![]() If I were to be very picky, I'd love to have train/bus bookings, to get an itinerary that syncs or exports to a Google Calendar, and to see weather info and currency conversion for the city I'm going to. I really loved seeing my plan so neatly organized and it was a joy to use such a simple-looking but also very powerful app.Ī few years ago, I had resigned to the fact that the perfect travel planning app for me doesn't exist, but well, here we are. With every trip planning app I had tried before, I always came to the same conclusion: "Just use Google Maps, Rita, it's not worth it." But as I roamed around Reims last weekend, I was surprised to notice that I was still hopping between Wanderlog and Maps, because everything was laid out much better in the former and I needed the directions from the latter. This gives me the flexibility that I've always wanted when trip planning: two distinct sections for things that are booked and immutable (itinerary) plus other interesting places that I might visit or not (lists). Better yet, I can add a specific time and a personal note. If I know that I'm going to visit a place on a specific day or if I have a reservation somewhere, I can move it out of the regular lists and assign it to a day. Compared to Google Maps, which gives a blue icon for everything, this visual differentiation makes Wanderlog so, so, so much better.Īnd finally, there's my itinerary. But above all, list icons can be customized, so I can have a green mountain for lists of parks and outdoor places, then a blue shopping bag for stores, and a red cup for cafes. I could spend hours waxing lyrical about how powerful these lists are, but let's just summarize it to a few things: pre-filled short descriptions, data from Google Maps, custom photos, personal notes (with all the formatting), links to search on Google, Trip Advisor, and Maps. I can immediately see if it's open on Sunday or go to its site, add it to my trip in general or to a specific itinerary day, view it on the map, or get directions to it. ![]() Every place has a photo, tags, a short description, Google Maps details (star rating, opening hours, website, phone number). No more copying and pasting foreign names of places, no more flipping and flopping between each article and Google Maps to figure out if a location could fit with my schedule. You know those listicles of 10 things you should see in that every travel blog has? Wanderlog aggregates a few of them (for larger cities), but it goes the extra mile of parsing the list and finding the places on a map for me. Let's be a bit unorthodox and start with the last one. With my trip created, Wanderlog opens up three tabs for me: Overview, Itinerary, and Explore. It can be something specific like my past weekend in Reims with exact start and end times, or a vague plan like a general list of things I want to do in France. Just let me walk you through it.įirst, I create a trip. ![]() Beyond these requirements, the app has nearly everything I've wanted in a travel, road trip, and itinerary planner. Either sharing was impossible or they didn't have web or iOS clients, and those that did showed more ads than a Google Discover feed or had an outdated UI. These are my most basic requirements for a travel app and, believe it or not, many services I tried earlier didn't check all these boxes. It's a smooth app too with neat animations, beautiful iconography and typography, and some layers and gestures. ![]() It also allows sharing trip plans with your friends or partners with view-only or edit rights, and it live-updates when anyone makes a change, à la Google Docs. It's available on Android, iOS, and web, so I can start planning on my computer, continue on my iPad, review on my Pixel, and jump between all platforms without a hitch. The web interface is beautifully designed and offers the same breadth of features.įirst things first: Wanderlog is free and has no ads (this is its privacy policy).
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