Everyone has a smartphone and besides playing candy crush and surfing the internet, regardless of wether you are in the Android or iPhone camp, you can leverage a number of  apps to make your travel planning less painful. These are the apps we have used extensively on our journey so far and which we think you would find useful.

1. Google Maps: This one is kind of obvious but its utility just cannot be overstated. We use it everyday from deciding wether to take a bus or a train to the next town (journeys over 5 hours are not fun to do in buses), to finding that random restaurant someone recommended which we want to eat in. It is also very useful to get the general lay of the land, plan your routes, know when to get off the bus if your fellow passengers only speak Malayali, and ensure that auto drivers are not cheating you by taking overtly circuitous routes.

   

2. Booking.com / ClearTrip / MakeMyTrip / Trip Adviser : These apps are invaluable when you are looking for places to stay just a couple of days before reaching a new town. They offer you all sorts of options in terms of budgets, let you know how close a hotel is located to the sights and list out the facilities available. ClearTrip and MakeMyTrip also offer significant discounts and cashbacks which itself are a good reason to use them. We love the whole VC funded app-explosion bloodbath! We would not be exaggerating to say that we saved at least INR 7,000 – 10,000 a month by using these apps. ClearTrip also features properties of OYO rooms so you don’t need to get that app as well! Trip advisor of course is super useful to check out that the hotels you have picked are not complete flee infested rat holes run by ogres.

   

3. IRCTC: Anyone who has been booking trains in India for the last few years will attest to the fact, that till a few months ago, the IRCTC website was possibly the worst designed portal on the planet. We are glad to say it’s much improved, but if you want an even more seamless experience skip the website completely and use the IRCTC app. It looks nice, is user friendly and quick and reliable. We have booked close to 20 trains using the app and cancelled almost as many, and have to say we are very grateful not to have to turn on our laptop every time we need to book / cancel a train. One additional useful feature is that the app now has a catering section built in (though it actually makes you download another app) which allows you to order food, that will get delivered to your compartment at select stations for those trains that don’t have pantry cars. You can actually order Dominos to your train! How cool is that! However, IRCTC does not accept international credit cards yet, so if you are a foreigner the Clear Trip app works best for booking trains.

   

4. FetchMyWay: If any of you have ever used Rome2Rio you know that it’s a very cool website that tells you how to get from Point A to B using a car, bus, train, airplane or a combination of all the above. It also tells you how much it should cost approximately and how long it should take. Unfortunately for some strange reason, Rome2Rio does not have a mobile app so instead we use FetchMyWay, which uses the Rome2Rio backend to power their app. It’s a nifty little app and is a great starting point to plan the more offbeat journeys, especially when you don’t know the names of the nearby stations, major towns etc. What’s cool about it is also that if it suggests a bus, train, plane or even a ride-share as part of your trip, it links to relevant service providers to book the trip. For e.g. If you need to get from Nashik in Maharashtra to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, FetchMyWay will give you all the options of various modes of transport and as you click on them it will open a separate tab  which will allow you to make a booking. So for example for buses it links to redbus.in; for flights to jetairways.com; and for trains to Indian Railways or Cleartrip to offer you a seamless experience.

   

5. Redbus: For when you can’t get a train for long distances and no longer have the will to brave the State transport buses you have RedBus, which allows you to book tickets in advance. Whilst it doesn’t usually connect smaller places it does offer a lot of options and has sleeper buses for the long overnight journeys. It also has the option to cancel which is always useful.

   

6. Uber: You might find this app to be a strange addition to this list but along with major metros Uber now connects a number of Tier 2 cities in India. We used Uber extensively in Hyderabad and Vishakhpatnam, and as long as you don’t book ‘surge charge’ it actually works out in line or cheaper than autos, with the additional benefit of air-conditioned travel and avoiding the hassle of bickering on price with the auto guy. Make sure you book Uber Go and your ride will be cheaper than you unfriendly neighbourhood auto guy every time. We didn’t use Ola as much but I’m sure the experience would be similar.

Ok that’s 6 apps so we should stop now, but heres a short list of Apps we haven’t used much but definitely seem to have utility and which we plan to try out soon.

BlaBla Car: A ride sharing app which allows you to carpool with other folks by paying a ‘per seat’ rate.

Airbnb: Strangely enough never booked Airbnbs anywhere but will try it out soon. In the places we did find nice Airbnbs, the hotels on Cleartrip / MakeMyTrip somehow made more sense, since they offered more discounts and cheaper rates.

Couch surfing: This one we definitely want to try out, not only for the fact that a free couch is well.. free; but also for the potential to meet cool local folk.

Also looking for an app that allows us to House sit, which may be the best thing ever!