I’m a week into my trip and, while it’s been wonderful in so many ways, a special highlight has been enjoying my newest audio tours created for our Rick Steves Audio Europe™ app. In Vienna, I did the Ringstrasse Tram Tour, the Vienna City Walk, and the St. Stephen’s Cathedral Tour. And yesterday I did the Salzburg Town Walk with a friend from Salzburg. Doing the Vienna walks in the quiet of the evening was particularly enjoyable and relaxing after a hard day of aggressive sightseeing. And the Salzburg walk nailed the city while giving my local friend an insight to how beautiful her city is for tourists. I say “nailed it” with a bit of personal relief, because I never know exactly how the audio tours will work until they are recorded and I can actually give them a whirl. The Salzburg tour is a pure and easy joy.
Okay, now the news: We originally released our free Rick Steves Audio Europe™ app a year ago. In April, I announced the release of Version 2.0 for Apple devices (still free, and better than ever). More than 100,000 travelers have since downloaded and enjoyed the expanded content and improved design (we’re thankful for the rave reviews on iTunes). And now, our much-improved Version 2.0 is also available for Android devices.
This app is entirely free. It’s loaded with user-friendly, trip-enhancing content — both audio tours and interviews with experts and locals. And if you’re a student of Europe traveling on a budget, forgive me for being immodest, but it’s a godsend. People love it, and my hardworking staff and I are really excited about it. I literally lie in bed at night thinking of new tours I can produce for this. (Strange, I know.) Munich is on deck. Download the app (or update your current version) today at Google Play or Amazon Appstore, and incorporate all of this free audio content into your next trip.
Here are some details on the new version of the app:
What’s new in Version 2.0: We’ve added eight audio walking tours (covering Vienna, Salzburg, Germany’s Rhine River Valley, Assisi, and Ephesus), as well as 26 new radio features on Ireland, the Netherlands, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, and Portugal.
What’s improved with Version 2.0: Audio tour maps and scripts can now be viewed from the player. We’ve expanded track descriptions, including photos. Tracks can be shared via Facebook, Twitter and email. Rick Steves e-books can be ordered and downloaded directly to your device (not free).
If you want to know more about this app, here’s our product description: The Rick Steves Audio Europe™ app organizes Rick’s vast and varied library of audio content into country- and city-specific playlists so you can enjoy ready access to the information that relates specifically to your travel plans. You’ll get Rick’s self-guided tours for dozens of Europe’s top museums, sights and historic walks — plus 200 tracks of travel tips and cultural insights from his radio show — all for free. This app downloads and stores audio files on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch running iOS 4 or later. The Android version runs on Android 1.6 or higher. Download the audio files before you go, or use a Wi-Fi hotspot to download them in Europe. You can then listen for free anytime off line (no Wi-Fi or cellphone connection is required). Handy PDF maps that complement the app’s walking tours can be viewed on your device. Audio content originates from Rick Steves’ guidebooks and the Travel with Rick Steves public radio program. Self-guided walking tours are excerpted from Rick Steves’ guidebooks.
The bad news: After releasing our new Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi audio tour, I hear the friars at the basilica are not allowing tourists to listen to mobile devices. Apparently the friars would rather that tourists pay to rent their own audio guides. That strikes me as not very Franciscan.
What’s not Christianlike is throwing the constant dig at the Catholic Church any chance you can get. Those fees help keep places maintained for tourists to visit. I’m sure you don’t give “free” apps out of the kindess of your heart, but as a slick business move to get in potential paying customers.
I’m Catholic and I’m not surprised that they would make such a request. It seems very common among a lot of major sites.
However, I’m sure the money from the rental of headsets is going to upkeep costs.
I’m with Rick and think that banning other listening devices is over the top. Do they ban guidebooks? This is an audio version of a guide book. Would they stop me reading a guidebook on my iPad? The Franciscans can keep their belief in God, but need to become platform agnostic regarding how people learn about their sites when they visit. If they need the money for upkeep, say so and charge admission. Do they really want to scurry around and pull ear buds out of tourists ears?
Scurry around and pull ear buds out of tourists ears? Come on, the Vatican policies regarding dress, some sites, Catholic and non, don’t allow picture taking. It is perfectly reasonable for the Franciscans to have this rule if it suits them. After all, it is their church and they are the custodians of the art within. I don’t think anybody should put “agnostic” conditions on religious organizations.
Since they do presumably allow people to read guidebooks, I wonder how they would respond if there was a hearing-impaired person who was listening to their guidebook. It does show that they enjoy visitors for the money it brings them, not solely to share their building with others.
My motto? Fewer churches, more gelato.
BTW, did you know that there’s a relief (flat sculpture thingy) above and to the side of the doors of St. Mark’s in Venice, of a snake tweaking a topless woman’s nipple? And yet you can’t wear shorts that end just above the knee…
As someone who was recently in Assisi and asked to remove my headphones, I don’t think that anyone is saying that the Franciscans CAN’T stop you from using the audio tour. The question is whether they SHOULD. I’m with Rick on this one. It’s silly and counterproductive in general to prevent someone from learning about the history and art of your organization. However, it’s also somewhat ironic in this case, considering the tone and message of St. Francis. Additionally, if this is about money, it makes little sense. The church is free. I certainly would have paid a fee (and did make a donation) to enter, and I would have been more than happy to pay a reasonable fee for a tour. However, I don’t believe the tours offered ran very often, and most institutional tours I’ve been on simply aren’t as good as Rick’s tours. I suspect that most of the problem can be corrected. We were using our tour within a couple weeks of it being released, and I’m not sure that the Franciscans even knew why they were suddenly receiving a steady flow of headphone wearing tourists.
If people don’t like the Franciscan policy, they always have the option not to view their churches or their art.
I miss Nicolina’s blog. Wow…what a zest for life she has. Thanks for hosting her blog, Uncle Rick. I hope you do the same when she starts her next adventure.
Proper dress and picture taking are about respect for the church and beliefs. Not allowing earbuds and listening to another audio tour is about the cash. Let’s have a little honesty and intellectual integrity,. If you don’t understand the use of the word agnostic in this usage I hope that Franciscans would. Charge an entrance fee. Don’t hide it by controlling who provides the historical context and critique.
When rick cited the “bad news” he should have simply ended with the sentence “- – – I hear the friars are not allowing tourists to listen to mobile devices.”
So, to make some extra cash, the friars could next open up a McDonald’s franchise, and employ french friars.
Haha, I think Shane is a psychopath, but I like it. You need a loose caonnn in a group, he makes this season interesting.But I think the only reason Rick had to shoot Sophia was because he felt guilty. I don’t think he is now one to make the tough decisions.I have to say, Sophia coming out from the barn caught me by surprise. First I thought the last walker would be Hershel’s wife, but that was the one Shane shot the cheek off. Sophia wasn’t a fleshed out character, so I could not feel too bad for her, but for all the other characters, her mom, Daryl and Rick especially. Side notes:-Hershel tells Rick, that Otis was the one who brought the walkers to the barn. If Shane hadn’t killed Otis, he could’ve told them, he catched a girl walker who looked like the girl they were looking for. So one more thing Shane to blame for.-Andrea wasn’t that prominent this episode, but I was immeditely angry again when they were shooting the barn walkers and she joins the firefight with an exaggeratedly confident smirk on her face shooting like a pro, even without eyes flinching.