Thinking of going on a culinary vacation? Here’s a great tip that might just save you the hassle of planning! Put your phone to good use and load up a couple of apps to make vacation planning a smooth affair!
At BookCulinaryVacations.com we love to experiment with various apps to make our lives easier. Here, we are sharing with you some of the most practical and useful ones we found out there. The great news is that the apps on our list are used to plan any type of trips, whether you want to book a culinary vacation or you are looking to try a beginner yoga course.
Find Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants (and more): Happy Cow
Happy Cow is an app that allows you to easily find vegan and vegetarian restaurants, as well stores near your location (or anywhere, if you run a search). It gives you an indication about the price, too, so you can easily plan around your budget. While some cities are heaven for health-conscious travelers, many others can be quite challenging. Try out Happy Cow to stick to your vegan diet while traveling!
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android, iOS
Keep track of your expenses: Expensify
An important part of planning a culinary vacation includes keeping track of your expenses and Expensify does a wonderful job at that. There are ways to automate adding the expenses, but you can also add them manually. The reports are easy to create and can be as detailed as you want them to be. An alternative is Google Spreadsheets, especially if you prefer to keep a simple list of expenses and don’t need fancy reports.
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android, iOS
Find your Flights: Google Flights
Thanks to its recent updates, Google Flights is your best bet when it comes to searching for flights for your vacation. Not only does it tell you what dates are more affordable, but you can also set alerts to track the price changes. There are a lot of other search engines out there, each with their own strength (and weaknesses). If you are on iOS, Skyscanneris a good alternative.
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android
Know the money: XE Currency
We don’t always think about exchange rates when we pay by card. However, sometimes we need the info on the fly and this app makes it super easy to find what you need. It loads the info onto the device so you can access it later without an Internet connection.
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android, iOS
Know your accommodation: TripAdvisor
You don’t want to take chances with your stay, so once you choose that perfect pizza making vacation , you may want to take a look at what people are saying about that hotel or villa. Yes, TripAdvisor is a bit controversial, but here’s a rule of thumb to keep in mind: if most of the reviews are positive, you can be rest assured that you’ll likely not run into any issues. If the majority of comments lean on the negative side, you may want to look for other options.
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android, iOS
Know your destination: Wikipedia
There are a lot of Travel Guides out there, covering many things to do all over the world. We really like Wikipedia as it not only suggests places to visit but also gives you an idea on how to best get to that particular destination.
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android, iOS
Understand the language: Google Translate
It may have its pretty funny fails, but Google Translate is useful in many cases and particularly if you choose a culinary vacation in Hungary and English is not that common when you set out to explore. The app helps you read signs, street names as well as translate some common phrases.
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android, iOS
Keep it all in one place: TripIt
The free tool allows you to create trips and adds all the details you want to them; forward your flight itinerary to TripIt (or add it manually), add your accommodation reservations and activities. On one page you can see every detail related to your culinary vacation. An excellent alternative is the new Google Trips app, which also keeps tab of your reservations and it also offers ideas for things to do.
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android, iOS
Keep tabs on the weather: The Weather Channel
There’s nothing more annoying than not being prepared for the weather at the destination. While we cannot influence the weather, we can certainly find out what to expect. Plug in the location, run a search and then you can view the forecast about 3 weeks in advance. An alternative is Accuweather, which displays forecast up to three months in advance, but remember that the further in advance you check, the less accurate it will be. As a rule of thumb, check the forecast 3 days in advance of your culinary vacation for couples, for the duration of your stay, and then 3 days before you leave, as well as your destination back home.
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android, iOS
Keep your notes tidy: Evernote
Keep all your notes in one place and super easy to access with Evernote. We rave about it, whether it’s for planning our trips or keeping an eye on our tasks. The best part of it is that once synced, you can access the content without Internet access.
Cost: Free
Platform: web, Android, iOS
