My Favorite Apps for Traveling

Traveling is stressful, and studying abroad is even more stressful. You have so many questions, a million itineraries to keep track of, and several different currencies clinking around in your pocket. This really isn’t the time you want to be weighed down with any extra baggage like guide books or brochures.

Luckily, all you need when you travel is your phone. As long as you’ve got a WiFi connection (and even if you don’t!) your phone will save you from all your travel woes. Here are some of my favorite apps that I used while studying abroad and ones I still use while traveling.

1. Currency Converter (I used GlobeConvert from the Apple store, it’s free). Even if you are staying in Europe, there are still several countries that do not use the Euro. I had to change currency when I visited Prague, London, Oslo, and Stockholm. The map below will tell you which countries use the Euro and the which ones still use their original currency. This app doesn’t require WiFi, and can change to pretty much any currency you need.

   

2. Airline apps. I pretty much only used the train when traveling within the Netherlands- flying is so cheap and easy in Europe. It can get confusing when you have several different trips planned on different airlines with different itineraries. I had the apps for KLM, RyanAir, EasyJet (my personal favorite!!) and Transavia on my phone. Most of them allow you to have your boarding pass on your phone! 
3. Google Translate. The best part about this app is that it lets you take a photo of text and it will translate it for you. I used this many times in my kitchen trying to read instructions or ingredients on Dutch products!
4. City Maps to Go. This app SAVED us so many times. You can search for certain spots like restaurants, tourist sites, museums, etc. when you have WiFi, star them, and then go back and find them later, even without a signal. Every week before a trip we would star a few spots on our City Maps, and then use it to find our way and remember what we wanted to see while we were visiting a city. It is super convenient and so helpful. 

There are probably a million apps that can be used for traveling, but these were the most useful to me! What are some of your favorite apps for traveling or studying abroad?