I love to travel. Just in the last month, I’ve been to four different destinations, so you could say I use my weekends wisely. 🙂

Of course, traveling can get expensive or stressful. It requires planning and smart choices, from hotel prices to roaming fees. That’s when my smartphone becomes super handy.

From helping me prepare the trip, to making my life easier while on the go, pretty much all I need during a trip is my smartphone packed with the right apps.

From one traveller to another, here are my top 10 travel apps for 2015:

1.  Skyscanner

This is the best way to compare flights and find the options that fit your schedule and budget. Or, if you are starved for ideas on where to go, you can also search for the best flight deals to any destination in the world.

2.  Booking.com

This remains my favorite option to book hotels. Once you create an account, you can book a hotel in the blink of an eye, and it offers you secret, special deals. I also love the option to check relevant reviews depending on the kind of travel you are planning (business, romantic, etc.).

3.  Airbnb

If you’re looking for a more authentic, local experience, why not stay in a house instead of a hotel? Airbnb offers accommodation from local hosts across 190 countries. You can read reviews about the host and listing, then book conveniently through the app. This is also a cheaper alternative when planning a vacation with a bunch of friends.

4.  Stay.com

What better way to discover a city than doing it as a local? With Stay.com you can create your own customized travel guide with sights, restaurants and shops in hundreds of cities worldwide, based on tips from locals and fellow travellers. The best part is that you can download it for offline use, and it includes an offline map of the city you’re visiting.

5.  Google Maps  

For road trips, Google Maps will help you get wherever you want to go, with voice-guided GPS navigation. It also provides directions for biking or walking routes and even public transportation commutes with estimated travel time. Live traffic conditions, incident reports, and automatic rerouting are super useful to find the fastest route to your destination.

6.  Uber

Get a taxi, private car or rideshare right when you need it, from your mobile phone, with Uber. You can easily set your pickup location on the map and check the progress of your Uber ride. The best part? You don’t need to worry about carrying cash with you.

7.  Yelp

Choosing a restaurant in a city you don’t know is like playing roulette: it can be great or you can end up in a tourist trap. To avoid this, use Yelp to find restaurants around you and check their ratings and feedback from locals. Yelp also lets you know what else is nearby, from shops to pharmacies or anything else you want to search for.

8.  Instabridge

A crowdsourced database of over 3 million Wi-Fi hotspots and passwords, Instabridge helps you get your daily dosis of internet without breaking the bank, especially when traveling. The app comes with a database of venues with free Wi-Fi (e.g., Starbucks(, displaying them on a map. It also lets you share the details of any Wi-Fi hotspot with other Instabridge users.

9.  Opera Mini

If you find yourself in need of internet and there’s no Wi-Fi around you, Opera Mini might be your best way to go online without breaking the bank. Compared to other browsers, it provides massive data savings, crunching down webpages before sending them to your phone. This can help you keep international roaming charges under control.

10.  Photoshop Express

The photos you take during your holidays are often your best souvenir, so make sure they look great! PS Express lets you fix your pictures, using filters and frames so that they look their best. You can save photos to your camera roll for printing or share them directly through social media.

For more information about saving money while traveling, check out our article on finding the best travel deals online. What are your favorite travel apps? Tell us in the comments below!

Appsopera minitravel

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