What is the Bordeaux outdoor escape game?
The Bordeaux outdoor escape game is an escape room taken out into the streets: you play on your phone, and at each of the 10 stops a puzzle waits that you solve through close observation and logical reasoning. Set aside about 2 hours, including 49 minutes of walking over 4 km, and start on a day that suits you.
The puzzles sit at landmarks such as the cathedral, the Grand Théâtre, Place de la Bourse and the Porte Cailhau, and each one stands by itself, so no storyline ties them together. Stuck? Up to three levels of hints are there to help. Bordeaux's flat centre suits this format, because the landmarks lie close together and the route feels like one continuous walk.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 49 min · 4 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the escape game
Observe
Look closely at the façade, the statue or the square in front of you: the clue sits in the surroundings, not in a book.
Reason it out
Work through each puzzle step by step. You need no prior knowledge of Bordeaux to get going.
Follow the map
Google Maps takes you from one stop to the next, covering about 49 minutes of walking over 4 km.
Set your own pace
There is no countdown. Use a hint when you need one, pause at any stop and carry on 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
Friends
Every puzzle gives the group something to argue over before the next landmark.
Couples
A shared challenge that keeps you talking as you walk between monuments, with no clock running.
Team building
A practical outing for colleagues, outdoors and without a guide to book.
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 the Cathédrale Saint-André to the Grosse Cloche
10 stops · about 49 min walking · start: Cathédrale Saint-André · finish: Grosse Cloche
The route begins at the Cathédrale Saint-André and ends at the Grosse Cloche, with eight stops in between: Porte Dijeaux, Notre-Dame Church and Presbytery, Grand Théâtre (Opéra National de Bordeaux), Place des Quinconces, Place de la Bourse, Place Camille Jullian, Porte Cailhau and Porte de Bourgogne. Daylight makes the best start, since you are outdoors and rain or wind slow every step. Google Maps guides you between stops, the app lets you change the order, and the puzzles need no entry tickets.
Open the route map ↗
1Cathédrale Saint-AndréStart
Bordeaux's Gothic cathedral was built mainly between the 13th and 15th centuries on the site of an older Romanesque church, and in 1137 Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future King Louis VII of France here. Its bell tower, the Tour Pey-Berland, stands apart from the church and is crowned by a gilded statue of the Virgin.
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2Porte Dijeaux
This classical city gate was built in the mid-18th century under the royal intendant Tourny, replacing a medieval gate in the town walls. Its name is said to come from the Latin Porta Jovia, the gate of Jupiter, and today it leads from Place Gambetta into the old town.
3Notre-Dame Church and Presbytery
Notre-Dame was built for the Dominican friars between the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and its richly sculpted Baroque façade stands out among the city's churches. Beside it are buildings of the former Dominican convent, including the presbytery, whose old cloister survives as the Cour Mably.
4Grand Théâtre (Opéra National de Bordeaux)
Designed by the architect Victor Louis and inaugurated in 1780, the Grand Théâtre is the home of the Opéra National de Bordeaux. Its portico on Place de la Comédie has twelve Corinthian columns, topped by statues of the nine Muses and three goddesses.
5Place des Quinconces
This square was laid out in the early 19th century on the site of the demolished Château Trompette fortress and is one of the largest city squares in Europe. At its western end the Monument aux Girondins, a tall column with bronze fountains, honours the Girondin deputies of the French Revolution, and statues of Montaigne and Montesquieu stand at the river end.
6Place de la Bourse
Built between 1730 and 1755 to plans by Jacques Gabriel and his son Ange-Jacques Gabriel, this royal square opened the city towards the Garonne. The Fountain of the Three Graces stands where a statue of Louis XV stood before the Revolution, and across the quay the Miroir d'eau, a shallow water mirror, reflects the façades.
7Place Camille Jullian
This small square in the Saint-Pierre quarter, one of the oldest parts of Bordeaux, is named after Camille Jullian, the historian of ancient Gaul who also wrote a history of the city. The Utopia cinema occupies the former Saint-Siméon church here, so films are shown inside an old church.
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8Porte Cailhau
This 35-metre gate was built in 1495 to celebrate King Charles VIII's victory at Fornovo in Italy and guarded the entrance from the river port. With its pointed roofs and turrets it looks more like a small castle, and one explanation links its name to the pebbles, cailloux, unloaded on the quay.
9Porte de Bourgogne
This triumphal arch was built in the mid-18th century and lines up with the Pont de Pierre, the first bridge across the Garonne in Bordeaux, completed in 1822. It is also called the Porte des Salinières, after the salt merchants who once worked in this district.
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10Grosse ClocheFinish
The Grosse Cloche is the belfry of the old town hall, built on a 13th-century city gate whose two round towers still frame the street. Its bell, cast in 1775, weighs almost eight tonnes, and a gilded leopard on the roof recalls the three centuries when Bordeaux belonged to the English crown.
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