London start-up unveils range of audio city tour apps

London start-up unveils range of audio city tour apps

A new range of city tour talking apps have been released by a London start-up.

A new range of city tour talking apps have been released by a London start-up.

Cities Talking was the brainchild of Canadian expat Julie Anne-Uggla who has been a resident of St John’s Wood for the past 17 years.

She came up with the concept while on a short trip to Venice when she said she came across ‘poor and restrictive guided tours’.

She said: “Little did I know that during that excruciating tour in Venice, sweltering in the Italian sun and wishing only to be released from the barrage of instantly forgettable facts on architecture, the Cities Talking apps were being born.

“I headed home with an idea to create a mobile app full of city tours which were a million miles from the dull, soporific ones on offer. I wanted a tour you could tailor, use at your own pace and be highly educated and amused by – I wanted tours that were the equivalent of the ‘well I never’ moments instigated by the likes of facts from QI”.

The Cities Talking tours have been written and researched by experts including students studying PhD’s in history to best-selling author and travel writer, Kathy Lette, with input from locals in each of the cities. London tours are narrated by actor and TV personality, Christopher Biggins.

The Cities Talking apps are available in the app store and cities covered include London, Florence, Edinburgh, Berlin, Amsterdam, Budapest and with Bruges, Prague, Venice. More will be added in coming weeks.