The Two Apps That Are Essential for European Travel

by Robert McGarvey

How many apps do you have on your phone? I have no idea how many are on mine but I’ll tell you I only needed two to navigate around Madrid and Spain in the month of July.

I will use a third – AllTrails – the next time I walk the Camino de Santiago and especially useful is that AllTrails allows the user to download the trails and that’s good when occasionally there’s no cellular signal.

But in more urbanized Spain the only two I used were Rome2rio and Google Maps. Both are free. But I use them not because of the price but because they work.

I stumbled upon Rome2rio in 2021 when I was walking a Camino from Leon and wanted to get from Madrid’s airport to Leon and. bingo, Rome2rio showed me the Metro route to the Chamartin train station. Earlier it had shown me the two options for travel from Madrid to Leon – high speed train (under two hours) or bus (nearer four hours but half the price). I opted for train and Rome2rio showed me multiple departures and fares. A few clicks and. shazam, it was all arranged.

Similarly, this year, when I wanted to arrange trips to Toledo, Avila, Segovia and Seville, trains won my patronage and booking travel was quick and simple with Rome2rio

For next year I am planning a possible stay in Marseille where I want to fly from Phoenix to Paris. train from Paris to Marseilles, and possibly train from Marseille to Madrid. Rome2rio sorts it out literally in seconds. The train from Paris to Marseille, incidentally, is a little more than a three hour journey and costs around $120.

The key that lets me know all this: Rome2rio, founded by a couple of former Microsoft engineers, uses Google Cloud and Google Maps to sort its data which is plentiful. Per Google, “Rome2rio collates transport and fare information from more than 5,000 companies, including airlines and hotels, as well as train, bus, ferry, taxi, and rideshare operators. Developers add the transit data as a map layer on top of Google Maps Platform to improve search relevance. Using Rome2rio’s search engine, travelers can query more than two million travel destinations and make informed decisions based on travel time and pricing.”

Rome2rio now is owned by Omio, a travel booking engine. I used Omio to buy tickets for the four train trips I took this summer and have no complaints. Note: you’re not forced to use Omio, it’s just that inside Rome2rio it is simpler to. I could have booked trains directly with Renfe…but why incur the extra steps? Besides I’ve always thought it appropriate to pay for one’s lunch and using Omio pays for what I’m getting from Rome2rio.

As for Google Maps, it’s probably on just about every smartphone in the US and most of us use it regularly to drive to destinations we are unfamiliar with. I still remember – with a shudder – fumbling with paper maps as I sped down a highway. I also remember getting lost when I misread a map. For me, driving now includes Google Maps. Period.

In Madrid I learned to use it – and depend on it – as I walked 225 miles in the city and went to restaurants and small museums and mercados that I’d never been to. When walking, click that tab in Google Maps and you can also click a Steps tab that gives turn by turn directions.

It’s easy to get lost walking in a strange city – there are sights and sounds that grab our attention and, 10 minutes later, we realize we’re no longer heading where we want to. Google maps with Steps activated is the cure.

Google Maps also is very good for taking public transit. It shows the next arrival time, how many stops, expected travel time – all the info you want when choosing the best transportation option. I used it in Madrid for the Metro and found it reliable (and it also informed me I had two metro stops very near where I was staying, not just the one I knew about).

The terrific thing is that both Rome2rio and Google Maps are free. AllTrails+ is $2.99/month fee but if you hike at all, it’s money you need to spend. I use it in national parks in the US and it’s a wonder.

Three apps for smarter, often cheaper travel. That’s traveling light but cleverly.