10 Best iPhone Travel Apps

With the exception of being able to physically fly you to your destination, you iPhone can pretty much fill any travel need pre, post or during flight. From memory-making, to navigation, to language translation, iPhone apps have got you covered. In fact, we’re so confident with our list that we think you could leave your house with only your iPhone in hand and have a successful journey as long as it’s loaded with these apps.

10. WhereTraveler

As an Apple-recommended app, WhereTraveler is like the digital version of some of the best travel books on the market. You’ll get the inside scoop on more than 61 markets from the travelers who’ve “been there, done that.” Both domestic and international locations are covered, giving you the dish on dining, shopping, entertainment, and site seeing. An all-around app, WhereTraveler also doubles as a currency converter, language translator, and tip calculator.

9. Eargenda

If WhereTraveler is the “godfather” of travel apps, consider Eargenda the Mickey Mouse? Why? Maybe because it’s a Disney World planner. Schedule your time in the park down to the minute with access to the weekly entertainment schedule, showtimes, events, as well as a five-day forecast.

8. TripIt

Air travel can be such a hassle, but you can cut through all the drama and the stress by consolidating all your travel information on one, easy-to-use app. Track flight confirmations, car and hotel reservations and reference maps from the app, or upload all information through the online version before you leave the house. Switch it into “airplane mode” once you’ve boarded to familiarize yourself with all your itineraries.

7. JiWire Wi-Fi Finder

Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure you never know when the need for a Wi-Fi connection might pop up. The JiWire Wi-Fi Finder app will populate all the Wi-Fi hot spots in your area. This app comes in especially handy when traveling overseas, especially if you need to locate the confirmation number in your e-mail for a reservation, track down a bus schedule or a restaurant location.

6. Google SMS

It’s probably a cardinal sin to mention Google in an iPhone app article, but here we go. The Google SMS app is like having your own personal concierge. Locate the comforts of home or new and exciting adventures of your vacation destination by searching for everything from local bookstores and coffee shops to the best line-dancing bar or for the only place in town that sells your favorite brand of hand lotion.

5. Pano

Panoramic pictures are awesome… hands down. This new app takes your plain old iPhone vacation snapshots and converts up to 16 images into a panoramic scene. The app’s blending and color-matching algorithm technology creates a seamless image. Images stored directly on your iPhone’s photoroll.

4. Eventful

The best part about the Eventful app is that it’s great for vacation and works just as well in your hometown. Search for local events by location – concerts, shows, etc.  What makes this app unique is that it searches using your phone’s GPS service. The app draws on a database of 130,000 performers and can connect you to nearly 6 million other event goers. Use Eventful also to send e-mal alerts of events based on your interests.

3. Local Eats

Find where the foodies eat in every new town you visit. Based on the book series Where the Locals Eat, the Local Eats, this app searches the country’s top-50 cities for local eateries by category, rank or neighborhood. The list will only include establishments unique to that location and will list restaurants in all price ranges. You’ll even get listings that include descriptions of taste, atmosphere, and service.

2. Lonely Planet Phrasebook

This is the quintessential international traveler book. When you’re gallivanting across the globe there’s no way you’re going to be able to become fluent in every language and every dialect. Lonely Planet’s travel guidebooks have been helping travelers navigate the cities the world over and now it’s in your pocket. You can reference 600 common phrases for every day situations in 17 different languages, including Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Czech, Swahili, and Vietnamese. The app will even break it down into commonsense categories and spells out each phrase phonetically, giving you the option to listen to an audio pronunciation.

1. oMaps

Download maps of the cities you’re traveling to prior to your departure with oMaps to avoid racking up roaming minutes on your phone when you’re out of your local area. Navigate the maps once you touch down without using a 3G or Internet connection. While the maps aren’t as detailed a Google’s, they will be able to direct you to local ATMs, restaurants, and mass transit stations, and you can still pair them with your GPS functionality since that doesn’t require a data connection to operate.

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