Self-Guided Tours
Organize exhibits and historic places into experiences visitors can explore at their own pace.
Museum & Heritage Tour Apps
Turn Your Stories Into Self-Guided Experiences
Help visitors explore exhibits, historic places, and cultural trails at their own pace. Bring stories, maps, audio, and optional passport activities together in one branded app for your museum or heritage network.
Core capabilities
Connect Places With Their Stories
Maps & Location Discovery
Help visitors find participating museums, cultural sites, and individual points of interest.
Stories & Audio
Add context through descriptions, images, and optional audio that visitors can explore along the way.
Digital Passports
Invite visitors to check in at participating stops and record their progress.
Interactive Learning
Build participation around scavenger hunts, quizzes, and discovery activities.
Events & Visitor Information
Keep exhibitions, programs, practical information, and announcements within easy reach.
Feature formats, limits, and availability depend on the selected package and content type.
Native app offline access
Built for event days—even when cell service isn’t.
Downloaded museum guides help visitors keep exploring galleries, historic sites, and places with limited reception.
Plan ahead: Download and open the app before arriving. New content updates and features that use online services require a connection.
Choose How Visitors Explore
Create an experience around your collection, your community, or a network of places. Visitors can explore stories freely, listen along the way, or participate in a passport activity.
Self-Guided Tours
Connect exhibits, landmarks, or cultural sites through a curated collection of stops. Visitors open each stop to learn its story and explore at their own pace.
Audio Tours
Let visitors listen to narration as they explore. Combine audio with supporting descriptions and images to share more context at each stop.
Passports & Discovery Activities
Encourage participation with check-ins, challenges, and optional rewards. Configure the experience around the places and activities you want visitors to discover.
Tours and passports serve different purposes. Audio-tour and map-pin audio eligibility varies by package.
Customer example · Florida Black History Museums
Connect Cultural Places Through One Shared Guide
The Florida Black History Museums app brings together locations, exhibits, events, and a digital passport for the Florida African American Heritage Preservation Network. Visitors can browse participating museums, explore their locations on a map, and open passport stops to learn more and check in.
Customer spotlight · New York Transit Museum
Take Museum Stories Beyond the Building
For its 50th anniversary, New York Transit Museum used Grandstand to connect transit history with exploration across New York City. Its app brings together scavenger hunts, trivia, photo activities, events, and museum information in one branded experience.
- Explore real places: Citywide transit-history stops and a family-focused Grand Central hunt.
- Make learning interactive: Trivia and photo activities invite visitors to participate.
- Keep the connection going: Events and museum information support exploration beyond the hunt.
Support the Whole Visit
Give visitors the information they need before they arrive, while they explore, and when they’re ready to return.
Exhibit and site details
Share descriptions, images, historical context, and useful links. Explore Interactive Maps.
Programs and events
Publish talks, demonstrations, temporary exhibitions, and family activities. Explore Schedules.
Visitor essentials
Organize hours, parking guidance, accessibility information, contacts, and FAQs.
Timely updates
Prepare push notifications and in-app messages for upcoming programs and important changes.
Grandstand Admin
Keep Your Stories and Stops Up to Date
Manage tour content, museum listings, maps, events, and visitor information through Grandstand Admin. Update individual stories, introduce new experiences, and keep your guide current as your programming changes.
Organize content: Manage descriptions, images, locations, and available audio content.
Simplify larger collections: Use supported batch uploads.
Refresh your guide: Prepare announcements and featured content for new exhibitions or seasonal programs.
App Analytics & Audience Insights
Learn What Visitors Choose to Explore
Understand how visitors engage with museum information, cultural sites, and discovery activities. Use those insights to refine your content and plan future experiences.
- Discover popular content: Review interest in museum listings, exhibits, events, and visitor resources.
- Understand searches and saved places: Learn what visitors look for and choose to revisit.
- Review participation: Explore available passport and scavenger-hunt reporting alongside overall app activity.
Available reports vary by package. Platinum and Titanium include realtime activity from the last 30 minutes and geographic heatmaps of recorded app usage.
Web Widgets
Share Museum Information on Your Website, Too
Manage supported listings, maps, and events in Grandstand, then display that information on your existing website as well as in your app.
Additional fee: Web Widgets are a separate paid product.
Explore Web WidgetsPlanning your experience
Museum & Heritage Tour FAQs
Can one app cover multiple museums or historic sites?
Yes. Bring participating locations, descriptions, maps, events, and visitor information together in one guide. The experience can serve an individual institution or a wider heritage network.
Does every tour need check-ins or a game?
No. A self-guided tour can focus on exploring stories and places. Passports and scavenger hunts add participation features when they fit your goals.
Can visitors listen to audio as they explore?
Yes. Grandstand supports audio tours and audio content in supported areas of the app. Available formats and limits depend on your package.
Can we create a digital passport?
Yes. Organize participating stops and configure supported check-in methods, participation requirements, and optional rewards.
Can our team update the content?
Yes. Your team can manage content through Grandstand Admin, including listings, maps, events, and supported tour content. Setup and content assistance are also available.
Does the app work without cell service or Wi-Fi?
Yes. Grandstand’s native apps store downloaded content on the device, allowing visitors to keep using nearly all core app content without an internet connection. Visitors should download and open the app while connected before attending. A connection is needed to receive new content updates, push notifications, and access features that depend on online services.
What affects the cost of a museum or tour app?
Pricing depends on your package, publishing option, selected features, and setup needs. Explore the applicable plans or contact Grandstand to discuss your experience.
Give Visitors More to Discover
Bring your museum, historic places, and cultural stories together in an app built around exploration.
View Museum App Pricing