Top Road Trip Apps for Family Travel
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Gone are the days when road trippers picked up a map and just started driving. In our high-tech modern world we have everything we need to plan, map, and have a blast on a road trip in the palms of our hands. Tap into some of the best travel resources available with these top road trip apps for family travel.
1. Waze
This app helps you check traffic conditions, road hazards, and more along your driving route by tapping in to a community of other drivers in your area. It also acts as a map to your destination and has voice-guided navigation .
2. Gas Buddy
This app is the best way to find the best prices for fueling up. Compare gas stations along your route or type in a zip code to compare gas prices in another area. Gas Buddy gives you gas station addresses and a map to help you get there.
3. iExit
Find out what’s coming up – restaurants, gas stations, lodging, shopping, and even campgrounds – at each exit you approach. iExit acts as a digital road sign for every exit near you and taps into your phone’s GPS to show you where to go.
4. State Plate Bingo
No roadtrip is complete without games! Use an app like State Plate Bingo to have a little fun on a long trip. If you’re looking for more ways to pass the time while driving, you may want to check out this list of road trip game apps on Babble.
5. Yelp
Yelp is a do-it-all app for finding shopping outlets, restaurants, and services and seeing reviews to find the best of the best. You can also use Yelp to get addresses, phone numbers, hours of operation, and even make reservations.
6. Hotel Tonight
When you hit that road trip wall and need to hole-up for the night, Hotel Tonight is the app that can get you a place to stay in a hurry. Hotels share their last-minute availability at discounted rates so you can get a great price, but you can also book a hotel up to 7 days out.
7. USA Rest Stops
It may not make for good conversation, but everyone’s gotta go sometime. Find rest stops along highways and interstates and avoid stop-on-the-shoulder bathroom breaks. It can tap into your GPS and guide you if needed. This app may be especially helpful if you have kids!
8. TripAdvisor City Guides
Get information on local hotspots and fun things to do, plus restaurants and hotels. Any information that is available for the city, including fun facts and how to get from one place to another, can be found within the app. City Guides can also help you create a kind of travel journal on your phone – just check in and take a photo at each of your stops.
9. TripIt
Keep track of every aspect of your trip with TripIt. Compile information and times for hotels, dinner reservations, flights, and other stops along your route. You can also access maps and directions to get to your next destination and sync your plans with others.
10. Oh Ranger! Parkfinder
If you’re looking to visit national and state parks and experience the great outdoors, this is the app for you. The Oh Ranger! Parkfinder app has information, directions, overviews, activity descriptions, phone numbers, weather, and more for every park in the USA.
11. Free Wi-Fi Finder
Even a low-tech family can use a little free Wifi now and again, and this app will find it for you. Wherever you are, Free Wi-Fi Finder will use your location to give you a list of the nearest hot spots..
12. Animoto
No road trip need be forgotten with Animoto. The app lets you take photos and videos from your phone and turn them into a movie complete with introductions, captions, music and more. This one is a pricier app, but it might be worth it to share videos with family and friends as you travel!
Kayla Lilly is a photographer, writer, wife, and mama making a house a home in eastern Idaho. She met her mister while working at an amusement park and married him a year later after deciding there was no way to live without him. The amusement has continued as they’ve added four kids and a passel of pets to their lives while finishing college and starting a photography business. Drawing inspiration from the whirlwinds of marriage, parenthood, and the media, Kayla blogs at Utterly Inexperienced, and spends the rest of her time chasing chickens, organizing junk drawers, diapering toddlers, and photographing everyone willing to step in front of her lens.
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