We all know that, whilst travel is eye-opening and enjoyable, it can be incredibly stressful. From budgeting to planning and finding your way around, there are so many things to consider that it can become quite overwhelming.
Luckily, one of the things that almost everyone takes everywhere with them is a smart phone, meaning that, with the right travel apps, you can travel without worry.
Over the course of my travels thus far, I have found a set of travel apps that work well for me and help me both before I leave and on the road.
This post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own!
Summary:
Travel Apps To Help Plan Your Next Trip
Travel Apps can be really beneficial when you are booking trips. Instead of having 50 web pages open and having to scroll through your emails to find your booking confirmations, the apps can often hold all of that information for you.
Some apps even collate that all into one place without you having to even do anything.
From hotels to flights, travel apps are a fantastic way to plan your next trip!
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is one of my favourite travel apps for booking flights.
I have tried a few different flight comparison apps when booking trips and I have found that Skyscanner, not only finds me the cheapest flights, but also is the most user friendly and lets me search everywhere as well as the specific destination I want to go.
The explore feature allows you to search for flights ‘everywhere’ and they are sorted by price. This is great if you’re looking for a new destination to visit but are unsure of where to go.
One of my favourite features is the price tracker for flights you are looking to go on, which sends you email alerts as the price rises or falls to help you get the best deal.
Omio
Omio is another trip booking app however, unlike skyscanner, it searches for buses and trains as well as for flights. The app directly compares the cost of taking the train, bus or flying so you can be sure you are taking the most cost effective form of transport.
As I am aiming to reduce carbon emissions, I try to take the bus or a train where I can, as opposed to flying between destinations. This means that Omio is one of the most useful travel apps as it shows you a range of transport providers to help you get the most bang for your buck.
My favourite feature of Omio is that it allows you to download e-tickets for your journeys directly into the app, helping you avoid the stress of having to track them down before the adventure begins.
TripIt
TripIt is a really handy app as it is able to extract your trip details from confirmation emails. It orders them all so that you can easily see your whole itinerary, and can even present them in map form so that you can see exactly where you will be going.
One of the more interesting features of TripIt is that it can show you statistics such as the distance you have travelled, how many countries and cities you’ve visited and how many days you’ve been gone. Whilst this isn’t necessary information, it can be really fun to look back at your trip in this way.
I do not use TripIt for every tip that I go on, however, when I am going on more complicated trips with lots of bookings, TripIt is one of the most useful travel apps I have come across.
AirBnB
If you are looking for affordable accommodation that isn’t a hostel or budget hotel, AirBnB is the place to check. It can also be great for finding unique places to stay such as a seashell house in Mexico or a houseboat in Amsterdam.
You can find anything from a private room or couch in someones apartment, to an entire flat for pretty reasonable prices. AirBnB is especially unique as it often provides a more local experience, being one of the few platforms that allow you to book yourself a place to stay with someone who lives in the place you’re visiting.
There are a few hit or miss places to stay, and you can find your fair share of AirBnB horror stories online, however the app itself has a pretty good support team that can help out if you get stuck.
HostelWorld
When I am looking to book hostels I always lean towards HostelWorld. I find that it is laid out in a way that makes it incredibly user friendly and gives you all the information necessary to pick a great place to stay.
The App shows ratings for each place for everything from location to cleanliness, security to atmosphere which ensures you pick a hostel with a focus on what you’re interested in. You can see a map of the city with the hostel marked off so that you know how central you’ll be to the sights and you can easily read reviews from other patrons of the hostel.
Hostelworld also advertises the events held by the hostel so that you can see if there are bar crawls or free meals scheduled for your time there.
Travel Apps To Help You Communicate
When visiting new and exciting places, one of the things that can really keep you from connecting is the language barrier. Getting past that can be tough but, thankfully, technology has come to the rescue once again in the form of these handy travel apps.
Duolingo
Duolingo is one of the classic travel apps that I’m sure almost everyone has used! I find it to be a really useful basic introduction to a language that allows you to communicate with locals by at least saying hello and thank you.
The basics modules within the app give you the bare minimum vocabulary that you need to be polite when visiting a new country. I am currently using Duolingo to study Portuguese and Japanese and I find that it is a great supplementary learning tool.
Duolingo doesn’t cover everything you need to know if you are intending to learn a language, however it is a great jumping off point and even has some tips to go alongside each module and help you to develop your understanding.
Google Translate
Google Translate one of the must have travel apps for while you’re on the go, especially if you are in a country that doesn’t speak the same language as you!
Google Translate can translate speech, text or images, making it a lot easier to interact with locals who you may be unable to communicate with otherwise.
Google Translate is fantastic for travel as is allows you to save languages offline. This means that if you know that you are going somewhere with one or two predominant languages, you can save them to your phone in advance.
The best feature of Google Translate, for me at least, is the fact that it comes with camera translation. This is super hand y when you are trying to eat at a local restaurant or need to read a poster, you can just scan the text and the app will paste it into your native language.
Travel Apps To Help You Budget
One of the biggest struggles when you are travelling is keeping track of your money and budgeting.
Budgeting is especially important if you are travelling for a prolonged period of time; the longer your money lasts, the longer you can stay on the road.
I have tried everything from excel spreadsheets to travel apps to help me know where I’m spending money and what on and, over the years I’ve been responsible for my own travels, I’ve discovered the best apps for me.
XE Currency Converter
XE Currency Converter is a pretty simple app that allows you to view currency conversions accurate to the live mid-market rates. This does mean that it is not 100% accurate to the exchange rate you will get, but it is handy for finding an estimate.
You can store multiple currencies within the app, meaning that if you are going on a trip across multiple countries with different currencies, you can keep track of them all.
TriCount
TriCount helps you to split trip costs between you and your fellow travellers to help you keep track of who has spent what.
You are able to input who the purchase was for, who made it, when it happened and how much it was to ensure that you have the most accurate split.
As a solo traveller, I haven’t used this app so much on my travels, but I have been using it lately whilst living with my partner. As we are not concerned about exactly who owes who what, TriCount is handy for ensuring that one person has not spent a huge amount more than the other and ensures we know who will be next to order pizza.
GlobeTips
Download: iOS
Yet another one of the more straight-forward, yet incredibly useful, travel apps on the list – GlobeTips alerts you to the country you are visitings recommended tip amount and helps you to calculate it.
As a Brit, tipping culture is something that I often worry about when going abroad. It is definitely not as big of a thing here as it is in some countries. I find that GlobeTips really helps me to feel confident when eating out in unfamiliar places.
GlobeTips also comes with a calculator that allows you to enter the cost of your meal and works out what tip you should leave. All-in-all, I think GlobeTips is another of those travel apps that just eases your mind a bit when travelling.
TripCoin
Download: iOS
I have tried a lot of apps that help you track your spending when travelling and this is my favourite.
I find that the TripCoin interface is one of the easiest to navigate and has the friendliest layout. I find that some budget trackers, especially travel apps for budgeting, can be quite confusing to use.
TripCoin allows you to use multiple currencies within one trip meaning that, whether you pay for something in pounds, dollars or Colombian pesos you can track it accurately. This is really useful – especially for days where you are in transit or going through multiple countries.
Travel Apps To Help You Find Your Way
Getting around a new city can be tough, especially if you are on your own! The first time I went backpacking solo, I found just getting from the airport to my hostel to be one of the most daunting tasks.
No matter where in the world you are going, transport apps can take away from the stress of finding your footing in a new place!
Uber
When you are travelling, some of the advice that you will be offered the most frequently is to avoid unmetered taxis. As someone with anxiety surrounding transport, I really like knowing that I am getting a fair rate for my journey and that I am safe in the car.
For those reasons, Uber (and its equivalents) is one of the travel apps that I rely on the most. I love seeing the ratings for the driver, having their number plate registration, and being able to share my trip with friends and family for extra security.
It is worth noting that Uber is not available everywhere, however travel apps such as Grab and Lift offer extra options for in these situations.
Maps.me
Maps.me is one of the most popular travel apps, and when I mentioned I was writing this post on social media, was one that was brought up most frequently.
This is for good reason!
Maps.me enables you to download maps to be completely offline, meaning you can find your way regardless of mobile data access or wifi.
I often lean towards Google Maps for trips, as I mostly travel Europe at the moment and so have access to a data plan, however I always use Maps.me as a backup just in case I run out of data or need to get somewhere in a pinch.
Local Transport Apps
This isn’t one specific app, but just a bonus recommendation from me!
When you arrive in a new city it can be really beneficial to download the local transport app for buses or trains! Often these apps are able to tell you about timetables, routes and, on occasion, will even enable you to purchase tickets electronically.
I tend to find that having local travel apps on my phone can really help to take away the stress of not understanding the public transport systems.
Travel Apps To Help You Remember Your Trip
One of the really neat things that smartphones allow us to do is store memories.
I am personally more of a fan of physical journaling, however digital journaling can be a nice way of making notes to look back on until you can sit down with a pen and paper.
Or you can use digital journals exclusively and go into a lot more detail with them than I do!
Day One Journal
Day One Journal is my favourite journaling app of them all. It allows you to create individual journals so that you can keep each individual trip in its own space. You can also password protect your journals so that they stay private,
You can insert photos, text and even audio clips (if you have the full version) to bring your journal to life. There are also set templates within the app so that you can have a daily planner, jot down meals or just reflect. Similarly, they give you a daily prompt to help you if you want to journal but don’t know what to write about.
Day One Journal is one of the best travel apps for journaling as it allows you to set reminders throughout the day to remind you to take time out from your hectic adventures and make note of how you’re feeling. I love this feature as it means that, even if I only jot down a sentence, I have little bits to look back on from throughout my trip to help me remember it.
Momento
Download: iOS
Momento is a really fun journaling app that lets you connect your social media accounts so you can keep track of your twitter, instagram and Facebook highlights as well as journaling.
You can write posts and add tags, locations, photos and people to them to help you remember everything you did on your trip, or in your everyday life.
You can even share your journal posts with your friends and family to keep them updated on the adventures you’re having!
Do you have any apps you love when travelling?
Do you use any of the ones I do?
I love the idea of having a travel journal app! Better than me jotting random things in my notes app throughout the trip. TripIt looks really great too. I’ve used a similar app before but it was for one specific company I booked with and didn’t know if it was possible to get a generic version. Definitely going to try it out.
I find travel journal apps are a great way of keeping track of what I’ve done to then go into more detail in blog posts or in my actual travel journal!
I have maybe heard of like two of these apps. I have to discover the others in case it works better for me. Day one Journal sounds very interesting!
I hope some of them work out for you! I think they are very useful!!
Day One Journal sounds like a really fun app! I’ll have to download this when I next take a longer holiday 🙂
This is a great post! Despite the fact I have no clue when I’ll next be travelling I’ve downloaded a few of these apps! Thanks for the recommendations!
Thank you for reading! I hope they help your future travels run smoothly!!
The journal app looks great! A much easier way to compile information along the way with less effort.
I’m completely agree! I would forget so many small details without it!
Brilliant post, so comprehensive! Duolingo is amazing for learning languages! Hadn’t come across the journal apps before, will definitely check them out – there’s so much we tend to forget from trips!
Thank you so much!
I’m hopeless at remembering the little things and tend to do most of my travel journaling once I get home. The apps are a great thing to look back on just to bring the small memories back to light!
I’m glad you enjoyed reading!
TripIt sounds good. I should have that in my phone. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for reading! It’s a really handy app for keeping everything together!
I love using one second apps where you take a 1 second video a day and at the end it gives you a video!
I used to have one of those downloaded but stopped using it. Which one do you use?
There are so many useful apps here. It makes you wonder how we managed to travel before all these types of things existed. They certainly make life a lot easier!!
Absolutely! I would be lost without maps.me and booking apps like Skyscanner 😂
These are all great!!! I’ve heard of a few but I’ll have to check the other ones out!!!
Thank you for reading! I’m glad I’ve been able to introduce you to a few new apps! Hopefully they help make travelling run even just a tiny bit smoother for you in the future.
Absolutely! I’m sure they will!
I’ve never heard of maps.me but it sounds so useful! Will definitely be downloading this for my next trip!
I hope it helps you in your travels! Maps.me is a really great one, especially if you’re somewhere with no signal!
Thanks for reading!
Some really useful stuff here. I use Duolingo already and the maps app looks great. Just got to work out when we’ll be able to travel now!
Hopefully there won’t be too long a wait until it is safe! Thank you for reading I’m glad you found it useful!
This is a great post, love the images and I’ll definitely try the journalling apps. I backpacked across South America for 4 months a few years back, but just used the notes app as a journal which wasn’t ideal.
I’d also recommend a prepaid debit card with someone like Revolut or N26. I have Revolut and it’s so handy. You can split bills straight in the app, plus you get the wholesale currency exchange rate which adds up to a lot of savings over time. And I feel more secure carrying it instead of my main back card in case it got stolen.
I use monzo at the moment which is great but there is a limit to overseas spending so I will definitely look into those two!
Thank you for sharing these apps! I am excited to start travelling next year so will be needing as much help as I can get!
Em x
https://www.loveemblog.com/2020/05/lyonsleaf-natural-way-to-blemish-free.html
I want to try a journalling app. Great tip!
I hope it helps you remember some of the small details of your future trips! Thank you for reading!
Great suggestions! I have used a few of these and I definitely want to try some more of them out for my next trip.
This is a super helpful post. Bookmarked for my next trip!
I’m glad you found it useful! I hope it helps your next trip to run just a bit smoother!
I went backpacking last summer I wish I had seen this before then these apps are very useful. I will be reading this post again if I am able to do it again next summer.
Oh my.. this is what i’ve been waiting for! I’ll try to organize my things and this recommendation really helps my future to travel. Thank you 💕 i love it, such worthy to use that. xx
Thank you so much! Its great to hear that some of my recommendations are gonna be useful for you! I hope you have smooth and happy travels in the future!!
Thank you so much for such an informative and thoughtful post!! Happy travels!
Happy travels to yourself too! I hope that you find my recommendations useful!
I love using Duolingo, Skyscanner, tripit and Airbnb. Will definitely try using the other apps the next time I go on a trip. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for reading! I hope the other apps make your future travels run a little smoother!
It really is amazing post. travelling made easier thanks for sharing
Thank you so much! I’m glad I was able to help you even just a tiny bit!
I love this list! Hostelworld and Google Translate have been a life saver more than once! And I spend half my life on Skyscanner haha
Skyscanner is so easy to fall down a rabbit hole of cheap flights 😂 even now I’m looking at potential flights for next May! Glad you enjoyed x
I’ve used some of the obvious ones but will definitely try TriCount and TripCoin.
I’ve used Polar Steps recently which found quite interesting. Helps your friends track where you’re going
Great post!
I’ve heard of polarsteps but haven’t tried it out yet! Will have to give it a go!
I love the wide range of apps you’ve included and the fact that you didnt just stick to travel fare and accomodation apps. Duolingo is one that I’ve heard great reviews on and is very educational so might be the next new app for me to try out. Also loved the way your screenshots and infographics are presented!
Johnny | Johnny’s Traventures
https://johnnystraventures.com
Thank you so much! Duolingo is great for getting a basic grasp of a language! I way prefer showing up somewhere at least being able to say hello!
This is a really detailed and informative post. I truly loved it and it introduced me to some new apps that will be very useful on my next trip. Thanks much. Great post.
I’m glad I was able to show you some new apps to use! Thank you for reading!!
very helpful post for travel, thanks !
Thank you for reading!
These all sound like such great apps. I haven’t really ever used apps when planning a trip before, but it sounds like I need to! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for reading! I hope that there is something here that helps you out when planning your next trip!
I didn’t know most of them! Thanks for sharing
I never tried a travel journal but I think it would be really helpful. I’ll try Day one journal, thanks!
Anda
No problem! Glad you got something out of my own trial and error!
I was going through the list and nodding my head 🙂 Although new one for us GlobalTip – this is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your list!
Glad you agree! I’m hopeless at tipping the right amount so GlobeTips is a really great one for me!
These are some great suggestions. I went interrailing last summer and used most of these. The only other travel app I would recommend is WeSwap (it’s a currency conversion app), I use it for my travel money on every trip that I take.
Ooh I’ve never heard of that one! Will have to look into it! Thank you for reading!
I love this post! There’s so many helpful apps that I’ll look at using in the future. I love travelling and hope to go with a few friends next year so these will be super helpful. Thank you!!
Currency converter and maps.me are two of my favorite. I’ll have to try the journaling ones, perfect! Thanks.
This was super useful!
I love the last 2, never heard of them!
They’re great apps! I hope that you enjoy using them! Thank you for reading!
You went into a lot of depth with this! These are some really great apps to have on your phone. Thank you for the tips! I love backpacking as well!
Thank you for reading! I hope that some of them help you in your future adventures x
Omio looks handy, I didnt’t know it. Thanks for sharing!
It’s a great app! Especially if you’re trying to find the cheapest way to transit between cities! Thank you for reading!
Great list of apps, those journal ones look great and we will check them out as they could help us to look back when blogging.
Definitely! I find that keeping short notes throughout the trip really helps when looking back to compile blog posts or for journaling! Glad you got something useful from my post x
These sound great! I don’t know some of them, will have to check them out!
There are so many awesome apps out there for outdoor activity. I love the skyscanner one! It sounds like it would be very interesting.
It’s a fantastic app if you are in the market for flights or destinations that might be affordable to get to! I highly recommend it!
Thanks for these useful! I will use skyscanner, omnio and trip it more. I love the journal apps but I’m not sure if I still have space in my device.
Aha I’m always running out of phone space! I hope that they are able to help you out when travelling in the future!
Even though i travel a lot, i didnt knew about many from this list. Thanks a lot for this post
Thank you for reading! I’m glad I’ve been able to show you something new!
Thanks for the travel apps post! Lots of stuff on here that I haven’t even thought about, especially with money conversion!
I’d add the StudentUniverse app for people under the age of 25. It’s helped me save hundreds of not thousands in flight/hostel deals 🙂
Oh I’ve never heard of that one! As a student I’ll have to check it out x
Where has the travel journal app been all my life? haha, thanks for the great ideas! The budgeting ones will surely come in handy, too 🙂
Aha I’m glad you got something out of my post! Definitely handy apps to have!!
Great list! I’ll have to remember some of these later on.
Amazing post! This will be so helpful for so many, once we can start travelling again!