Discover Manchester’s best sights by solving challenges and unlocking stories on your phone. Play the engaging exploration game, taking the role of a person that needs to save a woman from a lunatic asylum. As you solve challenges, the story unfolds and exact directions on your phone will guide you to the next location. Ready for an adventure? Highlights include: • Explore National Football Museum, Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester Central Library and lesser-known places. • Enjoy a uniquely crafted story brought to you by our talented writers. • Learn about the cute symbol of Manchester. • Discover the park where there used to be a lunatic asylum. • Try a new type of experience, the perfect mix between a tour, outdoor escape game, and treasure hunt. After your booking, you will receive an email with instructions on how to download and play the game on your phone. We recommend that each user purchases a ticket for an optimal experience, although several people can share a phone.
Prices are per person when two book together; a solo traveller pays $8.
From the operator’s live schedule on Viator, checked Oct 4.
You will begin at Manchester Cathedral. Here you will be given your first clue to solve the challenge that awaits you, which will unlock the next part of the story and give you the directions to the next stop.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at National Football Museum. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at The Washhouse. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at Manchester Craft and Design Centre. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at Manchester Bee Mural. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at Stevenson Square. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at Piccadilly Gardens. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at Manchester Art Gallery. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at Manchester Central Library. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at St Mary's RC Church. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at John Rylands Library. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will be given a new clue to solve the challenge that awaits you at Opera House Manchester. You can stop for as long as you like and continue exploring at your own pace.
You will finish at Science and Industry Museum. Here is where both the story and the city exploration game end.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Excurgo comparison of 377 Viator tours, recalculated daily.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Murder Detective Self-Guided Tour in Manchester lasts about 2h 40min–3h 10min. The itinerary has 13 stops.
Prices start at $6 per person for this Manchester experience, booked through Viator with the price shown before checkout. That is the per-person price when two book together; a solo traveller pays $8. There is 1 booking option, so the final price depends on the option you choose.
According to the operator’s current schedule, it runs every day.
Yes. Cancel at least 1 day before the start for a full refund. Later cancellations are non-refundable.
The meeting point is The game starts at Manchester Cathedral. After booking, we'll message you a code and activation link. Activate with your own email, then log in to the Questo app with that email. No message? Open the Questo app, tap "Bought a quest somewhere else?" and enter your booking reference number. Hotel pickup is not part of this experience.
The experience is available in EN, FR.
It is a private experience: only your party takes part. Up to 15 travellers can book together.
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Yes, bookings are confirmed instantly.
Travellers rate it 3.8 out of 5 across 19 reviews on Viator and Tripadvisor; it is run by Questo.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
A really nice experience and you visit places you want to see in the city. The assignments are funny and you get some facts about the city along with them. This is how you get to know Manchester better. Enough places to take a break.
Fun way to explore Manchester at your own pace. Definitely recommend as the game/app guided us to places we would have probably missed.
Great way to explore Manchester at your own pace while learning about different areas and the history of the city. Completed with my daughter and we just took our time.
It was very difficult to follow the directions. If you don't know the area. It's very difficult to know which way a street is running. We gave up after the first location and never found the clue. Very confusing. We found it a waste of money.
I'm sorry to hear you gave up after the first location because the navigation felt confusing. While the app does feature an exact map, step-by-step directions, and extra hints to guide you through unfamiliar streets, I'd still love to understand where things went wrong. Please email us at explore@questoapp.com so we can look into this and offer you a free quest to give us another try.
I bought a quest/self-guided tour in Manchester. There were several to choose from, and the one I bought was called murder detective - yet throughout the experience (which took up the whole day 1pm-8pm), there was no murder, and the story was pretty confusing. I was unable to log in to start the quest despite being at the right location, and was unsure if there was meant to be a QR code or something (as instructions were unclear). Staff at the cathedral were unaware of the quest having a starting point there (and one lady was very rude). I finally worked out that I needed to use the customer contact chat option. This was very frustrating as the assistant kept sending me links to other quests (which I had no interest in and which started on the opposite side of the city). Part of the reason for this is the confusing/incorrect title for this quest. There is another one with ‘murder’ in the title for example. In the end I had to use the photo from the email confirmation to be sure I had the correct quest. After 45 minutes of confusion, I was able to start the quest. Later on, there were wrong directions given (eg right instead of left), and vague instructions (eg turn the corner - whilst at a t-junction - which way?). There was also a reference to a wall mural on the side of a building which was nowhere near and I had to use Google and retrace to find it. When I got there the building was joined to other shops either side and thus did not have external side walls. Lots of wasted time. I did stop at a coffee shop at the Art and Design centre, but by the time I arrived at the final point of the science museum it was shut.
Thank you for taking the time to share such detailed feedback. We’re truly sorry for the confusion and frustration you experienced. This isn’t the experience we aim to deliver, especially for first-time users. We appreciate you highlighting the unclear instructions, login difficulties, and issues with navigation—this helps us improve. We’re currently reviewing the quest title, storyline, and directions to make sure everything is accurate and easy to follow. We also understand the importance of timely and accurate customer support, and we’re working to improve that as well. Thank you again for your honesty, and we hope you’ll consider giving Questo another try in the future.
Awesome tour some really great true crime tales from Manchester. A really cheap way to get lots of steps in and find out some fun facts and solve clues
Thank you so much for your great review. We're delighted you enjoyed exploring Manchester through the Murder Detective tour and that you found the stories, clues, and walking experience fun and engaging. We hope to see you again soon for another adventure in a new city.
A fun tour. It took you to places you probably wouldn't have gone to. Some written directions didn't seem to be correct though (a wrong street name, a wrong turn) but it is also layed out on a map, which works fine. You have to have a good understanding of the English language as well to work out all the clues.
lad you had fun exploring new places! 🚀🏙️ Thanks for your feedback on the directions—we’ll review them to make sure everything is accurate. 🧩 Good point about the language—we’re always looking for ways to make quests more accessible. Hope to see you on another adventure soon!
Nice to walk around Manchester with a purpose. You can visit various places on the way round and pause the experience.
Walking through Manchester with a purpose sounds like a great way to experience the city! Appreciate you sharing your thoughts—hope you’ll join us for another adventure soon.
Amazing experience. Would 10 out of 10 recomend. There were s bit confusing of left vs right but really played into the game..
Thanks for the awesome review! We're thrilled to hear you had an amazing experience overall. We'll take note of the left vs. right confusion to see if we can make it even smoother next time, send us an email with more details about it so that we can address it at care@questoapp.com. If you have any other thoughts or suggestions, feel free to share.
We only lost time on our only day playing this in Manchester. The challenges were based on something that was not there anymore. And so were the clues that told you how to get to another place. We were supposed to go to the left at some Black Milk. Have no idea what that is, google maps did not either. For some time we were helping ourselves with google maps, when the clues were bad, until we didn't know where we're going. We had to stop playing. We were not even in the middle. The one clue that was there was a small unimportant thing on one of the houses, which we cloud not find becose we didn't know where exactly we were supposed to stand... Will ask for a refund.
Sorry to hear about your experience with the game in Manchester. It's disappointing when challenges don't align with the actual locations or when clues are unclear. Please reach out to us at care@questoapp.com to discuss your concerns and understand better what happened. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
| Tour | Duration | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murder Detective Self-Guided Tour in Manchester | 2h 40min–3h 10min | 3.8 (19) | $6 | |
 Manchester Scavenger Hunt & Highlights Self-Guided Walking Tour | 2h 30min | 4.3 (4) | $3 | View |
 The Manchester City Stadium Tour | 1h 15min | 4.9 (6,361) | $38 | View |
 Manchester Afternoon Walking Tour with local guide Gareth | 2h 30min | 5.0 (1,395) | $24 | View |
 Step Inside the Game Show–The Crystal Maze Experience Manchester | 1h 30min | 4.9 (1,274) | $53 | View |
 Alcotraz Prison Cocktail Experience in Manchester | 1h 45min | 5.0 (1,239) | $69 | View |
 SEA LIFE Manchester Admission Ticket | 2 hours | 4.2 (1,109) | $22 | View |