What is the Lausanne outdoor escape game?
The Lausanne outdoor escape game is an escape room turned inside out: the puzzles sit in the open city and you work on them from your own phone, reading each square, façade and fountain for the detail that gives the answer. Count on about 2 hours, of which 41 minutes are spent walking 2.9 km between the 10 stops, with no fixed start time.
Puzzles are waiting at Lausanne Cathedral, on Place de la Palud, at Château Saint-Maire and at the Palais de Rumine, and each one stands alone, so there is no story you have to keep track of. If one holds you up, three levels of hints are there. Lausanne suits the format because it is built on terraces above Lake Geneva: a short climb changes what you see, and the clues change with it.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 41 min · 2.9 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the escape game
Solve
Work out each puzzle from what stands in front of you plus a little logic. No prior knowledge of the city is needed.
Look closer
Answers sit in small things: a painted figure on a fountain, the colours left on a portal, a date cut into stone.
Walk
Google Maps sends you to the next landmark, 41 minutes on foot and 2.9 km in total, uphill and down again.
Take your time
Nothing counts down. Take a hint, break for coffee on Place de la Palud 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
Everyone reads the same square differently, which is what makes the arguing between stops worthwhile.
Couples
One shared problem at a time, a view over the lake every so often and no clock pushing you along.
Colleagues
Teams of up to 5 play on their own phones, so a company outing splits neatly into several teams.
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 Lausanne Station to the Esplanade du Flon
10 stops · about 41 min walking · start: Lausanne Station · finish: Esplanade du Flon
Puzzle one waits outside Lausanne Station. From there the route goes up to the Esplanade de Montbenon, with its view over Lake Geneva to the Alps, then through Place de la Palud to Lausanne Cathedral. Two puzzles sit side by side on the Cité hill, at the Vaud Parliament and Château Saint-Maire, before the way back down passes the Palais de Rumine, the Church of Notre-Dame du Valentin and the Church of Saint-Laurent. The last puzzle is on the Esplanade du Flon, below the arches of the Grand-Pont. Start in daylight, reorder the stops in the app if you like, and bring no entry tickets, because none are needed.
Open the route map ↗
1Lausanne StationStart
Lausanne's railway station sits halfway up the city's steep slope, between the lake shore at Ouchy and the old town on the hill above. The m2 metro, opened in 2008, stops here on its climb through the city and is one of the steepest metro lines in the world.
2Esplanade de Montbenon
This tree-lined terrace above the Flon valley looks out over Lake Geneva to the Alps. At its western end stands the Palais de Justice de Montbenon, built in the 1880s for the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which still has its seat in Lausanne, and nearby a statue of William Tell.
3Place de la Palud
Lausanne's old market square is framed by the Town Hall, whose arcaded façade dates from the 17th century, and by the Fountain of Justice with its painted statue. An animated clock on a house opposite shows scenes from Vaud history, and the covered wooden Escaliers du Marché lead up towards the cathedral.
Read the full story →
4Lausanne Cathedral
The Gothic Cathedral of Notre-Dame was consecrated in 1275 by Pope Gregory X in the presence of King Rudolf of Habsburg. Look for the painted portal, which still shows medieval colours, and the great rose window. Every night a watchman calls out the hours from the tower, a tradition kept since the Middle Ages.
5Vaud Parliament
The parliament of the Canton of Vaud meets on the Cité hill, right beside the Château Saint-Maire. After a fire destroyed the old parliament building in 2002, a new building with a striking sloping roof was built on the site and opened in 2017.
6Château Saint-Maire
This fortified castle was built around 1400 as the residence of the bishops of Lausanne, with a stone base and upper walls of brick, rare in this region. After the Bernese conquest of 1536 it housed the Bernese bailiffs, and today it is the seat of the government of the Canton of Vaud.
7Palais de Rumine
This palace in Florentine Renaissance style on Place de la Riponne was built in the early 20th century with a bequest from Gabriel de Rumine. It houses several cantonal museums and part of the university library, and the Treaty of Lausanne between Turkey and the Allies was signed here in 1923.
8Church of Notre-Dame du Valentin
This is Lausanne's main Catholic church, standing on the northern edge of the old town. It was built in the 1930s on the site of an older church from the 1830s, the first Catholic church built in Lausanne after the Reformation.
9Church of Saint-Laurent
The Protestant Church of Saint-Laurent stands in the old quarter of the same name, on a site where a church has stood since the Middle Ages. The present building dates mainly from the 18th century, and its classical façade faces a small square.
10Esplanade du FlonFinish
The Flon district lies in the valley of the river Flon, which was covered over and filled in during the 19th century. Its former warehouses were turned into a quarter of shops, restaurants, bars and offices, and the arches of the Grand-Pont bridge span the valley above.
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Christina Z. (verified owner) –
Certaines énigmes sont très difficile à comprendre, malgre les indices. Dommage que, quand on abondonne, on reçoit juste la bonne réponse sans aucune explication comment la trouvé.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
C’est une bonne idée. Bonne distraction.