Quests in Florence: The Details Are the Point

Florence is small. You can cross the historic centre on foot in twenty minutes, and most visitors spend their days queuing inside three buildings within that circle. The city outside those queues is where the interesting things are, and almost all of them are small enough to walk past.

A quest is a way of not walking past them. It is a route on your phone, played in teams, where each stop holds a question you can only answer by standing there and looking at what is in front of you. In a city built by people who signed their work in stone, that turns out to be a lot of material.

What Florence hides at eye level

The wine windows. Small arched openings in the walls of palazzi, once used to sell wine directly from cellar to street. There are dozens across the centre, most walked past daily by people who never notice them.

The faces. Carvings, marks and graffiti left on public buildings over centuries, including a small profile scratched into a wall of the Palazzo Vecchio that Florentines have attributed to Michelangelo for generations.

The Baptistery doors. The gilded bronze panels facing the cathedral are among the most reproduced objects in art history, and most visitors photograph them from four metres away without reading a single panel.

The Oltrarno. Cross the river and the crowd density drops sharply, while the workshops, courtyards and churches remain. This is where locals still work with their hands.

How a quest runs

You choose the start point and the time. The story loads on one phone per team and sends you to the first location, where the app asks something the place answers: a date on a facade, the number of figures on a door, a coat of arms above an entrance.

Correct answer, next stop unlocks. Wrong answer costs points, not the game. Two hours later everyone reaches the same finish with a score. The practical detail is on the how it works page.

Playing around the crowds

This matters more in Florence than almost anywhere. The centre between the Duomo and the Uffizi is genuinely packed from mid-morning to late afternoon in season, and a route through it at one in the afternoon in July is unpleasant.

Play early. Before nine the same streets are close to empty and the light is better.

Or play in the Oltrarno. Santo Spirito, San Frediano and the streets around them have the same density of detail with a fraction of the people.

Avoid August afternoons entirely. Hot, crowded, and much of the city that lives there is away.

Practical notes

The streets are stone and often uneven, so proper shoes matter more here than the distance does. Distances are short – a two-hour route covers little more than two kilometres.

Churches have dress codes: covered shoulders and knees. Worth mentioning to a group in advance rather than at the door.

For a group, split into teams of four to six all playing the same route. Our groups and companies page covers larger bookings, and there is more on choosing by size in our piece on group activities.

Frequently asked questions

What is a quest in Florence?

A self-guided route through the city played on a phone in teams, where each location holds a puzzle that must be solved on the spot before the next unlocks. No guide, no fixed departure, and you set the pace.

How long does it take?

Around two hours of play. Florence is compact, so a route covers little more than two kilometres.

Do you need tickets for anything?

No. A quest works entirely from the street, which is part of why it fits a city where everything indoors requires booking weeks ahead.

What is the best time of day?

Early morning, especially between May and September. The centre is a different city before nine.

Is it suitable for children?

From about eight years old with an adult in the team. Florence is good for this because the answers are visual – carvings, animals, numbers – rather than textual.

Does it work if you have already been to Florence?

Yes, and arguably better. A repeat visit has no reason to queue for the Uffizi again, which frees the whole day for the city outside it.

Playing in Florence

See what is currently running on our locations page, or tell us about your group through the contact page.