Photo: Rundvald (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Premium · Walking Tour

Bayeux — the Tapestry Town and Its Cathedralthe Tapestry Town and Its Cathedral

A self-guided audio walking tour of Bayeux, from the medieval town to the memorials on the ring road built by the Allies in 1944. It starts on rue Saint-Jean and by the watermills of the Aure, then stops at the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, telling the story of the embroidery close to seventy metres long that records the Norman Conquest. Next come the Hôtel du Doyen, where the Tapestry hung from 1913 to 1983, and the cathedral consecrated in 1077 in William the Conqueror's presence, with its nave, Romanesque crypt and Gothic choir. Around it are the liberty tree of 1797, the former Bishop's Palace and the Gallo-Roman baths. The walk continues through rue des Cuisiniers, the Maison d'Adam et Ève and rue Franche to Place Charles de Gaulle, where de Gaulle spoke on 14 June 1944. It ends at the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy, the Reporters' Memorial, the Bayeux Memorial and the Bayeux War Cemetery, with 4,144 Commonwealth burials.

Hear a sample narration
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19 narrations, yours to keep — no subscription, no expiry. Works offline once downloaded, and if it isn’t for you we’ll refund it.

Going somewhere with no signal? Put the guide on your home screen first, then download it from that icon while you are on wi-fi — that way you download once, and it works in airplane mode with no roaming charges. Show me the order →

19 narration points ~1–2 hours rue Saint-Jean, the Aure watermills, the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, the Hôtel du Doyen, the cathedral and its crypt, Place de la Liberté, the former Bishop's Palace, the Maison d'Adam et Ève, Place Charles de Gaulle, the Reporters' Memorial and the War Cemetery
Verified Sources

Where the facts come from

Every claim in this tour traces back to a named source — excavation records, the heritage authority for the site, and the primary texts themselves. Nothing is copied from other guidebooks, and anything we can't source doesn't make the recording.

  1. 1

    Built from the record

    Each stop is built from OpenStreetMap · 58 features in this old town (the field-surveyed mapping database behind Apple Maps), Wikidata · 18 cross-referenced entries (peer-reviewed structured records), the heritage authority below, and the primary historical texts where they exist.

  2. 2

    Checked against the authority

    Cross-referenced against Modern excavation publications · academic peer-review.

  3. 3

    Anything unsupported is cut

    Every sentence is checked against those sources before it is recorded. If a claim can't be traced, it doesn't make the audio.

  4. 4

    A person signs it off

    Every tour is reviewed by a person before it goes on sale. Stop selection, the route and anything ambiguous come back to the editor for a decision, and those questions routinely send a stop back for another accuracy pass. Nothing publishes on a machine’s say-so.

Spot anything inaccurate? Email [email protected] — fixed in the next pass.

The Tour

Explore Bayeux — the Tapestry Town and Its Cathedral

📍
Rue Saint-Jean and the Tapestry

Rue Saint-Jean, Aure Watermills, Bayeux Tapestry Museum.

3 narration points
🏛️
The Cathedral and the Bishops' Quarter

Hôtel du Doyen, Bayeux Cathedral, Cathedral Nave, Cathedral Crypt, Cathedral Choir, Place de la Liberté, Former Bishop's Palace, Gallo-Roman Baths.

8 narration points
🏘️
The Old Town and the Memorials

Rue des Cuisiniers, Maison d'Adam et Eve, Rue Franche, Place Charles de Gaulle, Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy, Reporters' Memorial, Bayeux Memorial, Bayeux War Cemetery.

8 narration points
Highlights

Sites that define Bayeux — the Tapestry Town and Its Cathedral

Bayeux Tapestry Museum

The old seminary that houses the embroidery close to seventy metres long telling the story of the Norman Conquest.

Bayeux Cathedral

The cathedral consecrated in 1077 with William the Conqueror present, its Romanesque towers topped by Gothic spires.

Cathedral Crypt

The Romanesque crypt rediscovered in 1412, with fifteenth-century paintings of angel musicians on its vaults, one playing a bagpipe.

Place de la Liberté

A plane tree planted as a liberty tree on 30 March 1797, one of the few in France that survived later uprootings.

Place Charles de Gaulle

The site of the old castle, where General de Gaulle spoke on 14 June 1944 on his first visit to liberated France.

Bayeux Memorial

The memorial to 1,808 Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave, its Latin inscription answering the Tapestry.

How It Works

Walk. Listen. See what they saw.

1
Open the tour

Tap "Start Walking Tour" and allow location access. The map shows all 19 narration points.

2
Walk at your pace

Follow the suggested route or explore freely. GPS tracks your position. Reach a site and the narration plays automatically.

3
Hear the stories

Each site has its own narration. 19 narration points.

What You Get

A companion through Bayeux — the Tapestry Town and Its Cathedral

📍
GPS-Triggered

Narrations play when you reach each site. No buttons, no track numbers. Walk naturally — the stories find you.

🎤
Studio-Quality Voice

Premium narration that sounds like a documentary. Warm and knowledgeable, not a textbook reading.

📚
Fact-Checked Twice

Every narration is drafted, cross-checked against primary sources, then passed through a second editorial pass that strips unsupported claims. Dates, names, and citations verified.

🗺
Interactive Map

See all narration points on the map. Tap any point to hear it early or replay it later.

🏛
19 Sites

Every narrated point in Bayeux — the Tapestry Town and Its Cathedral, each with its own narration.

⏱
Your Own Pace

Spend an hour or a full day. Skip sites, revisit favourites, take breaks. The tour adapts to you.

Common Questions

How it works

What does the Bayeux — the Tapestry Town and Its Cathedral audio tour cover?

19 narration points, including Bayeux Cathedral, Cathedral Crypt, Cathedral Choir, Bayeux Memorial and Bayeux War Cemetery. That is about 21 minutes of narration in all, and you walk between the stops at your own pace.

Is the Bayeux — the Tapestry Town and Its Cathedral tour self-guided?

Yes. It plays in your phone’s browser as you walk: no guide, no group, no app to install and no fixed start time.

It’s not just GPS — what are the ways to trigger a narration?

Three ways, all built in:

  • GPS-triggered (default): walk near a site, the narration starts automatically.
  • Tap any marker on the map: open the map view, tap any of the 19 markers to play that narration on demand — no walking required.
  • Queue controls: pause, skip, replay any narration; the queue auto-advances as you walk.

The map-tap option means you can stand anywhere — even at home before you travel — and play any narration. GPS just makes it hands-free while you’re actually walking the site.

Do I need cell service or data while I’m there?

No. Use the “Download for offline” button before you go, and the entire tour — audio, maps, narration text — works without any data connection. Tap-to-play and the map both work fully offline. GPS itself doesn’t need data; only the download does.

How do I make it work with no signal — and open it again later?

Add the icon first, then download from the icon. On iPhone a guide downloaded in Safari cannot be seen by the home screen icon, so downloading first means downloading the whole thing twice.

  1. Tap Download for offline above. It opens the guide.
  2. Put that page on your home screen — steps below.
  3. Open the guide from the new icon and download it there, on wi-fi. Keep the screen open until it finishes.

Putting it on your home screen — iPhone or iPad (Safari):

  1. Tap the three dots at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Tap Share.
  3. Scroll down the list and tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.

On Android (Chrome): tap the three-dot menu at the top right, tap Add to Home screen (some phones say Install app), then confirm. On Android either order works.

If you opened this link from inside Instagram, Facebook or Gmail, you are in that app’s built-in browser. It cannot add anything to your home screen, and a guide downloaded there is thrown away when the app closes. Open the link in Safari or Chrome first.

What if my phone’s GPS is unreliable?

Two backstops. First, the map shows every site — just tap the marker for the place in front of you. Second, you can manually queue any narration even when GPS is off. The platform never assumes GPS works; it’s the convenience layer, not the gate.

How long is the tour and how much time do I need?

The audio runs ~1–2 hours total, but you walk at your own pace. 19 narration points across the site. Most visitors take 2–4 hours; some spread it over multiple visits. Once you buy it, it’s yours — there’s no expiry and no subscription. Come back next year if you like; the link in your receipt always works.

Can I share with my partner or family?

One purchase covers one device session. Most couples share earbuds and use a single phone — the audio is paced for that. If you want everyone listening on their own device, each person needs their own purchase. We do not gate sharing aggressively; we trust visitors to do the right thing.

What if I never use the tour, or never make it to the site?

Full refund if you never trigger a single narration on-site. Partial refund based on how far you got. See the refund policy for specifics.

Walk Bayeux — the Tapestry Town and Its Cathedral
19 narration points.
Already purchased? Continue your tour → ⤓ Download for offline
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