Your phone can be an indispensable tool when traveling if you download the right apps. Having the right apps on your phone is crucial for keeping track of itineraries, navigating a foreign city, finding the best local places to eat, and all sorts of other things. So, in this blog, I’m going to share 12 great travel apps that you need to download before your next international trip. I’ve been traveling the globe for years. Today, I want to share several travel apps that have been very helpful to us and to many of you. A few of these recommendations came directly from our audience. Thank you for sharing! So, if I missed your favorite in this blog, please go ahead and comment below to help other travelers out.
TripIt
The first app I’ll discuss is called TripIt, which is a great way to keep track of your itineraries when you’re traveling internationally. It can be a challenge to organize all your flights, hotels, and rental cars, especially if you’re visiting multiple countries or cities in one trip. TripIt saves you hours of planning by organizing all of your itineraries automatically. All you have to do is download the app, and every time you receive a confirmation email for a flight or a hotel, you just forward that email to the TripIt system. You can also add things manually, of course. In just seconds, you’ll have a detailed itinerary for every part of your trip, no matter how many flights, hotels, and rental cars you book. TripIt is going to be your best friend, or your favorite app.
Google Maps
My favorite app by far is Google Maps, and that may sound obvious, but Google Maps is probably one of the most useful and powerful apps for any traveler out there. I used to use Apple Maps, and here in the United States, it’s fine, but in many international destinations, Google Maps is just superior. With Google Maps, you can easily find your way around foreign cities with their insanely detailed and up-to-date maps. But that’s not where Google Maps stops. Not only can you pull up directions and accurate travel time, but you can also download maps for offline use. So let’s say you just landed in your destination, but your phone can’t connect to the local network yet. The way to avoid this is to download that city before your trip, and that map will be fully accessible even without any internet connection. You can even download multiple cities, sometimes entire regions or countries, all to be stored in Google Maps for you. This means no more getting lost in Venice and hoping the locals understand your beginner Italian.
Citymappers
Citymapper is the perfect app if you’re exploring a walkable or bikeable city. Unless you’re traveling by car, most map apps aren’t the greatest at tracking your exact location, which can cause headaches when you’re trying to walk or bike around a city. Citymapper has hundreds of cities around the world intricately mapped out, giving you super accurate estimates for walking times, bus schedules, and so much more. Around big cities like London, Stockholm, and many others, word on the street is, even though Google Maps will combine walking and public transit directions, Citymapper just seems to come up with better routes.
Holafly
In my early days of globe-trotting, figuring out the best way to use my phone abroad and get a signal was a real puzzle. I was a Wi-Fi-only guy for a while, only able to use my phone at the hotel or at places that had free Wi-Fi. I tried my carrier’s international data plan at 10 bucks a day, which quickly added up to a $100 for a 10-day trip, not to mention the frustrating data. I don’t have T-Mobile, guys. I know some of you do, I don’t. All I yearned for was a simple solution – landing in a new country with my phone ready to go without massive cost or headache. Fortunately, there is Holafly , Holafly uses eSIM technology to make it easy to stay connected in over 180 destinations worldwide, with no roaming fees, and 117 plus of those destinations offer unlimited data.
Here’s how it works: Holafly partners with the cell carriers, typically the best ones of whichever country you want to visit, and the Holafly mobile app makes it very easy to purchase and decent. You simply browse for the country or region that you’re visiting, you pick and purchase a plan, and then you’re given a QR code that makes the install process very easy. But there’s a way to simply take a screenshot of the QR code and install it that way without having to actually scan it with your device. It’s very cool. Your phone will then automatically connect to the network in that country, and the app also makes it easy to get 24/7 customer support if you need it in just a few clicks. One of my favorite things about Holafly is there are no hidden costs. Unlike other providers that don’t offer unlimited data, with Holafly, what you see is what you get, and there’s no need for additional data top-ups.
Google Translate
Next up is Google Translate. So, look, when you visit a new country, there’s nothing like talking with the locals in their native language, and I always recommend trying that. But you’re very likely going to encounter words or phrases that you don’t understand, and Google Translate is so useful because it isn’t limited to just those survival phrases. You know, you can simply type or speak what you want to say into your phone, and the app will automatically translate your words into the language that you need to speak. One feature that’s cool is conversation mode. So let’s say you’re trying to have a chat with a local. All you have to do is set one language to yours – in this case, I would set it to English – and then the other to the local’s language. As soon as you speak into your phone, the app will automatically repeat what you said in the local language and then listen to them speak and repeat what they said in your language. It makes holding a conversation much, much easier. And finally, my favorite feature is you can use your camera to translate menus and signs around the city, which is incredibly helpful for finding your way around and for deciding what you’re going to order. I was chatting with my dad who was recently traveling internationally, and he literally used this feature of Google Translate to watch the news in the country that he was visiting. He said it kept him pretty much up to date.
Viator Airbnb Experiences
Next up is exploring like a local. Some of my fondest memories of travel come from experiences hosted by local guides. Whether it’s making authentic pierogi in Poland, understanding how Parmesan is made in Italy, or paragliding in Austria, I cherish these memories because I got to meet locals and understand their life a little bit better. If you’re traveling to a foreign city, you may not know how to find these outside of some of the more touristy options. That’s why I love apps like Viator and Experiences on Airbnb. You just enter your destination and the dates that you’ll be visiting, and both of these apps will offer dozens of unique experiences that you can book right then and there. Both apps offer flexible cancellation policies, including where you can pay later in case the last spot is about to get booked out. I can’t tell you how many one-of-a-kind experiences we have found because of these apps.
Tip Calculator
Let’s say you’ve just finished your first dinner in Rome, and you’re not sure how much to tip. Tipping culture varies all over the world, and even for a seasoned traveler, it can be hard to keep all these tipping customs straight. As for global tips, comes in Tip Calculator. It shares country-specific tipping guides. Do you know exactly how much to tip at a restaurant, for a taxi, at a cafe, a bartender, your tour guide, etc. It’s got a handy tip calculator built-in as well. Nothing too fancy, but very useful to know all of these different tipping customs.
Surfshark
One thing is I always travel with a good VPN. If you don’t know what a VPN is, it stands for Virtual Private Network, and it’s basically security for your online browsing. So, if you need to hop on your laptop in a public space like an airport lounge or a cafe with public Wi-Fi, which isn’t super secure, a VPN allows you to browse those public networks with a secure connection. But it does some other fun things too. A VPN can disguise your connection as if you’re browsing from a different country. So, if you need to access your bank, sometimes traffic from a foreign country looks fishy, so I’ll just set my location to the USA in order to log in. Your mileage may vary, sometimes it will also lock you out. My favorite feature? What if you want to watch a show that’s only available back home? All you have to do is install Surfshark on your devices, select which country you want your IP address to come from, and go online. I used Surfshark on my laptop more than on my phone, but with a Surfshark membership, you get access to unlimited devices. So, our family has one account and then we can all use it on our phones, laptops, etc. For the cost of like 2 bucks a month.
Rick Steves’ Audio Europe
Research and audio guide apps like Rick Steves’ Audio Europe. So, since I know many of you are planning Europe trips, I thought I would throw this one in. Say hello to the free app by Europe travel legend Rick Steves that offers hours upon hours of free informative content about various countries and cities throughout Europe. And this content is awesome for both pre-trip and on your trip. So, there’s tons and tons of interviews with local guides that are in more of a podcast format. But for many cities and major sites, there are also built-in free self-guided walking tours, which is basically audio that plays as you start from one spot in the city and then follow some cues. Anytime Alan and I visit a new European city, we’d love to get a little orientation from these guides when available. We each pop in one earbud and then start walking. Then, if we find ourselves down a rabbit hole, we can just pause the audio, enjoy that experience at our own pace, and then we’ll already press play and keep going. This app is simple, but it’s a great way to enhance your experience and knowledge for the European cities that you visit.
Okay, these next few apps are going to be specific to whatever country you’re visiting. So, research which ones are best for your situation and make sure to download them before your trip.
Ride-sharing App
The first one is a solid rideshare app. Perhaps I love using public transportation whenever I can, but every once in a while, I need an Uber, Lyft, or whatever to get somewhere. Uber is global, but it isn’t available everywhere, and that’s why I highly recommend researching the best rideshare apps for the cities you’ll be visiting and downloading them ahead of time. And this recommendation came from our audience. If you do have Uber as an available option where you’re headed, it’s always a good idea to add maybe 20 or 30 bucks in Uber cash so that you’ve got a little bit waiting for you in Uber when you land, just in case you have issues with the currency, just in case you can’t get a taxi or public transport or whatever. It will save you a lot of headache.
Train Apps
Next up a train app. So, really, not the case here in the USA, unfortunately, but trains are a very effective way to get around in a lot of parts of the world, and having a solid train app will help you get to where you want to go. So let’s say you want to hit up London, Paris, and Madrid on your trip. With apps like Eurail, you can plug in those three cities along your trip, and Eurail will build you a customized itinerary that shows you accurate travel times, train schedules, overall cost, and everything you need for your trip. Or, if you just need a point A to point B ticket, apps like Trainline allow you to shop deals. It will make your trip more affordable. Just type in your start point and end point and the time that you’d like to get there, and Trainline will list dozens of options based on metrics like earliest arrival, lowest cost, and more.
Your Airline App
Also, highly advised downloading the app of whatever airline you’re flying on can make your life a little bit easier. You can check-in online, access your boarding pass without having to wait in line to print it, keep up with flight times, delays, track your baggage if you check it, and on the plane, in a lot of cases, you can connect to the flight’s Wi-Fi and there’s loads of free content for you to stream. Speaking of airfare, if you want some tips on how to save hundreds or more on your flights, you can check out this video right here. I talk about one type of app in particular that saved me literally thousands on flights through the years. Thank you so much for watching, happy travels!
