Lille scavenger hunt
Overlooking Place de la République, the Palais des Beaux Arts is one of France's premier fine arts museums, renowned for its grand Belle Époque building and vast collection of European masterpieces.
The open-air amphitheater, also known as ''the "crater", serves as both a public gathering spot and the entrance to the République - Beaux-Arts metro station.
Located in the historic heart of Old Lille, Lille Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille) is a unique Roman Catholic cathedral that combines elaborate Neo-Gothic architecture with a striking modern facade made of translucent marble sheets.
Standing at the Place Simon Vollant in central Lille, the Porte de Paris is a monumental 17th-century triumphal arch built to celebrate King Louis XIV’s capture of the city and its integration into the Kingdom of France.
The Vieille Bourse is a 17th-century masterpiece of Flemish Renaissance architecture, consisting of twenty-four identical houses wrapped around a beautiful interior courtyard where locals often gather for book markets and chess.
Lille scavenger hunt
Overlooking Place de la République, the Palais des Beaux Arts is one of France's premier fine arts museums, renowned for its grand Belle Époque building and vast collection of European masterpieces.
The open-air amphitheater, also known as ''the "crater", serves as both a public gathering spot and the entrance to the République - Beaux-Arts metro station.
Located in the historic heart of Old Lille, Lille Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille) is a unique Roman Catholic cathedral that combines elaborate Neo-Gothic architecture with a striking modern facade made of translucent marble sheets.
Standing at the Place Simon Vollant in central Lille, the Porte de Paris is a monumental 17th-century triumphal arch built to celebrate King Louis XIV’s capture of the city and its integration into the Kingdom of France.
The Vieille Bourse is a 17th-century masterpiece of Flemish Renaissance architecture, consisting of twenty-four identical houses wrapped around a beautiful interior courtyard where locals often gather for book markets and chess.

Lille Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

Rated 4.61 out of 5 based on 400 customer ratings
(400 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 Lille 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
  • Secure checkout - Instant confirmation

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

Belfries, giants and Flemish gables in a Lille city game

The Lille scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk through the centre of Lille, solve a riddle at each of 10 landmarks and unlock the stories behind them. Plan on roughly 2 hours in all, of which only about 38 minutes are spent walking over 3 km of compact, flat streets, and the first riddle waits until you decide to begin.

Highlights include the 104-metre town hall belfry, the Porte de Paris triumphal arch, the Palais des Beaux-Arts, the Grand'Place with its Column of the Goddess and the courtyard of the Vieille Bourse. Lille's compact centre, with Flemish façades and squares close together, is easy to explore on foot.

  • Durationabout 2 hours
  • Walkingabout 38 min · 3 km
  • Stops10
  • LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch

Riddles from the town hall belfry to Old Lille

Two giants, a club and a god on a bell tower

Every one of the 10 stops sets a riddle that the scene itself answers: the giants Lydéric and Phinaert at the foot of the town hall belfry, Hercules with his club and Mars in the niches of the Porte de Paris, Mercury on top of the Vieille Bourse, the goddess on her column above the Grand'Place. Look closely, reason it out, and French is optional.

A siege, a war memorial and a general born here

Each answer unlocks a chapter of Lille's past: Louis XIV taking the city in 1667, the Austrian siege of 1792 remembered by the Column of the Goddess, the rebuilding after the First World War that produced the 104-metre belfry, and Charles de Gaulle, born in Lille in 1890, whose name the main square officially bears. The audio narration tells it all while you walk.

3 km of squares, Flemish façades and old lanes

About 38 minutes on foot over 3 km take you north from the town hall, past the Palais des Beaux-Arts and Saint-Maurice to the Grand'Place, then into the narrower streets of Old Lille. Google Maps shows the way between stops, and the centre is flat throughout.

Second-hand books and a Lille waffle

Nothing is timed, so browse the booksellers in the arcaded courtyard of the Vieille Bourse, watch a game of chess there, follow the app's tips to a filled waffle or a café in Old Lille and come back to the riddles whenever you like.

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.

Train day-trippers, families and teams in Lille

A day out on the fast train

Lille is an easy day trip by fast train from Paris, Brussels or London, and about 2 hours of riddles cover the town hall, the Grand'Place and Old Lille with time left for lunch. The game shows you far more than the main square, from the triumphal arch to the cathedral's modern façade.

Kids who like giants and gods

Children enjoy tracking down the two legendary giants beside the belfry, spotting Hercules' club and the trumpeting angels on the Porte de Paris and counting the chessboards in the Vieille Bourse. An adult joins every team, and the short distances between stops suit younger legs.

Teams between two meetings

Groups of up to 5, every player on their own phone, can leave the town hall at intervals and gather again at Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille in Old Lille. Since the game uses only Lille's public squares and streets, the tickets are the one thing you need to book in advance.

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.

From Lydéric's belfry past the Grand'Place to the cathedral in Old Lille

10 stops · about 38 min walking · start: Lille Town Hall Belfry · finish: Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral

The hunt starts at the belfry of Lille Town Hall and the Porte de Paris, then heads to the Palais des Beaux-Arts on Place de la République and on to Saint-Maurice Church. Via the war memorial on Place Rihour you reach the Grand'Place, the Vieille Bourse and the Chamber of Commerce belfry, before walking into Old Lille to finish at Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral. Since each answer is carved, cast or painted on the outside of a building, the game never asks for an admission ticket, and if you would rather open it in Old Lille or on the Grand'Place, the app allows that and puts the other stops in order afterwards.

Open the route map ↗

  1. Lille Town Hall Belfry

    1Lille Town Hall BelfryStart

    The 104-metre belfry of the town hall was designed by Émile Dubuisson and inaugurated in 1932, when Lille was rebuilding after the First World War. At its foot stand concrete statues of Lydéric and Phinaert, the giants of the city's founding legend, and since 2005 it has been part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France.

  2. Porte de Paris

    2Porte de Paris

    This triumphal arch was built between 1685 and 1692 by Simon Vollant, an engineer who had worked with Vauban on Lille's citadel, to celebrate Louis XIV's capture of the city in 1667. Look for Hercules with his club and Mars, god of war, in the niches, and two trumpeting angels on top.

  3. Palais des Beaux-Arts

    3Palais des Beaux-Arts

    Built between 1885 and 1892 to designs by the Paris architects Édouard Bérard and Fernand Delmas, this palace houses one of the largest art museums in France. Its collection runs from Raphael and Rubens to Goya and Delacroix, and includes relief models of fortified towns from the age of Vauban.

  4. Place de la République

    4Place de la République

    The square is framed by two grand 19th-century buildings facing each other: the Palais des Beaux-Arts and the Prefecture of the Nord department, begun in 1865 to designs by Charles Marteau. It is one of the city's main meeting points, with its own metro station, République–Beaux-Arts.

  5. Saint-Maurice Church

    5Saint-Maurice Church

    Saint-Maurice is a Gothic hall church: its nave and the double aisles on each side all rise to the same height. Building began in the late 14th century, the western bays and steeple were only completed in the 1870s, and the church was listed as a historic monument in 1840.

    Read the full story →

  6. War Memorial (Monument aux Morts)

    6War Memorial (Monument aux Morts)

    Lille's war memorial on Place Rihour was inaugurated in 1927 against the walls of the Palais Rihour, the 15th-century palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. Designed by sculptor Edgar Boutry and architect Jacques Alleman, it honours soldiers and civilians alike, with scenes of peace, the city's liberation in 1918 and civilians taken away during the German occupation.

  7. Grand'Place (Place du Général-de-Gaulle)

    7Grand'Place (Place du Général-de-Gaulle)

    The main square was renamed after Charles de Gaulle, who was born in Lille in 1890, in September 1944, but locals still call it the Grand'Place. In the centre stands the Column of the Goddess, finished in 1845 in memory of the city's resistance to the Austrian siege of 1792.

  8. Vieille Bourse

    8Vieille Bourse

    The Old Stock Exchange was built in 1652 and 1653 under the direction of Julien Destrée: 24 identical houses in Flemish Renaissance style around an arcaded courtyard. A statue of Mercury, god of commerce, crowns its bell tower, and today the courtyard belongs to second-hand booksellers and chess players.

    Read the full story →

  9. Chamber of Commerce Belfry

    9Chamber of Commerce Belfry

    The Chamber of Commerce building on Place du Théâtre was designed by Louis-Marie Cordonnier and built from 1910 to 1921 in neo-Flemish style. Its 76-metre belfry rises right next to the Vieille Bourse and the Opera and is one of the landmarks of the Lille skyline.

  10. Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral

    10Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille CathedralFinish

    The foundation stone of this Gothic Revival church was laid in 1854, and building went on in stages for more than a century. It became a cathedral when the Diocese of Lille was created in 1913, and its modern façade by architect Pierre-Louis Carlier and engineer Peter Rice was only installed in 1999.

    Read the full story →

400 reviews for Lille Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

  1. Rated 5 out of 5

    Austria –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  2. Rated 5 out of 5

    Chantal– Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Goed én duidelijke beschrijving ook naar elke locatie. Afstanden echt prima te doen en ook de mogelijkheid om tussendoor even te stoppen

  3. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Die Rätsel:)

  4. Rated 5 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  5. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  6. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  7. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Sehr viel Interessantes. Teilweise etwas schwer zu lösen

  8. Rated 5 out of 5

    Belgium –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable guide, who showed us parts of the city we would not have discovered on our own. 2 hours was just the right length to see the highlights of Bilbao.

  9. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  10. Rated 5 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Très sympa à faire avec enfants et adultes. Nous avons apprécié le cheminement. Les explications sont de la bonne taille, assez longue mais assez courtes pour qu’on les lise.

  11. Rated 4 out of 5

    Australia –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Great facts and stories.

  12. Rated 5 out of 5

    Italy –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  13. Rated 4 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    La première énigme Les énigmes 7 et 8 l’hôtel de ville et la place étant en travaux nous avons dû faire les énigmes à l’aide d’Internet

  14. Rated 5 out of 5

    Italy –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  15. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Tolle Tour – genau die richtige Länge. Rätsel waren abwechslungsreich.

  16. Rated 4 out of 5

    Valerio– Italy –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Va molto bene per avere una prima idea del centro storico di Genova

  17. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  18. Rated 5 out of 5

    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.

  19. Rated 4 out of 5

    Jennifer– United States –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    A good plan to take you through a walking tour of the city, seeing major sites. It was great that it was at your own pace, so you can stop and visit some of the sites. Our teens enjoyed it.

  20. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Interaktiv, spannend

  21. Rated 5 out of 5

    Cornelia– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  22. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  23. Rated 5 out of 5

    Fernando– Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Una forma diferente de conocer la ciudad.

  24. Rated 4 out of 5

    Italy –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  25. Rated 5 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Muy divertido y entretenido

  26. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Die Schnitzeljagd führt zu einigen Sehenswürdigkeiten im Zentrum vom Kopenhagen. Die Beschreibungen sind interessant, ersparen den Reiseführer und beinhalten Hinweise, was in unmittelbarer Nähe noch zu sehen ist. Dadurch wurde der Stadtrundgang kurzweilig (auch mit Teenager). Unbedingt mehr Zeit einplanen zum rumtrödeln und entdecken; insbesondere die Hinweise für die Aussichtspunkte auf Türmen haben sich gelohnt. Die Rätsel sind zum Teil wirklich rätselhaft, sorgen dadurch aber auch für gute Stimmung.

  27. Rated 5 out of 5

    Jennifer Katherine– Italy –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  28. Rated 5 out of 5

    Hector– France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Super pour découvrir la ville avec ses anecdotes ! Le tour est bien pense !! Je recommande +++ si vous ne savez pas par ou commencer votre visite, celle ci vous amène a faire le tour de manière ludique

  29. Rated 4 out of 5

    Frank– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  30. Rated 5 out of 5

    Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Praktisch, man kann sich die Zeit selbst einteilen, man ist unabhängig

  31. Rated 5 out of 5

    Canada –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  32. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  33. Rated 5 out of 5

    Australia –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  34. Rated 4 out of 5

    andrea– Italy –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  35. Rated 5 out of 5

    Daniel– Sweden –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  36. Rated 4 out of 5

    Isabella– United States –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    We really enjoyed the self-paced style and the following clues and solving puzzles bit. If you are looking for a more cohesive narrative of the story of Zaragoza though and want more details, it might not be the right fit.

  37. Rated 5 out of 5

    Daniela– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  38. Rated 4 out of 5

    Italy –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  39. Rated 5 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Très sympathique pour découvrir la ville et son histoire, à condition d’avoir du réseau !

  40. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  41. Rated 5 out of 5

    Heather– United States –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Fun activity for the family to discover the beauty of Palermo – well thought out walking tour with great history and useful map!

  42. Rated 5 out of 5

    Tara– Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Rätsel lösen

  43. Rated 4 out of 5

    Jochen– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Kurzweilige Aktivität, die zu den wichtigsten Sehenswürdigkeiten der Stadt führt und nette Hintergrundinfos bereit hält. Manche Fragen bzw. Antworten könnten etwas präziser formuliert sein, da es sonst schwierig ist, die richtige Antwort einzugeben.

  44. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  45. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  46. Rated 5 out of 5

    Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  47. Rated 5 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Très bien cependant trop peu de chose à voir

  48. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Wunderschöne Stadt und wirklich spannende Schnitzeljagd

  49. Rated 4 out of 5

    Matasa– Romania –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  50. Rated 5 out of 5

    France –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

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

Frequently asked questions

How long should we set aside for the riddles in Lille?

Around 2 hours from start to finish. Walking takes up only about 38 minutes of that, over 3 km and 10 stops from the town hall belfry to Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral, and the remaining time is spent solving riddles and hearing about giants, sieges and merchants. If a café in Old Lille tempts you, pause there and pick up the rest later that day or on another visit.

Does the Lille game start at the belfry and finish in Old Lille?

Yes: the first riddle is at the belfry of Lille Town Hall, beside the Porte de Paris on the southern edge of the centre, and the last at Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral among the cobbled lanes of Old Lille. If the Grand'Place is handier for your group, open the game there in the app.

Is there a meeting time or a guide waiting at the town hall?

No guide waits for you and no clock is set: after booking online you receive a booking reference by email, type it into the World City Trail app and play on whatever day and at whatever hour fits your trip. Every player has a ticket, and the riddles about Lydéric, Louis XIV and Mercury appear on each phone.

Which buildings on the Lille route charge admission inside?

For the game that makes no difference, since it is played entirely in front of the buildings. If you want to go further, the Palais des Beaux-Arts is a museum with paid admission and climbing the town hall belfry is a ticketed visit too, both easy to add before or after.

What makes the Lille hunt fun for children?

With an adult in the team, kids tend to enjoy meeting the giants Lydéric and Phinaert, finding Hercules and the angels on the triumphal arch, looking for Mercury high on the Vieille Bourse and watching the chess players in its courtyard. Wheelchairs cannot manage the route, and around the cathedral the cobbled lanes give a pushchair a bumpy ride.

Is the Lille game available in Spanish or Dutch?

Both are, along with English, German, French and Italian, which makes six languages for the Lille riddles. You pick yours in the World City Trail app at the town hall belfry, and the whole game then stays in that language.

How would a company run the Lille hunt for its staff?

Buy a ticket for every colleague, form teams of no more than five and release them from the town hall belfry a few minutes apart, then gather again at the cathedral in Old Lille. With every riddle on a public street or square, no venue has to be booked for the game itself.

What should we take for the Lille weather?

A rain jacket or an umbrella, as the weather in the north of France can turn quickly, and shoes with a good grip for the cobbles of Old Lille. Beyond that, a phone with a full battery and mobile data, plus a power bank, covers the 3 km.

Your first riddle waits under the town hall belfry

Book online with one ticket per player, collect the booking reference from your inbox and enter it in the World City Trail app. Then walk to the foot of the 104-metre belfry, say hello to the giants and start the first riddle.

Book your tickets →

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