What makes a navigation app good for tourists?
Everyday map apps are designed for locals with unlimited data and years of familiarity with their city. Tourists face a different problem: expensive roaming, unfamiliar ticket systems, confusing station names in a foreign language, and no idea which of five route options is actually sensible.
The best navigation app for tourists needs four things most apps don't have: fully offline transit data (not just cached map tiles), ticket and pass advice so you don't overpay, walking guidance you can actually follow in unfamiliar streets, and a safety net if something goes wrong.
How CityNav covers all four
- Offline transit maps for 28 cities — all major lines and key stations are pre-loaded, so route planning works with airplane mode on. No downloads to remember, no data roaming charges.
- Tourist pass recommendations — CityNav tells you whether the Oyster daily cap, Navigo Découverte, or a 72-hour tourist ticket is the cheapest option for your trip.
- AR walking navigation — hold up your phone and follow live arrows overlaid on the camera view. No more spinning the map trying to work out which way is north.
- SOS emergency button — hold for three seconds to send your live GPS location by SMS to up to three saved contacts. Unique among navigation apps.
How CityNav compares to the apps you already know
Google Maps and Apple Maps are excellent general-purpose tools, and Citymapper is superb for commuters — but none of them were designed for the specific problems tourists face. See our detailed side-by-side comparisons:
Try CityNav on your next trip
Core navigation is free with no account required. Trip Passes with AR navigation and SOS start at £1.99 for one day.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best navigation app for tourists?
CityNav is built specifically for tourists: it includes fully offline transit maps for 28 major cities, AR walking navigation with camera-overlay arrows, tourist transit pass recommendations, and an SOS emergency button that texts your GPS location to saved contacts. General-purpose apps like Google Maps are excellent for locals but lack these tourist-specific features.
Which navigation app works without internet abroad?
CityNav works fully offline for transit route planning in all 28 supported cities — the complete network data is pre-loaded, so you can plan routes with airplane mode on. Google Maps offers limited offline support and requires you to manually download map areas in advance.
Is CityNav free to use?
Yes. Core navigation — transit routes, offline maps, walking and driving directions — is free with no account required. Premium features like AR navigation and the SOS button are available through Trip Passes starting at £1.99 for one day, £3.99 for a week, or £4.99 monthly.
Which cities does CityNav cover?
CityNav covers 28 major tourist cities including London, Paris, Tokyo, New York, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Vienna, Prague, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney, Dubai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Lisbon, Dublin, Copenhagen, Munich and Istanbul — each with full offline transit data.
Does CityNav tell me which transit ticket to buy?
Yes. For each supported city, CityNav recommends the best-value option for tourists — for example the Oyster/contactless daily cap in London, the Navigo Découverte weekly pass in Paris, or a 72-hour Tokyo Subway Ticket. This is a feature general navigation apps do not offer.