Here you will come across one of the most impressive monuments of the world: the Cologne Cathedral, the largest Gothic church in northern Europe and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Being designed as a grandiose house for the reliquary of the Three Kings by its medieval builders, it represented a place of worship for the Holy Roman Emperor. Despite having been left incomplete during the medieval period for some centuries, Cologne Cathedral eventually became unified as "a masterpiece of exceptional intrinsic value" and "a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe". But what mysteries surround this place? Solve the puzzle and don’t get scared, Questo is with you along the way!
The “massive concrete belt around the cathedral”, Domplatte is a pedestrian platform where magic happens. For skaters and roller skaters, acrobats, street musicians and pavement painters, the areas in the shadow of the venerable Cologne Cathedral become a private open-air stage. Whether it was a concert of Frank Sinatra or Cologne’s famous Christmas market, Domplatte was booming with activity. Solve the clues and you can be in the front row!
Good effort! You are halfway through your route. Seeing that you did not get scared so far, we introduce you to the Melaten-Friedhof, an urban cemetery that offers an oasis of green and a glimpse into the city's storied history, art and personalities. Here you will find incredibly nice sculptures and monuments in a peaceful and quiet setting. You can wander around and enjoy the shady green avenues and beautiful trees, whilst meditating, perhaps, about the meaning of life...or the alternative. Don’t get too far or you may get lost among the tombstones! You will get indications on how to continue your game as soon as you find the right answer.
Hiroshima-Nagasaki-Park. Iconic name, iconic place! This is a park inaugurated in 2004 in Cologne in order to commemorate the tragic events that took place during WW2. Here you will find the Abolish Nuclear Weapons Memorial that was unveiled in the park, surrounded by three trees: a ginkgo for Hiroshima , a Japanese cherry for Nagasaki and a black poplar for Cologne. The memorial shows an origami crane that refers to a Japanese legend, according to which anyone who folds 1000 origami cranes (sembazuru) receives a wish from the gods It has more significance than you would expect, so don’t forget to lay an eye on it before going to the next checkpoint.
Cobbled streets, historic looking buildings, compact layout. Just made for wandering. Cologne’s Old Town has a distinctive historical charm. Visitors are drawn by its rustic narrow alleyways lined with traditional old houses. Innumerable breweries, pubs and restaurants invite passersby to linger. Here you can enjoy a draft Kölsch beer or try Cologne’s typical Halver Hahn sandwich to make sure you stay hydrated and energized until the end of the city game.
Cologne Central Station is for sure one of the most grandiose train stations from Germany. Being situated in the heart of the city, you can get from here to anywhere or you can simply visit it as a tourist attraction. If you missed the train, then you can surely solve the next clue that will take you to the final destination.
The oldest museum for East Asian Art in all of Europe and the only one in North Rhine-Westphalia can be found in Cologne. Opened in 1913, the house shows precious works of art from China, Korea and Japan. Your visit will take you to Buddhist paintings and wood sculptures, Japanese screen paintings, color woodcuts and lacquer art, porcelain and ceramics from the Bronze Age to the 19th century. While you are here, you can take your time to observe also the architecture of the building, which is in itself a work of art, with clearly structured cubes that are linked with the old Japanese traditions and at the same time developing a new, modern design touch. Now that you reached the end of your city game, you can call yourself a true Questo explorer!
The audio did not match up to the written history. Also locations were vaguely written into an incoherent story, would definitely pass on this one. Also, it’s a bit of a hike… would be better on a bike.
Not all the clues were correct, a bit disappointing as the one we done previously was very good. Still a lovely walk though.
If you like a good mix of historical and personal facts spiced up with a few fictious dramatic story twists, this is a fun way to explore the life of the alleged witch Katharina Henot, Germanys first female Postmaster and alternative herbal medic. She was innocent, but like so many others back then, burned alive at the Melaten Cemetery in Cologne. Yes, it is a long quest but well worth it!
Had a great time playing! It was super easy to follow, and we loved being able to go at our own pace. The stories were spooky and fun, and it took us to some really interesting parts of the city we might’ve missed otherwise. Definitely recommend it!
Don’t bother. The directions are obscure. The story is nonsensical. The history is ridiculous. The points of interest are frivolous.
Great way to see the city and learn about some historic events while playing a game along the way! It was nice to be able to play at your own pace so you could stop along the way and spend more time at certain monuments or pop into shops. Would recommend checking carefully ahead of time how to get to the starting point, as you do have to be in 40m range of the gate to start the game. We walked miles to get there, and then it was nearly 5k playing the game so we were pretty tired by the end! Otherwise, it’s a very cost effective way of learning a bit about the history of the city.
It took me to the cemetery but that was it. I didn't know where to go after that. So we just went on our own way and went to the cathedral. It was a joke giving you my money. I would never do that again.
It is what it is. Would do it again because you get what you pay for. Some of the directions left us triple guessing though. We just had a very unsure time populated with ghost stories.
So boring we didnt even finish. The story felt pretty ad hoc and tasks didn't connect to the location. It's largely a walk along a highway so there was no mood at all.
This is a ripoff. After paying, we had to download an app to get our ticket. We then were instructed to download a second app - questo - to get the game. We followed the instructions to register on questo with the email address used to buy the game. Supposedly, the game should then be available in the questo app. It wasn't. We contacted customer service repeatedly - via email and phone - but they never responded.
Annoyingly simple challenges. Sometimes unclear description. Not the nicest walk through the city of Cologne. Disappointing
The translation to German is not good enough. Sometimes the hints are wrong and it is not possible to solve the quest. We quit the game after 8 of 12 quests.
We enjoyed the Tour very much. Although we went in the early afternoon. Might be more fun in the late afternoon when its a bit more dark. You see places of Cologne you usually don't visit and you learn a lot about witches. It was pretty nice that you go on your own. The only Tour guide you have is your mobile Phone. That was really good. What wasn't so good was at the End. The Cologne "Rathaus" was a complete building site. That made it difficult to complete the last riddle.
It should be clear that there is quite a bit of preparation work on the participant to make this possible. This was not clearly communicated. You must download an app on your phone, requiring wifi or using phone data to do so. This was challenging for me and I would have appreciated doing this prior to my trip to save time and frustration. I was never able to see a single location because the first stop was a 45 minute walk from where I was located in the heart of Cologne. In fact, if you are staying near the Cathedral or near the water at all I would not recommend this tour. I was not willing, with my Senior aged mother and children, to walk 45 minutes in one direction then presumable back where I was. And if you can’t do the first stop, no others will be revealed to you. It was a waste of money and time, as I contacted customer service on several occasions.
This was one of the best self-guided tours I have ever experienced. Played with friends, awesome way for getting to know center of Cologne with its marvelous history. Story was well-written and very exciting to follow. If you are into a little bit of spookiness and night walks in foreign city without having to follow map all the time, this is a perfect tour to check out.
This was a wonderful experience. Just make sure you fully download the tour where good WiFi is available. My friend and I both downloaded the tour, but mine hadn't gone through completely, so I wasn't able to use mine. But we had hers and had a wonderful time learning facts about Cologne and seeing the city. There is a lot of walking involved, which we really enjoyed. I would recommend this tour for anyone who likes to go at their own pace.
Great way to see the sights of the city. The tour was fun and allowed us to learn some of the history behind the scenes.
we saw a couple of places in cologne we didn’t see before. the 3 km walk was really good, especially if you take the time to stroll around. very good game even if some of the questions are unclear.
„Haunted Cologne“ is the first treasure hunt-like game I played, and I have tremendously enjoyed it. It offers a fun, interactive, and unorthodox way to explore Cologne on foot. Even though it’s name and visual sends off a quirky, horror-like tone, the quest itself was not scary (meaning that everyone can enjoy it, not necessarily those who are into horror/scary vibes). However it is this tone that definitely makes the quest and the story line unique and more enjoyable compared to e.g. a regular walking tour. Figuring out the game play takes about 2 tasks (or at least that was the case with us), but after that you just go along. The tasks are interactive and often felt like solving puzzles which was fun and quite different from regular walking tours as it somehow hypes you (it just feels way more interactive).What I really enjoyed was that fact that the quest also took us to some of the beautiful side streets of central Cologne (with not much crowds). Also, it ended in a location from which it was very easy to continue exploring other parts of this lovely city (which I found super practical). All in all, this was surely an enjoyable experience that I would repeat. I would recommend it to both tourists & visitors as well as to Cologne expats and inhabitants (e.g. I visited Cologne before this and still found the quest enjoyable). This is a great way to spend a few hours in Cologne, especially on a sunny day. :) Keep up the good work guys – great concept, enjoyed it a lot.
My husband and I booked this tour excited to find out more about this beautiful city, its history and real stories of hauntings etc. After having some difficulty loading the Quest App and trying to find out how to start it two nights prior, we began our 2km walk on the booking day to find the starting point , which was the only eerie place on the whole self tour app..the old city cemetery.The app then proceeded to tell us written tales of ghouls and women screaming with Cryptic pointless clues of where to go next and points given when we answered the questions correctly. We were given no valid information about each historical place we were directed to which was very disappointing. One of the spots as to where we had to name something was covered by building works..thankfully due to my excellent long vision I was able to spot the name they were asking for. This activity was a complete waste of money..better spent on one of the fantastic river cruises or Zoo.
The way to explore a city is great. You see things you wouldn't have seen like that. Also the info was great. I had done this quest alone, can definitely recommend it for groups. I will definitely do some more quests from now on.
I should have believed one of the previous reviewers...... You have to feel like downloading tons of apps, registering again and again with mail addresses, booking numbers, etc. to handle the different programs of the mobile devices to get the whole thing going. In all this back and forth, the Apple system apparently created a “secure” mail address unnoticed, which then did not match my actual mail address and disaster was already pre-programmed: Paid for, got tickets and then nothing worked. Originally we just wanted to take a fun walk from the starting point to the city centre. After about 45 minutes of “logging in” we gave up unnervingly. The support didn't work either..! From here I revise my review: The organizer refunded the money to us. There's the second star for that. We have played similar games from other providers in different cities and have always enjoyed them - but we have not experienced such a complicated and error-prone process.
It’s quite fun to do such a Questo. This is the 4th one I've done. I always have the idea that I don't really see highlights alone. Also at this Questo in Cologne. The starting point is quite far from the center and then you walk to the center. I would really like more focus on the higlights. Furthermore, I like that there is variety of an exciting story, assignments and information. The assignments may be a bit more difficult and sometimes they cannot be answered properly due to the translation (tip: set the Questo language to English).
The starting point is 30 minutes outside the old town, would be helpful if that were explicitly mentioned in the description. Too bad we were really looking forward to it.
Nice idea, "puzzle" is really the wrong term. You don't have to look for anything, you just have to read it, some of the terms are so simple that you don't even have to leave the app. What a pity!
Wir gingen von falschen Voraussetzungen aus und hatten uns auf eine Führung mit einem charismatischen Guide gefreut. Natürlich war spätestens beim Herunterladen der nötigen Software klar, dass dem nicht so sein würde. Aber weder das Sommerwetter noch die bizarr einfachen Rätsel steuerten Positives zu dem erhofften Grusel bei. Bei Station 4 von 12 sind wir dann direkt im Biergarten am Aachener Weiher geblieben.
Tolle Story und viele interessante Infos. Historisches interessiert mich auch sehr. Das hat mir sehr gefallen. Und die Verknüpfung mit GoogleMaps ist eine klasse Idee. Allerdings sollten sich die Erfinder die übermittelten Adressen genauer angucken. Beim Startpunkt weicht die Adresse in der Vorabinfo Aachener Str 204 von der im Spiel genannten Adresse Aachener Str 178 ab. Und Google führt einen zu einem noch anderen Platz. Das hin- und hergehen hat uns zu Beginn ca 40 min Zeit gekostet - der Friedhof Melaten ist immer einen Besuch wert. Die Position am Aachener Weiher wich auch von der Beschreibung im Text ab, usw. Zum Glück kenne ich mich in Köln gut aus und konnte das dann kompensieren. Tipp an die Programmierer: integriert GoogeMaps komplett in eure App. Denn immer wenn ich die Adresse mir auf der Karte zeigen lassen will, kennt Google die Himmelsrichtung/Gehrichtung nicht und muss sich erstmal selber orientieren. Wenn ich auf der Karte sehen würde, wo ich herkomme wäre das einfacher.
It was a nice walk through the city where you pass nice places. It is recommended to do it in the late afternoon or when it is still light. For us it was a bit later to end the day. But this did not do justice to all the buildings and places.. But still a pleasant walk through the city. The assignments were well put together. This via an app. This made it interactive, so you were somewhat 'obligated' to take in your surroundings properly. The questions were a bit on the easy side, so we were often able to solve the questions without actually finding the answer along the way. If it can be a tip, perhaps offer the possibility of two versions: a more difficult one for adults, big children... and an easier one for families with smaller children.
Nice walk with some history. Tasks made simple and traceable. Was a nice change
... along busy roads, you wonder if you would have preferred to drive instead of walking. You could also run the route to get to your destination on quieter paths, but you were always guided along the main roads. Maybe a motorist made up the game? Apparently, a pedestrian doesn't! The story told is actually not compelling or interesting at all, as other reviewers have already mentioned. It's such a shame, you could have really made so much more of it without being great creative. (By the way, if you only use 1 cell phone together, you only need to pay once) The route is good for experienced walkers and you can take breaks at any time.
That's great. Just finding the beginning was complicated, otherwise everything was quite easy to find. A great way to get to know Cologne.
We enjoyed the game a lot, although the story seemed a bit confused. The puzzles were not particularly difficult, so we managed to do it without any problems. There was something worth knowing that we as Cologne residents did not know yet. In short, an entertaining venture for very little money. You can't complain.
I'm not really that gamer but I was immediately fascinated by the story, didn't know much about the topic before and therefore found it very exciting! We also had a nice walk through different corners of Cologne, it was a great evening overall. Let's experience something completely different! Thumbs up!
It's great if you get it to work after a long time back and forth... it's interesting and at the same time a small leisure activity in Cologne...
A nice way to explore a new city, we passed beautiful places that we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. The story and the puzzles were also good. We enjoyed it a lot. We were on foot a little longer than stated, but also took photo breaks :), our conclusion: a great thing and definitely recommended!
Het kostte meer tijd en niet alles was duidelijk. De challenges waren niet heel bijzonder. De wandeling was leuk.
Nice idea and leads to an interesting walk. However, we were often not sure if we were in the right place and in the end still disappointed by the simple answers. We didn't finish it either because the story wasn't exciting enough.
The game is nice, the puzzles are neither too difficult nor too simple. On the other hand, the site does not mention (or not enough) that the starting point is not at the cathedral, but a good 3.5 km away. It was only after booking that we realized it, and took the subway. We discovered a part of the city that we had not yet visited and took +- 119 minutes to finish! Me, I recommend it to those who do it primarily to walk and add a plus to their ride.
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