iPod and audio tours: The death of tourguides?

Right now, I’m wearing a T-shirt that says, “Your Podcast is Lame.”

No, I’m not doing podcasts and I rarely even have much time to listen to them myself, but I went to a speaker panel at SXSW Interactive called “5 Tips to Make Your Lame Podcast Listenable” and thanks to a few really dorky questions from me about travel podcasts, they tossed me a T-shirt. 

I wanted to know more about this communication tool, and panel members Steve Mack from Lux Media and Jose Castillo of thinkjose did a great job of highlighting some podcasting do’s and don’ts.

I’ve written about using travel/tour podcasts before (just think, your kids are plugged in but they only look like they’re not learning anything as you walk the streets of New York or Paris.) There are language podcasts, a whole list of travel podcasts on the UK’s Guardian site, podcasts from Europe expert Rick Steves, plus a bunch more tips here on iPods and family travel.

Just yesterday, though, Andrea left a comment on one of those posts, with a link to her UK company Podtours.  They have a good selection for European destinations; pretty heavy on the cathedrals but if you’re going to drag your kids to, say, Chartres in France anyway, she has an audio tour to keep them occupied.  She blogs as well, including posts for those looking for good beer in Europe (bonus!)

She also wrote:  “I suspect the days of the ‘guy with the umbrella’ could be numbered. I’ll never take a guided tour again because at only 5 foot 4, there’s always someone taller in front of me!”

Do you agree? Have you used audio/mp3 tours with your kids?

Tell us about it….

Technorati tags:  travel, podcasts, family travel, Europe