Finding routes and nice walks is sometimes difficult, but luckily your iPhone can help you with this. We’ve rounded up the best hiking apps from the App Store for you.
1: Nature Routes Natural Monuments
Nature routes from Natuurmonumenten is a great hiking app that offers more than 260 hiking, cycling and canoeing routes throughout the Netherlands. All routes are free to download and can also be used offline. The available routes are easy to filter, so that you can map out an ideal walk.
Also nice is the explanation that the app gives when you pass a natural monument or point of interest. This does not only happen with text and photos on your screen, because you can also listen to stories from real forest rangers.
2: HikingZapp
WandelZapp has been around for years and is still an excellent hiking app. The app functions as a kind of collection of more than 1000 different walks, which are spread throughout the Netherlands. With WandelZapp you can easily choose walks based on a number of options.
For example, you choose a distance, province and starting place and indicate whether you want to bring a dog, for example. The WandelZapp app is free and you can walk one walking route at no extra cost. If you want more walking routes, you can buy them separately. With a subscription of 12.99 euros per year you can download unlimited walking routes.
3: Hiking
The largest selection of walks in the Netherlands can be found in the Wandelen app. This collects walks from, among others, the Koninklijke Wandelbond Nederland, the Institute for Nature Education and Sustainability, Wandelmagazine and Roots Magazine. You can also find NS walks and city walks in this app. There are hundreds of them free to use.
Once you’ve had them all, you can add hundreds of walking routes for 0.99 euros per province. This huge number does ensure that the app is somewhat unclear. As soon as you start Walking, you can choose from different types of walks, including nature and city walks. These are indicated on a map by small green pins. Select one, choose a route and you can start walking right away.
4: Izi Travel
For those who prefer to discover a city, the Izi Travel app is a nice option. It contains routes with audio guidance through more than 900 different cities and museums. Not only in the Netherlands, but throughout Europe. After you have downloaded the app, you still need to download a tour of your choice. Most are free, sometimes you pay a few euros. As soon as you press start, you can start following the indicated route.
The app automatically plays audio when you get to an interesting point. It’s like walking through an unknown city with a private guide. Everyone can create and upload their own route at Izi. As a result, the range is varied, but the quality can vary.
5: Fox tricks
Walking through nature with small children becomes a lot more fun when you get exciting or crazy assignments. With the Vossenstreken app you go into nature together with outside boss Robin and you get all kinds of assignments while walking.
If you do them well, you will earn badges. In between you will learn all kinds of fun facts about nature. The app was made in collaboration with the Brabant Nature Museum and offers more than 50 routes in Brabant and Flanders.
6: Day One
Day One is not necessarily a walking app, but it is useful to use while walking. Many hikers like to keep a kind of diary as they walk, in which they make notes about the places they visit. Day One is ideal for that.
In addition, the app automatically links the weather and temperature to your descriptions, and you can see everything on a map. The app is free to use if you want to keep one journal. For 2.99 euros per month you can keep an unlimited number of different diaries on multiple devices. A good choice for the serious hiker.
7: Birds in the Netherlands
While walking through nature you will undoubtedly encounter birds and it is so nice to check which species you are dealing with. The Birds in the Netherlands app is a good tool. Hundreds of different bird species can be found in the application. Thanks to the ‘identification function’ you can identify a bird you have spotted in four steps.
All birds are listed below each other in an overview and if you tap on it, you can read more about the relevant species via Wikipedia. You can also watch videos and photos of birds and hear what sound they make. Notes can also be made via the app.
Move with your iPhone
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