Detour: Ungovernable Kreuzberg – An Audio Tour App Review.

Our first day in Berlin was a typically rainy one, allowing for much-needed travel decompression and time to research all things Berlin. The checklist: Unesco World Heritage sites, markets, restaurants, parks, music venues, day trips, public transit.. We also looked into the new audio tour app, called Detour. We heard great things from NPR about the San Francisco-based company that was recently started by the ex-CEO of Groupon, Andrew Mason. The website’s trailer definitely had us intrigued. Check it out:

Ungovernable Kreuzberg

Our luck, Detour just launched a handful of tours in Europe, including “Berlin – Ungovernable Kreuzberg”, so we downloaded the free app, paid $7.99 for the tour and headed out into the rain. Very cool, the app is location-aware. We simply found the starting point at River Spree’s edge and pressed play. We were instantly transported into a time where the foreboding Berlin Wall still stood, and the Kreuzberg neighborhood was largely left to it’s own devices.

We were led through the interesting and occasionally edgy streets by the friendly voice of a long-time resident, recalling stories of Kreuzberg’s trials and tribulations before and after the Wall.. The beautiful soundtrack, first-hand interviews, and field recordings from important events induced intermittent wonder and anxiety, lending an unexpected cinematic quality to our Detour.

Wow, just wow. Detour will undoubtedly change the way we look at cities, sharing insight that only a lifetime local might know.. With an ever-expanding world-wide lineup, including new tours in London and Paris, we’re excited to put Detour at the top of our travel research checklist.

Here’s a few photos from our “Berlin – Ungovernable Kreuzberg” tour:

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