What is the Genoa outdoor escape game?
The Genoa outdoor escape game is an escape room moved into the open air: a puzzle waits at each of the city's landmarks and you work on it from your own phone, using what stands in front of you plus a little logic. Set aside roughly 2 hours, of which 60 minutes are spent on your feet across 2.3 km and 10 stops, on whichever day you feel like playing.
Puzzles are set at Palazzo San Giorgio by the Old Port, at the striped front of San Lorenzo Cathedral, on Piazza De Ferrari and at the twin towers of Porta Soprana, and each one stands alone, with no storyline tying them together. Three levels of hints are there when a puzzle holds you up. Genoa suits the format because the caruggi, its narrow alleys, keep the noble palaces and churches only minutes apart.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 60 min · 2.3 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the escape game
Decode
Work out the puzzle at each landmark from what you can see on the spot. Knowing Genoa beforehand is never required.
Read the detail
Clues sit in carvings, inscriptions, marble stripes and the shape of each square.
Cover ground
Google Maps takes you from landmark to landmark: 60 minutes of walking spread over 2.3 km.
Set your own pace
No clock counts down. Call up a hint, break for a slice of focaccia and carry on later or 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
Every puzzle gives the group something to argue over on the way to the next palace, and nobody needs to have been here before.
Couples
Something to crack together between churches and squares, with no timer pushing you along.
Colleagues
Teams of up to 5 play from their own phones, which keeps a company outing simple to organise.
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 San Siro to Columbus' House
10 stops · about 60 min walking · start: Basilica of San Siro · finish: Christopher Columbus' House
The first puzzle is at the Basilica of San Siro, the last at Christopher Columbus' House just below Porta Soprana. Between them you work through Palazzo Grimaldi della Meridiana, Piazza Fontane Marose, the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Vigne, Palazzo San Giorgio, San Lorenzo Cathedral, the Doge's Palace, Piazza De Ferrari and Porta Soprana itself. Daylight suits the game best, since every puzzle is solved in the street and rain or wind makes that harder. Google Maps handles the walking, the app lets you reshuffle the stops, and no entry ticket is needed anywhere on the route.
Open the route map ↗
1Basilica of San SiroStart
San Siro was Genoa's first cathedral before the bishop's seat moved to San Lorenzo, and the present church was rebuilt from the late 16th century by the Theatine order. Its interior is covered with Baroque frescoes, stucco and gilding. According to legend, Saint Syrus drove a basilisk out of a well in the city.
2Palazzo Grimaldi della Meridiana
This palace was built in the 16th century for Gerolamo Grimaldi, one of the city's great noble families. It takes its name from the large sundial, the meridiana, later painted on its façade, and it belongs to the Palazzi dei Rolli, the noble palaces listed by UNESCO in 2006.
3Piazza Fontane Marose
This square at the start of Via Garibaldi, the old Strada Nuova of Genoa's nobles, takes its name from fountains that once stood here. On one side rises Palazzo Spinola dei Marmi, a 15th-century palace with black and white marble stripes and statues of Spinola family members in niches.
4Basilica of Santa Maria delle Vigne
The basilica takes its name from the vineyards, the vigne, that covered this area when the first church was built in the Middle Ages. Its Romanesque bell tower survives from the medieval church, while the interior was remade in Baroque style in the 17th century.
5Palazzo San Giorgio
Built in 1260 for Guglielmo Boccanegra, this palace by the Old Port later housed the Bank of Saint George, one of the oldest banks in Europe. Tradition says Marco Polo was held prisoner here in 1298 and dictated his travels to Rustichello da Pisa. The sea-facing façade is painted with Saint George slaying the dragon.
Read the full story →
6San Lorenzo Cathedral
Genoa's cathedral, consecrated in 1118, has a façade of black and white marble stripes guarded by stone lions. Inside you can see a British naval shell that hit the church in 1941 and did not explode, and a chapel dedicated to John the Baptist, the city's patron saint.
7Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale)
From the 14th century this palace was the seat of the Doges, the elected rulers of the Republic of Genoa. After a fire in 1777 the architect Simone Cantoni gave it its neoclassical façade, and the medieval Grimaldina tower beside it was used as a prison. Today it hosts exhibitions and events.
8Piazza De Ferrari
Genoa's main square is named after Raffaele De Ferrari, Duke of Galliera, a 19th-century benefactor of the city. Its large bronze fountain dates from 1936, and around it stand the Teatro Carlo Felice, the former stock exchange and a side of the Doge's Palace, with Garibaldi on horseback nearby.
Read the full story →
9Porta Soprana
The two tall towers of Porta Soprana were part of the walls built in 1155 to defend Genoa against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Also called Porta di Sant'Andrea, the gate was one of the main entrances to the medieval city.
10Christopher Columbus' HouseFinish
Just below Porta Soprana stands a small ivy-covered house, rebuilt in the 18th century on the site of the home where Christopher Columbus is believed to have grown up. His father Domenico was a wool weaver. Next to it are the remains of the Romanesque cloister of Sant'Andrea.
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Germany –
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United States –
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Aurora– Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Gioco molto bello, abbiamo visitato Genova divertendoci e scoprendo posti nuovi! La consiglio
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
It got us walking around the city and familiarised us with the sites.
Kennedy– United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Great activity if you want to spend the day by yourself exploring the city.