Explore Edinburgh at your own pace

A thousand eyes have stared up at Edinburgh's monuments, but few have seen the city's shadows hiding behind marble and stone. Peer beyond the grand facades on this self-guided audio tour, uncovering tales that slip by unnoticed as you roam from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery to the mighty National Monument and through hidden corners near the National Archives.

What drove a secret society to meet under starlit columns in defiance of their rulers? Which lost masterpiece vanished for decades, only to resurface with a scandalous twist? And whose voice echoes in hushed government corridors, holding clues to an unsolved Edinburgh mystery?

Move through majestic halls and wind-swept hilltops, your footsteps tracing forgotten rebellions and whispered conspiracies. Feel history's pulse and discover the artful secrets stitched into every stone.

Photo: Adam Wilson, Unsplash

Tour details

Duration: 1 hour 37 minutes, entirely at your own pace

Distance: around 4.0 km (2.5 miles)

Stops: 15 landmarks, including National Archives of Scotland, St Andrew's House, City Observatory

Audio: up to 38 minutes of narration

Starts at: National Archives of Scotland

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

National Archives of Scotland

St Andrew's House

City Observatory

National Monument of Scotland

Nelson Monument, Edinburgh

Regent Bridge

St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

St Andrew Square, Edinburgh

Jenners

Edinburgh: New Town Church

Northern Lighthouse Board

Charlotte Square

Bute House

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: Kate Bielinski, Adam Wilson, Ben Guerin (Unsplash).

Description supplied by the event organiser.