Explore Harrogate at your own pace

Knaresborough may look quaint, but its riverside shadows hide explosions, prophecies, and lion-sized secrets waiting to be found. Wander at your own pace on this self-guided audio tour and unlock the gripping true stories and unexpected legends that ripple beneath the town's picture-perfect surface-revealing sides of Knaresborough most never see.

Who stood watching as the mighty viaduct thundered into the Nidd in a disaster that shook Yorkshire's soul? What bizarre powers were rumored to turn everyday objects-and unwary visitors-to stone in Mother Shipton's mysterious cave? And could a Hollywood lion really prowl these quiet hills, leaving both fame and ghostly echoes behind?

Roam from soaring bridges to haunting caves to a forgotten zoo where elephants once danced and Bengal tigers sparked panic. By the end you'll see Knaresborough with new eyes-alive with drama, strangeness, laughter, and buried wonder. Ready to step past the postcard views? Let Knaresborough's secrets pull you in.

Photo: Ebun Oluwole, Unsplash

Tour details

Duration: 59 minutes, entirely at your own pace

Distance: around 2.4 km (1.5 miles)

Stops: 9 landmarks, including Knaresborough Viaduct, Mother Shipton's Cave, Knaresborough Zoo

Audio: up to 23 minutes of narration

Starts at: Knaresborough Viaduct

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

Knaresborough Viaduct

Mother Shipton's Cave

Knaresborough Zoo

St Mary's Church, Knaresborough

St John the Baptist Church, Knaresborough

Old Town Hall, Knaresborough

Knaresborough Castle

Holy Trinity Church, Knaresborough

Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag

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: Callmecheez (Wikimedia Commons, public domain); Ebun Oluwole, Diane Pilkington (Unsplash).

Description supplied by the event organiser.