My Favorite Travel Apps

It's that time of year again.

Well, I mean this is the time of year when most of us start preparing for that holiday trip the family waited for during the year. Whether near or far doesn't matter, as long as the family gets to do that getaway to spend the holidays together.

Through the years, I was able to build an arsenal of apps that help me plan that perfect holiday trip for the family. These apps do not only make my preparation quick and easy, they also make the planning process more accessible and comfortable no matter where I am, whether at home or mobile. Further, they make tracking the trip itinerary easier, as I can have immediate access to them through my phone or my iPad. Here are some of them:

While I normally scour different airline websites to get that best deal when it comes to purchasing air tickets, I normally use booking.com to have my hotel reservation. Sometimes, I try to compare the rates I get from the ones in hotels.com, but I almost always eventually get the deals I find in booking.com (both have iPhone and iPad apps). Of course, before I finally make the reservations, I check TripAdvisor first to get real traveler information on the hotel I prefer.

After getting the air tickets, travel insurance (usually from the same airlines), and the hotel reservations, I let my TripIt app do my trip itinerary for me. TripIt is a nice little app that I have for my iPhone and iPad, and it checks my mails for all reservations and bookings I make and organize them for me so that I have a ready access of my flight and hotel bookings (and schedule). TripIt also manages all other holiday activities that I plan (and book) for my trip (such as tours and the like); the ones I normally book using my Viator app. I also connected my TripIt app with another iPhone travel app I prefer - TripDeck - which is further connected to another app, FlightTrack (both are available from the Apps Store). The combination of all these make my holiday easier as I get notifications for flight schedules, alarms for my itinerary, and ready access to my sked during the whole vacation. 

In preparing for the trip, I use Packing Pro. It has ready checklist templates for different kinds of trips, and allows you to customize your checklist depending on your preference. Packing Pro has different templates to choose from and has checklists starting from pre-trip, to essentials, to medicines and everything. It's really a handy app that's very useful in preparing what you need for your holidays, especially if you have kids to tag along with you, just like us.

During the holiday, AroundMe, CityMaps ToGo and Wiki Offline become essential apps. During our recent trip to Europe, I also had an extensive use of the Metro app (all available in the Apps Store). These apps become handy when you need a map to know where you want to go, obviously to check metro stations, and to just plain know what essential establishments are near you at any point in time. Of course, I make sure I have at least one travel app of the city I prefer to visit (the likes of GuidePal, Triposo and City Walk variety). Believe me, they come in handy when you're resting your weary feet at the hotel at night and prepare for the next walking tour you'll do on the next day.

Although I don't always use them, I also have the Trip Journal and Trip Viewer apps to document my trips from time to time.

Well then, happy trip everyone... enjoy the holidays!

Riding Trains and Buses in Rome

Rome, they say, is best explored on foot. And they're right. We managed to visit Castel Sant' Angelo (of the Angels and Demons fame), Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Fontana de Trevi, Quirinale, and a few other popular sights and churches, and back to the Colosseo one evening, after spending almost the whole day at the Vatican. The only downside to this is after a few hours of walking, small voices (read: children) keep nagging at you every so often, asking you to rest, find a drinking fountain where you can refill your empty bottled water, and much more, take a short detour at that gelato counter or pizza shop for a quick fill-in.

At Rome Termini: Metro

For other times, however, it is best to use the train... or the metro, as it is fondly called in different places around the world.

As we're billeted just a block off the Colosseo, it was fairly easy for us to reach the Colosseo station, which is just two stops away from the Central Termini station using the "Blue" line. (Rome's Metro is fairly straightforward, as it only has two lines crisscrossed across the city: the Blue and Red lines. A third line is currently being built, causing chaos and "very" long queues in some stations when we were there.) We actually spent one of our days in Rome hopping from one Metro station to another to reach fairly "distant" popular attractions. We actually initially bought a 3-day tourist travel pass for the whole family (costing 11 Euro each, except for our youngest kid), however, we had seldom use for it as we normally did our exploration of Rome on foot. As the time to leave Rome nears, attractions tended to be farther from the center as well, and thus came our day of exploration through the Metro.

It was fairly easy.

Rome Termini: Rail

Having accustomed to riding MRTs and LRTs in Philippines and Singapore, the kids had actually been very comfortable using Rome's Metro. Our eldest guided us where the maps/stations are located so that we'll easily see which line we need to catch going from one station to another. And thus, we're able to see other attractions such as the "Twin Churches" of the Piazza del Popolo, the Basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiore, the Spanish Steps, Piazza dela Repubblica, and a few others.

By the way, the family found it odd that in Rome, you just need to hop on and hop off the bus, no need to validate your ticket every time. (Our friend's only advice: always make sure to keep your validated ticket with you.) Well, this I think is a more efficient way of doing it.

Italy's "Bullet Train"

The "Alta Velocita"

Riding the AV9418 to Florence

We also rode a train moving from Rome to Florence. This time, we used the Alta Velocita, Italy's version of the Bullet Train. It costed all of us about 80 Euros (second class coach), and the train ride lasted for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The best thing: it was another first for the kids. They were excited to experience the long-haul train ride and had a grand time savoring Italy's countryside during the short trip. It was another memorable experience for them.

Waiting for AV9418, Rome Termini

Tip: If you have several hours to spare before your train ride, you can go to the Baggage Deposit section of the Rome Termini Station located near Bay 24 (signs abound, look for Deposito Baggali signs all around the station). They charge a minimal 5 Euro per luggage for the first five hours, which is a very cheap compromise than tugging your bags from one tourist site to another prior to checking in or after checking out of your hotel.