Short answer: TravelerCenter has 10 free Traveler Tools for your trip: Local Safety Info, a smart packing list, a weather and outdoor planner, travel phrase cards, a tip calculator, money exchange, Where am I, sunrise and sunset, time zones and a unit converter. They are all free, need no sign-up and no app, and work in the browser on any phone or computer.
Most trip trouble is small and practical. You need the local emergency number and do not know it. You are trying to work out what a price means in your own money, or how to ask a waiter for the bill. You packed for sunshine and it rained every afternoon. Each is easy at home and harder in a new country.
The Traveler Tools are built for those moments. Each does one job, opens in your browser, and draws on the same facts as our country and destination guides. To save typing, they guess the country you are in from your device’s time zone and your home country from your browser language. You can change everything.
Local Safety Info
Local Safety Info puts emergency numbers for 164 countries on one page: the main all-services number, such as 112 or 911, plus police, ambulance and fire, and the tourist police where a country has one (Thailand’s is 1155). Some countries also list extra lines, such as a health advice line. On a phone, tap a number to call it. The numbers come from our country guides, checked against official lists. The tool picks the country you are in, and you can choose any of the 164.
Say you land in Bangkok and your travel partner twists an ankle leaving the night market. Open the tool and the Thai numbers are already there. Tap “Help near me” and, once you allow location access, you get the nearest hospitals, pharmacies and police stations from OpenStreetMap data, each with its distance and a Go button for directions.
What you get:
- Emergency, police, ambulance, fire and tourist police numbers, tap to call
- Nearest hospitals, pharmacies and police stations with directions
- Send my location as a map link, and a link to emergency phrases in the local language
- A printable emergency card with blanks for your hotel address, an emergency contact, blood type, allergies and medicines
Open the Local Safety Info tool →
Smart packing list
The smart packing list builds a checklist for your actual trip. Choose your destination (any place we have a guide for, or your current location), your dates and your home country. Then pick from 12 activities: Beach, Snorkeling & diving, Boat trips, Hiking, City sightseeing, Cycling, Snow & skiing, Wildlife & safari, Temples & churches, Nice dinners, Work and Road trip. Add Kids, Baby or Carry-on only if they apply. If your trip is within about 9 days, the list uses a real forecast from MET Norway; further off, it uses typical weather for those exact dates from 2016–2025 averages (NASA POWER).
Planning ten days in Lisbon in March? You get groups for Documents & money, Clothing, Footwear, Toiletries & health, Electronics, For your activities, and Kids & baby. Clothing quantities follow your trip length, assuming laundry after a week (5 days for carry-on). Short notes explain why, such as “Rain on about 63% of days.” A plug adapter check compares your home plugs with the destination’s, for 165 countries, and warns about voltage, for example 120 V at home and 230 V there.
What you get:
- A checklist shaped by your dates, destination, activities and who is coming
- Typical highs and lows, rain chance, plug type and voltage
- Tick items off with a progress bar (remembered on your device) and add your own
- Print the list, or share a link that rebuilds the same list
Weather and outdoor planner
The weather and outdoor planner helps you decide when to do things, not just what to wear. Pick a place, or the nearest one to you, and your dates, pre-filled from today. For about the next 9 days you get a real hourly forecast from MET Norway, with colored weather icons for each day. Tap a day to see the “best times to be outside”: dry, comfortable daylight windows with suggested activities such as hiking, the beach, cycling, boat trips or sightseeing, plus tips on UV, heat, wind, frost and rain.
Three days on Madeira and one long hike to fit in? Check which morning has the longest dry window, and save the beach for the warm afternoon. For dates up to a year away, the planner shows “typical weather” for those exact dates from 2016–2025 averages (NASA POWER), clearly labelled. The “Through the year” chart shows average highs, lows and how often it rains in each month; tap a month to see its first week.
What you get:
- Hourly forecast for about 9 days, with weather icons per day
- Best times to be outside, with activity suggestions
- Sunrise, sunset and golden hour for each day
- Typical weather for dates up to a year ahead, and a 12-month chart
Open the Weather and outdoor planner →
Travel phrase cards
The travel phrase cards cover 56 languages, which between them cover 128 of the 164 countries in our guides. Each language has 38 phrases in six groups: Basics, Restaurant, Directions, Hotel, Emergencies and Romance. Non-Latin scripts come with pronunciation in English letters, and Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu display right to left.
Want the bill in a small Seoul restaurant? The cards pick the local language where you are: open the Restaurant group, then tap Listen to hear the phrase in your device’s voice, or “show large” to fill the screen for the waiter. The phrases are written by our editors in standard, polite language, and you can print them or save them as a PDF. Every country and destination guide also has a “Useful phrases” box with 6 phrases and a link to the full cards.
What you get:
- 38 phrases in 56 languages, in six groups
- English-letter pronunciation for non-Latin scripts
- A Listen button and a “show large” view
- Print or save as PDF
Open the Travel phrase cards →
Tip calculator
Tipping customs vary a lot between countries. The tip calculator covers 164 countries and tells you whether tipping is expected, customary, optional or not expected, with a one-line summary and service-charge warnings. It is built from the tipping sections of our country guides, and each country links to its guide.
Say you have just finished dinner in Rome with three friends. Choose Restaurant, pick Low, Typical or Generous, tick “service charge already on the bill” if it is, and split the total four ways. The calculator converts the amount into your home currency and suggests a round-up. For hotel porters and housekeeping it gives per-bag and per-night amounts in local money. It covers Restaurant, Bar & café, Taxi, Tour guide, Hotel porter, Housekeeping, and Spa & salon.
What you get:
- Whether tipping is expected, customary, optional or not expected in 164 countries
- Low, Typical and Generous amounts for seven kinds of service
- Service-charge warnings and a “service charge already on the bill” option
- Bill splitting, round-ups and conversion to your home currency
Money exchange
Money exchange converts between about 160 currencies using mid-market reference rates, updated daily from ExchangeRate-API. Big flags show which way you are converting, a swap button flips it, and your home currency and the local currency where you are come pre-set.
You are at a market stall in Marrakech and the price is in dirhams. Type it in and see it in your own currency. These are reference rates: banks and exchange counters add fees, so the rate you actually get will be a little lower. The tool gives you a fair benchmark for comparing offers.
What you get:
- About 160 currencies, mid-market rates updated daily
- Big flags and a swap button
- Your home and local currencies set for you
Open the Money exchange tool →
Where am I
Where am I shows your location on a map, your street address (from OpenStreetMap Nominatim) and your coordinates in decimal and degrees, handy for a taxi driver or emergency services. It also shows the local time, the country guide and nearest destination guide, the local currency with a link to the converter, the emergency number and traveler centers nearby.
Lost on a beach road in Bali and need a ride back to your guesthouse? Open Where am I and read out the address, show the screen, or open the spot in Google Maps. You can also share your location with someone you are traveling with.
What you get:
- Your location on a map and your street address
- Coordinates in decimal and degrees
- Local time, local currency and the emergency number
- Links to the country guide, nearest destination guide and traveler centers nearby
Sunrise and sunset
The sunrise and sunset tool works for any place and date. Big cards show sunrise, sunset and daylight, and a sky band runs from midnight to midnight through night, blue hour, twilight, golden hour and daylight, with the sun’s arc and a “now” marker. You also get first light, golden hours, solar noon and last light, and a 7-day table showing the daily change.
Planning a sunset photo in Santorini or an early start for a hike? This tells you exactly how much light you have, with a simple hiking tip: be back by sunset. Everything is calculated in your browser, accurate to about a minute, and it handles midnight sun and polar night, useful if you are heading to northern Norway.
What you get:
- Sunrise, sunset and daylight for any place and date
- A sky band with the sun’s arc and a “now” marker
- First light, blue hours, golden hours, solar noon and last light
- A 7-day table with the daily change
Open the Sunrise and sunset tool →
Time zones
The time zones tool puts your time next to any city or time zone. Add and remove cities as you like. It follows daylight saving, updates every minute, and shows a sun for day, dusk, or a moon for night on each row, so you can see who is likely to be awake.
You are in Sydney and want to call your family in Chicago without waking them. Add Chicago next to your own time and you can see straight away whether it is day or night there. It helps just as much when booking a tour or checking a flight connection.
What you get:
- Your time next to any city or time zone
- Add and remove cities
- Daylight saving followed automatically
- A sun, dusk or moon on each row, updated every minute
Unit converter
The unit converter covers temperature, distance, length, weight, volume (including liters to US gallons), speed and height (centimeters to feet and inches). Big picture buttons, a swap button and one-tap common values, such as a 23 kg bag limit, keep it quick. Temperatures come with a thermometer bar and a plain word, from Freezing to Hot.
Driving in Canada from the US, you will meet metric speed limits and fuel prices. Visiting the US from Europe, the forecast is in Fahrenheit. The converter pre-sets the direction for where you are, US units to metric or the other way round, so the likely conversion is ready when you open it.
What you get:
- Temperature, distance, length, weight, volume, speed and height
- Big picture buttons and a swap button
- One-tap common values, such as a 23 kg bag limit
- A thermometer bar with a word from Freezing to Hot
How to use them together on a trip
The tools are most useful as a set. Here is a simple way to fit them into a trip.
Before you go
Build the smart packing list for your destination and dates, and share the link with your travel companions. Print the emergency card and fill in your hotel address and emergency contact. Save the phrase cards for the local language as a PDF.
On arrival
Open Where am I to see your address, the local emergency number and the currency. Check prices with money exchange, and use time zones to pick a good time to call home.
During the trip
Each morning, check the weather planner for the best time to be outside, and sunrise and sunset before a hike or a photo. At meals, use the phrase cards to order and the tip calculator to settle the bill. The unit converter handles temperatures, distances and bag limits.
In an emergency
Open Local Safety Info and tap the number you need. Use “Help near me” to find the nearest hospital, pharmacy or police station, and send your location to someone you trust. Where am I gives your exact address and coordinates.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Traveler Tools really free?
Yes. All 10 Traveler Tools on TravelerCenter are free to use. There is nothing to unlock and no account to create. Open any tool from the Traveler Tools page on your phone or computer, as often as you need, before and during your trip. They draw on the same facts as our free country and destination guides.
Do I need to install an app or sign up?
No. The tools work in the browser on any phone or computer, so there is nothing to download and no account to make. You simply open the page. If you use one tool often, bookmark it in your browser so it is easy to find again when you need it in a hurry.
Do the tools work offline?
Not fully. The pages need an internet connection to load and to fetch things like forecasts, exchange rates and nearby places. That is why it helps to prepare before you go: you can print the packing list, print or save the phrase cards as a PDF, and print the emergency card from Local Safety Info, so you have them on paper even without a signal.
What happens to my location and personal information?
You do not need an account. When you share your location, for example to find help nearby or see where you are, it is only used to answer that request and is not saved to any profile. The tools guess your country from your device’s time zone and your home country from your browser language, to pre-set things. You can change everything.
How accurate is the weather information?
For roughly the next 9 days, the packing list and weather planner use a real forecast from MET Norway, which in the planner is hourly. Beyond that, they show typical weather for your exact dates based on 2016–2025 averages from NASA POWER, and this is clearly labelled as typical rather than a forecast. Typical weather tells you what is normal for those dates, not what will happen on a given day.
Which countries are covered?
Local Safety Info and the tip calculator cover 164 countries, the same as our country guides. The plug adapter check covers 165 countries, and money exchange about 160 currencies. Where am I, time zones, and sunrise and sunset work for any place. The phrase cards cover 128 of the 164 countries through their 56 languages.
Which languages do the phrase cards cover?
The phrase cards cover 56 languages, with 38 phrases each in Basics, Restaurant, Directions, Hotel, Emergencies and Romance. Non-Latin scripts include English-letter pronunciation, and Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu read right to left. The phrases are written by our editors in standard, polite language. Open the cards where you are and the local language is picked for you.
How can I save emergency numbers for my trip?
Open Local Safety Info before you leave, choose your destination country, and print the emergency card. It lists the local numbers and has blanks for your hotel address, an emergency contact, blood type, allergies and medicines. Keep it with your passport, and bookmark the tool on your phone so the numbers are one tap away.
See all 10 tools in one place on our Traveler Tools page, and open the ones you need for your next trip.