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Hong Kong: A taste of the high life
Ozone: The world's highest bar. Supplied picture

Forget about lugging around heavy guide books and directories, and give these handy travel apps a try.


It's a popular theme - visiting Australia's best pubs while exploring this vast land of ours.

Now, to help you find the cream of the crop is journalist Lee Mylne, who has launched the Great Australian Pubs travel app.

Mylne visited more than 100 pubs around Australia for the app, road-testing each venue.

The app, which will tell you which pubs are nearest to you, the services they offer and their history, is available to download for iPhone and iPad via the App Store.

Details: iPad $5.99, iPhone $4.99 .


If you're planning a trip to the US this northern winter be sure to download the HopStop public transport app before you go.

From Albuquerque to Austin, Santa Barbara to Syracuse, this app has you covered every step of your journey.

It has a GPS tracking system to help you pick a route to your destination and the best mode of transport to get you there, including piecing together schedules for the subway, bus and ferry, as well as paths for biking and walking.

It also gives you live updates of what's happening with the local public transport system to prevent you from becoming caught in traffic delays, and it provides wheelchair accessible and pram friendly routes.

HopStop also covers 14 destinations in Canada and four in Europe.

It features restaurant and cafe listings, and is available for iPhone, Android, Amazon and Windows.

Details: Cost is free;


Keep your travel documents organised with the TripIt app, which holds airline reservations and multiple itineraries in one place.

Before you leave home, forward your hotel, airline, car rental and restaurant reservations to TripIt and you'll be able to access them at any time from wherever you are - even without being connected to the internet.

You can also add travel details on the run, if you want to make notes of places visited, and you can access maps, directions and weather updates.

Basically, it's your own personal assistant, saving you the hassle of carrying multiple print outs of your travel itineraries and plans.

It's available for iPad, iPhone, tablet, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7.

Details: There are different versions of this app so be sure to try the free one first;