Sydney Walking Tour Apps

These Sydney walking tour apps are a great way to explore the city on a budget. We have downloaded and tested all the apps here to make sure they do what they say they do. Read on for our reviews of the best apps for walking in Sydney. 

Every time I start planning a holiday one of the first things I do is hunt down self-guided walks or free walks to use while I am there. The best way to discover a new city is to explore it on foot. Nothing beats walking around a place to get a feel for it and discover your own hidden gem

As my next holiday is still a few weeks away, I thought I might amuse myself by road-testing some Sydney walking apps. I was surprised how many are available, most of them free and the content very good.

I trialled these on my Samsung phone when possible, but if an Android version was not available, I used my husbands iPhone.

Freeguides App

Freeguides is an app that allows guides to create one of a kind experiences that they share on the platform so users can make the most of the guides local knowledget and explore places in an authentic way. You can use the walks for free or if you are feeling kind hearted reward the author with a tip.

I have added several of my walks on this site to Freeguides so that you can use them from your phone (both Apple and Android) Check out my Watson’s Bay walk and use my profile to find my other walks.

Sydney Culture Walks

Produced by The City of Sydney council the Sydney Culture Walks app is pretty comprehensive – if you walked everything they cover it would take you several days.

Perfect for art and history buffs, the walks help you uncover the stories of our city step-by-step. The current version offers ten walks covering Australian history, art, architecture and culture.

The routes are also ideal for locals who want to know more about the places they stroll past all the time, and they are perfect for gaining knowledge to impress friends who come to visit.

Sydney Sculpture Walk

The first walk I trialled, the Sydney Sculpture Walk, also turned out to be my favourite. It’s an excellent choice for visitors with plenty of photo opportunities along the route. The walk starts at Art Gallery Road and heads down to the harbour via the Royal Botanic Gardens. It covers lots of my favourite public art and it’s an easy stroll full of great photo opportunities like this one.

Related: A Sydney walk from Hyde Park to the Botanic Gardens 

Sydney History Walk

History Buffs might prefer the Colony Tour that takes in Circular Quay, the Rocks and Millers Point. It includes quite a bit of background reading on the city’s early days. Most of the other walks so far are a little obscure for visitors in my opinion but regular updates are promised so hopefully, they will take this into account in future versions.

Features:

• Offline access so no huge data spend
• Search by location and themes
• PDF versions of some of the walks are available for download in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

Price: Free – download for Android or IOS
Rating: 9.5/10

We also have a Rocks self-guided walk you might like to check out.

Sydney Olympic Park Self Guided Tour App

A great way to experience Sydney Olympic, this self guided app will allow you to discover the history of the park and learn more about the environment. Covering everything from the sites famous mangroves to urban art and the sites Olympic period.

Features:

• Learn more about the Olympic legacy, public artworks and heritage sites.
• Plus soon you’ll be able to discover natural environments, species and more, that make up the 640 hectares of Sydney Olympic Park.

Price: Free – download for Android or IOS
Rating: 9.5/10

Dictionary of Sydney Walks

This app currently offers 3 walks and combines audio files that give lots of background on the areas covered. We have reviewed the Irish walk below but there is also a walk covering Parramatta and Sydney Harbour Islands.

Features:

• Offline access
• Includes more reading references for each stop for anyone who wants to delve further into the history of Sydney
• An easy walk covering a short area so good for those with limited time

Price: Free – download for Android or IOS
Rating: 7.5/10

Sydney Hiking Trips App 

Sydney Hiking Trips (previously Sydney Train Walks) might just be my new favourite app. This app highlight over 40 walks you can take using Sydney public transport stops as start and finish points.

Most of the walks are best suited to experienced walkers with many being 8-10 km and the average being 20 km! Of course, you can start and finish at points along the way for most of them if you are not up to a long hike.

The app includes detailed maps and lots of great photos to show you what you will encounter along the way. The website has a lot of the app content you can view when planning your next adventure.

Features:

• Clear easy to follow maps
• Photos so you can check where you are
• Location of nearby food and drink to sustain you on your walk.

Price: Free – download for Android or IOS version
Rating: 9.0/10

Walsh Bay Sculpture Walk App

This walk features seven artworks along the Walsh Bay waterfront between Piers 1 and 6. The app includes a description of the works and details of the artists. The first and best-known work is Jimmie Durham’s Still Life With Stone and Car which features a red car squashed by a giant rock. The app is good for what it is but is only a 30-minute walk at most.

Features:

• Audio explaining the artworks
• Additional languages – French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish
• Includes cycling maps where tracks exist

Price: Free – download for Android or IOS
Rating: 6.0/10

Do you know of any new Sydney apps I should review? Please let me know. 

Happy walking everyone!

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