I was tired of boring, boring city tours, so I built a Free AI-powered walking guide
Hi all!
I made an app called Free AI Walking Tour. It generates personalized, AI-powered walking tours in over 350 European cities. The AI guide adapts the route and stories to your interests, and it’s completely free.
The Problem
I love exploring new cities, but I've always been disappointed by traditional guided tours. You're either paying a premium to be herded in a large group listening to a tired script, or you're using a boring app that just reads you dry Wikipedia entries. I wanted to create an experience that felt like exploring with a witty, knowledgeable local friend—something personal, flexible, and genuinely fun.
The Solution: An AI Tour Guide in Your Pocket
So, I decided to build it myself. The app is designed to be your personal guide, and here are the core features:
Truly Personalized Tours: Tell the AI what you're into (art, hidden history, food, weird facts), and it crafts a unique walking route just for you. It works by collecting data from maps, Wikipedia, and other public sources, feeding it to an LLM to create stories, and then using routing APIs to generate a logical path.
Engaging Audio Stories: Instead of a monotone voice, the AI tells fascinating stories about the locations around you, filled with context and personality.
Party Mode: Traveling with friends? Share a session code, and everyone in your group can sync their audio to hear the same stories at the same time.
One of the biggest challenges was getting the AI to generate routes that were both logical and interesting, but I think it works quite well in most cities now.
What's Next?
The app currently covers over 350 cities in Europe, but my goal is to expand globally. I've also started working on an option to include recommendations for local restaurants, bars, and hostels on the map.
I would absolutely love to get your feedback. Please give it a try for your next trip (or even in your own city!) and let me know what you think. All suggestions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome.
Thanks for checking it out!
You can find the app here: https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/freeaiwalkingtour-the-app/id6753874942


Replies