Riddles along Hauptstraße and down to the Neckar
The Heidelberg scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk from landmark to landmark, solve a riddle at each one by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories and legends behind it. From the tram hub at Bismarckplatz to Karlsplatz below the castle it is about 2 hours and 10 stops, yet only some 38 minutes and 3 km of that are spent walking, and you set off whenever it suits you.
Highlights include the Haus zum Riesen on Hauptstraße, Universitätsplatz in the oldest university town in today's Germany, the Jesuit Church, the market square with the Church of the Holy Spirit, the bronze bridge monkey and the Old Bridge over the Neckar. The old town is compact and largely pedestrianised, with the castle ruins above it, so the main landmarks are easy to reach on foot.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 38 min · 3 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
From a giant's house to a bronze monkey
A giant, a lion fountain and a carved motto
Each of the 10 stops hides its riddle in something you can see: the statue on the façade of the Haus zum Riesen, the inscription over the New University, the little shops wedged between the buttresses of the Church of the Holy Spirit. Observation and a bit of logic are enough, and no German is required.
Blown-up towers and a divided church
Answers unlock stories: the stones said to come from the castle's Thick Tower after French troops blew it up, the wall that for over two centuries split the Church of the Holy Spirit between Protestants and Catholics, and the Old Bridge, destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt by 1947. On busy Hauptstraße it often helps to let the audio narration do the reading for you.
3 km on one of Germany's longest pedestrian streets
The walking adds up to only about 38 minutes: east along Hauptstraße, a short detour down to the Neckar, then back through the lanes to the squares below the castle. Google Maps leads you from stop to stop, and the cobbles are the only hard part.
A coffee on Marktplatz, the rest tomorrow
No clock is running, so sit down for a coffee on the market square or browse the shops of Hauptstraße, then carry on later or another day. Staying near the river? Let the app make the Brückenaffe your first riddle.
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 plays the Heidelberg hunt: day visitors, families, conference groups
Heidelberg in one afternoon, castle view included
In about 2 hours you see the university quarter, the market square, the Old Bridge and the classic view of the castle ruins from Kornmarkt, with time left to ride the funicular up afterwards. Thanks to the riddles you stop at doorways, fountains and inscriptions that the crowds on Hauptstraße hurry by.
Kids who want to touch a monkey
Children love the bronze bridge monkey, whose mirror is said to bring wealth and whose fingers promise a return to Heidelberg, and they enjoy spotting the giant on his house and the lion fountain on Universitätsplatz. With a grown-up in each team and short hops between stops, it suits primary-school ages well.
Conference guests and colleagues
Up to 5 players form a team, each with the game on their own phone, so a conference group or a class can split up at Bismarckplatz and meet again at Karlsplatz. It is played on public streets and squares only, which means no room or slot has to be reserved.
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 Bismarckplatz along Hauptstraße to the Old Bridge and Karlsplatz
10 stops · about 38 min walking · start: Bismarckplatz park · finish: Karlsplatz
The hunt starts in the park on Bismarckplatz and follows Hauptstraße east past the Haus zum Riesen and the Palatinate Museum to Universitätsplatz and the Jesuit Church. It continues to the market square, down to the Brückenaffe and the Old Bridge on the Neckar, and back through the lanes of the old town to Kornmarkt, finishing at Karlsplatz below the castle. Every answer is read off a façade, a fountain or the bridge itself, so no stop sends you to a ticket desk, and if you are coming down from the castle rather than in by tram, the app can open the game at Karlsplatz or Kornmarkt and rearrange the rest.
Open the route map ↗
1Bismarckplatz parkStart
The small park on Bismarckplatz lies at the western edge of the old town, next to Heidelberg's busiest tram and bus interchange. The square is named after Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of the German Empire, and from here Hauptstraße, one of the longest pedestrian streets in Germany, runs east into the old town.
2Haus zum Riesen
This baroque mansion on Hauptstraße was built in the early 18th century, when Heidelberg was rebuilt after the French destruction of the 1690s. According to tradition its builder used stones from the castle's Thick Tower, which French troops had blown up, and the house is named after the larger-than-life statue on its façade.
3Palatinate Museum (Kurpfälzisches Museum)
Heidelberg's museum of art and history occupies the Palais Morass, a baroque town palace built in the early 18th century for a law professor of the university. Its collections include Tilman Riemenschneider's carved Twelve Apostles Altar and a cast of the jaw of Homo heidelbergensis, found near Heidelberg in 1907.
4Universitätsplatz
Heidelberg University, founded in 1386 by Elector Rupert I, is the oldest university in today's Germany. On this square stand the baroque Old University and the New University of 1931, built largely with American donations and inscribed with the words Dem lebendigen Geist, to the living spirit, and a lion fountain.
5Jesuit Church
The Jesuit Church was begun in 1712, at a time when the Catholic electors of the Palatinate were strengthening the Catholic faith in Heidelberg. Its tall façade of red Neckar sandstone faces a quiet square in the university quarter, while the bell tower was only added in the 19th century.
Read the full story →
6Marktplatz (Market Square)
The market square is dominated by the Gothic Church of the Holy Spirit, burial place of the Palatinate electors, which for more than two centuries was divided by a wall between Protestants and Catholics. Small shops are built between its buttresses, and opposite stands the Haus zum Ritter of 1592, one of the few houses to survive the fires of 1693.
7Brückenaffe (Bridge Monkey)
This bronze monkey by the sculptor Gernot Rumpf has sat beside the old-town end of the Old Bridge since 1979. It recalls a stone monkey that once stood on the medieval bridge tower. Local tradition says that touching its mirror brings wealth and touching its fingers means you will return to Heidelberg.
Read the full story →
8Old Bridge
The Old Bridge, officially the Karl Theodor Bridge, was built of stone between 1786 and 1788 under Elector Charles Theodore, after ice had destroyed the wooden bridge before it. Its bridge gate with two white towers was part of the medieval town wall. German troops blew up the bridge in 1945, and it was rebuilt by 1947.
Read the full story →
9Kornmarkt
The former grain market below the castle is centred on a baroque statue of the Virgin Mary from the early 18th century, set up as a sign of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. From the square you get a classic view up to the castle ruins, and the lower station of the funicular to the castle is close by.
10KarlsplatzFinish
This wide square at the eastern end of Hauptstraße lies directly below the castle and offers one of the best views of its ruins from the old town. On one side stands the Palais Boisserée, where the brothers Sulpiz and Melchior Boisserée showed their famous collection of old German paintings in the early 19th century.
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Lukas Erdmann (verified owner) –
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Das war sehr schön und interessant. Den Google App ist nicht optimal, aber man verbringt sehr schöne Zeit.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Richtig cool, wir werden es auch in anderen Städten machen. Das Rätsel auf der Brücke war nur mit Google möglich, da wir uns mit griechischen Göttern nicht auskennen und es kein Schild gab. Einfach herrlich. Der Schwierigkeitsgrad war entspannt machbar. Einen Stern Abzug gibt es dafür, dass ich mich viermal neu anmelden musste, da die App sich ausloggte, sobald ich meine Kamera am Handy einschaltete oder die App länger nicht nutzte. Ich habe ein IPhone 11 Max.
Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Karin– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Très sympathique pour découvrir la ville et son histoire, à condition d’avoir du réseau !
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
War sehr interessant
Monika– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Wir haben in einer kurzen Zeit die Hautsehensw?rdigkeiten gesehen.
Tatjana– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Ganz tolle Idee um eine Stadt kennenzulernen.
Sina– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Mir hat die Aktivit?t gut gefallen, wobei die R?tsel noch ein bisschen anspruchsvoller h?tten sein k?nnen. Um etwas ?ber die Stadt zu erfahren und sie dabei selbst zu Fu? zu erkunden , war es gut.
cris– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
J’ai t?l?charg? l’application pour ma fille de 10 ans. Nous avions utilis? l’application dans une autre ville. Je n’ai pas trouv? celle de Heidelberg tr?s agr?able. L’interface n’est pas tr?s intuitive, les explications sur les monuments sont denses (peut-?tre un peu trop pour les enfants) et les activit?s moyennement fun. Bref un peu d??u, notamment pour 13 € (en comparaison de la visite de Tr?ves ? 6,50 € et application plus fun).
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Eine sch?ne M?glichkeit, Heidelberg auf eigene Faust zu erkunden. Teilweise sind die Aufgaben etwas unklar formuliert.
Switzerland –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Informativ, spielerisch die Stadt erkunden.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Viel zu teuer f?r 10 R?tsel. R?tsel waren gut
Tanja – Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Tolle Idee um eine Stadt kennenzulernen. Wir hatten sehr viel Spa? dabei.