Swan boats to the harbor: Boston's revolution in riddles
The Boston scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk through the historic center of the city, solve a riddle at each landmark by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories behind it. Set aside about 2 hours in total, yet the walking between the 10 stops comes to just 29 minutes over 2.1 km, because Boston's colonial sights stand remarkably close together.
Highlights include the swan boats of the Public Garden, Boston Common, the oldest public park in the country, the Granary Burying Ground where Paul Revere lies, the Old State House, the Boston Massacre site and the Bill Russell statue. The route is compact, and almost every stop lies within a short walk of the next.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 29 min · 2.1 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
What a game along Boston's colonial streets looks like
Slate skulls, cobblestones and a granite ring
Boston hides its riddles in plain sight: the carved skulls on the slate headstones of the Granary Burying Ground, the ring of cobblestones marking the Boston Massacre, the eleven granite blocks around Bill Russell on City Hall Plaza. You don't need to know who Paul Revere was to solve them, only to look closely and reason a little.
Revere, Hancock, Franklin and a hymn
Each answer unlocks a piece of the story of 1770s Boston: which patriots lie in the Granary Burying Ground, which balcony heard the Declaration of Independence read aloud in 1776, and where the hymn America was sung for the first time in 1831. Turn on the audio narration beneath the Old State House balcony and hear the 1776 reading described on the very spot.
2.1 km from the Public Garden to the wharves
Walking takes up only about 29 minutes of the game: across Boston Common, down past the Old State House to City Hall Plaza and on to the waterfront between Commercial Wharf and Long Wharf. Google Maps steers your team between stops through the busy downtown streets.
Chowder at Quincy Market, a bench on the Common
Nobody is timing you, so break off for lunch among the food stalls of Quincy Market or a rest on a bench on Boston Common, and pick up the riddles again later or on another day. Arriving on the T? Arlington and Park Street stations both sit at the edge of the green where the first riddles are waiting.
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 heads out on the Boston scavenger hunt
First-timers on a short city break
In about 2 hours you pass the oldest public park in the country, the graves of Revere and Hancock, the Old State House and Faneuil Hall, which gives a first day in Boston a clear shape. Because each riddle needs a closer look, you notice what the Freedom Trail crowds hurry past.
Kids who like skulls, swans and basketball
Children enjoy the swan boats on the Public Garden pond, the grinning skulls on colonial headstones, a ring of stones that marks a famous shooting and a statue of a basketball legend with eleven granite blocks around it. With an adult in each team and under half an hour of walking in total, even younger children keep up.
Offices, conference groups and classes
A team holds up to 5 players, each with the game on their own phone, and a large group can send its teams off from the Public Garden at short intervals. Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, with the harbor beside it, is an easy place for everyone to regroup afterwards.
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.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
The family loved it !