Online travel research made simple on Wanderfly.com

by McLean Robbins on

With so many travel review sites available, it’s often overwhelming to sort through published material about a property or destination. We’ve recently discovered Wanderfly.com, launched out of beta earlier this week. The site promises to provide travel recommendations targeted to budget, date and interest in as few as five clicks.

“On average, travelers spend 7 weeks visiting 25 sites* before they know exactly what they want, yet there’s no easy way for them to get inspired online,” said Evan Schneyer, CEO and co-founder. “Travel itself is such an inspiration, and we believe the fun should start from the very moment you decide to go.”

Wanderfly’s interface begins just how a person would when planning a trip: how much can I spend, when can I go, and what do I like to do? The site offers themes, from food and culture to eco-friendly and nightlife.

Wanderfly searches over 20+ sites, including Expedia, Foursquare, Yelp and Lonely Planet, to recommend a destination, flight, hotel and activities. Travelers may customize these options and book, or flip to the next suggested trip. They may also connect through Facebook to locate friends in any of the destinations.

One of our favorite features of the site is that specifiying a destination isn’t required – one can search within a specific region and use the type of trip they’d like to take to narrow down a location. The site is relatively easy to use, and the functionality of searching through trusted brands like Lonely Planet makes us feel more comfortable with the booking process.

The site has launched with information abou1,200 global destinations and taps into social networking through Facebook to further increase usablity. The site is currently at work on an iPad app and plans to soon offer concierge packages, restaurant reservations, travel products and event tickets. In addition, Wanderfly plans to add more user-generated content, group-planning tools and a widget for outside travel parties to integrate into their sites.

National Parks app comes to the iPhone

by Kraig Becker on

Visitors to America’s national parks now have a new high tech option for learning more about those amazing places. Last week the National Parks Conservation Association released an app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch that offers up a wealth of information on 50 of the most popular parks in the country, including Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite. (For a complete list of the parks covered click here.)

The app is completely free and provides information on the plants and animals that travelers can expect to find in the various parks, including the ones that are poisonous and dangerous, something this always helpful when you’re not sure if your about to step into poison ivy or not. You’ll also find comprehensive lists of threatened and endangered species, as well as a brief history of each of the parks, including great photos from each location as well.

But that’s not all. The app also allows you to find parks that are close to your current location and offers directions on how to get there. It includes information on making reservations at each park, directions on how to find the visitors center, and current news from the park system on featured parks as well.

The field guide app was developed in conjunction with eNature.com, a company with an extensive database of information focused on wildlife. That database has been created by top biologists, zoologists, and conservationists, and contains information on over 6000 different species. That information is now, quite literally, delivered to the fingertips of visitors to the national parks.

There is one caveat to using the app however, as a data network is required to download the information. The iPhone will work where cell service is available, although in more remote areas of the parks that can be spotty at best. iPod Touch and iPad users will need to use wifi, which is available in some visitor centers, to load up their maps and information ahead of time. Keep that in mind when relying on this app to help guide you through the parks.

To download the new app click here.

[Photo credit: NPCA]

Survival guide app

by Jason Heflin on
No one likes to think of the bad things that could happen on a trip. But what would you do if you survived a plane crash, were caught in a terrorist attack, or encountered a tsunami while on vacation? Well wonder no more iphone users. The SAS Survival Guide has been around in book form for over twenty years but now there’s an app.

John “Lofty” Wiseman spent years as a soldier and instructor for the SAS, an elite British fighting unit. In the app, Lofty guides the reader through a myriad of nightmare scenarios. Stranded atop an icy mountain? Covered. Need to know what local plants are edible? Check. Stuck in a forest fire with no obvious escape? No worries. The guide provides detailed information on all these would-be disasters. The app will cost $6.99 at itunes and is compatible with the ipad and ipod touch as well.

Although the guide is a great read, and the bulit-in survival quiz is fun for parties and around the campfire, the practicality of using it on-demand in some of these situations is questionable. For instance, if your plane were to crash land in the ocean your cell phone would be wet and useless. Then what? You are stranded on a mountaintop in the Himalaya and your phone runs out of battery. Tough luck. To get the most out of the guide read it before the disaster strikes.

The app holds interest by utilizing several interactive features including the survival quiz, an instructional video, and even a morse code feature that will turn your iphone into a beeping/flashing communicator. These make it fun for the user to learn a bit more about surviving if and when disaster strikes. That can’t be a bad thing when the shit hits the fan.

Lonely Planet 1000 Ultimate Experiences for the iPad – free for three days only!

by Scott Carmichael on

Lonely Planet has been in a really generous mood this year – back in April, they gave away all their European iPhone city guides to help stranded volcanic ash passengers, and now they are giving away their most popular iPad app.

1000 Ultimate Experiences is exactly what the name describes – a guide with 1000 of the best experiences in the world, in an app that takes full advantage of the iPad. With 100’s of photos, full screen video clips and more, there is no better way to sit back and find your next ultimate vacation destination.

Everything is neatly split into sections like strangest museums, ultimate sailing trips or classic campervan routes. You’ll find the app in the app store and the folks at Lonely Planet do ask that you leave a review of the app to help spread the word.

Point Inside app helps you navigate your way around 50 airports on your iPhone or iPad

by Scott Carmichael on

We’ve covered Point Inside in the past – their previous version focused on helping you find your way around shopping malls, and did a great job at helping locate your favorite store, restaurants and more. Now, the developers behind this excellent app have taken things way beyond shopping – with the addition of maps covering 50 airports in the U.S. and Canada.

Just in time for the busy Memorial Day weekend, you’ll be able to download Point Inside onto your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, and navigate your way around airports you’ve never been to, with the ease of a frequent flier.

Best of all, the app makes use of GPS, cell tower and Wi-Fi positioning technologies to help you navigate, even when you are indoors. A list of all the airports included in this version can be found here.

To download the new version, simply update your current version or click here for a new download. The Android version has not been updated yet – but it too will soon have access to the airport maps feature.