Bordeaux Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

Rated 4.64 out of 5 based on 53 customer ratings
(53 customer reviews)

4.83 out of 5 from 6 verified bookings

Explore the city at your own pace with a self-guided experience.
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Make a day of itInteractive guides by World City Trail, delivered with your tickets.

What is a city guide?

Your own guide to Bordeaux on your phone: hand-picked places, each with why to go, what to order and a practical tip.

  • Tick places off
  • Your own notes
  • One tap to Maps
  • Open now, near me
  • Works offline
  • Print it or save as PDF
See the guides, a short video and all the details →
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Loved by thousands of travelers and locals

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Included: your personal Trail Map with every city you finish, the kilometres you walk and your flag collection. See an example →

Everything you need for a flexible self-guided city experience

Explore the city at your own pace

✔ Discover hidden gems & highlights
✔ Enjoy a flexible self-guided experience
✔ Explore freely with no schedule
✔ Perfect for couples, students, companies, friends & families

How your city experience works

✔ Instant ticket purchase
✔ Easy access via the World City Trail app
✔ Quick setup with your booking details
✔ Start anytime and explore freely
✔ Pause and resume anytime

Why travelers choose this tour

✔ Instant access after purchase
✔ Optional AI voice narration — listen instead of read
✔ Discover top attractions & food spots
✔ Customize your route anytime

Gates, squares and a golden leopard: Bordeaux as a riddle trail

The Bordeaux 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 and legends behind it. From the cathedral to the belfry the 10 stops spread over 4 km, yet the walking itself comes to only about 49 minutes, so most of the roughly 3 hours belongs to riddles, stories and the river views, and the clock starts only when you open the game.

Highlights include the Cathédrale Saint-André, the Grand Théâtre, the vast Place des Quinconces, Place de la Bourse with the Miroir d'eau, the castle-like Porte Cailhau and the Grosse Cloche. Bordeaux's centre, listed by UNESCO in 2007 as the Port of the Moon, is flat and full of pale 18th-century stone façades, so it is easy and rewarding to explore on foot.

  • Durationabout 3 hours
  • Walkingabout 49 min · 4 km
  • Stops10
  • LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch

A game through the Port of the Moon, from Saint-André to the Grosse Cloche

Muses on the roof, a leopard on the belfry

The riddles are written into the city's stone: the statues lined up above the portico of the Grand Théâtre, the turrets of the Porte Cailhau, the gilded leopard high on the Grosse Cloche. You solve them by looking hard and thinking a little, without reading up on Bordeaux first.

A royal wedding and a cinema in a church

Every solved riddle opens a story: Eleanor of Aquitaine marrying the future Louis VII in the cathedral in 1137, a fortress torn down to make room for Place des Quinconces, films now shown inside the old Saint-Siméon church. Tired eyes after all that pale limestone? Switch on the audio narration and let the stories come through your earphones.

4 km on level streets beside the Garonne

The walking adds up to about 49 minutes, from the cathedral west to Place Gambetta, north to the theatre and the Quinconces, down the quays to Place de la Bourse and into the lanes of Saint-Pierre. The city barely has a slope, and between the stops you just follow Google Maps.

A canelé on the way, a pause by the water

Nobody is timing you, so stop for a canelé or a glass of Bordeaux, sit by the Miroir d'eau, and carry on the same afternoon or on another day. Between Saint-André and the quays the app also flags a few local addresses for lunch or a bottle to take home.

See the route and attractions →

How it works

  1. Book online Choose the number of players. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
  2. Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
  3. Play when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.

Weekend visitors, wine-country travellers, families and teams

A first day in Bordeaux

In about 3 hours you link the cathedral, the opera house, the biggest square in town, the riverfront and the medieval gates, which gives you a feel for the whole centre before you head out to the vineyards. The riddles keep the long stone façades from blurring into one.

Children who like gates that look like castles

Young players enjoy the pointed turrets of the Porte Cailhau, the bronze horses and fountains of the Monument aux Girondins and the shallow Miroir d'eau, where the paving turns into a mirror. An adult plays in every team, and the flat streets make the 4 km easier for small legs.

Colleagues on a seminar by the Garonne

Teams of up to 5 play at once, each member following the game on their own phone, and several teams can leave the cathedral square a few minutes apart. The Grosse Cloche at the end makes an easy place to gather again, with no room to book on top of the tickets.

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.

Ten stops, two medieval gates and a river: the way from Saint-André to the old belfry

10 stops · about 49 min walking · start: Cathédrale Saint-André · finish: Grosse Cloche

The hunt starts at the Cathédrale Saint-André and heads west to the Porte Dijeaux on Place Gambetta. Via the Notre-Dame church you reach the Grand Théâtre and Place des Quinconces, then follow the river to Place de la Bourse. From there you enter the Saint-Pierre quarter at Place Camille Jullian, pass the Porte Cailhau and the Porte de Bourgogne by the Pont de Pierre, and finish at the Grosse Cloche. Each riddle is read from a gate, a portico or a fountain in the open air, so not one stop on this walk of pale stone asks for an entry ticket, and if you arrive by the river rather than at the cathedral, the app lets you begin at Place de la Bourse and rearrange the stops that follow.

Open the route map ↗

  1. Cathédrale Saint-André

    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.

    Read the full story →

  2. Porte Dijeaux

    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.

  3. Notre-Dame Church and Presbytery

    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.

  4. Grand Théâtre (Opéra National de Bordeaux)

    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.

  5. Place des Quinconces

    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.

  6. Place de la Bourse

    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.

  7. Place Camille Jullian

    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.

    Read the full story →

  8. Porte Cailhau

    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.

  9. Porte de Bourgogne

    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.

    Read the full story →

  10. Grosse Cloche

    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.

53 reviews for Bordeaux Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

  1. Rated 5 out of 5

    Anonymous (verified owner) –

  2. Rated 5 out of 5

    Anonymous (verified owner) –

  3. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  4. Rated 5 out of 5

    Belgium –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  5. Rated 4 out of 5

    France-Simone –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  6. Rated 5 out of 5

    Anonymous (verified owner) –

    Excellent and very practical. Kids loved it

  7. Rated 4 out of 5

    Cindy– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  8. Rated 4 out of 5

    cecile– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Permet de découvrir les monuments emblématiques de Bordeaux. Il serait intéressant d’avoir un audio pour éviter la lecture un peu fastidieuse de toutes les explications Ajouter quelques endroits insolites

  9. Rated 4 out of 5

    Audrey– Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  10. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Hat spass gemacht. Würde es wieder machen

  11. Rated 4 out of 5

    christelle– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  12. Rated 4 out of 5

    christelle– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  13. Rated 5 out of 5

    ERANSUS– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Permet une visite de Bordeaux et nous apprend plein de choses.

  14. Rated 4 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    intéressant

  15. Rated 5 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    int?ressant

  16. Rated 5 out of 5

    Sylvain– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Very fun way of strolling around the city in a “treasure hunt” way! Loved to feel like a child seeking the treasure of an old knight! Another good thing is that you can pause the game at any time and discover the city at your own pace. (we’ve been splitting the tour in 2 days) But to me, the given commentaries and stories about the monuments and history of the city are (I used the tour in its french language version), pretty inconsistent, hard to follow, sloppy: they look like they were written by some 9th grade student on his Bordeaux’s main monuments presentation. (maybe elaborated using some copy-paste from a famous generative IA …) If you’re an History lover, you’ll feel like missing your dessert…

  17. Rated 5 out of 5

    Caroline– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Tr?s bon choix pour d?couvrir Bordeaux ? 4 avec des activit?s int?ressant autant des cinquantenaires qu’une ado de 16 ans 🙂 Nous avons d?couvert des lieux et appris plusieurs choses, m?me celle d’entre nous qui est bordelaise. Tant le parcours que sa dur?e est adapt?e. Bravo !

  18. Rated 5 out of 5

    Ben– United Kingdom –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    I liked that it gave us information about the key sights in the city

  19. Rated 5 out of 5

    Helene– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    super activit?e pour d?couvrir les lieux, le plus c’est de pouvoir mettre le jeu en pause pour prendre un go?ter ou autres selon les go?ts de chacuns . simple et ludique simple et agr?able

  20. Rated 5 out of 5

    Leanne– Ireland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Fantastic way to explore a city at your own leisure and pace, would definitely recommend

  21. Rated 5 out of 5

    Sonia– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Un bon moment de d?tente. Ce qui est appr?ciable c’est surtout de faire l’activit? ? notre rythme, sans contraintes. Bon ?quilibre culture/ ludique. Tr?s bon rapport qualit?/prix.

  22. Rated 5 out of 5

    So– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Super moyen pour d?couvrir la ville

  23. Rated 5 out of 5

    Andr?a– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Tr?s bonne activit? ? faire, nous fait visiter la ville ? notre rythme tout en s’amusant avec les ?nigmes.

  24. Rated 5 out of 5

    Australia –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Enjoyed that it was self paced – was the right length and easy to use app, good info provided

  25. Rated 5 out of 5

    Alexandre– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Visite tr?s sympa. La visite guid?e via appli permet de faire ? votre rythme, faire des pauses, visiter les lieux pr?sent?s, prendre un verre en terrasse. En visitant la cath?drale, deux ?glises et une pause boisson sur une terrasse du grand th??tre, nous avons mis ~4h

  26. Rated 4 out of 5

    Anne– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Tr?s bien pour d?couvrir l’essentiel du centre de Bordeaux en fl?nant ds les rues et ruelles Peut ?tre une autre explication de d?part pour bien d?marrer (le dessin pr l’explication des diff?rences est pas explicite) A faire

  27. Rated 5 out of 5

    Angelique– Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Echt een aanrader!

  28. Rated 5 out of 5

    Susanne– Canada –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    My adult daughter and I spent three hours roaming the streets of Bordeaux, from one historic landmark to another. The route was well thought out and most of the clues were fairly obvious to solve at each destination. We saw, and appreciated much of the old town, that we might otherwise have missed. I would not recommend this for young children, there may not be enough to keep them engaged but for anyone able to follow google maps… it was interesting and fun! Enjoyment of walking is a must!

  29. Rated 4 out of 5

    Timm– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Ich denke man kann sein Geld besser in eine walking Tour investieren. Die Aussprache der vorgelesenen Texte war schrecklich, die R?tsel ein Witz. Hatten so etwas schon mal in Cusco mit einer richtigen Karte gemacht und waren von der Aufmachung entt?uscht.

  30. Rated 5 out of 5

    Val?rie– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    C’est une excellente fa?on de d?couvrir Bordeaux et les sites les plus embl?matique de la ville. L’activit? est libre au niveau du temps, on peut effectu? une pause entre les diff?rents sites.

  31. Rated 5 out of 5

    Pedro– Spain –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Muy divertida y educativa.

  32. Rated 5 out of 5

    Peter– Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Da diese Aktivit?t auf Deutsch erh?ltlich ist, kann auch eine Tour auf Franz?sisch damit ersetzt werden und die Stadt kann so besser verstanden werden

  33. Rated 5 out of 5

    Sue– United Kingdom –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Well organised. A fun way to see all the key city sights and their history. Great to be able to do it at your own pace and as flexibly as you wish.

  34. Rated 5 out of 5

    Willy– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Wir haben es mit den R?dern gemacht. Sehr sch?n.

  35. Rated 5 out of 5

    FATIEN– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Top! id?al quand on ne connait pas la ville, cela permet de la d?couvrir de fa?on ludique, en autonomie avec un parcours qui pr?sente les monuments les plus importants sans avoir ? perdre du temps ? chercher quoi visiter. Je recommande.

  36. Rated 5 out of 5

    Australia –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Entertaining and interesting learning the history of Bordeaux. Like I could do it at my own pace

  37. Rated 4 out of 5

    Denmark –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Det var en god oplevelse – desv?rre var nogle af sp?rgsm?lene ret sv?re, hvilket bet?d, at vi m?tte skippe, og det var lidt ?rgerligt.

  38. Rated 5 out of 5

    Malta –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Super recommended! is a funny way to walk around the centre. Clues are not too difficult. Waiting for next travel and try it on next city

  39. Rated 4 out of 5

    Spain –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    En general muy bien, pero uno de los acertijos no ten?a ni pies ni cabeza. El resto geniales. Algunas ubicaciomes de las que da como curiosidades no hay forma de encontrarlas.

  40. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Es war mal eine andere Art, eine fremde Stadt zu erkunden. Die Stationen waren allesamt sehenswert.

  41. Rated 4 out of 5

    United Kingdom –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    The tour was very easy to follow and gave lots of information about each site. I found some of the riddles were hard to solve without a clue because I didn’t understand what it was asking me to do – I feel like this would be easier though on a subsequent self-guided tour. It was very convenient to do in your own time and I actually split it across the sessions as by the time I arrived, it was getting too late to do it all that evening. I would have liked to know where all the locations were before starting so that I oils have started part way around as I ended up walk past a few places to get from my accommodation to the start.

  42. Rated 5 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Super id?e pour visiter la ville et d?couvrir de jolis lieux a son rythme tout en rigolant.

  43. Rated 3 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Die Informationen sind interessant, jedoch ausschlie?lich geschichtlich. Zugeschnittene F?hrungen auf bestimmte Altersgruppen w?ren gut. Unsere Kinder (15 /17)hat es nicht motiviert, wobei dieses Alter eine besondere Herausforderung ist.

  44. Rated 4 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Tr?s bon moyen pour faire visiter Bordeaux et voir les monuments principaux. Les ?nigmes sont sympas. Adapt?s aux adolescents. Il faudrait adapter ce jeu de piste aux enfants pour les inciter ? marcher dans la ville.

  45. Rated 5 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Un excellent moyen de decouvrir le vieux Bordeaux de maniere ludique. Nous l avons fait avec nos 2 enfants de 13 ans sans souci. Chaque coin de rue etait un regal pour les yeux, les rues sont propres , pittoresques et charges d histoire. A faire sans mod?ration, je conseillerais d y dejeuner le midi pour prendre son temps le reste de l apres midi. Bonne decouverte a tous

  46. Rated 5 out of 5

    Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Leuke manier om de stad te verkennen op eigen tempo. Zou het niet doen als het te warm is.

  47. Rated 5 out of 5

    South Africa –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    This was such an awesome way to discover and experience a city and will definitely do something similar again.. The information shared in each attraction was really great and I loved that we were able to so this at our own pace.. Just one thing we had a problem with was at some stops we the image did not want to download so we were not able to complete the riddles and had to skip it. Other than this we had no issues.. Thanks for an awesome tour!!

  48. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Die Bildfehlersuche war zu schwierig, sonst sehr gut uns informativ

  49. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    So lernt man eine Stadt mal auf andere Art und Weise kennen. Eine Info am jeweiligen Stop als Sprachinfo w?re super. Empfehlenswert!

  50. Rated 5 out of 5

    Cabron Geme –

    Super way to explore the city!

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the Bordeaux hunt take, and how far do we walk?

Count on about 3 hours for the whole game. Only some 49 minutes of that is spent walking, over 4 km and 10 stops on Bordeaux's flat streets, and the remaining time goes on riddles, stories and stops along the Garonne, with pauses whenever you need them.

Is it right that the game runs from the cathedral to the Grosse Cloche?

The opening riddle waits at the Cathédrale Saint-André, beside its free-standing bell tower, and the final one at the Grosse Cloche, the old town hall belfry in the Saint-Pierre quarter. Arriving by the river instead, you can make Place de la Bourse your first stop in the app.

Does a guide meet us at Saint-André?

Nobody meets you there, and there is no slot to keep. Each player books online and receives a booking reference by email, and after entering it in the World City Trail app you pick the day and time yourselves, early morning before the shops open or late afternoon when the stone turns golden. Every player in a team sees the riddles on their own phone.

Will we need tickets for the cathedral, the opera or the Tour Pey-Berland?

The game needs nothing beyond your hunt ticket, because each riddle is solved from the street. Climbing the Tour Pey-Berland or a guided visit inside the Grand Théâtre is a separate paid visit you can add if you like.

Will kids enjoy three hours of riddles in Bordeaux?

Kids usually enjoy it, provided an adult plays in each team: the castle-like Porte Cailhau, the golden leopard on the Grosse Cloche, the bronze horses of the Girondins fountain and, in warm weather, the Miroir d'eau on the quay are the favourites. The route is not suitable for wheelchairs, and the old paving in the Saint-Pierre lanes is bumpy for pushchairs.

Are the riddles between Saint-André and the Grosse Cloche available in German or Dutch?

Yes, both, and the Bordeaux route also comes in English, French, Italian and Spanish, six versions altogether. Each player sets one in the World City Trail app before the cathedral riddle, so friends who prefer different languages can still walk the same route together.

Can we run the Bordeaux hunt as a team event?

The flat, compact centre suits it well. Book a ticket for every participant, split into teams of up to five and send them off from the cathedral at intervals, then regroup at the Grosse Cloche. The squares, quays and lanes are public, so there is no venue to rent.

Anything we should pack before we set off in Bordeaux?

Every team should carry a charged phone with mobile data, and over 3 hours of riddles a power bank takes the worry out of a fading battery. Comfortable shoes are worth it for 4 km, and on sunny days water and a hat, since the big squares along the river offer little shade.

Saint-André holds the first riddle

Each player needs a ticket bought online, after which the booking reference turns up in your inbox. Pick a day, walk to the Cathédrale Saint-André and open the first riddle in front of its Gothic portals.

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