#FoundWally ?

One hundred ‘Where’s Wally?’ replicas have been scattered across the country.

Virgin Trains has launched a nationwide “Where’s Wally? Hunt” and is challenging families to find the much-loved character while they are out and about during the school summer holidays.

Wally, who is known to appear in train stations in the famous books created by Martin Hanford, is following suit in the real world with life size cut-outs and smaller transfers blending into real crowds, cityscapes, train stations and trains along the West Coast Main Line. Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh are among cities where replica Wallys can be spotted by the most eagle-eyed travellers.

The hunt runs for six weeks throughout the school holidays, and promises to keep families entertained during their summer travels. Families should head towards city landmarks and train stations to have the edge on spotting the bespectacled character.  Knowing Wally likes to mix in with the crowd, however, Virgin Trains will also be helping out intrepid explorers by releasing a series of clues via its social media channels.

To enter, those joining the hunt need simply snap a picture of themselves with a Wally on the route. Once they’ve found as many as they can, they simply tweet the total number of Wallys they’ve found to @VirginTrains using the hashtag #FoundWally or enter via the Virgin Trains Facebook page by August 31. The family/family member to find the most Wallys will win a luxury Virgin Trains Escape Weekend in London, courtesy of SuperBreak.

Steve Tennant, Executive Director of Customer Service at Virgin Trains, said: “We can’t wait to take him (Wally) out of the books and into the nation’s citi.”