A smartphone is a great companion for each trip. There are a number of applications that can make your trip easier, either on the search for a place to stay, monuments and historic sites to see, or learn more about the city and the place you are visiting… there is (usually) an app for that.
Here are a few apps, I have found useful in my travels. Please note that I am linking to iOS apps and that all are available on other platforms. It is the idea that apps to use for what purposes, to better plan and ultimately benefit from your trip. Let's start by stealing search…
Search for flight
Virtually every major carrier now has its iPhone app. In addition, some companies support Android and BlackBerry while others are experimenting with new platforms such as Windows Phone 7. If you live near a major airport, must catch the app of the airline that uses this airport as one of its hubs. In addition, there are other applications that might be useful as the Kayak and Orbitz. If you do not use an iOS based device, you can search for "flights" in the app store that you use to see what is available.
Accommodation
Hotels.com and Expedia hotels are two applications that each frequent traveller with an iPhone must be installed on the smartphone. For those who feel adventurous, hotel Tonight provides last-minute hotel booking in several cities across the United States. As they have recently obtained a fresh inflow of capital, we hope that they take you the expansion in Europe and Asia in the near future.
Community of backpacking and budget conscious travellers will appreciate the Inn heroes app that queries the Web site of the same name, search a place of low prices to remain in a number of cities. Yet again, I would advise iPhone non-owners to search for "hotel" and "-Youth hostel" in their respective app stores.
Knowing the place
It is a good practice to learn something about your destination before the arrival. Fortunately there is an abundance of choice when it comes to "Guide apps." Lonely Planet has a few titles in Apple App Store and there are other guides produced by small companies, which some come even with maps offline never useful. In addition, mobile app from TripAdvisor is available for multiple platforms, showing you what might be thought on almost any any point of interest in cities around the world.
Move to the city.
Assuming that you are going to visit a city, you may want to know its transit. Virtually all major cities in Europe has a network of transport in common solid that will help you move from one side of the city to the other half an hour. However, some systems are complex and Yes - you can use an application to do this. MetrO is one of the best apps that i've seen to move to the world underground networks. However, there are also other, city-specific apps, you could try.
However, the card (usually powered by OpenStreetMap) offline and navigation all-out apps could help you to explore the city on foot. Of course, you could also fire-up Google Maps, but you will allow roaming data — or connect to a Wi - Fi hotspot - to use it.
The taste?
I firmly believe that you may not be to know another culture until you try their food. Guess this is why I am constantly faced with a diet, but s hey - something gotta give.
Anyway, if you are looking for a fancy restaurant, try a local Guide Michelin and Zagat to go. For those who seeks not to spend a small fortune on a dinner, there is Yelp and TripAdvisor (new). These two applications bring the knowledge of the crowd, at your disposal allowing you to know what people like and dislike about bars and restaurants.
That things done on your trip.
For those of you who want / need to obtain certain things on your trip, you can prepare in advance. My favorite Evernote notetaking service allows to create specific localization notes and access them at a later date. Simply add the location to your note and then when you need this information, search for notes in the vicinity.
Similarly, apps/services like Remember The Milk task management can also do the trick, allowing you to set the location of tasks and access
