London Coffee Network App
It’s time you give Starbucks a break and try the local coffee shops in London. This London app lets you locate an artisan coffee shop in your vicinity. This app also has a reward program that helps you earn points to but a free coffee in future! On finding the coffee shop you can use your app to collect free coffee points.
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
London Official City Guide App
Probably the best London travel apps for exploring the city if London while on vacation or weekends. With its offline features, bid adieu to roaming charges and find the best things to do in London no matter where you are. Simply plan your itinerary for the upcoming day while online. After the relevant content is downloaded you can explore the chosen routes, discovering new places along the way.
Key Features:
1. Offline maps and GPS that avoid data roaming charges
2. Personalized offline itineraries
3. List of Top 10 things to do in London by category or by your location
4. All the sights and tourist attractions with restaurant, café & bar guide including reviews from local sources such as Yelp and Foursquare.
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Citymapper App For London
Citymapper combines all available transit to find the best route for you including subway / metro, bus, train, Uber, rail, ferry, bike share & personal bike with cycle lanes. This app could be godsend for finding the best route from home to work in London with real time data to know when your bus or train will arrive. You can even boom Uber directly through this app!
Key Features:
1. Step-by-step directions in real time
2. With ‘Get Off’ notifications, never miss a stop again
3. Find alternatives to disrupted routes
4. Combines all possible modes (bus, train, subway etc.) to give you the best options
5. No login required using the app, be anonymous
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Q-Park App For London
To find and book a secure car parking spot in Central London, Q-park is an app that helps you do just that. If you regularly park in London, Q-park can turn out to be a lifesaver as you can earn free parking, and also receive discounts and offers for London restaurants. You can book your parking space even before you arrive.
Key Features:
1. Integration with Facebook and Twitter directly from the app.
2. The ability to report or ask questions directly by e-mail.
3. Recording of the location where the car is parked and the walking route from there back to the car.
4. Route guidance to your selected parking space.
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
YPlan App for Android & iOS
Whether you’re looking for a comedy club, a secret supper club, a musical or a late-night museum opening, YPlan will tell you what’s on and where. You can filter by price or event type, and view in a list, or use the map function. In addition, the app hosts flash sales, making it an easy place to pick up discounted tickets.
Key Features:
1. Like a event, but not sure? Add it to your favorites, book it later.
2. Invite friends: go together, pay separately.
3. Read honest reviews from previous attendee of an event.
4. Book an event in just two taps.
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
uber car rental app
Providing a cheaper alternative to the city’s traditional black cabs, Uber has around 15,000 drivers signed up in London. There are no language barriers with Uber. If you know where you’re going you can just add the destination in the app. Get a reliable and affordable ride in minutes with the Uber app without calling a minicab or waiting in taxi lines.
Key Features:
1. Get a reliable and affordable ride in minutes.
2. Low cost uberX to premium UberEXEC options.
3. Uber is much cheaper than traditional black cabs in London.
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Santander Cycles App For London
Santander Cycles is the self-service, bike-sharing scheme for short journeys in inner London. Known to Londoners as "Boris Bikes" because of the city’s mayor Boris Johnson, you can use the official app to help you find the nearest docking station with available bikes. Or, when you’re done with your journey, Santander Cycles will tell you where there’s an empty bay to ditch your wheels.
Key Features:
1. See up-to-the minute information about which docking stations have bikes and spaces available.
2. Plan a journey with an easy to follow map.
3. Receive notifications – for example, summarizing the cost at the end of your hire.
4. View your recent journeys and charges
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Street Art London App
London’s walls are full of amazing street art. But if you don’t have time to stroll around in the hope of discovering the artwork the Street Art London app is just what you need. It lists all the street art in the city – making it easy to find the artwork and get some snaps.
Platform: iOS
Cost: Free
TransferWise App
If you need to transfer or receive money from abroad, TransferWise lets you do it 8x cheaper than using your bank. It uses real currency exchange rates to help expats, foreign students and businesses transfer money online securely, conveniently, and at a very low cost.
Key Features:
1. Send money abroad at the lowest possible cost
2. Move your money to the right country or pay a bill in another country.
3. Avoid hidden fees – no nasty surprises.
4. Send money via Bank Debit (ACH)
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Duolingo Travel App For Learning Language
Traveling to a different country can be nightmare especially when the language they speak is entirely different that what you speak. Even the alphabets look different. DuoIingo comes to rescue. It is a free and incredibly well-designed language learning app. Though not a replacement for proper language tuition, the app is a fun way to get the basics or to keep you fresh on grammar and vocabulary, before a trip abroad.
Key Features:
1. Learn by playing a game – practice new words by doing quick lessons and answering questions daily
2. Best way to learn to read, listen, write and speak English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, Russian, Ukrainian, Esperanto, Polish or Turkish
3. Practice speaking, reading, listening and writing. Start with basic verbs, phrases, and sentences, and learn new words daily.
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Airbnb Travel App For Rentals
One of the most innovative apps, AirBnB took the market by storm. AirBnB allows users to search for and find unique accommodations across the world, from mom-and-pop B&B gigs for a night, to a small apartment for a week, or even a castle for a month! Covering almost 200 countries, the adventurous or flexible traveler can have some interesting choices for accommodations for their next vacation.
Key Features:
1. Discover thousands of places to stay in more than 34,000 cities
2. Access your itinerary, message your host, and get directions to your listing
3. Explore legendary properties, vacation homes, and apartments, and add them to your Wish List to share with your friends
4. Search for last-minute accommodations anywhere in the world
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
National Rail App For London
If you are planning journeys outside of London, then gauge your daily commute with the official National Rail app. This app is super easy to use and is always up to date. If you have moved to London, the app is a must for commuters and frequent travelers. Everything you need to know to plan and make your journey at your fingertips.
Key Features:
1. View timetables and all travel information
2. Buy tickets via third party websites with no booking fees.
3. Plan your journeys with up-to-the-minute travel information. Track the progress of trains and disruptions along your route
4. Avoid missing your stop or getting caught out when the train divides or arrives at its destination
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
TubeMap App For london
Simple, sleek, and super helpful, TubeMap provides up-to-date train times and line updates as well as an offline map and journey planner. The route planner is particularly useful, allowing you to optimize for a shorter journey or fewer changes. It works both on and offline making it the number one London Tube map and route planner.
Key Features:
1. Twitter feed integration of London transport news and line status updates.
2. Nearest London Underground stations are always highlighted on the map.
3. Plan routes anywhere in London from places, postcodes, points of interest and tube stations.
4. Get travel tips, fun facts and information about the fastest routes between platforms.
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Zipcar App
Zipcar is London’s preferred car club’s app that gives 24/7 access to cars and vans in your neighborhood and lets you extend or cancel reservations on the go. You can also honk the horn, and lock or unlock the doors — all from your Android phone! Easily locate your reserved Zipcar by honking its horn.
Key Features:
1. View available Zipcars on a map or listed using your current location, a favorite location or a location you want to search.
2. Sort cars by proximity, time available, car type and model.
3. Change, extend, or cancel reservations on the go
4. Get directions to your Zipcar using maps
Platform: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Spare Room App For London
By the time you’d read this article, you’d have probably noticed that London is an expensive place to rent. Flatsharing is the best way to save money on rent. Thousands of rooms for rent in flatshares are available across London. This London app allows you to search postcodes, towns, cities or even use your phone’s GPS to find nearby flatshares and flatmates free.
Key Features:
1. No registration required
2. Browse and contact thousands of adverts on-the-go
3. Phone and message advertisers directly from the app
4. View all the rooms around you on a map
Platform: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
TravelSafe App
TravelSafe is a potentially life-saving database of emergency service numbers for just about every country you’d ever care to visit. For the pro version, it includes a potentially life-saving database of emergency service numbers for just about every country you’d ever care to visit. In times of crisis, it’s important for you to find the crucial information you’re looking for and find it fast.
Key Features:
1. Country Emergency Numbers with useful country information (voltages, plug types, gratuity, time zones etc.)
2. Panic Button Widget which sends SMS to 3 registered contacts
3. The majority of the functions don’t need any internet connection
4. Tip Calculator according to the particular country
Platform: Android
Cost: Free
Vouchercloud App
London can get expensive at times, especially when you’ve had a long weekend out and about. This is where Vouchercloud app can come into play! The app allows you to find great discounts across loads of selected brands, and these can range from urban outfitters/Topshop to B&Q/Pizza Express.
Key features:
1. Modern, Material-inspired design.
2. Private messaging for direct communication with other deal hunters.
3. Offline support so you can have your deals handy when you’re out of range.
4. Better activity updates on your favorite deals and merchants.
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Hailo Taxi App
Hailo is an app that finds the nearest black cab taxi to your location, where ever you may be in London. All you as a user have to do is set up an account, make sure your GPS or location services are switched on, and the cab driver will pick you up from your location. Payments are simple and happen right from the app so you can just hop out when you arrive at your destination.
Key Features:
1. Fare quotes feature helps you to get an estimate of how much your fare will cost.
2. Wheelchair accessible taxi for deferentially abled.
3. Twitter & Facebook integration
4. Trip History and Receipts
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Foodspotting Travel App For Food
Foodspotting is a visual guide to good food and where to find it. It’s the leading app for finding and rating dishes, not just restaurants. While apps that aggregate crowd-sourced restaurant reviews may be ten-a-penny, those that focus in on specific dishes are a far rarer species. Prod around a bit and within seconds you’ll be en route to the best in the city.
Key Features:
1. Discover nearby dishes, find whatever you’re craving & see what’s good at any restaurant
2. Keep track of the dishes you try and vote up the dishes you love
3. See what friends and experts, like the Travel Channel, love wherever you go.
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
Google Translate App
Google Translate allows users to type in or dictate short sentences from one language to another. Simply select an input language and an output language and then either type or dictate your message. In addition, visual translation features have just been added, allowing you to translate text and signage with the aid of your camera.
Key Features:
1. Accepts voice input for 15 languages and allows translation of a word or phrase into one of more than 50 languages
2. Generate reverse translations i.e. you can take a translation already generated and feed it back to Google and see if the sense of your text has been maintained
3. Gives you data on whether an offered translation is common, uncommon, or rare
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
If you’re looking for bars to go out in in London, Drinki gives you free drinks in bars across London so it’s perfect for trying out new spots. You can download it here: https://drinki.com