Cathédrale La Major is a majestic Neo-Byzantine landmark, also known as the Marseille Cathedral, where a grand striped facade and massive domes create a monumental presence overlooking the city's historic port.

The Opéra de Marseille is an elegant cultural landmark in the heart of the city, distinguished by its grand façade, sculpted details, and striking blend of classical and Art Deco architecture.

La Vieille Charité is a majestic Baroque landmark where a grand domed chapel and elegant arched galleries create a monumental cultural center in the heart of Marseille's Panier district.

The Mucem in Marseille is a striking waterfront museum where bold contemporary architecture meets the historic Fort Saint-Jean, showcasing the cultures and civilizations of the Mediterranean.

Fort Saint-Jean is a majestic historical fortress where grand stone bastions and a scenic walkway connecting to the modern city create a monumental sentinel guarding the entrance to Marseille's Old Port.

Marseille Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

Name: Marseille Scavenger Hunt & Self-Guided Tour
Brand: World City Trail
SKU: 78
Availability: InStock

Rated 4.46 out of 5 based on 26 customer ratings

(26 customer reviews)

Explore the city at your own pace with a self-guided experience.
Buy your ticket, download the app, and start instantly.

5 € - 11 €

1 ticket = 1 person

Make a day of itInteractive guides by World City Trail, delivered with your tickets.

What is a city guide?

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

See the guides, a short video and all the details →

No guide, thanksAdd the Marseille food guide~~4.99 €~~3.99 €Add all 6 Marseille guidesfood, things to do, family, nightlife, day trips, budget~~19.99 €~~14.99 €

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On a cruise? See how to get from the ship to the start and how it fits your port day.Port day guide →

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 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 →

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

Twenty-six centuries of Marseille, from hemp ropes to concrete lace

The Marseille 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. The 10 stops are spread over 4 km, from the top of the Canebière down to the sea and up again into Le Panier, yet the legs between them add up to only about 51 minutes on foot, and with riddles and stories the game fills around 3 hours.

Highlights include the Canebière, the Art Deco opera house, the Old Port where the Greeks founded the city, Fort Saint-Jean and the Mucem, the striped Cathédrale La Major and the lanes of Le Panier. The route links the 19th-century city with the waterfront and the oldest quarter, with sea views on the way and a few steep streets.

Durationabout 3 hours
Walkingabout 51 min · 4 km
Stops10
LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch

How the game plays from the Canebière to Le Panier

Spires, balconies and striped stone

Each riddle is answered by looking hard at something in front of you: the twin spires of Les Réformés, the wrought-iron balcony of the Pavillon Daviel, the bands of green and white stone on La Major. No French and no history lesson needed, only sharp eyes and a little reasoning.

Greek sailors, a rebellious city, a poorhouse

Answers unlock the stories: Greeks from Phocaea landing in the harbour around 600 BC, Louis XIV building Fort Saint-Jean to keep an unruly Marseille in check, Pierre Puget designing a poorhouse round a domed chapel. Switch on audio narration to hear them while you look out over the water.

4 km between the avenue and the old hill

Walking adds up to roughly 51 minutes: down the Canebière, along the Old Port quay, across the footbridge from the fort to the Mucem and up through the lanes of Le Panier. Google Maps steers you through the staircases, which are the only real effort on the way.

Coffee on the quay, a breather in Le Panier

There is no timer, so sit down on a café terrace by the Old Port or on a small square in Le Panier whenever you like, and finish the game later or on another day. The craft and design shops of the old quarter make natural detours.

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.

Cruise passengers, families and teams in Marseille

Off the cruise ship, or in town for a weekend

In about 3 hours you take in the Canebière, the Old Port, the fort, the Mucem, La Major and Le Panier, the core of Marseille for a short visit. The riddles turn a long walk from avenue to harbour to hilltop into a single story.

Kids who like forts and little trains

Children like the tourist trains waiting on the Old Port quay, the walls and footbridges of Fort Saint-Jean, the street art in Le Panier and the giant striped cathedral. An adult plays in every team, and the stops come often enough to keep everyone going.

Teams that finish at Puget's poorhouse

Each team holds up to 5 players with a phone apiece, and several teams can start at Les Réformés a few minutes apart. La Vieille Charité at the top of Le Panier makes a fitting finish line for comparing answers, with nothing to hire beyond the game tickets.

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 the twin spires of Les Réformés to Puget's Vieille Charité: the route

10 stops · about 51 min walking · start: Les Réformés (Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Church) · finish: La Vieille Charité

The hunt starts at Les Réformés, the twin-spired church at the top of the Canebière, and follows the avenue down to the Opéra. You cross into the edge of Le Panier at the Pavillon Daviel, reach the quay of the Old Port, then walk out to Fort Saint-Jean and the Mucem before climbing to Cathédrale La Major. The last part winds through Le Panier and finishes at La Vieille Charité. Since the puzzles rely on what can be seen from quays, squares and lanes, nobody has to queue at the Mucem or the fort, and if you are already down by the harbour, the app will open the game at the Old Port and rearrange the remaining stops around it.

Open the route map ↗

1Les Réformés (Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Church)Start
At the top of the Canebière rises the neo-Gothic church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, built in the second half of the 19th century. Locals call it Les Réformés, after the convent of reformed Augustinian friars that stood here before it. Its twin spires close the view up the city's main avenue.
2La Canebière
The Canebière runs for about a kilometre from the Old Port up to Les Réformés and is Marseille's best-known avenue. Its name comes from the Provençal word for hemp, recalling the rope-makers who once supplied the ships in the port. Look up at the grand 19th-century façades of former hotels, banks and shipping offices.
3Opéra de Marseille
Marseille's opera house stands on the site of the Grand-Théâtre, which opened in 1787. After a fire in 1919 the interior was rebuilt in Art Deco style and the house reopened in 1924, behind the colonnade of the older façade. Look for the stylised reliefs and lettering of the 1920s above the entrance.
4Pavillon Daviel
On the edge of Le Panier, the Pavillon Daviel is an 18th-century building that long served as the city's courthouse. It is known for its elegant wrought-iron balcony, and the square in front is named after Jacques Daviel, a surgeon who pioneered cataract operations while working in Marseille.
5Vieux-Port (Old Port)
On this quay of the Old Port the little tourist trains of Marseille set off. The harbour is where Greek sailors from Phocaea founded the city around 600 BC, which makes Marseille one of the oldest cities in France. Nearby stands the 17th-century town hall, one of the few buildings on the quay to survive the destruction of the old quarter in 1943.
Read the full story →
6Fort Saint-Jean
Louis XIV had Fort Saint-Jean and Fort Saint-Nicolas built at the harbour entrance from the 1660s, after Marseille had rebelled against royal authority. The fort absorbed older buildings, including the 15th-century square tower of King René and a commandery of the Knights of Saint John. A footbridge now links it to the Mucem.
Read the full story →
7Mucem
The Museum of Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean opened in 2013, when Marseille was European Capital of Culture. Architect Rudy Ricciotti wrapped its cube-shaped building in a lace-like screen of dark fibre-reinforced concrete. Footbridges connect its roof terrace to Fort Saint-Jean and the Panier district.
8Cathédrale La Major
Marseille's cathedral, Sainte-Marie-Majeure or La Major, was built between 1852 and 1893 in a Romano-Byzantine style designed by Léon Vaudoyer. Its striped walls of green and white stone and its domes make it one of the largest churches built in France in the 19th century. The much smaller medieval Old Major still stands at its foot.
Read the full story →
9Le Panier
This stop lies in Le Panier, Marseille's oldest quarter, on the hill where the Greek colony of Massalia grew up. Its steep lanes, staircases and small squares are known for colourful façades, street art and small craft and design shops. In 1943 the German occupiers blew up much of the lower part of the old town near the port.
10La Vieille CharitéFinish
La Vieille Charité was built between 1671 and 1749 to designs by the Marseille architect Pierre Puget, as a poorhouse where the city's beggars were confined. Three storeys of arcaded galleries surround a courtyard with a chapel crowned by an oval dome. Today it houses museums of Mediterranean archaeology and of African, Oceanic and Amerindian arts.

26 reviews for Marseille Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

Rated 5 out of 5

Hansjörg– Austria – 31/07/2024

Collected on GetYourGuide
Rated 3 out of 5

Laura B. (verified owner) – 18/07/2024

The route of the scavenger hunt was nice, but the app always reloaded/ logged us out, when we paused/ let the screen go black. So we had to put our details and ordering number back in each time, which was pretty annoying.
The riddles were fun but really easy to solve.
We enjoyed having a route to follow but wouldn’t order again.
Rated 5 out of 5

Austria – 13/07/2024

Collected on GetYourGuide
Rated 5 out of 5

Carole– France – 20/05/2024

Collected on GetYourGuide
Une activité sympathique, ludique et qui est largement abordable niveau tarif
Rated 4 out of 5

Yana– France – 28/10/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
The activity is fine but it does not add anything to the normal sightseeing. The enigmas are way too easy (we did it with my 9-year old daughter and she was disappointed by the facility of it all). While it allows you to go around town it is not at all “wow” and does jot have any added value to just walking around without it. So €8 not well spent!
Rated 5 out of 5

Rebecca– United Kingdom – 23/09/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Paul was an excellent host, full of energy and brilliant local knowledge. He made the experience interesting and entertaining, tailoring to our needs. We brought our 6 month year old daughter with us and Paul took this into account. I highly recommend the trip, ask for Paul though!!!
Rated 5 out of 5

Dan Aurel– Germany – 03/09/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Wunderbar! Wir haben einen schönen Tag! Vielen Dank! Dan
Rated 5 out of 5

Katarzyna– Netherlands – 19/08/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Polecam!
Rated 4 out of 5

Sophie– France – 07/08/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Activité ludique et culturelle qui permet de partager un bon moment en famille. Seul petit bémol, il manque la fonction audio-guide afin de profiter pleinement du monument durant les explications.
Rated 5 out of 5

Germany – 05/08/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Sehr schöne Tour mit Orten, zu denen wir als Tagestourist sonst wahrscheinlich nicht gekommen wären.
Rated 5 out of 5

Germany – 05/06/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Tolles Erlebnis. Mit den Rätseln konnten wir auch unsere Kids für Sightseeing begeistern. Kann ich nur empfehlen
Rated 5 out of 5

Konstantin– Germany – 04/06/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Abwechselnde Sehenswürdigkeiten
Rated 4 out of 5

Lucile– France – 17/04/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Ça fait faire un bon tour des points importants à voir dans le centre de Marseille . Très bon moments en famille! Prévoir 2 heures
Rated 5 out of 5

Michael– United Kingdom – 14/04/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Was a good way of going round the city.
Rated 5 out of 5

France – 22/03/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
Très bonne façon de visiter Marseille
Rated 4 out of 5

Nathalie– France – 18/02/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
J’ai apprécié cette activité qui était très intéressante. Par contre c’est dommage que la question 9 n’était pas possible à trouver le mardi car la boutique est fermée ce jour
Rated 4 out of 5

Pruthvish– Portugal – 31/01/2023

Collected on GetYourGuide
It was a great experience, but some of the clues could definitely be reworked so the question is easier to understand. We sometimes used the hints to understand the questions themselves, as opposed to finding the answers.
Rated 4 out of 5

France – 13/11/2022

Collected on GetYourGuide
Nous avons passé de très bons moments avec nos deux enfants de 8 et 10 ans. Activité très ludique pour se balader dans les rues de Marseille
Rated 4 out of 5

Germany – 19/10/2022

Collected on GetYourGuide
Abwechslungsreich und informativ. Eine Alternative für alle die, die keine Stadtführung mögen.
Rated 4 out of 5

United States – 09/10/2022

Collected on GetYourGuide
Really good way to have fun discovering Marseille
Rated 4 out of 5

France – 27/08/2022

Collected on GetYourGuide
Très bien mais pas adapté aux personnes de moins de 10ans et plus de 80 il faut beaucoup marche
Rated 4 out of 5

Netherlands – 20/08/2022

Collected on GetYourGuide
Leuke wandeling, kinderen vonden de puzzels leuk!
Rated 4 out of 5

France – 12/08/2022

Collected on GetYourGuide
Parcours sympa et ludique. Une très bonne façon d’impliquer ados et pré ados dans la découverte d’une partie de la ville. Vous pouvez compléter par la visite de Notre Dame de la garde, la corniche et la plage du Pharo.
Rated 5 out of 5

Switzerland – 02/08/2022

Collected on GetYourGuide
Totally worth the experience and the fun!
Rated 4 out of 5

France – 22/04/2022

Collected on GetYourGuide
Activité très ludique qui a plu a des enfants de 5, 11 et 13 ans. Les énigmes sont bien faites pour intéresser le plus petit et être résolues par les plus grands. Des anecdotes qui permettent d en savoir plus sur cette ville.
Rated 5 out of 5

LisaFonde – 28/02/2022

Beautiful Marseille! So nice route and so many things we learnt!

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

Frequently asked questions

From the Canebière to Le Panier, how long does the game run?

Count on about 3 hours from Les Réformés to La Vieille Charité. Only around 51 minutes of that is walking, over 4 km and 10 stops, while riddles, stories and the views across the harbour take up the rest. If the mistral picks up or your legs need a rest, stop and carry on another day.

Does the game really start at a church and end at an old poorhouse?

It does: the first riddle waits at Les Réformés, the neo-Gothic church with twin spires at the top of the Canebière, close to the Réformés-Canebière metro station. The last is at La Vieille Charité, the former poorhouse at the top of Le Panier, and if you are staying by the Old Port, the app lets you begin there instead.

Is the game guided, and do we have to turn up at a set hour?

Nobody guides you from Les Réformés to La Vieille Charité, and no hour is fixed. Your booking reference arrives by email, unlocks the game in the World City Trail app and lets you start on whatever day and at whatever time suit the group, including a cooler evening in summer. One ticket per person is needed, and everybody's phone shows the same question about the harbour, the fort or the cathedral.

Do we pay anything at the Mucem or the Old Port?

The game itself never sends you to a ticket desk, as the riddles are solved from the quays, squares and lanes. The exhibitions inside the Mucem and a ride on the little tourist train at the Old Port are paid extras, so treat them as separate visits if you want them.

What is there for children between the port and Le Panier?

Plenty, as long as an adult plays in each team: the little trains on the quay, the walls and footbridges of a 17th-century fort, colourful street art in the old lanes and a cathedral striped in green and white. Le Panier is full of steps and steep lanes, so the route is not suitable for wheelchairs and is hard work with a pushchair.

Can my Spanish and Italian friends play in their own language in Marseille?

Yes, both of them, and English, German, French and Dutch are there too. The language is a personal setting in the World City Trail app, picked before the twin spires of Les Réformés give up their riddle.

Can a company group play the hunt together in Marseille?

Yes: book a ticket per person, split into teams of up to five and send them off from the top of the Canebière at intervals, then meet at La Vieille Charité. The game uses the streets, quays and footbridges of Marseille itself, so there is no room to rent.

What should we bring for a day on foot in Marseille?

Sun protection and water for most of the year, a windproof layer for days when the mistral blows, and shoes with grip for the staircases of Le Panier. Bring a charged phone with mobile data for each team as well, and a power bank, since the screen stays busy from the Canebière to Le Panier.

Your first riddle stands at the top of the Canebière

Get one ticket per player online, wait for the booking reference in your inbox and, on the day you pick, ride the metro to Réformés-Canebière to open the first riddle at the foot of the twin spires.

Book your tickets →