Naturally, chatting to locals is the best way to get to know a place. But that’s easier said than done at times, not least when there’s a foreign language in play, or when you’re in a big city where the last thing a hurried local wants to do is suffer the inconvenience of a clueless tourist. On just such occasions, these apps will come to your rescue.
Guide yourself – Wikitude
One day we’ll wonder how anybody lived without augmented reality. Apps like Wikitude and GeoTravel allow you to sync the world before your eyes with the corresponding info about that place that sits in cyberspace. Sure, things aren’t perfect right now – there’s a fair bit of junk that needs filtering out – but we’re sure there’ll come a time when crowd-sourced content will reach the standards of the more established guide publishers.
Be guided – Triposo
Speaking of which, guidebooks are still an invaluable tool for travellers. And in this digital age, insight no longer equates to lugging about several pounds worth of paper with you. The established names – e.g. Lonely Planet, Frommers, Rough Guide – all have an app on the market, but for our money the relative upstart Triposo still leads the way.
Don’t get caught short – Toilet Finder
We’ve all been there. You’re on your way between sights and all of a sudden nature calls, but not knowing the place, you wonder where you can grab that all important comfort break. There are a few apps out there crowd-sourcing the best public restrooms across the world. None are perfect – they could all do with a lot more contributors to bulk up their databases – but Toilet Finder’s a decent bet.
Dinner by chance – Urbanspoon
Urbanspoon is the standout app for finding a restaurant – just check out the users reviews on the App Store or Google Play. The app is naturally built upon the extensive Urbanspoon database, namely its signature restaurant ratings. We’re big fans of the slot machine style search function. It’s not always easy deciding where to eat, especially when you’re in a big group, so the app’s random restaurant selector could be the perfect antidote to a decision-making stalemate.
Find something to do – Where
We’re big fans of the Where app. Fantastic for finding places to eat and drink, you could almost do away with your restaurant and bar-oriented apps like Urbanspoon … almost! Where comes into its own with its incredible range of attractions and things-to-do. It quickly helps you find anything from art galleries to crazy golf in your immediate vicinity. Better than thumbing through a guidebook!
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
(Featured image: Zemlinki!)
