The 6 Best Travel iPhone Apps

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There are hundreds of thousands of iPhone apps at the iTunes store, and a fraction of those are travel applications designed to appeal to travelers of all ages and types. No matter where you are in the world – an iPhone travel app can help you have more fun and discover more about the city or country you are visiting. Which apps are the most useful though, and which are really worth your time?

AroundMe is an app that gathers GPS information from your exact location, then tells you where nearby locations are. This is extremely useful if you are lost in a huge city, or on a desolate road to nowhere in Australia. AroundMe can pinpoint locations and directions for banks, gas stations, restaurants, stores, and more.

Gate Maps is an app that doesn’t sound terribly impressive, but it works well if you are in a massive airpoirt in a foreign country. This app minimizes frustration and confusion by helping you catch your flight on time without soaking your clothes with sweat.

HearPlanet is an ingenious money saver when museum hopping. It costs $5.99 from the iPhone app store, but it reads Wikipedia descriptions to you! If you walk by a historical street – and it has a Wikipedia article – it will read everything there is to know about it directly to you. So how does it save money? You never need to pay for a tour guide again. There are plenty of other self guided tour apps for the iPhone, but this one is the by far one of the best!

Say Where is another great app, that is absolutely free. You simply tell the phone where you need to be and it helps you get there. This is extremely useful for big city traveling especially if you are on foot or bike. You can switch to an input mode if the area is too loud for the iPhone to understand your babble.

LingoLook Flashcards is different from other iPhone apps. This innovative application doesn’t require an internet connection! It is used to help you communicate in a foreign country so you know what you are eating, or what disasters you may be getting yourself into. It can say the phrase out loud to the person you are talking to so you don’t embarrass yourself. However, most people seem to think it’s amusing to have a cell phone talk to the waiter or store owner instead.

Sit or Squat is the kind of app you might laugh at initially, but it’s actually really useful when traveling abroad or in your own home state or country. Basically, it tells you where you can find free bathrooms. In addition there are user reviews of those bathrooms so you know if they are clean or filthy. This app is a great way to beat catching a weird disease from a toilet seat! Oh, and it’s free too.
These 6 apps don’t cover all of the great travel apps out there, but they are a marvelous way to navigate in a place you have never been and are either cheap or free!