15 Essential Travel Apps
After 1 year of writing about tavel apps for a dozen countries, I decided it was time to put together my list of essential apps for global travel. The Google Play app store has 2.6 million apps as of December 2018 with more added every day! There are so many apps, it’s hard to know if one even exists. So if there is an app you love for your travels, let us know on Twitter!
Apps can make traveling so much easier, giving you access to information, navigation, languages, bookings and more. Most of the apps on this list require some data, like Wi-Fi for a SIM Card, but others are offline or can be upgrade to a premium version with offline capabilities. I prefer to list free apps, but some of the premium apps are quite excellent and worth considering too. So here we go, the top 15 apps to download for your next adventure!
Our Picks for the Essential Travel Apps
There is a new app added to the app store every minute. Thousands and thousands of apps available to make our travels that much easier.. but in reality we only need handful of essential apps.
Most of us only use 20 apps or less in a given day. But traveling is a little different, we are exploring new places, in foreign countries, speaking different languages and capturing every moment in video, photos and sharing them over Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. I’ve traveled, gotten lost, learn languages and booked hotels time and time again to know which apps I need most. If you have any other great apps to recommend we add to this list, let us know!
1. Maps.me
- Price: Free
- App Rating: 10/10
- Alternatives: Google Maps (iOS)
2. Currency Xe
The most stressful part of travel for many is money. It’s hard to travel cheaply, hard to save money and even harder to discover local prices in a country you’ve never been. Tourists get ripped off all the time, from short changed, price gauged, so many fees… Free taxi & gem shop scams… Currency Xe is my go to exchange app. Anytime you buy a ticket, taxi or souvenir, work out what it costs in your home currency. Every time.
The most basic part of spending money abroad is knowing the current exchange rate with your home country, the USD or the Euro. Some currencies in the world are pinned directly to the USD, meaning they always have the same exchange rate. Cambodia is always 4000 Riel to 1 USD. Always.
Pro Tip: Find out two things before you leave: The price per km for a taxi and the price of a Big Mac. You can guess pretty accurately how much things cost for everything else.
- Price: Free
- App Rating: 10/10
3. Hostelworld
- Price: Free, In App Bookings
- App Rating: 10/10
- Alternatives: Trip.com, Hotels.com,Booking.com
4. Airbnb
Airbnb has simply taken over the travel accommodations industry. Why book a hotel when you can book an entire apartment, a townhouse, or a private room for half the price?
People all around the world are taking advantage of renting our their second homes, rooms in their house, even their backyards for camping! Airbnb has changed the travel industry for the better. Airbnb even operates in Cuba where there is essentially no internet! You can rent a great Casa better than any hotel, the Casa owners prepare breakfast, help book tours, give you recommendations on where to eat, etc.. It’s like having a personal local guide.
Pro Tip: Many hotels and hostels have a check-in time that are fairly strict. If you are arriving by plane late at night, an Airbnb might be a better choice. You can simply pick up the key to check yourself in, even at 3am. I was fortunate to have a great Airbnb in Havana that stayed up waiting for me after an unexpected 3 hour delay at the airport in Toronto.
- Price: Free, In App Bookings
- App Rating: 10/10
5. Shutterfly Photos
Shutterfly is my little data storage hack. After 4 months of travel in South Asia, I had over 4,000 photos and few places to store them all! My cards were maxed out, my phone too. My free 15 GB of Google Drive storage was at 99% and the free 2 GB of Dropbox was a joke. Shutterfly is a photo printing app and website, but they have UNLIMITED storage for photos.
After your trip, log into your account and download the original files size back to your computer. Facebook and other platforms will compress the photos you upload to save space, but Shutterfly is a printing service that needs large resolution files. Shutterfly doesn’t place a cap on the photo file size either. A 10 MB extra large resolution (5000×3000 px) is not a problem on Shutterfly.
6. Splittr Expenses
Splittr is an app to keep your travel buddies close. Nothing is more awkward than splitting some travel expenses with a friend or partner and then arguing over the amounts. In Asia, you won’t get many receipts and cash is king. So you either have to keep track of each expense in a book or use this app!
This app handles everything. Join a group by inviting a friend, then log the expenses you shared or paid for each other. At the end of your trip, the app will calculate how much to settle up. Each person can enter the expenses from their phone, so it’s fair!
On my last trip I split everything based on the amount I withdrew from the bank. Not by choice, my friend’s bank cards didn’t work in the local ATMs. That happens, a lot, unexpectedly. I ended up paying for everything for 2 weeks! That system won’t work for most travellers as people have different budgets, appetites or interests of things to do.
- Price: Free
- App Rating: 10/10
7. Drops Language App
I’ve recommended a lot of Language Apps so far on my blog. Learning a new language or some key phrases is one of my favorites parts of traveling. Communication is a wonderful thing and not being able to communicate can be extremely challenging. China, Cuba, Japan, Vietnam… don’t expect the locals to speak English. Try to spend some time learning before you leave for your trip.
I’ve only recently discovered Drops. The app is excellent but paid. I love free apps more than anyone but this is a list of the best essential traveling apps. I wouldn’t include it unless it was very good. The app actually uses pictures to learn a word rather than translating from English. The audio is great and the games are engaging.
8. Splice Video Editing
I’ve been getting into taking more video on my travels. I recently wrote an article to answer the question: To GoPro or not? Comparing the GoPro against the fake knock-offs and regular camcorders. Most professionals use Adobe Premier Pro for their video editing (post production). This allows them to enhance the audio quality, add music and edit the video to perfection. Well Adobe Premier Pro is $20-50 USD per month and honestly has way too many features for most people.
Splice is cool, iPhone only video editing app that has a library of cool music, transitions, fonts for text and more. The nice part is that it’s 100% free and doesn’t place a watermark on your videos! I use it for my videos on Instagram all the time. Download Splice and show off your awesome travel videos easily, from anywhere, to all your friends and family back home!
- Price: Free
- App Rating: 10/10
- Alternatives: Quik(iOS), Video Editor Inshot(iOS)
9. Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor has become a giant, the go to travel website in the world. It’s the ultimate travel inspiration website filled with reviews, things to do, important information like locations, phone numbers and hours of operation for every attraction in the world. We all know this already.
But did you know Tripadvisor now has travel essential stores? January 2018, they opened their first store at Pearson International Airport in Toronto! They also acquired Viator in 2014, a tour booking website with over 100,000 registered tours worldwide. We are now affiliated with Viator.com.
Although I will always insist that self-guided tours are best on a budget, some attractions like the Forbidden City or Angkor are once in a lifetime and worth booking a guide.
- Price: Free
- App Rating: 10/10
10. Transit
Transit App is the best transit app. It’s that simple. Taking the bus and subway is easily one of the cheapest ways to get around in a city. The subways in Beijing, Tokyo or Kuala Lumpur can be extremely confusing for first timers. Well, transit app makes it super easy.
Transit shows you the best route, subway line, transfer stations, departure, arrival, travel times and how frequent the bus or train will depart. It has everything transit.
The app even has Uber integration if a transit route isn’t available or you are in a hurry. The app does require data and doesn’t show any prices for a fare which I consider its only drawback.
- Price: Free
- App Rating: 10/10
11. Uber
Uber is the top ride sharing company in the world with over 100 million users in 785 cities. For all its flaws, criticisms, sexual harassment lawsuits and offshore tax evasion, Uber remains the first choice for many travellers.
It’s just so easy to hail an uber, charge it to your credit card and arrive safely to your destination. Drivers go over the top for their 5 star rating, meaning you are all but guaranteed to book a good driver. The rates are all fixed, worldwide, no need to worry about getting ripped off by a taxi driver or pay a tourist premium. Uber charges the same fee for you as any local.
There are always cheaper transportation options to get around but Uber provides Safety, Reliability, Easy Payment & Standardization across Countries. The app takes care of almost any language barrier which is fantastic. I’ve used Uber in Beijing & Montreal, it’s the same everywhere.
12. AllTrails
AllTrails is my favorite hiking app. Founded in 2010, the app now has over 10 million hikers with a database of over 60,000 trails. Most of the trails are located in the US but the most popular ones are usually listed in every country.
Want to find a hike in Iran? There are 6 to choose from. 39 Trails in Nepal, 15 in Borneo etc…
The trails all have a hiker rating (5 stars), a difficulty level, elevation gain, estimated length and time. It’s the best hiking app available by far. There is even info on dog friendly & wheelchair accessible parks.
I use it along with Maps.me because you can only save and download the maps on the pro version.
- Price: Free, A full year of AllTrails Pro is $29.99 USD but there is usually a deal for 20% off – $23.99 USD for a year.
- App Rating: 10/10
- Alternatives: Gaia GPS Maps(iOS
13. Tripit
- Price: Free, In App Bookings
- App Rating: 7/10
14. Weather Network
Yon won’t find The Weather Network on too many top apps lists. It’s nothing fancy, but oh is it ever important. This app is for more than just checking the weather on any day, or for the 7 day forecast. Use it to plan for your trip.
Here is an example: Vietnam.
The north of Vietnam in January is the dry season. The mountains can drop to 0 degrees while the city of Hanoi in the valley stay around 25 degrees. But, take a quick flight south to Ho Chi Minh City, it’s almost always 30-35 degrees, humid with a chance of rain. So many travellers make the mistake of assuming a tropical country is 35 degrees and sunny all the time when that’s far from true. I’d pack a sweater, rain jacket and boots for Vietnam in January-February. Consider travelling Vietnam South to North at the tail end of the dry season, to avoid the coldest parts in the North until it warms up a little.
The Weather Network isn’t the app that excites you, offers you cool features, but it’s the app you need right now.
- Price: Free, In App Bookings
- App Rating: 10/10
- Alternatives: Weather App (iOS)
15. Groupon
Groupon is our last pick for this list. It may not seem like an obvious choice but trust me, it’s awesome. Groupon is mostly a North American company offering discounts and coupons for almost everything: Restaurants, Tours, Theme Parks, Bars, Spas, Shopping. EVERYTHING.
In recent years they’ve expanded internationally, offering coupons and discounts for some of the best things to do.
Want to visit the Paris Aquarium? It’s 40% off right now. How about a river cruise for two with Champagne in the heart of Paris? $80, 39% off! Or how about a full course Matsuba Crab dinner, after a day at the Onsen looking out over the sea of Japan from Arakinomaki Inn for 50% off?
You get the idea, big discounts for amazing activities and experiences all around the world. Sometimes luxury travel doesn’t require breaking the bank, but just being savvy enough to find the right deals. Groupon is the ultimate discount app.
- Price: Free, In App Bookings
- App Rating: 10/10
The Best Apps by Country
North America
South America
