If you’re looking for fun and affordable treasure hunts in the UK, you’ve come to the right place! This post features my top 10 murder-mystery style treasure hunts (AKA Murder Mystery Trails) created by us, Killer Trails.
What is a Murder Mystery Trail?
Our Murder Mystery Trails are imaginative treasure hunts with a whodunit twist. Solve cryptic clues as you follow the route to eliminate suspected characters and weapons and deduce who the culprit is. These immersive self-guided walking tours take you on a thrilling journey past historical landmarks and points of interest, offering a unique way to explore touristy hotspots around the UK.
Killer Trails has devised compelling narratives for each treasure hunt full of pop-culture parodies for the eagle-eyed detective. You’ll get a kick out of our Murder Mystery Trails if you enjoy escape rooms, puzzles, scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, ghost and historical tours, murder mysteries, and board games.
Top 10 Murder Mystery Treasure Hunts In The UK
It was tough to pick our favourite babies, but I’ve given it a go. Below are my top 10 treasure hunts in the UK 2022, created by Killer Trails (that’s us!).
- Nottingham City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
- Liverpool City Centre & Pier Head Murder Mystery Trail
- Manchester City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
- Bath City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
- London West End Murder Mystery Trail
- City of London Murder Mystery Trail
- Oxford City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
- Cambridge City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
- York Murder Mystery Trail
- Edinburgh Old Town Murder Mystery Trail
1. Nottingham City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
I have a soft spot for this treasure hunt, as it was the first-ever Murder Mystery Trail we created. It’s a fun and affordable tour of Nottingham that takes you past plenty of historic buildings, landmarks, and spooky old pubs. This Nottingham treasure hunt ends outside Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem – an ancient pub built into the stone caves. This trail paired with a celebratory refreshment at Ye Olde Trip and a tour of Nottingham Castle makes for a perfect day out!
2. Liverpool City Centre & Pier Head Murder Mystery Trail
The Liverpool Murder Mystery Trail is great fun for tourists and locals alike. You cover a surprising amount of ground on this treasure hunt, taking you on a tour past many cultural landmarks including Liverpool Town Hall, the Three Graces, Pier Head, Albert Dock, Cavern Club, and ends in St George’s Quarter near the Central Library and World Museum. It makes a great way to discover a good chunk of Liverpool in just a few hours.
3. Manchester City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
Even if you’ve lived in Manchester your whole life, you should still discover something new on this murder-mystery themed treasure hunt in Manchester. That’s one of the great things about them – they get you to notice small details around your city that you might never have seen before. This Murder Mystery Trail is great to do with friends and family and takes you past many great refreshment stops along the route.
4. Bath City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
The Bath Murder Mystery Trail uses a variety of novel mechanics for solving the clues, and is probably our most immersive and difficult treasure hunt yet! So, if you’re looking for something more challenging, this Bath scavenger hunt is for you. This 4km trail takes you past all the highlights which Bath has to offer, including Bath Abbey, the Roman Baths, Pulteney Weir, Pulteney Bridge, The Royal Crescent, The Circus, and much more.
5. London West End Murder Mystery Trail
If you’re in London for a short city break, then both of our London Murder Mystery Trails are a great way to discover the city in a short period of time. The West End Murder Mystery Trail is packed with selfie opportunities. The trail guides you past landmarks such as Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, Somerset House, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, China Town, Piccadilly Circus and Buckingham Palace, to name a few. This novel London treasure hunt goes in a loop, starting and ending in Trafalgar Square. The trail has a good mix of clue difficulties and is perfect for experiencing London in a different way.
6. City of London Murder Mystery Trail
Once you’ve done the West End area, why not take on our City of London Murder Mystery Trail? This one was great fun to create. I’m a massive fan of all things 80s, and this trail full of pop-culture references for the eagle-eyed detective. This London treasure hunt takes you past some incredible landmarks, including St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, and Tower Bridge. This is probably one of the cheapest and most fun days out you can have in the City of London.
7. Oxford City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
The Oxford Murder Mystery Trail is a great way to explore the city. The trail is fun and engaging and takes you past lots of Oxford’s key landmarks, including The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford Castle & Prison, Radcliffe Camera/ Bodleian Library, Christ Church, and many more. There is so much beautiful architecture to take in on this Oxford scavenger hunt, with plenty of old pubs and refreshment stops along the route. Take your time, and enjoy your surroundings on this one!
8. Cambridge City Centre Murder Mystery Trail
The Cambridge Murder Mystery Trail sums up everything you want out of a treasure hunt – incredible surroundings, an immersive storyline, and challenging clues to test your collective minds. This 2km Murder Mystery Trail is a great way to take in Cambridge city centre from a new perspective. If you’re searching for fun things to do in Cambridge while on a short city break, this Murder Mystery themed treasure hunt captures the essence of the city, leaving you with a clear understanding of what the area has to offer, and a big smile on your face.
9. York Murder Mystery Trail
It’s hard to pick one product as your flagship. But if I had to it would probably be the York Murder Mystery Trail. The streets and snickelways of York are such an incredible place to wander around. Within the castle walls, York is packed full of incredibly preserved architecture and spooky old pubs. This York treasure hunt with a murder-mystery theme offers a unique and engaging way spot things you wouldn’t normally notice around the city. The trail includes a variety of puzzles that it’s suitable for both young and old.
10. Edinburgh Old Town Murder Mystery Trail
The Edinburgh Murder Mystery Trail is our latest treasure hunt, and it’s quickly becoming of my my favourites. I love Edinburgh for many of the same reasons why I love York. The city centre is bursting with gruesome history and old spooky pubs in such a concentrated area. As you walk through the wynds and closes (narrow passageways), there are so many hidden gems to discover. This self-guided walking tour navigates you past the best points (and pints!) of interest that Edinburgh has to offer, including Edinburgh Castle, St Giles’ Cathedral, Greyfriars Kirkyard, The Royal Mile, Grassmarket and much more. I hope you enjoy the puzzles in this treasure hunt as much as I enjoyed creating them!
What does TripAdvisor think of these treasure hunts?
Don’t just take our word for it. Below are a few reviews from our happy trail detectives.
Perfect activity for my group and me!”
This was the perfect activity for my group and me! One in the group had never been to London before, and the rest of us had been several times. But this trail certainly made sure that we all got to see something we’d never seen before! It was so much fun and the clues were a perfect mix of difficulty! I would highly recommend this activity to anyone interested in experiencing London in a different way.
A great way to explore!”
Such a great way to explore Oxford! The tour was so fun and engaging, which takes to you to lots of key Oxford landmarks! The format also means you can take breaks when you need and keeps it very relaxed! So you can tailor it to your group! Definitely recommend and will be doing another one again!
The clues are there!!!”
Fabulous concept! Great fun looking up and down, finding new things and trying to beat each other at solving the clues. Suitable for young and old. We loved it! Picked up the pen and clues off we went. Lots of stops on the way to discuss what next. Really enjoyed it and saw things we would not normally have seen.
An absolute MUST if you like adventures!”
The most fun we’ve had in a while! Literally the best self-guided tour/activity that’s super exciting and engaging, while also being informative. Absolute bargain for the price and it’s excited us to complete all of the other Killer Trails!! It’s easy for all age groups to solve and you can take as long as you want to solve it – we definitely took our time, taking in all the beauty of our surroundings and looking at things we normally wouldn’t have looked at. Getting to the end of it and solving the murder was definitely a bonus and super satisfying and rewarding!
Affordable, fun, and something different”
The murder mystery trail was so fun and such a unique and engaging way to look at things you wouldn’t normally see, and learn things about York you might miss at other attractions. It’s affordable, fun, and something different. Easy to follow, simple instructions and the perfect level of clue difficulty for all!
Fun times for all the family”
Friends and I completed this at the weekend. I’ve lived in Manchester for 8 years now and I still found new things. Great story, would say it’s a medium level in terms of how challenging it was. Highly recommended. Even better with adults having a couple of drinks at key locations.
the perfect birthday outing”
This turned out to be the perfect birthday outing for my husband during the lockdown restrictions. It was a really fun experience. And my husband wants to check out other trails in different cities soon. It was so cool finding clues while spotting things we had never noticed in the city. We stopped half way through to have lunch outdoor with food we took along as all restaurants are closed due to the lockdown. Thank you so much. This is a brilliant concept.
A great cheap day out”
I was in charge of planning a trip for my family, as a day out. They said to me that there were all money conscious and that I had to make it cheap. I stumbled across Killer Trails murder mystery and thought perfect! Around £13 in total for a mystery that all six of us could play, which worked out to be a few pound each between us! I printed the PDF file that was sent to me three times, and we split into three groups of two. This made us highly competitive and so much fun! We raved from start to finish to see who could complete it first, we were so competitive and the game was so good that every minute flew by, we were laughing and giggling bumping into each other, hiding our secrets and trying not to look obvious when we found something the entire way around! It was actually so much fun. I don’t usually write long reviews but I thought this company well deserved one. What a great, cheap day out for my entire family. And also if we wanted to stick together we could have, and taken it slow and enjoyed the walk. Either way would work. 10/10
A brilliant way to see the city”
We only had one day in Liverpool so this mystery trail was a great way to see all the highlights in just a few hours. Plus the trail was fun to complete along the way.
Our mission is to create immersive trails that get you outside, put a smile on your face, and don’t cost a fortune. We strive for quality over quantity and meticulously craft every trail from scratch, ensuring each one is to die for.
So, what is your favourite one of our Murder Mystery Trails?
See all of our murder-mystery treasure hunts around the UK.
