14 Must-Have iPhone, iPad Travel Apps

I don’t know about you, but I’m literally scratching the days off my calendar until my vacation kicks in. I’ve had lots of help planning my upcoming escape thanks to my iPhone and iPad, and I plan to fully employ both in the pursuit of leisure while I’m away. I frequently use and recommend the following 14 iOS apps for planning, taking and enjoying travel — whether it’s for pleasure or, if you must, business.

$45 a Year

Evernote is the go-to notes organizer for iOS, partly because it works on so many platforms — Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. A number of third-party apps also integrate with Evernote. One area where Evernote really shines is trip planning. You can use the app to create packing lists, mark up photos and PDFs, and clip Web articles about your destination. And if you and your travel companions use Evernote Premium, you can collaborate on a shared notebook related to your trip. That’s a whole lot easier than sending pictures and email back and forth.

$10; free with newer iOS devices

Evernote is great, but some people prefer planning trips with apps they already know and use, such as Apple’s Numbers spreadsheet program. Among this gorgeous app’s templates is “Travel Planner,” which includes worksheets for “Itinerary,” “Reservations” and “Packing List.” You can add photos and additional tabs as needed. The worksheets are linked, so that items you add to the Reservations worksheet also show up in your Itinerary. Plus, using iCloud, your travel planning spreadsheets sync across your iOS devices, Macs and with iWork.com.

Free

When I visit my friends and family in the South, I’m on the highway a lot. That means I’m often hungry and wondering where I’ll find my next Bojangles’ or Chick-fil-A fix. The iExit app is just perfect for these types of desperate situations. It displays road exits on maps and gives you details on what you’ll find if you pull off, including food, gas, lodging and medical facilities. The app also tells you which way to turn after you exit the highway in search of a specific eatery or other spot, as well as where to find Wi-Fi and other useful information. iExit is also optimized for iPads, so it is an ideal app for road trippers with cellular/GPS-enabled iPad minis.

$10

There are better-looking GPS apps, but CoPilot Premium USA is the app for you if you need offline turn-by-turn directions in places where cellular coverage is spotty. The app lets you download maps and points of interest to your iPhone/iPod touch. There’s also a separate iPad app ($13), which turns your iPad mini with 4G into a GPS device. (Wi-Fi-only iPads lack GPS chips.) CoPilot also makes separate apps for locations outside of the United States, so you can avoid huge international data-roaming fees by downloading maps.

Free

If you seek a single app for converting currency, measurements, temperatures and other stuff, try Convert Any Unit Free. The app performs unit conversion quickly, thanks to its autocomplete feature. You type the first letter of the unit, and the app does the rest. There’s a bookmark feature for saving frequently used conversions, too. The ads, which perpetually loiter at the bottom of the screen, are a bit annoying, but the app is free and optimized for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Though the similar The Converted app ($3) hasn’t been updated since the fall of 2013 (as of this writing), it’s a good option for those traveling overseas because it doesn’t need a data connection to work its magic.