The Milan scavenger hunt, explained
The Milan scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk through the centre of Milan, solve a riddle at each of 10 landmarks and unlock the stories behind them. It takes about 3 hours, with roughly 53 minutes of actual walking over 4.3 km, and you start whenever you like.
Highlights include Sforza Castle, Teatro alla Scala, Santa Maria delle Grazie, home of Leonardo's Last Supper, the Duomo, the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the frescoed church of San Maurizio. Milan's centre is flat and its sights lie close together, so it is easy to explore on foot.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 53 min · 4.3 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish
Ten riddles from the castle to La Scala
Read the stone, solve the riddle
At each of the 10 stops a riddle points you at something in plain view: a carved emblem, a date over a portal, a figure on a façade. Observation and logic are all it takes, and nobody expects you to know Milanese history.
Legends that come with the answers
Every answer unlocks a story: the Devil said to have left two holes with his horns in the column beside Sant'Ambrogio, the half-woolly sow carved on the Palazzo della Ragione and linked to the name Mediolanum, the luck that comes from spinning on the bull in the Galleria floor. If you would rather look up than down at a screen, the audio narration tells it all.
Flat streets, 53 minutes on foot
Google Maps takes you between the stops: 4.3 km and 53 minutes of walking without a single hill, through the quarter around Sant'Ambrogio and on to the Duomo. Trams cross the route here and there, so watch the tracks.
Breaks are part of the game
The game never times you. Stop for an espresso, finish the next day if you like, and if your hotel is near the Duomo, reorder the stops in the app and begin there.
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.
What kind of traveller the Milan hunt suits
One free day in Milan
The castle, Leonardo's church, two basilicas, the Duomo, the Galleria and La Scala fit into a single afternoon of 4.3 km. The riddles make you look at each of them properly instead of just ticking them off.
Children who like to spot things
The clues are things to find, which suits children: a castle that was only ever a house, a sow carved in stone, a bull in a floor mosaic. An adult plays along, and the flat route keeps small legs going.
Teams of colleagues or friends
Up to 5 players form a team and each follows the game on a phone of their own, which works for a group of friends as well as for colleagues in town for a trade fair. All of it happens outdoors on public ground, so nothing needs booking.
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 Sforza Castle past Sant'Ambrogio to the Duomo and La Scala
10 stops · about 53 min walking · start: Sforza Castle (Castello Sforzesco) · finish: Teatro alla Scala
The hunt starts at Sforza Castle and heads to Santa Maria delle Grazie, home of Leonardo's Last Supper, and the neo-medieval Castello Cova. Next come the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio with the Temple of Victory beside it, San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, the medieval Piazza dei Mercanti, the Duomo and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and you finish on Piazza della Scala in front of the opera house. Should the Duomo end suit you better as a start, the app opens the game there or at any other stop and reorders the rest, and since every answer is found outside, no ticket desk ever stands between you and the next riddle.
Open the route map ↗
1Sforza Castle (Castello Sforzesco)Start
Galeazzo II Visconti built the first castle here in the 14th century, and from 1450 Francesco Sforza turned it into his ducal residence. The tall Filarete Tower above the entrance was rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1900–1905, and the castle museums hold Michelangelo's last sculpture, the Rondanini Pietà.
2Santa Maria delle Grazie
Guiniforte Solari began this Dominican church in 1463, and its Renaissance apse and dome are attributed to Donato Bramante. In the refectory of the convent next door Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper in 1495–1498, and church and convent have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980.
3Castello Cova
Castello Cova is a private residence on Via Carducci, built in the early 20th century in a neo-medieval style. With its brick walls, battlements and tower it looks like a small medieval castle, although it was built as a home and never served as a fortress.
4Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan, founded this basilica in 379–386, and the present Romanesque church dates mostly from the late 11th and 12th centuries. Its two bell towers belonged to the monks and the canons, and according to legend the two holes in the marble column beside the church were made by the Devil's horns.
5Temple of Victory
The Temple of Victory, also known as the Sacrario dei Caduti Milanesi, is Milan's memorial to the soldiers from the city who died in the First World War. The octagonal marble building was completed in the late 1920s and stands right next to the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio.
6San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore
This church was begun in 1503 for the most important Benedictine convent in Milan. A wall divides it into a hall for the public and a hall for the nuns, and its walls are covered in 16th-century frescoes, many by Bernardino Luini, which is why it is often called the Sistine Chapel of Milan.
7Piazza dei Mercanti
This square was the centre of medieval Milan. The Palazzo della Ragione, built in 1233, housed the city government, and on its arcade you can spot a relief of the half-woolly sow, linked by legend to the origin of the name Mediolanum, while opposite stands the Loggia degli Osii of 1316.
8Milan Cathedral (Duomo)
The cathedral was begun in 1386 under Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and its façade was only completed in Napoleon's time, in the early 19th century. Built of pale pink Candoglia marble, it is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the world, with thousands of statues and the gilded Madonnina on its highest spire.
9Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Designed by Giuseppe Mengoni and built from 1865 to 1877, this glass-roofed arcade links Piazza del Duomo with Piazza della Scala, and its two wings meet under a large glass dome. Tradition says that spinning three times on your heel on the bull in the floor mosaic brings good luck.
10Teatro alla ScalaFinish
Milan's opera house opened on 3 August 1778 with Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta, in a neoclassical building by Giuseppe Piermarini. It takes its name from the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which once stood on the site, and in the square in front stands Pietro Magni's monument to Leonardo da Vinci from 1872.
Read the full story →
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Guillaume (verified owner) –
Overall very nice experience as a family. Stops are well chosen, riddles are good and explanations about landmarks reasonnably good. i recommend especially for this price
Elke– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Schöne Möglichkeit Mailands Zentrum zu erkunden. Unterhaltsame Infos und gut geführt
Anna– Ukraine –
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Eric– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Très sympathique pour notre première visite à Milan. Des traductions parfois approximatives, ainsi qu’une page en espagnol au lieu de français me font enlever une étoile.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Es war großartig und hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht!
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
circuit sympa qui permet de découvrir les principaux monuments de Milan
Bill– United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
we enjoyed the quality sites that were addressed. several of the activities in other cities are rather difficult to follow but the directions your activity provided allowed us to find more of the locations than we did with the others. we were unable to solve some of your puzzles but enjoyed the challenge.
Alexandra– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
parfait
James– United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Easy to follow and clues challenging enough to be interesting but not so hard you’d want to quit. Good variety of sights and enough information about them – liked that you could pick up and drop out as you wished. Only issue we had was that the app kept kicking us out which was a bit of a pain but not the end of the world
United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Mexico-Jose –
Collected on GetYourGuide
El recorrido es bueno pero falta poner pistas más interesantes. Me pareció que las preguntas son un tanto infantiles , pero la idea es buena. Gracias
Sascha– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
genial dass man die Highlights zu Gesicht bekommt und etwas Historie dazu. Die Aufgaben waren etwas zu einfach.
United States-Johnny –
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Australia –
Collected on GetYourGuide
We found this little app to be a fun way to get a quick taste of Vienna. It is a lot of walking but you can go at your own pace. Good tidbits of information along the way. The riddles were fun and made you look at things carefully that you would normally ignore. A great activity for the price!
United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
It was great to do at own pace. For the cost a fantastic value which let you tap into some history and a feel for major events that shaped the city.
Germany –
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Spain –
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France –
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Andrea– Hungary –
Collected on GetYourGuide
fun. helpful and interesting information in the stories, amusing puzzles.
Ricki– France –
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Germany –
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Bertrand– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
très joli tour dans Porto, nous l’avons fait en arrivant ce qui nous a permis d’identifier ce que nous voulions visiter
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Wir haben eine Stadt näher kennengelernt, in der die Sehenswürdigkeiten nicht alle in unmittelbarer Nähe liegen. In die Fragestellung der Rätsel musste ich mich zunächst hineindenken. Es wäre hilfreich, wenn die Aufgabenstellung präziser beschrieben wäre. Sehr schön war die eigene Zeitgestaltung inkl. der Möglichkeit, früher auszusteigen und trotzdem alle Texte lesen zu können.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Es hat Riesen viel Spaß gemacht. Können wir nur empfehlen 😃
Netherlands –
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Spain –
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Podría ser con sonido las explicaciones, para niños que leen despacio ó no saben leer.
Ronald– Netherlands –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Vertaling naar Nederlands was matig
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Tres bonne activité pour découvrir Corfou. La seule chose est que nous n’avions pas beaucoup de réseau internet. Mais très bonne activité.
Germany –
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Germany-Nieder –
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France –
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Franziska– Switzerland –
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Germany –
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Es hat Spaß gemacht! Alles war sehr gut erklärt und man konnte die Rätsel gut lösen! Obwohl versprochen wurde, dass wenn man sich an die Route hält, unnötige Wege vermieden werden, dass war nicht ganz so, man hätte die Route schneller erledigen können! Aber im großen und ganzen eine sehr informative Rally! Macht vorallem mit Kindern Spaß!
United Kingdom –
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Thaissa– Sweden –
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United States –
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France –
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intéressant
Ireland –
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Jamison– United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide