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Since Life Of Android started writing this guide to the top five Android travel apps, the infamous Great British rain has been lashing down relentlessly against our office windows. It’s summer and we’re either meant to be relaxing on a beach somewhere consuming copious amounts of booze or capturing the world’s foremost wonders on our smartphone camera. Instead, we’ve compiled the best apps to take with you on your summer travels. All you’ll need to use them is an Android handset and a smart data plan/free wi-fi connection. You don’t have to thank us now, just remember to send over a postcard.

Google Translate

As a tourist there are traditionally two methods to communicate with locals who speak in a language you don’t understand. Firstly, stick to your own native tongue but enunciate every sentence very, very slowly. Secondly, read a series of phrases, which somehow never cover exactly what you want to say, straight out of the guide book in a cod accent.

Thankfully for those poor waitresses and art gallery assistants, Google Translate provides a new way of communicating with the foreign lot. Not only can you have you have your text converted into a vast array languages, the app will also speak your sentence for you and translate the reply back into good old English. Hotel staff forced to communicate with you through a smartphone however, are likely to still be less than pleased.

Where

You know that GPS chip in your Android? Well it can be used for a whole lot more than the occasional Facebook update in the vein of, ‘I’m at Alton Towers today. Hope I don’t throw up on the Nemisis roller coaster lol.’ Where is especially good at harnessing the mighty well of power under your humble Android’s exterior.

A travel app which matches your location to restaurants and entertainment venues in the vicinity, it’s the perfect travel buddy at home or abroad. Suggested places to visit are calculated by a quick survey of personal preferences and are, on whole, surprisingly well tailored to their user. Where isn’t just good for holiday use, it can also use GPS to calculate the nearest ATM and petrol stations to you saving time while out for the Saturday morning shop.

Trip Journal

Want to document your travels in a hip and happening way so all the folks at home are jealous they didn’t get to go on Gap Yah with you and Tarquin to Thailand? Step forward Trip Journal, an app that documents your foreign hi jinx in realtime. Yup, that’s right. Your tour route, videos, photos and notes are all shared instantly with a variety of social networks so that the world can jealously pore over every detail of that unprecedented expedition to Disneyland Florida. On a side note, it strikes Life Of Android that we are rapidly moving towards an era where muggers will have to do no forward planning at all to entrap their victims.

TripIt – Travel Organiser

Keeping track of all your travel details, from flights to hotel check-in times, can be a real minefield. When you’re heading abroad everything needs to run in perfect time and sometimes there’s simply too much information for your mind to fathom. By downloading the free TripIt app and forwarding any confirmation emails you have onto plans@tripit.com, you’ll find everything worth knowing is collated into one simple itinerary without the slightest bit of effort on your part. The forwarding magic works with emails from over 1,000 websites meaning you can insert everything from concert tickets to restaurant bookings into your Android. Plus, you’ll save a huge amount of money on paper printouts which is nice for you and the environment.

Wikitude

Wikitude is an augmented reality tour guide app, which sounds like something out of Blade Runner but is actually rather simple to use. The Augmented Reality part works in combination with both your Android’s GPS and camera so that when so wave your smartphone in front of a famous landmark you’ll get a heap of information about that point of interest. It can be a tad temperamental but when everything comes together its truly a breathtaking feat of modern technology. To get a glimpse of the app in action, check out the video below.