Tripadvisor is a travel planning app designed to help you find hotels, restaurants, and things to do for your next trip. I've been using it for years to plan everything from weekend getaways to big international vacations. The app itself launched a long time ago, but it's constantly updated. You can download it for free on both Google Play and the App Store. It has been installed by hundreds of millions of people, which shows how many travelers trust it. You don't need to pay anything to download or install the app, and you can browse most of the content without even creating an account. However, if you want to book something or write a review, you'll need to sign up, which is quick and free. The app does have ads and promoted listings, which can sometimes blend in with the regular search results. There are also optional in-app purchases, like subscribing to Tripadvisor Plus for member discounts on hotels and restaurants.

As a real user, my process is simple. I usually start by searching for my destination. The app is great for getting a first look at a place. I'll check the top-rated attractions and read recent reviews from other travelers. A simple tip is to always sort reviews by 'newest' to get the most current information, especially for restaurants. I use the 'Save' feature a lot to pin interesting hotels or tours to a private list for later comparison. When I'm ready to book, the app often shows prices from different booking sites, so I can choose the best deal. It's become my one-stop shop for the inspiration and logistics of a trip. I rarely plan anything without checking Tripadvisor first to see photos and honest opinions from people who've actually been there.

Compared to other travel apps like Google Travel or Booking.com, I keep coming back to Tripadvisor for one main reason: the sheer volume of user-generated content. While Google is great for quick facts and Booking.com is streamlined for hotel reservations, Tripadvisor feels like it's built by travelers, for travelers. The forums (though a bit old-school) can be goldmines for specific, niche questions you won't find answered elsewhere. The app isn't always the absolute cheapest for booking, but the reviews and photos give me way more confidence in my choices. For figuring out what's worth seeing and doing in an unfamiliar city, I haven't found a better free app to download and install.

• 🏨 Massive Hotel & Restaurant Reviews: The core of the app is its millions of reviews and photos. It's like having a global network of friends giving you advice. You can see exactly what a hotel room looks like from a real guest photo, not a professional ad.
• 🗺️ Trip Planning Tools: Features like 'Trips' let you build day-by-day itineraries and save places to lists. It's more visual and social than just saving links in your browser, making it easy to share plans with travel companions.
• ⚖️ Price Comparison: When you search for a hotel, the app aggregates prices from many different booking sites (Expedia, Hotels.com, etc.). This saves you from opening ten different browser tabs to find the best rate.
• ✈️ All-in-One Travel Hub: Beyond hotels and eats, it covers flights, vacation rentals, and experiences (tours, classes). While not as deep as dedicated flight apps, having it all in one place is super convenient for the initial planning phase.

• 👍 Unmatched Review Depth: The quantity and detail of user reviews are its superpower. For a popular restaurant or hotel, reading a mix of recent reviews gives a very accurate picture, much more than on a pure booking platform.
• 👍 Visual Discovery: Browsing through thousands of traveler photos is the best way to get a genuine feel for a place. This visual research aspect is far stronger than on apps like Google Travel.
• 👍 Community Q&A: The forum section, while clunky, allows you to ask specific questions and get answers from locals or recent visitors—a feature most similar apps lack entirely.

• 👎 Cluttered with Ads: The free app experience is heavily supported by ads and sponsored listings, which can make search results feel biased and sometimes push relevant organic results down the page.
• 👎 Occasional Outdated Info: For less popular destinations, some reviews or business hours can be outdated. It's always wise to cross-check critical information, unlike some competitor apps that pull live data more directly.