What is the Venice scavenger hunt?
The Venice scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you find your way through the alleys and squares of Venice, solve a riddle at each of 10 landmarks by looking closely at what is around you, and unlock the stories and legends behind them. It takes about 2 hours, with around 41 minutes of actual walking over 3 km, and you start whenever you like.
Highlights include the Frari with Titian's Assumption, the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal, Teatro La Fenice, St Mark's Square with the Basilica and the Doge's Palace, and the Greek church of San Giorgio dei Greci. Venice has no cars, so the whole route is on foot, over small bridges and through narrow alleys where the game keeps you on track.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 41 min · 3 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese
How the hunt works between the Frari and Castello
A riddle on every campo
One riddle waits at each of the 10 stops, and the answer is somewhere on the stone around you: a column, a relief, a cannonball still stuck in a wall. You need an eye for detail and nothing else.
The story once it cracks
Then the stop gives up what it knows: the relics of St Mark, said to have left Alexandria in 828 hidden under pork, the theatre that burned in 1836 and again in 1996 and reopened in 2003 under the name of the Phoenix, Casanova climbing out of the cells under the lead roof of the Doge's Palace in 1756. The narration plays as audio as well, useful while you watch the boats go past.
3 km over the bridges
Google Maps keeps you from losing the thread in the alleys: 41 minutes of walking in all, barely 3 km, from San Polo across the Grand Canal and on into Castello. Venice has no cars, so every metre of it is on foot.
Stop whenever you like
No clock is running. Sit down on the steps of a campo, keep the last riddles for the evening when the day visitors have gone, and let the app reshuffle the stops if you are coming from another sestiere.
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 this Venice hunt is right for
A short day in Venice
Two hours is enough to put the Frari, the Rialto, St Mark's Square and a Greek church in Castello into one line, which is a lot of Venice for one morning. It also gets you off the Mercerie and into campi that most day trippers walk past.
Young players
There is a cannonball from 1849 lodged in the façade of San Salvador, a bell tower beside San Giorgio dei Greci that leans visibly, and four bronze horses above the door of the basilica, and an adult goes along in the team.
Colleagues in teams
Teams of five, each player with the riddle on their own screen, suit a small company outing: everyone starts at the Frari and the scores are settled by the canal at San Giorgio dei Greci. Nothing is reserved besides the tickets, as the campi and the fondamente are public ground.
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: the Frari, the Rialto, St Mark's Square, Castello
10 stops · about 41 min walking · start: Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari · finish: San Giorgio dei Greci
The hunt starts at the Basilica dei Frari in the San Polo district and crosses Campo San Polo to the Rialto Bridge. On the other side of the Grand Canal you pass Campo San Salvador and Teatro La Fenice before reaching St Mark's Square, St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace. From there you head into the Castello district to the Church of San Zaccaria and finish at San Giorgio dei Greci. Since every answer is out in the campi, on the stonework and the façades, the hunt asks for no entry ticket at all, and if your vaporetto stop lies elsewhere the app will begin the game at another church and resequence the rest.
Open the route map ↗
1Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei FrariStart
The Frari is the great brick church of the Franciscans in Venice, consecrated in 1492. Over the high altar hangs Titian's Assumption of the Virgin, put in place in 1518, and the church also holds a monument to Titian and the pyramid-shaped monument to the sculptor Antonio Canova, made by his pupils.
2Campo San Polo
Campo San Polo is the largest campo in Venice, second in size only to St Mark's Square among the city's open spaces. Paved in 1493, it once hosted bullfights, sermons and masked balls, and it is still used for Carnival events and open-air screenings, framed by the Church of San Polo and old palaces such as Palazzo Soranzo.
Read the full story →
3Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge is the oldest of the four bridges across the Grand Canal. Antonio da Ponte built it in stone between 1588 and 1591 to replace a wooden bridge that had collapsed more than once, and its covered ramps still carry rows of shops.
4Campo San Salvador
Campo San Salvador, on the Mercerie shopping street, is framed by the Church of San Salvador, which holds two paintings by Titian, and by the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro. The marble column in the middle was set up in 1898 in memory of the Venetian uprising against Austrian rule in 1848–1849, and a cannonball from 1849 is still lodged in the church façade.
Read the full story →
5Teatro La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice, the Phoenix, opened in 1792 and has lived up to its name: it burned down in 1836 and again in an arson fire in 1996, and each time it was rebuilt, most recently reopening in 2003. Giuseppe Verdi's operas Rigoletto and La Traviata had their world premieres here.
6St Mark's Square
Venetians simply call St Mark's Square the Piazza, while most other squares in the city are called campi. It is framed by the long arcades of the Procuratie, and its bell tower, 98.6 metres high, is a faithful rebuild: the original collapsed on 14 July 1902, and the new tower was inaugurated in 1912.
7St Mark's Basilica
St Mark's Basilica was built to house the relics of St Mark, which, according to tradition, Venetian merchants smuggled out of Alexandria in 828 hidden under pork. The present 11th-century church is covered with about 8,000 square metres of mosaics, and the bronze horses on its façade are copies of the originals brought from Constantinople after 1204.
8Doge's Palace
The Gothic Doge's Palace was the residence of the doge and the seat of the Venetian Republic's government and courts. Its prisons are reached across the Bridge of Sighs, built around 1600, and in 1756 Giacomo Casanova escaped from the Piombi, the cells under its lead roof.
9Church of San Zaccaria
The Church of San Zaccaria was built between 1458 and 1515, begun in Gothic style by Antonio Gambello and completed with a Renaissance façade by Mauro Codussi. It belonged to a wealthy Benedictine convent, several doges are buried in its crypt, and inside hangs Giovanni Bellini's San Zaccaria Altarpiece.
Read the full story →
10San Giorgio dei GreciFinish
San Giorgio dei Greci was built from 1539 to 1573 for the large Greek Orthodox community of Venice and is one of the oldest churches of the Greek diaspora. Look for its leaning bell tower beside the canal; inside, the iconostasis holds icons by Michael Damaskinos, and since 1991 it has been the cathedral of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Molto interessante, soprattutto perché ci ha permesso di passare e vedere posti che probabilmente da soli non avremmo considerato. Alcuni enigmi ci hanno fatto pensare un po’ di più, mentre altri sono stati risolti facilmente da mio figlio, con sua grande soddisfazione. Forse più adatto a chi può soggiornare per due giorni o più a Venezia, così può interrompere l’esperienza e fare le visite dei musei e monumenti, prima di riprenderla più tardi nel corso del giorno, anche di sera, o magari il giorno successivo. Per chi ha una sola giornata, come noi, non rimane molto tempo per fare altro… comunque bella esperienza!
Netherlands –
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France –
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Interessante et ludique mais certaines images étaient trop petites et impossibles à agrandir ou changer de sens
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Es war interessant und informativ. Wir fühlten uns gut unterhalten.
Aurélie– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Bonne activité qui a bien plu aux enfants, avec les énigmes et les histoires pour chaque point. Prestataire hyper réactif lors du contact par téléphone même le samedi. Améliorations à envisager : un peu plus de points pour faire découvrir plus de quartiers de Venise, et des anecdotes également un peu plus joyeuses pour refléter aussi Venise sous sa forme festive et joyeuse.
Raphael– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
La qualité de certaines « énigmes » n’est pas super mais cela fait tout de même découvrir Venise d’une façon ludique, c’est bien pour prendre ses premiers repères dans la ville.
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Attività molto carina, le tappe sono abbastanza vicine tra loro e facili da trovare. Mia figlia (10 anni) ha camminato tutto il tempo divertendosi a risolvere gli enigmi e a leggere i racconti correlati. Consiglio alle famiglie con bambini !!!! Ora proveremo anche nelle altre città
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Insgesamt gute Idee, jedoch größtenteils kein Handyempfang. Wir hatten zum Glück eine Papierkarte dabei. Sonst wäre die Schnitzeljagd in die Hose gegangen.
eric – France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Original si vous avez du temps avant votre retour . Cela vous fait découvrir Venise insolite.
Nicola – United Kingdom –
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Good fun, tried to be cryptic with clues – tip is to say what you see!
Netherlands –
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Super ook voor de kids!
Switzerland –
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France –
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Bonne activité pour découvrir Venise à son rythme. Activité trop courte et énigmes trop faciles.
Belgium –
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Germany –
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Germany –
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Super activité avec des enfants et ados pour découvrir Venise!! Si vous avez deux téléphones jouez en équipe. Un pour 4 c’est presque pas assez. Nous avons joué sur deux jours. 5 visites le premier jour et 5 le deuxième. Nous referons cette activité lorsque nous irons découvrir une autre ville.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Man kommt an schöne Ecken, erfährt ein bisschen Geschichte. Die Aufgaben sind gut lösbar. Zusamme fassend ein schönes Erlebnis
Franch –
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Les explications sont claires et les énigmes abordables et rigolotes. Nous avons passé un joli moment et commencé à découvrir la ville. Merci
Switzerland –
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Germany –
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France –
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Timing personnel Enfant et ado bonne motivation
Liechtenstein –
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Spain –
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Belgium –
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France –
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a tresor!
Belgium –
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France –
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Excellente activité. Mon fils de 13 ans a vraiment beaucoup apprécié notre chasse aux monuments. Une belle façon de découvrir Venise
Tiziana – Italy –
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divertente e avventurosa
France –
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Intéressant et très sympathique. Idéal en groupe en prenant son temps.
Russ – Israel –
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The best way to get to know Venice in a few hours! Was fun, educational and a great way to spend time with friends! Totally recommend ??
France –
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Germany –
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Australia –
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This is a great way to get to know a new city. We enjoyed the walking and sightseeing and the puzzles helped us stop and appreciate the finer details of each location. Super easy to use the app, great fun!
Netherlands –
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France –
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Germany –
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Italy –
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France –
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Excellente activité
Austria –
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Tolles Erlebnis. Ganz eine andere Art die Stadt zu erkunden.
France –
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Un bon moyen de découvrir les quartiers les plus touristiques de Venise avec des jeunes ados.
Austria –
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Es war sehr lustig die Aufgaben zu lösen.
Germany –
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Nette Idee für den Rundgang mit Kindern. Meine Tochter (11) konnte uns super durch die Tour führen. Die Rätsel waren definitiv nicht zu anspruchsvoll.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Wir hatten viel Spaß. Tolle Tour.
Germany –
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Germany –
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Ein Rätsel war kompliziert, zB mit der Uhr am Markusplatz
Germany –
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Italy –
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Mia figlia di 11 anni l ‘ha adorata
Spain –
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Belgium –
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Het was een leuke manier om Venetië te ontdekken
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
We had a lot of fun to experience the city. I personally found the Quests a little to easy. But the places you found were really nice. Our way between the Quests was through narrow alleys. We had an amazing time togehter in Venice