There’s a recipe for an excellent trip abroad: combine friends, food, a bit of history, a taste of culture, and you’ll be cooking up a memorable visit in any part of the world. The internet is thoroughly saturated with travel recommendations and content, and it can be difficult to sort through the muck. Sure you can log into the old reliables, Expedia, Kayak or TripAdvisor to plan your trip, but don’t you want something a little more…personal? Something tailored to you and the experience you’re dying to have?
You’re in luck! There are plenty of emerging apps that can help you craft your next itinerary, or make one on the go. Whether you’re planning a trip to Italy, or wandering the streets of Tokyo looking for a place to eat, these apps can help.
With Belli, users can build a network of friends who recommend the best restaurants in various cities. Friends can rate their experience at restaurants which become visible on their profile. Some users cultivate entire maps of culinary scenes in their cities, which other users can refer to for recs. With your network of friends and personalized recommendations from the app, you’ll never be wanting for a breakfast, lunch or dinner reccommendation again.
Atmosfy is at the forefront of developing a Gen Z-style social network specifically for travel. It essentially operates like Instagram or TikTok, but only features travel content: restaurants, destinations, etc. It can help travelers choose where to eat, stay, and what to do around the world. Peruse content from other travelers just like you and see where they’re staying, shopping, and eating. Use it in your hometown, when you move somewhere new, or while traveling.
Roadtripper helps travelers create road trips by offering a route, road tripping tips, and showing all the great stops along the way. It uses itineraries from other users on similar routes to ensure you have the best road trip experience. Plus Roadtripper is at heart, an elevated navigation system. Through the app, get traffic updates, check up on cell coverage maps, and add pit stops to your trip all from your phone.
Whether you’re solo-traveling, adventuring with friends, or vacationing with family, meeting new people is one of the highlights of any memorable trip. The Amigo app functions as a social networking platform to help users connect with new people around the world. But it’s not just Tinder for travelers. Amigo facilitates language exchanges through built-in translation tools, allows users to message, video call, and live stream with strangers. Like Atmosfy, Amigo allows you to curate your trip, get great local recommendations, create a wishlist for your trips, and create a personal log of all your favorite spots.
Hostelworld, which is typically used to book hostels, expands beyond the booking function and into social networking. Join group chats with other people at your destinations and in your accommodations to make friends and get recommendations. These group chats are divided by country. So if you’re planning a trip to Spain you can download the app, join the Spain group chat and message the group to see if anyone will be in Barcelona at the same time as you. Once you join the group, you can make plans to meet up for dinner or drinks on a daily basis all over the world. Hostelworld also just launched Roamies, their newest program that organizes trips with hostel stays and adventures to be enjoyed by like-minded travelers.
