What is the Helsinki outdoor escape game?
The Helsinki outdoor escape game is an escape room without the room: each of the 10 landmarks on the route holds a puzzle that opens on your phone and is cracked by observing the place and thinking logically. Budget about 3 hours, of which 53 minutes are walking across 4.1 km, and begin on whichever day you like.
Puzzles sit at the granite National Theatre, the caryatids of the Ateneum, the green dome of Helsinki Cathedral, the stalls of Market Square and the Old Market Hall, and the twin spires of St John's Church. None depends on a story, so a difficult riddle never blocks the next, and three levels of hints are on hand. Helsinki suits this walk: neoclassical centre, South Harbour and Design District sit side by side.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 53 min · 4.1 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the escape game
Work it out
Each landmark sets a puzzle whose answer is in plain sight. Observation and logic do the job, with no prior knowledge.
Look up and around
Statues, inscriptions, rooftops and market stalls supply the clues, so the city itself becomes the puzzle box.
Cover the ground
Google Maps leads you between landmarks: 53 minutes of walking spread over 4.1 km.
Choose your tempo
No timer runs. Take a hint when you want one, stop at a market hall for a bite, continue 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
A puzzle at each landmark keeps the whole group talking, whoever happens to know Helsinki best.
Couples
Something to crack together between two stops, with nobody chasing a record.
Colleagues
Teams of up to 5 play on their own phones, so a company group can run as several teams at once.
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 Finnish National Theatre to the Three Smiths
10 stops · about 53 min walking · start: Finnish National Theatre · finish: Three Smiths Statue
Puzzle one is set at the Finnish National Theatre on Railway Square, and the final one at the Three Smiths Statue. Along the way the game calls at the Ateneum, Helsinki Cathedral, Market Square and the Old Market Hall, The Shipwrecked on Observatory Hill, the Design Museum, St John's Church and the Old Church. Daylight is the better choice, since solving happens outdoors and rain or wind make it harder. Google Maps does the navigating, the app lets you reorder the stops, and no entry tickets are needed.
Open the route map ↗
1Finnish National TheatreStart
The granite building on the north side of Railway Square was designed by Onni Tarjanne in the National Romantic style and opened in 1902. The company itself was founded in 1872 as the first professional theatre performing in Finnish. In front of it sits a statue of the writer Aleksis Kivi.
2Ateneum
This neo-Renaissance palace on Railway Square was completed in 1887 to a design by Theodor Höijer and is now part of the Finnish National Gallery. Look at the facade, where caryatids carry the balcony and busts of great artists of the past decorate the walls. Inside hang classics of Finnish art by painters such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Helene Schjerfbeck.
3Helsinki Cathedral
Carl Ludvig Engel designed the white Lutheran cathedral with its green dome as the crowning piece of Senate Square, and it was built from 1830 to 1852. Until Finland's independence in 1917 it was called St Nicholas' Church, after Emperor Nicholas I. Zinc statues of the twelve apostles stand on its roof.
4Market Square (Kauppatori)
Until the early 19th century this was a muddy bay with fishing piers, and it was filled in after Helsinki became the capital of Finland in 1812. Today stalls sell fresh food and souvenirs by the South Harbour, and ferries leave for the sea fortress of Suomenlinna. The Presidential Palace and the City Hall face the square.
Read the full story →
5Old Market Hall
Helsinki's oldest market hall, Vanha kauppahalli, opened in 1889 on the waterfront next to Market Square. Gustaf Nyström designed it in red brick on a cast-iron frame. Its stalls sell fish, cheese, bread and Finnish specialities, and it is a good place to try local food.
Read the full story →
6The Shipwrecked
Robert Stigell's bronze group The Shipwrecked, Haaksirikkoiset in Finnish, was unveiled in 1898 on Observatory Hill above the South Harbour. It shows castaways on a raft, one of them waving desperately for rescue. From the park around it you look out over the harbour and the islands.
7Design Museum
Founded in 1873, the Design Museum collects Finnish design and applied art, from glass and ceramics to furniture and fashion. It occupies a neo-Gothic former school building from the 1890s in the Design District, the area of studios, galleries and design shops in the southern centre.
8St John's Church
With its two spires 74 metres high, St John's Church is one of the tallest buildings in central Helsinki and, with seats for about 2,600 people, the largest church in Finland. The Swedish architect Adolf Melander designed it in the Gothic Revival style, and it was completed in 1891.
Read the full story →
9Old Church
Carl Ludvig Engel designed this wooden church, built from 1824 to 1826, to serve the parish while the cathedral was being built, and it is the oldest surviving church in central Helsinki. The park around it was once a cemetery where victims of the plague of 1710 were buried, which is why locals call it Plague Park.
10Three Smiths StatueFinish
Felix Nylund's bronze of three smiths hammering on an anvil was unveiled in 1932 at the corner of Aleksanterinkatu and Mannerheimintie. It is one of the best-known meeting points in Helsinki. A dent in the granite base was left by a bomb fragment during the Soviet air raids of 1944.
Read the full story →
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
We very much enjoyed our self guided escape audio tour. It’s such an entertaining way to walk through town and learning about the city. What we also enjoyed was that the tour took us outside popular tourist attractions and through other interesting more locally visited places. We will definitely do another self guided tour in another city again.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Es war an sich gut aber nicht so spannend wie gedacht.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Eine schöne Tour, die Rätsel sind jedoch sehr einfach gehalten.
Joan– Denmark –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Alletiders – sjov udfordrende og anderledes