Rothenburg scavenger hunt
Integrated directly into the town's medieval defensive walls near the Klingentor, this rare 15th-century fortified church served both as a strategic military bastion and the storied spiritual sanctuary of Rothenburg’s shepherds.
Dominating the central Market Square, this ornate Renaissance well dating back to 1608 features a towering column capped by a stone figure of Saint George slaying the dragon, standing as both a vital historic water source and a masterwork of medieval civic craftsmanship.
Towering over the medieval rooftops of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, this magnificent 14th-century Gothic church is renowned for its soaring architecture and the breathtaking, masterfully carved Holy Blood Altarpiece by Tilman Riemenschneider.
Framed by a crooked half-timbered house and two fairytale medieval gate towers, this iconic cobblestone fork is the most photographed and picturesque corner of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
The Gerlachschmiede is a strikingly picturesque half-timbered house, famously rebuilt after wartime damage to showcase its iconic pointed gable and traditional craftsmanship. This charming structure remains one of the most photographed spots in the town, serving as a testament to the meticulous architectural restoration of Rothenburg’s medieval heritage.
Rothenburg scavenger hunt
Integrated directly into the town's medieval defensive walls near the Klingentor, this rare 15th-century fortified church served both as a strategic military bastion and the storied spiritual sanctuary of Rothenburg’s shepherds.
Dominating the central Market Square, this ornate Renaissance well dating back to 1608 features a towering column capped by a stone figure of Saint George slaying the dragon, standing as both a vital historic water source and a masterwork of medieval civic craftsmanship.
Towering over the medieval rooftops of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, this magnificent 14th-century Gothic church is renowned for its soaring architecture and the breathtaking, masterfully carved Holy Blood Altarpiece by Tilman Riemenschneider.
Framed by a crooked half-timbered house and two fairytale medieval gate towers, this iconic cobblestone fork is the most photographed and picturesque corner of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
The Gerlachschmiede is a strikingly picturesque half-timbered house, famously rebuilt after wartime damage to showcase its iconic pointed gable and traditional craftsmanship. This charming structure remains one of the most photographed spots in the town, serving as a testament to the meticulous architectural restoration of Rothenburg’s medieval heritage.

Rothenburg Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

Rated 4.55 out of 5 based on 31 customer ratings
(31 customer reviews)

Explore the city at your own pace with a self-guided experience.
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Make a day of itInteractive guides by World City Trail, delivered with your tickets.

What is a city guide?

Your own guide to Rothenburg ob der Tauber on your phone: hand-picked places, each with why to go, what to order and a practical tip.

  • Tick places off
  • Your own notes
  • One tap to Maps
  • Open now, near me
  • Works offline
  • Print it or save as PDF
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Loved by thousands of travelers and locals

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Included: your personal Trail Map with every city you finish, the kilometres you walk and your flag collection. See an example →

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Everything you need for a flexible self-guided city experience

Explore the city at your own pace

✔ Discover hidden gems & highlights
✔ Enjoy a flexible self-guided experience
✔ Explore freely with no schedule
✔ Perfect for couples, students, companies, friends & families

How your city experience works

✔ Instant ticket purchase
✔ Easy access via the World City Trail app
✔ Quick setup with your booking details
✔ Start anytime and explore freely
✔ Pause and resume anytime

Why travelers choose this tour

✔ Instant access after purchase
✔ Optional AI voice narration — listen instead of read
✔ Discover top attractions & food spots
✔ Customize your route anytime

Ten riddles inside Rothenburg's town wall

The Rothenburg scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk from landmark to landmark in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, solve a riddle at each one by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories and legends behind it. The walled town is so small that its 10 stops add up to just 1.6 km and about 21 minutes of walking; riddles, stories and pauses fill the rest of roughly 2 hours, and you can begin whenever it suits you.

Highlights include the fortified St Wolfgang's Church at the Klingentor, St James's Church, the Town Hall and St George's Fountain on the market square, the Medieval Crime Museum and the half-timbered Plönlein. Rothenburg's walled old town is small and its lanes are lined with half-timbered houses, so short walks take you from one medieval corner to the next.

  • Durationabout 2 hours
  • Walkingabout 21 min · 1.6 km
  • Stops10
  • LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch

What you do between the Klingentor and the market square

A dragon, a pilgrim's shell, fourteen statues

Every stop hides one riddle, and its answer is right there on the spot: St George fighting the dragon on top of the market fountain, the scallop shell of the pilgrims at St James's, the virtues and vices on the front of the Baumeisterhaus. Observation and logic solve it, no history lesson required.

A gate named after a valley, and a mayor's long drink

Each answer opens a story: why the Klingentor takes its name from the Klinge, the little valley below it, and not from a blade, how St Wolfgang's became the shepherds' church, and the Meistertrunk legend of the mayor who is said to have saved the town in 1631 by draining a huge tankard of wine. Each story is also recorded in the audio narration, handy while your eyes are busy on a carved gable.

1.6 km of cobbles

You walk for only about 21 minutes in all, because the old town inside the wall is small. Google Maps takes you from the Klingentor down to the Plönlein and then east towards the Röder Gate, through lanes lined with half-timbered houses.

A coffee on the market square

No clock runs during the game, so stop for coffee and a slice of cake whenever you feel like it, then carry on later or on another day. Entering the old town through the Röder Gate? The app can just as well open the game at the Gerlachschmiede.

See the route and attractions →

How it works

  1. Book online Choose the number of players. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
  2. Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
  3. Play when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.

Day-trippers, families and groups in Rothenburg

A day out on the Romantic Road

Many people see Rothenburg ob der Tauber on a day trip, and in about 2 hours the game shows you its churches, the market square, the Plönlein and the town wall, with time left for a museum or a stroll along the covered wall walk. The riddles make you pause at corners where you might otherwise snap a photo and move on.

Children on the lookout for dragons and vices

Kids love spotting St George and his dragon, comparing the two unequal towers of St James's and counting the fourteen statues on the Baumeisterhaus. An adult plays alongside them, and the stops are only a few minutes apart.

Groups who gather again on the market square

A team has up to 5 players, each with the game on their own phone, so a large party can set off in several teams and meet up at the Baumeisterhaus, right beside the market square. All of it happens in public lanes and squares.

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: from the Klingentor via the market square to the Plönlein and the Baumeisterhaus

10 stops · about 21 min walking · start: St Wolfgang's Church · finish: Baumeisterhaus

The hunt starts at St Wolfgang's Church and the Klingentor on the edge of the old town and leads to St James's Church and the bronze statue of St James in front of it. On the market square you visit the Town Hall and St George's Fountain, then head south past the Medieval Crime Museum to the Plönlein. The route turns east to the Gerlachschmiede by the Röder Gate and finishes at the Baumeisterhaus near the market square. Since each answer can be read off the cobbles, the fountain or a decorated gable, the game never asks for an entry ticket, and if you would rather begin on the market square or at the Plönlein, the app starts there and sorts the remaining stops into a new order.

Open the route map ↗

  1. St Wolfgang's Church

    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.

  2. Klingentor

    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.

  3. St James's Church

    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 →

  4. Bronze Statue of St James

    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.

    Read the full story →

  5. Town Hall

    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.

  6. St George's Fountain

    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.

    Read the full story →

  7. Medieval Crime Museum

    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.

  8. Plönlein

    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.

    Read the full story →

  9. Gerlachschmiede

    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.

  10. Baumeisterhaus

    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.

31 reviews for Rothenburg Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

  1. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  2. Rated 5 out of 5

    Italy –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  3. Rated 4 out of 5

    Susanne– Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    De uitdagingen zijn leuk en afwisselend. Anders/verbeterd kan wellicht dat begin- en eindpunt uit elkaar liggen. Bij een stad is het vaak handiger te eindigen waar je bent begonnen.

  4. Rated 4 out of 5

    Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  5. Rated 5 out of 5

    United States –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  6. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Zeitlich gut machbar. Wegführung einfach, schön um die Stadt kennenzulernen. Ohne Zeitdruck, frei einteilbar und möglich zwischendurch Pausen zu machen / Attraktionen wahrzunehmen. Rätsel teilweise herausfordernd. Kinder / Jugendliche hätten sich am Ende der Tour über einen kleinen Preis gefreut. Bei einem Preis von 7,50 pro Erwachsener wäre es schön.

  7. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    It was a fun experience with a route that made sense. Not too much walking and reasonable riddles. Not too hard to solve but still fun to do

  8. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  9. Rated 4 out of 5

    Ina– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  10. Rated 4 out of 5

    Azucena– Spain –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Algo complicado para niños

  11. Rated 5 out of 5

    United Kingdom –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  12. Rated 5 out of 5

    Yvonne– Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  13. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Sehr viel Interessantes. Teilweise etwas schwer zu lösen

  14. Rated 5 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Man musste sich echt anstrengen, aber war eine sehr informative Reise durch die Geschichte von Rothenburg. Hat viel Spaß gemacht

  15. Rated 5 out of 5

    Matthias– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Das ist einfach toll, im eigenen Tempo durch Rothenburg laufen und was über die Stadt lernen.

  16. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Es war eine sehr interessante und schöne Tour durch Rothenburg. Der Text ist teilweise viel zu lesen, cool wären hier Audiodateien. Die Rätsel waren eigentlich alle machbar, manchmal denkt man nur falsch oder nicht so weit. Hat aber wirklich Spaß gemacht. 🙂

  17. Rated 4 out of 5

    Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Viele interessante Infos erhalten. Wir hatten viel Spaß. Besser als ohne durch die Stadt zu spazieren

  18. Rated 4 out of 5

    Martin– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Die Führung war grds. sehr gut. Bei den verschiedenen Stationen gab es Rätsel zu lösen, die jedoch sehr verwirrend waren, da eine entsprechende Fragestellung fehlte.

  19. Rated 4 out of 5

    United Kingdom –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    It was a self guided tour, some of the instructions were not clear, could not go backwards to review a site. It was better than nothing

  20. Rated 5 out of 5

    United States –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Awesome and great to do with my teenage son!

  21. Rated 4 out of 5

    Janina– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    War ganz cool, wir haben einiges über die Stadt erfahren.

  22. Rated 5 out of 5

    Anke– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Sehr Gut. Nur ein Problem bei einer Station (die Sonnenuhr beim Rathaus)da haben wir Aufgabe und Lösung nicht verstanden…eine anschließende Erklärung für den Lösungsweg wäre noch gut

  23. Rated 5 out of 5

    ErFe– Italy –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Esperienza interessante per conoscere meglio un luogo con il divertimento della caccia al tesoro. Da estendere anche ad altri luoghi.

  24. Rated 5 out of 5

    Jose Montoya– Spain –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    La actividad nos sorprendió gratamente. Fue muy divertida y nos permitía conocer la ciudad Solo encuentro como fallo que si me equivoco de respuesta, no me dice en qué me he equivocado.

  25. Rated 5 out of 5

    Olivia– United States –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Cute little tour of the city while solving pretty simple puzzles! I don’t like your guises because I want to take my own time exploring and this game is perfect for that! Would be fun to play against another team, but it was just my husband and I!

  26. Rated 5 out of 5

    Heike– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Sehr gut. Wir hatten alle Spaß und konnten Rothenburg mal von einer anderen Seite erleben.

  27. Rated 5 out of 5

    United States –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Great

  28. Rated 5 out of 5

    Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Interesting riddles, it lasted so long as we needed to explore the nicest parts of the city! Brought us to nieces sightsees that we may have otherways missed.

  29. Rated 4 out of 5

    Steve– Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Wir waren als Familie mit erw. Kindern unterwegs und mit der App war das doch recht lustig.

  30. Rated 5 out of 5

    Johannes Bakker (verified owner) –

    Tijdens mijn plezierreis naar Rothenburg heb ik op een leuke en plezierige manier veel informatie geleerd. Ik zal het ook in andere steden zoeken.

  31. Rated 5 out of 5

    Switzerland –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Ein schönes Abenteuer in Rothenburg!

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

Frequently asked questions

Will the Rothenburg scavenger hunt fit between lunch and afternoon coffee?

Easily, as the game is planned for about 2 hours. Walking takes up only 21 minutes of that, over 1.6 km and 10 stops, and the rest goes on riddles, stories and craning your neck at the half-timbered gables. Should a side lane tempt you off the route, pause the game and resume it whenever you are ready.

Where in Rothenburg does the game begin and end?

It begins at St Wolfgang's, the fortified church built into the wall beside the Klingentor, and ends at the Baumeisterhaus with its stepped gable, a few steps from the market square. To begin somewhere else, pick the market square or any other stop as your first one in the app.

Must we be at St Wolfgang's at a set time to meet someone?

No one is waiting there, and the time is yours to pick. Your booking reference comes by email; type it into the World City Trail app and the game is ready on whichever day and at whichever hour you turn up at St Wolfgang's. Since tickets are per player, every member of the team sees the riddles about the gate, the fountain and the Plönlein on their own phone.

Do we need tickets for St James's Church or the Crime Museum?

Not for the game: the Klingentor, the market fountain and the Plönlein all give up their answers from the street. Going inside St James's to see Riemenschneider's Holy Blood Altar, visiting the Medieval Crime Museum or climbing the Town Hall tower are paid extras you are free to add to your day.

Is the Rothenburg hunt a good choice for children?

It works well, as long as each team brings along an adult. Children enjoy looking for St George and the dragon on the market fountain, the pilgrims' scallop shell and the seven virtues and seven vices on the Baumeisterhaus, and the walk is short. With cobbles nearly everywhere, the route cannot be done in a wheelchair, and a pushchair will rattle along.

Which languages can we pick in Rothenburg?

In Rothenburg you can play in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or Dutch. Every player sets their own in the World City Trail app before the first riddle appears at St Wolfgang's Church.

Does the game work for a club or company outing?

It does. Everyone has a ticket of their own, you split into teams of no more than five, and the teams can leave the Klingentor a few minutes apart and find each other again on the market square. There is nothing to rent, as the game uses public streets only.

What should we take along for a game in Rothenburg?

Each team needs a phone with mobile data and enough charge for two hours, a power bank if the battery tends to drain, and shoes that cope with cobblestones. Earphones make the audio narration easier to follow, and in rain or in winter a warm jacket or an umbrella comes in handy.

Start your game at the Klingentor

Every player needs a ticket of their own, and the booking reference is emailed to you straight after you book. On the day that suits you, go to St Wolfgang's Church beside the Klingentor and open the first riddle in the app.

Book your tickets →

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