Planning your holiday

With a little organising, you can get to the departure gate without breaking a sweat. And, now, there are a number of apps to help you with everything from packing to learning a new language.

TripIt

This handy app collects all of your confirmations in one place, so you can keep a close eye on your itinerary. It’s useful if you’ve booked different parts of your holiday – transport, hotels, attractions – on different websites, because you don’t have to go trawling through them to find the information you need. It also converts all of the confirmations into diary appointments and keeps track of the amount you’ve paid for everything.

Travel List

Travel List is exactly what it sounds like – an electronic list of all the things you’ll need for your trip. It’s perfect for avoiding that ‘I’ve forgotten something’ feeling because you can tick off things as you pack them. If there’s something on your list that you don’t tick off, an alarm will go off.

Duolingo

This app is a fun way to learn language basics before you go. The lessons are laid out like games, with a variety of challenges including speaking, listening and multiple choice tests. Learning a few useful phrases in the language of the country you’re visiting could help your trip go more smoothly.

There are also plenty of apps that could help you while you’re away, including:

Splittr

This is one for the people who lose track of who has spent what on holiday, what with taking care of restaurant bills or buying entrance tickets. You enter everything you’ve spent into the app and it’ll split it equally among your group. It works with all currencies, so it’s handy if you’re visiting more than one place as part of one trip.

Bonjournal

The photographs, journal entries and notes you collect on this app during your trip can be arranged into a visually pleasing display or PDF to be shared with friends on social media or via email. It’s a nice, well-presented way of sharing your experience – and more organised than creating a big online album.