Edinburgh Audio Tour: Intellectual Mile

Explore Edinburgh at your own pace

A city where the past and future collide, Edinburgh hides its boldest secrets behind glowing glass towers and stone-walled legends. This self-guided audio tour is your key to discovering what most visitors miss-hidden rebellions, pranks that fooled professors, and revolutions started by students beneath the very streets you walk.

What royal tragedy haunts the National Museum's foundation stone? How did disaster strike the School of Informatics and unite world-leading minds through fire and resilience? Who smuggled forbidden goods over the museum's "Bridge of Sighs," and why did a student song ban once send headlines spiraling?

Move through bustling university corners, echoing student halls, and awe-inspiring galleries where old scandals meet new innovation. Every turn brings a revelation-walk the pulse of invention, power, mischief, and world-changing ambition.

Photo: Adam Wilson, Unsplash

Tour details

Duration: 1 hour 23 minutes, entirely at your own paceDistance: around 3.4 km (2.1 miles)Stops: 15 landmarks, including School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Students' Association, National Museum of ScotlandAudio: up to 38 minutes of narrationStarts at: School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh

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

School of Informatics, University of EdinburghEdinburgh University Students' AssociationNational Museum of ScotlandBedlam TheatreGreyfriars KirkCowgateOld College, University of EdinburghLady Yester's KirkMuseum of EdinburghCanongate KirkQueensberry HouseScottish ParliamentKing's Gallery, EdinburghHolyrood PalaceHolyrood Abbey

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: McPhail (Wikimedia Commons, public domain); Adam Wilson, Ben Guerin (Unsplash).