’Appy days: travel apps to help you

The future is here. It’s now possible to get to your travel destination, point your smartphone at the view and get it to give you the lowdown on what you are looking at.

You no longer need to tote along a big, heavy guide book to figure out where to go, because your ipad will be busy reading the information to you out loud. And forget needing to chat to the concierge about where to go for dinner; your phone will have already helped you decide and put you through to the place to make a reservation (translating if necessary).

At least, that’s the theory. The reality is a little less dramatic. The market is awash with over 2,000 apps which claim to do all of the above, and while there’s no denying that some are extremely useful, you can’t throw away your guidebook just yet. The main problem is that most apps aren’t very selective. They just throw a bucket of information over you and hope that when you shake off the drips, there are a couple of useful tips still clinging on.

You therefore tend to find that instead of marvelling at the beauties of, say, Buckingham Palace, you find yourself squinting into your phone, trying to decipher very small text in the glaring sun, only to discover none of it is very useful or interesting after all. What’s more, when you are away from wifi spots, you risk running up horrific data charges on your phone.

So in a market which is still developing rapidly, you need to figure out which apps are on the information superhighway and which are on the road to nowhere.

These are the top technological tips for happy appy travels.

Find a toilet with...

Sit or Squat
This free app will locate free loos throughout the world.

Get packing with...

Packing pro
I tend to stick my ‘must not forget’ packing lists on the fridge and promptly forget to ever look at them again.

Consequently, I recently left behind my child’s beloved soft toy, without which he cannot sleep, with predictable consequences come bed time.

If you find yourself in a similar predicament, then this app could very well be a life saver.

You can view example lists depending on your destination or trip type, as well as creating your own list and ticking things off as you pack them right up to the moment of departure.

Just don’t forget your phone.

Cost: Starts from less than €1

Find the best chow in town with...

Foodspotting
This app uses your location to offer you a scrolling sideshow of what you could be eating at nearby locales. My mouth was watering within five seconds.

Urbanspoon
If you’re dithering about dinner, try this app. You spin the slot machine dials by shaking your phone and it will randomly choose a location, cuisine and price. One shake and you could be on a culinary od­yssey across your holiday destination in search of Mongolian barbecues or apfelstrudel.

You can also freeze one or more categories to make sure you’re not subjected to five-star Asian food in the next province when you wanted a burger in the local village.

Best of all, you can read re­views before you go. Too much fun even if you are not abroad.

Keep in touch with...

Postagram postcards
No need to worry about finding stamps anymore. Postagram will take your photo, convert it into a postcard, include your text and post it to anywhere in the world.

It costs less than €1 per postcard and the app itself is free.

If you’re more of a blogger than a postcard writer, try Off Exploring. It’s free and you can use it to type your blog and include photos and a location.

Speak the lingo with...

Google Translate
I once completely failed to purchase a train ticket in a remote part of China because no one spoke English and I couldn’t even write down where I wanted to go. Google Translate makes that kind of problem a thing of the past.

It covers over 50 languages, and can translate text on the screen or even simultaneously translate for you as you speak into the phone.

There’s even a Latin translation in case you meet the occasional gladiator on your travels.

Amuse yourself for half an hour in your lunch break listening to it speak in foreign tongues such as Haitian Creole or Hindi.

Totally revolutionary and very easy to use, although it doesn’t always get it right.

Lonely Planet Phrase Book
Forget about buying weighty phrase books and download the Lonely Planet’s app instead. The interface ‘speaks’ phrases and also displays them phonetically.

Cost: From €7

Book flights and accommodation with...

Hipmunk
Booking a new flight when you’re already on the go can be pretty frustrating and might well result in you spending more time than you’d like lounging on an airport chair rather than by the pool.

Hipmunk searches on price, but also filters the pain factor, including stopover times and number of stops. It’ll advise you on nearby hotels and their prices and has storage slots where you can tuck hotels you might want to return to.

Kayak
Not just another expedia, Kayak trudges through almost every airline you can think of to find you the best deal. You can also add on hotels or car hire and there’s a useful map of the cheapest routes. Just enter your departure point, destination and dates, sit back and hope for a bargain.

Cost: Free.

Hotelpal
No reservation? No problem. Hotelpal is your new best friend. It pinpoints your location, shows you all the hotels around you and lets you see their room rates, scroll through pictures and so on.

It’s also a great way to barter down the price with the manager of one hotel if you can show him that his neighbours are offering a better rate. You can also use it to find a hotel in advance.

Cost: Free

Trivago
This does something similar to Hotelpal, allowing you to set parameters on what you want, such as a two-star within a mile of your location with a pool.

Cost: Free

Hotels.com
This free app includes hostels, whittling down the starting price quite considerably, with a very cool world jumble homepage where the Sydney Opera House nestles beneath the Eiffel Tower.

Replace your travel guide with...

• Spottedbylocals
As you’d expect, the content of this guide, which spans 41 European cities, is written exclusively by genuine, vetted locals who give you their personal top tips for a great stay.

Rather like having a friend show you around, except that you can switch them off if they are beginning to grate.

Cost: Free.

• Lonely Planet
The quintessential travel guide is not getting left behind. This app is location aware, so displays tips for attractions immediately around you in 125 cities.

It’s easy to use and filters the dross reasonably well. Best of all, the maps work offline, saving you data roaming charges.

Cost: Starts from under €5.

• Wikitude
This ‘augmented reality’ app will recognise where you are and provide you a host of little icons superimposed over the image from your phone camera in a Mission Impossible style.

You can view everything from Youtube videos of attractions to a guesthouse’s website.

Try it out on your balcony, you could entertain yourself for hours spinning slowly and clicking the icons as they appear... or perhaps that’s just me.

Cost: Free

• Aroundme
If you’ve ever had a craving for a coffee and schlepped round the local area only to draw a blank for your caffeine fix, this app offers salvation. It displays coffee shops, bars, banks, cinemas, police stations and car parks among a host of other things in list form, as well as plotting them on a map.

What it won’t do is bombard you with reviews so you can make your own mind up.

Some locations have better listings than others.

Cost: Free