Heraklion Self-Guided Audio Walking Tour
This is a self-guided audio walking tour of Heraklion that runs on your own phone, starting at the Koules fortress on the old harbour and covering the arsenals, the Kazantzakis tomb, the Morosini fountain and the Venetian Loggia. Content downloads in advance, so it works offline with no roaming charges. Clio Muse Tours sell it from €9.99, and it holds a 3.53 rating across 10 reviews, low enough that we set out the complaints below before anything else.
What this audio tour actually covers
The product is an app, an activation link and a route you walk yourself. Three things define it.
First is the route, beginning at the entrance of Koules, the Venetian sea fortress at the old harbour, and working into the city. Second are the stops: the Venetian arsenals, the tomb of Nikos Kazantzakis on the city walls, the Morosini fountain, known locally as the Lions, and the Loggia, the Renaissance building that now serves as the town hall. Third is the narration itself, written by an accredited expert around the history of the city, including the 25-year Ottoman siege that eventually took it.
Text, audio and maps all download in advance for offline use. There is no live guide, no meeting point and no VR or AR content.
Places this tour visits
The whole route stays within the old walled city.
- Heraklion, the walk covers the historic centre of Heraklion, from the harbour fortress to the fountain and the city walls.
What’s included and what isn’t
Ten euros buys the audio files and the route, and nothing else.
Included:
- Self-guided audio tour for Android and iOS
- Activation link to access the tour
- Offline content, text, narration and maps
Not included:
- Live guide
- Smartphone and headphones
- Entrance tickets to museums, archaeological sites or churches
- Food, drinks and transport
The tour is bought per device rather than per person, so one purchase covers a couple sharing headphones.
Why we recommend this experience
We recommend this narrowly, and only for one situation: you are in Heraklion for a few hours, you want the history of what you are looking at, and you do not want to pay for or wait on a guided walk. At €9.99 per device, with offline files and no fixed start time, it does that job and nothing else.
The route itself is well chosen. Koules, the arsenals, the Kazantzakis tomb, the Morosini fountain and the Loggia are genuinely the right five things to walk between in Heraklion’s centre, and doing them in that order makes sense on the ground.
Buying per device rather than per person is a real saving for a couple.
Now the part that matters more, because this scores 3.53 out of 5 and three of the nine reviews we read sit at two stars or below, a far higher proportion of poor reviews than anything else we list.
Navigation is the biggest complaint. An Italian reviewer rating it one star said there is no interactivity along the route and you end up using a separate map constantly, going back and forth. An American reviewer rating it four stars said the same more gently, the numbers on the map did not always line up with the directions.
The narration divides people. A Canadian reviewer found it heavy on dates and light on the architecture and got bored. A French reviewer did not finish it, describing the descriptions as poor quality, rushed, and the audio segments as not following on from each other.
Device requirements are strict. You need Android 9.0 or later or iOS 17.0 or later, plus 100 to 150 MB of free storage. It will not run on an iPhone X or older, an iPhone SE first generation, or older iPads.
Our honest read: if you want Heraklion’s history explained properly, a live guide is worth the difference. If you want a cheap orientation walk and can tolerate checking a map yourself, this does the job for ten euros.
CreteLocals insider tips
Download everything on hotel Wi-Fi, open a map app alongside it, and treat it as orientation rather than a tour.
- Download the app and the files before you leave your accommodation, since they need 100 to 150 MB and the point is offline use.
- Check your device first, because it needs Android 9.0 or iOS 17.0 and will not run on older iPhones or iPads.
- Open a separate map app alongside it, given the most common complaint is that the in-tour navigation does not match the route.
- Buy one per device rather than per person, which the operator allows and which halves the cost for a couple.
- Bring your own headphones, which are not supplied and which you will want on a busy street.
- Budget separately for museums, since no entrance fees to any site are covered.
What to know before you go
The tour is designed to start at the entrance of Koules at the old harbour, reached most easily on foot. There is no live guide and no meeting point.
After booking you receive an email with instructions for downloading the tour, check your spam folder. The walk is broadly wheelchair accessible as a city route, though individual points of interest may not be.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a live guide?
No live guide is provided. This is a downloadable audio tour you follow on your own phone at your own pace.
What does the route cover?
The route runs from Koules fortress to the arsenals, the Kazantzakis tomb, the Morosini fountain and the Loggia.
Is it bought per person?
It is bought per device, not per participant, so one purchase covers a couple sharing headphones.
What phone do you need?
You need Android 9.0 or later or iOS 17.0 or later, with 100 to 150 MB of free storage. It does not run on an iPhone X or older.
Are museum tickets included?
No entrance fees are included for museums, archaeological sites or churches.
Why is the rating low?
The tour scores 3.53 out of 5, with reviewers reporting that the route navigation does not match the map and that the narration is date-heavy and disjointed.
Check dates and prices for the Heraklion self-guided audio tour.
Location
Heraklion Self-Guided Audio Walking Tour is located at Agios Minas Cathedral. The map below shows the exact spot; Google Maps and Waze give turn-by-turn directions.
