15 essential travel apps

for control over banking, maps, accommodation and activities while abroad

Romantics may fawn over the long-lost times of travel led by expanding maps, 7lb guidebooks and just hoping you haven’t missed the last bus. However, I’m technically Gen Z and therefore have sworn devotion to the conveniences of the latest technology.

I won’t set foot on an aeroplane without my trusted array of mobile applications which cover all of the holiday bases: flights, accommodation, transport, navigation, banking/currency and activities.

If you’re big into travel then I imagine you’ll have come across many of these before but there may be one or two newbies which’ll come in handy on your next adventure.

disclaimer: I have no affiliation to any of these applications, all opinions are 100% own

flights 🛫

skyscanner - For any trip, my first port of call is checking Skyscanner and Google Flights to get a sense of costs and the best days to fly for my trip. If I’m not limited by specific dates I’ll always opt for the cheapest flight days and times to keep costs down. I would recommend looking at alternative airports, eg - flights to Pisa are often significantly cheaper than Florence, and it’s only a short train ride away!

hack: If you’re open to exploring new destinations, choose ‘explore everywhere’ to find the best deals!

hopper - Christianne of Backpacking Bananas shared this app a while back and it came in incredibly useful on my asia backpacking trip. Hopper allows you to research flights, like Skyscanner and Google Flights, but then will also track and predict price changes for you! For instance, my family and I are visiting Mexico for Christmas this year, and I’ve been tracking the best non-stop flights from London to Cancun via hopper. The app tells me prices are currently high so not to buy yet, instead that they will likely decrease until November when they will steadily rise once again.

accommodation 🏡

booking.com - I worship at the altar of booking.com — they offer the clearest and best prices for hotels. I’ve often researched hostels and hotels on other platforms such as Hostelworld before booking with the best price on the former. Over time you accrue points on their loyalty programme and climb through their Genius levels, gaining discounted stays, free breakfasts, free room upgrades and so on. These are great, I got a free room upgrade and saved £50 in a gorgeous resort in Koh Samui, Thailand.

airbnb - I’m cautiously a fan of Airbnb, however, am aware of how entire rental properties can have detrimental impacts on local rental markets and don’t offer many of the perks of hotels. For instance, you may rent from an unreliable host. I’ve heard scenarios of tourists being locked out of their apartments, and feeling unsafe due to security issues. However, private rentals offer a personal touch and uniqueness that you rarely get in hotels, especially on the budget end. They are particularly great for large group or family holidays. The best Airbnb I stayed in was on the outskirts of Ljubljana, Slovenia. It was a loft-style studio in a converted factory and came with a sauna!

hostelworld - As aforementioned, I will frequently use Hostelworld to scope out the best-shared accommodation options in a destination. Sometimes they have good offers, but on the whole, I find their app clunky. There is a feature which automatically adds you to a group chat for the hostel you’re staying at which I HATE. Bro, I don’t want a million messages from strangers.

transport & maps 🗺️

citymapper - offering downloadable maps for heaps of destinations, citymapper is an OG travel essential. It provides live route options, showing you down to the minute how long it will be until the next tube, tram or train will be. They don’t cover the whole world, but the majority of Europe’s major cities plus a handful across the US, Canada and Asia.

google maps - This one covers a multitude of categories: navigation, public transport and pins. I mainly use it to save want to go’s before my trip, then turn those into curated lists of restaurants and activity recommendations for each place I visit. I may start sharing some of my favourite google maps guides such as Bangkok, Hanoi, London and NYC if people would be interested. The only downside is the app relies on wifi for optimum use.

maps.me - This is a safety net while travelling! You can download maps providing you with totally offline access.

hack: if you load the city or destination you are headed to while connected to wifi before your flight, the gps will still work and allow for limited navigation on arrival.

12go asia - For booking coaches, trains and tranfers across all of Southeast Asia.

grab or uber - Depending on where you are in the world, you’ll want to have the local mobile order transport provider on hand.