Six apps that I always update before leaving home

Long gone are the days when we had to look at paper maps and tote paper guide books with us when we travel. While I still haven’t been able to leave paperback novels in favour of an e-reader, gimme the electronic version of guidebooks and maps any day of the week!

These are the apps I use again and again when I am travelling through Italy. Some are free, some have a charge, but all of them are ones that will help you make the most of your holiday.

1. GOOGLE TRANSLATE: If I could only recommend one app to you, this would be it. Unless you are fluent in the language of your travel destination, it’s the hands-down winner. Why? Because it has a function where you can take a photo of something – a menu, a sign, packaging for something you are thinking of purchasing, and it will translate it. While the translations aren’t always 100% on point, they are usually close enough that you can figure out what is being said. I always put it on my home screen when I am travelling to a non-english speaking country so that I have easy access to it.
   Price: Free
   Get it: APPLE | ANDROID
   
   
2. OSTERIE 2024: If you are ready to eat some of the best meals of your life from restaurants that adhere to the slow food ethos of fresh, local ingredients, then you need this app. Published by the Slow Food Presidium, a society that gate keeps the quality and adherence to the slow food values of the entries, their recommendations are always spot on. I have eaten at many restaurants featured in the books over the years and have never, ever been disappointed. In fact, for many years I spent upwards of $50 to purchase/ship the yearly updated book before each Italian holiday because I valued it’s recommendations that much. However, they are now available in digital format – with English translation!
   Price: $9.99
   Get it: APPLE | ANDROID
   
   
3. IL METEO: For whatever reason, the apple weather app and other North American apps seem to have issues accurately giving the weather forecast in Tuscany. My local friends always give a shake of the head when guests talk about a bad upcoming forecast seen on one of them. Instead, they put more trust this app, which covers the entire country.
   Price: FREE
   Get it: APPLE | ANDROID
   
   
4. GAMBERO ROSSO – PIZZERIE D’ITALIA: Just like the slow foods Osterie guide above, this guidebook is one that I always used to purchase a paper copy of before an upcoming Italian trip because my holiday was too precious to spend time eating subpar pizza, ya know what i mean? My favourite pizzeria in the whole world (La Pergola in Radicondoli) has earned top marks in this guidebook, and they are the ones who first turned me onto it. The only drawback? The e-book is only available in Italian. However, download google translate (#1 above) then, take a screen shot of the pizzeria you are considering, allow google translate to access your photos, select the screen shot of the guidebook page, and it will translate it for you! Of note: the also have guide books for gelato, restaurants, wines, pasticceri, etc. Get the free Gambero Rosso app, then search inside the app for each guide book to purchase them individually.
   Price: $6.99
   Get it: APPLE | ANDROID
   
   
5. TRENITALIA: This is the free app from the Italian national train system. On it, you can find pricing, schedules, and purchase tickets. It is worth its weight in gold when you are trying to schedule your day and want to know what time the best train connections are. One thing to note is that they only accept the Italian version of city or train station names. So, for instance Milano Centrale, or Firenze S.M. Novella.
   Price: Free
   Get it: APPLE | ANDROID
   
   
6. FLUSH: Ever have to use the bathroom, but not know where the closest public WC is? Let this app come to the rescue. Although they don’t always have all of the available toilets in a city listed, it’s better than flying blind when you’ve got to go!
   Price: Free
   Get it: APPLE | ANDROID
   

Hopefully these apps will make your next trip to Italy more tasty, less hectic, and allow you to feel more confident if you don’t speak Italian! If you have a favorite app that you use in Italy, I invite you to share it in the comments.