What is the Florence scavenger hunt?
The Florence scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk a 5 km route through the historic centre, solve a riddle at each of 10 landmarks and unlock the stories behind them. It takes about 3 hours, with roughly 60 minutes of actual walking, and you start whenever you like.
The route links the great churches, squares and bridges of Renaissance Florence, from Santa Maria Novella past the Duomo and Piazza della Signoria to Ponte Vecchio and Piazza della Repubblica. The riddles use what you can see on the spot, so no prior knowledge is needed, and every stop comes with stories, local legends, audio narration and tips for food and shops nearby.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 60 min · 5 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese
What you do on the hunt
Play
Solve a location-based riddle at every stop with observation and logic. No prior knowledge needed.
Learn
Unlock the stories, local legends and fun facts behind each landmark, with audio narration if you prefer to listen.
Walk
Follow the route with Google Maps at your own pace: about 60 minutes of walking spread over 3 hours.
Stay flexible
Start any time, pause for a gelato or a museum, and carry on later or another day. You can change the order of the stops.
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 is for
First visit to Florence
See the main sights in one walk and understand what you are looking at, instead of just ticking off landmarks.
Couples and families
Kids enjoy hunting for clues on façades and statues, and the riddles work for all ages, with an adult playing along.
Friends and teams
Play in teams of up to 5 on your own phones; bigger groups split up and compare notes at the finish.
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 Santa Maria Novella to Piazza della Repubblica
10 stops · about 60 min walking · start: Basilica of Santa Maria Novella · finish: Piazza della Repubblica
The hunt starts at the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, near the main railway station, and heads north to San Marco before turning back through San Lorenzo to the Duomo. From there you cross the centre to Piazza della Signoria, Santa Croce and the Uffizi, follow the Arno over Ponte Vecchio to Ponte Santa Trinita, and finish in Piazza della Repubblica. You can start at another stop or change the order in the app, and no entry tickets are needed.
Open the route map ↗
1Basilica of Santa Maria NovellaStart
The Dominican basilica beside the main railway station has a green-and-white marble façade completed by Leon Battista Alberti around 1470. Inside is Masaccio's Holy Trinity fresco, one of the first paintings to use linear perspective.
2Basilica of San Marco
The church and convent of San Marco were rebuilt for the Dominicans with money from Cosimo de' Medici in the 1430s and 1440s. The friar-painter Fra Angelico decorated the convent, and the preacher Girolamo Savonarola was its prior before his fall in 1498.
3Basilica of San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo was the parish church of the Medici, rebuilt from the 1420s to designs by Filippo Brunelleschi. Its rough brick front was never finished: Michelangelo designed a marble façade that was never built, and the Medici Chapels lie behind the church.
4Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore)
Florence Cathedral was begun in 1296, and Brunelleschi's dome, completed in 1436, is still the largest brick dome ever built. Beside it stand Giotto's bell tower and the Baptistery, whose gilded east doors by Ghiberti Michelangelo is said to have called the Gates of Paradise.
5Piazza della Signoria
Florence's political square is overlooked by Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall since the 14th century. A copy of Michelangelo's David stands where the original stood until 1873, next to Ammannati's Neptune Fountain and the statues of the Loggia dei Lanzi, and a plaque in the paving marks where Savonarola was executed in 1498.
6Basilica of Santa Croce
Santa Croce is one of the largest Franciscan churches in the world and holds the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini, plus a memorial to Dante, who is buried in Ravenna. Its marble façade was only added in the 19th century.
Read the full story →
7Uffizi Gallery
Giorgio Vasari designed the Uffizi from 1560 as offices (uffizi) for Duke Cosimo I de' Medici's administration. Today it is one of the world's great art museums, home to Botticelli's Birth of Venus, and statues of famous Tuscans line its long courtyard.
8Ponte Vecchio
The Old Bridge was rebuilt in stone in 1345 after a flood, and in 1593 Grand Duke Ferdinando I replaced its butchers with goldsmiths, who are still there. The Vasari Corridor runs along its top, and it was the only Florence bridge the retreating German army did not blow up in 1944.
9Ponte Santa Trinita
Bartolomeo Ammannati built this bridge in 1567–1569 with three graceful elliptical arches, and statues of the Four Seasons stand at its ends. Blown up in 1944, it was rebuilt by 1958 with stones recovered from the Arno; the head of the Spring statue was only found in the river in 1961.
10Piazza della RepubblicaFinish
The square lies on the site of the forum of Roman Florentia, and a column topped by a statue of Abundance marks the old centre. Its present look, with the large arch and the historic cafés, dates from the late 19th century, when the old market and the Jewish ghetto were demolished.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Nathalie R. (verified owner) –
Super pour visiter les points incontournables de la ville. Les énigmes (pas toujours évidentes) permettent de faire des petites pauses ludiques et d’apprendre des choses sur l’histoire.
En revanche, le prix me semble un peu élevé au vue d’une prestation assez basique.
clare (verified owner) –
We enjoy using these as a way to see more as we visit new cities. This one is ok. I’d love it if the facts matched more to the location we are standing in rather than being a bit random. Good value for money though and we saw a lot of things we wouldn’t have otherwise.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
The most beautiful city in the world and a great way to explore!!!
Belgium –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Johannes– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Rätsel werden nicht eindeutig. Wege waren lang und manchmal nicht so schön.
Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Bien, guía fácil y sin problemas
Marwan– Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Very fun activity to discover Firenze. We love to be able to see beautiful monuments of the city. The only little problem we had is that some points on google maps they give us were not good, they were off by a few meters. For example, when we were walking in direction of Santa Maria Novella, when we arrived at the church, according to the gps, we were not at the good place, but we were for the puzzle. Other than this little problem, fun and great activity !
Claire Sampson (verified owner) –
A great way to see the cities sites with a bit of fun, however there was a bit of backtracking, I believe the route could have been better planned.
Belgium –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
War mal etwas anderes und man hat freie Entscheidung wann man etwas essen möchte, in Läden möchte oder sonstiges. Allerdings dennoch einen kleinen Leitfaden wo man hingeht. Aber wenn man es zu zweit macht, reicht es einmal zu bezahlen. Wir haben es leider für zwei bezahlt und im Nachhinein gemerkt, dass es unnötig war.
natalia– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Orsolya– Austria –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Imádtuk!! 😍 olyan helyekre is elvitt minket, ahová magunktól nem feltétlenül látogattunk volna el, és kevésbé turista orientáltak. Néhány feladatnál az instrukciók nem voltak túl egyértelműek, de ennek ellenére is nagyon élvezetes volt! Mindenképpen ajánlom azoknak, akik viszonylag kevés időt töltenek Firenzében, de minnél többet szeretnének látni belőle is tudni róla. 😍
Cindy– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
jean-sébastien– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Karine– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Cette activité permet de se familiariser avec la ville de façon ludique en prenant notre temps. Parfait pour débuter un séjour.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide