What is the Ottawa outdoor escape game?
The Ottawa outdoor escape game turns an escape room into a walk through Canada's capital: you play on your smartphone, and at each of the 10 landmarks a puzzle waits that you crack through careful observation and logic. Expect about 2 hours, including 34 minutes on foot over 2.4 km, and start whenever the day suits you.
The puzzles are tied to Parliament Hill, the Centennial Flame, the National War Memorial, the Rideau Canal locks and the spider sculpture outside the National Gallery, and each one stands on its own, so no storyline is needed. Help is dosed out in three stages, never more, whenever a riddle refuses to give way. The route suits the format because it is short and runs close to the Ottawa River, which keeps the puzzles within easy reach of one another.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 34 min · 2.4 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese
What you do during the escape game
Solve
Work out the puzzle at each landmark from what you can see and from logic. No prior knowledge of Ottawa is needed.
Look around
Clues hide in the stonework, bronze figures and water of each site, so take in every detail around you.
Walk
Follow Google Maps from stop to stop, roughly 34 minutes of walking across about 2.4 km.
Take your time
There is no countdown. Ask for a hint when you need one, pause for a coffee and pick the game up later or 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 is for
Friends
Every landmark gives the group a puzzle to debate, and nobody has to know the capital in advance.
Couples
A shared challenge that keeps you talking as you stroll from one landmark to the next, with no clock ticking.
Team building
Teams of up to 5 each play on their own phone, so colleagues can split the thinking along the route.
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.
The puzzle trail: from Parliament to the Champlain statue
10 stops · about 34 min walking · start: Parliament of Canada · finish: Samuel de Champlain Statue
The first puzzle waits at the Parliament of Canada and the last at the Samuel de Champlain statue on Nepean Point. In between you solve puzzles at the Centennial Flame, the National War Memorial, the Famous Five monument, the Rideau Canal locks, Major's Hill Park, Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, the Royal Canadian Mint and the National Gallery of Canada. Daylight makes the best start, since the puzzles are solved outdoors and wind or rain slow everything down. Google Maps guides you between stops, you can reorder them in the app, and no entry tickets are needed.
Open the route map ↗
1Parliament of CanadaStart
The Gothic Revival buildings on Parliament Hill rise above the Ottawa River. The Centre Block was rebuilt after a fire in 1916, and its Peace Tower, completed in 1927, honours Canadians who died in the First World War, while the round Library of Parliament behind it survived the fire.
2Centennial Flame
The Centennial Flame was lit on 1 January 1967 by Prime Minister Lester Pearson to mark 100 years of Confederation. It burns above a fountain ringed by the shields of the provinces and territories, and the coins visitors throw in fund a research award for people with disabilities.
Read the full story →
3National War Memorial
The National War Memorial in Confederation Square, called The Response, shows Canadians of many services passing through a granite arch. King George VI unveiled it in 1939, and in 2000 the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was placed at its foot.
4Famous Five Monument
The Women Are Persons monument by Barbara Paterson honours the five Alberta women who won the Persons Case in 1929, when Canadian women were recognised as persons under the law. The bronze figures gather around an empty chair, which invites visitors to sit and join them.
5Rideau Canal Locks
Between Parliament Hill and the Château Laurier, a flight of eight locks lifts boats from the Ottawa River to the Rideau Canal. The canal was built between 1826 and 1832 under Lieutenant-Colonel John By, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its locks are still opened by hand.
Read the full story →
6Major's Hill Park
Major's Hill Park is the oldest park in Ottawa, on the bluff between the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River. Colonel By had his house here while he built the canal, and the park offers some of the best views of Parliament Hill.
7Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica
Built from 1841, Notre-Dame is the oldest surviving church in Ottawa and the seat of its Catholic archbishop. Its twin silver spires rise above Sussex Drive, and behind the stone façade lies a richly coloured Gothic Revival interior.
8Royal Canadian Mint
This castle-like stone building on Sussex Drive opened in 1908 as the Ottawa branch of Britain's Royal Mint and became the Royal Canadian Mint in 1931. Collector coins, medals and gold bullion are made here, while everyday Canadian coins are produced in Winnipeg.
9National Gallery of Canada
Moshe Safdie designed the glass and granite gallery, opened in 1988, and its glass tower echoes the shape of the nearby Library of Parliament. In front of it stands Maman, Louise Bourgeois's giant bronze spider, more than nine metres tall.
10Samuel de Champlain StatueFinish
On Nepean Point stands a bronze statue of Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer who founded Quebec City in 1608 and travelled up the Ottawa River in 1613. Unveiled in 1915, it shows him raising an astrolabe, which is often said to be held upside down.
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