If you’ve already traveled with us, you know from experience how hard our team works to make sure that you have the time of your life. We know the guides we work with well: we meet many of them in person, and with the others we stay in close touch through video calls and regular conversations. We also hand-pick every hotel and villa: many of them we have visited ourselves, and the rest we choose carefully based on ratings and guest reviews (for villas, also after a video call with the owners). Along the way, we have learned a few tricks on how to enhance the amazing experience. And today we would like to share with you our go-to apps that we love and find genuinely helpful when traveling.
Best Apps for Your Next Europe Vacation
Omio/Rome2Rio
When planning an intercity trip, both apps are excellent options to consider. Both work the same way: you enter your departure and destination points and see all the ways to get from A to B, from trains and buses to ferries and flights. Omio sells many of the tickets right in the app, while Rome2Rio usually sends you to the operator’s website.
However, both platforms have commission fees, so even though purchasing all your tickets through one app is convenient, it might not be the best idea if you are traveling on a budget. As an alternative, you can build your trip via an app, but purchase the tickets via the official websites of the transportation network. And if you make sure to book a few months in advance, you can count on finding excellent offers.
Uber and Taxi Apps
As you know, all our programs include private arrival and departure transfers. We take care of all intercity trips included in the itinerary and will be happy to take care of any additional transfers upon request. But when you are free and feel like exploring the city on your own, you might want to hail a quick and comfortable ride rather than try to find your way via public transport and waste precious vacation time working out routes. And while regulated taxi services are a valid option, platforms like Uber have become an integral part of our lives over the last few years, and the good news is that you can use them during your European travels.
However, keep in mind that ride-hailing apps don’t work the same way in every country. Uber runs as usual in Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and Germany, for example, but in Italy it offers only Uber Black and Uber Taxi in the bigger cities. In Italy, the easiest option is to book a licensed taxi through an app such as itTaxi or FREENOW.
Citymapper
If you don’t mind traveling via public transport and enjoy the authentic flair it brings to exploring the city, Citymapper is an excellent way to plan your trip. This free app helps you to easily plan your route, offers the best options for how to get where you want, and allows you to compare the options in real time across all transport modes. What is really great is that it lets you choose between the fastest walking route and one that sticks to main roads, avoiding parks and dark side streets—a great idea when returning to the hotel late in a city you don’t know that well. Keep in mind that it covers big cities only (in Italy: Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice, Bologna, Naples, Turin and Genoa).
WiFi Map
Today, staying connected is easy, as long as you can find Wi-Fi. Regardless of where you are in the world, your loved ones are only a message away, and WiFi Map is a great platform that allows you to easily find free internet spots in over 200 countries. The basic functionality, aka WiFi maps, is available for free, but there are some premium features, such as a global eSIM and offline maps, that you can get for a small fee. But for us the basic mode works just fine.
ATM Fee Saver
If you’ve ever tried withdrawing money via an ATM in Europe, you know how extortionate fees can be. The good news is that they are avoidable. ATM Fee Saver does exactly what the name suggests; it allows you to find low-fee ATMs all over Europe, or even ATMs that won’t charge you any fees at all if you are lucky. What is more, you can check out things like cash withdrawal limits and calculate the estimated fee to reduce the element of surprise to the minimum. Plus, the platform has an awesome blog dedicated to all things financial when it comes to traveling abroad.
Komoot
One of our favorite route planners for cycling and hiking. If you are an adventurous type or a nature enthusiast, you will surely appreciate the joy of hiking through the vineyards of Tuscany or the Swiss Alps. The app has a wide collection of great hiking routes, from short hikes of a few hours to multi-day treks all over Europe, offering detailed descriptions, difficulty levels, tips, and turn-by-turn voice navigation (with a paid region or Premium) to make sure that everything goes according to plan.
And there you have it: our go-to apps for traveling through Europe. Try them on your next vacation and let us know what you think! And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.
