I love listening to Rick's Audio Tours on my phone but the time I have most available to listen is in my car and I can't bluetooth to my car radio. Ideally I would like the Tours as MP3s so that I can put them on a data stick or SD card which I can play through the sound system. I know that there are a select few available as downloads but only one of them is relevant to my trip to Naples and the Amalfi Coast (the Pompeii one). Does anyone know if the others are available as MP3s at all please?
Posted by
24 posts
Hi there! You can definitely find our audio tours for download as MP3s.
You can download the Audio Europe interview tracks from our Soundcloud account and all of our current audio tours from our website. Note: not all of the walking tours we publish in the guidebooks are available as audio tours yet.
You can also access the same content through our podcasts.
Hope this helps!
Posted by
Kingston, ON Canada
208 posts
@claremc12, I love using the RS audioguides (and interviews) as well! I've had great successs using them on my iPhone during various city walks and tours at specific sites. My all-time favourite is the Venice Grand Canal tour, while taking a vaporetto, which I've done in its entirety probably 6 times, in 3 visits to Venice! (we like to do it in the daylight and after dark, when you can see all the Murano glass chandeliers lit up, inside the buildings)
Having said that... I found the RS tour of Pompeii left my husband and me lost. We used it TWICE (two different trips), and it always started out well, but because some places are re-routed, we ended up lost, and based on that, I would now recommend renting one of their on-site auidoguides (although I've not used one, myself, so can't really vouch for it). But we were left frustrated. So, for what it's worth, I pass that on to you... but, maybe we were just daft.
By all means, it is certainly worth listening to beforehand, in preparation of your trip! But, if I go again, I will use a different audioguide, or maybe even splurge on a guided tour.
cheers!
Vivian
Posted by
Seattle
255 posts
We downloaded all the relevant RS audio tours as MP3s for use on our iPods last time we were in N. Italy and they were great. The only issue I noticed was that some of the museums had obviously shifted their displays around since the time the audio tour was made, so that the "flow" of the audio didn't match what was actually on display room by room. Not a problem on geographical tours, e.g. Grand Canal in Venice, since obviously buildings can't be shuffled.
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
Another way to come at the problem is by using a Bluetooth transmitter for your car; I've owned the one in the link for years and really like it. You can also use this in a rental car, for example, but be sure you don't leave it! I usually connect my phone to the transmitter with a cord so it's charging at the same time it's playing music, lectures, or actually serving as a (Gasp!) phone. This model plugs into the cigarette lighter/DC outlet, so no special (newer-style) car outlet required.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks, all, for the answers above. I used the links supplied by Dana and downloaded all the ones I wanted into iTunes and have copied the resultant MP3s on to an SD card which I can play in the car. It was much easier than I expected as I hadn't realised that iTunes would download them as MP3s. Thanks for the tip re the Pompeii tour - I will probably use them more at home to prepare for the trip than out there.