Top 5 Travel Apps

Gone are the days of paper maps and phoning places to make reservations. Nowadays, everything is done over the Internet. While some lament the loss of tradition, the advent of this new technology has made travelling easier than ever before. Virtually everything you need to plan or research can be done from a handheld device, whether this be a tablet or smartphone.

Fortunately, technology has made it even easier for us to get stuff done on the go by creating apps that streamline the procedure. No need to even search for anything in Google. Just open the app and away you go. After spending a long time on the road, you quickly learn to depend on these handy apps. Here are five that should be on the smartphone of every savvy traveller.

Uber

Available in over 80 different countries, Uber is a travel essential as far as I’m concerned. Once you have connected your credit card to the app, you can order a taxi with just a few taps and you don’t need to worry about whether you have cash on you or not. This is great for a number of different reasons. The most important being that if you are in a new city you probably won’t have got to grips with the local public transport. An Uber will make sure you get to A to B safely and you won’t have to faff around with all that foreign currency either.

Hotel Tonight

If you like to add a bit of luxury to your travel every now and then then you should really consider downloading Hotel Tonight. The app is a dumping ground for unused rooms in fancy hotels. You can only book a room up to a week in advance but you will find some incredible discounts on there. Imagine shacking up in a five star hotel for the same price as a bunk bed in a hostel.

Maps.Me

Navigating a new city is often a challenge and as I mentioned before, the days of the paper map are long gone. Unfortunately, being abroad often means not having data readily available on your device. But, maps.me can help. You will need an Internet connection very briefly in order to download the map of whichever city you are in. Once you have it, you will be able to use it without data as you wander around your destination. This is far easier than dipping in to every McDonalds you see to try and steal their WiFi connection.

Booking.com

The Booking.com app is an absolute must for backpackers or people on extended trips. Not only does it allow you to easily compare and book accommodation, but it also stores all of your reservations for you in one place for easy reference. Once you’ve booked your hotel, simply go into the app whenever you need and remind yourself of the details – you don’t even need data to do this. The app also stores an address and phone number, which you can give to a taxi driver if you get lost on the way there.

Skyscanner

If you need flights then Skyscanner should be your go to website. Their app allows you to easily compare flights from hundreds of different airlines to find the best deal. They also allow you to be flexible with your dates to make it even easier to get cheap flights. The range of searching options and filters are excellent and you can even save your searches if you fly the same route regularly for work. Bear in mind that some smaller or budget airlines won’t appear on Skyscanner so you might want to cross-reference with other sites, such as Kayak.