Moscow digital ecosystem to help tourists plan trips around the capital
On World Tourism Day, which is celebrated on September 27, the Moscow Department of Information Technologies shared some useful travel services. With the help of digital portals and apps, Muscovites and city guests can book a hotel room or a table in a restaurant, purchase museum tickets, plan their itinerary, and much more.
“The digital ecosystem of the capital offers a wide range of services and projects that can help tourists enjoy their stay in the capital. These include the Get to Know Moscow portal and mobile app, the Mosbilet platform, the Russpass travel service, the Moscow Metro and Moscow Transport mobile apps, as well as the mos.ru portal with its useful instructions,” shares the Moscow Department of Information Technologies Press Service.
Audioguide and celebrities’ digital twins
Get to Know Moscow, a free interactive online guide, offers options to discover new places in the city and learn about their history with a special selection of original and theme-specific routes, audio guides, an interactive map, and engaging quizzes. Currently, over 340 walking routes are available, some of which are equipped with audioguides allowing users to learn interesting facts about the city without breaking the pace. The routes are developed by local lore specialists, general historians, and famous residents. Users can also take part in over 140 educational quizzes and quests. For especially curious tourists, more than four thousand info cards have been prepared for buildings, structures, monuments and historical personalities, featuring descriptions, photos, and videos.
The Get to Know Moscow mobile app contains digital twins of famous people who created significant historical sites. With the help of augmented reality technologies, they will tell residents and tourists about, for example, the Levenson Printing House, the Metropol Hotel, the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge and the mansions of Anna Kekusheva and Zinaida Morozova, as well as about the unique features of these buildings.
Tickets at cost price and trip plan
Theatre, museum and concert tickets can be purchased at cost price via the Mosbilet service. It features exhibitions, lectures, performances, concerts, master classes, including free ones. Users can receive a personalised event newsletter, book tickets for premiere productions of the new season and performances starring famous artists, as well as find exciting activities for children. A special project, New Season with Mosbilet, will inform them about the main events of the season. It collects information about all the big premieres: from experimental and children’s productions to drama and classical ballet. While another special project, Where to Go with Children in Moscow, will help plan cultural leisure time with the child’s interests in mind.
The digital tourist service Russpass brings together tens of thousands of offers in 85 regions of the country. Users can look up excursions, plan itineraries, book tables in cafés and restaurants, and explore the city’s events. Numerous certified guides offering a wide range of tours help make trips more engaging. The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) has become a powerful driver of Russpass’s development. The platform became Russia’s first AI-powered system for travellers, where intelligent algorithms assist users at every stage of trip planning — from generating ideas to customised selections.
Who to call and how to get places
A special memo on the mos.ru portal will tell tourists where to get help in various situations, how to navigate the metro and other public transport, and how many railway stations and airports there are in the city. This and other useful articles can be found in the section “Instructions for Comfortable Living in Moscow” in the Tourism category.
The apps “Moscow Metro” and “Moscow Transport” will help plan trips on city transport. With the help of Moscow Metro, one can plan an optimal itinerary navigating the metro, Moscow Central Circle, and Moscow Central Diameters, top up the Troika Travel Card, and also get a virtual one to pay the travel fares aboard all types of public transport with a smartphone. The Moscow Transport app will calculate the fastest and cheapest route considering various means of transportation: from metro to taxi. The users can track buses, electric buses and trams, charge electric cars, use carsharing, rent scooters, and purchase tickets for river trips. All purchases are conveniently displayed in one section.
