5 travel apps all intrepid adventurers need in their lives

Written by Gavin

17 Jul 2015 • 50 min read

5 travel apps all intrepid adventurers need in their lives

Picture credit: iStock

Back in the good old days, travel accessories used to consist of a sturdy backpack, a pair of decent hiking boots and a map. Today, that’s no longer the case. Yes, these things are still useful out on the open road, but so too are many travel apps that make up the modern traveller’s arsenal. We’ve selected five of the most useful applications available at the moment.

Pack the boots, but don’t forget your charger.

TripAdvisor

An obvious place to start, but has there ever been an app more useful for regular travellers? Find out the best places to eat in town, from the high-end gourmet treats to the little-known family run eateries. Fancy a drink off the beaten track? Consult the app for a cool place to spend the evening. With potentially just one day in any given place, you want to make the most of your time there and that means finding the best possible place to eat, drink and have fun.

On top of food and drink, there’s also a highlight of the best attractions in any given city, plus the reviews from people who have been. With an easy-to-understand five-star rating system, you can get a glimpse of the good stuff when you’re in a rush and check out the comments for a more in-depth view when you’ve time to spare.

If you haven’t ever used it, you really should give it a go before your next big trip.

Google Translate

Because no matter how many phrases you learn in Thai, there will be a point when the words for “please, no more buckets” escapes you.

On top of a regular translate mode, complete with phonetic guide, the newest version of this helpful app includes ‘Conversation Mode’; a really useful piece of kit. Simply hold up to two people having a conversation in another language and the app will tell you what they are saying. It’s excellent for those times when frantic gesturing and pointing just aren’t enough.

If you are planning a big end of year trip and you really want to learn a little language, try Duolingo as well.

TravelSafe Pro

One for the more cautious travellers, TravelSafe Pro contains the emergency numbers for almost every country on the planet – or at least the ones you’d want to visit on holiday.

As well as numbers for police, fire, ambulance and emergency medical assistance, the app also contains numbers for your embassy within a country, in case your passport is lost or stolen.

Available on Android, the app only costs 99p, which is nothing when you consider how important it could prove to be.

WiFi Finder

Even the most intrepid modern travellers still need a good internet connection every once in a while. WiFi Finder helps you avoid excessive roaming charges for those times when you need to transfer money to your travel card or when you absolutely must update your Facebook status in order to induce envy among your friends at home.

Download it for free on all major smartphones and use the offline mode to avoid further charges. Just fire up the app and follow the directions to that sweet, sweet internet.

Dropbox

Snap happy travellers might want to invest in this handy cloud storage app to keep the holiday pics safe and secure. There’s a free initial service of 2GB, or you can pay a monthly fee to ensure you have maximum capacity – it really depends on how many pictures you intend to take on your trip.

★★★★★

We have dealt with Chris at eShores for over two years now and we keep going back to him as he consistantly delivers. We have been to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, The Gambia & Colombia every time we have been happy with the quality or service and communications. We have also recommended eShores (Chris in…

Daniel

★★★★★

Absolutely love eshores just booked my 3rd holiday for September...Matt who deals with all my holidays is absolutely a great guy he looks for the greatest deals for you and always helps you with your itinerary on the phone even if I call eshore all staff are all lovely and helpful. 5 stars *****

Paul

★★★★★

Anna was so helpful in helping us sort out our Thailand trip. We ended up getting it cheaper than expected and also for longer taking in Kuala Lumpur. Highly recommend them.

Nicholas Paul

★★★★★

Chris helped us plan our honeymoon to the Caribbean. We’ve never been to the Carribean before but Chris was really knowledgable of the different areas & resorts and helped us decide on what islands to visit. He also found us a great hotel & arranged all flights / transfers. Overall a really great expedience and…

Cole Thomas

★★★★★

Such a great experience booking with Claire at eshores. Clair spent ages helping us create the perfect city break. It made the whole thing so much easier to do as all parts of the travel and hotels were sorted out for me. Great service.

Glenys

★★★★★

Our contact and handler for our Thialand itinerary Michelle is very knowledgeable and give id sound advice on our trip and itineraries. She went above and beyond to get what we wanted. We just have to wait for November now to enjoy it. Highly recommend and very reasonable price for what we are having.

Colin Joseph

★★★★★

Booked a trip to Indonesia with e shore . Super helpful and knowledgable . Couldn’t ask for more , after care superb . Thanks a million .

Martin John

★★★★★

Great service , quick and efficient and also very accommodating.

Steven

★★★★★

Brilliant service from Andy, sorted us out a holiday to Bali at a great price, made everything so straightforward & can’t wait to go now !! Really impressed - cheers Andy !!

Simon

★★★★★

This company was recommended to us by a family member who had used its services about five or six years ago so as we were planning to go to Malaysia next year and we had never travelled to Asia decided to contact them. We were served by Senior Travel Consultant Chris Eaves who discussed our…

Ian Webster

★★★★★

Nick was fantastic! I explained what I wanted to do and he quickly gave me a range of options. He completely understood what I was looking for and sorted it out quickly and efficiently. Great service.

Diana

★★★★★

Booked a trip to Japan last year, and just booked a return with them. So clearly we were happy with their service. Emma is excellent at planning and arranging.

David

★★★★★

Emma found everything we needed for our tour of Italy

Andrew

★★★★★

Was very impressed with Eshores booking my recent holiday , communication was great, no pushiness into booking and making decisions, was helpful in changing things around until the trip was just right , would certainly use again …

Lorraine Maureen

★★★★★

Excellent and knowledgeable service!

Philip

★★★★★

Andy provided a great itinerary for our planned trip to Thailand . Very accomomdating in ensuring our budgets and required destinations were met . We have used Andy 3 times now and have been very happy with the service and the holidays that we have enjoyed . Will use again /

Nicholas

★★★★★

This is the second holiday booked with you and Chris has an enormous amount of information and so helpful in selecting the right itinerary for our needs giving us confidence in our choice. Looking forward to our trip to Bangkok Loas and Hanoi

Susan

★★★★★

Once again 5* brilliance

Deborah

★★★★★

I spoke with Matt, who was amazing. I told him what I was looking for, and he sent me the quote which was exactly what I had in mind. The booking process was very straightforward and the service so far has been excellent.

Zoe

★★★★★

Kadie at eShores is really helpful and responds to enquiries really quickly. We used them for a trip to Turkey in 2025, all tranfers went smoothly and the chosen hotels were lovely and of good value. I defintely recomend them

Frances

5 travel apps all intrepid adventurers need in their lives

Table of contents