Traveling is getting easier and more accessible and with time there are also new ways to plan, book and discover things. Travelling is a whole new thing compared to a view years ago. Everything can be booked on the phone, every ticket is digital and there is no reason to print anything anymore. The Smartphone is probably the most used device or “thing” for almost everyone. Smartphone Apps changed everything! Therefore I will show you my 5 most used apps for before or while traveling:
1. Skyscanner – the best way to find the best flight deals
Booking flights has never been easier than with Skyscanner. I use Skyscanner to discover cheap flights and even to discover new places I have never heard of before. This is the first tool I use if I prepare myself for a trip. I check the best dates to travel and the best prices on Skyscanner. If you are flexible with time and if you can plan your vacation far in advance, it is possible to find unbeatable deals with Skyscanner.
My Favorite Search setting in Skyscanner is, that you don’t have to put a destination in the search field. You can type in “Travel to Everywhere” and select “the cheapest Month” for the departure and return. With these settings, you can discover the cheapest flights to any place throughout the year. This is helpful if you plan your holidays at the beginning of the year and you don’t have a plan where to go yet. I already saved a lot of money with Skyscanner. That’s the reason why it is my favorite place to book flights.
But I gave Sofia still a chance, because what could go wrong.
So we chatted a little bit (in English, because she doesn’t speak german) until I got no reply anymore!
I was frustrated again and two weeks later I was sure that I’m gonna delete this app when I’m back home after work. But exactly on this day, Sofia replied.
2. Park4night – the easiest way to find campings and parking spaces
It is the perfect app for Roadtrips. If you are traveling with a Van or a Camper it is the best place to find camping spots or just beautiful places to park your car for a night. Park4night shows you usual campings, but also free parking spaces. Because entries can be made by every Park4night user the places you can find in the app are increasing day by day. And if you discover a place by yourself and want to share it with others you can do that as well and help Park4night increase the spots shown on the app.
Park4night has a free version and I personally only used this one. Park4night also offers you a premium plan for 1.99 each month or 9.99 a Year. With the premium plan, you have offline access to all maps and places. You can also plan a whole journey or trip within the app and you have more possibilities when it comes to search details. With the Premium plan, you also don’t have ads. Overall it is a great app.
Unless you don’t live the Van-Life in my opinion it is not even necessary to get the premium plan.
3. Airbnb – comfortable and cheaper alternative to hotel rooms
I guess meanwhile almost everyone heard about Airbnb. With Airbnb private individuals can rent out their apartments or vacation homes to other travelers. In my opinion, this is a great alternative to the classic hotel rooms. The advantages of Airbnb are that it is mostly cheaper than a usual hotel room and in many cases, you can have your own kitchen, therefore it is easier to live cheaper on the go by cooking by yourself instead of going to a restaurant every day.
Some accommodations are offering only rooms and not whole apartments. I did this kind of booking twice and it was a great experience, this way you are more in contact with the locals and you can get a better feeling of how the life on-site feels like. Also, you have the opportunity to connect yourself to others or the host itself. Often they are very open-minded and can give you valuable tips what you should do or what you should pay attention to.
4. Google Maps (Offline Maps) – getting around easy at your destination
Google maps is probably my most used app while being on vacation or on the way in general. Please make sure that you download the Offline map of the destination you are traveling to before you are heading off. Otherwise, it is possible that you are using your roaming and that can get expensive very fast. Abroad I am very often on foot, which is why I often use navigation for pedestrians. It is almost always reliable and you always find what you are looking for. It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a restaurant, a specific street, a Hotel, or an tourist attraction, Google Maps always helps you to get to your destination.
5. Hostelworld – for cheap accommodations
The Hostelworld app does all the usual things an accommodation booking app does, searches, descriptions, filters, and even more. You can also use an interactive map to find the best Hostels for you to book. With Hostelworld you can save a lot of money. It is massively cheaper than a casual Hotel room. Of course, you don’t have as much comfort as you have in a Hotel room, but on the other hand, you have other advantages with Hostelworld. You can book your bed in a dorm room and get connected with other travelers from all around the world. If you are open-minded and if you connect with others you have the possibilty to travel a view days with them and sometimes you can even make friends with them. I already made several friends that way all over the world (Germany, Belarus, Netherlands). It is the perfect place to bring people together with the same interests and spend quality time together.
And if you don’t want to book a bed in a dorm, a lot of the Hostels on Hostelworld also offer single rooms for an incredibly cheap price compared to a hotel room.
Bonus App: 6. Google Translate
This app saved my life a lot of times when I was abroad. I don’t speak any word of Spanish and Google Translate helps me out so much in difficult situations. Especially in countries where people are not used to speaking English or don’t speak English at all, it is a life saver. When I was in El Salvador I had several situations where I was able to communicate with the locals just because of Google Translate.
Before heading off on your Trip make sure you download the necessary languages you are going to need at your destination so that you can use Google Translate completely offline.
There are a lot more apps I use for my travel searches, bookings, and preparation but I would say these 5 apps are at the moment my most used ones.
Which app do you not want to miss on your travels? let me know in the comments.