Carlisle Audio Tour: Journey Through History

Explore Carlisle at your own pace

Beneath the ancient skyline of Carlisle, hidden stories linger in every red-brick shadow and echo off cathedral spires. This self-guided audio tour turns your walk through Caldewgate into a vivid adventure, unwrapping secrets and scandals most travelers never glimpse.

What was the spark behind dramatic student protests at St Martin's College that drew MPs to the streets? Which forgotten rituals once unfolded under the blue clock tower of Our Lady and St Joseph's Church? Why did hospital corridors here see both heartbreak and hope before transforming into university lecture halls?

Stride from military barracks to sacred towers, across academic battlegrounds and spiritual refuges. Each step reveals layers of rebellion, reinvention, and unlikely heroes who forever shaped Carlisle's heart.

Photo: Jordan Weekes, Unsplash

Tour details

• Duration: 1 hour 25 minutes, entirely at your own pace
• Distance: around 3.3 km (2.0 miles)
• Stops: 15 landmarks, including St Martin's College, University of Cumbria, Our Lady and St Joseph's Church, Carlisle
• Audio: up to 38 minutes of narration
• Starts at: St Martin's College

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

• St Martin's College
• University of Cumbria
• Our Lady and St Joseph's Church, Carlisle
• Carlisle Franciscan Friary
• Carlisle Citadel
• Carlisle Dominican Friary
• Carlisle Tithe Barn
• Old Town Hall, Carlisle
• Carlisle Civic Centre
• Carlisle Market Hall
• Carlisle Cathedral
• BBC Radio Cumbria
• Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
• Carlisle city walls
• Carlisle Castle

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: Jordan Weekes, Jonny Gios (Unsplash); AudaTours.