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July 31, 2008

Guide to Audio Tours

With the proliferation of the iPod and portable MP3 players, audio tours have become an increasingly popular way to explore new places when traveling to tourist destinations. They're cheaper, less obtrusive, and often better than taking a guided walking tour or bus tour of a city. We thought we'd put together a comprehensive resource of the audio tours available throughout the world (most of them we don't have up on the site yet so we're linking directly to them).

Best & Most Comprehensive Audio Tour Sites:

Over 100 Audio Guides from Tourcaster

Over 200 Audio Guides from Heart Beat Guides

Lodingo Travel Guides Featuring the Most Comprehensive Selection of Downloadable Audio Tours

AudioGuide2go.com Search Portal to Audio Trails Guides and Tours on the Web

So here are all the walking tours we can find, starting with U.S. cities:

U.S. Cities:

Walks of a Lifetime Podcast Includes Free Tours of Santa Fe, San Antonio, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles/Santa Monica, Charleston, Savannah, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, and Tribeca

Soundwalk Tours of New York City Neighborhoods

Sounds for Sights Audio Tours for New York City

Sidewalk Guides of Washington, D.C.

Washington Schlepped Here: Walking in the Nation's Capital

Travel Audios U.S. National Park Audio Tours covering Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Glacier National Park in Montana, Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming

Stroll San Francisco Audio Tours

CityStoryWalks of San Francisco

Guide Me Tours Denver Travel Guides

Rocky Mountain Audio Guides Tour of Denver

Audissey Guides Includes Free Tours of Boston, Chicago, Miami Beach, Seattle, and New Orleans

CarTours Self-guided Interpretive Audio Driving Tours Includes Tours of Lewis and Clark Trail, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, The North Cascades Highway, and The Olympic Peninsula

Museum of the Open Road (MOTOR) American Highway Tours

Ride With Me Audio American Highway Tours

Scott's L.A. Audio Driving Tours of Pasadena, Hollywood, and Los Angeles

Downtown LA Walks

Cape Treks Cape Cod Audio Driving Tours

Untravel Media Boston Walking Tours

Waypoint Tours Includes Tours of Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco, Grand Canyon National Park, and Sedona Arizona Red Rock Country

European Cities:

Walks of a Lifetime Podcast Includes Free Tours of Barcelona, Vienna, Amsterdam, Venice, Rome, Berlin, Paris, and London

Rick Steves' Audio Tours Podcast Includes Free Tours of Paris, Versailles, Orsay Museum, and Louvre Museum

Soundmap London Audio Walks Includes Tours of Brixton, Camden, Brick Lane, King's Road, & Soho

AudioExplore Walking Tours of Cities in Ireland Includes Tours Dublin & Cork

audiotravel Walking Tours of Cities in Germany Includes Tours of Cologne & Munich

iAudioguide European City Tours Includes Tours of Barcelona, Berlin, London, Paris, & Rome

noambit.com Tours of Florence

Helsinki Sightseeing Tram Audio Guide

The Antenna Audio Tour of Historic Gardens in London & The Antenna Audio Tour of Literary Houses in London

Walk & Talk Series by Gildan Media Includes Walk & Talk Paris, Walk & Talk Rome, Walk & Talk Venice, & Walk & Talk Florence

Footnotes Audio Walks in London

London Audio Tours

MP3 City Guides Includes Tours of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Edinburgh, Florence, London, Paris, Prague, Rome, Vienna, Venice, and York.

Walki Talki Audio Walking Tours Includes Tours of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Edinburgh, Geneva, London, Madrid, Munich, Paris, Prague, Rome, Venice

Podtours Includes Tours in Austria, Italy, France, England, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Austria

iJourneys Tours of the Wonders of Italy Includes Tours of Amsterdam, Rome, Barcelona, Florence, Paris, Pompeii, Salzburg, Venice, Vienna, and Innsbruck

Talking Trip Includes Tours of London, Barcelona, and New York

Artineraries Includes Tours of Assisi, Edinburgh, London, Ostia, Padova, Paris, Rome, Torino, and the Vatican

CitiesInSound.com Includes Tours of London, Edinburgh, Rome, and Paris

iPodCityWalks Includes Tours of London, Florence, and Paris

Great Discoveries Audio Tour Guides Includes Tours of Venice & Florence

Audio City Tours Includes Tours of London, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Paris, and Oxford

Sound Travel Walking Tours Includes Tours of Florence, London, Paris, Rome, and Venice

Walk Talk Tour Includes Tours of London, Edinburgh, York, and Manchester

Cool City Walks Includes Tours of London, Brighton, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Barcelona, and Rome

Tourist Tracks MP3 Walking Tours Includes Tours of Bath, Brighton, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Ely, Glasgow, London, Manchester, and Oxford

Budapest Audio Guide

ChooseMalta.com Valetta Walking Tour

ZeVisit Free Audioguided Tours Mostly in France

CitySpeaker Audio Guide Includes Tours of Rome, Paris and London

Hear’s A Journey European Driving Tours in Tuscany & Provence

Audio Tor Oslo Audio Guides

Other World Cities:

Walks of a Lifetime Podcast Includes Free Tours of Montreal, Sydney, and Tokyo

DayOut Audio Guides of New Zealand

Tours of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico from Tek Trek

Auditour Guides of Buenos Aires

Walk The Talk Tours of Hong Kong and Macau

Colombia Audio Tours Includes Tours of Bogota, Cartagena, and Medellin

City Surf Toronto Walking Tours

Content Creation's Sounds & The City Audio Tours Includes Tours of Singapore, Mumbai, Beijing, Seoul, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Dubai

Let us know if we missed any at suggestions@learnoutloud.com!