About
A city reads better on foot.
Exploratour is an app for discovering a city while walking: guided walks, treasure hunts and puzzle trails, led by your phone. Born in Lyon, it opens city by city.
The idea
Phone in your pocket, eyes on the facade.
We did not want an app you stare at. We wanted an app that tells you where to go, tells you what is in front of you, then goes quiet. The narration starts when you arrive, the puzzle is solved on the spot, the compass replaces the map.
Everything downloads before you leave. After that, no network needed: the guide, the maps and the puzzles are in the pack.
Method
Every adventure is written on site.
- 01
On the ground
An adventure is built by walking the neighbourhood: the distances, the viewpoints, the facade details that become clues.
- 02
Sources cited
Municipal archives, photo collections, old maps: what the app tells you has a source, and it is named.
- 03
In two languages
Text, audio and puzzles exist in French and English, for visitors and locals alike.
Past / Present
The same street, a century earlier.
The Past / Present mode overlays postcards and old maps on what is in front of you. It was built with the archives of Lyon, the app's first city.
Place Bellecour · 1713
Place des Terreaux · 1905
Saint-Jean, Fourvière · 1900
Quai Saint-Antoine · 1890
Lyon municipal archives · IGN Géoplateforme
The team
The Exploratour team
Exploratour was born in Lyon from a simple wish: that heritage be discovered by playing rather than by reading a panel. The team writes the adventures, records them and puts them online. Cities, tourist offices and museums can join us to tell the story of their territory.
A question, an idea for a place, a mistake spotted on site? Write to us.
Write to usCommitments
What we hold ourselves to.
Offline
Download on wifi, play without network. Nothing depends on a connection once you are on the pavement.
Free to start
Free adventures in every city. The rest is bought one at a time, no subscription.
Privacy
Your photos stay on your phone. Your account can be deleted in one step, from the app or from this site.
No update needed
A new city or a new adventure goes live without a new version of the app.