Audio Tour Index is independent. We don't sell tours, and our picks aren't paid placements — the recommendation order is editorial. Here's how we put each guide together so you can judge it for yourself.

We check the source, not the marketing

For every tour we list, we open the provider's own live page or app listing and read what's actually there. Price, duration, languages, starting point and whether it works offline all come from that page — never from a guess or an old cache. If we can't confirm a detail, we say so rather than inventing it.

We compare across providers

A city rarely has one obvious best tour, so we look across the providers worth knowing — the big storytelling apps, the gamified quest makers, the free crowdsourced libraries and the local specialists — before deciding what to recommend. The aim is the right walk for you, not the one with the biggest marketing budget.

We keep the shortlist short

Each city guide leads with a handful of clear picks — best overall, best free, best for families, and so on — instead of an endless directory. Fuller reviews sit below for anyone who wants the detail. If a tour isn't worth your time, we leave it out.

We keep it current

Audio tours come and go, and prices change. We re-check the tours in each guide and stamp every city page with the date we last looked, so you can see how fresh a recommendation is.

Spotted something out of date, or know a tour we've missed? Please let us know — it genuinely helps.