Explore Whitby at your own pace

A fortress of stone rises from the cliff, silhouetted against the restless North Sea-Whitby Abbey, both beacon and battleground for over a thousand years, calls you to uncover Whitby's wild secrets. On this self-guided audio tour, wander tangled lanes and climb wind-battered steps while untangling stories that most visitors never hear-legends hidden in every ruined wall and weathered grave.

Why did medieval kings choose these cliffs for a meeting that forever changed England's church? Which mysterious presence inspired Bram Stoker to pen his world-famous vampire tale among crooked tombstones? What scandalous twist led wealthy families to abandon grandeur and let a stately home crumble?

Each step propels you through lost monasteries, political intrigues, storm-lashed scandals and moments frozen in time. Trace the rise and fall of dynasties with every gust of salty wind and watch Whitby shift from eerie legend to vivid reality.

Photo: Kirsten Drew, Unsplash

Tour details

Duration: 1 hour 35 minutes, entirely at your own pace

Distance: around 4.6 km (2.9 miles)

Stops: 12 landmarks, including Whitby Abbey, Cholmley House, St Mary's Church, Whitby

Audio: up to 30 minutes of narration

Starts at: Whitby Abbey

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

Whitby Abbey

Cholmley House

St Mary's Church, Whitby

Old Town Hall, Whitby

Captain Cook Memorial Museum

Whitby Swing Bridge

Magpie Café

Whitby Pavilion

Whitby Town F.C.

Whitby Museum

St Ninian's Church, Whitby

Whitby engine shed

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: Marco Angelo, Kirsten Drew, Neil Fedorowycz (Unsplash).

Description supplied by the event organiser.