Best travel apps for your safe journey

Planning a trip today is much easier with the right travel apps.

Once, we travelled with paper maps. Over the years, numerous travel apps have been developed that make travel smoother and more enjoyable.

Whether you’re booking accommodation or an excursion, catching a train or plane, or just trying to stay connected abroad, take a look at the best travel apps that you should have in mind for your safe journey.

 

✨ Note: Some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you book through them, at no extra cost to you.

 

📌 Best Apps for Booking Travel

 

✈️ Best travel apps for Flights & Transport

🛫 Skyscanner

Skyscanner is one of the most popular flight search apps worldwide. With this app, you can easily find direct or connecting flights, as well as book a hotel or rent a car. You can also set up price alerts and get a notice when the price drops.

 

✈️ Google Flights

Google Flights is another free app. In the calendar, you can immediately see which dates are cheapest, and the fare tracking feature sends you alerts when prices change.
Note: Google Flights does not sell tickets directly. It redirects you to the airlines or an online travel agency (OTA) to book your flight.

🛬 Flight Radar 24

Flight Radar 24 is a fantastic app that enables you to track live air traffic worldwide from your mobile device. So, you can get detailed information about each flight on a moving map in real-time. The flights can be searched by airline, route, or flight number. Additionally, you can find information about routes, aircraft details, estimated time of arrival, actual time of departure, and more.

 

 🚅 Rail Europe

The Rail Europe app gives you access to rail networks across more than 30 European countries and 230+ European rail operators. You can check real-time train schedules, seat reservations, station departures/arrivals, manage mobile train passes and tickets directly in the app. Often, you can get better prices when you book in advance through the app than purchasing tickets at the station.
Download the app from the Google Store or Apple Store.

 

⛴️ Ferry Scanner

Ferry Scanner is one of the most popular search engines for ferry connections. It offers international ferry trips worldwide to more than 900 destinations, with 350+ ferry companies and 6,000 routes.

It is also a very useful app for planning multiple routes or an island-hopping journey, no matter if you like to go to Greece, the Canaries, the Balearics, Croatia, Italy or the Gulf of Thailand. You can easily find various routes and trip itineraries. Check out the Ferry Scanner app.

 

🚌 Rome2Rio

Rome2Rio is an excellent free app for planning routes across trains, buses, and ferries within and between countries. The app compares the cheapest, quickest and most convenient travel options. It is currently available in 24 languages, such as English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, etc.

 

🚝 Omio

The Omio free app is usually used for European travel. You can search and book trains, buses, flights and ferries across more than 37 countries. It is a great way to compare bus and train prices and find the best option for you.

 

🚗 Rent a car: Discover Cars

The app Discover Cars is a budget-friendly international website for car booking. You can find all types of cars from more than 1,000 partners across more than 50,000 destinations worldwide. The price includes all mandatory fees, taxes, and extras, so there won’t be any unpleasant surprises when you arrive at the rental desk.

 

🏨 Best apps for booking accommodation

🏨 Booking.com

Booking.com is probably the most famous travel app for booking accommodation. You can choose between millions of properties worldwide: hotels, apartments, guesthouses, and villas.

The filters for searching accommodation and interface are excellent, and the cancellation policies are usually flexible. Besides paying in advance, there is also the option to pay at the property. Also, they have the Genius’s loyalty program, that provids 10% off.

You can check the users’ reviews of accommodation on the website, which can help you make a final decision. I use this app for almost every trip.

 

🏨 Agoda

Agoda is another popular travel app that often offers better rates than its competitors in destinations such as Thailand, Japan, or Bali. Often, this app requires prepayment to lock in lower rates. Their loyalty program has various levels and daily special offers.

Besides accommodation, the news is booking flights and transport.

 

🏘️ Hostelworld

The Hostelworld app is very helpful for solo travellers, backpackers, or anyone on a budget who is looking to find hostels worldwide. Its base counts over 16,500 hostels in 180 countries, with over 13 million reviews.

 

 

📍 Best travel apps to use while travelling

 

🗺️ Travel apps for navigation & getting around

🌍 Google Maps

I am sure that all of you are familiar with the free Google Maps app.

You can check traffic information in real-time, as well as public transport, walking routes, restaurant ratings, and popular sights to visit. It is very helpful for all of us, not only for the travellers. You can download the offline city map, which is very important if you don’t have internet or if the WiFi signal is poor.

 

🌏 Maps.me

Maps.me is a free offline GPS app useful when you are in areas without phone service and during international travel. Just download a map of the place where you are going, and get a detailed map, which often includes hiking trails, pedestrian trails and points of interest (POI). Bear in mind that using the map can consume significant battery power while navigating.

 

 

✨ Best travel apps for booking excursions and activities

🏰 Get Your Guide (GYG)

Get Your Guide is one of my favourite travel apps, especially when I’m in a new place and have limited time. There are plenty of outdoor and indoor activities worldwide, such as walking tours, cooking classes, wine tastings, cruise boats, or skip-the-line museum tickets.

The payment is an advance, but you can usually cancel up to 24 hours in advance. It is an excellent platform with a wealth of information about excursions and activities.

 

 

🗽Viator

Viator is similar to the GetYourGuide app.
Actually, it is more used for tours in North America, the Middle East, and certain Asian destinations.

 

🗼TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel platform for booking a wide range of tours, restaurants, and information about traveller experiences.
There are more than 859 million reviews from travellers, so you can check everything you need. Of course, not every review or piece of feedback is reliable, as it depends on people’s experiences and expectations.

 

🏯Klook

Klook is a booking platform where travellers can book hotels, as well as cars, tours, activities, and tickets to attractions. Primarily, they have offers for Asia, as well as several European countries, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, and the USA.

Go City

With the Go City Pass, you can save up to 55% on sightseeing, tours, museums, and various activities at 28 destinations around the world, including London, New York, Las Vegas, Rome, Prague, Madrid, Singapore, etc.

Download the app from the App Store or Google Play, and select one of the various types of passes, which are valid for one full year from the date of purchase. Just be careful not to activate them! The price depends on the days and the number of attractions.

 

📶 The best eSIM for travel: Airalo

Airalo is the world’s first eSIM store. By the way, eSIMs are similar to regular SIM cards, but they are digital. Today, many mobile phones, tablets, and some laptops support eSIM cards.

Airalo eSIM allows you to avoid huge roaming bills during your trips. You can stay connected in over 200 locations worldwide. It is easy to install, and it can be purchased through the Airalo website or in the Airalo app.

 

✈️ AirHelp

We can say that the AirHelp app solves problems with flights.
AirHelp is a part of the Association of Passenger Rights Advocates (APRA). Their mission is to promote and protect passengers’ rights.

With an affordable set fee, they handle all paperwork and negotiations to get your flight compensation from the Airline. Download the AirHelp app here.

🧳Radical storage

The Radical Storage app helps travellers to find storage solutions for their luggage in cases of early arrivals or late departures from their accommodation.

This luggage storage network operates in over 70 countries and 1,000 cities, with more than 10,000 storage points (known as “Angels”). So, travellers can easily book storage online at verified places near major train stations or landmarks. The fixed daily price is from 1,60 EUR per day, per bag, and every bag is covered by a guarantee of up to 3,000 EUR.

 

💱💰Money currency converter and transfer: XE Currency

The XE Currency app is one of the most reliable currency converters. It allows you to add up to 10 currencies and switch between them easily. Also, you can send money to 190 countries across 130 currencies, for individuals and businesses. The fee for money transfer depends on the currency and the country where you’re sending money.

Download the XE Currency app and find everything you need for global money transfers, currency conversion, and live rates.

 

🌍 Language & Communication

 Google Translate

Just like Google Maps, we are all familiar with the Google Translate app.
It provides live translations in 108 languages, and it is widely used for conversations, translating texts, and reading menus or signs. The camera feature that translates text in real time is particularly interesting.

By the way, you can enter a URL to translate a whole webpage or save phrases and translations.

 

📋 Trip Planning & Organization: TripIt

The TripIt app is like a personal travel assistant that helps you organise your travel itineraries.

After you finish booking a flight, hotel, car, or other reservation, forward it to plans@tripit.com, and the app automatically adds it to your itinerary. The trip details can be added to your calendar, or you can share them with someone you want.

There is a free version of the itinerary, and a paid version (49 $ per year) includes more reminders, alerts, and travel information.

 

 

💡 A quick tip about Travel apps

Most of these travel apps are free to download and use, while some of them also have paid versions.
It is always better to install them before your next trip to check if they are installed correctly. Having them ready allows you various options, because you never know what can go wrong on your journey.

Try various apps and find the best ones that work for you.

 

🌍 So, pack your bag, and be safe on your travels!