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5 Apps You Need to Download For Your Next Trip to Italy
When we all arrive at Fattoria on retreat, we share our travel stories around the table, and I am always amazed at how much I learn from everyone else about what apps they are using to travel. I know apps are being created all the time, so we will try to keep this post updated with the latest ones, but there are some that are so useful, I want you to know about them well before you show up in Tuscany for our first dinner together.
Rome2Rio is a travel planning website and app that helps you find the best way to get from one place to another. It searches across a wide range of transportation options including buses, trains, taxis, planes, and even walking. So for example, if you’re wondering about the best way to get to our retreat from wherever you might be traveling beforehand, you can use Rome2Rio to discover that the closest train station to us is Trequanda, and then you’ll be able to see which trains will get you to Trequanda in time for our retreat.
Speaking of trains, Trenitalia is the Italian Train App. If you create an account ahead of time, you will be able to easily search and purchase train tickets within the app while you’re in Italy. It’s much cheaper than using a third party train app like RailEurope.
Airalo is an app you can use to buy an eSim card for your phone from an Italian phone company. (It also works for other parts of Europe.) It’s usually around five to ten euros to get enough data to last you for your entire trip to Italy which is much cheaper than paying the daily international roaming costs from your carrier back home.
Radical Storage is an app that allows you to store your luggage wherever you are. So say you arrive in a city early in the morning but you can’t check into your airbnb until 4pm, you can use Radical Storage to find a place to safely stash your bag for around 5 euros for the day. It uses your location to find a hotel or a shop near you that is currently offering the service.
Ok, I know you probably already have Google Maps. It’s not a big secret, but did you know that you can download entire areas of maps for offline use. So even if you don’t have service or your phone is on airplane mode, you can still find your way. Whenever I visit a city, I download the map ahead of time on my phone, including the spots saved that I know I want to visit.
Here are the steps for how to do this:
On Android:
Open the Google Maps app.
Tap your profile picture or initial in the top right corner.
Select Offline maps.
Tap Select your own map.
Zoom and pan around to select the area you want to download. The size of the area is limited, so you may need to download multiple sections for larger areas.
Tap Download.
The map will be downloaded to your device and will be available for offline use.
On iPhone or iPad:
Open the Google Maps app.
Tap your profile picture or initial in the top right corner.
Select Settings.
Select Offline maps.
Tap Select your own map.
Zoom and pan around to select the area you want to download. The size of the area is limited, so you may need to download multiple sections for larger areas.
Tap Download.
The map will be downloaded to your device and will be available for offline use.
Here are some additional tips:
You can download up to 20 custom offline maps at a time.
Downloaded maps can be used for up to 30 days before they expire.
You can update your downloaded maps to get the latest information or delete downloaded maps to make space on your phone.
Happy traveling + hope to see you soon in Bella Italia!