awake. It even tells you if you should consider supplementing with melatonin or caffeine.

Your first jet lag plan is free, then $9.99 per plan, or you can enjoy unlimited plans for a year for $24.99.

Flying can cause anxiety — or provide a welcome relief from constant contact with our digital devices. Either way, use travel as an opportunity to relax, meditate or listen to soothing sounds that will lull you to sleep or a deep, relaxed state. Or, perhaps, you'll simply find it helps pass the time during a long flight.

Calm offers meditations on topics such as self-awareness, calming anxiety, breathing, lowering stress levels and happiness, among others. The app also has music options for focusing, relaxing and sleeping, as well as stories for adults and content for kids.

A limited selection of meditations and music is available for free (which you can download to use when you're offline or in flight). The premium version of the app costs $14.99 per month or $69.99 annually.

OK, so Netflix isn't really a travel app, but it can be a lifesaver during a long flight on an aircraft without seatback inflight entertainment or at the airport during an unexpected flight delay or boring layover. If you have a Netflix account, the app allows you to download your favorite shows onto your device to watch offline.

Just make sure to download your shows while connected to Wi-Fi before flying and check them again preflight to make sure they haven't expired (you can usually renew any expired downloads, but you must be connected to Wi-Fi or data to do so). Monthly prices vary depending on the plan.

Another app that's not really a travel app, Spotify can still be incredibly useful during tedious travel moments — just pop in those noise-canceling headphones and listen to your favorite music, meditations, podcasts and more.

The app's Premium plans (prices vary) allow you to download all your content offline on your phone, so you'll have it during long flights or when you don't have data or Wi-Fi access. Whether you want to take a morning jog in Bali to your favorite tunes or pass the time with a podcast on the metro in Barcelona, Spotify has it all.

Best apps to use in your destination

From exchanging money and sightseeing to communicating and knowing all the local tips and tricks, you don't want to land in a foreign city for the first time without these key apps.

XE Currency Converter

The XE Currency Converter app quickly provides live, up-to-the-minute currency rates, then allows you to store and view them even when you're offline. You'll never need to wonder if you're really getting a good deal in another country if you have this app.

Google Translate

Google Translate is a translation app that allows you to do it all — translate into more than 100 languages by typing, access 59 languages offline, translate via photo, translate bilingual conversations and even use the handwriting tool to translate.

The app is simple to use, too, with icons at the top you can click on to draw, take a photo, speak or type.

Not quite sure how much to tip when traveling internationally? GlobeTips will advise you on how to tip appropriately in more than 200 countries. It also offers a tip calculator for easy math. Globe also has apps for currency conversion, unit conversion and more that may be useful for travelers.

Related: The ultimate guide to tipping while traveling

For travelers globe-trotting with friends and family members or simply splitting the cost between groups, Tricount calculates shared costs and splits bills so you don't have to think twice about who owes what. Just enter your trip and currency and invite your travel mates to join your trip.

Each time someone pays for something, you enter the amount in Tricount, and the app splits everything up. You can also snap and store photos of receipts in the app. At the end of your trip, it will show the balances of who owes who what, making it easy to settle up.

Metric Conversions

Never be baffled by Celsius temperatures or suitcase weight in kilograms again with the Metric Conversions app . Whether you're measuring flour to cook at your Airbnb, figuring out distances for your Europe road trip or deciding whether to take a sweatshirt with you during your walking tour of the Great Wall of China, this app has you covered with easy conversions in volume, weight, temperature, area and more.

Google Maps

Google Maps is essential when visiting a new city (or even for getting around your hometown). You can map locations, get directions (walking, driving, public transportation, ride-hailing services and beyond) and see how crowded your subway will be in select cities .

You can make restaurant reservations, save your favorite spots and read and write reviews of attractions, eateries, shops and more. Make sure to download specific city or area maps ahead of time for offline access if you know you'll be without internet at your destination. For obvious reasons, the app works best when your GPS is turned on.

WhatsApp is a handy messaging service for travelers abroad as it uses an internet connection to avoid SMS fees.

It works like most other messaging apps: You start by creating an account, then add your friends and family members to contact and voila! You're able to call, video chat and send messages, images, voice memos, gifs and files just as you would in, say, iMessage (but with Android users too). You can also download WhatsApp on your Windows or Mac computer.

Best apps for planning activities

Traveling is about more than just getting from point A to point B. If you're looking for activities to add to your itinerary, check out these apps.

Meetup is an app designed for interacting with locals and other travelers who have mutual interests or shared hobbies. Whether you're traveling or at home, take what you love and do more of it with Meetup.

The app shows you groups that are formed around particular interests in your city, including yoga, photography, cooking, wine tasting, hiking, cinema and other activities. You can join groups to get updates on particular events you may want to participate in. The app can even help with networking, as there are many groups dedicated to business and technology. You might even be able to join a coworking group. Travelers with kids can participate in family-friendly meetups, and it's a great way for solo travelers to make friends and connect with others.

TheFork is one of the most useful resources for making restaurant reservations in Europe. Similar to OpenTable or Resy, the app lets you browse different restaurants by category and make reservations. TheFork features more than 60,000 restaurants in cities like London, Madrid and Geneva, as well as spots outside of Europe like Sydney, Australia.

The biggest perk is that many restaurant reservations come with discounts — in some cases, you can get up to 50% off your meal just by reserving a table through TheFork. Since we here at TPG are always down for earning rewards, make sure to monitor your YUMS — TheFork's reward system. You'll earn YUMS with each reservation, and when you hit 1,000, you receive a discount on your bill. Foodie travelers should also consider downloading these apps , too.

Happy Cow helps vegan and vegetarian eaters locate more than 180,000 restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, farmers markets and grocery stores in over 180 countries around the world. The app allows you to filter by not only vegan and vegetarian but also gluten-free and cuisine types. You can also read reviews and get recipes on the app as well.

The app does cost $3.99, but it's a one-time expense.

TripAdvisor

Besides reading reviews of restaurants, hotels and attractions, you can book almost anything on TripAdvisor, from vacation rentals and restaurant reservations to tours and tickets.

The app has grown to include almost all things travel, allowing you to search by destination or interest (like the outdoors, food and drink, family or by the water, for example), which can give you inspiration for a trip or help you get your activities, meals and accommodations organized before traveling or on the fly.

With over 400,000 curated trails, AllTrails can help you find the hike or walk perfect for you and your group. It's not just mountain trails — AllTrails offers city walks, too, like easy meanders through the Marais district in Paris or peaceful strolls through Bangkok's Lumpini Park in Thailand.

See photos, updated weather predictions and key information about each route and connect with other travelers through reviews and forums. Access to AllTrails+ is $35.99 per year, which offers perks like offline maps and wrong turn alerts.

Best apps for staying safe

Use these apps to stay safe when traveling.

Smart Traveler

Smart Traveler is a free service that offers tips and information specifically for U.S. travelers. You can see what visas and vaccines you'll need before traveling and where to find help if you need it during your trip.

Register your trip on the app, which gives your information to local embassies and consulates in your destination. If there's any kind of disaster or tragedy, the local embassy can contact you to see if you need help.

TripWhistle

Another app dedicated to keeping you safe, TripWhistle maps your location and allows you to easily text or send your GPS coordinates or location. It also provides emergency numbers for firefighters, medical personnel and police in nearly 200 countries. After all, 911 is only for U.S.-based emergencies: Each country has its own specific emergency number.

Yes, Uber (or any local ride-hailing service app) is convenient, but it may also keep you safe. Using this app when traveling means you'll never get stuck wandering around in an unfamiliar area late at night or have to deal with unscrupulous taxi drivers trying to scam you. Uber also has in-app safety features such as an emergency assistance button which will allow you to call local emergency services right in the app.

What are you looking for?

35 best travel apps [the definitive 2024 guide].

Traveling is one of the best things in the world, but the fact is that it can be difficult to plan a trip , especially when you’re on a budget or you’re just not sure where to start.

Luckily, there are plenty of fantastic apps out there that can help you with so many things! 

Whether you’re looking to …

• Organize a trip
• Find travel inspiration
• Book accommodation
• Or keep entertained on the go

There really are endless options when it comes to apps for travel. 

Some of them will allow you to benefit from in-app discounts, others will help you find the best tours in the area, and many of them are simply there for inspiration! 

Wherever you’re planning to travel, there are some applications out there that will help you along the way and make your life so much easier.

Although the majority of apps in this guide have a desktop version too, it’s often much handier to have the platform right at your fingertips! 

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the best travel apps (in our opinion at least …).

Travellerspoint

The best apps for organizing your trip

1. wanderlog.

Cost: Freemium: Free, Pro Monthly: $16.99 per month, Pro Annual: $49.99

Device: Android / iPhone

Review score: Google Play: 4.7/5, Apple Store: 4.9/5

Best feature: You can collaborate with friends and family if you’re traveling as a group 

Wanderlog is a travel itinerary and trip planner that allows you to create the trip of your dreams without hassle. 

You can create a fully mapped-out itinerary of your travels, take inspiration from free guides, and put a budget together for your trip. 

However, one of the best things about Wanderlog is that you can collaborate on a trip itinerary together. This makes traveling as a group super easy!

Wanderlog is undoubtedly one of the best travel planning apps out there, and has so much to offer.

The free version is incredible, but if you’re looking for enhanced features such as being able to use the service offline or exporting information to Google Maps, then you can pay a subscription fee. 

2. Get Your Guide

Review score: Google Play: 4.7/5, Apple Store: 4.8/5

Best feature: Get Your Guide has a very flexible free cancellation policy

We always use Get Your Guide when we travel as it’s one of the best ways to search for experiences and tours in your chosen destination. 

All you have to do is type in your city or place, and there will be a wide variety of activities available. This can include safaris, city tours, theme parks, and cruises, so there’s something for everyone! 

You can even purchase city passes like this New York City Pass which can save you up to 40% off attractions.

Booking activities and tours through Get Your Guide allows you to look at reviews, book attractions in advance, and compare prices!

They also have a very flexible cancellation policy, no booking fees, and mobile-friendly tickets so you won’t need to print anything out.

Best feature: 24/7 award-winning support so there’s always someone available to help you

Like Get Your Guide, Viator is one of the best travel apps out there for booking activities, experiences, and tours. It’s owned by Tripadvisor and has a fantastic reputation!

There are plenty of reasons to book your activities with Viator including their award-winning support, free cancellation, variety of payment options, and high-quality standards.

There are over 300,000 experiences available to book on their website and app, and this includes destinations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia among others! 

Just type in the place you’re visiting, and you’ll be shown a variety of activities ranging from helicopter tours to hiking. No matter what you’re interested in you’ll find something to your liking.

If you're still in the process of planning a trip and you're unsure of where to choose then check out our guide on the best places to travel to ! 

Cost: Standard: Free, TripIt Pro: $49 per year

Best feature: Being able to sync confirmation emails to your itinerary

TripIt is another highly-rated trip planner if you hadn’t guessed by the name, and it’s a fantastic app for putting together a detailed itinerary. 

The app allows you to sync flight and accommodation confirmations from your email, access the latest travel guidance, and add documents to your travel plans!

There’s a free version that does pretty much everything you need to or you can opt for TripIt Pro which is a paid service. This will allow you to access interactive maps, your flight status, and a fare tracker among other features.

Either way, this is a great travel app for organizing your trip as you can keep everything in one place!

5. Roadtrippers

Cost: Standard: Free, Road Trippers Plus: $29.99 per year

Review score: Google Play: 3.9/5, Apple Store: 4.7/5

Best feature: Roadtrippers Plus allows you to add up to 150 stops on your itinerary

This is one of the best apps for travelers as you’ll get to put together the ultimate road trip itinerary! This includes sights and attractions, places to camp, and activities. 

With Roadtrippers , you can even add fuel and rest stops to your map/itinerary, as well as bars, restaurants, and shops! What more could you need? 

Not only is this app super easy to use, but you’ll have access to a wide range of articles and guides detailing interesting places to visit. 

Driving around the world is our favorite thing to do, and we’ve road-tripped endless countries including Norway , Ireland , Portugal , and Alaska . 

This nifty app makes it so easy to plan the perfect route, so make sure you give it a go! 

The best apps for accommodation

6. booking.com.

Review score: Google Play: 4.6/5, Apple Store: 4.8/5

Best feature: You’ll find plenty of in-app only deals

Booking.com is one of the best vacation rental sites out there and is a fantastic option if you’re looking for accommodation. 

Although there’s a desktop version, having this app at your fingertips will come in handy. In fact, you’ll be able to find plenty of in-app deals which are often cheaper!

We've also got an in-depth guide on how to get cheap hotel rooms if you're interested in further discounts...

If you’re still not convinced, then you can even find cheap flights, rental car deals, and taxis on the app. 

Not only that but you’ll have your booking information (or bookings) in one place, and having the app is a great way to show your hotel address to taxi drivers.

This is undoubtedly one of the best apps for travel so make sure you download it before your trip!

Review score: Google Play: 4.5/5, Apple Store: 4.8/5

Best feature: There are over 5.5 million listings to choose from!

Everyone has heard of Airbnb as it’s revolutionized the accommodation industry since it was founded in 2008. It’s one of the best free travel apps out there so we couldn’t leave it off this list. 

Boasting over 5.5 million accommodation listings worldwide, you’ll find tons of places to stay on this app. Many of the listings are self-contained holiday homes and apartments so you’ll have plenty of space. 

However, you’ll also find a variety of unique accommodation options on Airbnb including cabins, igloos, treehouses, and boats!

This app offers some of the most affordable accommodation options in the world and is a must-have if you’re traveling on a budget.

However, if you’ve got plenty of cash to splash don’t worry as there are lots of luxury stays available too! 

8. Hostelworld

Review score: Google Play: 4.8/5, Apple Store: 4.8/5 

Best feature: 24/7 customer service so there’s always someone there to help

Speaking of traveling on a budget, have you tried Hostelworld ?

Whether you’re looking to visit Rome , Thailand , or New Zealand, this fantastic travel app has over 36,000 budget-friendly listings in over 170 countries.

Offering both dorm beds and private rooms, this is the app you’ll want to download if you’re looking for a bargain. Many of the properties also feature plenty of awesome facilities. 

This ranges from an onsite restaurant to a rooftop area, and some of the hostels even offer free walking tours.

Not only does Hostelworld offer ‘ROAMIE’s which are awesome budget travel tours, but they’re also currently working on a ‘common room’ feature where you’ll be able to connect with other travelers!

Best feature: Kayak offers price alerts for accommodation to help you get the best deals! 

Next up on this list is Kayak which is a comparison platform that compares accommodation, car rentals, transport, and more. It's also a great platform for finding cheap flights.

It’s one of the best all-rounded travel apps, and it even lets you set up a price alert system. This means you’ll be notified when the price drops, and you can sometimes save up to 35% off hotels.

Showing results from over 2 million properties, boasting endless verified reviews, and featuring an easy-to-use layout, it’s no wonder that Kayak is such a big hit.

If you’re still not convinced to download this app from the app store, then they also have a rewards system where you can rack up points to redeem against hotel stays!

10. iOverlander

Review score: Google Play: 3.8/5, Apple Store: 3.5/5

Best feature: Offers an endless list of amenities and camping locations to help you with your road trip

There are plenty of fantastic travel apps out there if you’re looking for cheap hotel rooms, but what about if you’re road-tripping?

That’s where iOverlander comes in! 

iOverlander is a nonprofit project that’s run mostly by volunteers, and it’s one of the best apps for travelers if you’re driving a car or motorhome.

Featuring incredible wild camping locations, petrol stations, hostels/hotels, and mechanics in case you run into a snag, this fantastic app has so much to offer. 

This app also allows users to add locations and amenities, so there are always new places being added.

You’ve also got Park4Night which is one of the best travel apps for Europe road trips! 

If you're planning to convert a campervan and hit the road, then honestly we can't recommend this way of exploring enough. However, just keep in mind that van life isn't for everyone.

The best apps for transportation

11. skyscanner.

Review score: Google Play: 4.7/5, Apple Store: 4.7/5

Best feature: You can compare a variety of airlines, flight times, and prices 

Skyscanner is currently one of the best flight apps on the market as it’s a metasearch engine that searches high and low for the cheapest airline prices.

All you need to do is enter your departure airport, destination, and the date you want to fly. You can then filter out the results by the number of stops, duration, and airline.

Skyscanner also has a handy ‘everywhere’ option so you can just enter your departure airport, and find the cheapest flights on offer! 

If you're looking to travel cheaply , then I 100% recommend downloading this app as you'll benefit from some great flight prices.

The one thing to keep in mind is that you won’t be booking your flight directly through Skyscanner, instead, you’ll be taken to a third-party website. 

Always check that website on Trustpilot before booking your flight - we can’t stress this enough! 

There's no denying that Skyscanner is one of the best travel apps for flights so make sure you download it.

Review score: Google Play: 4.8/5, Apple Store: 4.9/5

Best feature: The app is very easy to use, and you just scan the QR code to unlock your e-scooter or e-bike.

Lime is a micro-mobility app that allows you to use e-scooters and e-bikes without having to rent them. You simply have to download the Lime app, and then use it to locate a ‘vehicle’.

All you have to do then is scan the QR code to unlock your e-scooter or e-bike and you’re good to go. Not only is it a great way to get around, but it’s more environmentally friendly too!

Lime is our favorite e-scooter app, although they’re all typically very similar. The exact app you download will depend on the country you’re in so make sure you do your research first. 

For example, Lime is available in certain areas of Australia, Canada , Europe , the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Best feature: Being able to see the price upfront and ETA

Uber has been given some stick over the years (and understandably so) but today, it’s one of the best ways to get around if you’re planning to use taxis.

It’s a ride-hailing service that allows you to book a taxi where you’ll get to see the price upfront, and the estimated time of arrival (ETA). 

For starters, this stops you from getting ripped off and you won’t need to haggle a price if there aren’t any meter-ran taxis in the area. You can even reserve a ride in advance which is always handy! 

There are plenty of other ride-hailing apps to choose from aside from Uber but it all depends on the location you’re planning to visit. Other options include Grab , Lyft , InDrive , and Bolt . 

14. Airline app

Device: Depends on the airline, but the majority of them operate on Android and iPhone

Review score: N/A

Best feature: Many of the airline apps allow you to check in, in advance 

One of our top travel tips is to have the airline app downloaded onto your phone for whoever you’re flying with. 

For example, I always have Ryannair downloaded on my phone as we fly with them a lot when we’re in Europe. If you fly with various airlines, then you can just download and delete airline apps as needed. 

There are plenty of reasons to download an airline app, but the main reason is that they’re more convenient for checking in. 

You no longer have to queue for hours at the airport desk, and you’ll have easy access to your boarding passes! Many of them offer you the chance to purchase add-ons too! 

Review score: Google Play 4.2/5, Apple Store: 4.8/5

Best feature: Busbud offers a rewards program so you can save money every time you use it

Busbud is one of the best tourist apps out there if you’re looking to book transport! Although its name may not suggest it, you can actually use it to book buses, trains, and hotels. 

This app is partnered with some of the world’s best transport providers including Flixbus , Greyhound , Amtrak , and National Express , so it’s a great option if you’re looking to compare prices.

All you have to do is type in your departure point, your destination, and the date of travel and you’ll be offered several options - some for as little as $3!

Other fantastic transport apps include Check My Bus and 12Go Asia with the latter being great for traveling through Southeast Asia.

The best apps for easy travel in your destination

16. google maps.

Review score: Google Play: 4.1/5, Apple Store: 4.7/5

Best feature: You can download offline maps that have your ‘points of interest’ on 

Google Maps is undeniably one of the best apps for traveling! Whether you’re looking to find local businesses, get driving directions, or explore the area, this app has it all. 

Offering maps of over 220 countries and territories, you’ll have no problems getting around your chosen destination with this app. Most of the amenities listed on these maps have reviews and images too! 

However, one of my favorite things about Google Maps is its ‘Your Places’ feature where you can create your own lists and maps! 

In these lists, you can create the ultimate itinerary by bookmarking popular tourist attractions and restaurants, before downloading your map. You can then use your map offline whilst you’re on the go. 

17. Maps.me

Review score: Google Play 4.1/5, Apple Store: 4.7/5

Best feature: Maps.me offers a bookmark collection so you can create your ultimate trip!

Maps.me is very similar to Google Maps and covers six of the seven continents. So, why will you need this one you ask?

Well, Maps.me is very handy for countries that are a bit more rugged. The reason I say this is because these apps are mapped out by photography from cars. 

Unfortunately, there are some areas where Google Maps cars are yet to venture which is where this app comes in…

We actually needed this app quite a lot in Eastern Europe as we traveled through some more off-the-beaten-track locations. In fact, the road markings were much clearer here too! 

So what are you waiting for? Make sure you check out this travel app! 

18. Google Lens

Review score: Google Play: 4.6/5, no specific Google Lens app on the Apple Store

Best feature: Can translate documents for you such as menus and brochures

We’ve all been there, you’re in a foreign country and you’ve sat down at a restaurant. You get excited to try some local cuisine and then you take a look at the menu, and you’ve got no idea what it says…

Luckily, Google Lens is here to help!

All you have to do is take a picture of your intended document, and then the app will translate the text to your preferred language.  

How handy is that!?

It’s a game changer for menus in particular.

Google Lens can also find clothes online from a picture, solve problems, and help you identify a species of flower, I mean it can pretty much do everything! 

Just keep in mind that the only way to access this app on iPhone is to first download the Google app, and then you’ll have to use it through that. 

19. Google Translate

Review score: Google Play: 4.4/5, Apple Store: 4.3/5

Best feature: You’ll have the power of language right at your fingertips!

Google Translate is AMAZING and we’ve used it in nearly every country that we’ve traveled to. 

Many people choose to just google “translate [Language] to English” but it’s handy to have the app installed as it’s often much quicker!

You can translate over 100 different languages with this app, and it’s a great way to interact with the locals if they don’t understand your language. 

If you’re a keen traveler then you’re likely to need Google Translate plenty of times throughout your lifetime. Whether that be translating a road sign, speaking to your taxi driver, or haggling a deal! 

Google Translate is one of my top recommendations when it comes to travel apps as it’s helped us out a lot over the years!

20. Revolut

Review score: Google Play 4.5/5, Apple Store: 4.7/5

Best feature: Allows you to save money on ATM withdrawals whilst abroad 

Using a traditional bank account can get expensive if you’re a long-term traveler or digital nomad , which is why many people apply for a card from Revolut .

This travel card offers fantastic exchange rates, helps you save money on transfer fees, and gives you an allowance of up to $240 for no-fee ATM withdrawals.

Revolut offers a free account and paid plans, with the latter allowing you access to a variety of awesome features including travel insurance, cashback options, and airport lounge access. 

We've actually written an in-depth Revolut review if you're interested in learning more...

Aside from Revolut, there are plenty of other banking apps that you can use including Monzo and Wise ! Before you decide which one to use, do some research and see which company is more suited to you. 

21. NHS App

Review score: Google Play: 3.1/5, Apple Store: 2.9/5

Best feature: You can easily access your health records 

The NHS App is UK-specific, but perhaps your country offers something similar so make sure you do a bit of research before your trip.

The great thing about this app is that it gives you access to the newest version of your health records, your vaccinations, and Covid passes (if they’re required). 

This is vital during today's climate, especially as the pandemic has altered the entry requirements for a variety of countries! 

You’ll also be able to access services online which is always handy, but of course, this will be limited if you’re abroad. 

If your country doesn’t have something similar, then make sure you download a general health app that can give you guidelines. An example of this is My Travel Health ! 

22. Priority Pass

Cost: Standard: $99, Standard Plus: $329, Prestige: $469

Review score: Google Play: 3.8/5, Apple Store: 4.6/5

Best feature: Offers you free (or discounted) access to 1,300+ airport lounges

Priority Pass is an airport lounge access program that requires you to have a membership. 

There are three options; Standard, Standard Plus, and Prestige, and each one has an annual fee. 

However, once you’ve paid the fee you’ll get free (or discounted) access to airport lounges all around the world. This is perfect if you’re traveling a lot or you’re a digital nomad so you work on the go! 

We usually sign up around Black Friday for the cheapest rate, and then use the QR code on the app for access.

Although this may seem like more of a niche travel app, it’s a great one to have if you spend a lot of time traveling! 

The best apps for entertainment purposes 

23. spotify.

Cost: Spotify Free: free, Spotify Premium: $4.99-$15.99 per month

Review score: Google Play: 4.4/5, Apple Store: 4.8/5

Best feature: Allows you to download music and listen offline whilst you’re traveling 

Spotify is a digital music service that gives you access to over 50 million songs ranging from the likes of Queen to local artists that are a little less well-known!

You can download albums, make your own playlists, listen to other users’ playlists, or listen to songs that the app recommends based on your music style. Spotify also has plenty of podcasts that you can listen to!

Although Spotify is one of the most popular music apps, you’ve also got the likes of Amazon Music , YouTube Music , and Apple Music . 

Whichever one you go for, I’d recommend going for a plan that allows you to download songs for offline use! 

24. Audible

Cost: $9.50 per month 

Review score: Google Play: 4.6/5, Apple Store: 4.9/5

Best feature: Amazon Prime members get exclusive offers!

I love listening to audiobooks, especially on long drives as it’s a great way to zone out and learn something new. Either that or I listen to a fiction book which is something I don’t usually have the time to do! 

Audible is the best option for this as it offers unlimited listening time when it comes to podcasts, audiobooks, and audibles! 

Although you have to pay for the service it’s totally worth it in my opinion, as you’ll have access to thousands of options.

So if you’re looking for an app for your vacation then I highly recommend downloading this one! There’s even a free 30-day trial if you’d prefer to try it out first before you commit to it.

25. Netflix

Cost: Basic: $6, Standard: $13, Premium: $19 per month

Review score: Google Play: 4.4/5, Apple Store: 4/5

Best feature: Being able to download movies and watch them online!

Everyone is likely to know Netflix and although it’s not a travel app, it’s very handy whilst you’re on the go. 

It’s one of the best apps for trips, especially if you’re going to have long journeys and flights, or spend a lot of time at the airport. 

There are three plans to choose from, and each one offers unlimited access to thousands of films and tv programs. 

The highlight of Netflix is being able to download your favorite movies and tv shows, and then watch them later offline - just keep in mind that the basic plan doesn’t offer this. 

Disney Plus and Amazon Prime also offers you the chance to download offline movies if you’d prefer to go for something else! 

Cost: Kindle Unlimited: $9.50 per month

Best feature: You’ll have access to millions of books on the go

Kindle is undoubtedly one of the best apps for travelers, especially if you’re a keen reader. 

Unfortunately, when we travel we’re subject to strict luggage allowance which means you can’t take a ton of books with you on holiday. 

This is where a kindle comes in handy, as you can purchase books online and then read them digitally on your device. 

Although you can simply download books to read, you’ve also got Kindle Unlimited which is a subscription service. This service allows you access to select magazine subscriptions, millions of books, and thousands of audiobooks! 

There’s so much choice, and you won’t be short of books to read by the pool!

27. Surfshark

Cost: $2-$13 a month depending on whether you choose to pay monthly, yearly, or every 24 months 

Review score: Google Play: 4.2/5, Apple Store: 4.9/5

Best feature: Allows you to access websites and TV series that would otherwise be inaccessible abroad

Surfshark is the VPN of our choice, and a VPN essentially means ‘Virtual Private Network’. 

It technically works by encrypting communications so you’ll have an anonymous IP address. Not only does this help keep your connection secure, but it’s got plenty of other fantastic features too.

For starters, Surf Shark (or any VPN) allows you to access websites that are inaccessible abroad, so for us a lot of .co.uk websites don’t seem to work overseas. 

You’ll also be able to watch TV shows and films that aren’t available in certain countries , as a VPN essentially changes your IP location. 

Having a VPN is also a great option for digital nomads or those with travel jobs as your connection will always be secure.

The best apps for travel inspiration

28. instagram.

Review score: Google Play: 4/5, Apple Store: 4.7/5

Best feature: Allows you to find some awesome travel destinations 

Instagram is one of the most popular apps in the world as it allows you to keep connected with friends and family, whilst showing off your photography skills.

Although social media can often feel draining, this app has so much to offer if you’re a keen traveler!

Instagram allows you to connect with like-minded travelers, inspire your travels, and find fantastic ‘Instagrammable’ locations that you wouldn’t otherwise know about. 

We follow hundreds of our favorite travel photographers, vloggers, and bloggers, and we’re inundated with new places to add to our bucket list on a daily basis! 

Not only will you get to view new destinations through images and reels, but you’ll often get a more realistic experience through stories too. There’s nothing better than that! 

29. Pinterest

Best feature: Can create your own boards and save ideas to them! 

Next up on this list is Pinterest , which isn’t a travel application but it’s got a lot to offer. 

Pinterest works almost like a huge mood board where you can find inspiration on just about anything, and that goes for fashion, recipes, and home decor. 

The best thing about Pinterest is that you can create boards dedicated to your interests, so in this case, it would be travel! 

This is great for travelers, as you can create a variety of awesome boards on ‘bucket list’ experiences, specific countries, budget travel, etc. Then, all you need to do is save those pins and you can come back to them later! 

Pinterest is a very visual platform, and if you want more information you’ll be directed to the pin’s website.

Best feature: You can favorite videos and add them to your own ‘collections’

Although TikTok may not be for everyone, there’s no denying that it’s a fantastic app for travel inspiration! 

TikTok is essentially a video-sharing app and it’s one of the best apps for tourists who are choosing their destination or looking for places to visit after booking a holiday. 

Many travel bloggers, vloggers, and photographers have started to understand the importance of this app as a marketing tool , and that means lots of travel content!

You can favorite the videos that you like and create your own collections e.g. United States, bucket list, Wildlife, etc., and then you can watch them back whenever you like. 

There’s no limit to the number of videos you can save, and you’ll find some great travel tips along the way! 

31. Polar Steps

Review score: Google Play: 4.8/5, Apple Store: 4.8/5

Best feature: The App can physically track your travels whilst you’re on the move

Polar Steps is technically a travel planner and tracker, however, it’s a great app for travel inspiration as you’ll have access to a variety of guides. 

There are plenty of travel guides to read, and all you need to do is search for your destination! From there, you’ll get to see images, attractions in that area, recommended accommodation options, and restaurants. 

Another fantastic feature of Polar Steps is that it can physically track your travels as you go along. Not only will you get to see your travel route, but you can even create a cool travel book with the information! 

You can also add on past trips if you can remember the route, so you’ll have all your travels in the one app.

32. Locationscout

Review score: Google Play: 2.9/5, Apple Store: 3.8/5

Best feature: All the ‘photo spots’ are uploaded onto a map which you’ll have access to

For this travel app guide, I had to include Locationscout ! 

Although it’s not one of the more popular apps, it’s fantastic for those who are looking for some travel inspiration - especially keen photographers. 

Locationscout essentially works by showing ‘photo spots’ in a variety of cities and countries across the world. 

You can then click into each destination (say London for example), and you’ll be given an overview of that place, a grid of ‘photo spots’, and a map that has them all included!

The app then goes further into detail about each photo spot, including information on the best time to visit, tips to get the best photographs, and how to get there. 

If you're a keen photographer looking to improve your skills then why not check out these fantastic online photography classes too!

The best apps for keeping connected with home

Cost: Free (but there’s a cost to ring from landlines or mobiles) 

Review score: Google Play: 4.1/5, Apple Store: 4.5/5

Best feature: Can make free video calls to anywhere in the world! 

Although Skype isn’t considered to be a ‘travel app’ it’s a great way to keep connected with your friends and family back home. 

It allows you to make free video calls worldwide if you’re using skype-to-skype, or you can call from a landline or mobile for a fee. 

If you’re calling from a mobile or landline, then you just need to top up your credit every now and then. As long as you have a WiFi signal, you can call any number in the world and the bill will be extremely cheap! 

Skype is also a great app to have for digital nomads and business owners who are always on the move, in case you need to jump on a work call! Although Zoom is often the more popular option for this! 

34. Whatsapp

Review score: Google Play 4.3/5, Apple Store: 4.7/5

Best feature: Being able to message, call, and video call other numbers for free as long as you’ve got WiFi

Another great app to have if you’re wanting to stay connected to people is Whatsapp !

It's a messaging app that allows you to message, call, and video call other Whatsapp users for free, as long as you’re connected to WiFi.

Not only is Whatsapp useful when it comes to contacting friends and family, but it’s also a great way to keep in contact with people in the region you’re traveling.

Many tour operators, hotels, and companies have Whatsapp, which means you can contact them with any queries and you won’t need to spend money to text or call from your phone. 

If you’re only able to download a couple of apps during your travels, then make sure Whatsapp is one of them!

35. Moonpig

Best feature: You’ll often get in-app discounts 

If you travel a lot, then unfortunately you’re going to miss a lot of birthdays!

Luckily, there are apps out there where you can send birthday cards back home for friends and family members. 

Our favorite is Moonpig as it’s super easy to use, and you can set reminders for birthdays so you don’t forget. 

Not only can you send cards, but Moonpig also has a wide variety of presents, birthday balloons, and flowers available among other items.

They even offer personalized gifts for that someone special , and there are a variety of shipping options to make sure it gets there in time! 

There is a desktop version of Moonpig, but if you download the app you’ll often have access to specific in-app discounts.

Which travel apps will you use?

As you can see, there are so many fantastic apps for traveling. The question is, which ones should you download?

This all depends on what you’re looking to do; book accommodation, find travel inspiration, look for discounts, or keep yourself connected with home! 

Now, everyone knows that phones all have limited memory so it’s not viable to download every single app in this guide. Just make sure you prioritize the ones you think will help the most!

A few of our favorites include Booking.com, Skyscanner, Get Your Guide, Google Maps, and Instagram of course! 

Now you've got an idea of the best tourism apps out there, it's time to start planning your trip.

Here are some guides for inspiration:

• The Best Cheap Places To Travel
• The Best Backpacking Destinations Around the World
• The Cheapest Countries To Visit In Europe

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Home » Travel Tips

The 21 Best Travel Apps to Download for Your Next Adventure

As much fun as it is to travel, some aspects of traveling can prove to be an absolute headache. From planning your trip to navigating your destination, much more is involved than you want to think about. So, don’t. The power of stress-free travel sits right in the palm of your hand with some of the best travel apps for organizing your itinerary, packing your bags, getting through security, and so much more. If you’re ready for the stress-free adventure of a lifetime, then get ready to download your new favorite travel companions.

Table of Contents

The best travel apps for planning and organizing, the best travel apps for navigating the airport, the best travel apps for your destination.

• The Best Travel Apps for Staying Safe 

The Best Travel Apps for Saving Money

The best travel app for cheap flight deals isn’t an app: it’s next vacay.

Find the perfect flight, plan the perfect route, and pack the perfect bag. Here are the best travel apps to add to your trip planning and organizing for a stress-free travel experience.

Google Travel

Google is a one-stop shop for all your most important search needs, so why shouldn’t that extend to travel, too? Lucky for us, it does. With Google Travel, you can explore flight prices, compare hotel rates, and even check out exciting sights and excursions at your destination.

If you easily get app fatigue, Google Travel keeps things simple by having all your travel needs in one convenient location. You can toggle between the different pages with ease and track hotel and flight price changes with their tracking features. For those just dipping their toes into the world of travel planning, Google Travel puts the world within reach. Even better, because it’s not technically an app, you don’t have to worry about downloading it to use. Just type Google Travel into the search and get right to work.

Feature Highlight: Get the best flight price guaranteed with Google’s price guarantee badge. (If the price drops, Google will pay back the difference.) 

If you’re a disorganized traveler—or even better, if you love staying organized—say hello to your new best friend. TripIt was designed for both the organized and unorganized traveler, helping you build comprehensive itineraries out of all your messy bookings. 

For those who hate doing anything beyond clicking “Book Now,” TripIt makes organization easy by allowing you to forward all your booking confirmations to the app. Or, if you’re particularly fussy about every little detail, you can manually enter them yourself. TripIt then compiles all your bookings into a handy-dandy itinerary that sends out reminders and alerts, letting you know where you need to be and when you need to be there for the most relaxed trip of your life every time.

Feature Highlight: Share your itinerary with friends and family quickly and easily through TripIt’s sharing feature.

IOS | Android

Roadtrippers

While Roadtrippers is specific to road travel, we couldn’t leave it off the list of best travel apps simply because of how stellar it is at what it does. With stops available in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, plotting out your autoroutes has never been easier. 

The map lets you explore everything from national parks to hidden gems and plan everything from what to eat to where to stop for fuel and even rest your head at night, all along your route. When you add a site, Roadtrippers automatically adjusts your itinerary, or you can choose to plot your course from one of the pre-made trip guides.  

The free version allows you to plan short trips of three stops or less, while the Premium version costs $59.99/year and allows you to add up to 150 stops. 

Feature Highlight: Get estimated gas prices along your route so you can put away the right amount for your gas budget.  

Packing often isn’t the worst part about your travel—it’s making packing lists. So, skip it. 

Instead of stressing over what to pack for a beach vacation or a winter getaway, you can let PackPoint do it for you. The app works by creating custom packing lists for your trip. All you have to do is fill out the important bits: 

• Where you’re going
• When you’re going
• How long you’ll be gone
• Any special activities

From there, PackPoint goes to work to create a custom-fitted packing list for your travels. All that’s left for you to do is pack—and maybe share it with a friend, so they don’t have to suffer the joyless task of creating their own packing list.

Feature Highlight: Connect to TripIt to auto-create packing lists from your trip itinerary. (Only available with PackPoint Premium.)

Get Secret Flight Deals

Is the airport stress stressing you out? Rest assured, you don’t have to dread the airport. With the right apps, you can become an airport pro. Make getting through security a breeze and make your time at the airport your favorite part of travel—or at least, your most relaxed.

MyTSA App 

Ever had a last-minute question about what you can bring in your carry-on? Ever argued with your travel buddies about how early is too early to get to the airport? For the answers to your burning questions, there’s the MyTSA App. Before even stepping foot in the building, you can check out how busy the airport typically is and the projected wait times for TSA checkpoints. Consult the app for delays and double-check how to properly store your food and liquid items so you can all but breeze through security. Next to TSA PreCheck, the MyTSA App is your ticket to an easy and stress-free security check.

Feature Highlight: Use the “Can I Bring” search function to check that those last-minute items you’re packing will clear security. 

LoungeReview

Long layovers, hard steel chairs, outlets that don’t work—there’s a lot to dread about your airport experience. So skip the endless hours in uncomfortable seats and make the most of your time on the ground with LoungeReview. 

LoungeReview is the perfect companion for frequent flyers who spend a fair amount of time waiting for their next flight. With the app, travelers can access over 3,000 airport lounges worldwide, allowing them to see which lounges are available at their airports and what amenities they offer. Don’t already have access through your travel credit card, lounge memberships, or booked ticket? Fear not; LoungeReview lets users book access directly through the app without needing to be a First Class flyer. So, whether you’re flying business class or economy, you can always look forward to a premium airport experience every time.

Feature Highlight: Import your itinerary directly from TripIt to the Lounge Access Wizard to find airports you have access to and start planning a peaceful escape on the go.

Airline App

When navigating the airport, from tracking your flight to hunting down your luggage, there’s no better app to have than your airline’s mobile app. While you may not necessarily want to download the app for every airline you use, if you’re a frequent flyer with one airline or flying with a new airline for the first time, it can be especially helpful for managing your account and getting to know the ins and outs of your airport experience with the airline.

Perhaps best of all, these travel apps are always free.

Feature Highlight: Use the navigation maps to scope out where to grab food, where to shop, and, most importantly, where to find your gate.

AA | Delta | United | JetBlue | Southwest

Mobile Passport Control

Operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Mobile Passport Control is a free app that lets you sail through customs upon return to the US. Whereas lengthier programs like TSA PreCheck or Global Entry require a background check, interview, and preapproval, all you need for MPC is proof of citizenship or permanent residence. 

With ID in hand, simply download the app and fill out your info. When you touchdown in the US, start your entry process. All it takes is a few clicks, and you get access to an expedited entry that helps you skip the long lines you’ve come to dread and makes returning to the US even easier than it was to leave.

Feature Highlight: Select up to 12 members of your family to include on one submission form. 

Never fear getting lost or turned around again—or finding yourself in need of a public restroom with none in sight. Run, don’t walk, to these apps that will make navigating your destination and staying connected truly effortless.  

Google Maps

Google Maps is hard to beat for getting around your destination. Offering a bird’s eye view of where you are, Google Maps breaks down how best to get to where you want to go, whether traveling by foot, car, public transit, or even bicycle. 

Travelers can easily find what’s around them, from bars and restaurants to shops and attractions. You don’t even have to leave the app to get more details for most places. Google Maps provides descriptions, pictures, hours of operation, and even reviews from other patrons. The real clincher is the ability to save maps offline so you can access them on the go, whether your cell service is spotty at best or entirely nonexistent. 

Feature Highlight: Use saved “Lists” to curate a map of pinned locations—your favorite attractions, restaurants, bars, and more.

Sometimes, you don’t need all the extra frills; you just need an app that gets you where you need to go. For that, there’s Citymapper. 

While its scope is limited to cities—and major cities at that—Citymapper makes navigating big and confusing cities, including those hardest to navigate , a breeze—or as close as the directionally challenged are likely to get. With real-time public transportation information, detailed breakdowns of routes by bus, train, tube, car, bike, or scooter, and detailed directions for things like which subway station entrance is best, Citymapper makes the big city feel just that teensy bit smaller.

Feature Highlight : Check out your Trip Stats to see fun details like how many calories you burned and how much money you saved on your journey.

XE Currency Converter

Want to know the exchange rate while you’re traveling around Sweden? Japan? New Zealand? With Xe, you can always stay on top of your money and know exactly how far your money will go wherever you are. The app also works without Wi-Fi, so you don’t have to worry about losing this information, either. It stays at your fingertips whether online in a cafe or offline and on the go. 

Feature Highlight: Save and monitor up to 10 currencies at once to quickly and easily check the exchange rate while shopping, dining, or booking that last-minute excursion on-site.

WhatsApp, for the uninitiated, is a lot like iMessage: It lets you text and make calls over Wi-Fi no matter where you are in the world or what device your friends or family use. In addition, the app offers a few other helpful features. WhatsApp Statuses let you keep your family and friends up-to-date on what you’re doing. The group texting feature lets you share polls to vote on what you want to do next. And sharing features allow you to attach documents like travel itineraries and bookings without having to email them. While there’s no best messaging app in the world, WhatsApp is a great start to connecting with everyone anywhere you travel.

Not only is the app free, but it also helps you save money on international messaging fees by letting you avoid them altogether.

Feature Highlight: Share daily moments from your travels with your family on Status. 

Google Translate

At this point, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see another Google app eking out a top spot among the best travel apps. As if getting around in a new country wasn’t hard enough, not knowing the local language can make something as simple as reading street signs confusing. That’s not a problem with Google Translate. 

Manually enter text into the translator to convert it to your native language, or snap a photo and have it translated that way. You can even have the text read to you so you know how to pronounce it correctly. And, of course, if you’re trying to communicate with someone, you can switch the languages to know what to say and how to say it. This makes understanding the world easy, no matter how confusing the street signs get.

Feature Highlight: Download your favorite languages to use offline.

In the immortal words of Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park: “When you gotta go, you gotta go.” When you need a restroom while you’re on the go, knowing where to find the closest toilet can be a lifesaver. Flush offers a database of over 200,000 public toilets worldwide. The app lets you know how to get to the closest one, whether there’s a fee, and if the restroom is ADA-accessible. When it comes down to the wire, this app may just save your day, if not your whole trip!

The Best Travel Apps for Staying Safe

Staying safe on the go is just as important as staying safe at home, whether you’re a female traveler going it solo or another in a group of travelers. Be sure to put downloading these travel apps at the top of your to-do list for the best travel experience and a worry-free trip. 

Smart Traveler

Every smart traveler knows that the best way to stay safe while traveling is to do your due diligence beforehand. For that, there’s the Smart Traveler App. Overseen by the U.S. State Department, the app allows travelers to check travel advisories, entry and exit requirements, health and safety warnings, and more before you even start booking your trip. 

Once you settle on your destination, you can register your trip with local embassies through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) and stay one step ahead of emergencies. Become a smart traveler and give yourself some much-needed peace of mind while traveling abroad. 

In the US, 911 is the standard number to call for emergencies. But as any international traveler will know, that’s not always the case abroad. Emergency numbers can differ from country to country and even service to service. And the last thing you want in an emergency is to realize you don’t know who to call. That’s why you download EchoSOS. 

With emergency numbers in over 128 countries, you can quickly and easily access the right number to get help when you need it. Calls can be made directly from the app and show your location, so even if you don’t know where you are, emergency services will. Travel safely and stress-free, with help just a call away.

Feature Highlight: Find nearby emergency rooms and check out their wait times to get help fast on the go.

You might wonder just how safe an app can keep you on your travels. It is only an app after all. But bSafe isn’t just any app. While others might also show where you are in real-time, bSafe takes it a step further with live streaming, so friends and family (added as guardians) can see and hear everything that’s happening. If you find yourself in an unsafe situation, you can activate the SOS alarm. This will immediately start video and audio recording, and send a notification to your guardians. They can then open the alert to see your location, local time, and emergency livestream. Once the danger has passed, you can confirm you’re safe, and the app will again notify your guardians.

With voice activation, a Follow me feature, and a timer alarm, you’ll truly never have to make a journey alone again.

Feature Highlight: Schedule a fake phone call to escape uncomfortable or unsafe situations.

The only thing simpler than getting help with a phone call is getting help with the press of a button. Touted as America’s number one safety app, Noonlight helps you get from point A to point B safely by acting as your personal panic button. If you encounter an unsafe situation or even one that makes you feel uneasy, just open the Noonlight app and hold the button. Once you release it, help will be on the way shortly. But, if there’s no danger, or you reach safety, you can release the button, enter a 4-digit PIN, and be on your way. 

Feature Highlight: Use Timeline to note relevant details, like meeting someone new or an encounter with a suspicious person, to have it shared with authorities if you trigger an alarm.

Always looking for ways to cut down on your travel budget? Say hello to your new favorite cost-conscious travel buddies who can help you find the best deals and the cheapest prices no matter where you are in the world.

Obi: Rideshare

Every traveler, at some point, has wondered if they’re overpaying to get from point A to point B. But outside of downloading every app and comparing prices, there’s not much to do about it—except maybe download just one app. 

With Obi, travelers can compare prices between rideshares like Uber, Lyft, and taxi services to save money. Simply choose a destination, compare prices between available transportation companies, and book. Enjoy the cheapest ride every time with Obi in your pocket.

ATM Fee Saver

Don’t have a handy travel card that reimburses your ATM fees? You don’t have to consider yourself unlucky, just consider downloading the ATM Fee Saver as your budget-conscious travel companion. The ATM Fee Saver helps you find free and low-fee ATMs near you so you can get the cash you need in a hurry without paying a fortune to access your own money. Users can get tips on using ATMs in over 45 countries and chart a course for the closest and cheapest ATM to get money fast while on the go.

Feature Highlight: Use the calculator to estimate any fees for your ATM withdrawal amount.

Ready to hit the road? GasBuddy makes it easier and cheaper than ever. With the app, travelers can search for the cheapest gas prices along their route, get tips on using less gas, and even score free gas rewards from shopping at favorite retailers. With GasBuddy, you can stop worrying about running out of gas or paying more at the pump and simply enjoy the ride.

Feature Highlight: Track your driving habits to make future trips more fuel-efficient and save at the pump.

Want to get the cheapest flight deals to destinations all over the world? Try out Next Vacay. It’s as easy as downloading your favorite app without taking up more precious phone storage. Just enter your email, select your airport, and you can get deals delivered right to your inbox. Never miss an incredible deal or a life-changing trip ever again. So sign up and discover the best way to save time, money, and stress—because the best travel app isn’t an app at all; it’s Next Vacay .

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40 Best Travel Apps for 2024: Plan, Book, Tech, Tickets & More

Home » Travel Style » Technology and Gear » 40 Best Travel Apps for 2024: Plan, Book, Tech, Tickets & More

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Updated: 24th November 2023

During the last decade, how we travel has been thoroughly reshaped. The internet and, more significantly, the smartphone have revolutionised how we plan our trips and explore this planet. Yet, with so many websites, apps, guides and resources now available, it can be overwhelming to decide which travel apps deserve a space on our home screens.

Of course, the travel apps you’ll need to download before your trip will vary depending on where you’re visiting, the type of traveller you are, and your priorities on the road. From those pre-trip essentials, such as finding cheap flights and securing hotel deals, to the boring but necessary tech to manage reservations, money and sometimes even access to the internet, there truly is a travel app for organising everything these days.

Then there are those glorious pocket-size pieces of tech that make our experiences so much richer. Travel apps that allow us to read constellations in the sky above Peru’s Andes, mind-blowing translation software which instantly reads a menu on a long train journey through China , or friend-finding solutions which can connect us with fellow travellers, generous hosts, road trip buddies and even waste-avoiding discount food. Sure, this little device might have taken some of the spontaneity out of our journeys, but there’s no denying that the best travel apps can also enhance our experience while exploring.

Editors note (AI): While I’m sure later in 2024, I’ll update this article again to include some AI travel apps, I haven’t as yet found one I believe is reliable enough. Having tested a selection of itinerary planning AI travel apps using Portugal as a destination (the country I live in, know very well, and write guidebooks for), I’ve received results littered with errors, out-of-date suggestions, or proposals that skip some of the best offbeat experiences in the country — likely because the training material that has been used is also not in-depth or up-to-date. I’m sure when live information integration arrives and things advance this year a few apps will start to stand out. But for now, I’ve skipped any solely AI-powered tools, especially as some seem to have been built exclusively to sell affiliate-linked tours and activities.

In this article...

Best travel apps for flights, lounges and compensation

These are my go-to apps for all things flying. You might also want to consider signing up for cheap flight-finding newsletters so you can get the best deals directly to your inbox.

Skyscanner (free travel app)

For over a decade, Skyscanner has been my preferred travel app for finding flights. While there are plenty of other options these days, such as Kiwi or Kayak, I still always opt for Skyscanner. It has a clean interface, there is no cookie tracking or worries about going incognito, and I nearly always find the best deals here.

Of course, the ‘search everywhere’ feature is always a winner for finding those bargain flights when you are up for going on a trip but don’t really mind where. The app also features ‘Price Alerts’ so you can track fares going up and down and third-party reviews to know how reliable the company advertising the flight is. As a bonus, the Skyscanner travel app now has a ‘Top Deals’ tab for spontaneous trips away alongside additional searches for hotels and car hire. Download on iPhone | Android

If you’ve ever dealt with trying to claim for a delayed flight under EU regulations , you’ll know it can be a challenging process. While there are various protections across the world to ensure compensation when delays or cancellations happen, sometimes it can be a drawn-out and even unsuccessful process. That’s where Colibra comes in, as it takes a different approach and pays out compensation for delays of over one hour or more due to any reason, such as strikes or weather, with the money supposedly hitting your account within 24 hours.

However, it’s good to know that the compensation you’ll receive through Colibra isn’t as high as doing it yourself. Their model works by getting you to download the app and register your flight before arriving at the airport — essentially taking a gamble as you then assign the legal right to Colibra to make the full claim. The advantage is that whether Colibra is successful or not in getting the compensation to them (often, if delays are just an hour or two, there is no cash compensation), you’re guaranteed to get your share of the pot.

The funds for this come from those who have been delayed for over three hours and get compensation via EU rules but take a lower share of their cut from Colibra’s claim, leaving money in the pot for those with shorter delays. There is also a flight booking feature called “Fly Now, Pay If Okay”, which allows you to book flights and pay after flying – thus, if there is a delay of three hours or more, you don’t pay anything. You can read more about how this works on their website. Let’s see if they become one of the best flight booking apps as they expand this feature. Download App

Priority Pass

Frequent flyers who don’t usually fly premium or own a credit card that comes with the benefit of lounge access may want to consider signing up for Priority Pass.

Offering membership to more than 1000 lounges in some 140-plus countries, this travel app, in connection with the Priority Pass Airport Lounge program , allows you and potentially a guest to enjoy all the amenities of a lounge; this usually includes both pre-flight and layovers. There are a few different pricing models, including a lower option with paid entrance to the lounges and a mid-range membership, which allows for ten free lounge visits. Of course, this means if you’re only flying a couple of times a year, it’s most likely not worth it. Sign up here and download the app

Best apps for booking travel by train, bus, ferry or car share

These are some of the best apps for travel planning in Europe; especially helpful if you’re considering an overland trip across the continent to seek out some of Europe’s hidden gems .

Rome 2 Rio (free travel app)

This website really is a leader in finding the best way to travel within or between countries. For example, I didn’t think getting a reliable bus timetable in Sri Lanka was possible until I fired up this trusty app. But where it really excels is when it comes to working out more complicated journeys, especially those that cross borders.

Simply type in your start and end point, and you’ll get a whole list of overland/water/air routes for your trip, often ones that other similar booking sites don’t bring up. The reason for this is that Rome2Rio was created to be a useful resource rather than to make affiliate income (the commission websites make by selling something), and therefore formed one of the most impressive databases of transport options in the world; it even often helps me where Google Maps fails. That said, they have recently started shifting into selling more tickets (also handy), but it seems they still show every option they know. With heaps of helpful info, such as approximate prices, distances, route numbers, and which operators to book with, it’s honestly the travel app I use most, and I can not praise these heroes enough for making multi-country travel so much easier to plan. Download on iPhone | Android

Omio (free travel app)

Omio is one of the best travel apps for planning your travels around Europe, allowing you to book and manage various transport and accommodation options in one interface. They proudly boast of an extensive collection of bookable bus and train options that some other aggregator websites and apps miss.

That said, they don’t cover all operators in every country. So, while this is a handy app for researching, planning and keeping your bookings together, it’s always worth checking local operators too. Often, smaller local players don’t have an integration with travel apps (or don’t want to pay them a commission for taking reservations), so you might need to hunt them out and book directly. Download App

Eurail / Interrail (free travel app)

The Eurail app is a godsend for planning train travel across Europe, as it covers more than 30 countries. While it’s actually designed for Interrail/Eurail pass holders, anyone can access and utilise the planning feature for free. Their travel app particularly stands out when it comes to planning multi-country train trips, often showing far more choices in connections than the other applications and websites I’ve detailed in this section.

For example, I just searched for Lisbon to Paris, and the Eurail planner highlighted all the train connections across Portugal, Spain and France I would need to take. Omio, on the other hand, tells me this journey isn’t possible by train as it sometimes struggles with cross-border rail searches.

While you don’t need to have purchased a pass to use the app, it’s well worth considering buying one if you plan to do a lot of rail travel on the continent over a month or two. If you live in Europe, you should look into the Interrail Pass, while non-European residents will need to learn how to use the Eurail Pass to be sure they get their money’s worth. Either way, their travel app is a great tool to have on your phone, especially as it even works offline. Download iPhone | Download Android

Rail Europe (free travel app)

Acting as an official agent for many of the leading train operators in Europe, Rail Europe is something of a one-stop shop for searching for and booking train travel on the continent and unlike the Eurail app, you don’t need a pass to book your tickets with these guys — hence my inclusion here.

However, not all countries are signed up. For example, in Portugal , you would still need to book with the local CP rail service directly, although much of central and western Europe is covered. Download the Rail Europe App

12Go (free travel app)

While many of my recommendations here are particularly geared up for planning travels around Europe, one of the best websites for researching and booking flights, ferries, buses and trains in Asia is 12GO . They cover a large range of countries, operators and transport options, and you can even book taxis in some countries too. That said, the Android version of their travel app seems to be much better quality than the iPhone version (which is unsurprising given Android holds more than 70% of the market share on the continent), meaning IOS users may find the website more helpful than the app. Download iPhone | Android

FlixBus (free travel app)

FlixBus (and now FlixTrain in Germany) has quickly grown to be one of the biggest inter-country bus operators in Europe. I remember when it first launched, and you’d be on a random local bus that sold tickets through the platform. Nowadays, the majority of the bus routes are operated by the official, modern, and green FlixBuses, although some remain franchises.

While Flix certainly isn’t a luxury option – what is on an 18-hour night bus? – They are fairly reliable and affordable, have toilets, and usually have wifi and plug sockets. Mainly operating in Europe, they also offer limited services in the USA with plans to expand into other markets in 2024. Download App

BlaBlaCar (free travel app)

BlaBlarCar might not appeal to everyone due to safety concerns, but it’s one of the most helpful travel apps for travellers like myself who can’t drive and are reliant on public transport. Sometimes, it’s hard to reach certain places, or you have restricted bus options, and that is where this app can be a life saviour. Think of it as a mix of Uber with normal people driving and pre-planned hitchhiking — it’s essentially a carpooling app which helps drivers split the cost of fuel. If you’re doing a big road trip and are looking to split some costs and share some company, you might even want to add your own trips to the app as a driver rather than a rider.

On the travel app’s simple interface, you search where you are going to and from, like on any other ride-share app, and it will show you any drivers doing the same route on the date you’ve searched for. If you find a good match, you can book a seat in their car and join them on a ride. The price usually is based on sharing the gas. Not only does this help you get from A to B, but it also helps you make new travel friends. I’ve mainly used this in Portugal and Spain, but they cover 22 different countries across Europe & Latin America. Recently, they have started offering bus services in France. Download on iPhone | Android

Best travel apps for accommodation

These are some of the best apps for finding alternative accommodation ideas , hotels, hostels or even free hosts. Just remember, you can often get a better deal directly from a hotel or hostel if you email them directly. This way, they won’t need to pay a commission to the OTA (Online Travel Agency) and can often pass that saving on to you. I haven’t recommended Airbnb here because I’ve seen first-hand how it sucked the life out of Lisbon, but there are a few more sustainable and community-concerned websites that I do love, Faribnb and Ecobnb ; however, as of 2024, they still haven’t launched dedicated apps.

Couchsurfing

Sadly, Couchsurfing is no longer as useful as it once was, which has led to plenty of alternative hosting sites cropping up, such as the free-to-use BeWelcome and women-only Travel Ladies app . However, in terms of membership numbers, Couchsurfing still seems to lead the way — even if it now costs a few dollars a month. There are a lot of complaints from long-term members about how the ethos of the company was destroyed after it went from community-owned to private, yet it still remains one of my favourite resources for both finding cool hangouts and traveller-focused events in new destinations, as well as offering to host, or finding a place to stay while on the road.

That said, the actual travel app isn’t the best (the website is easier to navigate), but it’s still worth having if you’re a member to use the ‘hangout’ and ‘local event’ features. Even though the app was born as a place to offer, or seek, a sofa/bed/room to crash for a night or two, even those who aren’t keen on staying with strangers will find good connections. While the payment model introduced has reduced the number of people active on the platform throughout 2023, I still made plenty of connections in person via the travel app, but mainly in larger cities. Download App

CozyCozy (free travel app)

One of the most interesting and newest accommodation search engines that has cropped up in recent years is CozyCozy , which has both a travel app and a website. I particularly like that it searches not just hotel booking websites but also the likes of Airbnb and VRBO, so you don’t need to run different searches on different platforms to find the best listings or the lowest prices. The filtering for the searches is also quite interesting and helpful. For example, you can look for camping or select the ‘ Unusual Places ‘ tab, which is always interesting for finding a different kind of stay. Think of unique stays such as hiring a houseboat in a marina to call a temporary home, treehouses, or mountain chalets.

The additional filters are also convenient, whether it be free cancellation or accessibility filters, which means not only do you need to search only one website, but you also don’t need to click into individual stays to check they meet your criteria. While CozyCozy only searched in around 40 destinations when it launched, it’s now expanded, with plenty more countries added heading into 2024. Download on iPhone | Android

Booking.com (free travel app)

I used to be a big hotels.com fan due to the book ten nights and get one free, but their app sucks. It’s slow to load, you need great wifi, and I’ve realised that the reward nights for booking ten and then getting an allowance for a free night means the costs are more than rivals. As such, I’ve returned to using booking.com as my go-to travel app for hotel stays. Yes, I know it’s not the best business model for the industry, and often you can get better rates if you email a hotel directly (Booking usually requires that the best ‘public-facing’ price is on their website, something I talk about more in this article on finding luxury travel deals ), but for ease of use and range of accommodation offered, it’s unrivalled.

Two other reasons that Booking is such a catch-all is they now have heaps of Hostel listings (hence why I no longer feel the need to recommend Hostel World) and even plenty of apartment stays, many of which are better value than those I see on Airbnb, particularly because cleaning and platform fees are nearly always included in the final quote.

Booking’s travel app also often has ‘Mobile Only’ pricing, meaning stays can be cheaper on the app than on the website, and after you have booked a certain number of nights, you’ll get access to ‘genius benefits’ such as additional discounts, late checkouts, in-hotel extras and quicker customer service. Having had a few problems in the past — such as hotels not existing or no one available for check-in — I’ve personally always had excellent service in resolving the issue with the support chat, and often an upgrade apology elsewhere at no extra cost. Download App

Best travel apps for tours and tickets

In many destinations, booking tickets for attractions directly is best. However, sometimes you want to book in advance or arrange a tour in a rush, and in those cases, these tour and ticket apps will come in handy.

Get Your Guide (free travel app)

Offering tickets to attractions around the world and a huge range of tours and attractions on their website , Get Your Guide also now has a handy app where you can make use of those tickets without the need to print anything — and I genuinely believe it’s better than competitors like Viator, though recently I have also started to use Tiqets for some museums that were better deals than GYG. I first started using this when I went to Milan to skip the lines for the Duomo rooftop, and if you have ever spent ages waiting to get into a big-ticket attraction, you’ll know how handy those fast-track tickets can be.

Likewise, when you’re planning a trip, it’s a good place to get some inspiration and see what activities are around. Recently, I was looking at stuff to do near home in Portugal and only found out about mountain Quad Bike tours from the app — so it can be a handy research tool too. New users of the app get a host of discounts and exclusives, such as discounts on luggage storage and partner bookings. Download App

TourRadar (free travel app)

TourRadar is another tour booking app, but it covers lots of big operators, such as G Adventures and Intrepid, alongside small local companies. This makes it a great search engine and one of the best travel apps for finding and booking multi-day tours, as they all appear in one place. While GYG is going to be helpful while travelling in general, the TourRadar app is a great resource for finding and booking a group or private tour before arrival. Download App

Best travel apps for maps, road trips, camping and hiking

These are some of the best apps for travelling overland, whether you’re in an RV, hiking, camping, or just looking for the best way to get from A to B.

Roadtrippers

For those who are planning an epic road trip across the USA, this travel app is a great starting point. You can punch in up to 100 stops when planning your route, and the app provides interesting suggestions for other places to pause on the way. Additionally, it allows you to collaborate with friends to pull plans together; it’s a super helpful pre-trip tool. Then, while on the road, the app provides live traffic updates, ensuring you don’t wast valuable vacation time. Download App

Google Maps (free travel app)

I’m not gonna lie: I find the recent November 2023 update to Google Maps frustrating. There seems to be more clicking and a more complicated interface than before. However, it’s still an absolute must for me when travelling, mainly because of the vast database of reviews, photos and public transport options — especially in destinations where it’s linked with public transport GPS to show you bus or train locations — that it provides. I also appreciate that when I’m travelling somewhere without a data connection, I can select which parts of the map to download to my phone to use offline. It’s a staple for me; I just hope in 2024, they revert back from this slightly more clunky interface. Download on iPhone | Android

Maps.Me (free travel app)

Sometimes, Maps.Me is the superior choice, and this can be especially true in more offbeat destinations. I was especially impressed at how much more helpful this travel app was compared to the big players when I visited Oman and Tajikistan.

The maps are downloadable, so you can be offline and still use them anywhere, but the best thing is they are powered by OpenStreetMap, which is open-source, so anyone can update details and add new openings and finds. Often, people also had helpful points for trails and viewpoints. This community aspect (rather than Google’s more curated, business-centric approach) ensures that not only is this one of the best travel apps for navigating more remote destinations, but it can often be the most helpful on certain types of trips. Download on iPhone | Android

While nothing can usually beat a local walking guide’s knowledge, the All Trails app comes pretty close. Hosting a huge database of official — and not-so-official — walking routes, reviews and crowd-sourced paths, this travel app can really help you explore more of a destination on foot or by bike. The free version is okay, but for those often hiking in new destinations, the paid additions may be handy.  Go Janutly is another excellent app to have if you’re looking for local walking trails and routes. Download App

What3Words (free travel app)

This is a unique map that gives a three-word name to every spot in the world. If you are travelling to more remote places where street names aren’t a thing or streets don’t exist, this can help you to get there. Likewise, in case of an emergency, it can be used to give a very precise location to emergency services. When I first listed this travel app here a few years back, it was very niche, but now, as we enter 2024, even delivery companies and guidebooks are using it. Download on iPhone | Android

Best app for travel itinerary management: TripIt (free travel app)

TripIt is a super handy piece of kit that will even auto-scan your emails and compile all your travel plans into one place. If you are a frequent traveller, this can become a super handy PA in your pocket.

The free version is still one of the best travel apps for most average people planning a trip, but if you are often on the road, the business upgrade will make things much more streamlined, compiling all of your plans into one place. Download on iPhone | Android

Best travel apps for documenting (and inspiring) your trip

Beyond the normal suspects, such as TikTok, Instagram, or even starting your own blog, there are a few travel app newcomers for documenting and keeping track of your travel.

Framey (free travel app)

So, if you have become as fed up with Instagram as I have, then you might be seeking a photo-focused app to document your travels and inspire your future trips, and Framey does exactly that. No more endlessly scrolling through random reels; Framey’s feed is the perfect place to share your photos with specific locations and find inspiration from your friends or travel ambassadors/creators. The search function also works great, so you can scan your next travel destination and find quick, bite-sized information underneath fantastic visuals or scroll through ‘collections’, bringing together everything in one place.

While on the road, it’s also a helpful travel app to find your way to key sights and great photo points around your location, thanks to the inbuilt map feature, which pins photos on an easy-to-use road map. Both during and before your trip, you can easily save your favourite finds to your own collections so you don’t miss or forget that perfect spot. Download on iPhone | Android  

Visited App (free travel app)

Simple and easy to use, VisitedApp is one of the best travel apps for country counters to keep track of everywhere they have been. Simply add in your visited destinations, and you can see them both on a list view or a highlighted map. The inspiration section, which works a little like Tinder where you swipe left or right depending on if you want to add it to your ‘wishlist’ is a nice feature as it doesn’t just focus on countries as a whole but also cities, national parks, and regions — with nice photos for inspiration — so you can use it both for documenting where you have been but also where you still want to go.

There are also specific categories for various types of travel, such as Art Museums and Wonders of the World, so you can keep adding to your lists of places you have visited and want to visit. The paid pro version allows you to record the places you have visited in even more detail, such as specific cities or regions. Download on iPhone | Android

Best apps for backpackers and solo travel

These are some of the more useful travel apps if you’re travelling solo or as a backpacker.

Radical Storage (free travel app)

One of the biggest hassles when backpacking is finding a place to stash the bags, especially if you’re not able to check in early or are just stopping somewhere for the day before taking the bus or train. Radical Storage is one of many new handy travel apps (others include Luggage Hero and Bounce) that will help you find a pre-booked place to store your bag if the local bus or train station does not have an option. Usually, the fees are pretty decent, and both times I’ve used it, I’ve had no problems, although sometimes the storage options can be a little obscure, and the exact location isn’t always displayed until after booking. Download App

Travello (free travel app)

Travello has made some significant inroads in the travel world over the past few years and has even been named one of the top apps by the Apple store — it’s come a long way since I first met the founders back in 2016. Still, this will mostly come in handy if you’re travelling in Australia and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand and Asia.

But what is it? Well, think Tinder, but for travellers. With a well-developed interface, this travel app will help you find other travellers with similar interests who are already in or heading to the same areas. You can also search the noticeboard for your upcoming plans and arrange shares/swaps in advance. Recently, they have expanded into selling tours and travel experiences through partners, so you can also book activities directly in the app too, and discounts are applied depending on how many ‘points’ you’ve earned through activity within the app community. Download on iPhone | Android

Meetup (free travel app)

Meetup is great whether you’re travelling or not; I’ve used it to attend events in my home city before. It will help you connect with fellow travellers nearby to attend group events and activities, which can be searched and filtered by interests. If you’re travelling and seeking new connections and people to share experiences with — but don’t want to get Couchsurfing — this is a useful app to have on your phone while travelling. Download App

Top travel apps for staying connected

VPN, eSIM, internet-only mobile numbers — the web has provided a whole new world of ways to stay connected while travelling, and these are some of the most handy travel apps to ensure you don’t get lumped with a hefty data roaming bill.

HolaFly eSim

An eSim is a virtual sim card and provides an alternative to having to buy a new sim card at each destination. There are many benefits to this, such as speed, ease and forward planning, although the costs can sometimes be more than buying a local card. I’ve written a detailed guide to the pros and cons in this eSim for Europe guide . However, HolaFly is my go-to choice, especially since they have started offering some unlimited data packages in certain destinations. Get a 5% discount with my code: DANFLYINGSOLO when you sign up, then Download the App

A VPN is handy for security, but in some places, like when I went on a tour through China, it is essential to keep you connected to all your favourite apps that may be blocked in other countries. I would love to recommend an underdog here, but ExpressVPN is the best and most consistent I have used, so they are the winner. A free alternative is Windscribe , which I’ve found useful in many situations, though sometimes it’s unreliable and doesn’t always work. Enjoy a free trial of ExpressVPN via their website

WhatsApp (free travel app)

I feel like everyone should know and use WhatsApp, but I’ve discovered that plenty of folks in the USA still don’t rate it — though perhaps that’s changing since Meta brought it into the Facebook family.

An end-to-end encrypted communication app, it provides all the benefits of iPhone devices, such as calls, video chat, and messaging over data, but it is open to Android users as well. But the reason this is one of the most helpful travel apps is that in many regions (particularly in some Asian countries), nearly everything is organised through WhatsApp. From booking guest house stays in Indonesia to arranging tour guides in Kazakhstan, without this app, I’d have missed out on a lot of local experiences you won’t find on the big travel aggregators. Download on iPhone | Android

I haven’t personally used Rebtel, but a good friend in the USA recommended I include it in this article as it offers cheap international calls (via actual phone numbers, so it is a good alternative to internet calling) without always needing an internet connection. Thus, it’s a handy app to have if you’re going to be travelling and need a way to call physical numbers rather than communicating through WhatsApp. Signup is required to download the app

Best apps for language translation and learning

These are some of the best language learning apps to master some basics before arriving at a new destination. Of course, these are quite generic, so if you want to take a deeper dive into a specific language, such as learning Spanish online , you’ll likely want a more in-depth course. 

Duolingo (free travel app)

I spent all of 2022 using Duolingo Plus (the paid version of the app) and covered the first half of the Spanish course and all the (Brazilian) Portuguese courses. For me, the adverts in the free version are now really annoying, and I didn’t love the recent redesign; however, as far as free language travel apps go, Duolingo remains one of the best if you have a little patience.

I like the fact it is more like a course in the palm of your hand than a list of jumbled words. It uses repetition and reviewing to make sure you have grasped it and mixes audio learning with visual prompts. You aren’t going to become fluent here, but you will have more than enough to get by. They also have a relatively wide range of languages, although some courses, such as French and Spanish, are more in-depth than others. Download on iPhone | Android

I seem to go through phases with different language apps, dropping in and out when travelling, but now, having moved to Portugal, I’m using language apps not just for a short trip but to support myself in learning a brand new language, Portuguese.

Drops is a relatively new language app, and my favourite thing about it is the different mediums it uses to support learning words. You get both written and audio words, but also visual graphics to help support the learning. You also have complete control over the phrases that you go through this process with, so if you are already confident with certain words, you can tick them off, and they won’t show up in the lesson format. Another thing I love about Drops is their commitment to lesser-known languages and preserving traditional and regional dialects, such as Samoan and Ainu. Download on iPhone | Android

Google Translate (free travel app)

Okay, so it might not be teaching you a language, but it is undoubtedly one of the absolute BEST travel apps that you absolutely must have on your phone. Be sure not just to download the app itself before your trip but also to download the language of the country you’re visiting. Then, the translations will continue to work offline. But it gets even better, as you don’t actually have to type; pointing the camera at a menu or an info board at a translation will near-instantly give you the image back in your own language. The app will even work with voice translations, and I can’t tell you how happy it has made me to be able to talk to locals on night trains in Uzbekistan or hold a basic conversation while hitchhiking in Georgia. Honestly, it’s the best thing Google has ever created. Download on iPhone | Android

Best travel apps for money management

These are some of the best travel apps for money management, whether it’s splitting bills, sending transfers, or working out the exchange rate.  

This super handy and simple travel app will help you keep track of costs on a group trip. I’ve used this on a few of my non-solo travels now, and it’s as easy as tapping in the costs as you go along, so you can easily divide and balance who owes who what at the end of the trip. It is much easier than manually keeping tabs on different people’s payments, and it takes the stress out of talking about money when you just want to make the most of being on the road. Download App

Wise (formerly TransferWise)

A complete game-changer in sending money abroad, the (Transfer)Wise app works uniquely. Rather than physically sending your cash overseas, they have bank accounts in multiple countries, which reduces conversion costs. Say you want to send money from Germany to the UK; you add the money into their German account, and someone else’s money, which is being held in the UK account, goes to yours. Given how low the fees are and the savings you can make when withdrawing cash from certain ATMs, it’s an excellent travel app to have. Another solid alternative is Revolut, which is particularly good if you want to set up a joint account with someone while travelling. Download App

XE Currency Exchange (free travel app)

This is a great and lightweight travel app to keep track of various currencies in your pocket in real time; it also works offline as long as you have updated your rates before leaving the internet connection. XE also has a new premium feature which will alert you when a rate hits the target you have set — handy if you want to withdraw or convert a big amount. Download on iPhone | Android

Best travel apps to improve your trip and experience

These are some of the best apps for travel which will enhance your experience. From stargazing and pollen counts to tracking the time of the month, these are some nice additions to make for a better travel experience.

Too Good To Go

This isn’t so much a travel app, but it is amazing, both for travellers and also in day-to-day life. To combat food waste, it offers businesses the chance to sell their products that may be going out of date or the day’s leftovers at a heavily discounted price to minimise food waste. Not only are you getting some great food at great prices, but you are also helping the environment. For those seeking sustainable travel tips , this could be helpful in a few ways.

Say you are staying in self-catering accommodation; you could order a ‘magic bag’ of discounted fruit and vegetables to help you cook and collect them at the end of the day. Or, perhaps you fancy a hotel-style buffer breakfast but aren’t staying in a hotel? Then you can look for hotels nearby, and often, there is something to collect around 11 am. When I lived in Granada, I would often do this to get a cheap carry-out brunch. You’ll also find restaurants on the app, so if you don’t mind eating later than usual, you can often find delicious meals that are going spare for a fraction of the price of a takeaway. Sadly, the app mainly works in European countries, Canada and the USA. Download on iPhone | Android

Weather Bug

While nearly all smartphones come with basic weather apps, Weather Bug takes it to a whole other level. Whether you suffer from hay fever and want to know the pollen count or need to keep track of lighting and storm warnings, this is a one-stop-shop for all things weather. There’s a whole host of different map options, 18-day forecasting and plenty more nifty additional features, and given how much the weather can impact your trip, it’s a handy travel app to have on hand. Download on iPhone | Android

Flo (free travel app)

Trying to make this list as broad as possible, my dear friend Vicky suggested this travel app, which is especially useful for long-term travellers. In her words: “It monitors when your period is and sends you alerts so you can plan it with travel. It’s SO useful when you’re on the go and don’t know what day it is”. Download on iPhone | Android

SkyView (free travel app)

I started digging this app when I got into night photography, but it’s a staple for anyone who has an obsession with the stars. Simply point it at the sky, and it will tell you which constellations are in the viewfinder. If you want to start photographing the Milky Way, this is a great travel app to get on your phone. Download on iPhone | Android

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I have been recently making photo books of my adventures with an app called Inkifi, their website is . They aren’t as well publicised as some of the other big print apps but their products are innovative and second to none.

great list, thanks for sharing :) i couldnt travel without apps :D there is one app i can recommend checking out, its called “ATM Fee Saver” and it shows atms around with no or low fees for withdrawing money. its super helpful i found :)

hi there – great article. Thought I’ll also share – I came across this app ATM Fee Saver – it gives atm fees and withdrawal limits in some 30-40 countries, it was super helpful, much needed these days. Helped me calculate my own fees also for my amount. Never seen anything like this before – should defo be on your list also, it will helps lots of other international travellers like me!!!

Being techy types as well as keen travellers here are a few different apps that my husband and I like to use:

* TripMapper: great for building our travel itineraries and keeping track of our budget. It also has interactive ‘inspiration’ itineraries you can download and customise which is super helpful.

* Dataman: to keep on top of our data. Our plans give us roaming, but it’s less than our typical monthly amount, so we just set the data cap to our roaming limit when we’re away.

* Surfshark: we got an excellent deal on a multi-year plan. It has been pretty good, and the unlimited device feature works really well for us as we have too many internet-connected devices.

* Flighty: for checking the status of our flights. It’s a beautifully designed app, too.

Thank you so much for that type of information. before this blog i know only about two google and apple . you share a lot of information with us thanks

Nice piece of information specially for those who wants to explore the world by him/her self. I also used to travel and looking for advice which is handy while traveling. Usually, I have few pre-installed apps which are enough for me like Google Maps is the only maps who acts as travel explorer for me in every way like tourist places I need to go, nearby hotels I need to stay, restaurants etc.

How come Xnspy didn’t make the list? It is such a cool app and its GPS location tracking and geofencing works in real-time. If you are traveling with kids and plan to split up and explore, you must get this app. You won’t regret it.

Like your list. Its got some of usual suspects, but the apps for handicapped plus meeting locals are great gems.

I’ve just come across this neat mobile app: potty poche. It highlights visiting the south of France: Languedoc and Provence, with the unique added feature of a public toilet locator for the places to visit; a necessity for France. And it identifies those that are handicap accessible plus has five language versions.

The app categorizes seaside towns, historic Cathar sites, beautiful and perched villages, famous french village movie venues, as well as practical guides to the lavender fields, favorite market towns, and places associated with famous painters.

I found the app on Apple and Google play stores

Very descriptive article it is…!! I usually use the google translate app for travel purposes. It is the best app from the above list. Thank you for the best suggestion I will try other apps also.

There are so many programs do download. I think it would be nice, if someone will made one platform for using all of these benefits on an app. I don’t have all of them, I use usually Airbnb, Skyscanner, Google maps or Maps.me and NordVPN Teams for mobile security. Till now it’s enough for my trips, maybe in the future I will need more, who knows!

Thanks for thelist. It helps me to get an overview about other travel apps. I’m also working on my own on a travel app in my freetime, which helps to create travel routes with AI. If you like it, you can maybe add it to the list :) https://yourtravelroute.com/

Greets David

I recommend “Leap” for planning and budgeting a round the world trip. Also helpful for digital nomads and full-time travellers.

I have found your article very informative and interesting. I appreciate your points of view and I agree with so many. You’ve done a great job with making this clear enough for anyone to understand.

Thanks for sharing this. This helps me a lot. :)

I am a big fan of Airbnb, and I think the good thing is I can go anywhere with my Chinese card. That’s the main reason for me to choose that App. I think your article is really useful for traveler. Thanks!

Nice list! One app which I use a lot is Leap. I heard about it from a movie on a German couple traveling the world. They basically used it to find out how much money they will need for their world travel depending on the countries where they want to go. I got inspired by them to travel the world so I have started using the app as well. It has a financial planner so I hope I will have my savings ready soon :-)

Thanks for the tip Asha!

Wow! I really enjoyed reading this post a lot because whenever I travel in a different country I tend to get lost. A couple summers ago, I went abroad to Spain and got lost many times! One of the apps I saw on this list was Google Translate, which I totally used all the time when I lived with my host mom. WhatsApp was another one I used all the time and I would agree it is very important when you are in another country. One of the favorite apps I read about on this post is Weather Bug because it seems very useful. A lot of the time my usual weather app was not accurate so this app would definitely be beneficial. I liked how you split up each up by using numbers to differentiate each app. It made it very easy to read!

Hey! you should check out Jetzy! its a travel app, and connects you with locals as well as people from all over the world! i think its pretty cool :)

i m still amazed why Make My Trip is not included in the list. No doubt that the apps which you mentioned above are great but we cant ignore make my trip too.

Great list. But what about Sygic Travel? It has offline maps and virtual reality videos… I am missing it here. I can activate you a Premium licence Daniel, if you want. Let me know. :)

Each country have their own favorite travel App. I prefer to use Tripoto while travel and it gives me good ideas about various places and things to do ! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful list !

This is a great post! Apps are so useful for every day life, but for travelling they can really make the experience much smoother and cheaper. Apps like skyscanner are a must for going around the world on a budget and making your travelling hassle free!

Awesome list. I have been hearing only good things about Skyscanner and Rome2Rio looks like heaven sent with all the local transport timings around the world. Herepin seems like a nice startup as it might make it easier to connect with fellow travelers rather than posting on Social Media and asking “who’s around”. A very useful list, thanks.

rome 2 rio just keeps getting better and better and has so much info not even google maps can pull up – god send! :)

Thanks for the great list, these are super handy – didn’t know about half of these. Another app I’d really recommend is Postsnap ( https://www.postsnap.com ), it’s a postcard sending app that’s perfect for sending travelling snaps back home when you’re abroad. Great to be able to use your own photos and write a personal message.

Sounds like a cool app!!

Thanks for this great list! We would like to add Tourlina – the first women-only travel app

Awesome, cheers Dan. I have just downloaded Rome 2 Rio and also the currency one.

Hope they came in handy. Rome2Rio is a lifesaver in some countries.

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8 of the best travel apps that travel editors can't live without

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The best travel apps, when used to your advantage, can be the most indispensable companion for a trip. Not only can they save you time and money, but they can also reduce any journey-induced stress. Need to work out costs on a group trip , translate a menu, or get from A to B when you don’t speak the language? There’s an App for that. But just as you don’t need a suitcase laden with unworn clothing, no one needs a phone clogged with gimmicky or useless apps. We asked our jet-setting editors to share the apps they genuinely use while travelling and the lesser-known gems that have saved a holiday. So while the BA App, Rome2Rio, or Monzo might be stalwarts of the frequent flyer’s home screen, here are the clever, hardworking Apps our travel insiders swear by.

Cost: Free to use (Wanderlog Pro includes additional features and costs around £40 per year)

USP: One of the best travel apps for planning every kind of trip, including road trips and group travel: create a trip itinerary, budget costs, organise flights and hotel reservations, and collaborate with friends. After your trip, share a travel guide to inspire other travellers.

Wanderlog brings everything you need to plan your trips into one seamless app experience. Its user-friendly, web-scanning database contains a huge wealth of information about sights, attractions and places to eat and drink. Not only can you find recommended hotspots through the app and add these to a map view, but you can also import reservation and flight details from your emails. Wanderlog is especially ideal for group trips. Your customised itineraries and lists can be edited by multiple people in real time, and users can leave notes for fellow travellers – such as a reminder of the must-have dish or dress code at a restaurant. Smart AI functionality means that the app can offer (editable) auto-generated itineraries as well. And if that isn’t enough, you can track expenses and cost-splitting too, indispensable for larger groups and squabble-prone families. Toyo Odetunde

Cost: Free to download.

USP: Request a chauffeur-driven, class-leading car on-demand or in advance for yourself or on behalf of others.

Wheely is a seriously plush chauffeur service within an easy-to-use app, currently operating in London, Paris , Dubai, and Moscow. What makes this ideal for the frequent flyer is that you can add in your flight details when booking an airport pick-up, so the driver knows exactly what time you’ll be landing (so no risk of them driving off if you’ve been delayed), and they’ll be ready and waiting for you (with your name on a sign) at arrivals. For any other queries, you can live chat with a real person (no bot responses here) – for example, if they can provide a baby seat (which they happily did for a recent family holiday ). Cars come with water and chargers as standard, and drivers are friendly, professional and knowledgeable. Peace of mind at the click of a button. Charlotte Davey

Hong Kong Taxi Cards

Cost: £1.99

USP: With over 9,000 Hong Kong addresses translated into written Chinese and Cantonese, equipped with a function to request additional addresses and get feedback quickly, this is not an ordinary dictionary-type translator app.

This is indispensable for travelling around Hong Kong if you’re not fluent in Cantonese. The App has pretty much every address ready in Chinese and Cantonese, so you can show your taxi driver where you want to go without getting lost in translation. It also has a speaking option which delivers the address fluently, which is really helpful if you have zero grasp of the language. Another handy feature is that the App will show you the journey time and estimate fare – something to remember is that not all taxis have card machines so you’ll need to make sure you have enough cash on you before you hail a cab. Matt Buck

Cost: Free to download (Splitwise Pro costs £2.79)

USP: Splitwise is the easiest way to share expenses with friends and family and stop stressing about “who owes who”.

This is a game changer for working out costs on group trips. Everyone in the party signs up, and then you simply enter your expenses as you go – with a description of what it was (flights, accommodation, food, etc) and who it needs to be split between (i.e. the whole group or just those who were in the taxi, for example). It’s a great way to stay on top of costs, from larger expenses to smaller spending, like a round at the bar. At the end of the trip, click ‘simplify debts’, and you should be left with just one transaction each to ensure everyone has paid the same amount. You can label each trip and see who has settled up, and if someone doesn’t pay the App will send them helpful reminders (saving pennies and friendships). Charlotte Davey

Google Translate

USP: Translate between up to 133 languages with instant camera translation.

Google Translate is nothing new, but if you download the app, you can use the camera on your phone to upload signs, labels, or menus for an instant translation. This is a lifesaver for travelling in a country that doesn’t use the English alphabet or a language you’re unsure how to pronounce. The platform is currently proficient in 133 languages, so this is a great one wherever you are in the world. The App also works offline so you don’t need to worry about data roaming charges. Another function that is noteworthy is the speaker option – not only can you point your phone at a sign for a translation, but it will then speak in your chosen language, which is particularly helpful for those who are visually impaired. Charlotte Davey

USP: Find wheelchair-accessible restaurants, cafes, toilets, shops, cinemas, parking lots, bus stops and much more.

Developed by a not-for-profit company based in Germany , this is a great app for wheelchair users, families travelling with prams, or even for those with heavy suitcases navigating public transport. Operating in over 30 countries, a vast number of restaurants, stations, shops, and more are shown on an interactive map with a traffic light system for whether it is fully accessible (green), part accessible (yellow), or not accessible (red). The App replies to users rating places they have visited, so less touristy areas won’t have as much information. Charlotte Davey

Cost: Free to download

USP: Stay connected in over 200 countries and regions. Install an eSIM and get online in minutes with no roaming fees.

Especially handy if you’re travelling through different countries, Airalo allows you to use different eSim cards to keep your data roaming costs down. The App is free to download, and then simply choose the country you’re in, and select a data plan depending on how long you're there and how much you’ll be using your phone. You can often save around £10 for a week's holiday which is worth it if you’re a frequent flyer or watching the pennies while travelling. Sophie Knight

Cost: Free to use. In-app purchases.

USP: Whering is the digital wardrobe and styling app where you can curate, organise, style and plan your outfits.

Whering is essentially a portable digital wardrobe – a ‘Clueless’ style outfit planner on your mobile phone. Fill your in-app wardrobe by uploading photos of your clothes, or by importing images from the app’s cosmic database or your favourite online retailers. Whering will then process these images into sleek, combinable ‘cut-outs’, allowing you to put together countless outfits, looks and mood boards, which can also be organised by occasion. If you’re short on time, or feeling either uninspired or spontaneous, Whering’s AI can deliver outfit suggestions in seconds – even taking into account the weather forecast, ideal when travelling a country you’re not familiar with (or just braving London’s erratic climes). The Planner function is especially great for trips, storing your outfit ideas for specific dates and events. Also great for travel planning is the packing list feature; you can add items to a packing list for a particular destination, and Whering can suggest items you may have forgotten. Toyo Odetunde

Best travel apps in 2021

Beat the traffic, avoid flight delays and find a place to stay on your next trip

The best travel apps are the ones that take all the stress out of a trip, freeing you up to enjoy the journey. And fortunately, you've got a lot of choices when it comes to finding apps that can help you plan your next getaway. 

You'll find everything from trip planners and itinerary generators to online marketplaces for flights and hotels in both the Play Store and Apple's store for apps. Combine one of the best travel apps with some great travel tech , and your chances for a smooth trip will increase dramatically.

• These are the best Android apps overall
• Get better trip photos with the best Android camera apps

Not sure where to look first? We've found a list of the best travel apps for when you're ready to hit the road again after sticking close to home for more than a year.

1. MyTSA (Free: Android; iOS)

Before you hit the road, make sure you've got MyTSA on your smartphone. The official app of the Transportation Security Administration isn't going to win any beauty contests, but it will let you check wait times at security checkpoints at major airpots. And that can help you plan on how much travel time you need to allow.

The app includes historical wait-time data while also giving you the option of checking crowd-sourced reports of how long security lines are at that moment. The ability to search what you can bring on a plane, get live assistance and find out info on the TSA PreCheck program make this a good app for travelers to keep handy on their smartphone.

Download MyTSA: Android , iOS

2. Expedia (Android, iOS: Free)

If you're a frequent traveller, you need a good all-in-one travel app, and Expedia is a tried-and-true option. You can book every aspect of your trip through Expedia, including hotels, flights and rental cars. The app also lets you bundle deals on travel and lodging, look for cruises, and research things to do when you arrive at your destination. 

If you're looking to stretch your travel budget even farther, Expedia promises exclusive deals for mobile users, with members of Expedia's rewards program enjoying additional perks. 

Download Expedia: Android , iOS

3. Flighty (iOS: Free)

There are flight trackers, and then there's Flighty, an iOS app for people who really want to know the location and arrival time of their plane. The free version of the app gives you basic flight-tracking tools, but pay up for a subscription ($8.99 a month or $49.99 per year), and you get access to more sophisticated features such as push notifications, syncing with TripIt or with calendars, and an assistant to help with your flight connections. 

Flighty also claims to be able to predict flight delays by monitoring inbound planes for 25 hours and monitoring FAA-mandated delays. You can check out the portions of the paid app for free during a 14-day trial.

Download Flighty: iOS

4. Hopper (Android, iOS: Free)

Another app bringing big data and predictive algorithms to the world of air travel is Hopper It uses a massive database of airline prices and historical trends to predict when prices to a destination are likely to be lowest, when they're likely to change, and the best time to buy a ticket for a particular date and destination. 

You can watch flights on specific dates or destinations, and the app will advise you whether it's worth it to buy now or to wait, tell you the dates when it's likely cheapest to fly, estimate changes in price, and notify you of price drops or rises. You can also save your payment details within the app for quick booking.

Download Hopper: Android , iOS

5. iExit (Android, iOS: Free)

If your travel plans involve a lot of driving, iExit works as a handy freeway exit guide, listing nearby highway exits, as well as the kind of businesses and amenities there are nearby. Need to gas up or find some good food or a place to stay for the night? iExit’s search tools come to the rescue, showing you nearby gas stations (with price data powered by GasBuddy), motels, and even deals and discounts from nearby businesses.

Download iExit: Android , iOS

6. Waze (Android; iOS)

Nothing gets a vacation off on the wrong foot like getting stuck in traffic. Waze can't eliminate the traffic, but it can help you get around any jams, especially if you're in an unfamiliar city. 

The navigation app feeds your smartphone real-time traffic information, based on reports from other Waze users. That data includes accidents, speed traps and other hazards that might keep you from getting to your destination in a timely fashion. 

Other features sure to impress travelers include automatic rerouting, cheap gas alerts and the ability to send your ETA to anyone waiting at your final stop.

Download Waze: Android , iOS

7. Skiplagged (Android, iOS: Free)

If you're traveling light and looking to save a few bucks, check out Skiplagged. It's a neat app that can keep your travel costs down by taking advantage of "hidden city flights", where flyers get off at a layover, instead of at the final destination. 

Enter your origin and destination, and Skiplagged will show you the cost of a direct flight, as well as any cheaper "hidden city" flights that have your intended destination as a layover. The caveat? Stick to carry-on luggage, as any checked-in bags will go all the way to the flight's final destination. 

Skiplagged also allows you to book hotels, including last-minute deals and special offers.

Download Skiplagged: Android , iOS

8. Flio (Android, iOS: Free)

Flio aims to be the all-in-one companion app for harried travelers making their way through airports worldwide. An official partner of 300 airports, Flio also has info on thousands more. That lets the app feature terminal maps, a boarding pass scanner, a flight tracker and directions to shuttle buses and booking options for everything from parking to lounge access. 

The app's sheer variety of services and features make it a great addition to the app toolkit of frequent fliers and vacationers alike.

Download Flio: Android , iOS

9. AtYourGate (Android, iOS: Free)

AtYourGate is another helpful airport companion that focuses more about retail opportunities while you're killing time waiting at the airport. If you need food, supplies (like say a phone charger to replace the one you forgot to pack), or last-minute gifts, you can browse the AtYourGate app for nearby shops and restaurants instead of having to wander around the airport. 

AtYourGate users can order food or other items, pay through the app, and even arrange for the item to be delivered to them right at their gate, lounge, or other location. AtYourGate currently operates in a select number of major airports, including JFK, La Guardia, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Portland, San Diego, and Newark.

Download AtYourGate: Android , iOS

10. Mobile Passport (Android, iOS: Free)

Mobile Passport is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection-approved app that helps speed you through lengthy immigration lines. It allows anyone with U.S. or Canadian passports to submit their passport control and customs declarations through the app, replacing paper forms and providing faster processing in a number of major US airports where the Mobile Passport service is supported. 

The app will save you a good amount of time in line, but it’s no reason to leave your physical passport at home. Mobile Passport is a companion app, not a replacement.

Download Mobile Passport: Android , iOS

11. TripIt (Android, iOS: Free)

TripIt promises to cut back on the travel hassle by consolidating your travel plans into a simple, convenient itinerary. Viewable online and synced to your cell phone, you can also share itineraries with your contacts. 

You just link your email account to TripIt, and the service will automatically dig through your inbox for reservation confirmations and other forms. Using that data, TripIt builds an organized itinerary of your flight boarding times, hotel check-ins and more. While TripIt is a free download, a $48.99 annual subscription gets you features like real-time flight alerts and updates on how long airport lines are.

Download TripIt: Android , iOS

12. App In The Air (Android, iOS: Free)

App In The Air is designed to help you through the entire process of your airplane flight, serving as a booking assistant that reminds you of your gate, ETA, check-in requirements, baggage tips, and more. 

The app condenses all of this important information so that it's easy to refer to at a glance, while also providing handy extras. You can view a summary of your airline's baggage rules (or even have an augmented reality overlay that you can use to measure your baggage to see if it will fit for carry-on or overhead guidelines). 

Travelers can integrate the app with TripIt, track loyalty rewards, view airplane amenities and even forward their details to their Apple Watch or Android Wear device. A premium subscription ($29.99 per year) includes real-time flight status updates, automated check-ins, and more.

Download App In The Air: Android , iOS

13. GasBuddy (Android, iOS: Free)

If road trips are more your thing, consider GasBuddy, a mobile app that helps users track down the cheapest gas in their region. Users can tap into their GPS location through their phone, or search by address or zip code to find the nearby gas prices.

As many of the prices are based on user reports, GasBuddy rewards users with points for reporting and updating a station's prices, with points making you eligible for regular raffles of prizes like free gas.

Download GasBuddy: Android , iOS

14. Roadtrippers (Android, iOS: Free)

Another handy travel companion when you hit the road is the aptly named Roadtrippers, a trip planning and itinerary app that lets you plot your next road trip, and helps you discover destinations, attractions, and useful stops along the way. 

With Roadtrippers, you can share your route and schedule with friends and family. The app helps users find everything from diners and dives to hotels, restaurants, national parks, roadside attractions and other scenic points of interest. 

If doing that research on a small phone screen stresses you out, you can plan trips in the Roadtrippers web portal if you prefer, saving locations and stops into a trip plan which you can sync across multiple devices for easy reference.

Download Roadtrippers: Android , iOS

15. PackPoint (Android, iOS: Free)

PackPoint is a travel packing wizard that provides a checklist of travel essentials that you'll need to pack, depending on the nature of your trip. 

Simply create a trip profile with your destination, length of stay and purpose of travel. PackPoint then creates a customized packing and luggage checklist that takes into account whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, the type and amount of clothing to pack based on the weather forecast and other factors. 

The app also comes with a variety of premium features, such as TripIt integration for automatic packing list creation.

Download PackPoint: Android , iOS

16. TripAdvisor (Android, iOS: Free)

TripAdvisor is your crowd-sourced guide to hotels, restaurants and attractions worldwide. The app allows you to browse through plenty of reviews, images and videos featuring various establishments worldwide to get a better idea of what awaits you at your destination. 

You can also access contact details; search for nearby establishments; explore restaurants by food type, price range or rating; check out air fares; and even add to the knowledge base by posting your own reviews, images and entries for the places you visit. There are even some handy "Near Me Now" features to alert you of nearby points of interest once you're on the scene.

Download TripAdvisor: Android , iOS

17. Airbnb (Android, iOS: Free)

Airbnb is a marketplace app that allows users to search for and find unique accommodations across the world, from mom-and-pop B&Bs for a night, to a small apartment for a week, or even a castle for a month. There's no shortage of quirky and unique establishments. Airbnb covers a range of prices in more than 34,000 cities across almost 200 countries, which means the adventurous or flexible traveler has some interesting choices for accommodations on their next trip.

Download Airbnb: Android , iOS

18. Vrbo (Android, iOS: Free)

Vrbo's mobile app is another option for finding places to stay on your next trip. At Vrbo, the emphasis is on vacation rentals, and with 2 million unique places to stay in 190-plus countries, you've got plenty of options. 

Use the Vrbo app to search for vacation homes, plan your trip and book your lodging. The app also gives you access to key booking details — what is the Wi-Fi password at your rental property, anyway? — and lets you share your itinerary with friends and family.

Download Vrbo: Android , iOS

19. Hotel Tonight (Android, iOS: Free)

If you unexpectedly need to look for last minute hotel rooms, check out  HotelTonight. It offers last-minute discounts on vacancies and same-night accommodations from top-rated hotels. Users can search by category and quality such as Basic, Hip or Luxe; view information on nearby hotels; and quickly book accommodations from within the app.

Download HotelTonight: Android , iOS

20. GlobeTips (iOS: Free)

How much should you tip? GlobeTips is a handy app that can tell you how much gratuity is customary wherever you are in the world. In addition to global tipping guides, GlobeTips includes a calculator for automatically calculating the tip, splitting the bill, and handling sales tax.

Download GlobeTips: iOS

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Apps for Travelers Dreaming of Their Next Trip

Yes, there’s turmoil in the travel world right now, but many people are still eager to linger over plans for future journeys. These new online tools will help.

By Stephanie Rosenbloom

While travel is fraught amid the rise of the Omicron variant , people are still dreaming of their next getaway. There are even new apps to make trips easier to plan and enjoy. A number of them were introduced (and some old favorites were updated) back when travel was at a standstill. Wondering which to try? Here is a selection with thoughtful solutions — how to turn award points into a hotel suite, join a ranger for a national park hike, hear the history of the place you’re driving through, see the latest Covid-19 travel protocols — to help you tap and swipe your way to what will hopefully be a new year of adventures.

National Park Service

From Acadia to Zion, at long last there’s a single official park service app for America’s more than 400 national parks. Created by National Park Service staff, the app puts practical information — such as fees, hours, directions, webcams, where to find food and restrooms, park news and events (walking tours, talks, volunteer opportunities) — at your fingertips. Search for parks near you, or search for them by name, state, activity (like horse trekking, caving, dog sledding) or topic (African American heritage, climate change, volcanoes). According to the app, a visit to Alaska is in order if you want to go dog sledding through national parks and preserves, though if horse trekking is more your speed, there are dozens of national sites from which to choose. Download park details for offline use on mountain trails and other spots you don’t have cell service, and keep a running list of the parks you’ve visited. Cost: free.

HearHere — Road Trip Companion

When contemplating a road trip, any number of images might come to mind — and Kevin Costner probably isn’t one of them. Yet that may be about to change. The actor and director is a co-founder of HearHere , an app that uses your location and interests to play audio snippets (some narrated by Mr. Costner) about the history, culture and natural wonders of the places you’re driving through. There are morsels about the things you see (like landmarks) and the things you don’t, like the people who walked the land before you. The app, which rolled out last year, more recently announced an expansion, blossoming from road trip stories set on the West Coast to more than 8,700 stories across the United States, including details about the early history of Portland, Maine; the burning of Washington by British troops in 1814; and the first racially integrated housing in Philadelphia. Available only on iOS. Cost: Free for the first five stories; after that, $29.99 for 30-day unlimited access; $35.99 for a one-year unlimited subscription; $69.99 for three years.

Bublup is a cloud storage service where you can save and organize all sorts of content (photos, videos, documents, links, PDFs) in eye-pleasing folders and, if you like, share them with others. For example, say you’re planning a trip to Vermont. With a few taps you can create a vacation folder and choose from the app’s templates to add a packing checklist and a note about things you want to do. You can easily forward flight or car rental confirmation emails, import inspirational photos and videos, and add links to travel articles and potential bed-and-breakfasts. One of the things that makes the app (and desktop version) delightful for visual planners is that you can choose the colors of your folders or even put your own photos on the front of them and as background images inside. Each type of content you add to a folder (be it a link or photo) appears in its own tidy box, which makes scrolling through information less like work and more like, well, vacation. To get started, try Bublup’s “vacation planning” template which has handy folders for flight information, food and beverages, location, lodging options and must-see sights, which you can then customize. Tap “invite” to enable fellow travelers to view or collaborate on your trip planning by adding and editing content. For more ways to use the app for vacation planning, check out Bublup’s blog . Cost: Free for three gigabytes of storage; more storage and features from $2.99 to $9.99 a month or, if paid yearly, from $27.60 to $94.80. Pricing details: Bublup.com/premium-features .

The Points Guy

The Points Guy website , known for demystifying the ever-changing world of loyalty points and airline miles, now has an eponymous app to help you earn, use and keep an eye on your hard-won travel awards. A points wallet allows you to enter your airline and hotel loyalty program information, receive notifications about using your miles and points before they expire, and see just how close you are to scoring a trip. There’s also a place to enter your credit card information and track bonus offers, as well as see how you might spend to earn more points. Tap the “award explorer” icon to learn about redeeming points and miles, and search for estimated award trip prices. A news feed puts the latest travel developments about airlines and airports, deals, destinations and Covid-19 requirements in your pocket. Available only on iOS. Cost: free.

Una Travel: Smart Trip Planner

Currently in public beta, this app asks about your travel style — like the sorts of places you prefer to stay (Beach hotels? Green hotels?) and the cuisines that make your mouth water (Mexican? Italian?) — before offering itineraries and recommendations of things to do. The app’s creators have emphasized responsible travel by including plenty of outdoor activities like hiking, cycling, camping, visits to parks and landmarks, and meals at restaurants with al fresco seating. And you can plan and collaborate on that camping or cycling trip with friends and family, too. Cost: free.

Welcome: A Smart City Guide

Founded by creators of Cameo, a mobile video app that was acquired by Vimeo in 2014, Welcome has come out of beta and is aiming to help users swiftly discover places to go and things to do. Follow travel publications, travel experts and friends. The app will provide recommendations based not only on your preferences, but also on real-time considerations such as the time of day, weather and holidays. (Note: You have to enter your phone number to sign in to Welcome.) Available only on iOS. Cost: free.

Some nascent travel apps don’t have many reviews on Apple’s App Store and Google Play , but since they’re free to download you can give them a try before deciding whether they deserve a place on your smartphone. For instance, if you’re itching to go somewhere and want a bit of direction, Elude App suggests destinations based on your responses to questions like “Crave or hard pass?” (with accompanying photos of food such as a charcuterie plate, sushi rolls and dragonfruit) and “Try it or skip?” (with photos and descriptions of activities like “learning to cook like a boss,” “attempting to salsa like a local” and “shhh…visiting a quiet architectural spot”). You can then search for itineraries by entering your total trip budget and the city from which you’re departing. Available for iOS only. Cost: free.

And others …

Of course, nowadays there’s so much evolving travel information, it’s not easy to keep up with the latest rules about where you can go and when. Wandry: Travel Planner aims to help by gathering details from different government portals and putting them in one place. Find out where you are and aren’t allowed to roam, and see requirements for Covid-19 tests, vaccinations and quarantines. Cost: free.

You may also want to revisit familiar apps like Hopper , Skyscanner , TripIt , and Tripadvisor, which have updates, including Covid-19-related requirements and health information. App in the Air , where users book and keep track of their trips and loyalty programs, introduced a digital “health passport,” which was recently updated so you can add both a P.C.R. test and a vaccination certificate before traveling. (Cost: free; memberships with additional features like flight status updates are available from $9.99 a year to $49.99 for a lifetime membership.)

Meanwhile, on the ground, an update to the free Google Maps app may be useful for getting around outdoors. Its bike and scooter share information has been expanded to more than 300 cities worldwide. Consult the app to find stations around you and, in places like New York and Barcelona, see how many bikes are currently available. If you’re among the many people these days exploring closer to home, an update to Trivago , which helps travelers score deals on accommodations, may be of interest. The free app introduced Trivago Weekend, a new way to discover nearby experiences and trips. Just set your current city or town and then tap the “weekend” icon to peruse places to stay and getaway ideas for 2022 that don’t necessarily require a boarding pass.

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22 Best Travel Apps Every Traveler Should Know About

From tracking flight delays, finding last-minute accommodations, and even locating the nearest public restroom, these are the most helpful travel apps to download before you travel.

Using the right travel apps can help you save both time and money , while making the journey much less stressful . Many of these apps also provide local recommendations and hidden gems tourists don't often get to see — and some are completely free.

Whether you're looking for an app that will give you discounts for popular local events, offer a last-minute booking at a fraction of the price, or help you breeze through the airport , these are the 22 best travel apps to download before your next trip.

Citymapper helps travelers find the speediest route to their destination, providing step-by-step instructions on where to find the nearest bus and train stations. You'll be able to see when the next arrivals are, and real-time routing means you'll get updates every minute. The app also has a chat feature that allows you to update friends and family on your E.T.A. wherever you are.

Available on iOS and Android .

PackPoint takes the hassle out of packing by creating a customized list of what you'll need for your getaway. Enter your destination, travel dates, length of stay, and activities that might require special gear, like hiking or swimming, and the app will create a custom packing list you can save for future use. Besides checking weather conditions for you, the app also allows users to share their packing lists with fellow travelers.

The beauty of Rebtel is you don't need an internet connection to call friends and family back home. The app connects to local phone lines to provide you with cheap calls in 51 countries around the world without having to deal with the hassle of getting a local SIM card or racking up your phone bill.

If you're looking to get outdoors, this app will provide you with the area's best hiking, biking, and running trails. In addition to details on length, starting location, and trail quality, AllTrails includes reviews and photos from a community of hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. You'll find useful information like what to pack, obstacles you'll find along the route, and the best scenic spots to check out.

If you find yourself in the middle of a long layover, Dayuse can get you into a hotel room for a few hours for up to 75 percent less than what the typical overnight rate would be. The app features 5,000 hotels in 23 countries, and allows you to make free cancellations at the last minute, in case you manage to catch an earlier flight.

Selections include everything from business hotels to wellness accommodations, with payments made directly when you arrive. You also get full use of the hotel's amenities for the duration of your stay.

The prices of flights can fluctuate, making it tricky to decide if you should book right away or hold off. That's where Hopper comes in, predicting the best time to find the cheapest fares, saving up to 40 percent. The app also has a price-monitoring feature so that you can select a particular flight and receive alerts if the price drops. Through Hopper, users can also compare the prices and amenities of more than 250 airlines and get alerts about airfare flash sales.

RV Parks & Campgrounds

This camping app helps you locate prime RV parks, campgrounds, rest areas, and gas stations across North America. With more than 40,000 facilities, the app sorts locations based on ratings and includes both privately-owned RV parks and public parks to choose from.

Nike Training Club

Hitting the gym while you're traveling can be tough, but with Nike Training Club, you'll feel like you have a personal trainer right in your pocket. That's because you can access hundreds of free workouts from Nike Master Trainers and celebrities like Kevin Hart, Serena Williams, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Audio and video clips help you make sure you're on top of your technique, while personalized training plans will keep you on track.

If you don't have much time to spare at the airport, Grab allows you to check out what food selections are near your gate, and gives you the option to pre-order your meal so you can pick it up on the way. The app currently operates at over 60 airports worldwide, giving you plenty of bites to choose from on your next trip.

GasBuddy is the app you'll want if you're taking a road trip. GasBuddy tracks down where to find the cheapest gas prices, allowing you to filter by price, location, brand, and amenities. It also provides you with deals at nearby convenience stores and price hike alerts so you can nail down the best prices every time.

This App Will Help You Actually Relax on Vacation

Want to know what local events are taking place at your destination? Headout will show you the top attractions, shows, tours, and experiences in popular cities like New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orlando, Hawaii, Dubai, and more.

Activities range from catching a Broadway show, yoga in the hills, or taking a helicopter tour, with exclusive last-minute offers that can be up to 80 percent off.

If you need to access the internet during your travels, chances are you'll have to connect to public Wi-Fi, which can be sketchy. TunnelBear allows you to connect privately and securely by providing you a VPN (virtual private network) that will encrypt your browsing data to keep your information hidden from hackers and advertisers. The app comes with 500MB of free browsing data each month, or you can opt for unlimited data at a low monthly rate.

Hostelworld

Hostelworld is where you'll find more than 17,000 hostels, hotels, B&B's, and communal spaces in 178 countries. The app is great for solo travelers looking to meet fellow vacationers during their trip, including a Noticeboard that highlights events and meetups, and a translator that will help you communicate in up to 43 languages.

WeatherBug provides forecasts for millions of locations around the world, with current, hourly, and even 10-day options. The app also has specific weather maps to track everything from lightning and wind to pressure and humidity, and makes staying on top of changes to the weather easy with instant alerts.

Eatwith allows you to dine with locals, in their homes, all over the world. Menus are posted for you to see, while hosts will typically list what they cook, the languages they speak, and any alcohol pairings they'll be serving. Not only does the app give you a chance to meet locals and get superb dining recommendations, but it also allows you to enjoy a high-quality meal for less than what you'd typically pay at a restaurant.

Available on iOS and Android.

Trying to locate a public restroom can be tricky, especially in a new destination. That's where Flush comes in. The app has a database of more than 200,000 toilets, and quickly provides travelers with nearby bathrooms. You can search without an internet connection, and the app will also notify you if a restroom requires a fee.

While banks may charge you a fee for transferring money abroad, Wise allows you to make a transfer based on real-time currency exchanges, so you can send money at rates the company says are up to eight times cheaper than what you'd find at traditional banks.

TripIt makes it easy to put together a cohesive travel itinerary. Simply forward your confirmation emails, like your hotel and flight reservations, or your rental car reservation, and TripIt will build a full itinerary to help you stay organized with all of your plans.

With real-time alerts, you'll know if your flight is delayed or canceled, while the flight finder can help you book a new option should a cancellation occur.

Another good app for the road, Waze gives you community-based data about traffic jams, and information to locate points of interest like the cheapest gas stations and the fastest routes to your destination. Live maps include voice-guided navigation to easily guide you.

Xe provides live exchange rates and charts to keep you on top of money matters during your travels, easily allowing you to choose between different currencies you'd like to convert. It also has a rate alert so that you can monitor your favorite currencies — and it can be used offline.

Timeshifter

If you're sick of the jet lag battle that inevitably comes with travel, check out Timeshifter , an app that helps you to avoid jet lag long before your flight departs. Thanks to neuroscience research on circadian rhythms and sleep, the app provides personalized recommendations that take into account your age, gender, typical sleep patterns, and specifics about your trip. The app will tell you when you should avoid or seek daylight, and when you should stay awake or take a nap. The result? A gentle jet lag experience, which translates to more time exploring your destination.

FlightAware

If you have a tight connection or are picking up friends or family from the airport, look to FlightAware for help. The app tracks flights in real time, so you can see exactly where the aircraft is at any given moment. In addition to providing arrivals and delays, you can also see if weather will have any affect on certain locations.

Evie Carrick is a writer and editor who’s lived in five countries and visited well over 50. She now splits her time between Colorado and Paris, ensuring she doesn't have to live without skiing or L'As du Fallafel.

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16 Travel Apps That Travel Editors Actually Use

Afar editors hand-picked these apps to make traveling easier at every step of your trip, from outlining a packing list and booking hotels to figuring out exchange rates and translating words..

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These must-have apps for iOS and Android make it easier to organize your travel plans, whether you need to book flights and hotel rooms or translate words from a different language.

Courtesy of Good Studio / Shutterstock

Most seasoned travelers develop their own techniques for planning and orchestrating trips that go smoothly. But even for people who travel frequently, parts of taking a trip can still be complicated. Afar editors and contributors are certainly no strangers to travel tasks like booking flights and hotels; renting cars for road trips ; or navigating public transportation and language barriers in unfamiliar cities. Whether you’re trying to stay calm during a turbulent flight or need assistance converting currency rates, our editors swear by these essential travel apps.

1. PackPoint

(iOS, Free | Android, Free ) “PackPoint does a great job at simplifying the art of how to pack a suitcase . I love this app because it personalizes your packing list depending on where you’re going and the activities you have planned. All you have to do is download the app, plug in the destination, and input information about your upcoming travels such as duration and time of year. Then, PackPoint provides you with trip-specific packing recommendations based on the weather in your destination and the activities you have planned. The app even takes more nuanced details into account, such as whether you’ll have access to laundry facilities where you’re going and have the ability to wash and rewear your clothes. Even though I’m a pretty organized person, I keep turning back to this super helpful packing app to help me channel my inner Marie Kondo .” —Sarah Buder, Afar contributor

(iOS, Free | Android, Free )

“I’ve been using this app for several years and it’s my absolute favorite. TripIt automatically tracks your confirmation emails for flight itineraries, hotel or Airbnb bookings, car rentals, restaurant reservations, and even any event tickets you might buy, then populates those travel plans into a little itinerary that you can view in one place. The easy-to-use organizational app makes it simple to share the consolidated information with family or friends, so you can send them your itinerary directly and avoid having to answer repeated texts like, “When are you landing again?” to coordinate an airport pickup. TripIt even features a personalized Travel Stats page for really data-hungry folks who want to know how many trips they’ve taken or countries they’ve visited—and that’s just in the free version! The pro version costs $49 per year and includes extras like real-time flight alerts, TSA wait times, and loyalty reward program updates.” —Sara Button, Afar contributor

“I love this language learning app; I use it all the time to prepare for international trips. Drops gamifies the educational experience, using flashcard-like mnemonic matching exercises, or memory devices, to teach vocabulary words. It works much better for my learning style than other language programs that focus on grammatical structure. If I’m going to an unfamiliar country for a short trip, I don’t worry about speaking the language perfectly, I just want to remember important words and phrases quickly. Drops offers more than 50 languages, including Ainu, the language spoken by an Indigenous Japanese culture that lives in Hokkaido.” —Maggie Fuller, Afar contributor

4. Rome2Rio

“Rome2Rio is a handy tool for getting from Point A to Point B. If you put in your starting point and destination, it’ll show you all the ways you could feasibly get there (plane, car, bus, and train), how long each option would take, and how much it would cost. If it’s a public transportation route, it’ll share the specific buses and trains you need to get on (as well as alternatives, should you miss them) and bring you to the appropriate booking websites. Having all the options laid out makes it easy to make an informed decision.” — Bailey Berg, Afar contributor

5. Mobile Passport

“I learned about Mobile Passport from Afar’s marketing director Katie Galeotti, who said she sometimes gets through U.S. Customs and Border Protection even faster than her husband, who has Global Entry . I decided to try it out the next time I returned from a trip abroad. Before going through customs at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), I downloaded the free app, filled out my declaration forms and passport information, then submitted the mobile documents for inspection and approval. Lo and behold, I was able to move through separate, faster customs lines at SFO in about five minutes just by showing my encrypted receipt. Since I really hate waiting around airports ( even for checked luggage ), I can’t say how satisfying it was to breeze out of SFO after a long international flight.” —Sara Button

6. Priority Pass

“Several premium credit cards such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card and the American Express Platinum Card offer Priority Pass memberships to card holders, which grant access to more than 1,500 airport lounges around the world. I have a Priority Pass membership through my credit card, which means I can duck into airport lounges even if I’m flying economy. The problem? I often lose track of my membership card, which is where the app comes in. Not only does it allow you to ‘save’ your card and present it on your phone, it also lets you search eligible lounges and discounts by airport, clueing you in to what amenities you can expect when you arrive.”— Katherine LaGrave, Afar deputy editor

7. Rain Rain

“If you’ve ever been 30,000 feet in the air, stuck ahead of a seat-kicker, and need to find your chill, then Rain Rain is for you. The free app on both iOS and Android has dozens of sounds, including nine variations of rain and real-life noise-tracks that cover everything from ‘Mississippi at Night’ to ‘Fish Tank.’ You can zen out to gentle wind chimes or an alarm clock ticking, and even create your own sound combinations, like ‘Car in the Rain’ layered on top of ‘Cicadas.’ There are no ads, and you can even set a time limit for the sounds to fade out. I’m already calmer just thinking about it.” —Katherine LaGrave

Mobile apps can help travelers understand public transportation options and also map out other routes, such as by bike.

8. Google Maps

“I use Google Maps all the time in my everyday life, and that certainly doesn’t change when I travel. The navigational app helps me find handy spots like banks or gas stations; understand public transportation options, including buses, trains, and ride-sharing services; map out walking and cycling routes; and keep track of restaurant reservations. It also allows me to easily share my location with travel buddies and create customized maps with flagged locations that I want to visit, which I can download for later use when I’m offline.”— Sara Button

9. Citymapper

“My fascination for public transportation borders on obsessive. I feel compelled to check out the buses and trains—and streetcars, ferries, trams, share bikes—in every city I visit. Citymapper, available for 104 international cities, feeds my compulsion. The app suggests routes and alternative routes in destinations from Copenhagen to Tokyo ; it shows maps, fares, and trip length with a breakdown of how much time will be spent on each mode of transportation per option. Notably, the travel app also maps out city routes for wheelchair accessibility . When my husband and I traveled to London with our teens, we discovered Citymapper’s ‘Share Your ETA’ feature. If the kids grew weary of a museum, they would type in the address of our flat, get their directions from the app, and then share their route with us. The feature let us watch their progress until they arrived safe and sound. They felt capable and independent; we felt secure and able to drink at the pub in peace.” —Ann Shields, Afar contributor

10. National Park Trail Guide

“This outdoor adventure app offers guides to 63 national parks, monuments, and recreation areas with need-to-know information on food, accommodation, and activities, as well as detailed trail and annual climate data. The mobile app is actually very useful when you’re in the park, but I personally like to use it in the early stages of planning for inspiration. Before a road trip or camping adventure , I’ll browse through a national park’s most beautiful features or best hikes to get excited about my trip.” —Maggie Fuller

11. AllTrails: Hike, Bike & Run

“AllTrails is an app that helps you find hikes within a given area, with information about the degree of difficulty, length, elevation gain, current conditions, and route type (loop or out-and-back). It also offers reviews and photos from people who have hiked it recently. AllTrails also has a (far superior) paid version, called AllTrails+ , that allows users to download maps for offline use, which is important in the backcountry. It also pushes alerts if you make a wrong turn and find trails by distance from you (as opposed to filtering through the myriad trails in the area yourself).” — Bailey Berg

Translation apps and currency converters can come in handy for travelers who don’t speak the local language in a given destination.

12. Google Translate

“I use Google Translate pretty much whenever I travel to countries where I don’t speak the local language . It’s so simple: All you have to do is enter a word, phrase, or sentence that you want to translate and then indicate the specific languages, such as Japanese to English, or Creole to Spanish. The app can translate meanings in 243 languages, and it lets you save them to your own personal phrasebook so you can remember them when you’re offline. It also offers camera translation in 37 languages, which only requires that you take a picture of a word in order to translate its meaning. Sure, Google’s language tool isn’t the only translation app out there, but it’s definitely the one I use most.”— Sarah Buder

13. HotelTonight

“HotelTonight lets you book last-minute hotel rooms at incredibly affordable rates in cities like New York City , Paris , and Barcelona . The app’s inventory is well vetted, with legitimately cool boutique hotels categorized by easy-to-use filters like basic, solid, hip, luxe. I became a HotelTonight devotee recently, during my second pregnancy. I was absolutely exhausted but I couldn’t nap at home because my toddler would come find me and, with her adorable gap-toothed grin, yell, ‘TIME TO GET UP, MOMMY!’ So I made a deal with my husband: If I could find a good hotel deal in Manhattan for under $150, I could book it day-of and sneak away for a few hours (or a night’s) sleep. I started pulling up HotelTonight daily—I was desperate—and filtered by neighborhoods I was in for meetings or ‘hip’ hotels like the Ace or Moxy that were half their normal price. The app makes staying at top hotels in traditionally pricey cities more of a bargain—though I bet HotelTonight’s founder never expected it to appeal to the secondary market of overtired moms. I booked the Ace and cherished every minute.” —Laura Dannen Redman, Afar editor at large

14. Xe Currency

“Math has never been my strongest subject, which makes doing currency conversions in my head essentially my travel kryptonite. It’s not the sexiest app out there, but Xe Currency converter is probably the app I use the most when I travel abroad. Before your trip, just add the currency of the country you’re traveling to into your list on the app. Then when you land, all you have to do is plug in the price you want to convert to U.S. dollars or otherwise, and the app will spit out a rate equivalent in mere seconds. It’s super easy to use on the fly while you’re shopping or at a restaurant. You can even use the app to view rate conversions when you’re offline, as long as you saved the relevant currency to the app while using Wi-Fi.” —Lyndsey Matthews, Afar contributor

15. Splitwise

“This app tracks shared expenses. If you’re traveling with friends on a group trip , it spares you the awkward conversations about whose credit card pays for dinner or who’s going to call the Lyft, and it prevents resentment that could arise from anyone paying more or less than their fair share. If you’re extra nerdy, like me and my friends, you can turn it into a game! You try to work it out so at the end of the trip everyone has wound up paying as close to the same amount as possible.” —Jeremy Saum, Afar contributor

16. HappyCow

(iOS, $5 | Android, Free )

“HappyCow is my must-have app for finding vegetarian/vegan restaurants when I travel—or frankly, when I’m at home too. It works like Google Maps for the meat-free set, pointing out all the options but not requiring me to guess how “vegetarian” a place really is. Instead, the map surfaces vegetarian and vegan spots (including regular restaurants that have good choices for non-meat eaters), lets you filter by specs like price and gluten-free, and includes write-ups with information on what kind of options you can expect, what the veggie burgers are made of, and even whether the place serves vegan beer. Entries also include key info like opening hours, payment options, and reviews. There’s a free version of the app that will show you what’s near you, but the full-access version is well worth the small price (currently $5). It lets you search internationally, save your favorites, join and interact with the community of veg travelers (nearly 1 million strong), and leave your own reviews.” —Billie Cohen, Afar executive editor

More travel app recommendations from Afar

→ The Most Helpful Translation Apps for Travelers → 6 Awesome Hiking Apps for Adventurous Travelers → Navigate the National Parks Better With These Essential Apps → Free Apps and Websites That Make Eco-Friendly Travel Easy

This article was originally published in 2019 and was most recently updated on July 10, 2024, with new information.

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The 7 Best Trip Planner Apps for Travelers

Sarah Schlichter

Deputy Executive Editor Sarah Schlichter's idea of a perfect trip includes spotting exotic animals, hiking through pristine landscapes, exploring new neighborhoods on foot, and soaking up as much art as she can. She often attempts to recreate recipes from her international travels after she gets home (which has twice resulted in accidental kitchen fires—no humans or animals were harmed).

Sarah joined the SmarterTravel team in 2017 after more than a decade at the helm of IndependentTraveler.com. Sarah's practical travel advice has been featured in dozens of news outlets including the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Budget Travel, and Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio. Follow her on Twitter @TravelEditor .

The Handy Item I Always Pack: "A journal. Even years later, reading my notes from a trip can bring back incredibly vivid memories."

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: "Road tripping and hiking through the rugged mountains of Patagonia."

Travel Motto: "'To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.'—Freya Stark"

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: "Aisle. I get restless on long flights and like to be able to move around without disturbing anyone else."

Email Sarah at [email protected] .

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Crafting a trip itinerary can be both fun and overwhelming. Which places are an absolute must-visit, and which ones can you skip? How much time should you spend at the art museum, and how close is it to that bookstore you want to check out? And how can you keep all your ideas and bookings neatly organized?

The best trip planner apps can help you answer those questions. I’ve found several that will help you discover the right places to go and organize your day-by-day itinerary in one handy place. Download these apps, and you can pitch your endless spreadsheets and Word docs into the recycle bin.

All of the following trip planner apps are free unless otherwise noted.

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor ( iOS | Android ) is the granddaddy of trip planner apps. Unlike other apps that feature only major cities, TripAdvisor offers listings of both top attractions and hidden gems in just about every corner of the globe, along with restaurants, hotels, and vacation rentals. You can create customized itineraries by saving the places you’re interested in to the app’s new Trips feature . (Trips can be kept private or shared publicly.)

When you search for a city in the app, you’ll see a feed of other users’ trips, photos, videos, reviews, and articles about that destination, all offering ideas and inspiration. For more trip planning help, you can post your questions in the TripAdvisor forums , where destination experts offer in-depth advice.

Visit a City

Visit a City ( iOS | Android ) helps solve two common trip planning challenges: figuring out how long you need to spend at each place, and maximizing your vacation time by grouping nearby attractions together. When you select a destination, the app offers recommended sightseeing guides based on the number of days you plan to spend. For example, I put in that I was going to Paris, for three days and was given several itinerary options, including Top Attractions, Landmarks for Kids, Parks & Museums, Easy Going, and more. The app automatically puts nearby attractions together and lets you know how far apart they are (for instance, “three minutes by walking”). It also includes the estimated time that you’ll spend at each place.

You can edit the itinerary by changing the day you visit a place, revising the amount of time you spend there, or deleting the attraction altogether. (You’ll almost certainly have to do some editing, as the itineraries don’t include lunch or coffee breaks.) You can also book tours through the app and get general travel information about the destination, such as the best time of year to visit or tips for saving money.

The Best Sites to Book a Last Minute Vacation

CityMaps2Go

CityMaps2Go ( iOS | Android ) offers a handy offline maps that you can customize with personal points of interest. Even better, the app displays your location on the map whether you’re connected to data or Wi-Fi. The app includes thousands of offline maps from just about anywhere on Earth, which means it’s useful for travelers who don’t want to pay international data charges when heading overseas. 

You can create different lists for your trip (for example, separate lists for dining, bars, attractions, etc.), and the locations you add to the list will show up on your map. Info cards for each place include a review score, nearby accommodations, some basic information, and the ability to add notes of your own.

The fun part of trip planning is imagining all the cool places you’ll go. What’s not so fun? Figuring out the logistics of getting there. Fortunately, Rome2rio ( iOS | Android ) can help solve that problem. The app searches just about every mode of transportation—plane, train, subway, bus, ferry, taxi, Uber—to recommend the best way to get from point A to point B.

You can enter either two destinations within a given city or two points farther apart, and the app will display your options, including the time it’ll take to travel and the approximate cost. Note that the listings are for planning purposes only, and you can’t actually book your flights or tickets through the app.

TripIt ( iOS | Android ) is a fixture on “best travel apps” lists, and for good reason. It turns an inbox full of scattered booking confirmations and restaurant reservations into a single master itinerary that you can access offline, sync with your phone’s calendar, and share with loved ones. You simply forward each confirmation email to [email protected] and let the app do the rest.

Upgrade to TripIt Pro ($49/year) for other useful features such as real-time flight alerts, rewards program tracking, and the ability to locate alternate flights if your original plans are disrupted.

Culture Trip

The app arm of Culture Trip ( iOS | Android ) aims to bring travelers a little bit out of the mainstream (tagline: “For curious travelers”) by highlighting unique, off-the-beaten-path options in popular destinations. With recommendations for more than 200 destinations around the world, it’s a great way to bring more local perspective to your trip planning. 

The Culture Trip app uses the publication’s content as a starting point; say, an article on the Top 9 Dessert Spots in Amsterdam. While reading the article, you can save individual places to lists that you create and view their location on maps. You can also explore their curated “Culture Trips”—pre-made itineraries for small group travel bookable within the app.

5 Smartphone Essentials You Should Never Travel Without

TripScout ( iOS ) combines articles and videos from well-known travel publishers and local experts to form what it calls “a personalized, always up-to-date travel guide” for destinations around the world. Every point of interest mentioned in the content is mapped, so you can build a customized itinerary showing your intended destinations on a map.

TripScout can also personalize recommendations based on your travel dates, budget, interests, and even the number of people in your travel group. And like some of the other apps on this list, TripScout works entirely offline, potentially saving you from paying international data fees. The only downside? Android users are left out; TripScout is iOS only.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2019, and has been updated to reflect the most current information. SmarterTravel’s Carl Unger contributed to this story.

Follow Sarah Schlichter on Twitter @TravelEditor for more travel tips and inspiration.

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We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.

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Eligible U.S. citizens can now renew their passports online. We're conducting a beta release of an online passport renewal system. 

If you are unable to start your application because we have reached the daily limit, try again another day. If you do not want to wait or do not qualify to renew online, you may also renew by mail .

This beta release during which we are limiting the daily applications is an important and standard part of the software development process. We appreciate your patience while we test our system and prepare for a full launch of the updated online passport renewal system. 

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West Nile Virus Detected in New Yorkers for the First Time This Year

West Nile virus has been detected in mosquitoes in all five boroughs; four people with West Nile virus disease have been reported

The Health Department is treating parts of the city with mosquito activity; there have been 10 completed adulticiding spray operations, three aerial larvicidings, two rounds of catch basin larviciding and 1,634 ground-based larvicidings to date

August 19, 2024 — The Health Department today announced that West Nile virus disease has been reported in four people living in New York City and the virus has been detected in mosquito pools across all five boroughs . Mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus are typically present in New York City from May through October, with peak activity during August and September. Infected mosquitoes can spread West Nile Virus to people through a bite. The four people with West Nile virus disease reside in Queens and Manhattan; one was diagnosed with West Nile fever and three were hospitalized with neuroinvasive disease, beginning in late July. In addition, the virus was detected in blood donations from three people who reside in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. Reports of two people with possible West Nile virus disease from the Bronx are also under investigation.

“The Health Department is actively working to prevent West Nile through public education, treating marshy areas and spraying for mosquitoes,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan . “We all have a role to play to protect ourselves and each other. Using an EPA-registered insect repellent is one very important tool, especially when outside at dusk and dawn, when the types of mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus are most active. You can also stop mosquitoes from laying eggs and reproducing in the water by emptying outdoor containers that hold water or calling 311 if you see standing water that you cannot empty.”

The Health Department routinely traps and tests mosquitoes from across New York City. Once trapped, up to 50 mosquitoes are batched together and tested as a single pooled sample or “pool.” As of Friday, August 16, there have been a total of 1,286 positive mosquito pools across the five boroughs, far exceeding the 569 positive pools detected at this time last year.

Most people infected with West Nile virus have no symptoms though some may develop fever, headache, muscle aches, rash and extreme fatigue. While the majority of patients infected with West Nile virus disease go on to fully recover from their illness, some continue to have problems months after infection. In addition, some people (about 1 in 150), especially those 60 years and older or with a weakened immune system, can develop a serious and potentially fatal illness of the brain and spinal cord called West Nile neuroinvasive disease, leading to changes in mental status and muscle weakness requiring hospitalization. New Yorkers, especially those at risk for West Nile neuroinvasive disease, should use an EPA registered mosquito repellent when outdoors to prevent mosquito bites. People with certain medical conditions or treatments that cause severe immunosuppression, such as chemotherapy and organ transplantation, are at greater risk of West Nile neuroinvasive disease and should consider avoiding going outdoors during dusk and dawn when mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus are active and bite. If a person has symptoms of West Nile virus, they should contact their health care provider.

West Nile virus was first detected in New York more than 20 years ago. Over the past decade, an average of 17 people have been diagnosed with West Nile neuroinvasive disease per year in New York City; their median age was 62 years (ages ranging from 22 to 95 years) and the case fatality rate was 10 percent (18 deaths).

New York City has more than 40 species of mosquitoes, but West Nile virus is transmitted primarily by several Culex species, including Culex pipiens and Culex salinarius.

Reducing Exposure to Mosquitoes

• Use an approved insect repellent containing picaridin, DEET, oil of lemon eucalyptus (not for children under three), or products that contain the active ingredient IR3535. Visit the EPA site to search by product and duration of effectiveness.
• People with severely compromised immune systems should avoid going outdoors during dusk and dawn when mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus are active and bite.
• Make sure windows have screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears or holes.
• Eliminate any standing water from your property and dispose of containers that can collect water. Standing water is a violation of the New York City Health Code.
• Make sure roof gutters are clean and drained properly.
• Clean and chlorinate swimming pools, outdoor saunas and hot tubs. Keep them empty or covered if not in use. Drain water that collects in pool covers.

For more information about West Nile virus or to report standing water, visit NYC Health: West Nile Virus or call 311 .

MEDIA CONTACT : Patrick Gallahue / Shari Logan [email protected]

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EU Entry/Exit System

Information and advice on the new EU Entry/Exit System

From autumn 2024, the EU will be introducing a new digital border system to strengthen the security of its external Schengen border. 

The new registration process – called the Entry/Exit System, or EES for short - is expected to be introduced in November, however the EU has yet to confirm a specific date for its introduction.  

It will apply to those travelling to the Schengen area which encompasses all EU countries, except from Cyprus and Ireland. Additionally, the non-EU States Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are also part of the Schengen area. ​ This will require most citizens of countries outside the EU to create a digital record and register their biometric details, such as providing fingerprints and having their photo taken, when they enter the Schengen area. This should only take a few minutes for each person to do.  ​ ​ British travellers will need to do this on their first visit to the EU after EES is introduced.​ Their record will be checked on point of entry into the Schengen area verifying either their fingerprint or photograph. 

At some ports in the South of England (Dover, Eurotunnel and St Pancras - where the French Border Force operate immigration checks in the UK), EES will be carried out before departure. There may be increased wait times while EES registration is completed before passengers leave the UK. ​ If British travellers decide to visit a country in the Schengen area again within a three-year period of creating their digital record, they will only need to provide either their fingerprint or photograph at the border on entry and exit.

EES will bolster border security for both the EU and their neighbouring countries. 

More information on EES can be found on the EU’s official Travel Europe website .

Why is the EU introducing EES?

EES is designed to improve border security, including tackling illegal migration in the Schengen Area by keeping a new digital record of people that enter.  ​

It will also replace the current system of manually stamping passports every time someone enters a country in the EU, with more automated border control checks to help the EU ensure that people do not overstay.​

EES is part of wider work the EU is doing to strengthen their border security – in 2025, the EU will introduce the new European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).  ​

ETIAS will mean that those travelling to the Schengen area need to submit information about themselves and their travel plans, and pay a fee of 7 Euros, to apply for authorisation to travel before they leave for the Schengen area.

The EU has already set out more information on ETIAS, including what information will be required from each nationality. This can be found on the EU’s official Travel Europe website .

The impact on journeys to the Schengen Area 

When EES is introduced, travellers will be required to register at the Schengen border. They’ll do this at the port or airport on arrival, where they can submit their fingerprints and have their photo taken at dedicated booths. 

While the checks will only take a few minutes for each person to do, it may lead to longer queue times for people travelling to countries in the Schengen area.  ​

Travellers will only need to submit their biometric information at the border, and when EES is first introduced, they will not be required to provide any further information before they travel.​

At some ports in the South of England (Dover, Eurotunnel and St Pancras - where the French operate juxtaposed immigration checks in the UK), there may be increased wait times while EES registration is completed before passengers leave the UK. ​ ​ Passengers travelling through one of these ports should check with their travel operator before they leave to travel, to understand when to arrive at the port and any potential impacts to their journey.​

If travellers are flying to a country in the Schengen area, they may experience longer queue times when they arrive while EES registration is completed.

The Government is taking action to minimise the impact of EES

The EES is an EU initiative, and the UK Government has been reviewing the preparations made to date.

The UK Government has been working closely with the European Commission, member states, local authorities and the travel industry, taking a multi-agency approach to ensure Ports are prepared for the introduction of EES. 

The Government has been supporting ports and carriers to make sure they have the right technology and processes in place so EES registration can take place as smoothly as possible. 

Recently, the UK Government provided Eurostar, Eurotunnel and Port of Dover £3.5m of funding each, which they are spending on more kiosks and infrastructure.

Eurostar will have almost 50 kiosks for people to carry out the checks, and these will be spread across three locations at the station. It expects EES registration to be quick and easy. ​

Eurotunnel will have over 100 kiosks and estimate EES checks will add just over 5 minutes to journey times.​

Port of Dover will have 24 kiosks for coach passengers and will register passengers in cars using agents and tablets to make the process as straightforward as possible.

Where can I find out more information about EES?  

You can visit the EU’s official Travel Europe website .

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Flight attendant union rejects American Airlines' proposed 17% pay raise

The labor union that represents  American Airlines  flight attendants on Wednesday rejected a company proposal to immediately raise pay by 17%.

CEO Robert Isom offered flight attendants immediate 17% wage increases earlier Wednesday as contract talks continue without a deal, bringing the prospect of a strike closer.

The airline and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants have struggled to reach a new contract agreement, differing on major issues, such as pay. Flight attendants haven’t received contract raises since before the pandemic.

“We have made progress in a number of key areas, but there is still a good deal of work to be done,” Isom said in a video message to flight attendants.

The union said the two sides are scheduled to meet with federal mediators next week for a “last-ditch” effort to get a deal done, adding that flight attendants   were told to prepare for a strike.

Strikes are extremely rare among airline employees. The last took place in 2010 among Spirit Airlines pilots. If the two parties can’t reach a deal, a release by federal mediators would be triggered, a process that would take several weeks.

“So, to get you more money now, we presented APFA with a proposal that offers immediate wage increases of 17% and a new formula that would increase your profit sharing,” Isom said Wednesday. “This means we’ve offered increased pay for all flight attendants and are not asking your union for anything in return. This is unusual, but these are unusual times.”

Julie Hedrick, the union’s national president, said that the airline’s focus should be on preparing a longer-term deal with the flight attendants.

“This is not that,” she said.

Also on Wednesday, the union said it opened a “strike command center” with dedicated phone lines and other resources to answer cabin crew questions.

U.S. airline pilots largely locked in new labor deals last year, while flight attendants at American,  United  Airlines and  Alaska  Airlines are  still negotiating .

Last month, a bipartisan group of more than 160 House representatives wrote to the National Mediation Board, urging it to help  complete deals  with airlines and flight attendants.

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