An Apping We Will Go

Apps. Tools of the travel trade. I have no idea how people traveled back in the day, but I would have been lost, literally, without my apps. This blog is going to enlighten and amaze you (ok that's a stretch) with the apps I use(d) to plan and then travel around the world.

Google; I realize this is not an app however it is the number one tool when planning a trip and a must for finding the perfect app for your purposes.

Rome2Rio: my go-to app to figure out how to get from point A to point B in one fell swoop. I LOVE this app. To use it just put in from where to where and it will spit out every option available. The plane, train, bus, ferry, donkey, or a combination of all of the above to take you to that dream location. For example; let's say I want to go from Athens to Pompeii. Once I input that information it will spit out several options. Plane; x amount of hours and an approximate cost. Car; x amount of hours, route, and the approximate cost. Train, bus, ferry. Which is what I did. It'll tell you bus B to train station A then train Z to Ferry port D. It will include times plus bus and train numbers when available. Now that you have all the viable information you can choose a mode of transportation and start looking into which bus system, ferry, and rail companies you'll be utilizing, and from that info, you'll put your travel itinerary together for that leg of your journey; piecing together connection times between the differing modes. Or of course, you can just catch a plane or drive but of course, I never do anything the easy way.

Hopper; I guess it's unnecessary to say after each app listed "Man I love this app!" So I guess I won't but, man I love this app! Plane travel made easy peasy. Again, enter departure, destination, and date and it will give you a month-type calendar that has a color-coded schematic where you can see and then choose the less expensive flying dates that work for you. It gives you a comprehensive list of airlines with prices from lowest to highest and includes flight times etc. It also gives you predictions as to what the prices might do on that flight in the future. And, my favorite feature, once you input the flight info you can ask Hopper to "watch this flight " It will now watch the flight for price increases and decreases and notify you of any changes. Including letting you know to buy now!  Now, you can, for 5 bucks, book right through Hopper and it will give you a confirmation number for their site as well as one from the airline. If you're making a lot of bookings, as I did while circumnavigating the globe, then booking through Hopper gives you a place to keep all your flight info in one concise place that's easily accessible.

HostelWorld and Booking.com I use both of these apps in unison with one another to find the cheapest available accommodations. And yes Booking.com does include hostels. Just put in the filter "priced lowest to highest" and it will list hostels first. The most important aspect of these apps is the reviews and location maps. Make sure you utilize these features. Definitely make sure you ALWAYS check the location of your accommodations with where you want to be and things you want to see and do. I didn't happen to book a place called Dingle Gate but, I could easily have and then missed the fact that the name indicated it was in or on the edge of town. In reality, it was actually 20 miles outside of Dingle. Imagine your dismay when you're traveling on foot and your accommodations are in the middle of literally nowhere. Now, once you find a place you like you can book through either site. I lean towards

booking.com as I use it so much that I often get extra benefits. However, you can also use these apps to find accommodations and then book directly with the establishment. Often you can get better deals this way. Or you can find rooms that aren't listed on the site. If Booking.com shows a certain type of room is not available on their site then email the establishment and deal directly with them; 9 times out of 10 they have what you need and often on the cheap. Now on to the all-important reviews. Cross-referencing reviews brings into play another app I use on the regular,

TripAdvisor; TripAdvisor has many different uses and you can research and get opinions about everything under the sun on this app. But I use it almost exclusively to cross-reference reviews for my accommodations. I cannot stress enough to you, my fellow traveler, research and then triple-check the reviews that come along with hostel, hotel, or B&B'. Different things are important to different people. So pick and choose the places that highlight the things most important to you.

Eurail App; This is a must, must, must for Eurail pass holders and, to be honest for non-passable holders who will be traveling with the rail system in Europe. This is one of the most comprehensive travel apps in existence. So simple to use and incredibly accurate. I'll be doing a Eurail travel blog at some point but just a quick word of advice; pay attention to the concise list of travel times, changeovers, and connection times. Also, if your going to a non-major destination town be sure to know where the train's final destination is as a comprehensive list of all the towns along the route will not be on the board at the station. You must know the final destination of the line your destination is on.

Google Maps; This is a no-brainer. I use it extensively to find my way; mostly using it for walking directions from the bus or train station to my accommodations. But of course, if you're going by car it's THE travel tool for you. The offline map mode is great as well if you're like me and don't have international cell/ internet service.

Honorable mentions. Of course, I have tons of apps that I use while traveling; some of my other personal favorites are Amazon Kindle, for reading on those long train or bus rides, CNN to keep up on the news back home, and of course my Amazon Prime for downloadable offline music.

Please feel free to ask any questions about any of these apps or my opinion on the apps you are considering. Hope this helps you plan an amazing adventure!!