What is the Modena outdoor escape game?
The Modena outdoor escape game takes the logic of an escape room out into the city. You follow the route on your phone, and at each of its 10 stops a puzzle is solved by reading the surroundings closely and reasoning step by step, with no prior knowledge of Modena needed. Plan on about 2 hours, with 23 minutes of walking over 1.7 km, and start whenever suits you.
The puzzles sit at landmarks such as the Ghirlandina bell tower, Modena Cathedral, Piazza Grande and the Palazzo Ducale, and each one stands alone, so you never need to follow a storyline. Modena's centre is compact and largely flat, which keeps the walk between stops short and lets the game feel like one continuous stroll through the ducal and medieval parts of the city.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 23 min · 1.7 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do during the escape game
Work it out
Each stop hides a logic problem. Study the façade, the square and the details around you, then reason your way to the answer.
Ask for a hint
Stuck on a puzzle? Three levels of hints are available whenever you need them.
Walk
Google Maps guides you from stop to stop, about 23 minutes on foot across 1.7 km.
Set your own pace
No clock runs in the background. Take a coffee break and pick the game up later or on 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 suits
Groups of friends
Each puzzle gives everyone something to argue about until the next landmark, and nobody has to know Modena beforehand.
Couples
A shared challenge that keeps you talking as you wander from one monument to the next, with no clock to watch.
Team building
Teams of up to 5 each play on their own phone, a simple format for colleagues.
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.
Puzzle route: from the Giardino Ducale Estense to Church of San Francesco
10 stops · about 23 min walking · start: Giardino Ducale Estense · finish: Church of San Francesco
The first puzzle waits in the Giardino Ducale Estense and the last at the Church of San Francesco. Between them the route passes the Teatro Comunale Pavarotti-Freni, the Palazzo Ducale and Piazza Roma, then Piazza Mazzini, the Ghirlandina, Modena Cathedral, Piazza Grande and the Mercato Albinelli. An early start in daylight suits outdoor puzzles, and weather can slow the game down. Google Maps handles the walking between stops, the app lets you change the order, and no entry tickets are needed.
Open the route map ↗
1Giardino Ducale EstenseStart
The Este dukes laid out this garden beside their palace after moving their court from Ferrara to Modena in 1598, and it later became a public park. Its 17th-century pavilion, the Palazzina dei Giardini, is now used for exhibitions, and the city's botanical garden lies at its edge.
2Teatro Comunale Pavarotti-Freni
Modena's opera house opened in 1841 on Corso Canalgrande, behind a neoclassical façade. It is named after two of the city's most famous singers, Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni, both born in Modena in 1935, who as babies are said to have shared the same wet nurse.
3Palazzo Ducale
Duke Francesco I d'Este began this vast Baroque palace in 1634 on the site of the old castle, and it remained the seat of the Este court until the unification of Italy. Today it houses the Military Academy, so cadets in uniform are a familiar sight in front of its long façade.
4Piazza Roma
This wide square opens in front of the Palazzo Ducale and is now largely free of traffic. Its monument honours Ciro Menotti, the patriot who led an uprising against Duke Francesco IV and was executed in 1831, one of the early heroes of Italian unification.
5Piazza Mazzini
This square was created in the early 20th century by demolishing part of the old Jewish ghetto, opening a space beside the Via Emilia. On one side stands the synagogue, built in the 1870s, and the square is named after Giuseppe Mazzini, one of the leaders of Italian unification.
6Ghirlandina
Modena's bell tower rises about 86 metres beside the cathedral; begun at the end of the 11th century, it received its Gothic spire in the early 14th century. A copy of the wooden bucket that Modena's soldiers carried off from Bologna in 1325 is kept here, the subject of the mock-heroic poem La secchia rapita.
Read the full story →
7Modena Cathedral
Begun in 1099 by the architect Lanfranco and consecrated in 1184, the cathedral is one of the major Romanesque churches in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the Ghirlandina and Piazza Grande. On the façade, reliefs by the sculptor Wiligelmo tell the story of Genesis, and the Porta della Pescheria shows one of the earliest known scenes from the legend of King Arthur.
8Piazza Grande
Modena's main square lies between the cathedral and the Palazzo Comunale, the town hall. Look for the Preda Ringadora, a large stone slab once used as a speakers' platform and for the public shaming of debtors, and for the Bonissima, a medieval female statue on the corner of the town hall.
9Mercato Albinelli
Modena's covered food market opened in 1931 in a hall of iron and glass just a few steps from Piazza Grande. In the middle stands a fountain with the statue of a girl carrying a basket of fruit, and the stalls are full of local produce such as Parmigiano Reggiano and balsamic vinegar.
10Church of San FrancescoFinish
This Gothic brick church was begun in the 13th century for the Franciscan friars and was heavily restored in the 19th century. Inside is a dramatic terracotta group of the Deposition from the Cross by the 16th-century Modenese sculptor Antonio Begarelli.
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