Self-guided audio tour in Eindhoven

Eindhoven is called the city of light because of its deep connection to Philips, the company that industrialised the production of the light bulb from Eindhoven starting in the 1890s. Philips became one of the largest electronics companies in the world partly through its dominance in lighting. The association is reinforced every November by GLOW Eindhoven — a free, outdoor light art festival that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors and turns the city into an outdoor gallery of illuminated art and architecture.

There is no established free walking tour in Eindhoven of comparable quality or regularity. CityAppTour offers a fixed-price route you can start the moment you arrive, on any day and at any time.

The tour is written for adults, with content on Philips history, design culture and the city's post-war rebuilding. Children aged around 12 and up generally follow along well. Younger children can enjoy the walk — the Strijp-S industrial architecture and the Markt tend to hold the attention of visitors of all ages.

Yes — Eindhoven is a surprisingly rewarding city, especially for anyone interested in design, technology, contemporary architecture or nightlife. It is the home of Philips and the design industry that grew from it, host of the renowned Dutch Design Week (the largest design event in Northern Europe), and has a genuinely exciting creative scene centred on the Strijp-S former Philips factory complex. The city lacks historic charm in the traditional sense — it was rebuilt after WWII — but makes up for it with forward-thinking culture, excellent restaurants and bars, and a young, international atmosphere.

Eindhoven is famous for three things: Philips Electronics, which was founded here in 1891 and shaped the city's entire identity — the company built housing, schools and social infrastructure for its workers, making Eindhoven a company town on an unprecedented scale — the annual Dutch Design Week every October, which transforms the city into the design capital of Europe for ten days, and the GLOW Eindhoven light art festival in November, which projects large-scale light art onto the city's buildings.

Yes, the tour can be shared with the people you are travelling with. Check the app for the current sharing options and any available group discounts.

A CityAppTour audio tour lets you explore Eindhoven entirely at your own pace. You can linger at the Philips Museum, spend time in Strijp-S, walk the Markt or explore the design shops without a group schedule. No booking required and the tour works offline from the moment you download it.

Plan around 2 hours for the walking tour through Eindhoven's city centre and key design districts. The route covers the Markt square, the St. Catharinakerk, the Philips Museum quarter, the Strijp-S area access points and the key streets and spaces of the modern city — all at your own pace.

Yes, the tour works fully offline after downloading. Download it on Wi-Fi before you travel and you have access to all audio, maps and points of interest throughout the day without using any mobile data.

Eindhoven is one of Europe's most cited examples of the 15-minute city concept — the urban planning idea that all daily needs should be reachable within 15 minutes on foot or by bike. The city has invested heavily in cycling infrastructure, green spaces and mixed-use zoning so that residents can access work, school, shopping and leisure without a car. The Strijp-S area is a showcase for this approach, combining housing, studios, restaurants and creative workspaces in a single car-light district.

CityAppTour routes are built by content makers who have actually walked the city, researched local history and gathered input from people who know the place well. For Eindhoven, that means telling the full story — the light bulb factory that became a global company, the company town that became a design capital, the industrial complex that became a creative neighbourhood, and the November festival that turns the whole city into a canvas of light.