The perfect app for hikers and drivers, ForeverMap ($2.99, universal) uses OpenStreetMap, nicknamed “the Wikipedia of maps,” to help you find your way around North America by car or on foot. Download the relevant maps before leaving home, and you can use your device’s Location Services to plot your position without 3G or Wi-Fi access. The maps are free and even include Wikipedia information for thousands of places.
Priceline shows you recent winning bids—see if you can undercut them!
Kayak Flight, Hotel Search (free, iPhone) and Kayak HD (free, iPad) will help you book hotels, flights, and cars. Find a flight that meets your requirements, and it’ll use the destination as a starting point for hotel bookings. Each hotel has ratings, reviews, and photos, so you can check ’em out before you check in. When it’s time to come home, you can use its integrated flight tracker to see if your flight’s on time. For last-minute bargains, we love Priceline Hotel & Car Negotiator (free, iPhone), which lets you submit “name your own price” bids that can save you some serious dough.
If you’ve got a long layover, grab GateGuru (free, iPhone), which contains info on 120 airports across the U.S. It’ll help you find the best-reviewed options for food and shopping or just keep you from getting lost. And don’t forget to search the App Store for the specific city (or cities) you’re heading to -- most vacation spots have an app or six to help you navigate once you’re back on the ground.
Where’s the best food in JFK’s Terminal 1? GateGuru knows.
If you’re heading to Europe, DB Navigator (free for both iPhone and iPad) has timetables for 200,000 train stations. It can identify your closest station and which trains you need to take from there to get to your chosen destination. Its real-time itineraries are truly impressive, taking into account changes, borders, time zones, walks between stations, and the platforms you’ll need to find at larger stations.
All you need now are some games for the kids…they’re the most effective weapons against the cries of “Are we there yet?!”
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox ($0.99, universal)
Six cute and educational games for kids 2–5.
Red Jumping Hood (free, iPhone)
Prune the flowers, dodge the wolf.
Lego Duplo Farm Friends (free, iPhone)
Tap the animals to wake them up.
Cookie Maker 2 (free, iPhone)
Beware: It might make them hungry.
Tiny Wings ($0.99, iPhone)
Think of it as training for Angry Birds—but just as addictive.
Chicken Coup ($2.99, universal)
Drag chickens to their coops -- don’t let the fox get ’em.
Doodle Jump ($0.99, iPhone)
Help Doodle leap up the page.
Chicktionary ($1.99, iPhone; free for iPad)
A chicken-and-egg spelling quiz.
Tap Tap Revenge 4 (free, iPhone)
The biggest music game ever, now updated.
Doodle Army 2 (free, universal)
Multiplayer, cross-platform war.
Trivial Pursuit ($0.99, iPhone)
Makes ’em think in both single- and multiplayer mode.
Cut the Rope ($0.99, iPhone; $1.99, iPad)
A simple yet surprisingly cerebral challenge.
Flick Golf ($0.99, iPhone; $4.99, iPad)
Beautifully rendered courses and fun gameplay.
