Strolio

Comparison

Best self-guided walking tour apps in 2026: an honest comparison

By Strolio · Published

Six apps that help you explore a city on foot without a group, compared on what they cost, whether they work offline, where their content comes from, and where each one falls short.

Full disclosure: we make Strolio, one of the six. So we've tried to be specific about where our app is weaker, and we've used each company's own website and app store pages for every fact. Prices are from the US App Store and Google Play on 15 September 2026, in US dollars. They change often, and may differ in your country.

The short version

  • Best scripted tours by real storytellers: VoiceMap.
  • Most cities, offline, low cost: GPSmyCity.
  • Free tours plus museums: izi.TRAVEL.
  • Classic European sights, free: Rick Steves Audio Europe.
  • An AI-made tour you can download: CityTour AI.
  • A walk from where you're standing, with questions and checked stories: Strolio, if you have a data connection and don't mind a beta.

At a glance

App Who makes the content Price Offline Coverage (their claim)
VoiceMap Local storytellers, human-narrated Free app; tours $3.99–$19.99 Yes 2,292 tours, 86 countries
GPSmyCity Written walks and articles City guide $4.99; yearly from $14.99 Yes 7,000+ walks, 1,800+ cities
izi.TRAVEL Anyone can publish; museums Free and paid tours ($5.39–$12.49) Yes, up to 10 tours 30,000 tours, 6,500 cities
Rick Steves Audio Europe Rick Steves guidebooks and radio Free Yes 60 tours, Europe only
CityTour AI AI-generated on demand Credits: 10 for $2.99 to 120 for $19.99 Yes, saved tours Any city
Strolio AI, written from checked sources Free in beta No Any city with mapped streets

VoiceMap

VoiceMap calls its tours "curiously human", and that's the point. Tours are written and narrated by people its site describes as "historians, podcasters, novelists, chefs, experienced guides, and passionate locals". Audio plays automatically as you reach each point, and downloaded tours work offline with an offline map. The app is free; on the US App Store, tour purchases run from $3.99 to $19.99, and some tours are free.

Good for: a well-told story of a specific area, with a voice you'll remember. It rates 4.8 on the US App Store from 3,400 ratings.

Weak spots: you pay per tour, and because it's an open publishing platform, quality depends on who made the tour. You also follow the tour's route, not your own.

GPSmyCity

GPSmyCity describes itself as "a pocket tour guide" for "1,800+ cities worldwide", with over 7,000 self-guided walks. Its big selling point is "No internet": walks and articles work fully offline. You can browse walks and see attractions for free; on Google Play it says a small payment unlocks the route maps and turn-by-turn directions. On the US App Store, single city guides cost $4.99 and yearly subscriptions $14.99 or $20.99.

Good for: wide coverage on a budget, especially abroad without data.

Weak spots: it's text-first, with voice guidance after upgrading. The Android app contains ads, and its 4.0 US App Store rating is the lowest of the six apps here that have one.

izi.TRAVEL

izi.TRAVEL calls itself "a tour guide in your pocket" for "cities and museums". Any person or company can publish tours, and many museums use it as their official guide. Its website claims 30,000 tours in 6,500 cities. Audio plays automatically when you're near an attraction, and you can download up to 10 tours at a time for offline use. Many tours are free; paid ones on the US App Store cost $5.39 to $12.49, with subscriptions from $1.49 a month.

Good for: free tours and museum visits in one app.

Weak spots: quality varies because anyone can publish. The Android app shows ads and rates 3.5 on Google Play from 15,000 reviews. Its own pages give different coverage numbers.

Rick Steves Audio Europe

A free app with 60 self-guided walking and museum tours, taken from Rick Steves guidebooks, plus interviews from his radio show. Once downloaded, the audio needs no connection.

Good for: the big European sights, explained by a trusted travel writer, at no cost.

Weak spots: Europe only, and a limited list of places. The tours page says the tours are "up to date as of March 2023". The store listings describe the maps as PDFs and don't mention audio playing automatically as you walk.

CityTour AI

CityTour AI offers "personalized city routes with AI". You choose a city, a length of 45, 90 or 180 minutes, and your interests; it builds a route with stops, stories and audio. Tours you own can be downloaded for offline use, and you can ask questions about any stop. It uses credits, from 10 for $2.99 to 120 for $19.99 on the US App Store. We couldn't find how many credits a tour costs.

Good for: an AI tour for a city nobody has written a tour for, which you can still use offline.

Weak spots: it's very new, with one rating on the US App Store. Its own FAQ says its content is grounded with web search and is "mostly correct", with "no full guarantee". It also says very small places may not have enough sights for a tour.

Strolio

Strolio is our app. Instead of choosing a tour, you start from where you are, say how long you have and what you like, and pick from several route options. Stories play as you reach each stop, and you can ask about anything by typing, by voice or with a photo. If you wander off, it reroutes from where you are. Stories are written from documented sources first and labelled as fact, local story or legend. In our own test on 12 Barcelona places, that took factual contradictions from 7 to 0.

Good for: a spontaneous walk that fits the hour you have, anywhere, with a guide you can question.

Weak spots, honestly:

  • It's a beta. On iPhone you install it through TestFlight, and there are no public store ratings yet.
  • No offline mode. You need a data connection for maps, stories and answers. Every other app here offers some offline use.
  • No curated tour library. There are no scripted, narrator-recorded tours. If you want a famous storyteller's take on one district, VoiceMap or Rick Steves will do that better.
  • Pricing isn't final. It's free now, with pay-as-you-go packs planned at $2.90.
  • Our accuracy test is small. Twelve places in one city. Here's what it does and doesn't show.

How to choose

  1. Will you have data? If not, rule out Strolio and download tours before you leave.
  2. Do you want a set tour or your own walk? Set tours are more polished. AI walks fit your time and start where you are.
  3. How much does trust matter? For AI apps, look for sources and labels, and check practical details like opening times yourself.
  4. How often will you use it? Per-tour prices suit one trip. Passes and subscriptions suit frequent travellers.

Try Strolio on your next walk

Free during the beta. Start from wherever you are.

Try on iOS Try on Android

Sources

All pages fetched on 15 September 2026.