Hear the Stories

If you’d like to go even deeper into the Royal Mile’s rich history, this self-guided audio tour is a fabulous way to do it – in your own time and at your own pace. Starting where the free tours leave off, this is a longer, deeper tour, taking you to the places where history was made, with immersive anecdotes as well as an overview of our big historical themes. More of the wonderful music of Kevin Macleod makes the tour even more atmospheric!

We begin outside St Giles’ Cathedral, where we’ll lay the foundations, discussing old Scotland’s Law, Church and State – with many a colourful story thrown in! Here we’ll meet James VI, Oliver Cromwell and John Knox, and we’ll hear about a very unusual marriage tradition of old Scotland!

Passing down through Parliament Square, you’ll hear much more about the Stuart dynasty – how they lost, regained, then lost the throne again; at the Mercat Cross you’ll hear of their last attempt to regain power in 1745 through the iconic Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Then we’re off to discover the closes of the Royal Mile and the characters that infuse their history – great Gaelic poet Duncan Ban Macintyre; geologist Hugh Miller; firefighting pioneer James Braidwood; authors Sir Walter Scott, Daniel Defoe, and James Boswell; father of economics Adam Smith, powerful mayor George Drummond, society beauty and businesswoman Susannah Kennedy, and many, many more!

If you like to go a little deeper with your history, you’ll love this engaging, comprehensive and sensitive audio tour! 

Tour audio format – MP3

Tour language – English