Gone are the days of buying yourself a guide book, or popping into a tourist centre on day one to pick up some much needed flyers. Now that most people have a smart phone in their hands, looking for things to do or see on holiday has never been easier. Of course people would have usually toured around TripAdvisor before jumping on to a plane, but once you’re at your holiday destination, there are a number of things that can be aided with a few simple to use apps. We’ve rounded down the top five apps that’ll make travelling on your holidays a much smoother process.
Citymapper
Citymapper is probably by far one of the most useful apps you could use when travelling around on holiday. If you are not going to be hiring a car to get around, Citymapper will give you the most up to date public transport times including trains, tubes, busses and even walking and cycling times between destinations. Citymapper is only live in around 40 cities around the world, so for city breaks this is wonderful. Not so much for your African safari trips though.
VizEat
Consider yourself a bit of a foodie? I am. I love exploring new restaurants away from the usual mainstream chains that you see scattering a city break holiday. VizEat is an app that scours the local area in search for good food. It’s like AirBnB, but rather than someone renting you their home for the weekend, they rent you their culinary skills. They price their meals online so you know what you are getting before turning up to the event. So if you are missing a decent home cooked meal, then VizEat can definitely help with that. The platform boasts a network of hosts who range from home-cooks to ex-food reality TV stars to Le Cordon Bleu trained chefs. Options seem to be endless, and although never used the app myself, it’s certainly one I’m going to take full advantage of on my next holiday.
Tinder
Oh no, we all knew this one was going to turn up somewhere on this list. Tinder is a dating app designed with the intention of users meeting new people, although has earned the perception of consumers using the app for one night hook ups. But quite frankly, it’s one of the most popular apps on the planet, it boasts a user rating of 50 million a month. Not too shabby. So if the whole hook up thing is your cup of tea, or your just in it to meet new people in a different country on an extended business trip, then why not give it a go? There’s a group match up too so grab your squad and create a profile, you never know where the night will end up.
Google Translate
Probably one of the most useful apps out there, and although doesn’t give great direct translations – trust me, I’ve tried talking to friends using this and they just laugh at me – it’ll give the person you are talking to an idea of what you are trying to say. Whether it’s asking a local where to buy bread and milk, or understanding what the announcer had to say on the train regarding delays, Google Translate is very easy to use.
Wiffinity
Do you need WiFi to upload those crucial holiday selfies, then use Wiffinity. The app is made specifically for internet connections. Wiffinity searches the local area for WiFi hotspots. Whether it’s a cafe, restaurant, sports centre or shopping mall, it will give you up-to-date information on connection speeds and distance from you so you can judge for yourself which one you will need for your usage. Of course, you will need your data roaming turned on to use the app, so make sure you’re prepared to come back to some kind of bill increase.
