What is the Madrid scavenger hunt?
The Madrid 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. It takes about 3 hours, with around 50 minutes of actual walking over 3.9 km and 10 stops, and you start whenever you like.
Highlights include the Prado Museum and the Monument to Goya, the Puerta de Alcalá, the Cibeles Fountain, the Metropolis Building on Gran Vía, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Oriente. The route takes you from the wide boulevards around the Retiro into the narrow streets of the old Habsburg town, so you see both sides of Madrid in one walk.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 50 min · 3.9 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
How the hunt goes from the Prado to the Royal Palace
Ten riddles, ten landmarks
Each of the 10 stops puts one riddle in front of you, and the answer is written somewhere on the façade, the pedestal or the pavement where you are standing. Nothing is asked of your memory, only of your eyes.
What the riddle unlocks
The stop then explains itself: the plaque on the Real Casa de Correos that marks Kilometre Zero of Spain's roads, the triumphal gate built in 1680 for the first wife of Charles II and still carrying the inscription left by his second, the story that Galileo worked out how Tacca's rearing horse could stand on two legs. Switch to the audio narration and the stories are told to you instead.
A short 3.9 km
Google Maps links the stops, and the walking adds up to only 50 minutes, from the boulevards by the Retiro into the tight streets of the Habsburg town. It is the shortest walk of the route, which leaves room for a long stop somewhere.
Pause as you like
Nothing counts down and nobody waits. Take churros in the alley behind San Ginés, carry on an hour later or on another day, and reorder the stops in the app if you would rather finish near the Prado.
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 should take the Madrid hunt
A first look at Madrid
Prado, Puerta de Alcalá, Cibeles, Gran Vía, Sol, Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace line up over 3.9 km in an order that makes sense of the city. By the end you know which Madrid belongs to the Bourbons and which to the Habsburgs.
Family on the route
Children look for the bear and the strawberry tree on Puerta del Sol, the two lions pulling Cybele's chariot and the horse that stands on nothing but its hind legs, and they can count the five openings of the Puerta de Alcalá. One adult plays with them.
Workmates competing
Five players to a team, each with the riddle on their own phone, means a department can split up at the Prado and argue the scores out on the Plaza de Oriente. There is no venue to hire and no departure to coordinate, since every riddle is outdoors.
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: the Prado, Cibeles, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Plaza de Oriente
10 stops · about 50 min walking · start: Prado Museum · finish: Plaza de Oriente
The hunt starts at the Prado Museum and the Monument to Goya beside it, then passes the Puerta de Felipe IV at the edge of the Retiro on the way to the Puerta de Alcalá and the Cibeles Fountain. From there you follow Calle de Alcalá to the Metropolis Building and Puerta del Sol, cross Plaza Mayor, visit the Church of San Ginés on Calle del Arenal and finish at Plaza de Oriente. Not one riddle sends you through a door, so the whole walk is free of entry tickets, and the app lets you choose which landmark goes first and in what order the other nine follow.
Open the route map ↗
1Prado MuseumStart
Juan de Villanueva designed this neoclassical building in 1785 for King Charles III as a natural history cabinet. It opened as a royal museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819 and is now one of the world's great art museums, with works by Velázquez, Goya and El Greco. A statue of Velázquez stands in front of its main façade.
2Monument to Goya
This bronze statue of Francisco de Goya by the sculptor Mariano Benlliure stands outside the north side of the Prado, by the entrance named after the painter. Unveiled in 1902, it honours the artist from Aragon whose works, including his late Black Paintings, fill many rooms of the museum behind him.
3Puerta de Felipe IV
Melchor de Bueras built this baroque granite gate in 1680 as a triumphal arch for the arrival of Marie Louise of Orléans, first wife of Charles II. In 1690 it welcomed his second wife, Maria Anna of Neuburg, whose inscription it still bears. Moved from its first site, it now marks an entrance to the Retiro gardens.
4Puerta de Alcalá
King Charles III commissioned this neoclassical gate from Francesco Sabatini, and it was inaugurated in 1778 as a gate in the old city wall on the road to Alcalá de Henares. It has five openings, three arches and two rectangular passages. Today it stands in the middle of the Plaza de la Independencia, beside the Retiro Park.
5Cibeles Fountain
Ventura Rodríguez designed this fountain around 1780: the goddess Cybele, carved by Francisco Gutiérrez, rides a chariot pulled by two lions by Roberto Michel. In mythology the lions are Atalanta and Hippomenes, turned into animals by the gods. Real Madrid fans gather here to celebrate their team's titles.
Read the full story →
6Metropolis Building
This domed building on the corner of Calle de Alcalá and Gran Vía was designed by the French architects Jules and Raymond Février and inaugurated in 1911 for the insurance company La Unión y el Fénix. The winged Victory on its dome has stood there since 1977, replacing the original statue of the Phoenix with Ganymede.
Read the full story →
7Puerta del Sol
In front of the Real Casa de Correos, the 18th-century post office that now houses the regional government, a plaque marks Kilometre Zero of Spain's national roads. On New Year's Eve, Spaniards eat twelve grapes to the chimes of its clock. Nearby stands the Bear and the Strawberry Tree, the symbol of Madrid, unveiled in 1967.
Read the full story →
8Plaza Mayor
Madrid's arcaded main square was completed in 1619 under Philip III by Juan Gómez de Mora and rebuilt by Juan de Villanueva after a fire in 1790. In the centre stands the bronze equestrian statue of Philip III by Giambologna and Pietro Tacca, placed here in 1848. The painted façade of the Casa de la Panadería dates from 1992.
9Church of San Ginés
San Ginés on Calle del Arenal is one of the oldest parishes in Madrid; the present church dates from 1645, while the bell tower survives from an earlier building. Lope de Vega married here and Francisco de Quevedo was baptised here. In the alley behind it, the Chocolatería San Ginés is known for hot chocolate with churros.
10Plaza de OrienteFinish
This square between the Royal Palace and the Teatro Real took its present form in the 1840s. In the centre rides Philip IV in a bronze by Pietro Tacca, sent to Madrid in 1640: the rearing horse rests only on its hind legs, and Galileo Galilei is said to have calculated its balance. Statues of Spanish kings line the gardens.
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Estonia –
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Bibha– United Kingdom –
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Fantastic! Really enjoyed seeing all the big and key places of Madrid whilst using our brains a little. We obviously stopped for drinks, food and other jaunts along the way so taking our time with it was just perfect.
Switzerland –
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Ich empfehle den World City Trail als eine tolle Familienaktivität.
Switzerland –
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France –
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Le circuit est int?ressant et permet de passer un monument en travaux. L’activit? incite ? prendre son temps, quitte ? reprendre le lendemain. Nous recommandons cette activit? r?alis?e avec de jeunes ados.
Netherlands –
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Mat– United Kingdom –
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Fun, interesting and really well-priced way to explore parts of the city.
Germany –
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Coole Sache!
Netherlands –
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Tolle idee
Fabio– Spain –
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Bien
United States –
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The scavenger hunt in Madrid was very fun. Walked and saw a whole lot of the city’s historical attractions and enjoyed the puzzles.
Germany –
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Interessante Tour und originelle R?tsel. Regt an, die Stadt zu Fu? zu erkunden und l?sst an Orten verweilen, an denen man sonst unbedacht vorbeigelaufen w?re. Hat viel Spa? gemacht! Auch f?r Kinder ab Schulalter gut geeignet.
Valerie– France –
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Activit? fort appr?ciable, que nous avons fait ? notre rythme, des lieux superbes. Dommage que certains ?taient en travaux. Merci
Tina– Spain –
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Viel gelernt und Spa? gehabt !
Gianmichele– Italy –
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Molto divertente, ben fatta e originale… un ottimo modo per visitare e scoprire la citt?…
Netherlands –
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Turkey –
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U.S –
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What a nice activity
Kevin– Netherlands –
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Nice activity to do. However I would expect there would be some kind of route between the highlights, instead of just walking towards it with Google maps.
Switzerland –
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Pascal– France –
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Trop de mode pour l’indice de la puerta del sol
Daniel– Brazil –
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Foi bastante divertida. A ideia era entreter uma crian?a de 9 anos com tarefas e metas por um passeio pelo centro hist?rico, tornando a experi?ncia mais interessante para toda a fam?lia e o passeio ofereceu justamente isso. N?o ? uma passeio para quem quer se aprofundar na hist?ria, mas curtir andar pela cidade com alguns pintos de interesse explicados de forma sucinta.
Switzerland –
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!
Germany –
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Germain– France –
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Super sympathique
Liechtenstein –
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Carolyn– United States –
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This was as fun way to do a self-guided tour of Madrid.
stella– France –
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Si tu souhaites apprendre en t’amusant et d?couvrir Madrid rapidement GO GO GO
Belgium –
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France –
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a tresor!
Belgium –
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Luc?a– France –
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Gu?a completa de los sitios m?s emblem?ticos de la coudad, f?cil de utilizar
France –
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Germany –
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Belgium –
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Leuk activiteit
Germany –
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Gut
Netherlands –
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Italy –
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Greece –
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Καταπληκτική δραστηριότητα