Windows 8 Travel Apps For Planning and Experiencing Your Vacation | #WindowsChampions
I am writing this post as part of the Windows Champions ambassador program. All opinions are my own.
Planning a family vacation can be incredibly stressful. Everyone has agreed they want or need a vacation, they’ve agreed to a specified date window, but nobody can seem to agree on where to go or what to do!
I’ve done a little digging and found 10 incredibly helpful Windows 8 apps that help plan a family vacation from where to go to what do we do there or where do we eat?
Let’s start with WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Description
Georama helps you discover vacation ideas based on who is going, when you want to go, your interests, and more! Get personalized suggestions on where to travel and explore holiday destinations, places to stay, and things to do – all in one place.
Features
- Get vacation ideas based on who is going on the trip
- Get vacation ideas based on what experiences you are looking for
- Get vacation ideas based on when you wish to travel
- Get vacation ideas based on the regions you are considering
- Explore destinations recommended for you
- Learn more about cities, view photos, and check weather
- Browse points of interest like hotels, attractions, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, and more
- View vacation recommendations on an interactive map
MyTrip it’s the indispensable app for the most demanding travelers.
-More than 26.000 places to explore all over the world.
-Extense information about where you’ll make your travel to.
the country history, artworks from museums, the place history, videos, photos, webcam imagery, destinations near you, geo-location… Everything in a nice UI.
Once your trip is created, you can use it without internet connection, ready to use, wherever you go.
Features
- More than 28.000 places to explore. The definitive trip planner for demanding travelers.
- Create your own Trip in your own way, keep it offline when you are travelling over the world!
The Bing Travel app helps you explore the world and plan a perfect trip, from destinations near you to far-flung getaways. Our travel tools make it easy to search and book flights and hotel reservations, then check essentials like flight status while you’re on the go. Get inspired with 360-degree panoramas, slideshows, photos, and videos of scenic spots around the globe, plus the latest travel news and trends. Then dig into our collection of expert guides to pinpoint the best travel experiences — there’s so much to discover.
Features
- Destinations – Our app helps you explore the world with in-depth coverage and maps of thousands of destinations. See reviews from trusted travel experts, plus tips and photos from travelers like you.
- Flights – Search flights and filter your booking options by price, airline, stops, or departure time. Check any flight’s status; find departure and arrival times; get terminal and gate information.
- Hotels – Search hotels and filter your results by price, hotel class, user ratings, or amenities to find and book the best hotel for you.
- Eye-catching images – With 360-degree panoramas, slideshows, photos, and videos, you’ll get an inspiring view of the world’s most scenic places.
- Choose your favorites – Select your favorite hotels, destinations, or travel news articles to create a personalized list of places that interest you.
- Travel news – We highlight fresh, engaging travel news, feature articles, and tips from trusted sources.
- Expert partners – Bing Travel partners with the most authoritative, far-reaching travel content providers to bring you the best coverage, no matter where you roam.
WOW! That was difficult, but we finally have everyone agreeing to where we are going!
Now we have to find the BEST DEALS FOR TRAVEL.
KAYAK helps you find the right flight or perfect hotel for your trip.
You can compare hundreds of travel sites on your Windows 8 PC or Tablet.
Features
- Flight Search
- Hotel Search
Flight search from Skyscanner
Need a cheap flight, fast? Search millions of routes on over 1,000 airlines and find the lowest priced flights in seconds with the free Skyscanner Windows app; save money, save time.
Skyscanner sources the best deals then connects you to the airline or travel agent to make your booking directly, so you always get the best deals. It’s simple, independent, and finds the lowest fares fast.
Features
- Search over 1000 airlines and travel agents to get the best deals
- Available in more than 20 languages
- Skyscanner is 100% independent and shows ALL airlines including low-cost carriers and scheduled airlines
- Busy? Email flight details to yourself for later
Never pay full price for a hotel again with the Priceline Windows app!
The Priceline Windows app offers a simple way to review and book travel deals at deep discounts.
Get exclusive savings on your hotel with Priceline’s Express Deals®. Save time and money with no bidding required! For Deeper Discounts – Name Your Own Price®!
PHEW! That was a ton of work! But, now we know where you are going and we’ve got you there as cheaply as possible…
but HOW DO I GET AROUND and WHAT DO WE WANT TO DO?
Introducing the Bing Maps Preview app, exclusively on Windows 8.1. Featuring stunning 3D world and city views, the Bing Maps Preview app puts you at the center of a smart, local experience that helps you get things done. The app is optimized for touch with easy-to-use controls. Need to get there on time? Personalized traffic alerts keep an eye on the traffic for your favorite routes and alert you when there are delays via live tiles and Windows notifications. Looking for something local that you’ll love? Get user reviews and business hours, see photos, reserve a table and more. You can even view where you’re going before you get there with Streetside. The Bing Maps Preview app installs as a separate app and will not replace the Maps app on your device.
Features
- New! Get Yelp and TripAdvisor ratings and reviews for restaurants, hotels and other businesses
- New! Easily find 3D cities with the new Explore 3D experience
- New! Search more quickly and easily with inline suggestions
- Experience 3D maps with dynamic labels and high-resolution aerial imagery with terrain mapping
- View select cities in interactive high-resolution 3D
- Use touch gestures on the map to change the angle of view and to rotate the map
- Step into Streetside to see what a location really looks like with 360 degree panoramas.
- Search for businesses, get driving, transit and walking directions, and browse local businesses
- Call or book restaurants, hotels and more, directly from the app
- Receive traffic alerts, and monitor traffic conditions on your favorite routes with live tile updates
- Get, share, and print step-by-step driving, walking and transit directions
- Tap on landmarks to learn more about local sights and attractions
- Save your favorite places and add pins to customize your map
Places of Interest uses your current geographic location to find places that are of interest to you based on the Category selected.
Find your nearby places with ease with this app.
With near 100 categories ranging from accounting, airport and amusement park to univeristy, veterinary care and zoo you can find just about anything.
Features
- Find places of interest nearby your current location.
Now everyone is hungry… WHERE DO WE EAT?
Where can I eat? is an easy-to-use app that helps you find a vegetarian, vegan, kosher or gluten-free restaurant to eat at. Simply launch the app, select your dining preference, and the app uses the power of Bing and Yelp to find a place where you can eat. It couldn’t be easier!
Features
- Find a vegetarian, vegan, kosher or gluten-free restaurant close by
- Get a quick list of locations close by
- Relevant locations powered by Yelp
- One click sharing integrated via the Windows 8 charm
- Beautiful, easy-to-use UI
- Unlimited, free ad-supported mode
- Upgrade to remove ads
Can’t decide where to eat? Urbanspoon’s signature shake feature can help! Find the BEST restaurants in your city with Urbanspoon. Filter by neighborhood, cuisine and price for the greatest restaurant recommendations. Discover restaurants nearby, or save them to your wishlist for later. Love a restaurant? Mark it as a favorite and let us know all about it.
Features
- Add photos, reviews and vote on your favorite restaurants.
- Make reservations.
- Look up restaurant information and directions.
- See what locals, bloggers and newspapers are saying…and eating.
Foursquare for Windows 8 helps you make the most of where you are and where you are going. Keep up with your friends and discover great places and activities nearby, on all your Windows devices!
Features
- Get instant suggestions when you open the app, even if you don’t have a Foursquare account
- See places that are currently trending, recently opened, or just best nearby
- Easily search for “Thai”, “park” or “brunch”
- Get directions, hours, photos, and more
- Full-screen photos viewer brings locations to life
- Save places to your to-do list and create custom lists
- Get tips from friends, top publications and brands
- Like or dislike places and leave tips for friends
- Check in without interrupting location browsing
- We learn your tastes the more you check in
I’ve used Kayak and priceline before — very helpful!
I have Priceline.com downloaded on my phone. Great app for finding hotels! I’ve heard UrbanSpoon is a wonderful app, as well.
these are all great suggestions. i have most of them and use them to get great deals on travel.
I have Windows 8 and just don’t know anything about using this operating systems. Thanks for the information on the vacation apps.
Those sound like excellent and helpful apps! The Where Can I Eat app would really come in handy for my family!