FreeGuides is an Australian travel app which allows users to explore their neighbourhood, Australia, and New Zealand through the eyes of locals, at the tap of a finger. Through the free app, which runs on both IOS and Android, users can indulge in over 160+ self-guided walking tours curated to their own interests – whether that’s nature, food & drink, photography, culture, architecture, and more.

The app is free to use and is fully self-guided, meaning it can be used by anyone, at any time of the day. Users, a.k.a ‘Explorers’ simply:

- Download the app and complete a short signup process and select key areas of interests;

- A curated feed of related local experiences is then compiled for them;

- Choose the experience they want to go on and start it any time that suits them;

- After an experience is complete, explorers have the option to pay what they want for their tour.

FreeGuides was inspired by the founder, Daniel Wasilewsky’s own pre-COVID travels. He always sought out free walking tours and wanted to tap into local knowledge wherever possible to find the hidden gems travel guides often left out.

Through the FreeGuides app, when an experience is created by a local guide, each stop within the tour is embedded with photographs, videos and local insights which can be followed by an explorer. So while it’s self-guided, it’s still highly interactive and immersive, ensuring the explorer has the best possible experience.

The app is a first-of-its-kind, allowing anyone to monetise their local knowledge. For those interested in showing off their neighbourhood, FreeGuides empowers locals to capitalise on an underutilised resource – their unique knowledge of their city. It enables anyone to create, run and manage their own experiences while making money.

FreeGuides officially launched in Australia in late 2020 and in New Zealand once the Aus-NZ travel bubble opened in April 2021. With a current focus on local experiences, the team plans to take the app global later this year.

FreeGuides is available for free download on IOS and Android.

www.freeguides.com.au