One of my favorite weird places in New York? Roosevelt Island. Take the subway (deep!) or the arial tram car (great view!)

1. Naked Girls Reading

OK so pretend you’re there for the literature, but there are naked girls. Here (and in several other cities) on Marks Place you can attend book readings and anecdote readings or themed readings but the readers are naked. Sometimes there is also music and the bands play naked too.

2. Trapeze

You can learn how to fly on the trapeze just like in the circus at the trapeze School New York on Pier 40 Hudson Park River (where the trapeze apparatus is outdoors) and at Aerial Studio on West 60 Street (with indoor facilities). This is an extreme sport few travelers can boast of.

3. Scavenger Hunts

Get to know the city by following clues sent to you by SMS once you’ve registered online. The clues will guide you through the city and along the way you get a pretty good sightseeing tour.

4. Cable Car

New York has a cable car which runs above the streets and across the East River for a short distance from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island. From the cable car cabin you can get good views of many famous sites and the ride will only cost you a few dollars. The official name is the Roosevelt Island Tramway.

5. High Line

This is a park like no other created in the 1930′s as a freight train line it was raised above ground level. In 1999 it became a park which hovers above the city and is home to plants and sculptures as well as being a great place to see the city from. Climb on the park from one of the access points along its path from Gansevoort Street to West 34^th between 10^th and 11^th Avenues.

6. Water Taxi Beach

Find this NYC spot on Long Island along the East River, it is a sandy beach which was created by man and is a great place to see the New York skyline from as well as pretending you’re on a tropical island. There are the usual beach games and beach side kitschy bar.

7. Accomplice

You get a phone call from a stranger telling you to pick up a package at a NYC location, and the game begins. Together with a group of about 10 you go through the streets of New York following directions, picking up items and solving a mystery. The tour/game takes you through Chinatown, Little Italy and lots of cool areas tourists often miss out on.

8. Jekyll & Hyde Restaurant

At this spooky restaurant bar the eyes in the portrait picture on the wall move, the waiter/actors are scary, weird and wacky characters who tell the story of their lives and the grim fate they endured. In the background are black and white horror movies playing. The restaurant bar is spread over 5 floors with plenty to freak you out and there are even live stage shows throughout the day. Get scared at 1409 Avenue of the Americas.

9. Upright Citizens Brigade

Although Broadway is great you can see theatre of a more intimate nature at this downtown venue in Chelsea. Many comedic stars have passed through these doors like Robin Williams and Tina Fey and stars still drop by to see the latest acts and even perform stand-up. The beer is cheap and the atmosphere buzzing.

10. Dogmatic

New York is famous for its hotdog stands but this eatery has taken the humble dog to a new level. Your organic eco-everything sausages are made with chicken, pork, turkey and lamb and placed in freshly made rolls. Then they’re topped with relishes like truffle gruyere or cheddar jalapeno, avocado or mint yogurt.

Are the Paris sewers romantic or just weird? You choose.

1. Vampire Museum (Musee des Vampires)

The folklore of Vampires and monsters of the imagination and their role in our culture and past societies is the subject of this museum in Les Lilas. There is a collection of books, documents, photos, masks, costumes and models all relating to this fangtastic subject. You can also step out into the creepy Gothic style garden in the back.

2. Paris Sewer Tour

Down beneath the city of lights is the city of stinky tunnels and running human waste! Now a popular tourist attraction the Paris Sewer Museum takes you below ground where you can walk along walkways attached to the arched tunnel walls while the sewage runs below you. Also learn about the history, legends, size and various functions of this system. The ticket booth is near the Pont de l’Alma.

3. I Love You Wall

See a wall with the words I Love You written in languages and dialects from across the globe. The wall was the idea of Frederic Baron who collected 1000 I Love Yous in 300 languages. The wall covers 40m² and has 612 enamel tiles each with the beautiful phrase written in a different language. Find Le Mur Des Je T’Aime in the Square Jehan Rictus. 

4. Beehives in the Jardin du Luxembourg

In the southwestern part of the gardens is a group of hives. There are beekeeping lessons run by the Le Rucher de Luxembourg a school that has been open since 1856. Once a year at the autumnal Fete du Miel held in the orangerie the honey is sold as well as other fruits from the garden but you can drop by to spy on the bees throughout the year.

5. Museum of Fairgrounds

See antique and just plain old attractions and equipment from past fairgrounds dating back to 1850. Try the merry-go-rounds, get on some of the rides, play some of the games, see old wooden horses and see the tents and stands. During peak season Musee des Arts Forains must be pre-booked and is near Bercy Village.

6. Catacombes de Paris

Like in several other European cities Paris has a subterranean world, part of which was used as a burial ground or ossuary as far back as 1786. When the above ground cemeteries were overflowing with the dead they were dug up and relocated to this underground resting place. You can see piles of skulls and bones beneath the ancient stone arches.

7. Deyrolle Taxidermy

Taxidermy is a dying art (joke) but you can visit a legendary Paris taxidermist which opened in 1831 and has been stuffing animals ever since. The shop is spread over 2 floors and welcomes curious tourists to see the animals big and small which stand stiffly to attention for the on lookers.

8. Paris Baking Class

Paris and France in general are known for their culinary flare and now tourists can take a class and learn how to make crispy baguettes and light pastries in a genuine Paris bakery. The classes cost about €85 and by the time you leave you’ll be making croissants.

9. Chocolate Tour

One of the other things France is known for is its delicious dark chocolate on this chocolate tour you get to visit chocolatiers in their stores and working kitchens. You can taste the chocolate, learn about how it is made and find out where the best chocolate stores in Paris are!

10. Refuge des Fondus

Climb up the steep steps of Montmartre to reach this very small and friendly restaurant where two long tables are lined with benches and diners sit together enjoying their dinner. If you weren’t friends before then you will be by the end of the evening. The food of choice here is fondue (set menu) and the drinks are served in baby’s bottles. That’s right you have to drink your (alcohol) from a baby’s bottle.

What I liked about this style of mobile app is that it provides a layer of context for a destination that you don’t always understand.  Ever get somewhere and something strange happens and think to yourself, hmmm – I never thought to ask about that. These apps help you really get into the meat of a destination’s culture quickly.  You’re not going to learn the full history of Italy, but I guarantee you’ll pick up a few interesting insights on the plane ride over.

So, what’s in the app?

What does a CultureGuide cover?  Quite a few things, actually:

• Basic words and phrases, covering introductions and food, dining, etc.
• Map, weather, and currency information
• A notepad
• A significant outline of cultural information, which is the juicy part of the guide.  It covers things like dress, safety, gift giving, communication styles, and a section on business-related information (teams, meetings, emailing, etc.)

I think the cultural info is so interesting, at least for the tips here in Italy; it includes tidbits like making sure if you give some flowers, avoid chrysanthemums and red roses, and make sure there is an odd number of flowers.  Who knew!

It also includes taboo topics – no WWII or Mussolini over coffee chat, please – and a classic comment (one tip many Americans should know about): informal dress in Italy does not mean jeans, t-shirts, or sneakers.

If you plan on attending, say, a wedding or work event, or plan on attending any sort of local event where you might be a bit of a “fish out of water,” then this app will be a fantastic read to avoid any major faux pas.  Plus you can have fun at the next trivia night, without a doubt.

Details

The CultureGuide for Italy is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android (I’m testing the iPhone version so that’s what photos you’ll see here.)  The app is $9.99, which I think might be a bit expensive as compared to the rest of the marketplace, but there is an awful lot of good information in here that you’d be hard pressed to find.  The cost is worth it if you’re going to be in a destination for a week or longer, in my opinion.

CultureGuides are available for Italy as well as several other destinations: Japan, China, India, Brazil, Dubai, Germany, and Kenya, with more on the way.

You can get a full list and more information from the official website.  While the app isn’t particularly huge, it is a lot of reading, so I would suggest downloading before your trip, so you can peruse the contents while en route.

Disclosure: The author was provided a copy with the app for the purposes of this review, but the opinions are the author’s own.

Admirality Arch - one of our weird London faves.

1. Sir Richard Burton’s Tent Tomb

Located in St. Mary Magdalen’s Church yard at 61 Worple Way this is the final resting place of the explorer and social scientist, Richard Burton who died in 1890. He is best known as the guy who dressed up as a Muslim and entered Mecca when gentiles are not allowed in. The tomb looks like a tent with little windows. The stone tent has many intricate and symbolic elements to be discovered by the viewer.

2. The Old Operating Theatre

Dating back to 1822 this was the operating theatre in St. Thomas’s Hospital. Before anesthesia, antiseptics or modern instruments the operations could be gruesome and this museum gives you an insight into how the operations were conducted. The museum is up a rickety spiral staircase above a church in the Old Herb Garret of the hospital where herbs used for medicines were kept. Learn about how medicines were concocted and see the operating table and other furnishings from the 1800′s.

3. Hunterian Museum

In this eerie museum you can see a collection put together over the course of 4 centuries it is part of the Royal College of Surgeons. There are medical instruments, both old and brutal, dental instruments, sketches of body parts and jars of preserved body parts. See a boy’s skull with another skull growing on top, deformed animals, skeletons, dissected animals in jars and diseased human organs. There is also a collection of Syphilis infected penises floating in formaldehyde.

4. Animal Cemetery

Hyde Park has an animal cemetry where miniature pet size gravestones mark the graves of some lucky pets. The cemetery is within the gates of Victoria Gate Lodge so can only be seen from through the railings on Bayswater Road. There are about 300 graves and the first grave, belonging to Cherry, a Maltese terrier, was placed in 1881. Read some of the sentimental inscriptions on the gravestones, you’ll think they were human graves.

5. Traffic Light Tree

Pierre Vivant, a French artist created this “tree” with lots of traffic lights flashing on and off. It is located on a traffic circle together with two real trees, at the junction of Heron Quay Bank, Marsh Wall and Westferry Road near Canary Wharf.

6. Narrowest House

At just 3.6 feet at the narrowest point and 100 feet at its widest this is London’s narrowest house. Size isn’t everything and the property is worth over 1 million dollars. The house was built in 1805 to block up a narrow alley way and today the ground floor is just an open alley space. On the first floor is a bathroom. The house is at 10 Hyde Park Place and today is part of Tyburn Convent.

7. The Nose on the Arch

Although Admiralty Arch is often visited by tourists few notice the stone human nose protruding from one of the inner walls. Legend has it that it was meant to be a mockery of Napoleon’s nose and that soldiers passing through the arch could curse it as they passed by.

8. Brick Lane

For a minute you’ll think you’re in Bombay, Brick Lane is the part of London where Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indians have settled. Here you can find the best Indian restaurants; raving nightclubs; graffiti by famous graffiti artists (Banksy, Ben Eine and D*Face); the Brick Lane Mosque and the Brick Lane Market.

9. London Strange Walking Tours

Take any one of London’s specialty walking tours, they can be a ghost tour or special interest tour but if you’re looking for quirky things in London the best bet would be the “Quirky London Tour”. This walking tour includes the London ballroom that became a Venetian Canal, a street where cars drive on the right hand side and the twisting bridge among other quirky things.

10. Postman’s Park and the Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice

In this park built on a burial ground is the Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, the memorial is dedicated to ordinary people who risked their own lives to rescue others. On a long wall are individual ceramic tiles each giving a brief description of the heroic act. This memorial dates back to 1900 and includes tiles like “Elizabeth Boxall aged 17…died of injuries received in trying to save a child from a runaway horse – 1880“.

1. Watch out for clever speed cameras

If you think that just watching your speed when you come up to a speed camera will keep you the right side of the Italian law then think again! Certain stretches of motorway in Italy have been fitted with automatic systems which check motorists’ average speed over distances of 10-30km. Perhaps this system should be adopted by more countries!

2. Headlight usage

Take a look at the Italian motoring law and you will see that correct headlight usage is very important when driving over there. Dipped headlights are compulsory during the day outside built-up areas and when adverse weather makes visibility poor.

3. Moped drivers

If you see a very young driver riding a moped on an Italian road think twice before reporting them to the police. You can drive a moped with a maximum speed of 45km/hr. at the age of just 14 in Italy. However, Italian young drivers have less freedom when it comes to drink-driving as between the age of 18 and 21 there is a zero tolerance approach to drink-driving.

4. Car horns

In built-up areas car horns are only used to signal immediate danger. Outside cities, Italians sound their horn to make it clear that they are about to overtake.

5. Avoid ring roads

According to the European Traffic Police Network, ring roads around the big city centres are best avoided. This is because they can become “very busy, especially at peak times”. You should also take extra caution driving in the south as the highways there are not quite so well-developed as the ones in the north. Apart from that, feel free to roam!

Also, it goes without saying, no drunk driving – which is a huge problem in Italy,  Since 2007, Italian police have stepped up efforts to curb drunk driving, which kills thousands of pedestrians a year.

Now that you’ve absorbed those tips, here are five great Italian places you really must visit.

1. Milan’s Ferrari museum

If you find yourself in Milan and are getting tired of trooping round the beautiful clothes shops then you can always take a detour to the Ferrari Museum. If this museum doesn’t sate your appetite for all things Ferrari-related then why not make a further pilgrimage to Maranello where you can see the production line from which these beautiful pieces of engineering roll-off.

2. The Italian Pyramids

Yes, you did read that word correctly – you can visit pyramids in Italy. The Pyramids of Zone can be found in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy; these arrestingly large rock pillars were formed through glacial erosion. The lakes of Lombardy are also well-worth a visit.

3. Jeremy Clarkson’s favourite road

The Stelvio Pass is Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson’s favourite road to motor on. Located north of Bormio in the province of Sondrio, Clarkson described the pass as being “15 miles of asphalt spaghetti draped on the Alps”. He isn’t wrong.

4. Rome

The traffic on Rome’s busy ring roads can sometimes seem as chaotic as a chariot race from Ben Hur. But Rome is still a great place for a motorist to visit – it’s only a short drive away from vineyards and volcanoes.

5. Turin

Turin is the Italian city in which the Italian Job’s chase scenes were filmed. The dead-end road from Turin via Cerosole Reale, Lago Agnel and the Colle del Nivolet is the place where the bus carrying Michael Caine’s team makes its final journey.

Sadly the road does not, as is claimed in the film, lead to France or Switzerland but it’s still pretty impressive!

About the Author: James Christie writes for road safety association GEM Motoring Assist – winner of Auto Express’s best breakdown cover in 2011. Check out the GEM website to access a useful Guides for Driving in Europe section.

XE Currency

There are plenty of currency conversion apps out there but there’s no reason to dish out any cash for this awesome tool. This freebie app delivers an easy way to convert your home country and your current country’s currency in just a few clicks and since it uses live currency rates, the results are always completely accurate. In fact, 5 million people have downloaded this great app so let the numbers do the talking.

Skyscanner

This is an awesome flight-booking app for Windows. It does everything you need it to: collect fares from all the big named airlines, easily compare the best deals and you can even select an option to keep your eye on price drops. Saving money on airfare just got a whole lot easier, and more convenient!

HopStop

If you plan on traveling to a big city and find yourself needing their local public transportation to take you around this is perfect for you! This app features public transport information covering 68 (and counting) of the world’s biggest, busiest metropolitan areas. So whether you need to pick your way across downtown Denver or catch a bus out of Norfolk, you should never be more than a few taps away from a neatly displayed, stop-by-stop itinerary.

PinPin ATM finder

Unfortunately we’ve all been there; scattering around trying to find the closest ATM because you ran out of money before catching a taxi back to your hotel room. So now, instead of getting even more lost in a strange town this app will direct you where the closest ATM is within seconds. Over 220 countries are listed, meaning you ought to be covered for even the most exotic of locations.

TripAdvisor

When traveling to unknown places guidebooks won’t give you all those juicy details that you want to hear about your destination. Of course you could go online to the TripAdvisor website but when you’re on the go this app is the next best thing! Perhaps you pop up around a few nice looking restaurants and can’t decide on which one to dine in, just type in your choices and instantly you will have ratings from travelers just like you. Perhaps one of them has a happy hour you never would have known about or the seafood is to die for, whatever advice you may receive is definitely one step ahead than you were before!

WhatsApp Messenger

Text internationally for free! As long as you have wi-fi available or a current data package with your phone carrier, it’s all free! So even if you’re sending a message to someone on the other side of the globe, there’s nothing to pay. Absolutely essential for keeping in touch with fellow backpackers or your family/friends on vacation with you, and, providing you can find some wi-fi, great for sending those wish-you-were-here holiday snaps back home.

Lost in Translation

Learning the language before traveling to another country is ideal but that is not always possible. So luckily for you, this app will translate for you (so no need to purchase any expensive tutoring on any foreign language)! There are plenty of translation apps available for Windows phones, but this well-put-together freebie is – until voice recognition comes along, at least – is the only one you need. There are 36 languages currently supported, plus a useful function that allows you to quickly and easily forward translations as texts or emails. Sorry Rosetta Stone, but there’s an app for that now.

The creepy Old Melbourne Gaol.

1. Melbourne Ghost Tour

Take a tour guided by a member of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula and a former parapsychological investigator. Appropriately the tour begins outside The Haunted Bookshop on McKilop Street. You will visit the Queen Victoria Market among other haunted corners of the city.

2. Melbourne Crime Tour

Go from gruesome crime scene to crime scene hearing the thrilling tales of morbid murders and daring crimes. The tour stops for a snack at the favorite hang-out of underworld character Mick Gatto.

3. Wunderkammer

This is a weird store selling scientific equipment, antique medical tools and other wonderful curiosities. If you desperately need a skeleton or a fossil this is the place to come at 439 Londale Street.

4. Titanic Theatre Restaurant

Enjoy a show and dinner in this restaurant where the last supper on board the doomed Titanic is recreated every Friday and Saturday night. You, the ship’s passengers, can put on period costumes, choose to dine as 1^st class or 3^rd class passengers and the entertainers will play out the ship’s final moments.

5. Herbal Lore Liqueurs

If you feel like doing some taste testing go along to this store within the Old Butter Factory in Daylesford, here you can get a tasting platter with goodies like liqueur chocolates, liqueur fruits and just plain liqueur! The liqueurs are mixed with organic distilled herbs and have a neutral grape base. The herbal liqueurs work as remedies and will leave you feeling mellow and invigorated at the same time. The store is beautifully decorated and the presentation welcoming so that you can learn about the liqueur on offer.

6. Edible Weeds Walk

Take a guided tour through the city learning about the flowers and plants growing within the urban environment which you can actually eat! You can also learn about the weeds, plants and flowers which can be used for their medical properties and the tour ends at the CERES Community Environment Park.

7. Free Laughing Course

Attend a free half hour laughing course, if you’re wondering why so many Melbournians are walking about with a smile on their faces try one of the Laughing Clubs throughout the city. Contact the Laughter Clubs of Victoria for details.

8. Strange Tour

This tour is obviously going to be weird, it takes you through the mysterious history of the city as you follow an audio guide from landmark to landmark. You unravel seven secrets of the city from ingredients in the dim sum to how the parliament mace disappeared all with fascinating unusual and weird details as you go. The self-guided tour can be downloaded from the Internet for about $7.

9. Old Melbourne Gaol

Tour the old goal (British English for “jail“) on Russell Street, constructed in 1841 it is now a penal museum. See the three tiers of cells and learn about the most infamous of its past inmates, Ned Kelly who was also hung here. The tours are by candle light at night on Wednesdays and Sundays although you could visit during the day time on any day of the week.

10. Penguin Parade

Although not so weird for locals you don’t see a parade of penguins everyday! This is the world’s biggest little penguin colony reaching about 1000 at times. The creatures waddle up the beach to their burrows everyday at sunset while snap happy tourists get some really cute shots.

1. Mutter Museum

See the strange and weird medical oddities in this building which was originally a school of medicine. Among the collection are foreign object that have been removed from bodies, a model of a woman who had a horn growing from her head, pickled fetuses, a 9 foot colon and pieces of brain! Here you’ll see things that would have been confined to the realm of fairground shows!

2. Eastern State Penitentiary

Take the self guided audio tour of this goal which functioned until the 1960′s. The guide is narrated by Steve Buscemi and takes you though the cells, workshops, refractory, offices and solitary confinement cells.

3. Philadelphia Magic Garden

This garden made of glass and metal has been reflecting the light since the 60′s. The garden is home to sculptures created by local artists in strange and weird shapes and is situated on South Street and 15^th Street. There is a labyrinth sculpture garden, mosaic walls as well as texts imbedded in the art for the more observant viewer to find.

4. Philadelphia Insectarium

You’ll go bug eyed looking at all the creepy crawlies in this “zoo” for the minuscule creatures. The museum shows the eco-system’s reliance on the role insects play, the place is both educational and fascinating. See the glow in the dark scorpions and the kitchen crawling with cockroaches.

5. Calder Museum

Also known as Calder of the Parkway this is a group of outdoor installations spread out along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Calder’s fascinating work can be seen in the Parkway Museum District and in the Rodin Museum courtyard but the most interesting is the 21 1/2 foot tall sculpture called “Ordinary” on 24^th and Parkway.

6. Curtis Publishing Building Lobby

You’d never imagine that you could find such beautiful artwork in an office building lobby but just within the entrance of this building are Tiffany glass mosaics by Maxfield Parrish – Dream Garden. The lobby has an eerie and interesting feel to it and you can also see stunning stained glass windows and a marble courtyard.

7. Philly: the Game

Take this scavenger hunt by following SMS messages you receive on your phone once you have signed up for the challenge. The self guided hunt will take you to little known parts of the city and tell you interesting snippets of information about the things you are seeing.

8. Ghost Tour of Philadelphia

Philadelphia is one of America’s oldest cities and with that comes more ghost stories and urban legends than most cities. A guide in period costume will take you around the city at night by candlelight telling you tales of the famous and infamous that still walk the streets but not in human form!

9. Carnivolution

Hailed as the weirdest of Philly’s attractions this “museum” is in the communal backyard of several residential houses, in the Ellen Powell Tiberino Memorial Museum. It is a multi-talented group of weird and wonderful acts including movement, circus sideshows and stunts. The show is only on the 2^nd Friday of each month in the Powelton Village on Hamilton, and not to be missed.

10. Philly Roller Girls

At the 23^rd Street Armory you can see the all-girl roller derby competitions, the Phithy Britches being one of the top of their league which includes teams like the Heavy Metal Hookers and the Broad Street Butchers. The roller girls will be relocating in the summer of 2012 to the Liacouras Center at Temple University so catch a race/match/game there as the girls race around the track banging each other along the way.

Tencin Castle

Visit Castles

Slovakia has a TON of castles to venture through and it’s quite fascinating how well preserved most of them are. And even for the ones that weren’t so fortunate to have made it through the years with ease, they are most likely surrounded by incredible views that make it totally worth it to climb up. Here are some great castles that you should check out:

• Bojnice Castle ( Prievidza)
• Orava Castle (Zilina)
• Devin Castle (Bratislava)
• Bratislava Castle (Bratislava)
• Spis Castle (Poprad)
• Trencin Castle(Trencin) directly above town square in Trencin

Go Hiking

Slovakia has a reputation for some great and very challenging trails. However, don’t be intimidated when you read reviews and people tell you how tough some of the trails are. There are trails for all levels of expertise. The most well-known, area is the High Tatras. Slovak paradise is supposed to be some of the most awesome adventure hiking and closer to Zilina there are the Fatras and rock climbing. Go enjoy the outdoors and take a hike throughout Slovakia!

Visit Trencin

This is a fairly small city but hosts plenty of sights worth seeing and you are sure to enjoy yourself during your stay. In fact, while you’re visiting Trencin Castle you can then explore the city some more by taking a walk in the park and visiting the historical Hotel Tatra.

Eat With Aliens

Alright, so there are not really aliens in Slovakia but you can get one step closer to discovering them by dining in the UFO; a restaurant located in Bratislava, Slovakia. On top of the restaurant, an open-air observation deck offers a full 360-degree view of Bratislava that is certainly the best in the city.

Take a Trip into Prehistoric Times

Park of the Zoos at Plzeň, Bratislava and Vyškov, the Dino parks allows you to walk with Dinosaurs, with numerous real life size models of the most exciting creatures from the past. Children receive a brush and shovel and become a temporary paleontologist – can they find and recognize bones of a prehistoric giant hidden under the sand?

Take a Day Trip to a Healing Spa

In and around the High Tatras there are hundreds of these healing spas for all kinds of diseases. There are a range of caves and breathing the fresh, moist air is believed to relieve asthma. Mud, peat and mineral waters are considered natural healers. Whether or not you believe in the possibility, it is a sure thing that the beauty of this mountain region, it’s grassy meadows, forest of trees, the clean mountain air and the pure flowing waters will bring some sort of effect to you, and a trip out here will surely enhance your vacation.

But what really got my attention wasn’t necessarily the Gogobot’s site full of detailed trip reviews (and I love their blog – check out this recent Portlandia piece), but their mobile app! Currently the app’s focus isn’t reviews and recommendations, but downloadable itineraries and postcards!

Postcard Fun

I’ve written about making your own postcards with the Impressions App, and Gogobot is a little different. What you do is take your photo, and then go into Gogobot and choose the photo. You can then choose from a number of filters – similar to Instagram, but these are more postcard-themed. Each is pre-built with a text area to include the name of the destination, which isn’t free text – you choose from the set list.

I LOVE the filters, though keep in mind you can’t do any further editing except choose a filter and destination. From the app itself you can share the postcard on Gogobot’s network as well as other social media sites that you choose to connect with, but also you can save the image to your photo and do further processing in other apps, such as Impressions, Instagram, etc.

On the Gogobot network you can like and comment on other postcards, similar to Instagram.
In addition to postcards, the app also provides a way for you to sync destination information offline. I haven’t tried this feature, but a couple of fellow bloggers I met actually said this was their favourite feature of the program. (I’m a bit of a postcard fanatic so I’m biased.)

It’s a free app and a lot of fun, so I would encourage you to check it out – and of course, check out the Gogobot site as well.