How to Find the Best Food When You Travel

Vacations, even simple weekend getaways, can be full of adventure — that’s part of the great appeal, after all — but if you value a delicious, high-quality meal along with your adventure, then check out these four apps for different travel needs that can direct you to the best places to savor a great meal.

• When you’re stuck at the airport. Usually, airports are not known for their culinary quality, although that’s changing in some places. Yelp and TripAdvisor (available in your app store) are both great apps for finding the best food available at your airport — and you can get lists of restaurants in the airport and see reviews from fellow travelers. (Free, iOS and Android).

•  When you know what you want but you’re having trouble deciding where to go Zomato (free, iOS and Android) delivers up choices. It also provides delivery options, directions, and ratings.

• When your dietary preferences matter. If you’ve got allergies, sensitivities, or other preferences, traveling can be tough sometimes. AllergyEats allows you to check restaurants in the US and see how well they accommodate dietary needs. (Free, iOS and Google Play)

• When you want to know what the heck you’re eating. You might like a little mystery when you’re ordering in a foreign country — but maybe not too much, right? WordLens started as a standalone app and is now a part of Google Translate. It uses your phone’s video camera and optical character recognition to make translations in real time when you hold your phone up to the text. Even better? It doesn’t require a network connection to work, so when you’re visiting that quaint little hill town in Umbria, you can still know what’s on the menu. It’s currently available for Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Portuguese. (Free, iOS and Android, each language pack is $5.95)

Make the most of your trip and the food you enjoy while on your next adventure! Give one (or more!) of these apps a try and let me know what you think.