What is the Rothenburg outdoor escape game?
The Rothenburg outdoor escape game is an escape room taken out into the walled old town: you play on your smartphone, and each of the 10 stops holds a puzzle that you solve by observing the surroundings and reasoning it through. Plan on about 2 hours, with 29 minutes of walking over roughly 1.6 km, and begin on whichever day suits you.
The puzzles sit at St Wolfgang's Church by the Klingentor, St James's Church, the Town Hall, St George's Fountain, the Medieval Crime Museum and the Plönlein, among other places. Each one stands on its own, so you never need a storyline, and up to three levels of hints are available. Everything lies inside the town walls, so only a few minutes separate one puzzle from the next and each has plenty of detail to work with.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 29 min · 1.6 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the escape game
Solve
Work out the puzzle at each stop from what you can see and what the surroundings reveal. No knowledge of Rothenburg is needed.
Look closer
The clues sit in the half-timbering, the gables, the statues and the details of each corner, so keep your eyes on the houses.
Walk
Google Maps guides you from stop to stop: about 29 minutes on foot over roughly 1.6 km through the old town and along its walls.
Take your time
No countdown runs during the game. Use a hint when you need one, stop for a coffee and pick the game up later or on 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 suits
Friends on a day out
Every puzzle gives the group something new to argue over, and nobody has to know the town's history beforehand.
Couples
A shared challenge that keeps you talking as you wander from the Klingentor to the Plönlein, with no clock ticking.
Team building
Teams of up to 5 people each play on their own phone and decide for themselves how to split the puzzles.
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.
Puzzle route: from St Wolfgang's to the Baumeisterhaus
10 stops · about 29 min walking · start: St Wolfgang's Church · finish: Baumeisterhaus
The opening pair of puzzles sits at St Wolfgang's Church and the Klingentor, out on the edge of the old town, with the next two at St James's Church and its bronze statue. On the market square you visit the Town Hall and St George's Fountain, pass the Medieval Crime Museum and the Plönlein, continue to the Gerlachschmiede, and finish at the Baumeisterhaus. Daylight makes the best start, since rain and wind slow an outdoor game. Google Maps leads you between stops, you can change the order in the app, and the puzzles need no entry tickets.
Open the route map ↗
1St Wolfgang's ChurchStart
Built into the town wall next to the Klingentor in the late 15th century, St Wolfgang's is a fortified church: its outer wall is part of the defences, with gun loops and casemates. It was the church of Rothenburg's shepherds, and their traditional shepherds' dance is still performed in the town.
2Klingentor
This gate tower in the town wall takes its name from the Klinge, the steep little valley below it, not from a blade. Together with St Wolfgang's Church it forms a small fortress on the edge of the old town, and from here the medieval wall with its covered walkway runs on around Rothenburg.
3St James's Church
The Lutheran church of St Jakob was built between 1311 and 1484, and its west choir bridges a street on a vaulted passage. Inside is Tilman Riemenschneider's Holy Blood Altar, carved between 1500 and 1505. Look up at the two towers: they are not the same height, at about 55 and 58 metres.
Read the full story →
4Bronze Statue of St James
This bronze in front of St James's Church shows the apostle James the Greater, to whom the church is dedicated. It recalls that Rothenburg lay on a medieval pilgrims' route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where James is said to be buried. The scallop shell is the symbol of these pilgrims.
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5Town Hall
Rothenburg's town hall has two parts: a Gothic wing from the 13th century with a tower about 60 metres high, and a Renaissance wing on the market square begun in 1572. Next door, the clock of the former Councillors' Tavern recalls the Meistertrunk legend, in which a mayor is said to have saved the town in 1631 by draining a huge tankard of wine.
6St George's Fountain
The fountain on the market square was first built in 1446 and received its Renaissance form in 1608, with St George fighting the dragon on top of its column. It is one of the largest fountains in Rothenburg and was an important water supply for the town.
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7Medieval Crime Museum
Housed in the former commandery of the Knights of St John on Burggasse, the Medieval Crime Museum is one of the main museums of legal history in Germany. It shows how justice worked over a thousand years, with shame masks, instruments of punishment and old legal documents.
8Plönlein
The Plönlein, a small triangular square where the street forks, is one of the most photographed corners in Germany. A narrow half-timbered house stands between two towers: the Siebers Tower on the higher street to the left and the Kobolzell Gate on the lane down to the Tauber valley.
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9Gerlachschmiede
The Gerlachschmiede, a former blacksmith's workshop beside the Röder Gate, is known for its tall, richly decorated half-timbered gable. The eastern part of the old town was hit by bombs in March 1945, and the smithy was among the buildings rebuilt in the old style afterwards.
10BaumeisterhausFinish
The town architect Leonhard Weidmann built this Renaissance house in 1596, just off the market square. Its stepped gable facade is decorated with fourteen statues: the seven virtues and the seven vices.
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Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Nach einigen Anfangsschwierigkeiten war es dann gut. Die App zieht aber eine Menge Strom…von 100%war am Ende noch 7%übrig
Maria– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Die Frage mit der astronomischen Ihr war nicht zu beantworten, weil die Sternzeichen trotz Zoom nicht erkennbar waren. Die anderen neun Fragen waren super, führten durch die Stadt und vermittelten Wissen. Die Tour war weder zu lang, noch zu kurz, sondern gerade richtig. Hat Spaß gemacht.