Our Guide to the Best Road Trip Apps: 2015 Edition (Part 2)

Nearly everyone has been on a road trip of some kind. Maybe you’ve driven the entirety of Route 66 or the California coastline, or perhaps your road trips have looked more like hours-long sojourns to and from relatives’ homes. Either way, you’ve likely used some sort of mobile device while on the road: to get directions, to watch movies, or to drown out your companions with music.

Nowadays, there are so many travel apps out there that it can be hard to know which ones to choose. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of the best road trip apps, so whether you’re hitting the road for a summer road trip to the beach or headed to grandma’s house for the holidays, you’ll be app-ready.

Last week, we looked at the best travel apps for gasoline, maps, and music. Part two of our best road trip apps series covers apps for food, bathrooms, hotels, and more. Check out all of our expert road trip app recommendations below.

To Eat the Tastiest Food:

• Foodspotting : (Edit: Foodspotting is no longer available.) Peddling itself as the restaurant travel app for “foodies” all over the world, Foodspotting lets you search for and review not only restaurants, but also specific dishes. It’s primarily a visual-based platform, featuring lots of drool-worthy snaps at restaurants in your area, and a variety of search options make finding the perfect meal fast and simple. Plus, this app focuses more on specific dishes than on the restaurants themselves, so whether you’re looking for cronuts in Cleveland or sushi in San Jose, this app will help you find the best food fare in the city.

To Find the Closest/Cleanest Bathroom:

• SitorSquat : Designed by Charmin, this made-for-travel app is completely dedicated to finding bathrooms near you, using your phone’s GPS or by a location search. Especially helpful for those with small bladders or squeamish stomachs, users can categorize public bathrooms into two classifications: the clean, hygienic “sit” locations, and the less desirable “squat” locales. You can also filter results by ratings, handicap accessibility, and features (i.e. changing tables, family restrooms, etc.).

To Nab a Last Minute Hotel:

• Hotel Tonight : Maybe you decided on a last minute weekend getaway with your friends, or a hiccup in your road trip means you won’t make it to your reserved hotel in time. Whatever the reason, Hotel Tonight does exactly what it sounds like it would: this free travel app finds last minute hotel rooms available near you. Prime features include: low prices on top-rated hotels, searching by category and description, and easy in-app booking. And, for users who like a little bit of planning, you can make reservations with Hotel Tonight up to 7 days in advance.

• Roomer : Rather than curating data from room listings offered by hotel companies, this trip planning app functions more like a StubHub for hotel rooms. Users who have already booked hotel rooms, but will be unable to keep their reservations, can list their rooms for resale. Conversely, users who are looking for a steal on a room can find low-price hotel deals from these resellers.

To See The Local Sights:

• Roadtrippers : This travel planner app uses your trip’s start and end locations to identify the best attractions, sight-seeing spots, and other points of interest along your chosen route. Easy navigation, user-submitted pictures, reviews, and tips help you select the perfect local sights for you and your traveling companions. Billed as an all-in-one trip planning app, Roadtrippers has hotel and restaurant information as well, to round out your on-the-road itinerary.

To Plan for the Unexpected:

• Encore Protection Consumer Roadside Assistance Plans : In a perfect world, tires wouldn’t go flat, engines wouldn’t overheat, and cars wouldn’t break down. But, unfortunately, vehicle breakdown is an unexpected reality that affects many road trips. That’s why it’s important to have a roadside assistance program that you trust, to be there to help when the inevitable happens and you find yourself in an unfamiliar place with a broken car or truck. Our easy-to-use mobile app lets you request roadside assistance with a few simple taps. Plus, service updates and dispatch notifications sent straight to your phone ensure that you’ll be back on the road as quickly as possible. We even have an assistance program for stranded motorists who need help now. The Encore Now plan is perfect for those in a pinch, with no waiting period, so roadside assistance is available right away.

So there you have it—the best travel apps on the market, for all of your road tripping needs. All that’s left to do is to download your trip apps of choice and you’ll be ready to hit the road. Don’t forget