Albufeira, Amsterdam and more
Each team gets a route, a set of clues and a list of photo or video challenges, either on paper or through an app.
Each team gets a route, a set of clues and a list of photo or video challenges, either on paper or through an app. You work your way round the city centre, collecting points, and everyone meets at a pub at the end where the scores are read out.
It runs two to three hours on foot and it covers a fair distance, though at your own pace. Most of the scoring comes from the challenges rather than the clues, so the daft teams tend to win.
Comfortable shoes, a charged phone and a jacket. It goes ahead in the rain.
Open a city to see the weekends you can add it to.
Treasure hunts in Albufeira are app-based and self-run, so the group starts whenever suits on the day. Teams use their phones to reach GPS points around town, unlocking clues, puzzles and photo challenges, with a live scoreboard and a team tracker, and a round takes about two hours. The pub version is the better fit for a stag, sending teams to bars for trivia rounds. Do it late afternoon rather than at midday in summer, and keep phones charged.
Amsterdam has a version you will not find in most cities: the pedalo treasure hunt, where teams of up to four take a pedal boat round the canals, solving clues that lead to set points along the water. It runs 90 minutes to two hours after a safety briefing, with a bottle of bubbly for the winning boat, and it depends on the weather. On land there is a guided two-hour hunt on foot with a beer each, or a self-run smartphone game you start whenever suits. Book the pedalo version for a spring or summer afternoon and keep the smartphone hunt for wet days.
Barcelona offers three versions. The hosted hunt is a two-and-a-half-hour mission round the city centre in teams, with cryptic questions and tasks along the way, for groups of 10 to 35. The self-run smartphone game starts whenever you choose and sends teams between GPS points and bars for pub trivia. The food version is the most local of the three: a 90-minute guided route with blindfold tastings, sangria pong and a quiz, finishing with a tapas meal. Wear comfortable shoes for the hosted hunt, and in July and August start early or late to stay out of the midday heat.
Brighton has three distinct formats. A Hunted-style chase game in Stanmer Park runs for two and a half hours, starting at 10am or 2pm from March to November and 9am or 1pm in winter; expect up to two hours of walking, including hills, and travel out by bus, train or car. In town, a puzzle trail of 1.5 to 2 miles starts on Gloucester Road, and a phone-based cryptic clue hunt starts from Pavilion Buildings; bring a charged phone with data and finish before sunset. The phone-based hunt can be paused and resumed the next day.
Dublin's hunts are app-based and self-run, so the group starts whenever suits on the day rather than at a booked time. Teams of two or more each need a captain with a charged phone, and the route unlocks clues, puzzles and photo challenges at GPS points across the city centre, with a live scoreboard. The city version takes about two hours. The pub version is the obvious stag choice: each stop is a pub where teams answer trivia rounds, and you pick the pub within each area yourselves.
In Lisbon the treasure hunt is a self-run smartphone game rather than a hosted event. Teams follow GPS points through the city, unlocking clues, photo challenges and trivia, with a live scoreboard and team tracker keeping it competitive. There is no fixed start, so you begin whenever suits, and it takes about two hours. The pub version swaps sightseeing for trivia at bars you choose along the way. Lisbon's hills make it harder work than it looks, so wear proper shoes, keep teams small, and check that every phone has mobile data and GPS switched on.
London's hunts can start from more than a dozen areas, including Camden, Shoreditch, Soho, Covent Garden, Westminster, London Bridge and Greenwich, so start near where you are staying. Allow two to four hours for the full versions. Bring well-charged phones, ideally a battery pack, comfortable shoes and outdoor clothes. A hosted outdoor game in Kensington Gardens runs 90 minutes in teams of four to six for groups of 20 or more, in daylight only. The last start time is 7pm in summer and as early as 3pm in midwinter.
In Prague this runs as a self-guided smartphone game rather than a hosted event. Teams follow GPS pins around the city, unlock clues and photo challenges, and track each other on a live scoreboard. There is no fixed start time, so you begin whenever the group is ready, and it takes about two hours. The pub version swaps sightseeing questions for trivia at a run of bars, and you choose which pub to use at each location. Every phone needs mobile data and GPS switched on, so check roaming before you travel and charge phones fully.
2 nights
From £145 pp
Flights are not included.
A shared self-catering apartment near the Old Town, budget standard, with a kitchen for the group to use.
2 nights
From £265 pp
Flights are not included.
A central group hostel in Amsterdam, budget standard, with the bars and the canals on foot.
2 nights
From £310 pp
Flights are not included.
A central hostel or shared apartment in Barcelona, budget standard, keeping the group together for less.
2 nights
From £230 pp
Flights are not included.
A central hotel in Dublin, within walking distance of the pubs.
2 nights
From £230 pp
Flights are not included.
Central accommodation in Lisbon, with short transfers to and from the airport.
2 nights
From £160 pp
Flights are not included.
Central accommodation in Prague, within walking distance of the old town.
IN THEIR WORDS
Brilliant festival … the event was organised extremely well and there was always someone on hand to help with anything.
Albufeira, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brighton, Dublin, Lisbon, London and Prague.
In Albufeira, from £16 pp. In Amsterdam, from £16 pp. In Barcelona, from £16 pp. In Brighton, from £14 pp. In Dublin, from £16 pp. In Lisbon, from £16 pp. In London, from £41 pp. In Prague, from £16 pp. Flights are not included.
Yes, in any of these cities: Albufeira, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brighton, Dublin, Lisbon, London and Prague. Add it when you get an instant price, or ask us.
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