Hear the story of
where you are.
Hereabouts is an iPhone audio guide. Put your headphones in and head out, on foot, by bike, on transit or in the car. It tells you the story of what you are passing, as you pass it.
iPhone only, iOS 18 or later. Your first session is free, up to 20 minutes. The app is the guide: there is no narration on this website.
How it works
Start a session
Tap Start, then put your phone away. No route to plan and no screen to watch.
Carry on
It follows your direction of travel and works out what is ahead of you, whether that is a bridge, a church or a street with a past.
Listen
You hear about a place while it is in front of you, timed to fit the gap before you reach it. Never about something you have already passed.
Explore
Just go. Hereabouts narrates the places coming up as you move, and adapts how far ahead it looks to your speed.
Guided tours
Pick a themed tour such as history, engineering, haunted places or one for kids. Choose a 30, 60 or 120 minute version and see the stops first.
Works anywhere
Walking, cycling, transit or driving. The screen can stay locked. While driving, use voice and the buttons only. It is not a navigation tool.
Meet Ray and Nell
Two guides, same stories. Choose the voice you like to listen to and set the speech rate to suit you. Both are studio-quality AI voices (ElevenLabs), and once an area is downloaded the guide works offline.
Ray
Pick Ray for a steady companion on the footpath or the highway. A natural, expressive voice that holds up on a long drive.
Nell
Pick Nell if her voice is the one you would rather hear. A natural, expressive voice that is easy to listen to for hours.
Free first session, then Plus
Your first session is free, up to 20 minutes. After that, Hereabouts Plus keeps the guide talking: choose weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-year or yearly. Prices are set in the App Store and shown in your own currency. Cancel any time in your Apple account.
Free first session
Free
Up to 20 minutes of Explore with the studio-quality guide voices, before you pay anything.
Weekly
Plus
Try it for a trip or a long weekend.
Monthly
Plus
A good fit for a month of holiday or commuting.
Quarterly
Plus
Three months of exploring your own city.
Half-year
Plus
Six months, with a lower price per month.
Yearly
Plus, best value
The lowest price per month. Explore, Guided tours, Talk and Type questions and offline areas all year.
Ask your guide (Plus)
- Talk: hold the button and ask a question about the place you are passing. Your guide answers out loud.
- Type: prefer to stay quiet? Type your question instead.
- Offline areas: download a city, a tour or a route before you leave, so the guide keeps working with no signal.
Private by design
- Your location is used only while the app is open or a session you started is running. Never "Always".
- No account needed. Signing in is optional and syncing your history is opt-in.
- No advertising, no tracking and no third-party analytics.
- Export or delete your data from the app, or from your account page.
Read the privacy policy.
Prefer a person?
We list vetted local human guides so you can book a proper in-person tour when you want one. Browse human guides. Some listings are affiliate links and featured entries are labelled as sponsored.
Where the stories come from
Narration is written from public sources, mainly Wikipedia and Wikidata, with place data from OpenStreetMap. It can contain mistakes, so please do not rely on it for anything safety related. See licences and credits.