What to expect from the Bruges scavenger hunt
The Bruges scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk through the medieval centre, solve a riddle at each landmark by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories behind it. The game fills about 2 hours, yet the stops are so close that walking takes only 24 minutes over 2 km and 10 stops, which leaves most of the time for looking, solving and the odd chocolate; the first riddle opens when you choose.
Highlights include the Belfry above the Markt, Saint Salvator's Cathedral, the Church of Our Lady with its brick tower and the Bonifacius Bridge, plus the canal view from the Rozenhoedkaai, the Burg with its Gothic City Hall and the Choco-Story chocolate museum. Bruges is small and flat, and canals and bridges are never far away, so the short walk leaves plenty of time to look around.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 24 min · 2 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese
Canals, towers and riddles in medieval Bruges
Every answer is on a wall or a bridge
At each stop one riddle waits, and the clue is somewhere in the scene: a saint on a bridge, a coat of arms on a merchants' house, a date on a tower. Look carefully, think it through, and you have it, with no history homework required.
Merchants, counts and a relic
Solve the riddle and the stop unlocks its stories: the wealthy traders who met in the Poortersloge, the counts of Flanders who built their castle on the Burg, the relic said to hold drops of Christ's blood, the legend of the Prague priest whose statue guards the Nepomucenus Bridge. The audio narration can tell it all while you watch the boats go by.
Only 2 km in all
Google Maps takes you from stop to stop: 24 minutes of walking all together, along the canals from Jan van Eyckplein via the Markt to the Rozenhoedkaai and the Burg. Bruges is flat, but expect cobblestones nearly everywhere.
Waffles welcome
The game has no clock, so a waffle, a Belgian beer or a long look at the view from the Rozenhoedkaai fits in whenever you like. Carry on later or tomorrow, and change the order in the app if your hotel is closer to the Burg than to Jan van Eyckplein.
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 should play the Bruges hunt
A day trip to Bruges
Many visitors have only a day, and the Belfry, the two great churches, the canal views and the Burg all lie along 2 km of streets and quays. The riddles turn the walk into more than a series of photo stops.
Young detectives
Bruges rewards small, sharp eyes: swans on the canals, a saint standing on a bridge, a bridge that looks medieval but is little more than a century old, a tower that rises above every roof. An adult must play in each team, and the route ends at a chocolate museum, which tends to help.
Away days and club trips
Teams of up to 5, each player with the game on their own phone, can set off from Jan van Eyckplein together and compare scores at Choco-Story. The streets and squares are public, so all you organise is one ticket per person.
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: from Jan van Eyckplein past the Belfry and the canals to the Burg
10 stops · about 24 min walking · start: Jan van Eyckplein · finish: Choco-Story Chocolate Museum
The hunt starts on Jan van Eyckplein, the old merchants' square at the end of the Spiegelrei canal, and passes the Municipal Theatre on the way to the Belfry on the Markt. From there you walk to Saint Salvator's Cathedral and the Church of Our Lady, cross the Bonifacius and Nepomucenus bridges to the Rozenhoedkaai, continue to the Burg and finish at the Choco-Story chocolate museum. Every riddle is answered from the street, the quay or the bridge, so no entry ticket comes into play, and if you would rather start at the Burg or elsewhere, the app lets you begin there and reorder the stops.
Open the route map ↗
1Jan van EyckpleinStart
This square at the end of the Spiegelrei canal was a busy trading spot in medieval Bruges. On one side stands the Poortersloge, built in the late 14th and early 15th centuries as a meeting house for wealthy merchants, and close by is the Tolhuis, the former customs house from 1477.
Read the full story →
2Municipal Theatre (Stadsschouwburg)
The Stadsschouwburg on the Vlamingstraat opened in 1869 and is still the city's main theatre. Its neo-Renaissance facade is decorated with columns and statues, and inside is a richly decorated foyer and horseshoe-shaped auditorium in nineteenth-century style.
3Belfry of Bruges
The Belfry rises 83 metres above the Markt; it was begun around 1240, and its octagonal top stage was added in 1483–1487. A steep staircase of 366 steps leads up to a carillon of 47 bells, and the tower is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
4Saint Salvator's Cathedral
Work on the present church of Saint Salvator began in 1250, and in 1834 it became the cathedral of Bruges, replacing the destroyed Saint Donatian's Cathedral. Its fortress-like neo-Romanesque west tower is 99 metres high, and its base dates from the 12th century.
Read the full story →
5Church of Our Lady
The brick tower of the Church of Our Lady is 115.6 metres high, still the tallest structure in Bruges and one of the tallest brick church towers in the world. Inside are Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, given to the church in 1514 by the Bruges merchant family Mouscron, and the tombs of Charles the Bold and Mary of Burgundy.
Read the full story →
6Bonifacius Bridge
This small arched bridge over the canal looks medieval, but it was only built in 1910 and is one of the youngest bridges in Bruges. From it you look along the water to the Gruuthuse Palace and the tower of the Church of Our Lady.
Read the full story →
7Nepomucenus Bridge (Sint-Jan Nepomucenusbrug)
This bridge over the Dijver canal carries an 18th-century statue of Saint John of Nepomuk, the patron saint of bridges. According to legend, the Prague priest was thrown into the Vltava in 1393 for refusing to reveal the queen's confession, which is why his statue watches over so many bridges in Europe.
8Rozenhoedkaai (Rosary Quay)
The Rozenhoedkaai lies where the Dijver and Groenerei canals meet and offers one of the best-known views in Bruges, with the Belfry rising above the old houses. Its name is said to recall the rosaries that were once sold here.
Read the full story →
9Burg Square
The Burg is where the counts of Flanders built their castle, and it was the seat of power in medieval Bruges. On the square stand the Gothic City Hall, begun in 1376 and one of the oldest town halls in the Low Countries, and the Basilica of the Holy Blood, which keeps a relic said to contain drops of Christ's blood.
Read the full story →
10Choco-Story Chocolate MuseumFinish
Choco-Story is a museum about the history of chocolate, from the cocoa drinks of the Maya and Aztecs to the Belgian praline. Belgium's chocolate fame owes much to the praline, created in Brussels by Jean Neuhaus in 1912, and Bruges has many chocolate shops along its streets.
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Germany –
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Belgium –
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C’était une chouette activité permettant de découvrir pas mal d’endroits de Bruges
Latvia –
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Netherlands –
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Leuk om te doen. Vragen zijn redelijk makkelijk op te lossen.
Angelique– Belgium –
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Great concept but one of the clues was clearly out of date based on the current reality. Also, at times too much to read in the app, would be good to have an audio option that you can listen to while walking.
Lisa– Belgium –
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Il faudrait mettre les horaires d’ouvertures car nous n’avons pas pu tout faire.
Netherlands –
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Silke van den– Netherlands –
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Prima. Wel kort.
Belgium –
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Leuk om te doen en je zag veel mooie plaatsjes in de stad.
Belgium –
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Super activité ! 🙂 on a beaucoup aimé ! Facile à utiliser. Juste un petit commentaire : l’activité s’intitule « chasse aux trésors », il est vraiment qu’on y découvre plusieurs endroits très beaux, mais sans fil conducteur, nous avons eu l’impression 🙂 mais c’était quand même super génial !
Alexandra– United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
We enjoy doing ‘treasure trails’ in the UK so we decided to try something similar abroad, this is the first time we’ve done one in another country and we thought it was really good! You get to learn about the city with the facts and tales the app give you, it integrates with your maps to help you find your way and there are fun little puzzles and activities to do along the way! Would definitely recommend as a way to see the sights of the city and with it being so flexible there is no time limit so you can stop for lunch, go to a museum or have a drink and then pick up where you left off. App is pretty user friendly and content is well thought out!
Netherlands –
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leuk en leerzaam
Germany –
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Germany –
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Germany –
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Belgium –
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raiment pas mal pour avoir un peu de contexte et d’histoire sur les endroits les plus importants de la ville.
Italy –
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Ottima soluzione quando si capita a Bruges in un giorno di festa come il 1 gennaio.
Belgium –
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Netherlands –
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Leuk, zo verken je een stad op een andere manier. We zijn op stukjes geweest die we met zelf rondlopen niet hadden gezien.
Belgium –
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Leuk! Interessante weetjes en fijne (korte) stukken om te wandelen
Germany –
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Israel –
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Belgium –
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Spain –
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La actividad está bien para ver los diferentes monumentos de la ciudad. Pero los juegos de cada una de las zonas son bastante simples. Me hubiese gustado un poco más de complejidad en los juegos
Netherlands –
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Spain –
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Netherlands –
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Leuk dat je Brugge vanaf een andere kant ziet, de vragen waren wel erg makkelijk
France –
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C’est très bien pour visiter une ville et découvrir des belles structures. C’est vraiment à faire!
France –
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France –
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Activité qui nous as permis de découvrir Bruges tout en s’amusant
Italy –
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Cyprus –
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Belgium –
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Aan de hand van de activiteit hebben we spelenderwijs de belangrijkste bezienswaardigheden van Brugge kunnen ontdekken. Deze zouden we ongetwijfeld op eigen houtje niet allemaal hebben teruggevonden. We zijn dus zeker tevreden. Het enige nadeel is dat bepaalde puzzels niet ideaal zijn bij schuilen in de gebouwen voor regenweer. De snelheid waarmee je de activiteit afrondt, bepaal je volledig zelf (pluspunt).
Belgium –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Niet duur en je komt overal op je eigen tempo.Je stopt wanneer je wil en kan daarna weer verder gaan.Uitleg mocht iets uitgebreider zijn maar je ziet en leert in ieder geval meer dan vanuit een paardenkoets of boottocht. Fijne ervaring??
Netherlands –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Was een leuke puzzeltocht, we kwamen op plekjes waar we we de afgelopen dagen nog niet waren geweest.
Netherlands –
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Leuke manier om de stad te zien je komt langs alle mooie plekjes en krijgt veel informatie. Als je de activiteiten zoals musea en beklimming van toren niet doet is de tijdsduur stuk korter dan 2,5 uur.
Netherlands –
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De activiteit op zich was goed te doen, veel informatie bij de locaties, leuke zoekopdrachten, door het zeer slechte weer 1 gemist, helaas
France –
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La chasse au trésor était assez facile, l’application est interactive et les énigmes sont faisables pour tout public. Cela nous a permit de nous balader d’une autre façon dans Bruges et d’en apprendre plus sur les différents endroits et sur la ville, sans trop réfléchir. La balade dure 1h30-2h, suivant le rythme. Beaucoup de textes à lire parfois donc peut-être qu’une partie audio pourrait remplacer tout cela.
United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
This was a really good way to get engaged with the sites on your own and at your own pace. Some of the questions were really easy, and others you had to think a bit. I was a great experience at a great price.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Es war unterhaltsam. Wir konnten in unserem Tempo die Stadt erkunden. Ist jedoch nicht mit einer geführten Tour vergleichbar für unsere Zwecke in Brügge jedoch perfekt.
Germany –
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Belgium –
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Germany –
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Die Stadtrallye ist eher etwas für Kinder. Es wäre toll gewesen, wenn man die Schwierigkeit hätte auswählen können. Als Einzelperson muss man leider den doppelten Preis bezahlen. Das ist schade.
Germany –
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Germany –
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Tabitha– United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Glad we did it. A nice o price to get us out and about learning about history and seeing parts we may not have seen. It’s a lot of walking and does take time.
Germany –
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Wir haben die Tour mit zwei Kids gemacht (6,8). Die Stationen waren schnell zu erreichen und zwischendurch haben wir noch Stops in Geschäften und Restaurants gemacht. Empfehlen wir weiter 🙂
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Es war sehr gut und mit Hund war es auch sehr entspannt.
New Zealand –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Great bits of information. Easy puzzles.
Netherlands –
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Het opstarten was even zoeken, maar wat hebben we genoten van het mooie Brugge door deze tour!!!