Lausanne scavenger hunt
The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Lausanne is a magnificent Gothic landmark celebrated for its intricate rose window and its position overlooking the city and Lake Geneva.
Overlooking a bustling pedestrian square in the city center, this Reformed church blends late-medieval origins with a stately eighteenth-century Baroque facade crowned by an ornate clock tower.
Perched commanding at the northern crest of Lausanne's Old Town hill, Château St-Maire is a sturdy, brick-topped fourteenth-century fortress originally constructed for regional prince-bishops that continues to house the cantonal government today.
The Place de la Palud is a charming historic square featuring the city’s oldest fountain and a colorful animated clock that brings local history to life.
The majestic Palais de Rumine is a grand Renaissance-style landmark in the heart of Lausanne, home to several fascinating museums and admired for its elegant architecture overlooking Place de la Riponne.
Lausanne scavenger hunt
The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Lausanne is a magnificent Gothic landmark celebrated for its intricate rose window and its position overlooking the city and Lake Geneva.
Overlooking a bustling pedestrian square in the city center, this Reformed church blends late-medieval origins with a stately eighteenth-century Baroque facade crowned by an ornate clock tower.
Perched commanding at the northern crest of Lausanne's Old Town hill, Château St-Maire is a sturdy, brick-topped fourteenth-century fortress originally constructed for regional prince-bishops that continues to house the cantonal government today.
The Place de la Palud is a charming historic square featuring the city’s oldest fountain and a colorful animated clock that brings local history to life.
The majestic Palais de Rumine is a grand Renaissance-style landmark in the heart of Lausanne, home to several fascinating museums and admired for its elegant architecture overlooking Place de la Riponne.

Lausanne Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

Rated 4.56 out of 5 based on 41 customer ratings
(41 customer reviews)

Explore the city at your own pace with a self-guided experience.
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Make a day of itInteractive guides by World City Trail, delivered with your tickets.

What is a city guide?

Your own guide to Lausanne on your phone: hand-picked places, each with why to go, what to order and a practical tip.

  • Tick places off
  • Your own notes
  • One tap to Maps
  • Open now, near me
  • Works offline
  • Print it or save as PDF
See the guides, a short video and all the details →
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Loved by thousands of travelers and locals

  • No time limit – use your ticket whenever you want
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Included: your personal Trail Map with every city you finish, the kilometres you walk and your flag collection. See an example →

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Everything you need for a flexible self-guided city experience

Explore the city at your own pace

✔ Discover hidden gems & highlights
✔ Enjoy a flexible self-guided experience
✔ Explore freely with no schedule
✔ Perfect for couples, students, companies, friends & families

How your city experience works

✔ Instant ticket purchase
✔ Easy access via the World City Trail app
✔ Quick setup with your booking details
✔ Start anytime and explore freely
✔ Pause and resume anytime

Why travelers choose this tour

✔ Instant access after purchase
✔ Optional AI voice narration — listen instead of read
✔ Discover top attractions & food spots
✔ Customize your route anytime

Up and down Lausanne's hills: a city game above Lake Geneva

The Lausanne 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 station up to the cathedral hill and back down into the Flon valley you walk about 41 minutes, 2.9 km with 10 stops, and with riddles and stories the game takes roughly 3 hours, starting whenever you arrive.

Highlights include the view from the Esplanade de Montbenon, the Town Hall and animated clock on Place de la Palud, the Gothic cathedral with its painted portal, the bishops' Château Saint-Maire and the Palais de Rumine. Lausanne is built on steep hills above Lake Geneva, so the walk climbs from the station to the old town and rewards you with views over the lake.

  • Durationabout 3 hours
  • Walkingabout 41 min · 2.9 km
  • Stops10
  • LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch

Riddles on three levels of Lausanne

A painted portal, a clock and a covered stair

Each stop hides one riddle in what you can see: the medieval colours still on the cathedral's painted portal, the animated clock on Place de la Palud, the wooden roof over the Escaliers du Marché. Patient eyes and some logic are enough, and nobody expects you to know Vaud history.

A pope, a treaty and a night watchman

Answers unlock Lausanne's stories: Pope Gregory X consecrating the cathedral in 1275 with Rudolf of Habsburg looking on, the Treaty of Lausanne signed in the Palais de Rumine in 1923, and the watchman who still calls out the hours from the cathedral tower every night. The audio narration reads them out if your eyes are busy with the view.

2.9 km with a climb in the middle

About 41 minutes of walking take you up from the station to the cathedral and down again into the Flon, and the slopes are real, because Lausanne is built on hills above the lake. Google Maps picks the way through stairs, bridges and lanes.

A view, a coffee, a break

There is no timer in the game, so you can linger over the Alps from the Esplanade de Montbenon, stop for a coffee on Place de la Palud or finish another day. Coming up from Ouchy on the m2? Get off at the station, which is the first stop.

See the route and attractions →

How it works

  1. Book online Choose the number of players. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
  2. Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
  3. Play when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.

Who climbs Lausanne's riddle trail

Day trips by train along Lake Geneva

The first riddle is at Lausanne station, so a day trip by train from elsewhere on the lake fits the game's 3 hours and 2.9 km with ease. Between the cathedral and the castle, the riddles stop you at details a quick visit would miss.

Children who like towers and clocks

Kids enjoy the animated clock on Place de la Palud, the covered wooden stairs to the cathedral and the idea of a watchman calling out the hours at night. Children play alongside an adult, who will be glad of the rests between climbs.

Teams who finish in the Flon

Up to 5 players per team, each on their own phone, can leave the station at intervals and gather at the end in the Flon, a district of shops, bars and restaurants under the Grand-Pont. The game uses only public squares, stairs and streets.

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 Lausanne station over the Cité hill to the Flon

10 stops · about 41 min walking · start: Lausanne Station · finish: Esplanade du Flon

The hunt starts at Lausanne station and climbs to the Esplanade de Montbenon, then crosses to Place de la Palud and up to the cathedral. On the Cité hill you pass the Vaud Parliament and the Château Saint-Maire, then head down to the Palais de Rumine, the Church of Notre-Dame du Valentin and the Church of Saint-Laurent, and finish at the Esplanade du Flon. Arcades, portals, statues and fountains hold every answer, so not one riddle sends you to a ticket office, and if the old town is a better place to begin than the station, the app can open the game on Place de la Palud and put the other stops in a new order.

Open the route map ↗

  1. Lausanne Station

    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.

  2. Esplanade de Montbenon

    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.

  3. Place de la Palud

    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 →

  4. Lausanne Cathedral

    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.

  5. Vaud Parliament

    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.

  6. Château Saint-Maire

    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.

  7. Palais de Rumine

    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.

  8. Church of Notre-Dame du Valentin

    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.

  9. Church of Saint-Laurent

    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.

  10. Esplanade du Flon

    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.

41 reviews for Lausanne Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

  1. Rated 5 out of 5

    Matteo– Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Die meisten Rätsel sind gut zu lösen, leichter Schwierigkeitsgrad, eines haben wir aber tatsächlich nicht geschafft??man bekommt eine schöne Route durch Lausanne, wobei man auch gut mal abbiegen und etwas essen gehen kann. Sehr schön

  2. Rated 5 out of 5

    Paulo– Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Family of 2

  3. Rated 5 out of 5

    Liechtenstein –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  4. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  5. Rated 4 out of 5

    Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  6. Rated 4 out of 5

    Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Die Beschreibung auf deutsch ist nicht immer klar.

  7. Rated 5 out of 5

    Isaac-Bulgaria –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  8. Rated 5 out of 5

    Brayden-Norway –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  9. Rated 5 out of 5

    Easton-Hungary –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  10. Rated 5 out of 5

    Zoe-Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  11. Rated 5 out of 5

    Aurora-Austria –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  12. Rated 4 out of 5

    David– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Sportif : ça monte et ça descend 😅

  13. Rated 4 out of 5

    Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Die Übersetzung der beigefügten Informationen sind nicht immer gut ins Deutsche übersetzt.

  14. Rated 5 out of 5

    Gabriel-Bulgaria –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  15. Rated 5 out of 5

    Anthony-France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  16. Rated 4 out of 5

    Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Das Rätsel mit der Uhr und den Zeigern haben wir leider überhaupt nicht verstanden. Aber ansonsten war es sehr lustig und die Schnitzeljagd führte uns zu sehr schönen Orten in Lausanne.

  17. Rated 4 out of 5

    United Kingdom –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Clues need so work but great way of seeing this intricate city. Some lovely spots en route.

  18. Rated 4 out of 5

    Skylar-Lithuania –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  19. Rated 5 out of 5

    Natalie-Portugal –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  20. Rated 5 out of 5

    Ella-France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  21. Rated 5 out of 5

    Nicholas-France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  22. Rated 5 out of 5

    Michael-Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  23. Rated 2 out of 5

    Brooklyn-Poland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  24. Rated 5 out of 5

    Jonathan-France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  25. Rated 5 out of 5

    Christian-Norway –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  26. Rated 5 out of 5

    Jonathan-Austria –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  27. Rated 4 out of 5

    Valerie– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Si les explications pouvaient être en audio cela serait mieux . Devoir lire des textes aussi long prend du temps sur l’activité et est rébarbatif.

  28. Rated 5 out of 5

    Michael-France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  29. Rated 3 out of 5

    Emma-Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  30. Rated 5 out of 5

    Nicholas-Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  31. Rated 3 out of 5

    Adrian-Finland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  32. Rated 5 out of 5

    Savannah-Australia –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  33. Rated 5 out of 5

    Hazel-France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  34. Rated 5 out of 5

    Cristina– Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Viel Spass als Familie und tolle Art die Stadt zu entdecken.

  35. Rated 4 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Premières étapes pas claires . La suite mieux

  36. Rated 4 out of 5

    United Kingdom –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    When I selected the ticket the price doubled? Just a bit of fun but not the best

  37. Rated 5 out of 5

    Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Great way to explore Lausanne and laugh along the way. We did it on a Saturday and the course took us through the markets which another great experience.

  38. Rated 5 out of 5

    Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Spannende Stadtführung mit vielen Informationen, aber auch teilweise schweren Rätsel, am besten zu mehreren zu lösen, um viele Ideen zu generieren Deutsche Version aus dem Französischen pbersetzt

  39. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Ganz witzig, nur als Familie reicht es, ein Ticket zu buchen. Man bekommt eh nur einen Code.

  40. Rated 5 out of 5

    Liechtenstein –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Super flexibel, genau wie es uns gefällt. Die Rätsel haben wir nicht alle gelöst, aber das tat dem Spass keinen Abbruch und wir hatten mit wenig Aufwand die wichtigsten Orte von Lausanne gesehen.

  41. Rated 5 out of 5

    karel –

    Cool way to explore the city! Very nice walk-route, good riddles and we learned so many info about the city

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

Frequently asked questions

How much of a day does the Lausanne hunt need, hills included?

Around 3 hours for the whole game, yet your legs only work for some 41 minutes, across 2.9 km and 10 stops. The hills slow you down a little, and the rest of the time goes on riddles, stories and getting your breath back with a view of the lake.

Can we walk straight from the train to the first riddle in Lausanne?

Yes: the first riddle is at Lausanne station itself, and the tenth on the Esplanade du Flon, down in the valley below the Grand-Pont. If you are staying in the old town, the app can start you on Place de la Palud instead.

Do we need to book a time or meet anyone in Lausanne?

Neither a time nor a person. Your booking reference reaches you by email, and with it entered in the World City Trail app you can start on any day you like, straight off a morning train or after lunch by the lake. Each player buys a ticket, and every phone in the group can show the riddles.

Is there anything to pay for at the cathedral?

Not for the game, which is played entirely outdoors. The cathedral itself is free to visit, and climbing its tower is a separate visit with its own ticket.

Is the Lausanne hunt hard work for children?

Not really: there are hills, but children tend to forget them while hunting, with an adult in their team, for the animated clock on Place de la Palud, William Tell on the Esplanade de Montbenon and the covered stairs up to the cathedral. Steep slopes and steps rule out wheelchairs, and with a pushchair the climbs are heavy going.

Is Lausanne's game available in French, German or Italian?

All three, since they are Swiss national languages, and English, Spanish and Dutch are on offer as well. The setting is made on each phone in the World City Trail app, so one person can play in Italian while another plays in Dutch.

Can our team play the Lausanne hunt after a meeting in town?

Yes, and the Flon at the finish has plenty of places to sit down together afterwards. Give everyone a ticket, form teams of up to five and let them leave the station a few minutes apart; no room needs booking, since the whole game is outdoors.

What should we pack for Lausanne's steep streets?

Comfortable shoes for climbing streets and stairs, a light jacket for the breeze off the lake and, for each team, a charged phone with mobile data. A power bank is a good idea, and earphones help with the audio narration.

Lausanne station: riddle one, then up the hill

Get a ticket for each person playing and keep the email with your booking reference. On the day, step off the train at Lausanne, open the first riddle in front of the station and start climbing.

Book your tickets →

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