📲 27 BEST Travel Apps Australia (Camps, Maps, Safety…)

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It’s undeniable that apps are a part of modern-day travel, which even includes camping adventures. Some apps are essential for safety and communication, while others are purely for entertainment and to simply enhance your travels.

These are the best apps for camping and travelling in Australia that I’ve found from my own experience. From talking to many other travellers on the road, most of these apps remain popular among the caravanning, camping and road tripping community in Australia.

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Travel Apps Australia – CAMPS

WikiCamps

There’s a reason WikiCamps made number one on this list of best apps for travelling Australia. If you only download one app for your travels, make it WikiCamps.

Use WikiCamps to find campsites (from free and low cost, right up to resort-style caravan parks), toilets, showers, Information Centres, dump points, drinking water and more.

You can also make use of the Trip Planner function and even download your full maps for offline use.

WikiCamps runs largely on crowd-sourced information. You can use the app to get the latest reviews and photos of a location.

For the full guide on how to set up WikiCamps and get the absolute most out of the app, check out the step-by-step guide below.

With the ability to pre-download maps and have all of your essential information at your fingertips, WikiCamps is an invaluable resource for road tripping and camping travel around Australia.

CamperMate

CamperMate is a FREE app, which rivals WikiCamps and helps you find everything you need while road tripping Australia and New Zealand.

With CamperMate you can find points of interest, campgrounds and accomodation, petrol stations, ATMs, WiFi, dump points, showers and more. The offline maps function means that you don’t need to have mobile reception to make use of the app.

Something that sets CamperMate apart from other similar apps, is having the ability to make bookings with accomodation and tour providers through the app.

Anycamp

Anycamp (formerly Aircamp) is a FREE crowd sourced camping app, with the ability to book camps from within the app itself.

It currently has over 8000 campsites and caravan parks with 500+ camps that you can book. This app is growing every day, so while it may not be as big as some of the others, it still provides a great source of free information for camping travel in Australia.

Offline maps are not currently available, so keep in mind that this app will only work when you’ve got mobile reception.

Camps Australia Wide

Camps Australia Wide have a whole range of physical camp guide books, which you can buy and keep with you in the car for your travels.

They also have a handy app, which includes all of the camps from the books. There are over 13,500 budget and free camping destinations to choose from around the country. You’ll also have access to offline maps, current photos and reviews, amenity and resource information and loads more.

Offline maps are available and both iOS and Android devices can make full use of the Camps Australia app.

WWOOF Australia

WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Their whole philosophy is about volunteering for meals and accommodation.

As a WWOOFer you are asked to do 4-6 hours per day (maximum 38 hours per week) of help around the property. In exchange, the host will provide you with all meals and accommodation.

Travel Apps Australia – RESOURCES

Fuel Map Australia

Fuel Map Australia is the app to have for finding petrol stations, checking fuel prices and logging your own kilometres and fuel usage.

The information uploaded to Fuel Map is crowd-sourced when it comes to petrol stations and pricing. So, the latest fuel prices are only as current as the latest review.

However the fuel prices listed for the WA (Western Australia) fuel stations are up-to-date as they’re automatically updated via FuelWatch.

The Fuel Log feature is extremely handy as a road trip app, for keeping track of how much you’ve spent on fuel, how many kilometres you’ve travelled, plus working out your average consumption (fuel economy).

Gas Finder (Refills & Swaps)

The Gas Finder app (created by WikiCamps) is another one of our best apps for travelling Australia. You can use it to find the nearest locations for gas bottle refills and swaps, plus check out the latest prices.

Remember, as with any crowd-sourced app, the information provided is based on what other users input. So, the last pricing recorded may not be the most current, but is often a good guide.

If you do a lot of off-grid camping or cooking with gas, then you’ll want to be able to source out gas bottle refills on the go. We generally went through a 9kg gas bottle per fortnight while free camping in the caravan (using it for cooking and hot water).

Australia Post

The Australia Post tracking app is designed for you to easily add in new delivery addresses and track your parcels.

Getting mail and parcels delivered on the road may feel like a headache, but it’s actually really easy with the 24/7 Parcel Locker system. For the smaller towns that don’t have parcel lockers, Post Offices will hold your parcel for up to two weeks for you.

Using the app to track your mail means that you can stay in contact with relevant Post Offices regarding when you can get there to collect.

For more info on receiving mail on the road, check out the following article.

National Public Toilet Map

The National Public Toilet Map app is a huge FREE database of 19,000+ public toilets around Australia.

Bear in mind, that if you’re using WikiCamps or Campermate, you can use those apps to find toilets, so you may not need to download this additional app.

Playground Finder

Playground Finder will give you access to the locations of thousands of playgrounds around Australia. Find playgrounds close to where you are and look ahead to find playgrounds in locations that you’ll be visiting.

If you do a lot of family travel to major towns and cities, this app could be very useful for helping to find playgrounds to stretch the kids legs.

Travel Apps Australia – MAPS

Google Maps

The most readily available and FREE mapping service is the Google Maps app. You can easily zoom in and out, change the filters to suit your needs and get real-time distances and travel times. Make full use of offline maps, street view and live traffic information.

Hema Maps

Hema are renowned for being the best for offline and off-road mapping. The Hema Explorer app is made for 4WDing, camping, caravanning and geocaching. Use it to plan your trip, navigate your journey, then share your adventure online with friends.

If you plan on hitting some off-road tracks, Hema Maps are the best map apps for travelling Australia! There are a few different Hema mapping options available, so make sure you do your research to find the right one to suit you.

In this age of technology, it’s also important to have some good old paper maps on hand as well. If your device dies or you’re out of service before you realise you forgot to download offline maps, you’re literally up the track without a map!

Hema offer a fantastic range of very detailed paper maps, such as the ones below. Check out the full range to find one to suit your needs.

Travel Apps Australia – COMMUNICATION

WhatsApp

A really great FREE travelling app for staying in touch with loved ones at home is WhatsApp, especially if you don’t want to use social media for this purpose.

Through the app you can make use of voice calls, video calls and messaging. Not only can you directly message a single person, but you can also create group chats.

All that’s required, once you download the app, is a wifi or data connection, with all messaging and calls being free across the world.

Messenger

Messenger is a FREE chat service that’s connected to Facebook. Once upon a time, you didn’t need to have a Facebook account to utilise Messenger, but these days you do (unless you’ve had a FB account in the past).

Quickly and easily staying in touch with friends and family is as easy as sending a message through Messenger. You can also send photos and start group chats for multiple people.

Facebook

I think by this stage we’re all well aware of what Facebook is as a social media platform. Facebook is a fantastic app to update your friends and family with photos and thoughts of your travel experiences.

It’s also a great way to let people know where you are and where you’re heading. So, if something should go wrong or if people haven’t heard from you for a while, they can use the information that you’ve posted on Facebook to help find you.

Above all, jumping onto Facebook and engaging with your friends and family at home can quell some of the disconnection you may feel from being away from everybody for so long.

Instagram

For those who are more photo-based, then Instagram is the go. Being much less ‘wordy’ than FB, on Insta it’s all about the glorious images!

Staying connected with loved ones and sharing photos of the amazing places you visit in your travels is easy with Instagram. You also have the option of chatting with people privately through Direct Message (DM).

Something really great about Instagram is being able to connect with people you don’t even know, but share common interests with. You may even find people through the app that you can meet up with on the road!

Travel Apps Australia – SAFETY

Emergency Plus

The Emergency Plus app has been created in collaboration with Australian Emergency Services and the Government and is completely FREE to download.

The purpose of the app is to help emergency services find your exact location in the event of an emergency. Using the in-built GPS in your smart phone, you can pinpoint your exact location to pass onto the Triple Zero (000) call attendant.

First Aid (by St Johns Ambulance)

The FREE First Aid app by St Johns Ambulance provides a host of critical first aid information, right in the palm of your hand. You don’t need to be trained in any first aid to use this app, all information is simple and provided in layman’s terms.

Fires Near Me

The Fires Near Me app could be a life-saving resource for travelling Australia. We certainly used it many times during our travels throughout the 2020 bush fires in New South Wales.

On the app you can set a locational distance around you (example, a 20km radius), where alerts will pop up if a fire is detected in your area. This could be anything from a grass fire to a bush fire. You can also use the app to receive warning and incident information, related to fires.

Each state has their own version of the app, depending on what the state fire service has created.

BOM (Bureau of Meterology)

The BOM (Bureau of Meterology) app is an Australia-wide weather resource. Use it to check the forecasts for your current area (or anywhere across Australia) and watch the rain radars.

Knowing the type of weather that’s on the way can help determine if you should just pull the awning in and sit tight, or if you’re able to carry on with your journey.

Weatherzone

Weatherzone is one of the most popular weather apps, especially for travelling Australia. You can lock in specific towns and locations to keep an eye on their weather and temperatures. Plus, make full use of weather alerts, forecasts, rain radars and marine forecasts.

Beachsafe

If you plan on visiting the beach a lot while on the road, Beachsafe is the one of the best apps for travelling Australian coastlines.

Aside from finding the nearest beaches, you can gain information on which ones are patrolled, as well as what the swell and tide is like. If you’re looking for beaches with toilet and shower facilities, this app will help with that as well.

Australian Bites and Stings

With Australia being home to so many venomous critters, it’s essential that you know how to deal with various bites and stings while on a road trip. The Australian Bites and Stings app is FREE and can be downloaded onto your device for offline use.

Learn what to do in the event of being stung or bitten by a venomous snake, spider, jellyfish or other aquatic creature. Apply the first aid and seek medical help!

Travel Apps Australia – ENTERTAINMENT

Spotify

Spotify is one of the best apps for travelling Australia when it comes to audio and music streaming.

With the FREE version you can listen to as much music as you like, but it’s more of a ‘shuffle’ mode. The downside of this basic version is that you have to listen to ads and you only get a limited number of times per hour that you can skip songs.

Upgrade to Spotify Premium to pre-download music for offline use, no ads and the ability to listen to whichever songs you like (with unlimited skipping).

YouTube

The YouTube app pretty much provides an endless amount of viewing and listening entertainment. You can literally search for any topic you like and get lost in the variety of content that shows up.

YouTube will only work with an online connection, unless you pay to upgrade to Premium.

YouTube Premium means not getting interrupted by ads, plus being able to keep watching/ listening to videos while doing other things on your device (even when it’s locked). Another bonus is being able to access YouTube Music Premium, where you can ‘like’ and ‘download’ songs for offline use.

Star Walk

Explore the night sky with the FREE Star Walk app. Listen to the relaxing music as you move your device around in all directions to see which stars and constellations you’re looking at.

This app is great for budding young astronomers and curious adults alike.

BorrowBox

BorrowBox is a FREE online Library for library members. It gives you access to enjoy borrowing eBooks and eAudiobooks, anywhere, anytime right on your device.

The ULTIMATE Travel Apps Planner

Working out which apps you’re going to need for caravanning, camping or road tripping Australia can be overwhelming and time-consuming.

With the Travel Apps Guide below, you can easily work through over 70 of the most-used Aussie travel apps, categorised into 13 sections. Easily locate what you’re looking for and plan what you’ll actually need.

• 70+ Apps for caravanning, camping & road tripping Australia
• SELECT Apps that are relevant to you
• TYPE in notes to help plan & organise
• TICK off Apps as you download them
• Use the Travel Apps Guide on any device with a PDF Reader (most modern-day devices come with one pre-loaded)

Travel Apps Planner

The Planner will take you through over 70 of the most commonly used Australian travel apps.

• 31 pages
• 70+ Aussie Travel Apps (13 categories)
• Select your own Apps
• Notes sections to help you plan
• Tick off your choices as you download them
• DIGITAL & PRINTABLE

Travel Apps Planner

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