A fire on the M11 and no Stansted Express meant one missed flight, then after a taxi to Heathrow, I arrived 10 hours late to walk into Dublin's worst riots for 20 years on the route of my planned walk. Not an auspicious start.

Happily, the next morning my friend Gillian and I were able to step out on the route of the first of two guides to be published on the Visit Dublin website.

Tourist boards are starting to catch up with airlines, publishers and individuals (audio bloggers if you like) by offering audio guides to their destinations. Some of the first to release podcasts include Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cumbria, as well as Dublin.
Switching on the iPod I was expecting the lilting Celtic tones of a green-eyed, dark-haired windswept enchantress from the outer reaches of the Emerald Isle. I imagined this seductive voice would be interspersed with traditional Irish music as you walk between sights.

What I didn't expect was to be greeted by the rather dull voice of an aged Dublin historian, writer, drawer and painter with the only music being the striking of a single piano key denoting the next stage of the journey on the accompanying map. "My name's Pat Liddy and I have been writing about Dublin and drawing and painting its many interesting buildings for several decades now", began our host, sounding like he had, indeed, been around for many, many decades. "I thank Dublin Tourism, for making this tour and the other tours in the series possible", continued Pat as I yearned for the tedium of the formalities to be over.

We are informed that the 2km route should take about 90 minutes. We are welcome to stop and explore museums and parks further or to shop and stop for refreshments, but this, unsurprisingly, "would add to the overall journey time". We are told that most road crossings will be with the "aid of pedestrian traffic lights", but "take care stepping off pavements" and "check for traffic". I suppose it is better to be safe than sorry in this litigious age.

The occasional unscripted pause as Pat reads the script and very slight stumble is forgivable. A brief echo in the recording was but a tiny editing problem that hardly distracts. It is clearly aimed at being informative without being flashy. And actors' voices cost a bomb, so this seems to be the best compromise - a free, authentic guide full of information provided by an expert.

Annoyingly, the walk is not split into different 'tracks', so you can't skip between stages or find your place if you accidentally fast forward to the end or rewind to the beginning. Pausing the guide when walking between stages is easy enough, however.

The accompanying brochure has an excellent map, drawings and a summary of each stage. Our man's knowledge is all-encompassing, and you are bombarded by genuinely interesting information. Even an old tobacconist shop (J. J. Fox) is interesting when you discover that it was the only place in Europe to maintain a supply of Havana cigars during the Second World War, and the founder's grandson had the idea to start the world's first duty-free shop in Shannon airport. Or maybe I'm easily amused.

If you are interested in the great authors of Dublin you'll find out plenty about who studied in Trinity College, where they lived and a lot more. The city and route is relaxing compared to most capitals, and we discover things about every statue in the city centre, from Molly Malone on the first walk to Daniel O'Connell on the second.

Pat has recorded both of Visit Dublin's podcasts, this first one - Georgian Dublin - and a second, a guide to the 'Historic Central Northside Dublin', with plans to record nine more themed walks of the city.

Our Northside walk kicks off with our amiable assistant Pat narrating the same introduction, this time in a brighter, louder voice. Perhaps he partook in a couple of pints of the black stuff in between. The recording is a little clearer and at higher volume as Pat leads us from the General Post Office, scene of the Easter Uprising, around a course just north of the river Liffey, much of which focuses on those events in 1916.

There's a big plug on the way for the shopping centres en route (although they don't pay to be mentioned) as you hit St Mary's Street, but at least it breaks up the politics.

At the end of both walks Pat, who wrote the guide, directs us to his website, where you can book his €10 walking tours. But who needs to be part of a paying tour when you can do it at your own pace and get the information straight from the horse's mouth? It's definitely worth trying, especially if, like me, you would never go on a guided group tour. I found out nuggets of information that I would not have sought otherwise, probably more than in the guidebooks and without having to pause to read.

What's more, I got one of my wishes - not the enchantress, but a burst of uplifting traditional Irish music to round the whole thing off.

Further information: download the podcasts from the Visit Dublin website