What is the Amsterdam outdoor escape game?
The Amsterdam outdoor escape game takes the escape room out of its basement and hides the puzzles in the city itself: ten landmarks, one puzzle each, all played from your smartphone. Allow roughly 2 hours, of which 52 minutes are spent covering the 3.8 km between the 10 stops, and begin on whichever day you like.
Puzzles sit at the brick front of Amsterdam Centraal, at the Beurs van Berlage, at the Oude Kerk, on Dam Square and at the Westerkerk, and none of them depends on the others, so there is no plot to keep track of. Amsterdam is unusually suited to this: the clues are right there in the gables, the carved inscriptions on the Beurs clock tower, the crown on top of the Westerkerk and the figure of Atlas on the back of the Royal Palace. Three levels of hints are waiting if you need one.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 52 min · 3.8 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the escape game
Solve
At each landmark the app sets a puzzle you answer by observation and reasoning, not by what you already know.
Scan the gables
Dates, statues, carved letters and shop signs are where the answers tend to hide.
Follow the canals
Google Maps walks you from stop to stop: 52 minutes on foot, 3.8 km in all, and the ground is flat.
Stop when you like
No timer is running against you. Take a hint, break for a coffee on a bridge, continue later or on another day.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of players. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Play when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who it suits
Groups of friends
Four heads looking at the same façade rarely agree straight away, which is half the fun.
Couples
A short, flat route through the canal ring, with something to work out together at every stop.
Office outings and team building
Teams of up to 5 play on their own phones, so colleagues can start the same route side by side.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- Best started in daylight, so you can see the details the puzzles ask about.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Teams of up to 5 work best; bigger groups split into several teams, one ticket per player.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
Puzzle route: from Amsterdam Centraal to De 9 Straatjes
10 stops · about 52 min walking · start: Amsterdam Centraal · finish: De 9 Straatjes
Puzzle one is set outside Amsterdam Centraal, and the last one in De 9 Straatjes in the canal ring. Along the way you work on the Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the Beurs van Berlage on the Damrak, the Oude Kerk, Madame Tussauds, the National Monument and the Royal Palace on Dam Square, the Anne Frank Monument and the Westerkerk. Starting in daylight is wiser, because everything is solved outdoors and a shower of rain slows the whole game down. Google Maps does the navigating, the stop order can be changed in the app, and entry tickets are never needed.
Open the route map ↗
1Amsterdam CentraalStart
Amsterdam's main railway station opened in 1889 and was designed by Pierre Cuypers, the architect of the Rijksmuseum. It stands on three artificial islands in the IJ, resting on thousands of wooden piles, and its long red-brick front faces the old city.
2Basilica of Saint Nicholas
This Catholic church opposite the station was built in 1884–1887 to designs by Adrianus Bleijs, in a mix of neo-Baroque and neo-Renaissance styles. A statue of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of sailors and of Amsterdam, stands high on the front between the two towers, and the church became a basilica in 2012.
Read the full story →
3Beurs van Berlage
Hendrik Petrus Berlage built this exchange on the Damrak between 1898 and 1903, and its plain brick walls broke with the richly decorated styles of the time. Look for the 40-metre clock tower with inscriptions urging patience; today the building is used for concerts, exhibitions and events.
4Oude Kerk
The Old Church is the oldest building in Amsterdam and was consecrated in 1306, on a site where a wooden chapel had stood before. Its floor is made up of about 2,500 gravestones, among them that of Saskia van Uylenburgh, Rembrandt's wife, who was buried here in 1642.
5Madame Tussauds Amsterdam
Founded in 1970, the wax museum on Dam Square was the first Madame Tussauds outside the United Kingdom. Since 1991 it has occupied the upper floors of a former Peek & Cloppenburg department store from 1917, with figures ranging from the Dutch Golden Age to today's stars.
6National Monument on Dam Square
The 22-metre white stone pillar on Dam Square was unveiled by Queen Juliana on 4 May 1956 in memory of the victims of the Second World War. It was designed by the architect J.J.P. Oud with the sculptor John Rädecker, and every year on 4 May the national Remembrance of the Dead is held here.
7Royal Palace Amsterdam
The palace on Dam Square was built from 1648 as Amsterdam's town hall, designed by Jacob van Campen and resting on 13,659 wooden piles. Louis Napoleon turned it into a royal palace in 1808, and on the rear gable a 6-metre statue of Atlas carries the globe on his shoulders.
8Anne Frank Monument
On the Westermarkt, beside the Westerkerk, stands a statue of Anne Frank by the sculptor Mari Andriessen, unveiled in 1977 with her father Otto Frank present. The Westerkerk tower and its bells, which she could see and hear from her hiding place nearby, appear often in her diary.
9Westerkerk
The Westerkerk was designed by Hendrick de Keyser and built in 1620–1631, the largest church in the Netherlands built for Protestants. Its 87-metre tower, the tallest church tower in Amsterdam, carries the crown of Emperor Maximilian I, and Rembrandt was buried here in 1669 in a grave whose location is now lost.
10De 9 StraatjesFinish
These short side streets cross the Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht between the Raadhuisstraat and the Leidsegracht, and were laid out when the canal ring was built in the 17th century. Names such as Huidenstraat (Hides Street) and Wolvenstraat recall the hide and fur trades once carried on here.
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Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Quizzes were great and right level – spread it over 2 days
CAROL– Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Finalmente no la hicimos.
Marlon K. (verified owner) –
Great information
Athena – Greece –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Amazing experience taking the tour to another fun level!!
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Idee ist gut. Die Umsetzung l?sst leider zu w?nschen ?brig. Die Texte sind nur lieblos und teilweise falsch ?bersetzt. Wirkt wie von einer KI erstellt.
Vicky– United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
We enjoyed the tour as it took us around parts of Amsterdam we probably wudnt off gone to