What is the Lübeck outdoor escape game?
The Lübeck outdoor escape game is an escape room taken out of doors: you play on your own phone, and at each of the 10 stops a puzzle waits that you work out by reading the surroundings and thinking it through. You cover 3.4 km, walk for 64 minutes and finish in something like 2 hours, on whichever day you choose.
Puzzles sit at the Burgtor and the Holstentor, the only two city gates still standing, at the brick gable of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit on the Koberg, in front of the white baroque facade of the Buddenbrookhaus, at St Mary's with the tallest brick vault in the world and at the town hall walls pierced by round openings that let the wind through. The old town fills an island, the ground stays flat, and the brick towers keep you oriented between puzzles. Every puzzle stands on its own, so there is no storyline to keep track of, and up to three levels of hints are there if one of them holds you up.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 64 min · 3.4 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do along the way
Solve
Work out the puzzle at each stop from what is in front of you. Logic and a close look are enough, and no prior knowledge is needed.
Look closer
The clues sit in details: an inscription, a figure on a facade, the layout of a square.
Walk
Google Maps points you to the next stop: 64 minutes of walking in all, spread over 3.4 km.
Take your time
Time is with you, not against you. Open a hint when you want one, stop for a coffee and continue later or 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 works for
Friends
Everyone argues for their own answer, and nobody needs to know the city in advance.
Couples
A challenge you take on together, at your own pace, with no clock running.
Team building
Teams of up to 5 play on their own phones, so colleagues can set off in several groups.
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.
The puzzle route in Lübeck, stop by stop
10 stops · about 64 min walking · start: Burgtor · finish: Lübeck Cathedral
The Burgtor is the first stop with a puzzle and Lübeck Cathedral the last, with eight more in between: the Hospital of the Holy Spirit, Theater Lübeck, the Buddenbrookhaus, St Mary's Church, the town hall, the Holstentor, St Peter's Church and the Museumsquartier St. Annen. In between it crosses the market square, goes out to the Holstentor and comes back through the southern lanes, which is why 64 minutes of walking over 3.4 km are part of the plan. Daylight makes for the easier start, because the puzzles are solved outdoors and rain or wind slows the whole game down. Google Maps covers the walking, the order of the stops can be changed in the app, and no entry tickets are needed.
Open the route map ↗
1BurgtorStart
The Burgtor is the northern gate of Lübeck's old town island and, together with the Holstentor, one of only two city gates that survive. Built of brick in late Gothic style, it takes its name from the castle that once stood nearby.
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2Hospital of the Holy Spirit
Lübeck merchants founded this hospital in the 13th century to care for the poor, the old and the sick, and it is one of the oldest social institutions in Europe. Its brick gable with slender turrets faces the Koberg square, and the long hall behind it once held small wooden chambers for the residents.
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3Theater Lübeck
The city theatre on Beckergrube is an art nouveau building from the early 20th century, with a decorated facade and a grand foyer. It is Lübeck's main stage for opera, drama and concerts.
4Buddenbrookhaus
The house with the white baroque facade on Mengstraße belonged to the grandparents of the writers Thomas and Heinrich Mann. Thomas Mann, who later won the Nobel Prize in Literature, made it the home of the merchant family in his novel Buddenbrooks, and today it is a museum about the Mann family.
5Marienkirche
Lübeck's merchants and city council built St Mary's in the 13th and 14th centuries next to the town hall and the market. Called the mother church of Brick Gothic, it was the model for about 70 Baltic churches, and its 38.5-metre nave vault is the tallest brick vault in the world. The bells that fell in the air raid of 1942 still lie broken in the south tower.
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6Lübeck Town Hall
Lübeck's town hall stands on the market square right beside St Mary's, the church of the city council. Built in several stages from the Middle Ages onwards, it is one of the oldest town halls in Germany and still the seat of the mayor and the city parliament. Look for the tall facade walls with round openings, which let the wind blow through.
7Holstentor
The Holstentor is a late Gothic city gate and the best-known symbol of Lübeck. Two massive round towers with pointed roofs flank its gateway, and the Latin inscription Concordia domi foris pax means harmony within, peace outside. Inside, a museum tells the story of the Hanseatic city.
8St Peter's Church
St Peter's was first recorded in 1170 as one of Lübeck's market churches, together with the forerunner of St Mary's. Burnt out in the air raid of 1942 and later rebuilt, it no longer has a parish and is used for exhibitions and events, and a lift takes visitors up the tower to a viewing platform.
9Museumsquartier St. Annen
This museum quarter grew around the former convent of St Anne, built at the start of the 16th century. It shows medieval church art from Lübeck, including Romanesque sculptures from the earlier St Mary's Church and a Passion altarpiece by Hans Memling.
10Lübeck CathedralFinish
Henry the Lion founded Lübeck Cathedral in 1173 at the southern edge of the old town as the church of the bishop. Two slender towers rise above the brick building, and inside hangs a large triumphal cross by the Lübeck artist Bernt Notke. Like St Mary's and St Peter's, it burned in the air raid of 1942 and was rebuilt.
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Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Das Spiel gibt eine gute ?bersicht ?ber die Sehensw?rdigkeiten der Stadt. Allerdings sind die R?tsel oft nicht ganz verst?ndlich, um auf die L?sungen zu kommen. Oft muss die Hilfe zu Rate gezogen werden, um die Aufgabe ?berhaupt zu verstehen.
Silvia– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Wir hatten uns mehr R?tsel erhofft. Aber okay f?r einen L?beck-Spaziergang