Photo: Magnus Hagdorn from UK (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Premium · Walking Tour

Edinburgh Old TownThe Athens of the North

From Castle Rock to Arthur's Seat, through the closes of the Old Town and the Georgian grandeur of the New. GPS-triggered narrations play automatically as you walk the city that lit the fuse of the Enlightenment.

Hear a sample narration
Already purchased? Continue your tour → ⤓ Download for offline

29 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? Download on wi-fi before you set off — keep the screen open while it saves — then add it to your home screen so you can find it again. It works in airplane mode, with no roaming charges. Show me how to save it →

29 narration points ~5 hours walking 6 thematic sections
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 (the field-surveyed mapping database behind Apple Maps), Wikidata (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 Historic Environment Scotland · Old Town conservation authority.

  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.

Highlights

A city that shaped the modern world

Edinburgh Castle
12th century onwards · Castle Rock

Besieged 26 times — the most besieged place in Great Britain. Home to the Honours of Scotland, the oldest crown jewels in the British Isles, and the Stone of Destiny. The One O'Clock Gun has fired daily since 1861.

St Giles' Cathedral
12th century · Crown Steeple 1495

Where John Knox launched the Scottish Reformation in 1559. The Thistle Chapel, designed by Robert Lorimer in 1911, is one of the most ornate Gothic interiors in Britain. Jenny Geddes threw her stool at the preacher in 1637.

Greyfriars Kirkyard
Opened 1562 · 500+ years of burials

Where the National Covenant was signed in 1638 — the document that defied a king and changed British history. Also home to Greyfriars Bobby, the Skye terrier who guarded his master's grave for 14 years.

Palace of Holyroodhouse
16th century · Royal residence

Mary Queen of Scots witnessed the murder of her secretary David Rizzio here in 1566 — stabbed 56 times. Still the official Scottish residence of the monarch. The ruined abbey beside it dates to 1128.

The New Town
Designed 1767 · James Craig

Europe's largest and finest example of Georgian town planning. Designed by 26-year-old James Craig, it transformed Edinburgh from a medieval warren into the Athens of the North. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Arthur's Seat
350 million years old · 251m

An ancient volcano in the heart of the city. A 350-million-year-old geological wonder where James Hutton discovered deep time in 1788 — the insight that the Earth was billions, not thousands, of years old.

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 29 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 narration connects what you can see to the people who built it — monarchs and reformers, scientists and body-snatchers. History on the ground where it happened.

What You Get

A companion along the Royal Mile

📍
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.

🏛
29 Sites

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

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 29 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 ~5 hours walking total, but you walk at your own pace. 29 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.

Nemo me impune lacessit
No one provokes me with impunity. 29 narration points across the Athens of the North.
Already purchased? Continue your tour → ⤓ Download for offline
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