Read all about my favorite apps I use to make traveling easier and straightforward for myself!
Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by any of the apps that I write about.
Travel apps described here include the best navigation app, an Airbnb alternative, the rideshare app available in all inhabited continents, a car rental app, a train booking app, airline apps, tours and activities apps, and a local experiences app/free walking tours and hiking app!
Trainline: Train Booking
Trainline is an easy-to-use app that allows you to book train tickets, anywhere! While on a cruise, I used Trainline to book train tickets to get from my cruise port to Florence, which I mentioned in my 1-day in Florence itinerary. The cruise ship docked in Livorno, which I learned is not far from both Pisa and Florence.
When searching online to book train tickets, I discovered a website called “Trainline” that makes it easy to book tickets anywhere in the world. At first, I thought this website would be fraudulent, but I knew there was only one way to find out, so I booked tickets on Trainline to between Livorno and Florence.
Trainline is not fraudulent. My brother and I were able to buy tickets for cheap, which we used on Trenitalia, Italy’s primary train operator. Using the app was straightforward: after you enter the start and end stations, the app gives you results that list what time every train comes to your station and arrives at your destination station, the train operator (i.e., Trenitalia), and how long the train ride will take, including if the ride is direct or includes stops.
As you are on your train, you can look at the app to see direct updates on the app as the train comes to each stop on the route, letting you know if you will arrive at your destination early, on time, or late, which is a nice plus. You can also book bus tickets (called “coach” tickets in Europe) in the app if you wish. You will see these results when clicking on the bus icon next to the train icon when looking at the results of your search. I have never booked bus tickets on Trainline, only train tickets.
I highly recommend using Trainline because of its ease of use and the fact that you can find and buy train tickets anywhere in the world you wish to go.
AllTrails: Hiking/Walking/Biking/Camping
AllTrails is an essential app to download for any nature lover! AllTrails is a website and app that allows you to look for hiking trails, running trails and campgrounds anywhere in the world. The AllTrails database has over 450,000 trails across 190 countries, providing maps, photos, and reviews from their global community of users.
AllTrails also lists trails that allow pets, are wheelchair friendly, and even mountain biking trails and road biking trails. The AllTrails app was named the iPhone app of the year in 2023 and is free to download. Unfortunately, I have only heard of AllTrails recently, so I haven’t been able to use it that much, but so far I really enjoy it. For reference, I have never used the app/website to look up campgrounds to stay in, only hiking trails.
Photos of the trail you follow while using the app allow you to make sure you know what to expect and that you are following the trail correctly (if there are no weather changes).
While looking up a trail, AllTrails lists the current weather and the weather for each day of the upcoming week, so you can plan your hike in advance according to weather conditions. They also give you additional information, such as whether a certain trail you are interested in allows pets, if a fee is required, and if the trail is safe for children. AllTrails also has thousands of trails for you to follow while on trips to US national parks, including Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and more! They also list their most popular trails if you are interested in following those more closely to try one day.
Google Maps: Navigation
I have used Google Maps while planning each trip I have taken, and I am not joking. I love this app so much that I have a whole entire post about it right here. I love using Google Maps to look for hotels, restaurants, and even beaches! I like using this app to see where everything is in relation to everything else. For example, I like seeing if the hotel I want to stay at is near a train station, a restaurant, a beach, or the pickup location for a tour I want to go on. The easiest way to do this is to use Google Maps to look up this information.
I have also used Google Maps to look up train routes and trip durations between cities, such as if I want to travel between Rome and Naples in Italy. While looking up train routes, I click on a train route I am interested in and the train operator website opens up in another tab, which makes looking for train tickets much quicker (besides using the Trainline app, of course).
Note: I have learned over time that not all possible routes show up in Google Maps results for train routes, so make sure to use Trainline or Google train routes when traveling by train in order to see all routes and times.
Overall, Google Maps actually helps me learn about more attractions in places I consider visiting, and as the name implies, it makes looking up distances between attractions I want to see straightforward as well.
Viator and GetYourGuide: Tours
Both of these apps allow you to easily book tours and tickets to different landmarks and attractions anywhere in the world. If you didn’t know, Viator is a company owned by TripAdvisor. Both Viator and GetYourGuide are very easy to use and I have used both several times. I check one app first to look for tours I want to go on, and if that app doesn’t have anything that I really like, I check the other one. I actually love these apps so much that I have another post going into detail about them here. I have used Viator in Italy, the UK, Hawaii, and the US and have never been disappointed!
Both apps give you a starting point for where a tour starts, the ending point, different locations where the guide can pick you up and an itinerary for what you will do on your tour. Of course, both apps offer reviews and photos by those who have gone on tours and you can also reserve and pay later if you do not want to pay for a tour right away.
You can also make wishlists on both apps to save tours that you are interested in doing one day. Both apps also offer rewards! 24 hours after you book tours with Viator, your Viator Rewards will become available in your account. You can use these rewards towards future tour bookings. The more you use Viator to book tours, the more money you can save when booking future tours. Your rewards will be available to redeem for 180 days from the available date and the expiration date is listed for you.
When using GetYourGuide, you can earn points, cash back, or miles by booking tours and activities. For example, with Radisson Rewards, you can earn 20 points for every dollar spent. Norwegian (airline) Reward members can earn 5% CashPoints. Miles & More members earn miles on every euro spent. Furthermore, some programs offer discounts or other perks for more frequent travelers. You can save 10% on your first travel experience by entering your email address on the website/app and getting an exclusive discount code in your inbox.
Both of these apps make it super easy to book tours while on a trip, and the fact that you can earn rewards, cash back, and more makes using these apps a no-brainer.
Uber: Ridesharing
Of course, you have already heard of the Uber app, but I still wanted to add it to my list because of how valuable it can be. Uber is available in many countries, unlike Lyft, another popular rideshare app. Uber is available in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, several European countries (including the UK, Ireland, Greece, Italy, France, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland), Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America. Click here to see the list of countries where Uber is available.
Besides the fact that Uber is available everywhere, prices for rides are fixed. This is important because taxi drivers recognize when tourists want to use their services and will often make the trip longer to make you pay more money. This happens often in the UK, where the taxis are black. With Uber, this isn’t going to happen. When my brother and I used a taxi in Florence, Italy, the driver told us they don’t use meters so their prices were fixed, like Uber. In this case, we were okay with taking a taxi.
Finally, what makes Uber valuable is the fact that it can save you money on renting a car. Of course, deciding whether or not to rent a car is up to you, but I think only certain vacation destinations require car rentals. For example, when visiting major cities like San Francisco, New York, London, Rome, or Los Angeles, it’s more reasonable to use Uber (or public transportation) to get around than rent a car.
However, if you visit Oahu, Hawaii, it might be more convenient to rent a car and drive wherever you want whenever you want, especially if where you are staying has a kitchen (such as a Vrbo and Airbnb) and you have to go grocery shopping.
If you think it makes more sense to rent a car for your next vacation, I have an app that I think makes it very easy to rent a car where you are staying.
Turo: Car Rentals
Turo is the app to use to rent a car wherever you are going on a trip. It is the world’s largest car rental marketplace, allowing you to skip the whole waiting-in-line-at-the-car-rental-counter situation! According to Turo’s website, they offer over 1500 unique makes and models of cars to choose from and you get the exact car you choose, rather than receiving one type of car or a “similar” type of car from car rental companies.
Using the Turo app, you can browse cars to choose from and can also read reviews from past renters. You choose the car you want to rent and arrange to pick it up from the host. Pick-up locations include many airports, train stations, and hotels. You (the renter) receive pickup and drop-off instructions from your host once you book the car rental and check in, check out, and chat with your host through the Turo app. You upload your driver’s license on the app or show it to your host in person.
Additionally, Turo states that when picking up and dropping off your car, you can choose from these options:
- Your host meets you at your chosen pickup location and hands you the keys.
- Your host sends you a lockbox code, then you unlock the box to get the key.
- Your host unlocks the car remotely with their car manufacturer’s app.
If you have questions, you can easily chat with your host on the app or contact support.
Unfortunately, renting a car using Turo is not available all around the world; you are allowed to rent a car only in the US, the UK, Australia, France, and Canada. Turo states that when you rent a you can drive anywhere within the country where your trip originated; hosts can’t place restrictions on driving across state lines or borders between provinces, such as in Canada.
However, Turo does have restrictions in place for travel across country borders. For example, you can drive your rental car booked in Canada or US across the US and Canadian border, but not across the US-Mexico border. Linked here are the full details about crossing country borders using a car rented through Turo.
Turo makes car rental so effortless that after renting a car through Turo, you probably won’t want to rent a car the “usual” way again.
Vrbo: The Airbnb Alternative
You have probably heard of Airbnb, but maybe not Vrbo. I have heard that people try to look for vacation rentals but not through Airbnb, and Vrbo is a good alternative. Vrbo is just like Airbnb: you rent someone’s property on your vacation, and it’s a lot cheaper than what a hotel would charge you, not to mention you have a lot more space than just a hotel room. Vrbo lets you rent properties in different cities all over the world and lets you choose between houses, apartments, condos, villas, and even cabins and cottages. I have had great success with Vrbo! I have stayed at Vrbo rentals in California, Hawaii, and Florida and have had no issues.
On Vrbo’s app, you can filter your results to include how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want, if you want a full kitchen, if you want a washer and dryer, if you want a dining room, and so much more. You can also sort your results however you like (i.e., recommended, price lowest to highest, etc).
Finding a property to rent is easy, and I hope you consider renting a property through Vrbo for your next trip if you haven’t used it before. With a large selection of options to choose from in any city, you won’t be disappointed!
Airline App
I actually have four airline apps: JetBlue, Delta, United, and Southwest. This seems like a lot, but I have traveled using these airlines the most, so for me, having these airline apps is worth it. I recommend downloading the app of whatever airline you use the most frequently. Downloading an airline app is beneficial because when you log in to the app, all of your flight information is already there. For example, your flight confirmation number, your flight number, the gate you have to report to, and other information is already in the app so you don’t have to look it up on the airline website.
Checking in to your flight and tracking your flight is also available to do in the airline’s app. Having the app also makes searching for flights, booking your flight, and tracking your flight so much easier than having to enter all of this information on the airline’s website and re-enter it at another time, like if you forgot your flight number and want to check it again, for example.
Some additional information, such as which baggage carousel your bags are going to be at, is also available in the airline app, which I find very convenient. This is because sometimes flight attendants do not know right away which baggage carousel the passenger’s bags are at so they won’t be able to tell the passengers when the plane lands. This also means you won’t have to walk around the airport looking for a large screen that has the baggage carousel information after you land.
I recommend you download the app for whatever airline you use the most to make all of the flight information I mentioned above easier to access and keep track of! Having my airline apps makes my life easier before and after a flight. I have never regretted downloading any of my airline apps!