Travel is an activity that we can enjoy year-round. However, from retirees to people observing their gap year, an extended vacation is a great way for many individuals to find out more about themselves. The ability to be exposed to various situations can allow you to see how large the world is. The iPhone is at your fingertips to help you make these discoveries easier. From communication to finding out new hotspots in the area, there are tons of applications available to help. Check out some of our favourites and download them today!
Planning the Trip
Itinerary – I was attracted to this application because of its UI, but the features made me stick around for the long run. Itinerary allows you to organize your trip by adding places you want to visit while there. You can also add notes and geo-tag them as a way of remembering important information. The application is simple, but makes the trip memorable.
Flight Track Pro – One of my favourite applications available on the App Store. Flight Track Pro turns an airline confirmation email into useful information that can help you well past your departure date. The application keeps you updated through notifications toward the start of your flight about any important information. The UI is easy to use and is ideal for both domestic and international trips.
Tripit – Tripit is your very own personal trip planner in your iPhone. The application only needs the information from your confirmation email, from there the planner organizes and makes your trip enjoyable without headaches. While the application is free, frequent travelers will find Tripit Pro to be a great 49/year investment.
Flight Status – Flight Status is mainly Kayak.com in your pocket. The application allows you to find, track, and save on flights from various airlines. However, one thing that distinguishes this as a trip planner is the ability to also get gate, baggage, and flight information in a snap. Plus, you have fast access to your hotel, car, and contact information in one place.
Speak Like the Locals
Word Lens – This is the perfect application that allows you to read anything in the city that you are in. All you have to do is hold your iPhone up to the printed sign, the iPhone will do the rest. At the moment, you can only translate Spanish signs, however more languages are expected to be added. The application is free to download, however $10 for Spanish to English and vice versa.
Learn a Language with Michel Thomas – Learn a Language with Michel Thomas is like having a professional language tutor in your pocket. According to his method, you can become conversational in no time. The application uses mainly audio and each language package can be purchased as you need them. All lessons of Spanish, for example, are a total of $15. While this is expensive for an application, it’s a bargain when compared to other methods.
Talking French Phrasebook – A good phrasebook application is essential for tech savvy travelers everywhere. While we chose French for this list, there are a ton of other languages available from the developer. From German to Greek, Spanish to Portuguese, there’s a phrasebook for you. You get the text and audio for hundreds of words over tens of hundreds of topics. This allows you to never be in a sticky situation in a foreign country.
iStart Spanish! – While this isn’t the application you’d use when needing a quick reference, it is the perfect application for getting a good grasp on the language before you leave. iStart Spanish! allows you to have your own personal Spanish tutor in your iPhone. Learn Spanish through study of grammar, dialogues, and vocabulary in a snap. This allows you to not only speak, but know what you are speaking.
Places to Eat
Yelp – It seems like everyone knows about Yelp these days. Now, the popular website is available in your iPhone. Yelp is perfect because you have the ability to see both restaurants and places to go in the city. Plus, Yelp also covers a large variety of international locations as well, from Austria to Hong Kong. This means that there are always recommended places for you to go, anywhere.
Google Places – Google Places recommends places to go according to what Google users are saying. From Restaurants to Post Offices, you’ll feel like a native even if you are thousands of miles away from home. In addition, since it is powered by Google, you also get location recommendations from international locations as well.
AroundMe – You literally have to stand in place and press a button to find out the best places to go in the area. This city guide grabs your information, making location searching easy to do. In addition to restaurants, you can also check out nearby hospitals, taxi services, and more.
WHERE – WHERE allows you to check out locations in your area. Along with attraction searches, you can also check out offers and deals in the area. This makes WHERE a perfect money saver as well. WHERE is also the best application for planning your next hang out day with friends in the area with the ability to get suggestions for places to go.
Find Your Way Around
TomTom – TomTom is considered one of the best navigation brands on the market today. This is no different with the TomTom collection of navigation applications for iPhone. TomTom for iPhone allows you to be able to drive anywhere in the USA, Canada, Brazil, and various countries in Europe. You are assured to have the latest, most accurate route available with constant updates. TomTom allows you to also search for places to go, take calls, and much more.
Google Earth – Google Earth for iPhone is not only a good map, but also a great guide to learning about the background history of various landmarks in the area. With a couple of swipes, you have the ability to check out user-generated photos from Panoramio. In addition, you can get background information from embedded Wikipedia articles for each attraction. Plus, you get the ability to search for restaurants and locations near you.
MotionX GPS Drive – MotionX GPS Drive is the perfect example of how inexpensive applications can also be great quality ones. MotionX is only one dollar, but is the quality of applications worth much more than that. You get up-to-date navigation information with traffic updates. MotionX also reroutes your trip around traffic, getting you to your location in no time. Plus, you have the ability to make phone calls, share your location through email, listen to songs from your iTunes collection, and take advantage of the application’s compass.
Garmin StreetPilot – Garmin StreetPilot provides you with the same quality that you expect from Garmin devices. Garmin StreetPilot gives you with turn-by-turn directions over your cellular network. The application is available for the US, the rest of North America, and the United Kingdom and Ireland.
As you can see, the Apple App Store reveals various applications that can help you with travelling domestically and internationally. From planning to navigation, there’s an application for you available. Now what are you waiting for, get started with planning your next trip today!
Image credit: BigStockPhoto
Ari Simon has been a writer with Make Tech Easier since August 2011. Ari loves anything related to technology and social media. When Ari isn’t working, he enjoys traveling and trying out the latest tech gadget.
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