With over 50,000 apps already for the iPhone, figuring out which ones are the best for the intrepid traveler is the hard part. Lucky for you Travel + Leisure’s naming their top 11 travel apps, ranging from the basic — unit conversion, voice recorder — to the truly necessary — where’s the closest free toilet? And you were just using it to play solitaire. Pshaw.

UPDATE: I’ve been alerted by inside sources of another list of travel apps, this one coming from National Geographic, and it has 20, which is way more than 11. Which is better? You do the math. Here’s the list.

This week the Frugal Traveler attempts the impossible: Paris for cheap. And he succeeds! Through a little hotel-slumming, twitter restaurant advice, and the reliance on the all-important French institution that is the picnic.

“The picnic is the great democratizing institution of summer, when Parisians spill onto riverbanks and bridges and into parks and gardens, chasing away the memories of winter and rain with baguettes and bottles, sandals and sundresses.”

Follow Matt (his definite articleless title) as he makes his way around the former Jewish quarter, the Marais, one of his favorite haunts for shopping and lazy weekend wandering. Next on the zero-euro list, he heads to the Museum of Hunting and Nature, one of the many museums that are free on the first Sunday of every month (as are the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay).

For a little shopping, the Parisian flea markets and the A.P.C. surplus store in Montmartre, where clothes that have been on the shelf for over 6 months are 50% off, are a must for any bargain hunter or budget travel writer.

And what’s Paris without squirming your way into the restaurant of the city’s hottest chef? In this case, Spring (check out the live kitchen cams at the site!), the tiny, hyped joint where Matt takes advantage of the no reservations policy on Saturdays. And it’s all done on the cheap. Save your Euros for the next trip.

How much about Cuba can you discover by traveling through the Viñales Valley on a bike? Turns out, quite a lot.

By Luke Armstrong

Moments before my plane touched down in Havana, an Australian had turned to me to ask me why I was going to Cuba. I guess I was not exactly sure myself. As an American, I am not supposed to travel to Cuba, but there is something about a forbidden fruit that makes it tastier than the stuff you can buy at the grocery store. Remember how drinking alcohol lost something once we became of age? Exactly.

After a short stay in Havana, gravitation and my Lonely Planet guide lead me to the relaxed town of Viñales. My guidebook tells me that in 1999 the valley was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site. I make a mental note to Google what such a declaration actually entails.

Walking through the slow streets as I make my way to the Cubanacán travel office to rent a bike, a young man rides up flashing me his yellow bike. “You want to rent my bike?” he asks. “Best bike in all of Cuba. Try it out if you don’t believe me”

I give his bike a spin around the block. The gears change and the brakes squeak to an eventual halt. It seems as good a bike as I will find anywhere else and the fake shocks give the impression that the rider means serious bike riding business. I give him five pesos to use it for the day and he tells me to look for him around town when I come back to return the bike. “If you can’t find me just ask anyone where José is.” (more…)

Having finished off “Fast Food Nation” just last night, it was more than a little disheartening to come across this article over at Slate chronicling McDonald’s’ slow takeover of the gastronomic interests of the French. As is revealed in the piece:

“The company was pulling in over a million people per day in France, and annual turnover was growing at twice the rate it was in the United States. Arresting as those numbers were, there was an even more astonishing data point: By 2007, France had become the second-most profitable market in the world for McDonald’s, surpassed only by the land that gave the world fast food.”

This is so wrong on so many levels: nutritionally, culturally, economically. Is there anything more sad then when you’re traveling than stumbling across a McDonald’s? As was summed up at the end of “Fast Food Nation,” there’s only one way to change things: with your stomach. Don’t eat there, don’t bring your kids there, don’t order those Shamrock Shakes no matter how tasty they are. It’s the only way to tame the monster.

When I lived in Boulder, Colorado, with eight of my friends, people would be surprised when they encountered the homeless guy that often called our porch home. I could’t understand their confusion. Welcome to Boulder, I used to tell them.

If you’ve only spent time in Colorado during the winter then you’re really missing out. Sunny days, zero humidity, and spectacular opportunities to enjoy the outdoors are only a few reasons why the summer months can rival those of the winter’s in the Rocky Mountains.

One of the state’s best towns, Boulder, a short distance north of Denver, has a huge biking population (almost one to one ratio between people and bikes), excellent restaurants, and plenty of other activities, as outlined in this article over at National Geographic. And if you happen to walk by my old place and see Leroy out front, say hi to him for me. Hopefully his new roommates are treating him well.

I’ll always remember listening to my vinyl copy of Thriller that I bought at Goodwill for $1.00 back in high school. To you MJ, a tribute from Caetano Veloso, one of the most amazing versions of one of your songs ever done.

Kruger may be better known, but South Africa’s iSimangaliso Wetland Park has its fair share of wildlife, including hippos, Zambezi sharks, crocodiles, antelope, and over 500 species of birds.

Located in the northeastern part of the country, just south of Mozambique, iSimangaliso boasts five ecosystems and can safely be described as “South Africa’s answer to the Great Barrier Reef.” I get the sense that visiting here would be something like spring break for “Planet Earth” fans.

Squid balls, pissing shrimp, and pig knuckles: all in a day’s work for Anthony as he stops in at Tung Po Seafood Restaurant, a non-descript, food court style haunt reached via escalator in the heart of Hong Kong. Though I wasn’t expecting it, this turned out to be one of my favorite episodes so far, check it out on Netflix (Season 3, Episode 13).

• The fall’s a perfect time to head down (well, up if you’re in Antarctica) to South Africa in advance of next year’s World Cup, and flights on South Africa Airways are as low as $438 each way from New York (w/o fees — with everything you’re looking at around a cool thousand, still pretty good given you’re heading around 7,793 miles each way).

• Remember that matchmaking flight via New Zealand Air that’s all about hooking up potential travelers before they load on a plane from L.A. to Auckland? Well there’s still tickets available for $780, just in case your summer hasn’t been going too well for you in that department. If you don’t go, there’s still “Before Sunrise” on DVD.

• Lufthansa is offering an amazing deal to Madrid for only $420. That’s for a  round-trip ticket, but I’d advise you buy a one-way and not look back.

Ryanair, in an effort to cut costs amongst an industry-wide turndown, is considering having passengers bring their own luggage on to the tarmac — just like taking a bus! As the Independent points out, “the budget airline says the plans could save €20m, through not paying baggage handlers, which would be passed on to consumers.”

I’m more than fine with this. When I fly, I’m paying to get from point A to point B for the least amount of money possible, not for some sort of luxurious transportation experience complete with doting attendants and plentiful amenities.

I really don’t understand all those complaints about the airline industry. I just consider it a miracle whenever this multi-ton hunk of metal, wires and reheated chicken dishes has been able to lift itself into the sky and land back down to Earth safely.

My suggestion: have passengers share in the responsibility of working as flight attendants. I guarantee people would treat their future stewards/stewardesses a little better on their next flight after they’ve spent a little time walking down cramped fuselage aisleways in their shoes for a flight or two. Plus, free access to all the ginger ale you can drink. Score!

I know that I’m supposed to be writing about interesting destinations or posting travel videos, but it all seems a little trite after spending some time watching the videos from the protests in Iran on YouTube’s new “CitizenTube” channel, or reading this heartbreaking story about Neda, the woman slain by Iranian forces.

Not to sound too simplistic about this either, but I can’t help thinking that those who are orchestrating the violence and oppression in Iran are exactly the types of people whom the travel community are hoping to change: those whose backwards view of the world has likely been shaped not by their exposure to other cultures, people and ideas, but rather by their own insular surroundings.

It’s hard to propogate xenophobia or condone an anachronistic type of government when you yourself have sat down as a guest for dinner with a family from the people whom you purport to hate, or have spent time in a functioning, credible democracy that recognizes basic human rights for all.

Something tells me Neda may not have had the opportunity to travel and to do either of these things, but she likely recognized these principles. At least more than her killers did.

We spend a lot of time here at TheExpeditioner.com going on and on about places to visit and sights to see around the world, but it begs the question: aren’t there plenty of places you shouldn’t travel to? Of course there are, I just don’t think there’s much use spilling a lot of ink talking about them.

Unless of course you’re trying to do a whole “High Fidelity” thing, putting together a top-5 (or in this case, top-10) list of the most overrated places on Earth, like what was done over at Frommer’s.

Their list includes such neighborhoods as New York’s Little Italy (tourist trap, few to zero actual Italians); and Harajuku, Tokyo (tourist trap, after-school hangout). Whole cities get thrown into the mix here as well, including Vancouver (or as they refer to it: “Blandcouver”), and, wait for it, Venice. Yeah, that’s going to provoke a few arguments.

And because I can’t help butting in with my own opinion for lists like these, I’ll throw a couple out there.

How about Times Square? If you want to come all the way to New York City to spend time in a section of the city that seems nothing like New York, then here’s your place.

What about the Eiffel Tower? Great as a landmark, terrible as an actual destination. Why? Same reason as Times Square. Your thoughts?

It seems like we’ve read this one before: a solitary escape to the Italian countryside, salaciously detailed descriptions of food, the name dropping of small villages, but for some reason it’s still captivating, even if one Ms. Mayes is not involved, and even if there’s no Tuscan sun hovering overhead.

As this NYT article about one woman’s summer stay in this neighboring region points out, Umbria is not Tuscany: “Umbria is to Tuscany what Sonoma is to Napa — a little less trafficked, a little less touristy, a lot less money.” But just as good food, and don’t worry, I’m pretty sure you won’t notice much of a difference with the sun here.