In the past, backpackers were often left to their own devices. This has always been one of the main goals of backpacking. Switching off, getting to know new countries and cultures, spontaneously changing travel routes, and all this with the help of travel guides and the experiences of other travelers. Thanks to increasing digitalization, it is now possible to use a variety of apps to make traveling much easier. When I'm backpacking in Germany, I use a few apps to make my travel easier. I would like to briefly present these to you below.
Timetable
While in many countries, especially in South America, I have made the experience that you can't trust public transportation when it comes to punctuality and that you should rather arrive at the bus station two hours before departure, this is much easier in the industrialized countries. Public transport is very reliable and for the most part very punctual. This simplifies planning and makes for much less waiting time. The reliability helps a lot when planning itineraries. With the Timetable app, you can view all public transportation options and their departure times, and easily plan complex routes with multiple transfers from your phone or tablet. I also find it especially helpful that the app is constantly updated and shows if there are delays.
Tripadvisor
As the name suggests, Tripadvisor helps you plan your trip and summarizes the most important information about what to do. The website, or rather the app, has some information for each major town. In addition to the best sightseeing spots, here are among other things the best activities and the best restaurants ranked by different categories. The ranking is based on ratings from other users and therefore represents the general opinion. These reviews are quite helpful and it is worth to have a look at the individual comments to find out more about a planned excursion destination.
Pizza.en
While I often prefer to eat in a restaurant or to cook together with other travelers in a hostel when traveling in foreign countries, there are other options in countries like Germany. Eating out at a restaurant every day can be much more expensive here than in most other countries in the world. When the hostel doesn't have an adequate place to cook or the travelers in the hostel don't feel like cooking themselves, we order more and more often at pizza.en. The selection of dishes is now very large and it is usually much cheaper to order food than to eat in a restaurant.
Groupon
Groupon is a website or app that aggregates discount offers from third parties and offers them to customers. Here you can not only find current offers from fashion stores and restaurants, but also find current leisure offers in the region. From punting on the Neckar to tickets to bowling, I always find current and interesting offers here.
What does it look like for you? Do you use apps when you travel in Germany or the world?? And if so which?