In 2023 I traveled to 45 destinations, across 2 continents, totalling 15 countries! Spending most of my time in Europe crossing through countries with different cultures and languages these apps and tricks that helped me the most.
Schengen – the EU allows tourists to stay on a tourist passport for 90 days within a 120 day period. This was very confusing for me when planning my travels so I recommend doing research before you go. This app allows you to track how long you are in the Schengen area to ensure you do not exceed the 90/120 day rule. On June 20, 2023 I arrived from the UK to Spain thus entering the Schengen area, I left Italy for the states on September 7, 2023. I spent 70 days in the area meaning I have 20 left I can use within the 120 period.
been – this app lets your track what countries you have visited. I have been told that the Vatican is its own country however, this app counts Italy as one country. It also counts the United States as one place instead of totalling the states I have visited. Anyways, it’s fun to see that I have seen 7% of the world. I have many more adventures ahead of me to raise that percentage.
Translation
Google translate – I like this app because you can take pictures of what you are trying to translate and it will find the language and translate the picture. I really enjoyed this at restaurants. Most places within the city have English menus if you ask, but the places furthest from tourist areas may not. I also liked that if I wasn’t sure of the language it would try and decipher for me. This was helpful in places that are on borders where there is a chance it could be several languages.
iphone translate – similar to google translate, I used them both back and forth depending on which one seemed to be loading faster. If I knew the language I was wanting to translate I typically used this one. Google was great if I was not sure which language the sign was in.
Transportation
Omio – This is a great app since it will search for trains, buses, and planes for your trip. If I was booking a plane I would switch to Ryanair or whichever I could find cheaper but for booking train or bus this was my go to app around Europe.
Trainline – Very much like Omnio except it only searches trains and buses. I liked to switch between the two apps to find the cheapest and best trip for me.
Ryanair – I found this to be the most cost effective flights around Europe. I always started with a google search and then would check Ryanair. This is similar to Spirit Airlines in the states. Sometimes it was cheaper and quicker to fly than it was to take a train.
Country Specific Transportation
Ireland
Irish Rail – I used this app to travel from Dublin to Belfast. This was before I found Omio and Trainline.
Leap Top-Up – If you are going to use public transit buy a Leap Card at the airport. I wish I knew about this prior. If you buy a leap card you can use this app to top it off when your funds run low. The buses do not take an app and you need a leap card. The city trains have ticket machines you can purchase if you do not have a leap card.
Germany
Deutsche Bahn (DB Navigator) – this was the German train app, great for navigating within the city or between German cities.
Scotland
ScotRail – I used this in Scotland before I found out about Omio and Trainline. It worked great and when you arrive at the station you can print your ticket.
Experiences
While I didn’t do a lot of these since I was trying to save money I did use the below from time to time. Great for booking busy places where you want to skip standing in line. i.e. Roman Colloseum. Visit each company to see what experiences they have to offer during your trip.
Viator – Booked my wine tasting experience in Tuscany through Viator. 10/10 recommend.
Headout – Excellent for booking busy places you want to skip the line at. I used this for Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel. I loved being able to enter with a guide and have my tickets pre purchased. Bonus this tour came with a ride through the Sistine Gardens. I also used this for fast track entry into the Roman Colosseum and it came with a ticket to Palatine Hill, up the road from the Colosseum, I highly recommend going to.
GetYourGuide – I made friends with another solo traveler while on the Tuscany Wine Experience. She told me about GetYourGuide and I wish I knew about it sooner. I booked Rome with Chef: Spritz & Spaghetti cooking class through GetYourGuide (best class)! I also used it in the states to enter USS Midway Museum in San Diego.
Accommodations
Airbnb – While in Europe this was my preferred method of accommodations. I stayed at 18 different AirBnB, and only had issues with one. I highly recommend reading the reviews before staying somewhere. If they are a newer property see if the host owns any other properties and read those reviews. Luckily my one issue AirBnb eventually made it right. I tended to stay outside of the city center, not only was it more cost effective, but I was able to really dive deep into the culture by staying with locals vs tourists. I also learned if you booked a few days before you needed your room a lot of them would be discounted because they would rather have someone stay at a discount than not at all. I was able to stay in some incredible places doing this!
Hotels.com – The few times I did stay in a hotel I used Hotels.com It was a great way to search multiple hotel chains to find the most affordable for me.
Hostelworld – I never stayed in a hostel however, this app came highly recommended. I did search hostels using it and I really like the app. If you are wanting to stay in hostels this one will search all available ones in your area and you can read reviews based on age group, sex, and country of origin on the reviewer. Once booked you can set it up so you can connect with others staying there at the same time. I don’t like sharing rooms and it was cheaper for me to stay in Airbnb than it was to rent a single room in a hostel. This is where my bougieness comes out but I do wish I could have stayed in few to make friends.
Luggage Storage
Great if you arrive to your destination before your Airbnb is ready. Train stations might also have luggage storage, but I found this was a better option if I didn’t want to stay close to the station.
Radical Storage – You can enter city, address, or location and it will pull up the storage places near you. It is typically a store that allows you to put your luggage in their storage room or area of their business. They take pictures of your items and you have to show id to drop them off and pick them up. The price is typically less than €10 a bag a day.
Bounce – I have used Bounce several times in the states, but never used it in Europe. I found Radical Storage to be more prevalent in European countries. It is the same concept as Radical Storage
E-Sim
Airlo – I was able to use all these great apps while on the go by installing an e-sim card. It was more cost effective to have an e-sim than to pay my cellar carrier $10 a day (max 10 days a billing cycle). You must be over wi-fi to install. The airport and train station wi-fi were not great for this but if you can wait until your airbnb or pop into a Starbucks you can get it to work. Once installed it worked great. I would then talk to family and friends in the states on WhatsApp but would limit it to calling over Wi-Fi so I would not use up too much of my e-sim data.
