walki-talki.com Travel Blog

We are happy to announce our first giveaway of 2012 in collaboration with Groupon UK. Groupon has generously provided us with a redemption coupon worth £30 (approximately $45) toward the purchase of anything on the Groupon UK web site at www.groupon.co.uk. This redemption code is valid for 5 months.

We will give away this redemption code to the person who purchases the 15th tour from our online store at store.walki-talki.com beginning tomorrow, May 6, 2012.

This is a perfect match for our customers because walki-talki.com offers the greatest bargain in audio walking tours of Europe, and Groupon UK is offering simply stellar bargains in European travel. This combination will allow you to save a substantial sum on journeys that are costing more every day.

Our colleagues at Groupon UK would like to tell you that the entire £30 redemption amount is yours to keep. If the item you purchase from Groupon UK costs less than £30, the balance will be deposited in your Groupon account for future purchases.

Bear in mind that your chances of winning this redemption code are excellent at 1 in 15 at worst! If people purchase more than one tour, then your chances of winning can be as good as 1 in 3 or in 2, even! And, since our audio walking tours cost a fraction of a standard walking tour, you don’t really lose. You get an expert walking tour for less than the cost of a cup of coffee.

If you’re starting to plan your European trip for this summer, do not delay! Get your walki-talki.com audio walking tour, and save more if you win the Groupon UK redemption code.

The fine print: The redemption code is valid only at www.groupon.co.uk, and it can be used for any item you are eligible to buy on that site. The code is valid until September, 2012.

To be eligible to win you must purchase your tour(s) at http://store.walki-talki.com. Walking tour apps purchased through the App Store are not eligible because Apple does not provide the identifying information we need to deliver the redemption code.

We thank Groupon UK for entering into this collaboration with us, and we encourage you to take advantage of this fabulous opportunity right away! Travel is not getting any cheaper. Capitalize on this opportunity to save.

On March 1, 2012, walki-talki.com launched our new online store at http://store.walki-talki.com. The new web site is based on a much more updated store engine supplied by Zen Cart, and it features a much nicer, much cleaner theme.

In addition to better aesthetics, our new online store offers many new features.

• Express checkout. One feature many had requested was the ability to buy a tour without registering at all. We now offer this feature! As soon as you are ready to check out, all you have to do is click the Paypal button in the shopping cart to go directly to Paypal and to pay for your tours. No registration, no hassles. Instant gratification, pure and simple. (Users will still need to register and/or log in to redeem discount coupons or promotional giveaways.)
  Express Checkout in the New walki-talki.com Store

• Product Giveaways. The new more powerful store also affords us the ability to give products away. So, look out for more promotional giveaways!
• Better Links and Advertising. For those who want to use walki-talki.com’s high Google ranking to build a good network, we now offer additional means to trade links. We can place your links in the right places, and we can offer you banners that really get the user’s attention.
• Better Overall User Experience! With its much better organization, with the much crisper look and with the new, faster store engine, the new walki-talki.com store is guaranteed to provide all users with a better experience.

The New walki-talki.com Landing Page

Lastly, our new landing page at www.walki-talki.com offers users two routes to take: one directly to the App Store where they can buy our walking tours as apps for any iOS device (iPhone, iPod, iPad), or a path to the aforementioned store.

So, get ready to go to Europe, and don’t forget walki-talki.com We have your walking tours planned.

As promised, the walki-talki.com monthly giveaways of app walking tours of Europe continues. The August giveaway is the app walking tour of Munich! For 48 hours beginning 12 AM ( 0 hours) August 30 until midnight (0 hours) September 1, 2011, the walki-talki.com app walking tour of Munich will be free on the App Store.

Hofraeuhaus, stop number 11 on the walking tour of Munich.

Are you planning on going to Munich for Oktoberfest? Are you spending your summer holiday in Munich? Then, get yourself the greatest bargain to be had in self guided audio walking tours. Walki-talki.com’s acclaimed walking tour of Munich will provide you with all of the essential details about the city of monks. Learn about Munich’s history as the center of an independent kingdom, find out why it is the city of monks, and find out why it is so famous for beer. Do it all as you walk around this beautiful and cosmopolitan European and global cultural center.

As with our previous giveaway, the self-guided mp3 audio walking tour package of Munich will sell for only 99 cents during the same period. In essence, that glass of famous Bavarian beer is on us. So, go to the App Store or to walki-talki.com, load up your iOS device (iPhone, iPad and iPod) or mp3 player or mobile phone and get to know all of the basics about Munich for free or 99 cents.

Once again, this giveaway will occur during the 48-hour period of August 30 and August 31, 2011.

Check this space often to see which tour we give away in September.

walki-talki.com announces our first product giveaway. For exactly one week, from Monday July 18, 2011, through Sunday July 24, 2011, you can download the app version of our self guided audio walking tour of Edinburgh from the App Store for free!

In keeping with tradition, we are offering the same reduction in price on the mp3 walking tour package of Edinburgh sold through our web site. The mp3 package will sell for $0.99 during the same period.

So, if you or anyone you know plans to be in Edinburgh this summer for the hell of it or for magnificent events like the International Art Festival, take advantage of this giveaway: free app tour, or an mp3 package for $0.99.

Check this space in August for our next giveaway.

Have fun in Edinburgh in the meantime.

The management at walki-talki.com have decided to begin a monthly promotional program to get the word out about our fabulous self guided walking tours of Europe and to reward our customers.

Our monthly promotions will begin next week, the week of July 17, 2011. For a period of 4 to 7 days in each month, you will be able to download one our app tours for free from the App Store, and for only $0.99 through our online store at www.walki-talki.com. That’s right. You will have the option of taking yourself on a guided tour of top European destination cities for nothing if you purchase one of our iPhone apps, or only $0.99 if you purchase an mp3 package that will play on any device through our online store.

So, if you want a free walking tour in Europe this summer, choose your preferred method to get the announcements.

1. Subscribe to our blog feed.
2. Follow us on Facebook.
3. Follow us on Twitter.

Announcements will be made on this blog. The promotion will begin within 24 hours of each announcement, and each promotion will last between 4 and 7 days. You will need to act fast after each announcement is made!

Not only will you be able to take your time to see your chosen European city at your own pace, but you just might be able to do it for free!

We thank you for your patronage, and we encourage you to keep traveling. It is the best way to celebrate a small world.

walki-talki.com Announces New Lower Pricing in Its Online Store

Self guided, mp3 audio walking tours have always been a bargain compared to the full price, guided tours that are advertised at the concierge stand of your hotel. You can’t compare the two experiences. In one, you are herded from one site to another by an erudite guide who provides you with an entertaining narrative at each stop. With digital walking tours, you won’t be entertained by a real person, but you will have the freedom to stop and resume the tour whenever you want. It’s less personable, but more personal. You don’t have a real attendant, but you have more freedom.

Naturally, the pricing scheme for the two services will be different, too. Even if you have a real attendant, the cost of that attendant distributed over the number of people in the party is still substantial, given today’s state of the dollar. A £20 tour is over $30, as is a €20 tour. Starting this month, Walki-talki.com’s self-guided, mp3 audio walking tours cost you a mere $5.99! We are happy to announce that building on the success of our winter tour−during which our tours were only $4.99−we are now introducing a new high season price of only $5.99 for all walking tours sold through our main web site, www.walki-talki.com. So, for the price of a regular guided tour, you can take one of our virtual guided tours, take as many breaks as you want, and even enjoy a drink or two during your long stroll.

So, get more for your dollar! Book one of our self-guided, audio mp3 walking tours of London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Venice, Prague, Edinburgh, Geneva or Munich through walki-talki.com right now.

And, if you have an iOS device (iPhone, iPod, iPad), you can get even more from your dollar. Our entire collection of tours, along with a few titles from noambit.com, are available for only $4.99 through The App Store.

By offering $5.99 for a tour package you can play on any device, and $4.99 for a tour package that you can play on iOS devices, we have your walking tour experience covered. The rest is up to you.

Visit our online store at www.walki-talki.com, or the App Store (through iTunes).

20 Creative Uses for Your iPhone When Traveling Abroad

Whether you are traveling in order to obtain an international master’s degree in business administration (MBA) or for pleasure, it is impossible to refute the fact that your smart phone has become an indispensable companion. The smart of phone of choice for most people, especially those of us at walki-talki.com, is the iPhone by virtue of the massive collection of apps available for iOS devices (iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad). Among these apps are, of course, numerous apps that come in incredibly handy when traveling. The above linked article offers a fairly nice collection of apps that will make it easier for you to navigate your way, to communicate, to get information and to manage your budget while you’re traveling.

Basilica di San Marco, stop number eight on walki-talki.com's iPhone app tour of Venice.

On my own recent trip to Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, I relied heavily on my iPhone and iPad to communicate with friends and family in the European Union and the United States. I was not a ware of the SitorSquat app mentioned in the above article. As a result, I endured a few tense moments of anxiety when nature called especially loudly, but I survived.

To the fine selection of apps mentioned in the above article, I would add a few more critical choices. First is the Skype app to make cheap or free phone calls whenever you find a wi-fi connection. It is rather difficult to understate Skype’s utility. These days, the app also supports VOIP calls over the 3G/4G data networks. So, if you choose to purchase a data plan, you don’t even have to worry about finding a free wi-fi hotspot, or paying exorbitant prices for wi-fi access at your hotel.

The other critical apps are, of course, walki-talki.com’s collection self guided app tours of major European destinations. It is no secret why we love the iPhone. We are one of the major provider’s of travel apps on the iOS platform.

So, even if you’re going to Europe for business, pack one of our tours on your iOS device. You can have two hours of fun on your business trip.

Don’t forget, if you don’t have a smart phone, you can get our audio walking tours as simple mp3 packages for all devices through our online store, www.walki-talki.com.

walki-talki.com Releases noambit.com’s Audio Walking Tour of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp for all iOS Devices

Anyone who has read our posts on this blog or gotten to know us personally knows how much we love Berlin, and our love for Berlin is in no way unique. It is a city whose depth of history, depth of culture and intellectual complexity know absolutely no bounds. At the start of the twentieth century, Berlin had no cultural or intellectual rival. The best artists, scientists and intellectuals of every stripe lived, worked and shined here. Psychology, physics, sculpture, opera, modern art, literature, chemistry, egyptology, and virtually every known intellectual endeavor flourished here, and some others were invented here. Consequently, perhaps nowhere else was the sentiment that the Nazi party could never corrupt a place so intellectually advanced more prevalent than in Berlin

The memorial at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Catastrophically, those who believed the compelling argument that Germany’s intellectual and cultural might will act as a buffer against the malfeasance of fascists proved wrong. The entire country was soon plunged into the  darkest chapter of human history, and Berlin, as Germany’s capital city and Hitler’s home, paid perhaps the greatest price. It survived as a city only to be divided for nearly forty years by a wall.

As a testament to the seemingly inherent greatness of the city, Berlin has recovered. It has been the undisputed world champion in cultural and creative activity since it was reunified in 1989, and everyone who visits the city never forgets the magical energy of the city.

The walki-talki.com self guided walking tour of Berlin gives you an excellent introduction to Berlin’s rise as a cultural and intellectual capital, its destruction by Nazis, its repression by communists and its remarkable rebirth upon reunification (indeed, the epicenter of reunification). We are now proud to present with noambit.com the self guided audio walking tour of Berlin’s darkest chapter.

The noambit.com walking tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp is the ideal companion to walki-talki.com’s introductory tour and the perfect tour for those who wish to get off the beaten path in Berlin and to explore the horrors of World War II further. Consisting of 16 tracks, the tour guides you from the heart of Berlin onto the train that takes you to Oranjienburg, where Sachsenhausen is located. The first seven tracks give you a complete exposition on the political and historical factors that led to the Nazi rise to power, why Sachsenhausen was built, and what occurred there. The remaining tracks guide you through all of the major sites of the camp and provide a full description at each stop.

No tour of a site of atrocities is never pleasant, but it is significant and worthwhile, and we are truly proud to be part of a production of tour that does justice to a sacred site and a ponderous subject. This is a truly memorable tour.

The walki-talki.com and noambit.com co-produced self guided audio walking tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp is available as an app for the iPhone, iPod and iPad from the App Store. It is also available as a universally playable mp3 package from noambit.com.

You can see more screen shots of the tour on our Facebook page.

Get this tour from the App Store

I visited friends in Europe for two weeks at the end of November. It was a wonderful trip filled with reunions with friends I had not seen in as many as five years.

It was also a brutally cold trip. An unusually powerful system of storms temperatures in northern Europe the 20s and teens (in Fahrenheit; about -5 Celsius) virtually the entire time I was there.

When it's this cold, everyone is thinking the same thought.

I still managed to walk around quite a bit to all of the Christmas markets (Weihnacthsmärkte) in Amsterdam, Hamburg and Nuremberg, a city that bills itself as the Christmas market city. (I have attached a picture that I took of the same damsel on the site. She is indeed real.)

Bicycling through a nearly frozen Amsterdam and slogging through a snow covered Nuremberg made it abundantly clear that wintertime is the worst season for self guided audio walking tours of Europe. Consequently, we are reducing the prices of the mp3 self-guided audio walking tours of Europe sold through walki-talki.com by 45% to a mere $4.99 through the end of winter (March 31, 2010).

With our digital walking tours, you have the option of stopping to warm up whenever you want. You now have the savings to offset the cost of refueling and defrosting. So, take out your warm clothing, load up your favorite digital media player, and go.

Our universally playable mp3 audio tours are sold through www.walki-talki.com.

You can also find our walking tours as self-contained apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch through The App Store.

In early July, walki-talki.com successfully completed a promotional collaboration with Rail Europe. Rail Europe customers who booked tickets on high speed trains connecting Paris and Amsterdam were given the option of receiving a complimentary walking tour of Amsterdam or Paris at checkout. Rail Europe captured this information and transmitted it to walki-talki.com.

The crack team of developers at walki-talki.com then designed a very stylish web 2.0 system that took the information provided by Rail Europe and sent a beautifully crafted email to the customer notifying the customer that his or her tour is waiting to be downloaded. Upon clicking on a link in the email, each customer was directed to a unique web page where the download was automatically started.

Our system then captured these downloads and recorded them against the information provided by Rail Europe. Thus, Rail Europe was provided complete metrics on how successful the promotion was. The data recorded exactly which customer downloaded which walking tour on which day. Hence, the data afforded the ability even to determine when a customer is likely to redeem their gift: immediately after purchasing their ticket, or immediately before departing on the train.

In all, it was a very successful demonstration of walki-talki.com‘s ability to integrate its operations seamlessly with those of a large commercial partner. We were quite exhilarated by the opportunity, and we are eager to offer the same program to Rail Europe again and to other large commercial partners. walki-talki.com is ready to work with large corporate partners.

PS    When I was living in Amsterdam in 2005, the high speed rail service between Amsterdam and Paris achieved high speeds only between Brussels and Paris because the Dutch bureaucracy was absurdly slow in allowing construction of high speed rail in The Netherlands. Fortunately for you, that absurdly long wait is over. You can now travel 186 mph (300 km/h) between Amsterdam and Paris, which means that the trip from Amsterdam Centraal in Amsterdam to Gare du Nord in Paris (center of town to center of town) takes less than three hours. So, if Paris and Amsterdam are on your itinerary, book your high speed rail ticket through Rail Europe now! You won’t regret it.  PNM

• May 7 : Groupon Giveaway
• Mar 4 : New Web Site Launched
• Aug 30 : Free Audio iOS App Tour of Munich!
• Jul 18 : App Tour Giveaway: Edinburgh
• Jul 11 : Sizzling Summer Sales