10 Apps to travel by

I recently stumbled upon an article in NatGeo Travel magazine that covered 3 travel apps they recommended, this inspired me to share my own favorite ones. Obviously if you're an avid traveler, you will know most of them, but here are a few new good ones that are relevant per city.

1) TripAdvisor: If you're wondering about what to do in a new city, tripadvisor is great in terms of recommendations for top things to do in a city. Not only that, but when the hunger hits you, you will need to find the best restaurant in town to help you both feed the beast as well as enjoy the local food and have a fun experience. (App Store, Android Play Store)

2) Google maps: DUH! I know, right? The only reason I am mentioning this again is to make sure you know of the trick where you load directions to a destination while you're still connected, keep that loaded when you're out of your hotel as you will be able to use it offline. They actually recently launched a way to download and use areas offline as well. (App Store, Google Play Store)

3) Foursquare: Similar to tripadvisor on the culinary side. I use it all the time to help me decide on nearby restaurants or pubs to visit that have good ratings and informative tips. (App Store, Android Play Store)

4) Swarm: Okay so Swarm is a sister app of foursquare. I mainly use it to check-in to restaurants and pubs I enjoyed so I can keep track and use them for my next visit or to recommend places to people (or even maybe write a travel post). In addition to that, you'd be connected to friends, and if they were ever in the city, you can also see if they had been in that place and whether they added a tip. (App Store, Android Play Store)

5) Blablacar: This one I haven't tried, but I really want to. The idea of it is quite amazing. It's all about sharing city-to-city car journeys with great people and all you need to do is chip in for gas or something similar. You can check out their website here. (App Store, Android Play Store)

6) Facebook (events): I usually use Facebook to plan sections of my trip by simply posting a status and asking for recommendations for the city I am going to visit. And there is always someone who's been there or knows someone who's been there. But even better than this, there are the events. Most organizers create FB events, so it's a great way to find one and find similar events similar to it, from concerts to exhibitions.

7) Yplan: This app is super amazing if you're in London, San Francisco, New York and Dublin. I used it while I was in London. It pretty much has all these alternative or secretive events and plans that you can only know about if you know someone there! And you can use it to book your tickets online. I highlight recommend this one, make sure you have it on your smartphone if you're in one of those cities. (App Store, Android Play Store)

8) Mindbody: If you're into fitness and you want to maintain a certain healthy and fit lifestyle, this app is for you. You can find quite a lot of yoga studio and gyms on this app (and beauty services as well apparently). It's quite useful because it will allow you to find local fitness studios, where you can browse the schedule and attend a specific class for example. I haven't used it outside of UAE, but if you have, leave a comment below on your favorite studios in the city you live in or have visited. (App Store, Google Play Store)

9 Hailo (and Uber): So I know, you're wondering a taxi app? really? Well yes! This is more on the safety side though, in case you lost your wallet or ran out of cash or public transport is off or you simply can't find a cab or you can't communicate in local language and would rather just drop the destination info, it's always good to have an app that can take you back to the warmth of your hotel bed. If you're in Dublin use Hailo (you end up hailing actual taxis, and it's cheaper than Uber). If you're anywhere else, Uber is great and is cheaper than local taxis (specially in London). (App Store, Android Play Store)

10 Splitwise: If you're traveling in a group, expenses can get a little messy. You owe me this, and I owe J this, and B owes Y this but Y owes me... It's a headache! So I am only recommending this app because I recently used it in a group of 6 people, and it made our lives MUCH easier. It's very easy to use, you create the trip you're in, add the people in question, and when you pay for others, you log it in and tag the people you paid for. At the end of the trip, you can simplify the calculations, so each person pays one person. It's free and available on both iOS and Android as well as web.

Alright, that's it from my side. Any other useful apps you use when you travel? Please do share, the more the merrier!