Linköping offers its residents digital guided tours

Summer in one’s own city can be an exciting adventure, too

Last week, the tourist board Visit Linköping (Sweden), together with the Danish company Storyhunt, released two pandemic-proof audio tour guides that let the user discover lesser-known facts and corners about that city. No one knows which way the pandemic situation will swing this summer, but whether one is stuck at home or free to take a walk, he or she can find the audio guides equally useful and entertaining.

The two guides cover the city of Linköping and a smaller locality called Berg, which is also located in the same municipality.

A mix between David Attenborough and Indiana Jones

“For visitors, a digital walk can be the perfect way to experience Linköping on their own, in pandemic times. In the city, we are launching a walk that complements Linköping's traditional guided tours. In "The Lost City of Linköping", historical years are exchanged for imaginative stories with a large portion of humor and a twinkle in the eye,” explained Jörgen Nilsson, who is responsible for the hospitality industry at Visit Linköping & Co.

He continued: “The content makes us believe that the digital guide is also interesting for those Linköping residents who want to discover new details and draw a little smile across their own city”.

Did you know that there are crocodiles in Stångån river, or that it was on Ågatan that Shakespeare found inspiration for Romeo and Juliet, or that there is a curse resting on the "love bench" outside the Konsert & Kongress Hall? 

We cannot know whether these are just humorous teasers or whether the creators mean this for real. But the city’s website promises the tour listeners that they will find out this and many more hitherto unknown and unlikely details in Linköping's history in the "The Lost City of Linköping".

It is Linköping - based comedian Ben Kersley who is behind the script and is also heard as an inspiring narrator in the guide, which has been described as "Indiana Jones meets David Attenborough".

In the other guide, called “The Forgotten Tales of Berg”, history is in focus, but in a more scientifically refuted way as it is Professor Dick Harrison from Lund University who acted as the guide narrator and screenwriter.

The audio guides are free, and nothing needs to be downloaded on the phone, as Storyhunt is a web-based platform.