Traveling abroad? Skip Apple Maps and Google Maps. Try these apps instead

Americans often receive a lot of grief for being less internationally traveled than citizens of other countries. But in recent years, more Americans are traveling abroad than ever before. Numbers compiled by the digital magazine Travel and Tour World (TTW) show that in March 2025, 6.56 million Americans flew outside of the country. That’s 1.6% more than the same period a year earlier, and more than 22% more than in 2019—the year before the pandemic caused international travel to grind to a halt.

TTW cites “pent-up demand, strong personal savings among affluent demographics, and a growing appetite for immersive cultural experiences” as the main reasons more Americans are traveling overseas. And those numbers from March will likely increase this month as the school season ends and Americans start heading out on summer vacations, especially since ticket prices have been dropping lately as airlines lower their fares to entice inflation-wary consumers to travel.

But if it’s your first time traveling internationally, you may not be aware that the reigning transportation and mapping app kings in the United States, Google Maps and Apple Maps, aren’t always the best to use in other countries. There are others that will enable you to navigate new lands more easily, especially the abundant public transportation options that most other countries offer. With that in mind, here are some apps to download before you head out on your global travels.

Citymapper

Citymapper is probably the most recognizable app on this list, and that’s because it does one thing better than nearly any other app: It helps you navigate some of the world’s best cities, whether that be by foot, car, bicycle, scooter, tram, ferry, or other city-specific modes of transit—way more modes than Apple or Google offers in most locales.

Citymapper is already pretty popular in America because it helps residents and visitors in big cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., get around. However, while the app supports just 28 cities in America, it supports 72 in Europe, along with prominent Asian destinations, including Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong.

Moovit

If you need public transit directions in America or most major European cities, Google Maps or Apple Maps can do a decent job of getting you from point A to point B. But if you are in less frequently traveled countries of the world, you’ll find that Google Maps and Apple Maps don’t always reveal all the public transportation options that are available when trying to get across a city—or from city to city.

Thankfully, there’s Moovit, which boasts public transit directions for more than 112 countries and 3,400 cities across the globe—including many in the Global South, which many transit apps frequently overlook. If you are traveling in Eastern Europe, South America, Africa, or large parts of Asia, Moovit will likely show you the most public transportation options available. Another great thing about the app is that it lets you download a city’s transit maps for offline viewing.

Naver Map

Few countries have a geopolitical postwar history that’s as fascinating as South Korea. The country, which is still technically at war with North Korea, rapidly industrialized after the 1960s to become one of the world’s most economically and technologically advanced nations. If you plan to visit South Korea, be sure to download Naver Map before you go. 

Naver Map is the Google Maps of South Korea, and it features nearly everything you would expect to find in Google Maps, including transportation directions and business listings. You can still use Google Maps or Apple Maps in South Korea, but their real-time transportation direction capabilities are significantly nerfed. That’s because South Korean law requires mapping providers to store their mapping data within the country—something neither Google nor Apple does. And yes, while Naver Map is predominantly used by locals, the smartphone app is also available in English, making it a must-have for American visitors.

Rome2Rio

The apps above are mostly very city- or country-specific. But what if you are going on a multination journey—say from Portugal to Finland—and stopping at multiple cities on the way? There is probably no better app that helps you get from one country to another than Rome2Rio.

Fast Company has previously spotlighted the platform—which is basically like a Google Maps for major modes of travel between any two points on the planet—but it’s worth mentioning here again because it is so useful (and the smartphone app is great). Rome2Rio will show you how to navigate between two places—no matter if by car, train, bus, plane, or ferry—and show you how much it is likely to cost based on your selected mode of transport.

Transit

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that one of the easiest transportation apps to use is Transit, thanks to its excellent user interface, which makes following step-by-step transit directions a cinch. As soon as you open the app, you’ll instantly see the public transport options closest to you—no searching required. It also displays route options in a color-coded bar chart format, letting you choose the best one for you at a glance.

Transit is currently available in 25 countries and over 870 cities. The majority of those cities are in the United States, Canada, and France, but the app also supports major cities in popular destinations for U.S. tourists, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other select global cities.

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