Plan Your Summer Holiday Using Only Your Smartphone

If you fancy escaping the British climate, and finding some sunshine further afield, then it's probably time to start planning your summer holiday. This summer, make organising your trip hassle-free by booking flights, accommodation and tickets straight from your smartphone.

Discover where the locals like to wine and dine, skip the queue for the best attractions by buying tickets in advance and save cash with mobile-exclusive deals thanks to our favourite travel apps.

Whether you use the App Store or Google Play, you'll find our top picks ready and waiting for you.

Booking Budget Flights

First things first, you're going to need to book a flight. Two of the best apps for finding flights at the lowest possible price are Skyscanner and KAYAK - available on iPhones and Android devices.

While there are a handful of different features between the two, the apps essentially work in the same way. Just type in the location where you'd like to fly from, choose your destination (or select Everywhere on Skycanner and Anywhere on KAYAK if you're flexible) then choose your available dates. Both will scan hundreds of websites to find the cheapest flights, whether you need a one-way ticket or a return. They're both particularly helpful if you need to catch more than one plane to get to where you need to be too.

You can save recent searches, set price alerts so you know if flight costs are beginning to change and so much more. KAYAK tends to offer mobile-exclusive deals too, and can work as an all-in-one travel app: you can book from within the app rather than heading to an airline's website, sharing your itinerary with your friends and family in the process.

Did you know that Roaming is now free in the EU? Find out more here.

Finding Accommodation

Next up, finding a place to rest your head. You might already have a favourite website to book rooms from, and you'll find many of the top booking sites (from Booking.com and Experia to Hotels.com) have their own apps.

Fancy something different? Try the Airbnb app. Booming in popularity recently, with Airbnb you can rent rooms, apartments or even entire homes all over the world, offering more freedom than hotels, and often in amazing locations tourists wouldn't normally get to see.

Search, save and book rooms quickly, and chat with your host before, during and after your trip all directly through the app. If friends have the app too, you can add them to booking, or share potential homes instantly through iMessage.

Heading to America, Australia or New Zealand and plan on exploring more than one location? Try the Roadtrippers app. It can do so much more than find available hotels, helping you to organise an entire holiday in fact, but if you select Start New Trip, type in your start and end location (e.g. New York to Texas) and click Hotels, Roadtrippers will plan your route - offering suggestions for hotels where you're most likely to need a break.

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Planning your Itinerary

Staying organised, and keeping all those important documents in one place, can be stressful business, particularly if you're going on a holiday that requires multiple flights and a few check-ins.

Keep everything safe and in one place by using TripIt. How does it work? Simply download the app,, forward your confirmation emails for flights, hotels, restaurants and more to [email protected] and watch as it magically appears in the app, in chronological order.

You can view your bookings whenever you need too, even offline. The free version will let you add and edit your plans, sync with calendars and share plans too, while the premium TripIt Pro also offers features like real-time flight alerts, fare refund notifications and exclusive special offers.

Feeling spontaneous? Download LuckyTrip and let the app do all the planning for you. You don't even need to pick your destination, just set a budget and it'll choose your flights, accommodation and even book a selection of fantastic activities for you to enjoy during your stay. It's essentially the app version of turning up to an airport and jumping on the next flight available - who knows where you'll end up, or what you'll see.

Photo fan? Take holiday snaps like a pro on your smartphone.

Discovering Nearby Attractions

Once the essentials have been sorted, it's time to make your summer holiday the trip of a lifetime. Tick off all the popular must-see sights, sample authentic food from the highest rated restaurants and even discover parts of your chosen city only the locals know and love with Musement.

Musement is brilliant if you want to live like a local. The app can help you to find nearby restaurants and bars, book tickets for museums and attractions or check the availability of tours and even pick up last minute tickets for gigs, club nights and shows. There's over 350 destinations to choose from, including Budapest, Las Vegas and New York.

Looking for a brand-new smartphone before you begin your trip? Discover the fantastic contract and SIM only deals available today at Mobiles.co.uk.