Top travel apps

Nick Spence looks at the best apps for travelling

Travelling around the UK and beyond can be 
problematic at any time of the year, but the 
winter months are particularly vulnerable 
to the weather, especially with the promise of 
rain, snow and floods. Delays to your journey are 
stressful, so here we round up some of the best 
apps, to hopefully ensure your journey is as speedy 
and safe as possible. As well as checking travel 
arrangements, we’ve also picked our favourite apps 
for bagging a bargain, including cheaper flights and 
train journeys. We also highlight some of the best 

travel companions, including language tools and
currency convertors, although you are best to stick
to free Wi-fi spots then get hit by excessive roaming
fees. Feel free to add your favourite travel related
apps in the comments below, we’ll likely add them in
a future update. In the meantime, happy travelling.

Airbnb 

Price: Free 
For the slightly more adventurous traveller, Airbnb
o ffers a: “trusted community marketplace for people
to list, discover, and book unique accommodations
around the world.” These are essentially B&Bs,
flats, homes and even long-term sublets potentially
undercutting the cost of staying in a hotel. The app
uses a message style system so that guests can chat
directly with hosts, along with host supplied photos
so that you can gauge the quality of the let before
your visit. Airbnb provides a
hospitality standards section,
but a system like this could be
open to abuse so it’s a good
idea to read user feedback.

Citymapper 

Price: Free
Former Apple Editors’ Choice,
Citymapper takes a variety
of available data including
information from Transport for
London (TFL), and combines it
seamlessly to ensure speedy
travel in major cities - currently

London, New York and Paris.
The app includes an impressive array of features
including A to B journey planning, real-time travel
information, weather forecasts and much more.
Crucially, Citymapper is great to navigate on the go,
with an interface which is unfussy yet stylish. The
app consistently receives five star reviews, and we
are impressed enough to suggest this is a must have
app not only for travellers, but for anyone living and
working in those locations.

Hipmunk Hotels & Flights

Price: Free
A relatively recent arrival, Hipmunk was launched
in 2010 backed by some high profile, hip founders
and investors, including actor Ashton Kutcher, who
played Steve Jobs in the 2013 biopic of the former
Apple CEO. Hipmunk essentially compares travel
sites to hopefully find the best
deals on a range of services,
including flights, trains and
accommodation.
It does this visually to great
e ffect, which is particularly
easy on the eye for iPad
users and makes searching
and planning a trip much
more simple and pleasurable.
Reviews provided by
TripAdvisor are also available
to browse, while flights can
be sorted by ‘agony’ to best
avoid long journey times
and layovers.

iTranslate 

Price: Free 
Impressive translation tool o ffers support for a
wealth of languages, currently over 80, as long
as you have an internet connection. Free users
type in words or phrases for fast and seemingly
accurate translation, while you can listen to the
translation being played back to help perfect your
pronunciation. iTranslate comes with ‘Top In-App
Purchases,’ which essentially removes ads and
unlocks the voice recognition function, an extra well
worth investing in. Rather than type users speak,
which is turned into text without the need for voice
training the app and then translated. iTranslate Voice
(tinyurl.com/p37r5va, from the same Sonico team,
is also worth considering promising the ability to
‘instantly speak another language.’

Kayak

Price: Free
69p for Pro version Well reviewed, Kayak compares
hundreds of travel sites to seek out the best deals on
hotels, flights and car rentals worldwide. An attractive and
intuitive user interface helps improve the search function,
which does get a little muddy at times due to the amount
of information available and the diminutive iPhone screen.
Kayak also lets you book from within the app, track fl ight status, check baggage
fees and view and manage your trip itinerary with My
Trips. Kayak Pro includes airport terminal maps for
over 100 airports, which may be useful for those who
travel frequently and widely.

London Bus Live Countdown 

Price: Free
£1.99 for ad-free version
If you travel around London chances are you need
to use the buses, at the very least it’s a scenic way to
get around town and discover points of interest you
might otherwise miss. London Bus Live Countdown
uses data directly from Transport for London (TFL),
the local government body responsible for the
capital’s transport, to take the guess work out of
when buses are due to arrive at your stop. Users can
also find local bus routes using the iPhone’s GPS
function, explore maps and
check which routes may be
cancelled or delayed. For those
will Oyster travel cards, the app
also displays your balance, a
useful reminder for when you
need to top up.

National Rail Enquiries 

Price: Free
£4.99 for ad-free version
This o cial app provides
customer information for all
passenger rail services on
the National Rail network in
England, Wales and Scotland, promising detailed,
real-time train data including
delays and disruptions. As well as viewing live train
arrivals and departures, you can plan and save
journeys although you need to visit a third-party
website, or app, to actually buy tickets. National Rail
Enquiries has received mixed reviews from users,
not least because the rather cluttered design, for
now at least, isn’t the easiest to navigate on the go.

Yahoo! Weather 

Price: Free
Winner of an Apple Design Award, Yahoo! Weather

is an attractive, essential app not just for travellers
but for anyone ready and willing to step outside
and face Britain’s unpredictable weather. Yahoo!
o ers the usual locationbased reports, providing
hourly forecasts over a
24-hour period along with a
10-day daily forecast.
You can enter and
save further locations by
simply searching via ‘city
or ZIP code,’ which is ideal
when planning a journey.
Locations extend to the rest
of the world and generally
results appear impressive,
with accurate forecasts
complimented by stunning
photography provided by
participating Flickr users.