Edinburgh Castle Audio Tour: Rock of Kings

Explore Edinburgh at your own pace

Walk up the volcanic rock at the heart of Edinburgh to the castle that Scottish kings, English armies and modern soldiers have all held. You begin at Mills Mount, home of the One O'Clock Gun, with the cliffs of Castle Rock falling away below, climb to Mons Meg, the giant bombard sent to James II in 1454, and step into St Margaret's Chapel, the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh. In Crown Square you see the Honours of Scotland, the oldest set of crown jewels in the British Isles, and the Scottish National War Memorial, then head down to the Royal Scots museum in the old drill hall and the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards museum in the New Barracks, and end at the National War Museum in Hospital Square. Your entry ticket to Edinburgh Castle is not included.

Photo: Adam Wilson, Unsplash

Tour details

• Duration: 28 minutes, entirely at your own pace
• Distance: around 0.6 km (0.4 miles)
• Stops: 8 landmarks, including Castle Rock, Mons Meg, St Margaret's Chapel
• Audio: up to 20 minutes of narration
• Starts at: Edinburgh Castle Gatehouse, top of the Castle Esplanade

Map data by Mapbox and OpenStreetMap contributors

How it works

• Book here and a redemption code arrives by email within minutes.
• Download the free Auda 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.

Your code arrives within minutes of booking, so you can walk the tour today. 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 also keep it for a later 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

Not included

• This is an independent, unofficial audio guide by AudaTours. It is not produced by or connected with the site or its owners.
• Entry ticket to Edinburgh Castle. Buy it from the site before you go.

Where you will stop

• Castle Rock
• Mons Meg
• St Margaret's Chapel
• Honours of Scotland
• Scottish National War Memorial
• Royal Scots Museum
• Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum
• National War Museum

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.
• AudaTours is not affiliated with the landmarks on the tour.
• 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: Jörg Angeli, Adam Wilson, Ben Guerin (Unsplash).