No matter what your plan is, or how long you’ll be in Europe for, it can seem pretty overwhelming at times. And it’s guaranteed that at some point during your travels something won’t go according to plan, and it might so happen that you somehow find yourself riding north on what was supposed to be a southbound train, with no way to read train maps and no cell service. I’ve been there, trust me.

So, I’ve compiled this list of apps to hopefully keep situations like that to a minimum.

Flixbus

I know I’ve mentioned it many times before, but Flixbus is one of the best ways to get around in Europe. Their network of buses is huge, it’s very affordable, and you can get just about anywhere other in them if you’re fine with long bus rides. They’re also usually comfortable and pretty clean.

Google Maps

Back when I traveled Europe, Apple Maps didn’t have the feature where you are able to download a city’s map and access it without internet connection, but I think Apple Maps has that feature now so this section is just to suggest that you download the map of the city you’re visiting. This makes it easier and less stressful to navigate the city you’re in when you don’t have wifi.

The only thing is that I think it downloads just street names and maps and broad stuff like that, and not stuff like restaurant details and other specifics.

Google Translate

This is a must. Unless you’re fluent in every single language that lives within Europe, you’re going to want to have Google Translate downloaded. You can download the languages you’ll be dealing with, so you won’t need network connection to translate that gyro stand’s menu when you’re on your way back from the club at 5am.

My favorite feature in Google Translate is the camera, where you can take a photo of whatever text you need to translate and it’ll replace the foreign text in the image with translated text overlaid. You can also import photos from your camera roll and it’ll translate any foreign language in the image. It’s an incredibly useful tool and I highly recommend having this app downloaded (especially if you’re traveling to Hungary, Hungarian is literally impossible to understand).

Hostelworld

If you’re staying in hostels on your travels, which I highly recommend, you should probably download Hostelworld. It’s the best app for booking hostels as well as meeting people, and it’s helped me make friends from all over the world.

If you want a full list of hostels that I’ve stayed at and which ones I recommend, click here.

Omio

Omio is an app where you can input your city and where you want to travel to, and it’ll let you look at bus rides, train rides and flights and you can decide which fits your needs the best. It’ll show you what’s fastest, cheapest, and what’s the best deal, and it’s a super useful tool when finding your way to your next destination.

Ryanair

If you’re looking for cheap flights, Ryanair will usually be your best bet. I’ve seen one-way flights for €20, and when you’re on a budget, you’re going to jump at these flight prices. This is probably the first place you should check when you’re booking tickets for your travels within Europe.

The only problem is that you get what you pay for. Sure, you can get a flight for €20, but it probably won’t be air conditioned, it might be a little claustrophobic, and you will have to pay a million billion dollars for any added luggage.

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That’s all I got for now, let me know in the comments if you have any recommendations for apps to download or what your thoughts are on the apps listed. Thank you for reading and good luck on your travels!