The free travel apps you can't live without

For those of us with smartphones, we're positively deluged with app opportunities claiming to lighten our luggage load. No need for maps, phrasebooks, calculators and cameras. Luckily, our friends at Silver Travel Advisor have sorted out the best of the bunch so you don't have to make do with any duds that don't deliver. Here's to making travelling A LOT easier... 

Google Translate effortlessly knocks down any language barriers. Simply type the word out in English and an instant translation appears in your chosen language. Take a photo of a menu and hey presto, <or should we say hei presyo!>, the English materialises. Best of all, speak into the microphone and your own personal translator communicates what you want to say. Magic, free, and easy (magic, gratis, facile).

TripCase gives you a handy place to organise and plan all your trips. Ideal for creating travel itineraries. The app also keeps you up-to-date with flight alerts, weather forecasts and seat maps.

GNotes allows you to write down notes on your phone and add photos you’ve taken using the camera - fantastic for jotting things down whilst exploring and creating a diary to look back on when you're back home. 

CityMaps2Go is a useful travel app for navigating your way through a new city and bookmarking the places you'd like to visit, which you'll then be able to access even when you're offline. All your bookmarked places will be stored in a handy list, so you'll be able to find them when the urge to travel hits you again.

SwiftKey is essentially a predictive text feature. As you type it has an uncanny way of anticipating what you want to say and offering  guesses as to the correct word. Typing accurately on your phone becomes easy – particularly useful when typing on GNotes. 

Timely Alarm Clock is the perfect travel partner to accompany you on a coach tour – the time zone automatically updates, so you won’t oversleep and wake up with the remainder of the party already off enjoying the itinerary! 

Photo Editor is a photo editing app that allows you to easily perfect your holiday snaps. There are a number of enhancements available; from eliminating red eye, to eliminating those other pesky tourists who get in the way of that stunning beauty spot. 

TuneIn Radio is a great app to use whilst relaxing in your hotel, allowing you remarkably clear reception to a host of internet radio stations all around the world. Additionally, there are a huge number of interesting podcasts you can download and listen to whilst on the move.

Army Knife is a very modern take on a traditional travel essential. It has a variety of useful gadgets, including a torch and a magnifying glass - perfect for examining the bar bill at the end of your stay.

XE Currency is a very accessible currency converter that automatically updates to reflect world rates. This allows you to easily and reliably work out the cost of your purchases in pounds, plus interestingly reveals just how much it costs to buy money at foreign exchanges.

MortPlayer Audio Books makes long journeys enjoyable. It allows you to listen to audio books with real flexibility; you can quickly and easily backtrack if you doze off and wake up to find the murder has been solved, and even set the book to stop after a certain point when listening at night.

Flower Battery Indicator clearly shows you how much battery you have left – useful to make sure you won't be left with no phone after enjoying all of these apps!

That's it - a whole suitcase of freebies to enhance your holiday, fitted into a slender device you can slip into your pocket. For a wealth of information about holidays and travel, especially for over 50s, do visit the Silver Travel Advisor website and also check out our Travel index.

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Images: Shutterstock