Travel apps are useful whether you’re going on a city break, touring or exploring nature on foot or by bike in Spain. Here are some of the coolest and most indispensable ones, many of which can also be used when traveling in other countries.
Find your way in Spain with maps and GPS
Familiar Google Maps is useful in Spain for finding your way to your hotel, restaurant or monument.
Before you travel, you can create your own map on Google My Maps where you can pin museums, churches, restaurants and shops onto the map for easy use on the go. I often use this when traveling because it gives a good overview of where places are in relation to each other.
I also use Google Maps to find the fastest and easiest route by public transportation.
When I rent a car in Spain, I also use Google Maps as a GPS.
You can download an area from Google Maps that you can use offline, albeit from restricted areas.
Travel apps for transportation in Spain
You can easily and quickly travel between Spanish cities with high-speed trains (AVE) operated by the Spanish state railways Renfe. They’re also the ones you’ll need when traveling by local train.
I often use the app when traveling around Spain. It’s easy to buy a ticket, even at the last minute, on the app where you also store the ticket. The app is in both English and Spanish.
If you need a taxi, Freenow is a popular app in Spain that I’ve grown quite fond of myself. Freenow is German-owned, but can be used in several European countries.
You can order your taxi with a single click. You’ll be notified when you can expect the taxi to arrive and then you can link your credit card in the app and pay with a swipe.
The best app for hiking and biking routes in Spain
If you like active vacations and want to explore Spain’s nature or cities by bike or on foot, a good travel app for Spain’s many hiking and cycling routes is useful.
AllTrails is the app where you’ll find hiking and running routes, road cycling routes, mountain biking routes and climbing spots. You’ll also find tips for sights on the routes, info on difficulty levels and user reviews.
AllTrails has won the award for best iPhone app and you can use it worldwide.
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Travel apps for experiences in Spain
In recent years, GetYourGuide has become one of the largest providers of travel experiences.
Here you can book entrance tickets so you can skip the line when visiting the Alhambra, La Sagrada Familia, Guggenheim or Prado Museum.
You can also choose from a wide range of experiences such as hiking and sailing tours, tapas and cooking classes, children’s experiences, day trips to different cities and attractions, and guided street art tours.
I use GetYourGuide myself when I go to museums or test a guided tour.
Disclaimer: You may have noticed that in several articles I refer to GetYourGuide with links and experience ads?
Yes, I get a small commission if you use my links here in the travel magazine and book through GetYourGuide (no extra cost for you, but you support my work).
I get no commission when you use the app.
I recommend it because I genuinely think it’s good and saves time.
Hope it provides transparency for you as a reader.
GuruWalk is a travel app where you can find free guided tours in several cities in Spain.
Guided tours are offered in both large and small Spanish cities, including.
Madrid, Málaga, Valencia, Cartagena, Burgos, Avila and Besalú.
The guided tours are free, but you are expected to tip the guide.
You can search for guided tours with themes such as neighborhoods, art, sights, food and secret places.
Download GetYourGuide
Download GuruWalk for iPhone and Android
Find the best Spanish restaurants near you
Spain is known for its hundreds of Michelin-starred restaurants, and with The MICHELIN Guide you can easily find the star restaurants. You can also book a table via the app.
Guía Repsol is the Spanish answer to the Michelin Guide, and with it on your mobile, you can find your way to many gastronomic experiences in Spain. Guía Repsol awards suns to restaurants on a scale from one to three suns.
Guia Repsol has maps and built-in GPS so you can view restaurants near you, and you can also search for specific restaurants, cities and areas. Guia Repsol also covers Portugal.
With the World of Mouth app you can find restaurants with and without stars and suns, from pizzerias to gourmet restaurants.
The recommendations come from gourmet experts and you can use the app worldwide.
Download The MICHELIN Guide
Download Guía Repsol
Download World of Mouth
App shows you where to refill your bottle with clean drinking water
The Closca app and reusable bottle was designed in Valencia and has won several design awards. The app is an ingenious invention that helps us care for the environment when we travel.
In the app you’ll find maps to fountains and other places in Spanish cities (and around the world) where you can tap clean drinking water. You can also measure how much you contribute to improving the environment.
The reusable – and stylish – stainless steel drinking bottle can keep your drinks both hot and cold. At the bottom of the bottle is a QR code so you can download the app.
I’m really happy with the bottle, which I use both traveling and at home, but you don’t have to buy a bottle. You can just use the one you have.
Tips from other travelers
With the popular TripAdvisor at your fingertips, you have access to millions of reviews of attractions, tours, restaurants, bars, cafes and hotels across Spain from other travelers. You can ask questions to other users and even review the places you visit and upload photos of them.
TripAdvisor gives you an overview of the most popular places in each Spanish city. However, be aware that TripAdvisor users are not always the most trustworthy reviewers. For one thing, users often only give top or bottom marks, and there are some fake reviews among them.
Travel apps that can translate in a hurry
Famous Google Translate is equally infamous for its, at times, highly creative translations, but if you’re in Spain and you don’t understand the language, the app can be an indispensable travel partner.
Not only can you type a text that it can translate to and from Spanish, but you can also take pictures of a Spanish text that Google will translate into Danish.
This is great when you don’t understand the menu or an important sign.
If you need help with a conversation, the app can translate for you on the fly.
This is useful when you need to ask for directions, for example.
The app can also simultaneously translate when you’re offline.
The new black is ChatGPT and it can also translate.
I use it myself to translate articles and I also use it to check my own translations.
Download Google Translate for iPhone and Android
Download ChatGPT for iPhone and Android
Learn Spanish before your vacation or on the go
¿Hablas español? A little Spanish goes a long way when you’re shopping at the market, eating tapas at a bar, or asking for directions in a small village far from the main road.
With the Duolingo app, you can easily learn Spanish. You’ll learn simple Spanish phrases and basic grammar in easy-to-understand English in short, themed lessons. As you complete the various tasks, you earn bonus points that you can use to buy additional tasks in the bonus shop.
Duolingo is structured in a playful, game-like way and is therefore also suitable for school-age children.
Apps to keep your travel budget in check
When the sun is shining and you’re drawn to one café terrace and cozy little shop after another, it’s good to keep your budget in check.
In the TravelSpend app, you can easily record your expenses and keep track of your spending. If you’re traveling together and sharing expenses, you can also easily see how much you each have to pay and transfer money to each other.
If, like me, you’re not an eagle at mental arithmetic, you may be familiar with the following situation: You’re in a Spanish shop and have fallen in love with a large ceramic bowl or a pile of delicacies. You might be able to add up the prices in Euros, but what do these delicacies actually cost in Danish kroner?
With Xe Currency Converter, you can always have a reliable currency converter at hand.
