Race Across the World: The Experience is a live adventure on real city streets where you and your team are fully in charge. And that has a huge impact on experience timings!
Now available in 5 cities across 6 locations, the experience is all about teamwork and getting from the start line to three checkpoints before finally signing the coveted guest book.
Along the way, you’ll be faced with physical puzzles, optional photo challenges, riddles, budget management and plenty of scenic spots to explore, wherever you compete.
Needless to say, all of that exploring, puzzle-solving and decision-making takes time, and just how long your team will need to complete the race remains a mystery until you’ve completed it.
That said, we can give you some handy pointers and let you know how previous teams have got on to give you an idea of how you should plan your day.
Read on to find out more about how long it takes to complete Race Across the World: The Experience, wherever you decide to play!
It’s Your Race, Go at Your Pace!
Race Across the World: The Experience is entirely self-guided, which means that you’ll be in charge from start to finish.
As soon as you’ve collected your race pack and you get your first clue, the timer starts and it won’t stop until you reach your first checkpoint.
Like the name of the experience suggests, many teams choose to race against the clock or even a rival team on the same booking, but it’s entirely up to you how long you want to take completing the race.
If you’d prefer to make a whole day of it and explore every nook and cranny you stumble across, please do!
Choosing The Right Time Slot for You
Race Across the World: The Experience is available 7 days a week (not including Bank Holidays).
When booking, you’ll notice that the start and finish times vary by day and by price. This is done on purpose to spread teams out more efficiently across checkpoint venues and to take into account opening and closing times.
If you’re planning on doing your race on the same day as you’ve made other plans, we encourage you to give your team at least 3 hours or more to avoid rushing or missing the end. The same advice applies if you have timed the end of your experience to match with public transport links.
If you need to change the date of your experience, just let us know and we’ll rearrange it for you.
Directions and Moving Forward in the Race
At the start of each leg, teams have to decide between two sets of directions.
How long it takes you to decode the set of directions you pick will likely depend on your familiarity with solving riddles and which set of directions you decide to follow.
One guide will offer you expensive, straightforward directions, while the other will provide cheap, cryptic clues to get you to your next destination.
You decide the difficulty level, so if you’re unfamiliar with puzzles or you don’t want too much of a challenge, we’d recommend opting for more “expensive” options. However, your budget won’t allow you to only use expensive options without taking on work tasks, which are additional riddles that earn you more virtual “cash”.
Physical Puzzles and Clue Difficulty
All Race Across the World Experiences involve solving physical, escape-room style puzzles.
The physical puzzles have been designed to moderately challenge adults, so if you’re bringing children along, adult players will have to provide support and guidance throughout in order to solve them.
Similarly to unraveling directions, individual completion time will vary depending on how quickly you’re able to work out what to do with the puzzles to get the right answer. Instructions for solving the puzzles are always provided in the preceding messages sent to you, but if you need an extra clue, send “HINT” or send our customer service team a message on WhatsApp (the link is provided to you at the start of your race).
Spending Time at Checkpoints
Just like the show, your team has to reach multiple checkpoints before reaching the guest book at the end.
Along the way, you’ll be assigned checkpoint venues where you can rest up, grab a drink and/or a bite to eat (remember to use your exclusive race discount if there’s one on offer!) and gather some energy ahead of the next leg of the race.
You’ll be on your feet for at least 2-3 hours during the experience, so make the most of these breaks.
Checkpoints are places where you can rest up and grab a drink and/or a bite to eat (remember to use your exclusive race discount if there’s one on offer!). Players who select step-free or family-friendly at setup will be automatically directed towards venues that are suitable for them.
Your timer pauses here to allow you as much time as you need before moving on in the race, but that doesn’t mean that time itself stops. Feel free to rest up as long as you need, but if you have somewhere you need to be after the race, remember to factor that in while planning your day.
The Verdict: How Long Does Race Across the World: The Experience Take?
Thousands of teams have crossed the finish line across the UK now, so we have a pretty good idea of the average amount of time it takes to complete the race. Although each race is unique, the overall length remains roughly the same across locations.
Most teams complete the race in 2-3 hours without breaks, but it’s worth bearing in mind that this number is the average and it may not apply to you. Add at least 1-2 hours for checkpoint stops, depending on how likely your team is to want to take a break between legs.
Some of the fastest teams have managed to whizz through the race in under an hour, while other teams have taken up to 5-6 hours (including checkpoint rest times). Whatever you decide, remember to have fun and enjoy the race. It’s not all about rushing!
Ready to Race?
Race Across the World: The Experience is available in the City of London, London’s West End, Manchester, York, Edinburgh and Bristol.
If you’re ready to race, book your tickets now from our website.
Select your city to be taken to the relevant booking page. Ticketing is handled by Fever, but if you need to make adjustments to your booking, please email us.
Check out our FAQs for answers to any questions you may have or feel free to contact us. See you on the leaderboard!