Going travelling for the first time is an experience you’ll be both giddily excited and wracked with nerves for. How will you get to your hostel? Find cheap places to eat? What about the language barrier?
These things will be at the forefront of your mind as your flight lands in the whole new world you’ll call home for the next few weeks or months. Luckily, there’s an app to quell all your worries.
Here’s our top picks of the best apps you need to download before you leave the country, so your adventure goes without a hitch.
1. Uber
Always get to where you need to be by hailing an Uber. Uber works in hundreds of cities across the world, spanning Africa, South East Asia, the Middle East, Central America, Europe… Just about everywhere. It’s the essential travel app to get you from A to B cheaply and easily when you can’t work out the public transport system and need to be somewhere fast.
2. Foursquare
The ultimate app for finding entertainment where ever you may be. Find the best places to see, eat, and drink anywhere in the world, complete with ratings and reviews from other visitors. Want to go disco dancing? Foursquare will show you the best nightlife. Need to chill? Check out how people rate the local parks, beaches and amenities. There’s a price rating for everything so you can traverse the city within your budget.
3. HappyCow
The essential travel food app for those who live life sans meat. If you’re veggie or vegan, you might be extra-nervous about gallivanting off around the globe, for fear that your destination does not cater well to your meat-free diet. Fear not – HappyCow is here to show you everywhere you can eat in your proximity. Type in whichever city you’re in or you’re going to and it shows you a list of results.
4. Pangea Money Transfer
If you’re staying and working in a specific country for some time, you’ll need a local bank account. Ensure your mom and dad can send you cash if you get low through pangeamoneytransfer.com. It’s easy, instant, cheap and works in 15 countries – it’s the only money app you need as a traveler.
5. Soulver
Keep track of your budgets with this handy little app. Simply type in any calculation you want to make, and the answer will appear instantly. Everything is recorded for your future reference. For extreme budgeters, jot down everything you spend so you know how much you have left. Instantly divide your remaining cash to work out spending limits for each day. Sorted!
6. Duolingo
Choose from 28 languages to learn through fun mini games, connect with real native speakers across the world to practice your skills, and track your progress compared to friends for a competitive edge. Try it today and learn some lingo before you leave!
7. Google Maps
Getting lost in a foreign country is never fun, and not as simple as when you wandered off from your mom in the supermarket as a kid and a nice worker would track her down for you. Help is at hand, however, with Google Maps – the nice supermarket worker of your travels abroad. As long as you have internet connection it will tell you precisely where you are, and how to get to where you need to be. It’s essential for even the most intrepid travelers – we all get lost sometimes.
8. Skyscanner
Skyscanner is your new best friend for finding the cheapest flights via any route, where ever you want to go. See results for one-way tickets (recommended by frequent and happy-go-lucky travellers as the cheapest and most spontaneous option) or return flights if you know when you have to be home. Tap in the airport you’re flying from and your destination to determine the cheapest tickets from any airline on any day. It even shows you which day is cheapest to travel.
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