Naples scavenger hunt: the short version
The Naples 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. Allow roughly 2 hours from start to finish; the walking itself adds up to only 46 minutes and 3.7 km across 10 stops, and the game begins whenever you open the first riddle.
Highlights include the Sansevero Chapel, San Domenico Maggiore, Santa Chiara and the diamond-studded façade of Gesù Nuovo in the historic centre, then Via Toledo, the Fountain of Neptune, Castel Nuovo, Galleria Umberto I and Piazza del Plebiscito. The route runs downhill from the old Greek and Roman grid of streets to the royal quarter by the sea.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 46 min · 3.7 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
Riddles from the museum to the bay
Answers carved in stone
Each stop poses one riddle, and the clue is somewhere on the building in front of you: a diamond-pointed block, a royal coat of arms, an inscription under a statue. Careful looking and a bit of deduction crack it, and nobody expects you to have read up on the Bourbons or the Angevins.
Alchemists, saints and kings
Every solved riddle unlocks the stop's stories: the prince of Sansevero and the legends about his experiments, Thomas Aquinas teaching in the convent of San Domenico, the marks on the Gesù Nuovo that some read as a hidden musical score. Audio narration will read it all out while your eyes stay on the street.
Downhill towards the bay
Google Maps steers you between stops: 46 minutes on foot and 3.7 km, through the narrow lanes of the historic centre, down Via Toledo and out to the squares by the sea. From the museum the route drops gently towards the water and stays easy going.
Time out for a sfogliatella
Stop for an espresso or a pastry whenever you like, because the game simply waits. You can come back to it in the evening or on another day, and the app rearranges the stops if your hotel is nearer the seafront than the museum.
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 the Naples game is made for
Making sense of Naples
The historic centre, Via Toledo, the castle and the Plebiscito can feel like a lot on a first visit, and this route ties them together in 3.7 km. One riddle at each stop gives you a reason to slow down where the crowds hurry past.
Children who love a legend
Naples is full of things young players enjoy finding: lions and sea creatures spouting water around Neptune, the signs of the zodiac set into a marble floor, two bronze kings on horseback that, legend says, almost nobody can walk between blindfolded. An adult has to play along with them.
Teams and travelling groups
Up to 5 players fit in one team, everybody with the game on their own screen, so a school group, a club or a company outing can send out several teams and compare notes in Piazza del Plebiscito. The whole route uses public streets and squares, so there is nothing to book 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.
The route: museum, chapels and Via Toledo, then castle, arcade and Plebiscito
10 stops · about 46 min walking · start: National Archaeological Museum of Naples · finish: Piazza del Plebiscito
The hunt starts at the National Archaeological Museum and heads into the historic centre to the Sansevero Chapel, San Domenico Maggiore, Santa Chiara and the Gesù Nuovo. From there you walk down Via Toledo past San Nicola alla Carità to the Fountain of Neptune in Piazza Municipio and Castel Nuovo, then through Galleria Umberto I to finish in Piazza del Plebiscito. None of the ten riddles takes you through a ticket gate, because every answer is on an outside wall, and if you would rather begin at the seafront end, the app lets you start there and put the stops in your own order.
Open the route map ↗
1National Archaeological Museum of NaplesStart
The museum fills a large palace built in the late 16th century as cavalry barracks and later used by the university. The Bourbon kings turned it into a museum for the Farnese collection of ancient sculpture and the finds from Pompeii and Herculaneum. It is one of the most important archaeological museums in the world.
2Sansevero Chapel
This family chapel of the princes of Sansevero was transformed in the 18th century by Raimondo di Sangro, a prince with a reputation as an alchemist and inventor. Its most famous work is the Veiled Christ, carved by Giuseppe Sanmartino in 1753, whose marble shroud seems transparent. Many legends grew up around the prince's experiments.
Read the full story →
3San Domenico Maggiore
Charles II of Anjou founded this Gothic church in 1283, and Thomas Aquinas lived and taught in the Dominican convent next door. The church turns its apse, not a façade, towards the square, so you first see it from behind. In the middle of Piazza San Domenico Maggiore rises a baroque spire raised after the plague of 1656.
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4Santa Chiara Monumental Complex
King Robert of Anjou and Queen Sancha of Majorca built this Gothic church and convent of the Poor Clares between 1310 and 1340. Bombs gutted the church in 1943, and it was rebuilt in its original Gothic form. Behind it lies the cloister, decorated in the 1740s with painted majolica tiles under the direction of Domenico Antonio Vaccaro.
5Gesù Nuovo Church
The church's façade of diamond-pointed stones belonged to a palace built in 1470 for Roberto Sanseverino, prince of Salerno, which the Jesuits turned into a church from the 1580s. Look closely at the stones for small carved marks, which some say form a hidden musical score. In the square in front rises the baroque Spire of the Immaculate.
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6San Nicola alla Carità
This baroque church stands on Via Toledo near Piazza della Carità and was built in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Via Toledo itself was laid out in 1536 by the Spanish viceroy Pedro de Toledo and is still one of the main shopping streets of Naples. Uphill to the west lie the narrow lanes of the Spanish Quarters.
7Fountain of Neptune
This fountain was designed around 1600 by Domenico Fontana, with sculptures by artists including Michelangelo Naccherino and Pietro Bernini, and has been moved several times around the city. It now stands in Piazza Municipio, between the town hall and the port. Look for the lions and sea creatures spouting water around the statue of Neptune.
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8Castel Nuovo
Known as the Maschio Angioino, the New Castle was begun in 1279 under Charles I of Anjou and rebuilt in the 15th century by Alfonso V of Aragon. Between two of its massive round towers stands a white marble triumphal arch celebrating Alfonso's entry into Naples in 1443.
9Galleria Umberto I
This shopping arcade was built between 1887 and 1890 and named after King Umberto I. Its four glass-and-iron wings meet under a dome about 57 metres high, with the signs of the zodiac set into the marble floor below. Across the street stands the Teatro di San Carlo, opened in 1737.
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10Piazza del PlebiscitoFinish
One of the largest squares in Naples, it takes its name from the 1860 plebiscite that joined the city to the Kingdom of Italy. The Royal Palace faces the church of San Francesco di Paola, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, and two equestrian statues of Bourbon kings, partly by Antonio Canova. Legend says few people can walk blindfolded in a straight line between them.
Read the full story →
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Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Spass
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Belgium –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Stephanie– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Delphine– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Une manière ludique d’avoir un aperçu de la ville et de son histoire.
Chiara– Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Ci è piaciuto, ma non siamo convinti che la risposta all’indovinello di piazza plebiscito fosse corretta
Alborghetti– Belgium –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Chouette façon de découvrir la ville. Le jeu vous mène aux attractions principales. Les énigmes sont accessibles à tous.
DESJARDIN– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Super activité, un peu dur les egnimes mais super
United Kingdom –
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Greta
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Bellissima esperienza, un’occasione per scoprire Napoli senza saperne niente e divertirsi. Lo consiglio!
Petra– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Habe die Schnitzeljagd als Stadtführung verwendet und die Rätsel ausgelassen. Die Texte welche die Sehenswürdigkeiten beschreiben sind eher schlecht als gut. Wenn man die Route aber abläuft kommt man an so ziemlich allen wichtigen Standorten in Neapel.
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
La complexité est bonne ce n’est ni trop simple ni trop compliqué avec les indices bien sûr. Très amusant et nous fait découvrir des petites rues très sympathique. Il y a toujours un petit coin d’ombre où se poser pour résoudre les énigmes à notre temps.
Bettina– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Schöne Sache, da individuell ablaufbar und ohne zeitstress. Nette Informationen über die Geschichte. An manchen Punkten wären wir sonst vorbeigelaufen. Manchmal hat uns Google aber auch in die Irre geleitet. Zum Abschluss kann man alle Infos nochmal gesammelt lesen. Hat uns gut gefallen 😋
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
ok
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Eine gute Alternative zu einer Stadtführung – eine Schnitzeljagd mit interessanten und spannenden Rätsel. Habe die Schnitzeljagd mit unserem 11 jährigen Sohn gemacht. Es hätte gereicht, wenn wir die App für die Schnitzeljagd nur ein Mal heruntergeladen hätten. Im Endeffekt haben wir gemeinsam nur einen Zugang statt drei gebuchten genutzt. Aber auch diese Art eine Stadt zu erkunden, benötigt eine ordentliche Planung, weil für manche Sehenswürdigkeiten ein online Ticket erforderlich ist, welche oft schon Wochen voraus ausverkauft sind. Eine stabile Internet Verbindung ist von Vorteil, um mit Hilfe von GoogleMap die angegebenen Sehenswürdigkeiten zu finden oder die Aufgaben auf der App zu lösen. An dem Tag der Schnitzeljagd braucht man nichts anderes planen, es braucht seine Zeit (beim Suchen, Rätseln Laufen usw)! Aber es lohnt sich!
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Un seul mot GÉNIAL Nous étions 19 et tout le monde était unanime pour dire que c’était une manière parfaite de découvrir la ville en s’amusant
Kayley– Canada –
Collected on GetYourGuide
it was really awesome experience! felt cool to learn more about. and super easy and fun for all
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Ho partecipato alla caccia al tesoro con ka mia classe di ragazzi di 17 anni. E stato molto divertente e stimolante ci siamo divertiti molto! Facile da scaricare e da gestire!
Carlota– Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Muy divertido. Una forma diferente de conocer la ciudad
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Divertente, fatta in coppia in maniera spensierata. Consigliata
Lisa Marlen– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Sehr schöne Tour!
Irene– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
haben bei 35 Grad mit unseren drei Kindern diese Tour gemacht. War eine gute Idee. So liefen wir nicht ganz planlos umher und kamen an Plätze, die wir so wohl nicht besucht hätten. Leider hatte wir keinen Empfang am Nationalmuseum und zwei Gebäude waren gerade in Restauration, so dass wir drei von 10 nicht spielen konnten. Ansonsten aber eine nette Idee. Unsere 12jährige war voller Begeisterung dabei. Vergesst nicht die Wasserflaschen mitzunehmen. Beim Rätseln steht man oft in der Sonne und braucht etwas Zeit für die Lösung.
Sabrina– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Es ist eine tolle Möglichkeit einen ersten Überblick über Neapel zu erhalten. Die Rätsel sind gut gemacht und hatten die richtige Schwierigkeit für mich.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Wir waren mit einem 10 jährigen Kind unterwegs. Er fand es spannend die Rätsel zu lösen. Leider waren 2 Rätsel nicht lösbar für uns, da die Gebäude gerade saniert wurden und daher die Inschriften nicht lesbar waren. Ansonsten war es super toll die Stadt so kennen zu lernen.
Greece –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Great for seeing the city on your own! Very clear walking directions that brought us to parts of Naples we would not have found on our own. The riddles were tough but the clues helped.
JulianoZanneti –
The land of Pizza! So nice activity, looking forward to do it in another city! Some riddles were quite difficult, but overall the game had a good balance of easy , medium and hard riddles!