MP3 Audio Tours
Annual Guide to Audio Tours
It's our 3rd Annual Guide to Audio Tours. We've updated our comprehensive guide with the latest audio tour resources to almost every major travel destination around the world. With summer already here make sure you learn all you can from wherever you might be traveling.
With the proliferation of the iPhone, 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).
You can browse our complete guide right here:
Guide to Audio Tours
And now we'll cover some of the best sites for audio tours along with great audio tours you can take in the United States:
Best & Most Comprehensive Audio Tour Sites:
Over 100 Audio Guides from Tourcaster now featuring numerous Free City Guide Podcasts on iTunes
Over 400 Audio Guides from Heart Beat Guides With 25% of the Tours Available for Free
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:
Soundwalk Tours of New York City Neighborhoods and for a review of these check out our article "Listening Your Way Around The Big Apple"
Sounds for Sights Audio Tours for New York City covering Lower Manhattan, Rockefeller Center, South Street Seaport, and Times Square
CentralPark.com Audio Tours Podcast
Made in NY: Walking Tours of Film and Television Locations in New York Podcast on iTunes
Frommer's Audio Tours on Audible.com Covering New York City & San Francisco and Frommer's Day by Day Audio Walking Tours Podcast Including a Tour of Greenwich Village in New York City
Sidewalk Guides of Washington, D.C.
Downtown LA Walks Podcasts Covering Downtown LA in the areas of Arts and Culture, Shopping, Historic Downtown, and International Downtown
Scott's L.A. Audio Driving Tours of Pasadena, Hollywood, and Los Angeles
Stroll San Francisco Audio Tours
CityStoryWalks of San Francisco
The Chicago Poetry Tour Podcast on iTunes
Mp3TravelGuides.com Featuring Tours of Portland and Seattle
Guide Me Tours Denver Travel Guides
Rocky Mountain Audio Guides Tour of Denver
Guided Tours from Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefields Covering Antietam, Chickamauga, Cold Harbor, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, New Market, Petersburg, Vicksburg, and Spotsylvania
VisitDetroit.com Audio Tours Covering Downtown & Midtown Detroit
Door Audio Tours Podcast on iTunes Covering Wisconsin's Door County
Discovery Audio Tours on iTunes Featuring 80 CityGuides and Museum Tours for Destinations across the U.S.
DK Eyewitness Travel Podcasts Covering Miami's South Beach, Orlando's Disney World, and New York's Greenwich Village
CityListen Audio Tours Includes Tours of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco
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
Cape Treks Cape Cod Audio Driving Tours
Untravel Media Boston Walking Tours
National Park Service Podcasts on iTunes including the Glacier National Park Podcast
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, Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming
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
Walkabout Audio Tours Includes Tours of the Grand Canyon, Sedona Area, & Northern Arizona
Acoustiguide Free Audio Tours Covering Cities and Museums throughout the United States with numerous Acoustiguide Podcasts on iTunes
AudioSteps Walking Tours for the Digital Age - Includes Tours of New Orleans, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco, & Washington, D.C.
European & World Audio Tours
Traveling to destinations in Europe or elsewhere around the world? Learn about the rich history of anyplace you happen to go with a wide selection of audio tours covering sights in almost every major European city. Here are all the European audio tours we could find:
European Cities:
Rick Steves' Audio Tour Podcasts Include Free Tours of Paris, Britain, and Italy, and if you have an iPhone you may want to check out Rick Steves' Tour iPhone Apps
Soundmap London Audio Walks Includes Tours of Brixton, Camden, Brick Lane, King's Road, Soho, a free Sweeney Todd Audio Tour
Travel London and Travel Paris by iMinds Audio Each Covering 6 London and Paris Destinations
City of the Soul: A Walk in Rome by William Murray Covering the Coloseum, Villa Borghese, the Piazza di Spagna, the Trevi Fountain, and the Capuchin Church of Santa Maria della Concezione
AudioExplore Walking Tours of Cities in Ireland Includes Tours Dublin & Cork
Dublin Tourism iWalks Podcast - Audio Guides to Dublin
audiotravel Walking Tours of Cities in Germany Includes Tours of Cologne & Munich
iAudioguide European City Tours Includes Tours of Barcelona, Berlin, London, Paris, & Rome
DK Eyewitness Travel Podcasts Covering Paris River Walk, Art Nouveaux Prague, Amsterdam's Dam Square, and Rome's St. Peter's Basilica
StrollOn Audio Guides of European Cities Include Tours in London, Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, and Venice
MPTours Includes Tours of Rome & London
noambit.com Tours Featuring Tours of Florence, Prague, Lisbon, the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial, the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, and the Euphrasian Basilica in Porec, Croatia
Helsinki, Finland Sightseeing Tram Audio Guide
Talk of the Town Audio Guides in Stockholm, Sweden
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
Free Audio London Walks Podcast by LondonWalks.org
Free Paris Audio Guide Podcast by CityZeum.com
Frommer's Audio Tours on Audible.com Covering Paris, Rome, & London and Frommer's Day by Day Audio Walking Tours Podcast Including a Tour of DaVinci's Paris
Discovery Audio Tours on iTunes Featuring 80 CityGuides and Museum Tours for Destinations across Europe
MP3 City Guides Includes Tours of Amsterdam, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Prague, Rome, Vienna, Venice, and York
AudioSteps Walking Tours for the Digital Age Includes Tours of Bath and Bristol, London, Granada, Florence, Rome, Berlin, Paris, & Prague
Play & Tour MP3 City Guides Includes Tours of Amsterdam, Atenas, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Istanbul, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Marrakech, Paris, Prague, Rome, Seville, Venice, & Venice
Walki Talki Audio Walking Tours Includes Tours of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Edinburgh, Geneva, London, Madrid, Munich, Paris, Prague, Rome, and Venice with short, concise capsules about major European destinations on their Walki-talki Podcast
A History of Scotland Audio Walks Podcast covering Edinburgh, Finlaggan, Stirling, Dunfermline, and Kilmartin Glen
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
Seville Spain Audioguide
Audio Guide of Historical Sites in Palma de Mallorca, Spain including the Palma de Mallorca Cathedral Audio Guide
Acoustiguide Free Audio Tours Covering Cities and Museums throughout Europe with numerous Acoustiguide Podcasts on iTunes
Jane's Smart Art Guides Covering Art Destinations in Italy
PocketVox Audio Guides and Walking Tours Included Tours of numerous cities in Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, and more
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
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
Audio Tor Oslo Audio Guides
Audio tours have also popped up for 100s of other locations around the globe. Here are all the other audio tours we could find covering hot spots around world:
Other World Cities:
Hear Planet: Audio Guide to the World iPhone App
DayOut Audio Guides of New Zealand
Talk 'N Tours Self Guided Audio Walking Tours Australia and New Zealand
Tours of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico from Tek Trek
MPTours Includes Three Tours of Buenos Aires
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
Isla Mujeres, Mexico: Downtown Self-guided Audio Walking & Learning Tour
Content Creation's Sounds & The City Audio Tours Includes Tours of Singapore, Mumbai, Beijing, Seoul, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Dubai
Acoustiguide Free Audio Tours Covering Cities and Museums throughout the World with numerous Acoustiguide Podcasts on iTunes
Tokyo Realtime Audio Guided Walking Tours
Sonusland Audio Tours Covering Tours of Puerto Varas, Chile and other Latin American destinations
Museum Audio Tours
And if you're traveling to major cities, chances are you'll find some great museums there as well. Enhance your museum-going experience with audio tours covering major museums in the United States and Europe. We've put together this list of audio from art museums as well as many other kinds of popular museums:
Museums:
Discovery Audio Tours on iTunes Featuring Museum Tours for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Guggenheim Museum (New York), de Young Museum (San Francisco), and more
Acoustiguide Free Museum Tours Site and Acoustiguide Podcasts on iTunes Including the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco), the Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth), The National Portrait Gallery (London), and numerous other museums around the World
Artineraries Includes Art Tours in Assisi, Edinburgh, London, Ostia, Padova, Paris, Rome, Torino, and the Vatican
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) Special Exhibition Podcast
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) on iTunes U
Museum Masterpieces: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Teaching Company DVD Course
Museum of Modern Art (New York) Mobile Audio for Your Smart Phone
Museum of Modern Art (New York) on iTunes U
Whitney (Museum of American Art, New York) Focus Video Podcast
American Museum of Natural History (New York) Podcast
Brooklyn Museum on iTunes U
National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) - Behind the Scenes Podcast
National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) Video Podcast
National Portrait Gallery (Washington, D.C.) on iTunes U
Slate Audio Tours Podcast Covering Memorials on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Smithsonian American Art Museum Podcast and all Smithsonian Podcasts on iTunes
The International Spy Museum (Washington, D.C.) SpyCast Podcast
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, D.C.) on iTunes U
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Podcast on iTunes
Philadelphia Museum of Art: Exhibition Minutes Podcast and all Philadelphia Museum of Art Podcasts on iTunes
Arab American National Museum (Dearborn, Michigan) on iTunes U
The Cleveland Museum of Art Podcast
Indianapolis Museum of Art on iTunes U
Walker Art Center (Minneapolis) on iTunes U
LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Podcasts
MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) Audio and Podcasts
SFMOMA (San Francisco) Artcasts Podcast
Asian Art Museum (San Francisco) on iTunes U
Rick Steves' France Audio Tours Podcast Includes Free Tours Versailles, Orsay Museum, and Louvre Museum
Museum Masterpieces: The Louvre Teaching Company DVD Course
10 Masterpieces of the Louvre
Palace of Versailles (Versailles, France) on iTunes U
The Grand Tour - The National Gallery, London Podcast
The National Gallery, London Podcast
Museum Masterpieces: The National Gallery, London Teaching Company DVD Course
Tate Modern (London) Paint Podcast
Tate Modern (London) on iTunes U
Let us know if we missed any audio tours by emailing us at suggestions@learnoutloud.com!
Language Learning For Your Trip
If you're traveling this summer to a place where you don't know the language then audio learning can help you get by or even become fluent in the native language of your destination. For comprehensive language learning we've recently announced that we are now offering Pimsleur language learning courses on download:
Browse Pimsleur Language Programs
We are now offering a few new comprehensive courses from Pimsleur to download:
Dari (Comprehensive)
English for Spanish Speakers I (Comprehensive)
English for Spanish Speakers II (Comprehensive)
English for Spanish Speakers III (Comprehensive)
If you're not needing to learn a language in-depth, but would like to learn some basic language for your trip you might want to check out:
Innovative Language Learning
Innovative Language Learning publishes the Survival Phrases podcasts which you can check out on iTunes: Survival Phrases Podcasts on iTunes. And they are now offering for sale bundles of their Survival Phrase Podcasts designed specifically to help travelers survive on their trip:
Learn Arabic - Survival Phrases Arabic, Part 1
Learn Italian - Survival Phrases Italian, Part 1
Learn Japanese - Survival Phrases Japanese, Part 1
And we are now offering 5 new downloads from Living Language and their new eTicket series which covers all of the words and phrases a traveler needs to know!
eTicket German
eTicket Japanese
eTicket Chinese
eTicket Italian
eTicket Spanish
Other language learning providers with downloads you might want to check out:
Berlitz Publishing Audio Downloads - Including their 4-hour Guaranteed series and their "For Your Trip" series
Collins Language Audio Downloads - Including their 40-minute series and their 4-hour Easy Learning series
Linguaphone Audio Downloads - Including their 4-hour PDQ Quick Acquisition series and their comprehensive allTalk Series
Audio-Forum Audio Downloads - Including their Culture Capsules series and their Savvy Traveler Series
This summer be a smart traveler with audio learning as your guide.