Whether planning a trip around the country, traveling overseas, or prepping for a staycation, there’s an app to enhance the experience. As someone who loves to travel near and far, I have consistently turned to eight apps over the years to help me plan my next getaway.

1

AllTrails

The great outdoors features thousands of miles of trails, some well-known and others literally off the beaten path. The AllTrails app lets you discover those paths in 190 countries across seven continents.

Thanks to GPS, AllTrails can help you on the trail you’re already on. It will let you know how difficult it is, if the trail is closed, and whether it’s safe. AllTrails also makes it easy to find trails for future trips.

With a yearly subscription, you can access additional features, like the ability to download trail maps for offline use. The premium package costs $36 per year, but also gets you access to the app’s crowdsourcing tool to inform other adventurers about current trail information, such as whether a site is open or permanently closed, provide safety information, and more.

Download: AllTrails for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

2

Duolingo

Not everyone speaks English, and when you’re in a country where English isn’t the first language, it’s always a good idea to learn some of the local dialect. You might also want to learn a language to such a degree that you can speak it fluently.

Duolingo is arguably the best language learning app out there, though some argue it has fallen behind in recent years. It offers fun courses to learn over 40 languages, including familiar ones like Chinese, Spanish, and German, and less familiar languages like Navajo and Yiddish. Learning a new language involves going through various exercises and games to help you learn.

With Duolingo, repetition is a big part of the learning process, as you’re constantly being taught new words and phrases while being asked to remember older ones. Unlike many other language learning apps, Duolingo teaches you to speak and write a new language, and you can compete with others who use the app to gain stars and bonuses.

You can start Duolingo for free, but you’ll need a subscription to unlock all the features.

Download: Duolingo for Android | iOS (Free, subscriptions available)

3

Flighty

Many trips include flight travel. Unfortunately, the modern experience of air travel has become anything but peaceful. Flight delays, cancellations, last-minute gate changes, and other travel issues occur too frequently. Flighty exists as a solution to these problems. The app enables you to monitor any flight schedule for your upcoming flights and those of your friends and family members.

Travelers who fly frequently should take advantage of Flighty Premium, which provides advanced features such as real-time flight statuses, weather radar functionality, predicted flight arrival time information, and plane details starting one day before a flight.

Flighty is my favorite app on the list and one of the best airline flight path apps available. As soon as I book a new trip, I add the flight numbers to it to begin learning more about my future journey. It’s a great feeling.

Download: Flighty for iOS (Free, subscriptions available)

4

Google Maps

Google Maps has everything you need to get out on the road, including detailed maps, turn-by-turn directions, and the ability to find the nearest restaurant, gas station, or any other type of business.

Thanks to your phone’s GPS, Google Maps will tell you when to turn onto a new road or suggest an alternative route when there’s an accident or a traffic jam ahead. The app can also tell you how long it will take to get to your location.

With Google Maps, you can also download maps onto your phone so they are accessible offline. Other valuable features include public transportation information, a street view, route sharing, and more.

Download: Google Maps for Android | iOS (Free)

5

Hopper

KAYAK might be better known, but Hopper has become my must-have app for finding the best prices for flights, hotels, and other travel-related accommodations. The app is free to use, and has three main components. Like similar travel apps, you can use Hopper to find and book the best-priced travel. Its “Watch a Trip” feature will alert you when the price of a flight or hotel drops (or rises), so you always know if now is the best time to buy, or if you should hold off.

Finally, Hopper also offers a price freeze feature, which allows you to freeze the price of a trip for up to seven days. If the price goes down during that time, you get a discount; if it goes up, Hopper will pay the difference, up to $300. It does cost a small fee based on the current price of the trip, but the potential savings can be worth it.

Hopper rewards regular customers by offering “Carrot Cash,” which you can use for future bookings. This feature is similar to other travel outlets such as Hotels.com and Expedia.

Download: Hopper for Android | iOS (Free)

6

VRBO

VRBO is a popular travel service that makes finding your next vacation rental pain-free. The platform’s main focus is providing listings for rental homes, and it targets families and groups of various sizes. If you’re looking for apartment rentals, Airbnb is usually a better fit, though.

One thing I particularly love about VRBO is that it displays the total cost of the rental, including all the fees. This gives you a clearer view of what this part of the trip will cost, so you can plan accordingly. The platform also displays the average price of the property, so you know whether the current price is a good deal.

The platform also provides a profile and rating for the homeowners of every listing. The rating system considers essential information, including check-in ease, cancellation rates, communication quality, and other relevant points.

Download: VRBO for Android | iOS (Free)

7

Wanderlog

Wanderlog is another feature-packed travel app you can use before, during, and after a trip. You can use it to find and book hotels, add your existing flight information, and then start mapping out what you want to do when you reach your final location.

For example, imagine you’re flying out of Philadelphia and plan to visit Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, and Engelberg. With Wanderlog, you can add the hotels you’re staying at, and then map out all the sites you wish to see in each location. Each site is thoroughly researched, so you know what to expect. From there, Wanderlog can generate an itinerary and tell you the best way to maximize your time. When you return home, you can also use the app to help remember your trips.

You don’t need a Wanderlog subscription to benefit from most of its features. However, upgrading to the membership does unlock useful extras like the ability to export itineraries to Google Maps, download offline maps, and more.

Download: Wanderlog for Android | iOS (Free, subscriptions available)

There are hundreds of apps out there you can use to make traveling easier. However, these have proven to be easy-to-use and great at helping me plan my own trips. When combined, they let you plan a fantastic trip without adding in unneeded stress.