There’s no question about it, technology has made traveling a lot easier! Whether that’s by staying in touch with your family, taking amazing photos with just your phone, or simply checking in online for your flight, things are a lot more convenient. In this blog post, we’re talking about essential travel apps!
When you travel, you can expect there to be some hiccups on the road. However, with some essential travel apps, these inconveniences can be minimized.
Here’s the thing though, there are so many travel apps out there, and they are NOT created equally.
We don’t want you to waste your time and effort (and money) downloading apps that you only use once, are full of glitches, or make your life harder rather than easier, so we’ve compiled a long list of the most essential travel apps you might need while traveling to make your life easier.
Essential Apps You Need When Traveling
We’ve broken this essential travel apps list up into sections so it’s super easy for you to find what you’re looking for (and you can spend more time planning the fun stuff!).
Airports, Booking Flights & Flying
Get your trip started on the right foot with apps to help you book cheap flights, have a more comfortable airport experience, and minimize the effects of flying.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is one of the best apps for finding cheaper flight options. They’re basically a flight search engine. Simply enter your travel dates and destination and Skyscanner will scan all of the top airlines and travel providers across the net so that you can compare flight fares in one place. Once you’ve found the best option, book directly with the provider.
Best of all, the app is free! It also works for hotels and car rentals.
Hopper
Hopper is another great app for cheap flights. It predicts flight prices a year in advance with 95% accuracy! They also work with travel partners like tourism boards to offer unbeatable rates that are released for a limited time only exclusively in their app.
Hopper is free to download and use and you only pay for your purchases.
Kiwi
Kiwi is an app that claims to find cheap travel options that other search tools can’t. With Kiwi, you can book cheap flights and find great travel deals for connecting flights, buses, and trains to wherever you want to go. Their aim is to make affordable travel available to everyone. Now this is something we can get behind!
LoungeBuddy
LoungeBuddy is an essential travel app for making the most of long layovers. They revolutionize the airport experience by giving any traveler the ability to discover, book, and access premium airport lounges worldwide.
LoungeBuddy is currently only available on iOS.
Priority Pass
Priority Pass is the world’s largest independent airport lounge access program with over 1500 lounges and experiences available. There are three different membership plans to suit all types of travelers. Regardless of how often you travel, Priority Pass aims to ensure that your journey always begins and ends stress-free.
Timeshifter
Timeshifter, the jet lag app, aims to eliminate your jet lag with personalized advice by taking small actions at specific times. This is a great idea for when you only have a short time in a new destination and want to make the most of it.
Based on 129,852 surveys, travelers who followed Timeshifter’s advice were 14.1 times less likely to report very severe jet lag compared to travelers who didn’t follow the advice.
Essential Hotel Travel Apps
While most of your time will be spent outside of the hotel room exploring a new city, use these apps to find the perfect place to relax after a long day.
Airbnb
I’m sure this one needs little explanation. Airbnb is an online marketplace that connects people who want to rent out their homes with people looking for accommodation. You can rent a whole house or a room in a house.
This is an essential travel app for people looking to skip the hotels and hostels and stay in a place that feels like home.
HotelTonight
HotelTonight promises last-minute deals at great hotels. They want to say goodbye to endless scrolling and make booking hotels fun, easy, and instant. They only work with hotels that they would want to stay at themselves.
Booking.com
Founded in 1996, Booking.com has grown from a small Dutch startup to one of the world’s leading digital travel companies. Their mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. They connect millions of travelers with memorable experiences, a range of transport options, and incredible places to stay.
Essential Packing and Organization Travel Apps
Good organization before you leave will only make your travels run smoother.
TripIt: Travel Planner
If you are constantly struggling to find your documents, forget your restaurant reservations, and have shown up for an excursion on the wrong day, then TripIt: Travel Planner is for you.
As soon as you book a flight, hotel, rental car, or other travel plan, simply forward it to [email protected] and they’ll automatically add it to your comprehensive itinerary. Sync your plans to your calendar and share them with your travel companions.
PackPoint
PackPoint is a packing list app that generates packing lists based on your length of travel, the weather at your destination, and any activities planned during your trip. The premium version can also connect to TripIt and Evernote.
OneBag
OneBag is another great packing list app. What we love about this app is that you can assign a weight to each of your items so you’ll know exactly how much your bag is going to weigh. You can then put your items in your inventory to use for future packing lists.
PackTeo
PackTeo helps you quickly and easily create packing lists for all kinds of trips, journeys, or holidays. The packing list generator makes lists based on your destination, weather, accommodation type, the people on the trip, mode of transport, and activities, but you can also create your own packing lists from scratch.
- For more packing list apps, check out our blog post: The Best Packing List Apps for Travelers in 2023
Things to Do
It can be overwhelming arriving in a new city not knowing what to do or where to go. Here are some apps to help with that.
TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel guidance platform and your go-to travel app for finding fun and unique activities in the area, authentic restaurants, and places to stay all based on reviews from travelers who have actually been there.
There are more than 1 billion reviews and opinions of nearly 8 million businesses.
Culture Trip
Culture Trip was created to inspire people to go beyond their cultural boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people, and its culture special, unique, and meaningful.
Use Culture Trip to discover nearby recommendations hand-picked by global experts and local insiders, plan unique trips, and easily book amazing experiences and places to stay.
Withlocals
The best parts of a destination are often known only to locals and if you are just passing through, you may miss them. Withlocals connects you to a local host so you can find unique tours and food experiences, visit city highlights, and discover hidden gems without the crowds.
Headout
Headout helps travelers discover and book tours, activities, events, and local experiences. Their aim is to make travel more spontaneous and fun by getting you the best last-minute availability and great discounts.
LuckyTrip
LuckyTrip promises a “trip in one tap”. This travel inspiration app lets you find and book unique trips, all you need to do is set the budget. They’ve only launched in Europe currently but keep an eye out as they will be launching in more destinations soon.
Essential Food Travel Apps
A lot of the apps for finding fun experiences, like TripAdvisor and Withlocals will also lead you to great restaurants. Here are some apps specifically for finding restaurants and food experiences.
TheFork
One of the best parts about traveling is trying all the local food. TheFork is the leading online restaurant booking and discovery platform in Europe and Australia. Read restaurant reviews or check out the menu before you go.
Eatwith
No one knows food better than a local! Eatwith allows you to join local hosts for intimate dinner parties, hands-on cooking classes, and interactive workshops. Search by destination and filter by price, language, event type, and cuisine. Join hand-selected locals in over 130 countries for an immersive experience you’ll never forget.
Unfortunately, Eatwith is only available on iOS.
Maps and Transport
There’s no use planning amazing experiences if you don’t know where you’re going and have no way of getting around. We have some essential travel apps that can help with that.
Google Maps
An essential for every destination! Google Maps offers a whole range of features to make finding your way by foot, car, bike, or public transportation easy as can be. Features include satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets, real-time traffic conditions, and route planning.
Download offline maps before you go in case you have no signal at your destination.
Citymapper
Citymapper instantly compares your travel options in real time across all transport modes and finds the best route through a combination of transport types. Easily navigate the city with turn-by-turn directions for all your public transport, walking, cycling, and scooter trips. One feature that is especially helpful for travelers is an alert for when it’s time to get off your train or bus.
Citymapper covers Europe, the United States, and a few places in Asia and the rest of the world. They are always working on expanding their maps.
Moovit
Moovit is a real-time, worldwide public transport app that aims to guide you from point A to point B in the easiest and most efficient way possible. It plots the optimal route using buses, trains, metros, bikes, or a combination of these transport options. Get access to train and bus timetables, maps, live arrival times, and service disruptions.
Moovit is available in over 3500 cities across 112 countries.
Uber
It’s always a good idea to have Uber downloaded in case there’s an issue with public transport, you’re in a city that doesn’t have many public transport options, or in case of emergencies.
Uber is a ride-hailing company that allows you to request pick-ups to your exact location easily and immediately. Track your Uber while you ride so you stay informed. Uber also provides a host of safety options like sharing your ride with a trusted contact so they can follow along and ensure you end up at your destination, and an in-app emergency button.
Komoot
Komoot refers to themselves as the key to the great outdoors. They help you plan your perfect walking, running, or cycling outdoor adventure. This is the perfect app for when you want to explore a place you are not familiar with.
Find community knowledge and recommendations and then plan your perfect route. GPS voice navigation will keep you on track while you explore.
Language
Often a new adventure means a language you are unfamiliar with, make sure you stay connected with these language apps and tools to help you navigate the world.
Google Translate
Google Translate instantly translates words and phrases between over 100 languages. You can even use your camera to quickly and easily translate menus, road signs, information boards, and more. Use it to communicate, ask locals questions, order at a restaurant, and more.
iTranslate
iTranslate is a language translator app for text, voice, conversations, camera, and photos with over 100 different languages. A handy feature for travelers is the offline mode that allows you to stay connected even when you don’t have signal.
The voice mode allows you to easily have a conversation with someone in a different language. You can also scan objects and iTranslate will give you their name in the chosen language.
Duolingo
This is the perfect app to use BEFORE your trip to learn some of the local language. Duolingo creates bite-sized language lessons through game-like features and fun challenges for you to practice daily.
Duolingo has over 40 languages like Spanish, German, Vietnamese, and Norwegian to name a few.
Memrise
At Memrise, they combine real-world content and memory techniques to create a personalized experience that helps you learn languages faster.
You can watch over 48000 conversations between real natives to confidently begin to understand accents and hear words and phrases that locals actually use. You can also choose to watch videos based on your interests so that you learn vocab that is relevant to you.
Memrise has 23 languages and there is a free plan and a pro plan.
Busuu
With Busuu, you get access to compact lessons from experts and you can connect with a community of native speakers to practice pronunciation and gain cultural insights. Plus you can exchange local language tips with a global community of learners.
Busuu has 14 languages (including Spanish, Korean, Dutch, and Polish), and the basic version is free.
Entertainment
You may not think you need any essential travel apps for entertainment, but believe me, you do! Beat the travel boredom on long flights or simply spend a night in to recover from your adventures with these essential entertainment travel apps.
Netflix
Okay this one is a no-brainer! Netflix is a subscription-based streaming platform that gives you access to 100s of series and movies. When you’re traveling, there’s often a lot of time spent waiting around like lengthy layovers between flights or long train rides. With Netflix, you’ll always have something to keep you entertained.
You can even download movies to watch while you’re in the air.
Colorfy
If watching TV is not your style, you might want to try a digital coloring book instead. Not only will you kill time, but coloring may help you relax and bring out your creativity. Colorfy is a coloring game with a host of fun designs (both simple and complex). Choose from mandalas, patterns, flowers, animals, and more.
Spotify
Spotify is a digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs, podcasts, and audiobooks. Pass time on the train with a podcast, play some music while you’re getting ready in the morning to start the day off on the right note, or listen to an audiobook while you wait for your flight.
Songs and podcasts are available in the free version but audiobooks are currently only available for premium users in certain areas.
Kindle
If you love reading but don’t want to schlep heavy books on your adventures then a Kindle is for you! A Kindle makes it super easy to read on the go. Even if you don’t have a physical Kindle, you can still download the Kindle app on your phone or tablet and download books in advance in case you don’t have wifi.
If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you’ll get access to over 1000 free titles.
Safety & Personal Well-Being
When you’re in an unfamiliar place, it’s always a good idea to be extra cautious with your safety. Take some extra precautions with these essential travel apps.
TripWhistle
Before any trip, it’s always a good idea to memorize local emergency numbers.
With TripWhistle, you will be able to dial local emergency police, fire, and ambulance phone numbers anywhere in the world from your phone or Apple Watch with just one click. Emergency services will also get access to your exact location to provide help as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, this app is only available for iOS users.
SmartTraveler
SmartTraveler is an essential travel app for any U.S. citizen. It is the official State Department app for U.S. travelers that provides easy access to frequently updated official country information, travel alerts, travel warnings, maps, U.S. embassy locations, and more.
It also provides access to the free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) which enables the State Department to better assist you in emergencies.
Calm
While traveling your normal schedule is thrown completely out the window, add jetlag to that, and sleeping may prove challenging. With Calm, you’ll be able to manage stress, balance moods, sleep better, and refocus your attention through guided meditation, sleep stories, soundscapes, breathwork, and stretching exercises so that you can better enjoy everything your travels have to offer.
Essential Communication Travel Apps
Never worry about staying in touch again with these essential travel apps for communication.
WhatsApp is a messaging app that lets you stay in contact with people all over the world. You can send voice notes, share your live location, have video calls with your family, and create group chats to more easily organize plans.
To make things better, WhatsApp features end-to-end encryption which means your personal messages and calls are secure. Only you and the person you’re talking to can read or listen to them.
Skype
Stay connected with Skype’s free worldwide video calls to individuals and groups. You can also use their messaging feature and create groups to update people back home about your travels.
Messenger
Messenger is a free mobile messaging app used for instant messaging, sharing photos, videos, and audio recordings, and creating group chats. Because it’s connected to Facebook, you need to have a Facebook account to access it.
Money
One of the most important things on any trip is money. Take a look at some of these essential travel apps for money.
XE – Converter & Money Transfer
The XE (Converter & Money Transfer) app is your one-stop destination for all your currency exchange and international money transfer needs. You can research live foreign exchange rates, utilize the currency converter, send money in minutes to over 200 countries, transfer currency across more than 100 currencies, and set exchange rate alerts so you can get the best deal when exchanging money.
What more could you want?
Splitwise
If you’re traveling with a group of people, this is an essential travel app for you! Splitwise allows you to easily keep track of shared expenses across currencies when you’re traveling with friends. This makes group trips so much easier.
Trabee Pocket
Simplify your travel expenses and manage your travel budget with Trabee Pocket. Trabee Pocket is designed for travelers to help organize and track their expenses.
You can quickly add expenses on the go, check the statistics for your travels, and see at a glance how much of your budget you’ve spent and what is still available.
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What do you think: are there any essential travel apps we’ve missed? Which apps are you downloading for your next trip? Let us know in the comments below.
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