CologneAges 11+
The Lost Gold of Cologne
90 min · 2.6 km · 15 stops
Starts at Point 1
What they learn
Route-finding and map reading across 15 stops and 2.6 km
4.3 (4 reviews)
School trip to Cologne: a city quest for your class.
Six to eight teams, one phone each, 60 to 120 minutes on foot. €5 per pupil, teachers free.
More than 3,000 classes and groups have played Questo together.
- 4 quests for schools
- ages 11 to 18
- start points shown in the app
- 2 to 5 km
Real students playingWhat teachers and students say
More than 3,000 classes and groups have played Questo together.
We are a group of language students and we played the game with our teacher: a great and fun way to practise, and learn interesting stuff about our city that we didn't know.
Perfect with a group of A Level pupils. Loved it.
Quests for classes
Quests a class can play in Cologne
A school day with Questo in Cologne runs between the Rhine bank and the edge of the old city walls. Teams of three to five pupils follow one phone each through the old town around Alter Markt, Heumarkt and Groß St. Martin, and west past the Helenturm, Rudolfplatz and Aachener Weiher to Melaten cemetery. For Key Stage 4 and sixth form, The Last Witch is the most played route, a two-hour walk from Melaten into the old town, and Cologne Under Dark Magic is a shorter hour from the Malakoff tower to the cathedral. Key Stage 3 classes can play The Lost Gold of Cologne. The quests cover ages 11 to 18.
- CologneAges 14+
The Last Witch – A Haunted Walk Through Cologne Walking Tour & Escape Game
129 min · 4.9 km · 12 stops
Starts at Friedhof Melaten, Alter Haupteingang
What they learnMelaten's history as a leper home and execution site outside the walls before it became the city cemetery in 1810
4.3 (713 reviews) - CologneAges 14+
Cologne Under Dark Magic: Walking Tour & Escape Game
62 min · 2.8 km · 10 stops
Starts at Malakoffturm
What they learnRoman Cologne at the Roman city wall, and the Romanesque church of Groß St. Martin
4.5 (23 reviews) - CologneAges 14+
Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Cologne
90 min · 2 km · 12 stops
Starts at Point 1
What they learnReasoning from clues gathered over 12 stops to reach a conclusion as a team
4.4 (11 reviews)
Teams, supervision and logistics
Teams and supervision
Teams of 3 to 5 share one phone; under-14s need one adult per 2 to 3 teams with agreed checkpoints, 14 to 18 follow school policy.
MoreLess
Regroup away from the crowded Domplatte.
Getting around
KVB runs the city's trams and buses, but the centre is compact enough to walk.
MoreLess
A VRS 24StundenTicket covers up to 5 people for 24 hours from validation, so 30 pupils need six.
Toilets
City-Toiletten stand at Markmannsgasse by the Deutzer Brücke and the Deutz end of the Hohenzollernbrücke (urinal free, cubicle 50 cents); another is at Domkloster 4, 8am to 9pm.
MoreLess
The Stadtbibliothek is a free fallback.
Lunch
The Rheingarten lawns between the Hohenzollernbrücke and Deutzer Brücke suit a packed lunch, as do the wide Rheinboulevard steps in Deutz facing the cathedral.
MoreLess
Riverside café terraces are for customers, and take rubbish away.
Wet weather
Municipal museums such as Museum Ludwig admit pupils free with a pupil ID; the artothek, Am Hof 50, is free Tuesday to Saturday afternoons.
MoreLess
Rained-off quests can be replayed free within 30 days.
Caution: Pickpockets work the cathedral steps, the Domplatte and the Hauptbahnhof, often distracting people with a short conversation. Teams should keep the phone and purses zipped away and not stop for strangers.
What they learn
History
Roman Cologne (the Roman city wall), medieval churches and market squares (Groß St. Martin, Alter Markt, Heumarkt), and 19th-century Prussian fortifications (the Malakoff tower, built 1848 to 1859 and named after a Crimean War fort).
Geography
Urban geography from the Ring and Aachener Weiher on the city's west side to the old town and the Rheinauhafen on the Rhine. Map reading and orientation as teams follow the in-app map from stop to stop.
Languages
The Last Witch and Cologne Under Dark Magic run in German, English and Dutch, and Murder Mystery in German and English, so German classes can play in the target language. Every quest involves careful reading of instructions and clues.
Citizenship and teamwork
Sharing roles in a team with one phone, reasoning together to solve puzzles, and behaving responsibly in busy public spaces and at a cemetery.
Price and terms
€5 per student.
No minimum group, no time slot.
- Pay by card when you choose a quest: €5 per student, as many as you need
- Or ask for an invoice and pay by bank transfer
- Free teacher preview from home
- Rain on the day: replay free within 30 days
- Teachers and chaperones play free
A class of 30 on one quest: €150.
Choose a questPrefer to pay by bank transfer?
Tell us the quest or city, the class size and the dates. We send an invoice to the school.
In short
Cologne for a school group, in short
A school trip to Cologne with Questo is a self-guided city quest. Pupils in teams of 3 to 5 follow a route of 10 to 15 stops on foot, solving a puzzle at each, in 60 to 130 minutes. 4 quests suit classes aged 11 to 18. There is no guide and no time slot: the class starts when it arrives. The price is €5 per pupil, and teachers play free.
- 4.3
- average rating, from 751 reviews
- 100,000+
- pupils have played in class groups
- 4
- quests for schools in this city
- 60 to 130
- minutes on foot, by quest
Pupils are an estimate: groups of four or more teams starting one quest together, at about four pupils a team, across all cities since 2018. Ratings are from players of these quests.
What the research says about trips like this
One trip changes how pupils think
In a randomised study of 10,912 students, a single cultural trip raised critical thinking, tolerance and interest in culture weeks later.
History learned where it happened
458 Amsterdam pupils walked the medieval city in teams, solving tasks on phones at real locations. They learned more than classmates taught the same topic in lessons.
Source: Huizenga et al., Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 2009
Games with a story teach
Across hundreds of studies, game-based learning beats non-game teaching on knowledge and retention; story and playing together are what make the difference.
Source: Sailer and Homner, Educational Psychology Review, 2020
Questo or a guided tour
| A Questo quest | A guided walking tour | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is active | Every pupil, in a team | 30 pupils listening to one guide |
| Start | When you arrive | 10:00 sharp |
| Pace | Each team at its own, pause for lunch | The group moves on |
| What the teacher gets before | Plays the whole route free | A confirmation email |
| Price | €5 per pupil, teachers free | €12–€25 per pupil, teachers often charged |
01 / 05
Who is active
- A Questo quest
- Every pupil, in a team
- A guided walking tour
- 30 pupils listening to one guide
02 / 05
Start
- A Questo quest
- When you arrive
- A guided walking tour
- 10:00 sharp
03 / 05
Pace
- A Questo quest
- Each team at its own, pause for lunch
- A guided walking tour
- The group moves on
04 / 05
What the teacher gets before
- A Questo quest
- Plays the whole route free
- A guided walking tour
- A confirmation email
05 / 05
Price
- A Questo quest
- €5 per pupil, teachers free
- A guided walking tour
- €12–€25 per pupil, teachers often charged
Teacher FAQ
Questions about Cologne
Which Cologne quest suits which age group?
The Lost Gold of Cologne suits Key Stage 3 (ages 11 to 14). The Last Witch, Cologne Under Dark Magic and Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows are for ages 14 to 18, so Key Stage 4 and sixth form. The Last Witch has a darker story about witch persecution and is the most played route.
How long does each quest take?
Cologne Under Dark Magic takes about an hour over 2.8 km. Murder Mystery and The Lost Gold take about 90 minutes over 2 to 2.6 km. The Last Witch takes a little over two hours across 4.9 km. With a lunch break, two quests fit comfortably into a school day.
How many pupils share a phone?
Teams of 3 to 5 pupils share one phone, which can be a teacher's or a pupil's. A class of 30 is therefore six to ten teams. Teams start a few minutes apart, so they do not crowd the same stop.
Where do the quests start and how do we get there?
The Last Witch starts at the old main entrance of Melaten cemetery, on tram lines 1 and 7 (Melaten stop). Cologne Under Dark Magic starts at the Malakoff tower, near the Heumarkt tram stop (lines 1, 5, 7, 9) or the Schokoladenmuseum stop on bus 133. For The Lost Gold and Murder Mystery, the start point appears in the app and in the free teacher preview.
What does it cost?
5 euros per pupil. Teachers and chaperones play free, and you can pay by card or invoice. There is no guide and no booking slot. If you add a cathedral visit, entry to the interior is now charged separately: free for under-14s, 6 euros for pupils aged 14 and over, and the reduced rate for adults accompanying school groups.
What happens if it rains?
You can pause a quest and continue later, and if the weather ruins the day you can replay free within 30 days. As an indoor fallback, Museum Ludwig by the cathedral is free for under-18s.
Do pupils need accounts or mobile data?
No pupil accounts are needed. Each team's phone needs mobile data, or the quest downloaded beforehand on wifi. For visiting groups, check roaming on the team phones before travelling. Teachers can preview every quest free from home.
