Turn Every City into a Scavenger Hunt Your Kids Will Actually Want to Do
The best family travel apps that make exploring new places feel like an adventure, not a chore.
Remember when your kids were glued to their phones during that amazing trip to Rome? What if instead of fighting screen time, you could use it to make them more engaged with where you are?
The best travel apps for families don't just track where you've been. They turn exploration into a game. They make kids want to find that hidden landmark, collect that city badge, or discover the story behind that historic building.
Here's our guide to apps that make city exploration feel like a quest, not a history lesson.
What Makes a Great City Exploration App?
Not all travel apps are created equal. The ones that actually work for families have a few things in common:
Gamification that works. Points, badges, or collectibles that actually motivate kids to explore rather than just tap mindlessly.
Educational without feeling like homework. Learning happens naturally through discovery, not forced quiz questions.
Family-friendly interface. Easy enough for kids to use independently, detailed enough for parents to appreciate the educational value.
Works offline. Because WiFi isn't guaranteed in every city square, and data roaming charges add up fast.
The Best Apps for Turning Cities into Scavenger Hunts
DuckAbroad: Turn Travel into a Collection Game
Why we built it: After watching our kids lose interest during amazing trips, we created DuckAbroad to make travel tracking feel like collecting Pokémon. Kids earn city stickers, destination stamps, and airport coins as they explore, turning every new place into something they want to "collect."
What makes it different:
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Collectible badges for every city, country, and airport. Kids love seeing their collection grow with each trip.
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Travel journal that kids actually want to fill out. Document memories without it feeling like a school assignment.
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Educational content about destinations they're visiting. Learn about the places you're exploring without boring lectures.
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Perfect for frequent travelers. Build a meaningful collection over time, not just one-off experiences.
The catch: DuckAbroad requires an internet connection to work.
Best for: Families who travel regularly and want kids engaged in where they are, not just entertained by generic games.
Geocaching: The Original Real-World Treasure Hunt
Geocaching turns the entire world into a massive scavenger hunt. Using GPS coordinates, families search for hidden containers ("geocaches") that other users have placed in interesting locations around the world.
What's great about it: It gets kids off the beaten path. Instead of just seeing the Eiffel Tower, you might discover a hidden garden nearby because there's a geocache there. Plus, the community aspect means there are caches in almost every city you'll visit.
The catch: Not every cache is kid-friendly or in safe locations, so parents need to vet options before heading out.
Best for: Families who like genuine treasure hunts and don't mind getting a little off the tourist trail.
Actionbound: Create Custom City Adventures
Actionbound lets you create (or download) custom scavenger hunts specific to the city you're visiting. Think of it as a DIY tour guide that turns sightseeing into an interactive game.
What's great about it: Many cities and museums have official Actionbound experiences already created. You can also make your own custom hunt if you're visiting somewhere special or want to personalize the experience for your kids' interests.
The catch: Requires some advance planning. You'll need to either find existing "bounds" or create your own before you arrive.
Best for: Families who like structure and want educational content built into their exploration.
Pokémon GO: Yes, Really
Hear me out. While Pokémon GO might seem like just another mobile game, savvy travel families are using it strategically to make city exploration more engaging.
What's great about it: Pokéstops and gyms are often located at landmarks, murals, historic sites, and interesting locations. Kids want to walk to the next stop, which means they're covering more ground and seeing more of the city. Regional Pokémon also make different destinations feel special.
The catch: It's easy for kids to focus only on the game and miss the actual location. Set rules about putting phones down to actually look at landmarks.
Best for: Families with Pokémon fans who need extra motivation to walk between sights.
Google Earth Voyager: Pre-Trip Planning Meets Post-Trip Reflection
Google Earth's Voyager feature offers guided tours of destinations around the world, complete with stories, photos, and interesting facts.
What's great about it: Use it before your trip to get kids excited about where you're going, or after to relive places you've been. The satellite view helps kids understand geography in a way maps can't.
The catch: It's more passive than the other apps on this list. Better as a supplement than a primary exploration tool.
Best for: Families who want to build anticipation before trips or extend the learning after you're home.
How to Actually Use These Apps Without Ruining Your Trip
Here's the thing: apps are tools, not babysitters. Used well, they enhance travel. Used poorly, they replace actual experiences. Here's how to get the balance right:
Set specific "quest times" rather than all-day phone use. Maybe the first hour of exploration in a new city is app-assisted scavenger hunt time, then phones go away for lunch and afternoon activities.
Let kids choose which app/hunt to do in each city. Giving them ownership over which tool to use increases engagement and reduces the "you're making me do this" resistance.
Use apps as rewards after screen-free exploration. Visit the cathedral first, then hunt for the geocache nearby. This way, the app becomes a bonus rather than a replacement.
Make it competitive between siblings (if that motivates your family). Who can collect the most city badges? Who can find the geocache first? A little friendly competition can turn complaints into enthusiasm.
Download everything before you go. Nothing kills the vibe faster than kids frustrated that the app won't load because you don't have data.
Why Tracking Travel Matters (Beyond the App)
The real magic isn't the app. It's what happens when kids become invested in where they are.
When they're hunting for a city badge or trying to collect a new country stamp, they're paying attention. They're asking questions. They notice details they'd otherwise miss. They remember.
And years later, when they look back at their collection of places they've been, they're not just seeing a list. They're seeing memories. That random afternoon in Utrecht when they found the hidden canal geocache. The day in Kyoto when they earned their Japan destination stamp. The moment they realized they'd been to 15 countries and could visualize each one.
That's why we built DuckAbroad. Not to add more screen time to travel, but to make the time kids spend on devices actually enhance their connection to the places they're visiting. Learn more about our approach to family travel tracking.
Because the goal isn't to gamify travel. It's to make travel something kids genuinely care about, remember, and want to do more of.
Ready to Turn Your Next Trip into an Adventure?
Download DuckAbroad and start collecting memories (and badges) on your next family trip.
