What is the Utrecht outdoor escape game?
The Utrecht outdoor escape game is an escape room taken out of doors: you play on your own phone, and at each of the 10 stops a puzzle waits that you work out by reading the surroundings and thinking it through. Allow 2 hours overall, since the walking comes to 31 minutes and the distance to 3 km.
Puzzles wait on the two-level wharves of the Oudegracht, in the Buurkerk where Museum Speelklok keeps its self-playing instruments, on Domplein between the Academy Building and the 112-metre Dom Tower, along De Letters van Utrecht, the poem that gains one carved stone a week, and at St Catherine's Cathedral. The old centre is small and level, with the canal running through the middle of it, so the walks between stops are short. Every puzzle stands on its own, so there is no storyline to keep track of, and up to three levels of hints are there if one of them holds you up.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 31 min · 3 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do along the way
Solve
Work out the puzzle at each stop from what is in front of you. Logic and a close look are enough, and no prior knowledge is needed.
Look closer
The clues sit in details: an inscription, a figure on a facade, the layout of a square.
Walk
Google Maps points you to the next stop: 31 minutes of walking in all, spread over 3 km.
Take your time
Time is with you, not against you. Open a hint when you want one, stop for a coffee and continue 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 works for
Friends
Everyone argues for their own answer, and nobody needs to know the city in advance.
Couples
A challenge you take on together, at your own pace, with no clock running.
Team building
Teams of up to 5 play on their own phones, so colleagues can set off in several groups.
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 route in Utrecht, stop by stop
10 stops · about 31 min walking · start: Oude Mannen- en Vrouwenhuis · finish: Jewish Monument (Joods Monument)
The Oude Mannen- en Vrouwenhuis is the first stop with a puzzle and the Jewish Monument the last, with eight more in between: Museum Speelklok, the Oudegracht, the Academy Building of Utrecht University, St Martin's Cathedral, the Dom Tower, Het Utrechts Archief, De Letters van Utrecht and St Catherine's Cathedral. Domplein is the pivot of the route, with the Academy Building, the cathedral and the tower that has stood apart from it since the storm of 1674, before the last stops lead on to the archive and the line of letters in the pavement. Daylight makes for the easier start, because the puzzles are solved outdoors and rain or wind slows the whole game down. Google Maps covers the walking, the order of the stops can be changed in the app, and no entry tickets are needed.
Open the route map ↗
1Oude Mannen- en VrouwenhuisStart
From the 18th century, Huis Oudaen was home to the Oude Mannen- en Vrouwenhuis, a charitable home where elderly men and women of Utrecht were cared for. Foundations like this, run by regents from leading families, were an important part of social care in the Dutch Republic.
2Museum Speelklok
Museum Speelklok collects self-playing musical instruments, from musical clocks and music boxes to Dutch street organs, and plays them for visitors. It is housed in the Buurkerk, one of Utrecht's oldest parish churches. Here Sister Bertken lived walled up in a small cell beside the church for 57 years, until her death in 1514.
3Oudegracht
The Oudegracht is Utrecht's main canal, dug in the Middle Ages right through the old city. Its special feature is the two levels: wharves at water level with cellars that run under the street, once used to unload and store goods. Many of these wharf cellars now house cafés and restaurants.
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4Academy Building of Utrecht University
Utrecht University's Academy Building on Domplein was built in neo-Renaissance style at the end of the 19th century. Its Aula was once the chapter house of the cathedral, where the Union of Utrecht, the alliance of the northern provinces that laid the foundation of the Netherlands, was signed in 1579. The university itself dates from 1636.
5St Martin's Cathedral (Domkerk)
Work on this Gothic cathedral, dedicated to St Martin, began in 1254 and went on into the 16th century. The nave collapsed in the storm of 1674 and was never rebuilt, and lines in the paving of Domplein now mark where it stood. Since the Reformation it has been a Protestant church, with the Pandhof cloister garden beside it.
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6Dom Tower
At about 112 metres, the Dom Tower is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands. It was built between 1321 and 1382 as the bell tower of St Martin's Cathedral. Since a storm destroyed the nave in 1674, the tower has stood apart from the church, with the open Domplein in between.
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7Het Utrechts Archief
Het Utrechts Archief is the regional historical archive of the city and province of Utrecht. It keeps centuries of records, from medieval charters and city accounts to maps, drawings and photographs. In its exhibition space, the Expo, you can see parts of this collection that tell the story of Utrecht and its people.
8De Letters van Utrecht
De Letters van Utrecht is an endless poem laid into the pavement one stone at a time. Since 2012 a stonemason has carved a new letter into a paving stone every week and added it to the line, so the text grows slowly through the city. Look down and try to read the words as you follow them.
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9St Catherine's Cathedral
St Catherine's Cathedral (Sint-Catharinakathedraal) is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Utrecht. The late Gothic church was begun in the 15th century as a monastery church and became a cathedral after the Catholic hierarchy in the Netherlands was restored in 1853. Its neo-Gothic west front was added around 1900, and next door is the Museum Catharijneconvent.
10Jewish Monument (Joods Monument)Finish
This monument commemorates the Jewish residents of Utrecht who were deported and murdered during the German occupation of 1940 to 1945. It is a place of quiet remembrance, a reminder of the neighbours and families who once lived in these streets.
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