You’re off on your work or study placement abroad, whether you’re going on the Erasmus+ programme, or the UK’s equivalent, The Turing Scheme – you’re bound to have quite an adventure! This week, TravelEdventures (your favourite Erasmus+ and Turing Scheme partner) explores some of the best downloadable travel apps – essential for enhancing your mobility abroad. These apps will help you to get around with ease, to communicate with others when you don’t understand their language and to keep an eye on the weather too. Of course, if you travel with us, we organise a full itinerary, so you get to explore your new city while making lifelong friendships.
OK – nearly everyone knows what Google Maps is, but have any of you used it before? It’s essential for any type of travel and will get you around quickly. It also pinpoints exactly where you are and shows you where to go to get to your desired destination. Furthermore, it displays time and route on foot, by car or other means of travel. It’s available on iOS and Android (on computer and mobile devices too). It’s available with maps of over 220 countries and what’s more, it’s free! You can even use it when you’re offline – no need for internet access as it already has offline maps ready to browse.
OK – not a travel app as such but really important if you want to avoid downpours or you’re wondering whether to pack your sunscreen and sun hat. AccuWeather offers pretty accurate weather forecasts in real time. View the weather exactly where you are (over 1,000 locations offered) – and what it will be like when you reach your destination. This app shows hourly weather, rainfall, temperature, hay fever alerts, UV rays, etc. It even gives you alerts just in case something drastic changes! Available on all mobile devices, download it from your device’s store.
For when you don’t want to travel on-foot and you’d rather not rely on public transport – download the Uber app for quick, convenient taxi rides. Simply load up the app and order a cab – whenever you want to. It’s cheap too (although don’t overuse it, remember, when travelling on an Erasmus+ or Turing Scheme placement, you are on a budget!). Plus, every driver gets rated so if you don’t like the rating, you don’t have to take the cab. Free to download and available on all devices, Android and iOS.
When you need to change up your currency, then you need a quality currency converter. Xe Currency is exactly that and it’s free to use. Just key in the money amount you want to convert and let the app do it for you, in split seconds. It works in real time, so you know when to change up your money to get the best rate. Suitable for all devices and free to download.
If you want to understand what someone’s saying and your language skills aren’t quite at a fluency level you need (they will improve during your time on your placement abroad), just have Google Translate handy. It even works with speech so offer it to the person who’s trying to talk to you and let them speak into the app, then the app tells you what they’re saying in your language. Of course, it works the other way around too – if you want to get your message across, just speak into it (or type into the box too). Available on all devices and free to use.
If you’re seeking an extraordinary adventure abroad, want to study, work and live in another city and you’re a student or learner, have you considered an Erasmus+ or Turing Scheme placement? We are the experts when it comes to organising these types of trips – with over 20 years of experience under our belt, you can feel complete confidence in TravelEdventures! Get in touch with our team by clicking here.