When you’re on the road in unfamiliar surroundings, wouldn’t it be nice to have a little travel elf at your side to point you in the right direction and help you get the most out of your sojourn? If you’ve got an iPad, you own the next best thing to a travel elf, and it won’t even object when you shove it into your suitcase.

Mashable swung its pickaxe in the salt mine that is the iPad App store to unearth six treasured free iPad apps geared to make travel easier.

Here are some on the list that caught our eye. To reiterate, these are Mashable’s recommendations, which we’ll have to trust as we’re too poor to avoid iPads or travel elf enslavement fees:

Travel+Leisure – Probably one to check out before you make your plans rather than while you’re on the road, this is an interactive magazine that recommends destinations and hot spots therein.

Kayak HD – This shopping-based app helps you find sweet deals on flights, hotels, rental cars.

The Weather Channel Max – Stroke your oversized iPod Touch for up-to-the-minute info on temperature, precipitation, forecasts and whereabouts of those hurricanes that tend to follow you around wherever you go.

What are your favorite travel apps, on the iPad or otherwise?

6 Free iPad Apps for Planning Your Next Vacation [Mashable via Yahoo]

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