Compared · October 2026
We make Urban Tales, so we've kept to things you can check: prices in the apps, how many tours exist in your language, and what each app does well. Where another app is the better choice, we say so.
How we compared. We installed each app on an iPhone in October 2026, looked at Rome as a test city, and noted prices, the languages tours are actually available in, what works without data, and what practical information each app gives you. Catalogue sizes come from each company's own website or app. Prices change; check before you buy, and tell us if something here is out of date.
Polished walks written by locals and edited like podcasts.
The official guide of more than 3,000 museums.
Free, downloadable and full of a guidebook author's knowledge.
Well-prepared guides, an AI trip planner and tips in some tours.
Thousands of written walking routes with maps that work without data.
Stories for every landmark around you, live practical info, and the lowest price per city.
Great at beautifully produced walks, written by local historians, novelists and guides and edited in-house. Tours download for offline use. Some tours are free.
Not great at languages: about 85% of its catalogue is in English. You buy one route at a time, and there's no practical information.
Great at museums: more than 3,000 use it as their official guide, with QR codes beside the exhibits. A huge catalogue with downloadable tours.
Not great at clarity: most city tours we found were paid, tour length isn't stated, and it's hard to tell which languages a tour comes in. No practical information.
Great at knowledge: in-depth walks and interviews from one of the best-known travel writers, completely free and downloadable.
Not great at anything outside Europe. The app feels old-fashioned, nothing plays by location, some content can be dated, and there's no practical information.
Great at well-prepared, pre-built guides, many languages, an AI chat to help plan your trip, and practical tips in some tours. Some tours play on their own as you walk.
Not great at places it hasn't produced a guide for. Language coverage varies a lot by destination, and it asks for several permissions up front.
Great at breadth on a budget: thousands of written walking routes with offline maps for $15–20 a year.
Not great at listening: there's no audio, so you read as you walk. Location only finds guides near you. The app feels dated, and we couldn't find where to change its language.
Great at exploring without a plan: stories for every landmark around you, in any city, starting by themselves as you walk, in 5 languages. When you do want a plan, it builds a tour around your trip in seconds: the city's 7 Wonders, a half day, a full day, several days or your own pick of landmarks. Plus live open/closed and entry info, experiences nearby, and the lowest price for a whole city.
Not great at offline use: it needs a data connection. Stories are written by AI from verified sources and read by a synthetic voice, not recorded by a local guide. Only 5 languages, and as a newer app it has far fewer reviews than the others.
Catalogue apps count languages across all their tours. What matters is whether there's a tour in your language in the city you're standing in. We looked inside the apps' own language menus:
| App | English | Spanish | Portuguese | German | French |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VoiceMap (tours worldwide) | 1,973 | 59 | — | 98 | 67 |
| SmartGuide (destinations) | 1,405 | 182 | 97 | 427 | 186 |
| Urban Tales | Every landmark, in every city, in all five | ||||
In Rome we found 32 VoiceMap tours, 30 of them in English. izi.TRAVEL lists more than 50 languages, but in practice it was hard to see which languages a tour was available in before opening it. The honest limit on our side: Urban Tales speaks only five languages. If yours is Japanese or Czech, SmartGuide or izi.TRAVEL will serve you better.
Planned tours are great until you take a side street. Two things matter then: whether the app has anything to say about where you are, and whether it can help you decide what to do next.
Rome is where every app is strongest, so it's a fair test. Here's what it costs to cover the city's main sights.
| App | What you pay | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| VoiceMap | $7.99–19.99 per tour, or a pass: 3 tours $24.99 (7 days), 5 tours $34.99 (30 days) | One tour per route. Covering the Colosseum, the Forum, Trastevere and the centre takes 4 tours. |
| izi.TRAVEL | Most Rome tours we found were paid, around 250 MXN (≈ $13) each | One tour per purchase, mostly one-day routes. |
| Rick Steves Audio Europe | Free | Rick Steves' Rome walks and radio interviews; you follow along yourself. |
| SmartGuide | Premium at $20 a year | Pre-built guides with practical tips in some tours. |
| GPSmyCity | $15 a year (basic) or $20 a year (premium) | Written walking routes with offline maps; no audio. |
| Urban Tales | 3 free stories a day, then a Day Pass at $2.99 (24 hours) or a City Unlock at ≈ $5.99 (Rome, forever) | Every landmark in the city, in any of 5 languages, plus tours generated on the go. |
For comparison: the official audio guides cost €6 at the Colosseum and €8 at the Vatican Museums, and a guided group tour of the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine starts at about $56 per person.
The fair reading: if you're spending a couple of days in one city, Urban Tales' City Unlock is the cheapest paid way to cover all of it, and it stays unlocked for your next visit. If you travel all year, SmartGuide's and GPSmyCity's annual plans are good value. And if you only need Europe and don't mind pressing play, Rick Steves is free.
You don't have to pick one. A good Rome day might look like this:
For a paid option, Urban Tales' City Unlock (about $5.99) covers every landmark in a city permanently. Rick Steves Audio Europe is free for the European cities it covers.
Catalogue apps depend on tours having been made in your language for that city; VoiceMap's catalogue is about 85% English. Urban Tales tells every landmark in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German.
Urban Tales shows whether each landmark is open now, whether entry is free or paid, and nearby experiences with prices. SmartGuide includes entrance fees and best visiting times in some tours.
VoiceMap, izi.TRAVEL and Rick Steves Audio Europe let you download tours, SmartGuide has offline maps, and GPSmyCity works without a data plan. Urban Tales needs a data connection.
No tour group. No fixed schedule. No prior planning required.