What is the Barcelona scavenger hunt?
The Barcelona scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk from landmark to landmark, solve a riddle at each one by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories behind it. It takes about 3 hours at a relaxed pace, with around 51 minutes of actual walking over 4.1 km with 10 stops, and you start whenever you like.
Highlights include the Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona Cathedral, the Liceu opera house and Gaudí's Palau Güell, then the Columbus Monument, the Rambla de Mar and Roy Lichtenstein's El Cap de Barcelona on the waterfront, and the Gothic basilica of Santa Maria del Mar. The old town is compact and mostly flat, so the walk moves easily from medieval streets down to the sea and back.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 51 min · 4.1 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese
How the game runs from Plaça de Catalunya to La Ribera
A riddle at each stop
One riddle stands at each of the 10 stops, and its answer is on the building, the pavement or the monument in front of you. Nothing has to be known in advance, only noticed.
What the stop was hiding
The solution releases the background: why thirteen geese live in the cathedral cloister, what Miquel Blay's figures on the corner of the Palau de la Música stand for, how the bastaixos are said to have carried the stones of Santa Maria del Mar on their backs from Montjuïc. If reading on the move is a nuisance, the audio narration takes the text over.
Downhill to the sea and back
Google Maps keeps you on course over 4.1 km and 51 minutes of walking, from the Eixample edge of Plaça de Catalunya down La Rambla to the harbour and back up into La Ribera. The old town is flat, and the only open stretch is the quayside.
Your own clock
The game waits while you do something else. Sit down for a vermouth, carry on in the evening or on the next day, and use the app to put the stops in an order that fits your hotel.
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 the Barcelona hunt suits best
One day in the old town
Ten stops string the Palau de la Música, the cathedral, Gaudí's Palau Güell, the harbour and the Picasso Museum onto a single 4.1 km line. It is a way of seeing the Gothic Quarter without spending the afternoon deciding where to turn next.
Playing with children
Children are the ones who find the thirteen geese in the cathedral cloister, the comic-strip dots on Lichtenstein's Barcelona Head and the chimneys on the roof of Palau Güell. An adult has to be in the team, and nobody needs to know any Catalan history to win a round.
An office outing
A team holds five players and all of them read the same riddle on their own screens, so a department can race in parallel and settle the result on Carrer de Montcada. Apart from the tickets there is nothing to reserve, because every riddle stands in a public street, square or quayside.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- 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.
The route: Plaça de Catalunya, La Rambla, the waterfront and La Ribera
10 stops · about 51 min walking · start: Plaça de Catalunya · finish: Picasso Museum (Museu Picasso)
The hunt starts at Plaça de Catalunya and heads into the old town past the Palau de la Música Catalana to the Cathedral. From the Liceu you walk down La Rambla past Palau Güell to the Columbus Monument and cross the Rambla de Mar, then follow the waterfront to El Cap de Barcelona, turn into La Ribera for Santa Maria del Mar and finish at the Picasso Museum. Every answer can be read from the street side of these buildings, which keeps the game free of entry tickets, and the app will move the starting point and rearrange the stops if the old town is not where your day begins.
Open the route map ↗
1Plaça de CatalunyaStart
Barcelona's central square links the old town, via La Rambla and Portal de l'Àngel, with the Eixample grid of the 19th-century city extension. It took its present form in the late 1920s, before the 1929 International Exhibition, and on one side stands Josep Maria Subirachs's monument to Catalan president Francesc Macià, installed in 1991.
2Palau de la Música Catalana
Lluís Domènech i Montaner built this concert hall in 1905–1908 for the Orfeó Català choral society, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Look up at the corner of the building, where a sculpture group by Miquel Blay stands for Catalan song.
3Barcelona Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia was begun in 1298 on the site of earlier churches, but its neo-Gothic main façade was only completed in the early 20th century. Thirteen white geese live in the cloister, a number linked to the belief that Eulalia, the city's co-patron saint, was 13 when she was martyred.
4Gran Teatre del Liceu
Barcelona's opera house opened on La Rambla in 1847. It was rebuilt after fires in 1861 and 1994 and reopened in 1999, and in 1893 an anarchist threw bombs into the stalls on the opening night of the season.
5Palau Güell
Antoni Gaudí built this town palace in 1886–1890 for his patron Eusebi Güell, and it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of Gaudí's works. Look at the two wrought-iron gates shaped as parabolic arches, wide enough for horse-drawn carriages, and at the mosaic-covered chimneys on the roof.
6Columbus Monument (Mirador de Colom)
The Columbus Monument at the bottom of La Rambla is 60 metres tall and was completed for the 1888 Universal Exhibition, after a competition won by Gaietà Buïgas. Columbus stands on top with his right arm stretched out towards the sea, and a lift inside the column goes up to a viewing platform.
7Rambla de Mar
This wooden walkway, designed by the architects Helio Piñón and Albert Viaplana, continues La Rambla across the water of Port Vell to the Moll d'Espanya. It began operating in 1994, when the old harbour was being turned into a public waterfront.
Read the full story →
8El Cap de Barcelona (Barcelona Head)
The American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein created this giant head for the 1992 Olympic Games, and it stands on the waterfront near the old port. It is made of concrete and glazed ceramic tiles, with the comic-strip dots and bold outlines typical of his work.
9Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar
Santa Maria del Mar in the La Ribera district was built between 1329 and 1383 and is one of the finest examples of Catalan Gothic. Inside, slender octagonal columns hold up a wide, open nave. According to local tradition, the harbour porters, the bastaixos, carried its stones on their backs from Montjuïc.
10Picasso Museum (Museu Picasso)Finish
The Picasso Museum opened in 1963 on Carrer de Montcada and now occupies five adjoining medieval palaces. Its collection is especially strong on Picasso's early years, and it holds his complete Las Meninas series from 1957.
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Molly– United Kingdom –
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Hélène– France –
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Silke– Germany –
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Sehr schöne Aktivität um Bologna kennenzulernen 😊
Switzerland-Franz –
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Belgium-Kasper –
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Germany-Jan –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Die Schnitzeljagd war super! Wir Eltern haben einiges über die Stadt erfahren und unsere Kinder fanden die Rätsel toll. Klasse Idee, würden wir auch in einer anderen Stadt wieder buchen
Switzerland-Tery –
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Inga– Germany –
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Kathrin– Germany –
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Rund um gelungen. Eine tolle Erfahrung in einer uns noch fremden Stadt. Für Rätselfreunde könnten die Rätsel noch etwas kniffliger sein.
Germany –
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Randy– Canada –
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Germany –
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Insgesamt war es eine sehr schöne Stadtrally, gut geplante Route, die App ist auch sehr übersichtlich. Die Rätsle hätten ein wenig schwerer sein dürfen, oder aber mehrere Schwierigkkeitsstufen, wären super.
Garcia– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Vraiment très bien, à faire en équipe
Germany –
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Germany-Rost –
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Die Rätseltour war sehr interessant und informativ. Die vorgeschlagene Streckenführung war gut durchdacht und hat mich in Ecken geführt, die ich noch nicht kannte. Um die Rätsel lösen zu können, war es von Vorteil französisch zu können, da einige Lösungen aus Beschreibungen auf Schildern vor Ort hervorgingen. Aber mit ein bisschen Kombinstionsgabe und/oder Internetrecherche geht es auch ohne. Für die Tour muss man sich eine App runterladen. Diese funktionierte einwandfrei und ich werde sie für mögliche weitere Touren an anderen Urlaubsorten auf dem Handy lassen.
France –
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Melis– France –
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très bonne façon de découvrir Rome, il faut un plus de temps si on veut visiter
Richard– United Kingdom –
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United Kingdom-Jack –
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Jenske– Netherlands –
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Erg leuk om te doen! Je gaat middels een goede planning de stad door langs alle hoogtepunten. De puzzels zijn ook erg leuk en zorgen ervoor dat je even wat langer stil moet staan.
Germany-Brigita –
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Bettina– Denmark –
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A good way to Explorer the city
Italy-Antonio –
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Attività molto carina e divertente. Ottima per conoscere la città, i principali luoghi di interesse storico-culturale e scoprire vietate carine dove mangiare e bere.
Netherlands-Kasper –
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United Kingdom-Jerry –
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Finland –
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Hester– Netherlands –
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Let op! Je moet 2(!) apps downloaden: GYG en Wold City Trail! Leuke, informatieve wandeling door Staatsburg. Door de vragen en puzzeltjes ook leuk voor de tiener.
Marie-Pier– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Très bel itinéraire présenté pour faire la visite de Lyon à notre rythme. Les énigmes étaient amusantes et on n’a pas eu à se casser trop la tête. On est en vacances après tout!!
Germany-Ulrich –
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Das benützen der Schnitzel Jagt würde gut erklärt. Alles war gut einfach zu benützen. Historisches würde schön und interessant erklärt. Insgesamt hat es Spaß gemacht, die Fragen zu erraten und die Wege abzulaufen.
Sweden-Norke –
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Trevlig promenad som man gör i sin egna takt. Mycket info
Germany-Ursula –
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Eine amüsante eigenständige Tour durch Brügge
Armenia –
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Netherlands –
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Alexandra– Switzerland –
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Helen– Spain –
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Ontzettend leuk en boeiend. In korte tijd heel veel geleerd op een heel persoonlijke wijze. Warm aanbevolen! Onze gids heette Nuno. Toppie.
Germany –
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Roger– Switzerland –
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Germany –
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Germany –
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Switzerland –
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Denis– Switzerland –
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Des petites énigmes simples qui sont le prétexte pour aller d’un point d’intérêt à un autre. On aurait aimé que les commentaires soient plus fournis et dispos en version audioguide, mais c’est quand même sympa.
Katy– United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Really fun activity to get to know Salzburg. Salzburg is much bigger than I realised and this is a great way to explore. We did it over two days and took our time pausing it to wonder off or stop for lunch. We ended at the foot of the castle and then got the funicular up to the top. The puzzles got harder as they went along but were a lot of fun.
Germany –
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France –
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Nous avons passé une très bonne journée