Sample the Local Cuisine

Eating delicious food is one of the best parts of traveling. But it’s not always easy to find a restaurant that suits your needs.

For a comprehensive list of local hotspots, Yelp is the gold standard, no matter where you are in the world. The Yelp app uses your phone’s GPS to locate restaurants, cafes, bars, and other businesses, such as stores and museums near you. Though you’ll need an Internet connection to browse Yelp’s reviews. You should be able to use your GPS without racking up any charges. English speakers mainly use Yelp; you can scour reviews for info on whether an establishment is tourist-friendly. Check out photos of the storefront menu and even order takeaways in certain cities directly from the app.

If you’re not sure exactly what you’re craving, Yelp might not be that helpful. Instead, you might want to turn to Foodspotting. This free restaurant-finding app focuses on individual dishes rather than the entire menu. Like Yelp, Foodspotting uses your phone’s GPS to locate nearby restaurants. But instead of displaying a list of restaurants sorted by name or price. Foodspotting shows appetizing photos of popular dishes near you. Suppose you’re not tied to a particular type of cuisine or just browsing for inspiration. In that case, Foodspotting is a much more visually appealing app.

Go Sight-Seeing

Even if you’re not a typical tourist, there’s probably at least one sight, a landmark, monument, or vista point. That you want to see in the place you’re visiting.

The TripAdvisor app is a good bet if you’re unsure where to start. The app features a section called Things to Do, where you’ll find user-uploaded photos and reviews of various tourist attractions. While other travel tourism apps, including Yelp, tend to focus on businesses, TripAdvisor features multiple attractions. You’ll find reviews of national parks, nature reserves, statues, monuments, and other significant points of interest. The app also links paid touristy activities like walking tours and amusement parks.

If you’re more of an indoor explorer, you’ll find thousands of museums in the Museums of the World app. Not only does this app feature fascinating, off-the-beaten-path museums, but it’s not just modern art and natural history. It also offers up-to-date information on upcoming events, temporary and permanent exhibitions. And interactive activities such as workshops and lectures that you can attend. And for U.K. tourists, there is even an exceptional U.K. Museums app.

Plan a Day Trip

Maybe there’s more than one attraction you want to see. In fact, there are several. Perhaps you’re the kind of person who likes to plan out your day or even your week. For the most optimal tourism experience. You’re in luck! There are a couple of apps that can help you find a pre-planned itinerary or organize your own.

For inspiration, check out Culture Trip. This free app is a modern-day travel magazine that highlights local attractions and exciting sights worldwide. Culture Trip’s content focuses on culture, arts, music, literature, film, design, food, and history and is written by locals.

Inspiration

Once inspired, you can use an app like Musement or Google Trips to plan a detailed itinerary. Musement is a free app that showcases local venues events, such as concerts, sports games, and outdoor activities, as well as the expected restaurants, bars, and nightlife. Musement is technically available in over 350 cities, but for the most part, its content is limited. The app focuses on 25 major cities, several of which are in Italy, with unique content. For the highlighted cities, you’ll find things like pre-planned itineraries, 24 hours in, and curated lists for the kids. As well as discounted tickets for some of the advertised events venues.

Google Trips combines travel logistics with touristy exploration. The Trips app connects to your Gmail account to pull flight and hotel info. Then uses that info to create customized itineraries for you. Based on how long you’ll be on vacation and which days you’ll be traveling. The Trips app also lets you create itineraries by dropping favorited locations and landmarks onto one map. The app will tell you how long you’ll need to zip between locations and whether your timeline looks feasible.

Break Out the Guidebook

You’re probably not carrying an actual guidebook around. Because that would make you look like a tourist, an easy target for thieves. And also, because it’s 2017, you’ve got a smartphone.

Want more info on the events and the restaurants you’re patronizing? Check out the Time Out: Discover your city app for a free guidebook experience. The Time Out app offers city guides for over 40 cities, focusing on things to do. Each city guide features a what’s happening this week section where you’ll find info on events around the city. Such as concerts, festivals, and art exhibits. It’s perhaps not a typical guidebook experience; there’s no info on landmarks or the city’s history. But it’s more put-together than user-based review apps.

Suppose you’re looking for a more typical guidebook experience and are willing to pay. In that case, Tripwolf offers over 600 travel guides with premium content, including photos and insider tips from Fodor’s Travel Local, plus additional information sourced from Wikipedia, Yelp, and Foursquare. The app also includes an offline trip planner with maps marked by important attractions, restaurants, and hotels. The trip wolf app is free, but the guides cost $2 apiece or $20 for all 600.

Please note some of the apps are no longer on the Play Store. Substitute APKs have been put in place.