Walking tour app VoiceMap

Travelers with smartphones can take walking tours of more than 150 cities and locales using the app VoiceMap (free on Apple and Android). 

GPS on the phones track the walkers, and VoiceMap’s prerecorded guides tell them what they’re looking at and where to go next, alerting them if they’ve gone off track. Each tour must be downloaded separately and, once downloaded, can be used without a network connection. 

Some touars cost money, but many are free. The newest tour ($4.99) is of Hattem, a small, historic town east of Amsterdam, Netherlands; the tour is led by Annette Welkamp, director of the international art consultancy Culture Counsel. Among other tours to download are the ghost tour “The Dark Side of Seoul” ($5.99) and, in London’s West End, “Theatreland” (free), led by British actor Sir Ian McKellen.