What is the Riga outdoor escape game?
The Riga outdoor escape game takes the escape-room format into the open air: you play on your phone, and at each of the 10 stops a puzzle tied to the landmark in front of you is cracked through observation and logic. Count on about 2 hours, including 32 minutes on foot over 3.6 km, and begin whenever suits you.
Riga's landmarks give the game plenty to work with: a copper figure above the Freedom Monument, a Powder Tower with cannonballs still set into its walls, and a cathedral founded by Bishop Albert. The Old Town is compact, so the stops lie within easy reach of one another on foot.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 32 min · 3.6 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
How the game plays
Solve
Work out each puzzle from what surrounds you at the stop. No prior knowledge of Riga is needed.
Observe
Clues sit in the surroundings of each landmark, so keep your eyes open as you walk.
Navigate
Google Maps guides you from stop to stop, covering about 32 minutes of walking.
Set your pace
No countdown runs. Three hint levels are available, and you can pause and carry on later.
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 will enjoy it
Friends
The puzzles give the group something to discuss between stops, and nobody has to know the city beforehand.
Couples
You tackle each puzzle together, thinking out loud in front of every landmark with no clock hanging over the walk.
Teams at work
Each colleague plays on their own phone, which makes an activity for a work team simple to organise.
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 route from the museum to St Peter's Church
10 stops · about 32 min walking · start: Latvian National Museum of Art · finish: St Peter's Church
The game opens at the Latvian National Museum of Art on the edge of Esplanāde park and closes at St Peter's Church. Between them come the Freedom Monument, the Laima Clock, the Powder Tower, the Swedish Gate, the Three Brothers, Riga Castle, Riga Cathedral and the House of the Blackheads: ten stops in all. Starting in daylight suits the game, since you play outdoors and wind or rain make the walk harder. Google Maps leads the way, the app lets you reorder the stops, and tickets are not needed for the puzzles.
Open the route map ↗
1Latvian National Museum of ArtStart
The Latvian National Museum of Art holds the country's largest collection of Latvian art. It occupies a grand early 20th-century building with a richly decorated facade on the edge of the Esplanāde park, one of the green spaces of Riga's boulevard ring.
2Freedom Monument
The Freedom Monument honours the soldiers who fell in Latvia's War of Independence. On top of its tall column a copper female figure, known to locals as Milda, holds up three gold stars, and a guard of honour stands at its base.
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3Laima Clock
This tall street clock stands near the Freedom Monument and carries the name of Laima, Latvia's best-known chocolate brand. For generations people in Riga have used it as their favourite meeting point.
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4Powder Tower
The round Powder Tower is one of the few surviving parts of Riga's old fortifications. Cannonballs are set into its thick walls, and today it houses the Latvian War Museum.
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5Swedish Gate
The Swedish Gate is the only surviving gate of Riga's old city wall, cut through a house during the period of Swedish rule. According to legend, a local girl who met her Swedish soldier here was walled up alive as punishment.
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6Three Brothers
The Three Brothers are three adjoining houses on Mazā Pils iela and together the oldest group of stone dwellings in Riga. Each was built in a different century, the oldest in the late Middle Ages, and today they house the Latvian Museum of Architecture.
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7Riga Castle
Riga Castle stands on the bank of the Daugava and was first built by the Livonian Order, the knights who ruled much of medieval Latvia. Rebuilt many times over the centuries, it is today the official residence of the President of Latvia.
8Riga Cathedral
Riga Cathedral was founded in the early 13th century by Bishop Albert, the founder of Riga, and is one of the largest medieval churches in the Baltic states. Its walls mix Romanesque, Gothic and baroque forms, and its large organ is known for concerts.
9House of the Blackheads
This richly decorated house on Town Hall Square belonged to the Brotherhood of Blackheads, an association of unmarried foreign merchants. Destroyed in the Second World War, it was rebuilt at the end of the 20th century. Local tradition says the Blackheads set up one of the first decorated Christmas trees in Riga.
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10St Peter's ChurchFinish
St Peter's is a Lutheran church whose tall spire, topped by a golden rooster, rises above Riga's old town. The spire burned in the Second World War and was rebuilt, and a lift takes visitors up to a viewing platform.
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