Self-guided trails in and around Plymouth: Britain’s Ocean City

The Plymouth Trails app turns your mobile device into a personal tour guide of Plymouth: Britain’s Ocean City.

Choose from one of the three core trails to discover Plymouth’s amazing heritage:

Mayflower Trail – a journey around Plymouth’s historic Barbican, giving a sense of what life was like in 1620

Hoe Trail – take in all of the history that the Hoe has to offer, with its strong maritime links

City Centre Trail – discover the vision for post-war Plymouth, now a protected Conservation Area

Then, why not select one of our partner trails, on a wide range of subjects from nature to art and heritage? More will be added over time, so there will be something for everyone.

Great for both local people and visitors to the City, discover Plymouth’s amazing heritage by foot. The trails are suitable for families, groups and adults. Younger children can make use of trail activity packs available online or in the Tourist Information Centre on the Barbican. The trails have been made as accessible as possible, and in some places alternative routes or shortcuts are suggested.

Highlights of the app include:

- Discover iconic places in Plymouth – Smeaton’s Tower, the Mayflower Steps and the Pannier Market

- Learn about prominent people in Plymouth – Francis Drake, Nancy Astor and Patrick Abercrombie

- Get alerts when you approach historical point of interests, landmarks, museums, and attractions using built-in GPS

- Image overlay allows you to visualise Plymouth “then and now”

- Historic images and media to bring the stories to life

- Multilanguage support – also available in French, German and Spanish

- Audio guide option

- Alternative route suggestions to improve accessibility

- Offline guides to all trails

To start a trail simply start walking the route and the app will alert you when you approach a point of interest.

The app makes use of GPS to notify you of nearby places of interest. Continued use of GPS running in the background can decrease battery life.