Knights, sultans and seahorses: the Old Town of Rhodes as a riddle trail
The Rhodes treasure hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk through the medieval Old Town, solve a riddle at each landmark by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories and legends behind it. Inside the walls everything is close together: the 10 stops are linked by just 2 km, around 30 minutes on foot, so most of the roughly 2 hours goes on riddles, stories and a pause in the shade, and the start time is up to you.
Highlights include the d'Amboise Gate, the Palace of the Grand Master, the Street of the Knights, Hippocrates Square, the Square of the Jewish Martyrs, the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque and the Mosque of Suleiman. The Old Town is compact and largely car-free, so short walks take you from the Knights' fortress to Ottoman mosques and the old Jewish quarter.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 30 min · 2 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Greek
What you do between the d'Amboise Gate and the Clock Tower
Coats of arms, gateways and a fountain of seahorses
Each of the 10 stops hides one riddle, and the answer is always in plain sight: the arms of Emery d'Amboise above his gate, the shields on the Inn of France, the outside staircase of the Castellania, the bronze seahorses in the Square of the Jewish Martyrs. You need no history lessons beforehand, just sharp eyes.
Stories of the Knights and the Ottomans
Each answer opens a chapter of the town's past: why the Grand Master's palace you see is largely an Italian reconstruction of the 1930s after the gunpowder explosion of 1856, how the Knights nursed pilgrims in the hospital that now holds the museum, and what changed after Suleiman the Magnificent took Rhodes in 1522. If reading in the midday sun feels like too much, the audio narration reads the stories to you.
2 km of lanes inside the walls
On foot you cover about half an hour in all, from the dry moat at the d'Amboise Gate down to Sokratous Street and up again to the Clock Tower, one of the highest points of the Old Town. Google Maps shows the way through a maze of lanes where it is easy to lose your bearings.
Shade, a cold drink and a break
No clock runs against you, so sit down at a café on Hippocrates Square, browse the shops of Sokratous Street with the tips in the app and carry on later or the next morning. In July and August an early start or a late afternoon keeps the heat bearable.
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.
Cruise guests, beach families and Rhodians at home
Off the cruise ship and through the walls
Cruise ships moor in the harbour right beside the walls, and in about 2 hours the game takes you from the Knights' gates to the Ottoman mosques with no group to keep up with. If you need to be back on board sooner, you simply stop wherever you are.
Families on a beach holiday
A cooler morning or evening in the Old Town makes a good change from the beach. Children like crossing the moat, counting the coats of arms on the Street of the Knights and finding the seahorses on the fountain, and an adult plays in every team.
Rhodians with friends to show around
People who pass these walls every day often discover details they had never noticed, and visiting friends take home the stories as well as the photos. Teams of up to 5 each play on their own phones, and the game works just as well for a company outing.
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.
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Excellente activitée qui permet de visiter une parti du cœur de la ville ou 3/4 du parcour est à l’ombre un vrai plus
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