Help and frequently asked questions

What is Zerzura?

Zerzura is a travel app for finding the cities that fit how you travel. Tell it your interests, budget and pace, and it ranks cities around the world for you, with daily costs, official safety advisories, culture, weather and the character of each place. When something catches your eye, save it, compare it, plan a trip around it, and ask Zura, the in-app guide, anything along the way.

How do I sign up?

Create an account from the sign-in screen with your email address, then fill in your travel profile. Zerzura is in early access, so features are still being added and refined. Feedback is very welcome.

How does the personalization work?

Your travel profile (interests, budget, travel style, pace, who you travel with, languages and more) is used to rank and recommend cities that fit how you travel. The more complete your profile, the sharper the matches. Change it at any time and your recommendations refresh.

Who is Zura?

Zura is the guide behind the glowing star button in the corner of every page. Ask it questions about a city, your trips or the app itself. It can see what's on your screen, including an open city, its costs and safety details, and the trip you're looking at, and it knows your travel preferences, so you don't have to explain. Zura is an AI and can make mistakes, so check anything important before you book.

What does binding a city mean?

Binding is how you commit to a city you're seriously considering. A bound city unlocks its full cost breakdown, personalized insights, local events and the city's community. You can bind as many cities as you like and unbind them at any time.

Where does the safety information come from?

Each country starts from its official government travel advisory: the U.S. State Department, or Canada's advisory for the United States, which the State Department doesn't rate. That baseline is checked against recent news, and the sources are shown alongside. Levels run from 1 (exercise normal precautions) to 4 (do not travel). Advisories change, so always check the official source before you go.

How accurate are the costs?

Costs are estimates of typical spending per day, for stays and for food, transport and activities, at three travel styles: Local, Balanced and Elevated. Flight prices are estimates too. They're a planning guide; actual costs vary with season, where you stay and how you spend.

What is a city's aura?

Aura is what scores can't capture. Every city has a short line describing its character at its best. A few carry a mark: Strong aura for places with rare wonder or that are better than their fame suggests, Aura rising for places drawing noticeably more interest this year, and Legendary aura for a hand-picked handful. Safety advisories never change a city's aura; they're shown beside it so you can decide for yourself.

Can I save cities and plan trips?

Yes. Save any city, then group saved cities into trips in My Trips. Planned Trips holds the trips you're actually taking, with dates, nights per stop and a cost estimate, and the itinerary builder turns a trip into a day-by-day plan. Trips stay private unless you share them by link or publish them to the public gallery.

Can I compare cities side by side?

Yes. Compare puts up to three cities head to head across cost, safety, climate and how well each fits your profile. It's most useful once you've narrowed down a shortlist.

What is Renown?

Renown is how Zerzura recognizes the way you explore. You earn it for exploring cities, saving and binding them, comparing, planning and publishing trips, and marking trips traveled. It raises your level and earns titles along the way, some of them for completing hidden routes and collections. You never earn points for anything to do with safety advisories.

What are daily discoveries?

Every day there are three new hints (easy, medium and hard), the same for everyone. Each points to a relic or piece of lore hidden in one city. Open the right city to find it and earn Renown, or reveal a second hint for half the points. New hints arrive at 2 AM Pacific time, and everything you find is kept in your Codex.

What are chronicles and travelers' riddles?

Once you mark a trip traveled, you can write its chronicle: the story of the trip, which others can read on the city pages. You can also write a riddle from it for other travelers to solve on the Discover board by opening the right city. Everything is checked before it goes public, and anyone can report something that doesn't belong.

Is my data private?

Your profile and saved cities are private. Only trips you share or publish, and chronicles, riddles and inscriptions you choose to post, are visible to others. Zura conversations aren't saved to your account; they clear when you close the tab. We don't sell your data. See the Privacy Policy for full details.

How do I update my travel preferences?

Open your Profile from the menu in the top right. You can change your interests, languages, budget, travel style, pace and more at any time. Changes take effect immediately and refresh your recommendations.

Something isn't working. How do I get help?

Ask Zura first: it can answer most questions about how the app works. For anything else, email hello@zerzura.app. We aim to respond within two business days, and bug reports are especially welcome.

Still stuck? Email hello@zerzura.app.