Old Lyon hides corridors that run straight through people's houses. They're called traboules, built so silk merchants could carry their precious fabric from workshop to river without a drop of rain touching it. A city with its own network of secret passages is practically begging to be explored as a treasure hunt.
A city built for hunting
This Lyon treasure hunt takes you past twelve stops on two levels of the city: down by the rivers and up on Fourvière hill. Along the way you'll pass the Traboules du Vieux Lyon, the vast Place Bellecour with its equestrian statue of Louis XIV, and the Gothic Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste — home to one of Europe's oldest astronomical clocks, still tracking the moon and stars. Exactly the kind of detail a treasure hunt is made of.
How the game works
Open the route on your phone and walk from stop to stop. At each place you read its story and solve a puzzle — and the answer is hidden somewhere around you, in the location itself. You start noticing things you'd normally walk straight past: a carving, a clock face, a doorway that leads somewhere unexpected. Which puzzle awaits where? That we won't spoil. That's the hunt.
From Roman theatre to miniature worlds
What sets this treasure hunt apart is the range between stops. One moment you're standing on the tiers of the Théâtre Gallo Romain, where thousands of Romans watched performances back when Lyon was Lugdunum, capital of Gaul. A little later you're facing the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière, a concrete landmark built into the hill itself. And at the Musée Cinéma et Miniature, original film props share the building with miniature scenes so tiny you'll wish you'd brought a magnifying glass.
The practical bit
The route covers about 4.5 kilometres and twelve stops; allow around two hours, depending on your pace and how long you linger. Fair warning: the stretch up to Fourvière is a proper climb. The walk is free to play — start the Lyon treasure hunt in the CityWalkGems app and see if you can crack the city's secrets.
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