From downtown to the St Lawrence: Montreal as a riddle game
The Montreal treasure hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk from downtown into Old Montreal, solve a riddle at each landmark by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories and legends behind it. Downhill from the cathedral to the St Lawrence you cover 4.7 km and 10 stops in about 59 minutes of walking, and with riddles and stories along the way the game lasts roughly 3 hours, starting whenever you open it.
Highlights include the cathedral modelled on St Peter's in Rome, the Paris metro entrance on Square Victoria, Pointe-à-Callière on the city's birthplace, Notre-Dame Basilica, the City Hall balcony made famous by de Gaulle, the sailors' chapel of Bon-Secours and the Clock Tower in the Old Port. The walk runs gently downhill from the modern centre to the river.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 59 min · 4.7 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Spanish, Chinese
Ten riddles from the cathedral to the quays
Saints on the roof, a Paris metro sign
At each stop a riddle hides in plain view: the row of saints along the top of the cathedral, the Art Nouveau metro entrance that Paris gave to Square Victoria, the twin towers of Notre-Dame facing Place d'Armes. Look closely, think it through, and no French is required.
A founding, a balcony and a sailors' chapel
Solved riddles open Montreal's stories: Ville-Marie, founded in 1642 on the spot where Pointe-à-Callière now stands, Charles de Gaulle calling out 'Vive le Québec libre' from the City Hall balcony in 1967, and the ship models hanging in the chapel known as the sailors' church. With the audio narration on, you can hear them while looking up at the façades.
4.7 km, downhill to the river
Around 59 minutes of walking carry you from downtown down to the St Lawrence, through the stone streets of Old Montreal and along the quays of the Old Port. Google Maps handles the turns, from the wide downtown boulevards to the cobbles of Old Montreal.
Poutine, coffee or a pause
No clock runs in the game, so a café in Old Montreal, a plate of poutine or a break on the quays fits in whenever you like, and you can come back another day to finish. Staying in Old Montreal? The app can start you at Notre-Dame or any other stop.
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.
Montreal for first visits, families and conference groups
New to Montreal
The game links downtown, Old Montreal and the Old Port in about 3 hours, from the cathedral modelled on St Peter's to the Clock Tower by the St Lawrence. The riddles make you stop at façades and statues you might otherwise hurry past.
Kids who like big wheels and towers
Children enjoy spotting the saints on the cathedral roof, the big wheel turning above the Old Port and the Clock Tower at the end of the quay. An adult plays in each children's team, and the route goes mostly downhill.
Conference delegates and colleagues
Teams of up to 5 players, each on their own phone, can set off from the cathedral a few minutes apart and meet again at the Clock Tower. Squares, streets and quays are open to everyone, which leaves nothing to organise beyond the 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.
Angela– Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
It was a great way to spend an afternoon in Downtown Montreal, seeing sites we may not have normally stopped at. Only down fall was that ending point wasn’t near starting point, which made for a quick dash back to car before the meter expired. It was also interesting that you could rearrange the stops.
Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Maps not always accurate, had a lot of fun
Marie– United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
This tour/scavenger hunt was fun.
Maud– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Sehr unterhaltsam, hat einwandfrei funktioniert. Die Frage sind recht zugänglich und die Wege sehr überschaubar. Gute Möglichkeit, einen ersten Eindruck von der Stadt zu bekommen!
Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
génial comme activités de groupe seul c un peu dur et les stop sont très long les un des autre si vous ne voulez pas marcher beaucoup cette activités n’est pas pour vous
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
super parcours, ludique à faire en famille
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Ca nous a pris toute la journée avec la visite de pointe à calliere au milieu, sympa pour le prix
Barbara– Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Enigmes trop recherchées! On n’a pas envie de tester nos capacités mathématiques ou même de trouver quelle pourrait être l’énigme. Très mal expliqué! Par ex. il fallait faire un calcul mathématique avec des chiffres gravés dans de la pierre, qu’on avait de la peine à déchiffrer. L’énigme devrait avoir un rapport avec le lieu où l’on doit trouver réponse. Bref, on a simplement arrêté de jouer parce qu’on n’avait pas envie de passer notre temps à faire des calculs sous le soleil. Notre priorité était quand-même de terminer notre voyage plutôt que des maths. Si les questions avait un rapport avec l’histoire du lieu ce serait tout autrement, on aurait du plaisir à chercher. Mais pour cela les questions doivent être claires et non purement mathématiques. Par contre, l’apport historique que vous donnez aux participants est intéressant, mais pas que, non plus. Ce que notre amie montréalaise a pu nous apporter comme infos complémentaires, était beaucoup plus intéressant que les chiffres . . .
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Très bon guide ! L’activité n’était pas prévu en français finalement (même si l’appli le mentionnait) mais le guide s’est très bien adapté pour nous faire vivre l’expérience comme tout le monde Je recommande !
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Très sympathique, nous a permis de visiter la ville de Montréal, je recommande
Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
It was ok. There were some clues that very difficult to read (numbers on monuments) and also a picture in your app was cut off so difficult to solve a puzzle.
Tria –
Collected on GetYourGuide
We had a fun time solving the clues at each location but they had little relevance to the history/story of each spot. It would have been helpful to see the route before purchasing the tour as we didn’t realise we’d end up 2.5 miles from the starting point. The features of the app weren’t well integrated: the stories or facts shared at each site had little to do with the locations. Overall, I would have preferred a well-told self-guided audio walking tour.
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Très sympa et permet vraiment de visiter les monuments et quartiers important de Montréal. A faire en famille même avec des petits car vous pouvez vous arrêter quand vous voulez.
Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
On a pas mal aimée l’activité, c’est quelque chose de différent. Cela nous a permis de se promener dans Montreal. Je recommence l’activité
Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
The first answer I got right but it marked me incorrect. But other than that is was a lot of fun.
Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Super idée pour amuser les enfants et visiter de façon ludique. La ville est magnifique
Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
This was a fun way to see different highlights of the city. My friend and I took our two 18 year old boys; everyone enjoyed trying to solve the riddles at each location.
Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Super activité qui nous a permis de travailler nos méninges et en découvrir sur notre belle métropole je ke recommande.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Very nice idea! We enjoyed it.
Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Had difficulty getting the link. It came via what’s app (doesn’t mention this anywhere – I was waiting for it via email) The first clue was not very descriptive? It was very random The map was a little tough to follow , but worked better on Google maps
Adnan– Japan –
Collected on GetYourGuide
was good
Katrin –
Beau Montréal, belle promenade, beaucoup d’informations et défi accepté ! Nous avons passé un très bon moment à jouer !