JerLon

I used a bunch of Apps for my trip to London and Rome. I thought some of you might want a list and a brief review of those Apps.

I have an iPhone 4s on Verizon. There is a small fee to use the phone internationally and then it is priced $.99 a minute for phone calls to the US. For Data, I chose to use a $25 plan for 100 MB. This automatically gives you another 100 MB for $25 each time you go over. I was careful to turn cellular data off and on each time I needed it. I was a bit careless with it a few times and went through about 125 MB's in a 17 day trip.

Used in London and Rome:

British Air App - Useless
American Airlines App - Useless
TripAdvisor - Good App. We all use TripAdvisor, I am sure. Just a heads up, their main app is only available for online use.
CityMaps2Go - Great Maps for offline use
Rick Steves Audio Guides - Didn't end up using during the trip but they were great to get acclimated prior to travel
GateGuru - Great for staying up to date on flight information - Gates, departure times, airport maps, reviews, tips, lists of restaurants (and where they are..before/after security).
TripAdvisor City Guides - These were used a lot. This app allows specific cities to be downloaded for offline use and it has a built in feature to point you towards a site using GPS. I used this app frequently.
XE Currency - Provides real time currency values with a great calculator to determine exchange rates. I used to to ensure my banks and credit cards were using the right rates
Capital One App - I am sure lots of us use Capital One as they have no foreign transaction fee so I'll just mention that this app was great. I could check it following any purchase and see the pending transaction was accurate. Worked as expected.


Used in London:
London2Go - Provided good lists of sites. Provided nice Wikipedia based background information.
Tube Deluxe - Best tube/rail app I could find. Uses data (to get up to date rail and train tables) but will provide the best point to point directions of anything I could find. Allowed me to program variables (avoid buses, walk x length maximum...) and then get detailed directions. I used this constantly. Also has general tube and rail maps for offline use. As an example, I could say that I wanted to leave Kent House Station and Get to Westminster Abbey by 10 AM tomorrow and it would tell me which train I needed to catch and then provide detailed directions for each step of the way. It was VERY accurate and never did us wrong.
Fodors London Travel Guide - Good Basic information on the city


Used in Rome:
Eat Rome - Provided detailed restaurant information that is sortable by price/distance...
Rome Foodie - Provided detailed restaurant information that is sortable by price/distance...
Google Translate - Uses internet connection but was useful in a few positions where we either needed a specific word quickly or wanted to prepare using wifi
English to Italian Translator - Had offline translator capabilities for basic phrases

davispeets

Great review - thanks!

cybertraveler

So helpful! Thank you-I've been listening to the Rick Steves guides to prepare for our upcoming trip, and I think they're quite good. I'm familiar with some of these, but it's good to hear their limitations and possibilities from someone who has used them.

sundriedpachino

Thanks for your reviews, JerLon, did you prefer Rome Foodie or Eat Rome, or is there any difference?

cybertraveler

I've just downloaded a lot of maps in preparation for our upcoming trip. Thanks again!

JerLon

Eat Rome is a better made and easier to navigate app. However, it also contained more pricey and difficult to find/get in restaurants.

I guess it's six to one, half dozen to another.

sundriedpachino

Thanks for the feedback, that helps.

sarge56

I've created my own Rome Restaurants google map. I've added restaurants I've been to, as well as many recommended by trusted posters here (ekscrunchy, maitaitom, etc).

If anyone is interested, I'll gladly share. Just send me an email to paulam910@hotmail.

You might also be interested in making your own maps. Google is easy to use. I've also made one for myself for places at the top of my local list, ie. markets, shopping, etc. I've made a map for Venice restaurants too. However, if you tried to use any standard map site for Venice, you'll find it is often inaccurate. (Verified by my last Venice apartment hostess.)

Anyway... thanks for the app info. I love my Rick Steves app, and I'm now downloading GateGuru.

jane1144

Thank you so much for this info...exactly what I need!!