Explore Bristol at your own pace

Beneath Bristol's cobbled streets and timeless harbour, centuries-old secrets ripple in the shadows-pirates, pioneers, and protests have all left their mark where city lights now flicker.

This self-guided audio tour leads you off the guidebook path into whispered stories and hidden corners few ever see. Trace a dramatic journey from the grandeur of Bristol Old Vic to the iron bones of SS Great Britain, discovering legends that changed history forever.

What desperate gamble once threatened to bring the world's greatest ship to ruin right at Bristol Harbour? Which forgotten rebel plot brewed behind the walls of the city's oldest theatre? Why did a scandalous midnight cargo transform lives for generations?

Photo: Andy Newton, Unsplash

Tour details

Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes, entirely at your own pace

Distance: around 4.9 km (3.1 miles)

Stops: 12 landmarks, including University of Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary, St James' Priory, Bristol

Audio: up to 30 minutes of narration

Starts at: University of Bristol

Map data by Mapbox and OpenStreetMap contributors

How it works

Book here and a redemption code arrives by email within minutes.

Download the free AudaTours app on your phone and enter the code.

Download the tour once and the whole thing works offline.

Walk to the first stop and press play. The audio for each landmark starts automatically as you approach it, so your phone can stay in your pocket.

There is no fixed date and no start time. The date you pick at checkout does not matter, and the tour stays on your phone permanently, so you can use it whenever you next visit and walk it again as often as you like.

What is included

Professionally narrated audio that plays automatically at each stop

An interactive map showing the walking route between landmarks

Full offline access once downloaded, so you need no data or signal

Freedom to start, pause and resume whenever you like

Lifetime access - your code never expires

Where you will stop

University of Bristol

Bristol Royal Infirmary

St James' Priory, Bristol

Castle Park, Bristol

Bristol Old Vic

Bristol Beacon

Watershed, Bristol

Bristol Harbour

Bristol Cathedral Choir School

Bristol Cathedral

St Mark's Church, Bristol

SS Great Britain

Image: AudaTours

What is AudaTours?

AudaTours turns a walk through a city into a story. Our guides bring landmarks to life with the history, the scandals and the detail you would never get from a plaque.

Immersive: real stories about the places in front of you, not a dry commentary

Offline: download once and use it with no data, anywhere

At your own pace: start, pause and resume whenever you want

Accurate: every story is built from verified historical sources and checked before release

Good to know

This is a self-guided audio tour on your own phone. There is no in-person guide.

It does not include entry to any building or site along the route.

The landmarks on the tour are not affiliated with AudaTours.

You need a smartphone with Android 7.0 or later, or iOS 16 or later.

Bring headphones and start with a charged phone.

Who it suits

Solo travellers, couples, families and small groups who would rather explore on their own schedule than follow a guide and a fixed departure time. It suits a first visit, and it suits anyone who has already seen the famous sights and wants to know what actually happened in them.

Image credits

Photos: Adrian Pingstone (Wikimedia Commons, public domain); Andy Newton, Louis Reed (Unsplash).

Description supplied by the event organiser.