Like many families in the UK we are massive fans of the Race Across the World television series. We have watched every episode of the hit BBC series, willing on our favourite teams to be the first to reach the final checkpoint as they race across the world.
As much as we would love to head off on an around-the-world adventure of our own, the reality of ditching work and school right now is fairly slim so we were thrilled to be invited to experience the next best thing: The Race Across the World Experience in London.
Organised by CityDays, Race Across the World: The Experience, takes all the best bits from the hit TV show and condenses it into a race around London that takes a few hours (rather than a few weeks) to complete. They have two options in London including a Christmas-themed race across London’s West End.
So, along with my husband and two of the kids, and armed with a healthy dose of competitive spirit, we headed into central London on a chilly late November afternoon to see how well we could navigate our way around the city – and of course, if we could win the race!
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How the Race Across the World Experience works
About a week before our race day I received an email with a link to the CityDays website where I could add all the details of our team and choose a team name. The link also sent a WhatsApp message to my phone. Once I had replied to this, I was sent the first message with details of where our race would start.
Obviously, in the BBC programme Race Across the World, contestants are not allowed to have a mobile phone but in The Experience, all instructions, clues and puzzles are sent through WhatsApp so a phone is necessary. The system works really well with automated messages arriving immediately after you have sent the answer to a puzzle.
Leg One
We were told that the start of our race would be near Green Park and, once we exited the underground station, I typed ‘start’ into my phone and the game began.
Our first pit stop location was a nearby pub where we had to enter and tell staff that “We’re on the race”.
This is one of the best things about the Race Across the World The Experience, it involves real life challenges just like in the TV series. Once we had collected our envelope, I typed ‘ready’ into my screen, sent the message and received our first challenge.
The experience is filled with puzzles and riddles, some of them involve physical objects and others are completed entirely via WhatsApp. You need to solve each one before you can move onto the next part of the race.
There are three legs in total with different route options along the way – just like how there are different route options on the BBC programme. These different routes vary in complexity and cost: for the first leg of the race we decided to spend £14 on a marginally more challenging route rather than blow most of the virtual budget by spending £20 on a faster route.
Fortunately, there’s no paying for anything in cash. Instead, each team is given an in-game budget of £30 for the game.
This is used to navigate the route to you next destination and can also be used to ask for hints if you get stuck solving a puzzle (at a cost of £2 of in-game currency each time) or if you lost (another £2). Be aware thought that if you use these options, you may incur time penalties.
If you find yourself running out of money then you work, just like in the TV series.
At one point we only had £1 left in our budget so had to take on a couple of jobs to build our money pot back up: the only difference being that the work involves solving puzzles on your phone rather than polishing car wheels or duck herding, like in the series.
There were five stops on the first leg of our race and each stop came with some fun facts about the area.
Even though I consider myself a Londoner, there was lots of new information and also lots of things I had never noticed about the city before. This is one of the best things about the Race Across The World: The Experience, it makes you see the city through new eyes.
Leg Two
Every time you reach a new checkpoint the race timer stops giving you the option for a quick break.
Each checkpoint is at a venue where you get a discount off food and drinks if you are on the race. It’s here that you also are given a physical challenge to solve. These tend to be escape room-style puzzles and require you to work as a team.
There’s also the opportunity to take part in some photo challenges. The clock stops for these and you don’t get points (or lose any) but they’re a fun addition to the game. We completed most of the photo challenges and uploaded them to the CityDays website.
Once we had chosen our route for Leg Two we were off, making our way around Mayfair, past iconic landmarks, London’s many Christmas lights and a couple of the city’s Christmas markets. If you opt to try the West End London experience then it’s worth timing your start for late afternoon so you can really enjoy the city decked out in fairy lights.
We solved five more riddles on Leg Two before stopping at our checkpoint where we received another puzzle, and warmed up with a couple of hot drinks.
Leg Three
Our final leg is where we came briefly unstuck. We needed to work so that we could afford to buy directions to the final checkpoint and it took us longer than expected to solve the two riddles. Then, we had issues understanding the directions. We didn’t want to ask for help, however, as our virtual budget was running close to £0.
Once we got back on track, we whizzed through the final puzzles and arrived at the end checkpoint where we solved the riddle for the final time and the clock was stopped.
Race Across The World The Experience: London West End – Final Thoughts
We all really loved this game. It’s such a unique experience and a lot of fun to do together with friends and family.
It’s also a great way to see the city, even if you happen to live there. We know London really well but still came across half a dozen new-to-us streets and just as many hidden gems that we had never noticed before.
It’s also really accessible to all ages with no minimum age requirement: kids are welcome to play as long as they are accompanied by an adult. There is a lot of walking, however, so be mindful if you have really young children with you.
The experience is also very reasonably priced: an adult ticket is £25 each and children under 10 are free when accompanied by a paying adult. This, for a three hour experience in London, is amazingly good value!
Race Across the World The Experience: London Top Tips
- We chose to play as a team of four but large groups can split into smaller teams to play against each other. You will be given a different start location but the same end location.
- If you chose to play as a whole team, as we did, then you compete virtually with other teams. You can check how you’re doing on the live leaderboard at each check point.
- The race typically takes 2-3 hours, not necessarily including optional breaks. We completed the race in just over 2.5 hours.
- The race is all done on foot (you only need public transport to get to the start point) so make sure you wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather (and check the weather forecast before leaving home!).
