Leeds Audio Tour: The Bell, the Bandsaw and the Bridge

Explore Leeds at your own pace

A 15-stop walking tour of the working day of Leeds - from Michael Marks's 1884 penny stall in Kirkgate Market, through the 1711 White Cloth Hall and the ghost of the 1758 Coloured Cloth Hall under City Square, to John Barran's 1858 band-knife and the Hispano-Moorish tailoring palace it paid for, the Holbeck mills where Salamanca rolled out in 1812 and flax was spun under a grass-and-sheep roof, and finally to Leeds Bridge where the everyday traffic was filmed in October 1888 and a working morning became the oldest cinema in Britain.

Photo: Paul Rigel, Unsplash

Tour details

Duration: 1 hour 46 minutes, entirely at your own paceDistance: around 5.2 km (3.2 miles)Stops: 14 landmarks, including City Square, Leeds, St Pauls House, Leeds, Temple WorksAudio: up to 35 minutes of narrationStarts at: City Square, Leeds

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 stopAn interactive map showing the walking route between landmarksFull offline access once downloaded, so you need no data or signalFreedom to start, pause and resume whenever you likeLifetime access - your code never expires

Where you will stop

City Square, LeedsSt Pauls House, LeedsTemple WorksMarshall's MillRound FoundryThe Tetley, Hunslet Road, LeedsLeeds Bridge3rd White Cloth Hall, Crown Street, Leeds1st White Cloth Hall, Kirkgate, LeedsLeeds Corn ExchangeKirkgate MarketLeeds City VarietiesBriggateMill Hill Chapel

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 commentaryOffline: download once and use it with no data, anywhereAt your own pace: start, pause and resume whenever you wantAccurate: 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: Paul Rigel (Unsplash); AudaTours.