I have no idea how my mother managed to plan any family vacation without the help of a smartphone. There were five people in our family, so the amount of thought and preparation was definitely not easy. See, my phone isn’t just for entertaining my kids through flight delays or the Are we there yet?! moments when we go on a family vacation. I use apps for every part of the trip-planning process, from scoring killer deals on flights to finding the best restaurant in a two-block radius when someone’s getting near a hunger-induced breakdown.
While it seems like every family vacation requires at least one new app to manage (like the awesome iTranslate we snagged for our trips to Japan and China last summer), there are a few essential apps I use pretty much every time we get ready to hit the road.
If you’re gearing up for your next grand adventure with your kiddos, consider downloading these apps to make your planning a whole lot simpler.
Top Apps for Planning (& Preparing for) Your Family Vacation
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Kayak
Kayak is always my go-to app for booking flights. It pulls data from other sites like Priceline and Expedia, so you can feel confident you’re getting the best deal. But it’s also ideal for checking to see if a vacation package you’re considering is a good price vs. a la carte, and can be a great all-in-one travel app with its itinerary tracker and currency converter.
Screenshot: Kayak -
Hipmunk
This flight and hotel booking app offers a little editorializing to help you find the best options for you. You’ll get an “agony index” for flights, to ensure you don’t end up wasting an entire day on multiple transfers. And the hotel listings offer reviews and information on how close the accommodations you’re considering are to top attractions and restaurants.
Screenshot: Hipmunk -
TripIt
When your travel plans become a little…ahem…complex, TripIt keeps it all together for you. For my last trip, the app automatically pulled all the confirmations and reservations out of my e-mails (five flights, five hotels!), and organized everything into an itinerary that was easy to follow and easily shared with my husband, too.
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TripList
After one too many times getting soaked at the hotel lobby shop for some essential we left at home (hello, $50 bottle of sunscreen), I became a big proponent of listmaking. TripList makes it easy for you to create customized to-do lists and packing lists that suit your travel plans, so you don’t leave home without—for instance—your passports. You can also share your honey-do list and packing list with your mate.
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Life360
Consider Life360 your essential stalker app if you intend to divide and conquer. The app tracks everyone in your crew, so you can hit the kiddie rides with your minis, and still easily see which terrifying coaster your teens are heading toward at any given moment.
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LiveTrekker
Leaving behind friends and family who love to live vicariously through your travels? Let them access your LiveTrekker, which automatically creates a multimedia journal for you by geotagging your photos, video, and audio. You can even share your travels easily via social media with a simple click. (Bonus? You’ll be able to remember exactly where you had that awesome adventure when you’re making recommendations for your friend who’s planning a similar vacation.)
Screenshot: LiveTrekker -
Waze
This handy app will help you minimize traffic jams, construction delays, and other road-trip woes; it uses real-time data and checkins to help you optimize your route, even as you’re traveling.
Screenshot: Waze -
ITranslate
You won’t get lost in translation with this app. Speak a phrase into the app, choose the language you want, then get the phrase translated in both written and spoken form. It’s a great way to learn a few essential phrases before the trip, and a great pocket translator when you’re at your destination. (It helped us get our leftovers wrapped up to go!)
Screenshot: iTranslate -
TripAdvisor
This is the ultimate review site for all things travel—you can use it to find everything from the right resort to the best activities and restaurants when you arrive. (And you can even book some attractions straight from the site!) Use the tools to limit reviews you see to only those from other families, so you can make sure that anything you’re considering is cool for kids.
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Roadtrippers
Make the road trip to your destination (almost) as fun as actually getting there with this essential app, which helps you find cool attractions just off of your chosen path (including filming locations from your favorite movies), and great road food so you can bypass the drive-thru.
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Yuggler
Make it easier to find the right activities for your crew with this parent-curated database of family-friendly ideas. You can sort based on weather and on your kids’ particular passions, so you know you’ll get a kid-approved idea for every day of your vacation.
Screenshot: Yuggler -
Agoda
Agoda’s absolutely essential for finding just the right hotel to book, with its gorgeous photos and customer reviews—and an additional discount on published rates.
Screenshot: Agoda
