What is Heritage Open Days?
Heritage Open Days is England's largest festival of history and culture. For eleven days each September, more than 2,000 organisers and 46,000 volunteers open up over 5,500 hidden places: churches, vaults, towers, factories, parlours, completely free, to anyone who wants to visit.
5,500+ hidden places
Locked-up libraries, working mills, restoration workshops. Sites that spend most of the year gated, unticketed, or simply unknown.
46,000 volunteers
A nationwide act of unlocking. Run by local people, free for everyone, no booking required for most events.
Our role
We're building free, self-guided audio tours that travel the streets between the buildings, listening to the voices that used to fill them.
Everyday Histories
This year's festival is dedicated to the everyday histories of working life, through the ages.
We're focusing our 2026 collection on exactly that: tours about the ordinary working lives that built English towns and cities. The looms and potteries and steelyards, the high-street counters and clerks' offices, the bricklayers, dockers and smiths whose hands shaped the streets you walk down today.
How the free tours work
From 11 to 20 September 2026, every Heritage Open Day tour below will be free for everyone. No account, no card on file. You can also listen today, or buy one as a gift.
Available now
Listen today, or buy any tour as a gift. They're yours to keep, forever.
Free Sep 11 to 20
During the festival, every tour below becomes free for anyone, anywhere. No payment required.
Walk & listen
Offline-ready audio guides you through the streets. No data, no signal needed.
The tours are coming soon.
We're working on creating audio tours for this specific theme: the everyday working lives that shaped English towns and cities. New tours will appear here in the run-up to the festival.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about Heritage Open Days 2026 and our free audio tours.
What is Heritage Open Days?expand_more
Heritage Open Days is England's largest festival of history and culture. For eleven days each September, over 2,000 organisers and 46,000 volunteers open up more than 5,500 hidden places, completely free.
When does Heritage Open Days 2026 take place?expand_more
Heritage Open Days 2026 runs from Friday 11 September to Sunday 20 September 2026 across England.
What is the 2026 theme?expand_more
The 2026 theme is Everyday Histories: the lives of ordinary working people through the ages. Mills, shops, workshops, offices, and the people who filled them.
Are the AudaTours Heritage Open Day audio tours free?expand_more
Yes. From 11 to 20 September 2026, every Heritage Open Day audio tour on AudaTours will be free for everyone. No account or payment required. The tours are also available to buy and listen to at any time of year.
Which English cities are covered?expand_more
We're adding new tours every week in the run-up to the festival. Cities currently in production include Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and Nottingham.
Do I need an internet connection during the tour?expand_more
No. AudaTours audio tours are designed to work offline. Download a tour over Wi-Fi, then walk and listen without using mobile data.
In support of
Heritage Open Days
Heritage Open Days is run by the National Trust and made possible by 46,000 volunteers across England. Our audio tours are an independent contribution to the festival. We're not affiliated with the Heritage Open Days organisation.
Visit heritageopendays.org.uk open_in_newHear the stories your city was built on.
These tours are our small contribution to Heritage Open Days: a way to walk the streets of English towns and hear the everyday working lives that shaped them.
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