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.
Why choose eShores?
One to One Service
Our experienced personal travel consultants will ensure you find the most suitable holiday, whilst taking care of every last detail. Everything from start to finish will be effortless.
100% Tailor Made
We can use any hotel, in any destination, so we will craft an itinerary to suit your exact needs. Also, as we can provide any itinerary, the only holiday we'll offer, is the one that's right for you.
Fully Protected
Our ATOL bonding provides you with the financial protection you need and as a member of the Travel Trust Association, you'll have 100% financial protection. Covering you for any eventuality.
Competitive Pricing
As a tour operator & travel agent, we'll search the market to ensure that we find you the best price. Also as an online business, we can ensure our prices are as competitive as possible.
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AlisonFletcher
Brilliant trip organised by Dave, included Helsinki, Tallin, Vilnius and Riga. (4 different countries) Everything ran smoothly. Dave organised hotels, flights, taxis, ferry and coach. Have used this company a few times and can't recommend highly enough they are fab 😀
Posted 2 days ago -
Sandra
As always, Chris was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He gave me good advice on my travel plans and booked the holiday on my behalf. I've used eshores a number of times, and will continue to do so.
Posted 5 days ago -
Harrison
We haven’t been on our trip yet but based purely on the experience of booking the trip we are pleased with the result. It started with a bit of a hiccup as we spoke to a member of staff who never came back to us but when we reached back out again we were placed in the hands of Andy who has helped us book a 2 week trip to India including the golden triangle and then a few days on the beach. Andy was very patient with us with our changes to our tailor made holiday, even when we asked him to explore different areas only to revert back to the original plan. He also recommended moving the holiday back one week which created a saving of over £700 which meant we could upgrade the room for our beach stay in Goa. Andy was also available on weekends if we wanted to speak and regularly picked up the phone as opposed to keeping it to purely email dialogue. Hopefully the holiday will be amazing but based on the booking experience I would recommend eShores if you’re looking to book a tailor made holiday
Posted 5 days ago -
Wendy
I spoke to Lynette who was extremely helpful in understanding the trip that myself and my sister in law wanted from Thailand. Myself and my sister in law are both 72years young and we are really looking forward to our trip.
Posted 6 days ago -
Dawn
Excellent service from Matt at eShores. So very helpful and nothing was too much trouble. I booked Mya holiday after all his hard work finding me the perfect holiday that I wanted. Superb service and not pushy all all.
Posted 1 week ago -
Amrik
We have booked two big holidays this year for a group of 8 and a group of 10, Rachel has coordinated our holidays with the utmost excellence, during the consultation we changed countires hotels and even flights but it did not phase Rachel one bit. Exceeds customer expectations by helping advising and supporting throughout the holiday. We are off to Thailand and Dubai in August and then followed by India and Thailand in November, I have rang emailed Rachel many times during the booking and I got very prompt responses even on her days off. Rachel is a credit to EShores and EShores is setting standards regarding customer focus.
Posted 1 week ago -
IainWilliam
I can’t praise Lynette at EShores enough. She has organised my trips perfectly to the point that I wouldn’t use anyone else. She listens to what I want or to the problem I have and comes up with a solution. Nothing is too much trouble. Try them out yourselves and I bet you become a repeater too!
Posted 1 week ago -
Kevin
At short notice, I needed a quote to travel through the USA (July the 20th) I emailed eShores with an idea of what I wanted to do, within a short period of time I had a response from Matthew, After several amendments to my holiday which wasn't any trouble to Matthew, Holiday all booked, now looking forward to travelling through the USA Have to say, the service I had through eShores was fantastic, well done Matthew for working through the changes,
Posted 1 week ago -
Marcus
Dealt with Adam who was great, I went back and forth many times, nothing was a problem for him. We got there in the end and Adam arranged a 3 place holiday to Malaysia and Singapore. We go on 5th August, will if update review when we return. EShores so far brilliant hats of to Adam.
Posted 1 week ago -
Jill
We as a family used eShores last year to go to USA, and they were brilliant, my husband and 1 are going to Italy with them this September and we have just booked again to go back to USA with them next May, very efficient and Matt is lovely to deal with
Posted 1 week ago