Nearly every traveler nowadays uses some app, at least a couple, while on the road or from one airport or train station to another – from Waze to Uber, from Gett to Google Maps, from Airbnb to Couchsurfing. But there are hundreds of apps coming up to solve travelers’ needs from searching for local tips to cultural insights, and here I share 10 apps and websites that have been useful for my trips around 26 countries until now. It’s not about the next big thing, it’s how they can be useful before, during, and after your trip. So here I list apps and websites offering solutions for travel tips search, cultural insights, transportation, and visa application.
Tiplr
I’m suspect to comment about Tiplr since I’m part of its team. Anyway, it aims to be a pocket travel guide and now gathers more than 7,000 travel tips about places all over the world, shared by travelers, tourism organizations, and travel writers. Some of the highlights are the pages for NYC, Paris, London, and Italy. Available on the website as well as on the app for iOS and Android.
iVisa
iVisa offers a practical solution for dealing with painstaking visa applications, so as to solutions such as photos, passports, and other travel documents from over 180 countries with representatives located around the world. For frequent travelers, they offer the subscription service iVisa Plus for eVisas, Health Declarations, and Embassy Registrations. Another interesting option is the possibility of taking passport photos online using their platform and their app.
CultureMee
While most of travel apps and websites focus on flights, accommodation, tours, and activities, CultureMee distinguishes itself by focusing on cultural intelligence. Its platform brings cultural insights and helps travelers (and business travelers) find information about cultural differences as well as important tips to observe in destinations around the world. Its digital platform brings cultural insights from many destinations around the world.
Yandex Metro
Yandex Metro is an app I have started to use in Russia and it helped me to move easily around the metro stations in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, as it shows instantly the fastest route from any departing station to the one you want to arrive at. This app has been expanding its coverage expanding to more cities in Russia as well as in other countries, including a version in English. Yandex Metro is also useful for cities such as Kyiv, Istanbul, Rome, San Francisco, and more. If you travel to Russia, it’s worth checking the apps of Yandex (the big search engine in Russia) for trains and taxis. Available on the web, Android, and iOS.
Hitchwiki
If you plan to hitchhike somewhere around the world, the website Hitchwiki is really useful to search for spots to hitchhike, detailed information on how to arrive at the spots, and more tips shared by travelers who have taken the mentioned routes. I have used Hitchwiki while backpacking in Central and Eastern Europe, and it helped me a lot, it’s something I recommend.
Izi.Travel
Izi.Travel is designed for travelers who love audio guides so as to those who love to share travel tips by voice, as storytelling about cultural, and heritage attractions, and city tours. You find free audio guides as well as paid guides for cities around the world, such as Barcelona, Berlin, London, Rome, Budapest, Paris, and more. Available on the web, Android, and iOS.
SeeVoov
SeeVoov is perfect for travelers who love to search for inspiration and things to do and plan their trip by consuming video content and tagging videos by image analysis. The travel tips in the form of video allow for visualizing how the destination looks like and having a feeling of the activities during the searching phase. It lists a large variety of cities such as Jerusalem, Kyiv, Belgrade, Lisbon, Moscow, Hanoi, Hong Kong, and more; available in different languages, including English, Spanish, Russian, French, and Mandarin. Currently available on iOS and updates have been posted on Facebook.
Numbeo
Numbeo is an interesting crowd-sourced global database reporting the cost of living of any destination around the world and makes it possible for travelers to compare the prices of basic items and living expenses such as rent, gas, transportation, etc. among different cities. Other relevant statistics related to crime rates, property prices, traffic, and healthcare are also presented in many cities.
Gasbuddy
Gasbuddy is useful for travelers who are driving in the United States, Canada and Australia. It helps to save money on gas and lists thousands of gas stations all over North America. An interesting feature is the Trip Cost Calculator, which allows estimating the costs of your road trip from your location to the destination you want to arrive at. Available on iOS and Android.
BlaBlaCar
BlaBlaCar is a car-sharing app, already known in Europe and gaining traction in Brazil, worth using as an alternative to buses and trains at affordable prices. At places where it’s largely used, you have the flexibility to find a ride according to the most suitable time for you, and even alternative routes, while buses and trains may be limited. By BlaBlaCar, I have taken two-hour road trips as well as trips crossing Germany from north to south.
What’s your favorite travel app? Is there any other website would you recommend? In addition to Tiplr, I keep checking from time to time these apps and websites mentioned above.
Originally posted 2021-11-07 20:04:52.
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