What is the Erfurt outdoor escape game?
The Erfurt outdoor escape game is an escape room taken out into the old town: puzzles are hidden in the city's landmarks, and you solve them on your phone. Plan on about 2 hours, with 28 minutes of walking over 2 km and 10 stops, and begin on a day that suits you.
Each puzzle belongs to one stop, from the Luther Monument on the Anger to the cathedral on the Domberg, and it stands on its own, so there is no storyline linking the stops. Stuck? Three tiers of help at most wait behind every puzzle. The compact, largely car-free centre suits this format, because merchant houses, a bridge and two churches sit within a short walk of each other.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 28 min · 2 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Dutch
What you do on the escape game
Solve
At every stop you crack a puzzle by reading the surroundings and reasoning it through. No prior knowledge is needed.
Read the details
The clues sit in the small things around each landmark, from façades and statues to the layout of the square.
Walk
Google Maps takes you from stop to stop, roughly 28 minutes of walking across 2 km.
Pace yourself
There is no countdown. Ask for a hint when you need one, pause for a coffee, 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
Each puzzle gives the group something to argue over at the next stop, and nobody needs to know Erfurt beforehand.
Couples
A shared challenge that keeps you talking as you move from one landmark to the next, with no clock ticking away.
Team building
Teams of up to 5 play on their own phones, which makes it a practical format for colleagues.
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 Angermuseum to St Severus' Church
10 stops · about 28 min walking · start: Angermuseum · finish: St Severus' Church
The game begins at the Angermuseum, then moves on to the Luther Monument and the Haus zum Stockfisch before crossing the Krämerbrücke. Next come the Fischmarkt stops, the Haus zum Breiten Herd and the town hall, followed by the Natural History Museum and the Domplatz. The last puzzle waits at St Severus' Church, beside Erfurt Cathedral. Daylight is the best time to start, because everything happens outdoors and rain or wind slow the pace. Google Maps guides you between stops, the app lets you change the order, and no entry tickets are needed for the puzzles.
Open the route map ↗
1AngermuseumStart
Erfurt's art museum occupies the former Packhof on the Anger, a Baroque building from the early 18th century where goods were once weighed and taxed. Its collections range from medieval art to modern painting, and one room was decorated with murals by the Expressionist painter Erich Heckel.
2Luther Monument
A bronze statue of Martin Luther by Fritz Schaper stands on the Anger in front of the Kaufmannskirche and was unveiled in 1889. Luther studied at Erfurt's university from 1501 and entered the city's Augustinian monastery in 1505, so Erfurt shaped him long before Wittenberg.
3Haus zum Stockfisch
This Renaissance house with a richly decorated sandstone façade was built in 1607 for a wealthy merchant and today houses the Stadtmuseum, Erfurt's city museum. Like many houses in Erfurt it carries a name instead of a number. Much of the city's wealth came from the trade in woad, a plant used to dye cloth blue.
4Krämerbrücke
First built in stone in 1325, the Krämerbrücke crosses the river Gera and is lined with half-timbered houses on both sides, so from the street it hardly looks like a bridge at all. It is the longest bridge in Europe continuously built over with inhabited houses. The Ägidienkirche stands at its eastern end.
5Haus zum Breiten Herd
This Renaissance house on the Fischmarkt was built in 1584 and has one of the most richly decorated façades in Erfurt. Look up at the frieze above the ground floor: its carved figures represent the five senses.
6Erfurt Town Hall
Erfurt's neo-Gothic town hall on the Fischmarkt was built between 1870 and 1875. Inside, its halls are decorated with paintings of Thuringian history and legends, including scenes from the lives of Martin Luther and Doctor Faust. In front of it, a statue of a Roman warrior from 1591 stands on a column in the middle of the square.
7Natural History Museum
Erfurt's natural history museum is housed in a former woad storehouse on the street Große Arche, a reminder of the trade that made the city rich. Its exhibitions present the landscapes, plants and animals of Thuringia over several floors.
8Domplatz
Domplatz is one of the largest squares in Germany, overlooked by the cathedral and St Severus' Church on the hill above. A broad flight of 70 steps leads up to them and serves as the stage for the open-air DomStufen-Festspiele in summer. The square is also used for markets, including Erfurt's Christmas market.
9Erfurt Cathedral
St Mary's Cathedral stands on the Domberg, and its Gothic choir rests on massive substructures because the hilltop was too small. In its central tower hangs the Gloriosa, cast in 1497, one of the largest free-swinging medieval bells in the world. Martin Luther was ordained a priest here in 1507.
10St Severus' ChurchFinish
St Severus' Church, right next to the cathedral, is a Gothic hall church with five aisles and three pointed spires. It holds the stone sarcophagus of Saint Severus, carved around 1365. Together, the two churches above the steps form Erfurt's best-known view.
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