Traveling the world has become so easy with all the technology and transport choices available now. It has certainly served to make the world an even smaller place. Mobile phones are now a must-have device for travelling. Not only are they easier for keeping in touch—let’s face it, foreign payphones can be very confusing—but they are also cheaper, now that European Union regulations have demanded that phone companies cut the costs for users.
So, whether you are flying to Paris for the weekend or taking advantage of all the ski deals Bulgaria has to offer, you have travel applications at the touch of your fingertips.
iPhone Apps
iPhone—by Apple—has enough travel apps to please even the most picky user. Not only can you download a currency converter but you can also obtain a map of the Paris Subway network to help you stay in the know about the rail system. If you decide you want to travel down to Spain for a while but don’t speak the language, don’t worry! With the “Lonely Planet Spanish Phrasebook” you can translate your requests from your iPhone instantly. There is also a similar app called ‘Travel Interpreter’ for iPhones, which translate many languages.
Have your travel itinerary right at your finger-tips with TripIt—the travel organizer that lets you plan your vacation by the day, the hour or the week. It will document everything you need to do, places you need to go or restaurants you intend to try. If you end up and an airport and can’t decide where to head off to, you can try the Live Flight Status Tracker. It tracks all departures and arrivals from over 5000 world airports, letting you keep in constant contact with any flight information you need. Check delays, scheduled arrivals and departures, charter flights and private flights.
So, there you are, sunning yourself on an Aegean beach when you decide that it’s time to send postcards. Well, there’s no need to find the local post office now. What you can do is download ‘Postman’—an app which lets you snap your own photo and send it to either one contact or multiple contacts from your iPhone. Clever, eh? An you don’t even have to spend money on a stamp or get up from your sun lounger.
Apps for Windows Phones
Never get lost in Europe or anywhere in the world with Google Maps for Windows Phones. Google Map allows you to get directions from location A to location B and offers both the quick route and the short route. Simply out in the locations and click ‘get directions’ and your route map appears in moments, saving the trouble of buying large paper maps.
Magic Guide Book lets you find the nearest restaurant of your choice. Its ease of use lets you learn about an area without all that extraneous information you get from a written guide book. The sliding menus are slick and easy to follow.
If trains are your preferred method of travel, try Train Times. This application shows a timetable of trains in your locality. It is not as pretty or attractive as some apps but it does what is claims it can do. If you find yourself in a strange town with nowhere to go, get to grips with Aloqa. This clever little apps runs on a location awareness base, which tells you the nearest club, pub, restaurant or theater/cinema to the locality you are in.
If you find yourself somewhere you can’t get internet access on your phone, try xMaps. This can be easily used as an offline maps app that you can use to locate your area. One downside to it is that you might need a stylus because it’s based more on previous generation style software, so doesn’t have the up-to-date facilities that some apps have.
Weatherwatch is another useful little application for Windows Phones. When planning your trip, you would be well advised to make sure the weather is not going to let you down. Get lives updates and forecasts from your chosen city location.
Tube Map from Windows lets you view tube and subway maps from most of the world’s major cities. Simply input your city and the tube or subway map will give you the entire map of the system. Fully labeled with all functionality, this is a really useful little tube guide for those travelling around Europe.
Travel apps image courtesy © Maksym Dykha – Fotolia.com
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I'd be more or less lost without my iPhone at home, let alone abroad. Apart from the Tube Map app, I don't think I have any that are specific to Europe but I do have a couple that are really useful.
The first is the Help Call app. Fortunately, I've never had to use it and I hope I never have to. I see it as one of those things that it's best to have available and not need than to need it desperately and not have it available to you. What it does is bring together the emergency service numbers for the country you're staying in, plus the number of a friend you've picked and lets you put in a quick call to whichever one you need.
The other one is the SilverDoor app. They specialise in serviced apartments London but they're also pretty good at finding you a place to stay when you've been daft enough to check out of your hotel during a BA strike. And yes, I'm speaking from experience....