travel
Summer is in full swing, and that means one thing — it’s time to travel! Remember how people used to prepare for trips? Buying pocket guidebooks and phrasebooks, bombarding all our well-traveled friends with questions: “What should I see?”, “How much do tours cost?”, “And how do I get a SIM card?“.
These days, the world has changed. You can plan a comfortable trip while lounging on your sofa with a smartphone in hand — or even while waiting at the airport gate. All you need do is download the right apps. In this guide, we’ll help you prep both yourself and your phone for your journey:
- How to find your bearings in a new place?
- How to stay connected?
- How to get around comfortably?
- How to enjoy the city like a local?
- How to find good food?
- How to travel safely?
How to find your bearings in a new place?
Sure, you could buy a paper map in advance, but it’s much easier to download a few mapping apps. Yes, a few — don’t rely on just one.
Google Maps. An absolute must-have for any traveler. Plan routes and find nearby hotels, cafes, currency exchanges, and attractions. Read folks’ reviews for insider knowledge on the best spots (and the ones to avoid). Google Maps is every traveler’s digital Swiss Army knife — useful for a ton of different things (as long as you’ve downloaded offline maps in advance or have an internet connection).
Organic Maps. If you’re going somewhere beyond the reach of mobile networks, offline maps are your best bet. You can download a detailed map of your destination before your trip. It includes everything you’d find in Google Maps — restaurants, shops, transport stops — just without user ratings and reviews.
One standout feature is route planning for walking, biking, and hiking. You can even switch to a topographic view to see elevation changes — great for mountainous terrain or outdoor adventures.
Guru Maps. Among tourists, this app is known as “the king of navigation” — and for good reason. With Guru Maps you can venture far off the grid without getting lost. It’s made for finding hiking trails, routes through the wilderness, even swamp-trekking — perfect for when Google Maps and Organic Maps find no route at all.
Like the other two, Guru Maps is free to use, but there’s also a paid Pro version. This lets you download unlimited maps and create enough pins and GPS tracks for even the most hardcore traveler.
How to stay connected?
Offline apps are great, but pre-downloaded information alone isn’t always enough. Especially in big cities, it’s essential to stay online. There are a few ways to do this.
eSIM. Get a local SIM card, or better yet, an eSIM. You can use the Kaspersky eSIM Store app to find and activate affordable local data plans — no roaming fees or plastic SIM cards needed.
It’s simple: install Kaspersky eSIM Store, choose your destination, and buy a data plan that suits your needs. Along with the data package, you’ll receive your free eSIM — simply install it in your device in a couple of clicks. Later you can top up your eSIM for the same or different destinations with more great plans from local operators. And you’re not limited to just one country at a time — if you’re traveling across several countries, choose a regional plan or even get global coverage in 122 countries for constant connection.
eSIMs from Kaspersky eSIM Store don’t include a phone number — they only support data transfer. But your regular SIM stays in your device, so you can still receive texts and calls. Of course, you don’t need to answer roaming calls — but you can see who contacted you and respond via messenger using your eSIM data.
The cool thing is that you can set up eSIMs in advance, including the date your data plan will activate. Kaspersky eSIM Store offers both expiring plans (valid for 30 days in most countries) and non-expiring ones where unused gigabytes are saved for your next trip.
eSIMs and related services are provided by our tech partner BNESIM Limited. For more on all the benefits of eSIMs, check out our blog post: Internet on the go with Kaspersky eSIM Store
Mobile operator app. If you still plan to use roaming from your usual operator, be sure to install their app to monitor your data use, enable roaming options, and top up.
However, there’s a downside here: roaming usually costs much more than using an eSIM from Kaspersky eSIM Store. Yes, some providers offer special plans like unlimited messaging or map access, but relying on them could backfire in a crucial moment. For example, what if you’re in a small town where Google Maps’ timetables for public transportation aren’t up to date? You’ll need to look for an alternative transport app or take a completely different route. That could mean using a search engine — which can be painfully expensive on roaming data.
How to get around comfortably?
This is where specialized apps come to the rescue — reliable in big cities and helpful even in small towns where you could otherwise get stuck.
Moovit. An app to help you navigate public transport almost anywhere in the world. It sources real-time data from transport providers — including private companies — so seasoned travelers trust Moovit in cities with a well-developed public transit system. But don’t expect it to tell you exactly when a local bus is going to arrive in a tiny remote village. In such cases, it’s best to rely on taxis.
Uber. If you’ve ever taken a taxi, there’s a good chance you already have Uber on your phone. It’s one of the world’s biggest ride-hailing platforms: just enter your destination, choose a rate, and wait for your driver. Simple and intuitive — but there’s a catch: Uber isn’t available everywhere. You’ll have no trouble getting a ride in North America, Europe, and parts of Asia, but elsewhere your best bet is often a local taxi app.
- Yandex Go. Great for rides in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Serbia, and Uzbekistan.
- DiDi. Use this app in China, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, and the Dominican Republic.
- Grab. The go-to ride-hailing app for Southeast Asia: Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
- Careem. Ideal for travel in Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, and the UAE.
Bonus: InDrive is a unique app that lets you name your price for a ride and choose a driver. Available in 48 countries.
How to enjoy a city like a local?
Sometimes you only have a few hours or a couple of days to explore a huge city. So how do you quickly decide what to see and where to go? Previously, you could find such answers on Foursquare — but what now?
Visit a City. According to its developers, this app covers more than 3000 cities worldwide. Choose free mini-guides, buy tickets to museums and attractions, or book tours. With just a few clicks, you can plan a trip — say, two days in Istanbul — and get a detailed itinerary down to the minute.
Many major cities now offer their own travel apps — so check those out too. For a Thames-side stroll, try Visit London; if it’s mosques and markets you’re after, check Istanbul Tourist Pass; and if you’ve always dreamed of seeing Park Güell, use Hola Barcelona.
ChatGPT. Yes, artificial intelligence can help here too, creating an itinerary for any city on Earth and offering it in a neat PDF or spreadsheet. Just bear in mind that AI can’t always account for real-world factors like traffic or opening hours — things that are kept up-to-date by real people in specialized apps like Visit a City.
But for general plans, ChatGPT works wonderfully. Just tell it something like, “Plan a 2-day trip to Istanbul for two people in their 30s. The pace should be relaxed and must include Galata Tower, a San Sebastián cheesecake stop, and a Bosphorus cruise. Break it down by time, considering traffic.”
How to find good food?
If you’re just looking for a quick bite while exploring, Google Maps or any other map app will do the trick — as long as you’ve got an internet connection, you’ll see nearby food options in seconds. But if you’re after something more authentic or sophisticated, there are dedicated apps for that.
The MICHELIN Guide. Not sure where to eat and want a guaranteed good spot? Pick any restaurant in this guide — and you can even book a table right in the app. A common myth is that Michelin is only for expensive fine dining, but that’s not true anymore: today the guide includes plenty of local gems with reasonable prices and great service. So whether you’re a foodie or just want a reliable recommendation, the MICHELIN Guide has something for every budget.
TheFork. This popular app makes sure no tourist goes hungry — at least in Europe. It’s packed with everything you need: addresses, menus, cuisine types, food photos, average prices, real reviews, and the ability to book a table directly. Sounds ideal, but as usual there’s a catch: TheFork only works in certain major European cities — for now: Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Geneva, Brussels, Stockholm, Marseille, and Bordeaux.
Local apps. Just like with taxis, every country — or even every city — tends to have its own version of TheFork. So it’s worth doing a little research to see what app is popular at your destination. For example, in the United States, you’ll want Resy and Yelp, while in China, Dianping is the go-to (if your Chinese is ok: it’s only available in Chinese).
Bonus: Flush Toilet Finder. This handy app helps you locate public toilets all over the world — a perfect companion to your restaurant guide. While general maps might also show toilet locations, Flush Toilet Finder provides extra details such as wheelchair accessibility, whether access codes or keys are required, and how much it costs.
How to travel safely?
Connecting to the first open Wi-Fi spot you find is not a great idea — and neither is storing a passport scan in your photo gallery. Here’s how to add a dash of digital safety to your perfect trip mix:
Obsidian. You’ll probably want to plan your trip in advance — and most likely, you’ll try to do so using the standard Notes app on your phone. That’s not the safest option, and sometimes not the most convenient either when it comes to storing important information. Consider Obsidian — it protects your notes with end-to-end encryption and syncs them across your devices. But there are other similar apps out there, which we wrote about in our article Keep it under wraps: encrypted note-taking apps and to-do lists.
Kaspersky Password Manager. Store photos or PDFs of your passports, tickets, vouchers, and other important documents in secure storage — they can only be decrypted and viewed after entering a main password that only you know. At the same time, you can easily add or open any document on any device — the app is cross-platform and constantly syncs information between your smartphone and computer. In addition, our password manager can store two-factor authentication tokens. Remember that traditional one-time passwords may not arrive via SMS while roaming, or they may be severely delayed. Take a couple of minutes at home to configure your frequently used apps and websites so that 2FA codes are generated in Kaspersky Password Manager instead of being sent via SMS.
Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection. If you’ll be connecting to unfamiliar Wi-Fi networks often during your trip, your best bet is to protect your connection. You can do this with the help of one of the fastest VPNs in the world. Plus, VPN also lets you change your phone’s location in advance — so your search results become local! That way, even from home, you can plan visits to the events that locals actually go to, not just tourist traps.
Wherever you’re going, remember — happiness is only real when shared. Stay connected with Kaspersky eSIM Store and share your favorite travel moments with your loved ones.
What else to read before your trip:
