Day by day I am making an itinerary for our trip this summer. I’m expecting that internet access will not be generally available, so I’m doing what I can to gather the information I need and to be able to use it offline, in either paper form or on my iPhone. Softbank Japan charges an arm and a leg for overseas data usage, so it is either find a WiFi source or don’t use it at all.
Luckily, there are a few applications that help in this regard. The best I’ve found is CityMaps2Go, which downloads gigantic maps of major cities around the world, and then lets you place bookmarks, use the built in bookmarks, and use GPS to navigate the maps, all without any connection to the net. How useful…
I also managed to get a free version of the Lonely Planet Munich application. Usually the Lonely Planet apps are almost the same price as the book (although much lighter). The app is really well done, and again it provides a ton of information and maps offline. So as long as we’re in Munich it should be plenty to get us around.
The last is kind of Euro-centric, but I downloaded an app called EuroTrains, that allows you to search trains and connections between every station in Europe. The nice thing about this app is that you can save the journeys that you find, so they are available offline. The app gives a lot of detail – which platform, how long you have between trains, etc. Totally worth the 400 yen price tag.
My students at work have also