Best language learning apps for travellers

Best for: Travellers who want a free, low-pressure daily habit

Duolingo is the most downloaded language learning app in the world. The free tier gives you access to the full course in over 40 languages, with ads and limited "hearts" (lives) that run out if you make too many mistakes in a row. The Super tier removes ads, gives unlimited hearts, and adds offline lesson downloads.

The app's lesson-expiry mechanic (lessons reset to incomplete if you haven't practised recently) frustrates a lot of users who report feeling like they're constantly treading water. That's worth knowing before you commit to it as your main prep tool. The travel-specific vocabulary also sits deep in the course rather than in early lessons, so you'll need to put in time before it becomes practically useful for a trip.

For absolute beginners who need a habit-forming structure before a holiday, Duolingo is a reasonable starting point. For anyone who wants to move quickly into practical phrases, something more targeted will get you there faster.

Pros: Entirely free for the core course. Available in more languages than any other app on this list. Short lessons work well during commutes or waiting at the gate.

Cons: Travel vocabulary appears late in the course. The streak and hearts system annoys a significant share of regular users. Grammar explanations are thin compared to dedicated grammar tools.

Best for: Travellers who want structured, conversation-ready lessons

Babbel has no free tier beyond a couple of taster lessons. The paid subscription (cheapest on an annual plan at around €6.99/month) gives full access to structured 10-15 minute lessons built around real-life scenarios: ordering food, asking for directions, checking into accommodation. The lessons are written by linguists and progress logically from basic to conversational.

Offline access is available by downloading lessons in advance, which is useful on long-haul flights. Travellers who have used Babbel consistently report that it gets them to basic conversational competence faster than Duolingo because every lesson is built around something you'd actually say, rather than abstract vocabulary trees.

Babbel is available in 14 languages. If your destination language isn't in that list, it's not the right tool.

Pros: Lessons are practical from the first session. Offline downloads work well for flights. Clear progression through conversational scenarios.

Cons: No free tier. Only 14 languages available. Less suited to casual or gamified learners.

Best for: Travellers who learn best by listening, not reading

Pimsleur is audio-first, built around 30-minute spoken lessons that you can do while driving, walking, or packing. The method is spaced repetition applied to audio: you hear a phrase, are asked to recall and say it, then hear the correct version. There is no screen required.

The free tier gives one lesson per language, which is enough to judge whether the format suits you. The Premium subscription runs from around €14.99/month and covers over 50 languages. Offline downloads are included on Premium.

Travellers who commute by car or who find screen-based learning hard to maintain tend to report good results with Pimsleur. The trade-off is that reading and writing skills develop slowly because the app doesn't prioritise them.

Pros: No screen needed - works during exercise, commuting, chores. Covers more than 50 languages. Offline access on Premium.

Cons: More expensive than most competitors. Reading and writing skills lag behind speaking. Lessons are fixed at 30 minutes, which can feel long.

Best for: Travellers who want to absorb real spoken phrases from native speakers

Memrise combines spaced repetition flashcards with short video clips of real people saying phrases in context. The "Meet the Natives" section (available on the paid Pro tier) is the main differentiator: these are not studio recordings but short clips of everyday speakers filmed in their home countries. Travellers who have used this feature consistently say it helps with accent recognition in a way that text-based apps can't replicate.

The free tier covers the core vocabulary content. Pro, at around €8.99/month, adds Meet the Natives, offline mode, and grammar bots. Offline mode is Pro-only, which is worth factoring in if you're planning to practise without Wi-Fi.

Pros: Real-speaker video phrases are genuinely useful for accent recognition. Spaced repetition keeps vocabulary from disappearing. Free tier covers a good amount of core content.

Cons: Offline mode is behind the paywall. The app can feel scattered if you're trying to learn grammar rather than vocabulary. Not all languages have the same depth of native-speaker content.

Best for: Travellers learning through TV shows and films

Lingopie lets you watch TV shows and films in the target language with clickable subtitles: tap any word and get an instant definition and pronunciation. You can save words to a flashcard deck that the app reviews with you later. The catalogue covers 9 languages and draws on content from the countries where those languages are spoken.

Pricing is around €6/month on an annual plan. There is a 7-day free trial. Lingopie is streaming-based and doesn't have an offline mode, so it needs a reliable connection.

This is the app that tends to work well for people who have the basics down and want to build vocabulary and listening comprehension in a more engaging way. It's less effective as a starting point from zero.

Pros: Clickable subtitles make passive watching active. Good for listening comprehension and natural vocabulary. Relatively low monthly cost on annual plan.

Cons: No offline mode. Only 9 languages. Not suited to complete beginners.

Best for: Travellers who want a structured course with live teacher feedback

Lingoda is different from every other app on this list because it is a live online class platform, not a self-study app. You book scheduled group or one-to-one video lessons with qualified teachers. Group classes start from around €69/month. One-to-one lessons cost considerably more.

The structured approach means you get corrected when you make mistakes, which is something no self-study app does well. Travellers who have done a sprint (Lingoda offers intensive challenge programmes where you commit to daily classes for a month) tend to report significant gains in confidence compared to solo app study. The trade-off is cost and schedule: you need to commit to lesson times rather than doing five minutes when it suits you.

Lingoda covers German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Business English.

Pros: Live correction and real conversation practice. Structured curriculum with clear level progression. Intensive sprint programmes available.

Cons: Significantly more expensive than self-study apps. Requires scheduled commitment. Fewer language options than most apps.

Best for: Travellers who want to build custom flashcard decks, especially for grammar

Anki is a free, open-source flashcard app built on spaced repetition. Unlike every other app here, Anki gives you blank cards: you (or the community) create the content. There is a large library of shared decks covering vocabulary, grammar tables, kanji, verb conjugations, and travel-specific phrases for almost any language.

The desktop version and the Android app are free. The iOS app (AnkiMobile) is a one-off purchase of around €24.99. Anki works offline by default because the decks are stored locally.

Anki is the best tool on this list for grammar-focused learners because you can build decks around exactly the patterns you're struggling with. It requires more initial effort to set up than a structured app, and it doesn't teach; it only reviews what you already know. Most travellers use it alongside a teaching app rather than as a standalone tool.

Pros: Free on desktop and Android. Offline by default. Community decks cover an enormous range of languages and topics. Best-in-class spaced repetition algorithm.

Cons: No built-in teaching or explanations. Requires discipline to set up effectively. iOS version costs extra.