As soon as you’ve been bitten by the travel bug, it doesn’t take long for your to begin to look for ways to be able to travel more often, more efficiently, to more places, and for less money. It doesn’t matter if you are in your golden years or just starting out on a gap year, you are likely to find at least one of these travel apps incredibly useful on your next adventure. From planning trips to booking airfare to checking in at my hostel, or navigating the local transit system, I use a number of apps to make travel easier and more cost effective. Here’s my list of what I believe to be the best travel apps for a number of different things.
The Best Travel Planning Apps
It’s been said that “A journey of a thousand miles starts with one footstep.” I would like to go beyond that and say that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a dream. If you want to get serious about turning that dream into a reality, you are going to need some sort of plan. I understand that not everybody wants to plan everything out and not everybody wants to do everything by the seat of their pants, but having at least some sort of a plan will help you move closer to making your dream travel experience a reality.
These are the best travel apps to help you plan a trip and put that plan into action.
Trip Mapper
Trip Mapper is the best travel app that I have come across in recent months. Seamlessly plan your journeys with our intuitive app that combines simplicity with powerful features. Effortlessly organize your itinerary, discover must-visit attractions, and access real-time updates on flights and accommodations. Whether you’re a globetrotter or planning a weekend getaway, Trip Mapper ensures a stress-free travel experience. Download now and embark on your next adventure with confidence. Your journey, your way – simplified by Trip Mapper.
Trip Mapper has a free version and a premium subscription for $2.99/month or $30 per year.
Instagram is without a doubt the largest community of photographers, travelers, dreamers, wanderlusters, vagabonds, digital nomads, and so much more. If you are looking for ideas and inspiration, you can tap into the incredibly creative community of travelers on Insta.
While I definitely have my gripes with “influencer travel”, there are a lot of smaller accounts that are more focused on conscious travel and really connecting with the local culture. You can use Instagram to search some hashtags for some things that you are interested in and see how long it takes you to find some good posts to inspire your wanderlust. From traveling across the US in a van to riding a bike across the entire continent of Africa, or even just becoming an expert traveler in your own state or country, you are almost guaranteed to get a loose plan put together with what you will find on Instagram.
Here is a link to my own Instagram. I hope you find something in here that will help to inspire you in one way or another.
Pinterest is probably the best travel app for putting ideas and dreams onto boards that are easy to share, reference, add to, and build a dream trip you have always wanted. I use Pinterest for compiling ideas for things I want to do when I am old and have a house with a garden where I can grow my own food. Some of my boards are ideas I have for when I own or manage a hostel one day. No matter what you have in mind, pinning ideas to your own public and private Pinterest boards can be a great way to slowly build the inspiration you need to finally leave your comfort zone and start that trip.
You might enjoy my Pinterest travel boards for some inspiration.
Unsplash
Unsplash is a community of photographers that give away their photos for free to be used without needing to pay any royalties. I use this service all the time to find amazing photos to use on a number of my projects. Just like any online community, it is not just about taking. It is also about contributing photos that others can also use without having to pay you any sort of royalty. While this site might be hated by a good number of photographers around the world, it is also loved by many as a means of finding new clients to hire you for photography services.
When it comes to planning, you can find some absolutely breathtaking photos that might be what you need to be inspired for your next journey. I have found a number of new places that I want to visit simply by scrolling through Unsplash looking to find some cool pics to use as a featured image here on my website or maybe even for a client. No matter what you decide to use Unsplash for, it is an amazing community of incredibly talented photographers and amazing photos that don’t require any licensing or royalty payments.
Here are some of my own Unsplash collections.
Trip Notes
Trip Notes is a great new AI tool to experiment with as soon as you have found some images of places that have triggered your inner wanderlust. If you think that Croatia looks amazing because you recently saw some pictures on Instagram, then maybe you might want to use Trip Notes AI bot to generate a travel itinerary for you to see what sort of things there are to do in Croatia (or whatever amazing new destination that you want to go explore.
As soon as you have a general idea of where you want to go, the next step is to take actionable steps to achieve your goal. That is where something like Todoist comes in handy.
Todoist
Todoist is a great app for to do lists and tasks that you need to do on a recurring schedule. It can also be used for one-off tasks like “Buy a plane ticket” or “Book a hostel”. For lists that you plan on using more than once, you can use it to create packing lists, itineraries, and more. Todoist also has a useful “Today” view that shows you all the tasks that are due for the day.
I use Todoist not just for planning trips but in my daily life for getting things done like planning content for this blog post. It’s an excellent tool for anyone who likes a consistent routine and building daily habits.
Rome2Rio
Rome2Rio is an online booking platform that helps you find the best way to get from A to B, whether it’s by plane, train, bus, car, boat, any just about anything else you can think of. Rome2rio displays up to date schedules, route maps, journey times and estimated fares from relevant transport operators, ensuring you can make an informed decision about which option will suit you best.
I use Rome2rio for planning trips and getting ideas for how I can best get from my doorstep all the way to check in at my hostel on the other side of the world. It’s a truly powerful app. When I search a destination, Rom2Rio will give me all sorts of various routes from where I am sitting now to cross the ocean to get back to the US. Rome2Rio will provide me with everything I need to get from my door to the train station to the airport to another train to my destination address using all sorts of different combinations of travel methods. Plains, trains, boats, cars, scooters, and I am sure they will come up with some other adventurous methods for traveling anywhere in the world like from Rome to Rio.
Tripadvisor
TripAdvisor is a great app for finding things to do in your destination city. The app contains millions of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants, attractions, and more. TripAdvisor can also be used to book hotels, flights, and rental cars but I tend to just use other apps for those more specialized and niche things. Trip Advisor also has an extensive community of travelers who are passionate about helping others make informed decisions, post pictures, and rate attractions.
While Trip Advisor might not be for everyone, it has absolutely helped me to find some unique experiences.
Trip Tracking
PolarSteps
PolarSteps is one of the best travel apps for tracking each and every step of your trips. This innovative app comes equipped with a travel tracker, allowing you to keep a record of all the places you visited along any one of your trips. Additionally, PolarSteps enables you to organize and store your travel photos in personalized collections, making it easy to reminisce about your experiences and share them with others. The app also provides travel stats, giving you valuable insights into your travel habits and helping you set new goals for your future adventures. With PolarSteps, you can easily share your trips with friends and family, turning them into enthusiastic travel companions. Lastly, the app offers a unique feature to create a travel photo book, allowing you to preserve your memories in a tangible and beautiful format that you can treasure for years to come.
You can see detailed views of all of my trips on my PolarSteps page.
The Best Travel Apps For Getting Around
While bigger international trips can open you up to life-changing experiences that you might only get to enjoy once in your lifetime, that doesn’t mean that you can’t have life changing experiences in your own local community. You can make changes in your daily life and have some amazing experiences with the best travel apps for local travel.
Google Maps
Google Maps is a must-have app for anyone traveling around the world. The app provides detailed maps of countries, cities, and even specific landmarks and attractions. Additionally, Google Maps can be used to navigate offline, which can be extremely helpful when traveling in areas with poor or no cell service.
If you are trying to use less data when traveling, Google maps is one of the best apps to download for offline use so that you can have access to all of the most important places in the city or region that you are traveling within. This can be especially useful for getting back to your accommodation without WiFi or cell data.
Trainline
Trainline is the best app to plan and book train journeys across all of Europe (maybe thew world but I have only used it in Europe so far). Users can effortlessly search for train schedules, compare ticket prices, and make secure bookings—all in one place. The app provides real-time updates on train statuses, platform information, and any potential disruptions. Its user-friendly interface offers features like e-tickets and mobile boarding passes which eliminates the need for paper tickets and can really speed up your travel experience. It doesn’t matter if you are traveling on your normal daily work commute or adventuring on the other side of the world, Trainline is one of the best travel apps for both regular commuters and occasional travelers.
If you use Rome-2-Rio to do any of your trip planing, Trainline is the next natural step for booking all of your train tickets.
Microbility Travel Apps
Sometimes having an adventure can happen within a mile of where you live. With advances made in local “microbility”, you can now get around on local cars, bikes, scooters, rickshaws, and more. There is no single best app for local travel but different communities all around the world have some of their own apps to help you with “the last mile”. This can be Uber, Lyft, Bolt, and others for getting a car ride locally. Some scooter apps like Lime, Bird, Voi, and many more have become popular apps for getting around on much faster than on foot.
– Lime, Bird, Voi, etc.
– Uber, Lyft, Bolt, etc.
The Best Apps For Booking Accommodation
Let’s talk about the best apps for booking accommodation while traveling. Whether you’re planning a city escape, a beach getaway, or an off-the-grid adventure, these apps will have you covered. I tend to gravitate towards hostels but in more recent years, services like AirbnB have become more popular for more unique and niche accommodation experiences.
Hostelworld
If you’re a budget-savvy traveler or a fan of the backpacking scene, Hostelworld is a must-have app. It’s like the holy grail for finding affordable hostels around the world. Not only does it offer a wide range of options, but you can also read reviews from fellow travelers to help you make an informed decision. Plus, it’s super easy to use, making it a favorite among backpackers.
I have used Hostelworld in dozens of cities in multiple countries and the experience continues to get better and more seamless. I am looking forward to how hostels will continue to improve as more travelers enjoy staying at hostels.
AirBnB
Ah, AirBnb. The game-changer of the travel world. This app lets you rent out someone’s place, whether it’s an entire house or just a spare room. It’s perfect if you want a more local experience, or if you’re traveling with a group and want to share accommodation costs. Plus, they have some seriously unique listings—from treehouses to castles, AirBnb always surprises and delights.
I have stayed in some incredibly fun places with AirBnb. Some of the more memorable places were one of those bubble domes in Iceland, a castle in Scotland, and even a patio that overlooked the running of the bulls in Pamplona.
Final Thoughts
No matter if you are just traveling within your own city, state, or country, you are bound to find at least one of these apps incredibly useful. I have personally used all of these multiple times across multiple countries and they have all served me well. As time goes on I am sure to find even more apps that open me up to even more amazing travel opportunities. Be sure to let me know if you think that I should add some to this list.
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