Hollow Knight: Silksong Guide | How to Find Secret Path to Citadel

Here's a guide on how to find the Secret Path to the Citadel in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Game Guide by Ragib Rawnak on Sep 12, 2025

This guide shows you the secret way to get to the Citadel without having to collect all five Bells, which is what the main quest requires. This hidden path is more complex than the usual way to get to the Citadel, but it gives you straight access through the Underworks in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Hollow Knight: Silksong, Guide, How to Find Secret Path to Citadel

Getting Started: Journey to Greymoor

Your first destination is Greymoor, a location positioned on the upper portion of the map that you cannot miss during normal progression. Navigate to the left side of the Greymoor area and locate the fast travel point. After that, go up and to the left until you reach a tower that you can climb.

Once you reach the top of this tower, proceed to the right side of the tower path. You will encounter a series of floating platforms that you must jump across.

Continue navigating these aerial platforms until you reach the very top right corner of the map, which will unlock access to Sinners Road in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Before leaving this area, locate an elevator cage mechanism that provides access downward to the inn. Activating this elevator creates a shortcut that becomes essential for future attempts, as deaths are frequent in the upcoming areas, and Benches are scarce.

When you die later, you can use the Bench at the Innkeeper and take the cage lift back up to Sinners Road.

Hollow Knight: Silksong, Guide, How to Find Secret Path to Citadel

Navigating Sinners Road

Sinners Road presents significant dangers that you must prepare for. The area contains cockroach-like enemies and larger creatures that inflict double damage compared to standard encounters. Only two Benches exist in this entire region, making careful progression essential in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

To find the most essential Bench, climb the central column of the area until you locate the Map Keeper. Purchase the map from this vendor for 90 Rosaries.

Although the cost is higher, it is necessary for navigating the area layout, which can be confusing without it. The Bench near the Map Keeper appears broken initially.

To repair the broken Bench, climb to the top left side of the room and locate a partially damaged wall. Break through this wall and complete the platforming section beyond it.

You will find Gears that, when activated, release the stuck Bench mechanism. This Bench serves as your final checkpoint before entering an area with no respawn points in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Once the Bench and map are safe, go back to the middle column and climb all the way to the top. Go to the top left part of the map by going left. Follow the path that goes to the Misty Area. The next challenge will take a long time to complete there.

Hollow Knight: Silksong, Guide, How to Find Secret Path to Citadel

The Misty Maze Challenge

The Misty Area is like a challenging puzzle, with ghostly figures that add to its complexity. These enemies don't make Silk when they're hit, which makes it hard to heal, and they deal double damage while being very hard to kill.

When they get angry, they grab you and chase you nonstop. The best thing to do is to avoid fighting these ghosts whenever you can in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

The area functions as a maze with multiple entrances and exits. Butterflies scattered throughout the region serve as navigation guides. To interact with these creatures, you must use your Musical Instrument ability, playing the violin with your pin near the Butterflies.

The music takes approximately three seconds to activate the Butterflies, which then illuminate the correct path forward.

Maintaining distance from the ghosts becomes critical during this process, as their aggression makes playing the required music nearly impossible.

Move slowly through each room, locate the Butterflies, play your music while avoiding enemies, and follow the illuminated path to the next section in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Taking incorrect paths results in teleportation back to the starting area or previous sections. Multiple wrong choices or falling into the mist at the bottom also trigger a complete reset, forcing you to restart the entire sequence.

Since the nearest Bench is located on Sinners Road, death requires repeating the whole journey from that checkpoint.

Hollow Knight: Silksong, Guide, How to Find Secret Path to Citadel

Accessing the Citadel

Successfully navigating the Misty Maze grants access to the Underworks, the Sewer system connecting to the Citadel. This underground route provides direct access to the Citadel without completing the main objective of finding five Bells throughout the map in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

You can skip the Bell collection requirement totally by taking this different route to the Citadel. It is more complicated than the usual path, though.

The most challenging part is the Misty Maze, where the ghostly enemies and the need to find your way around them make things very hard.

Trying to play early on is especially hard because you can't do much to fight the ghostly enemies in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Also, check our Hollow Knight: Silksong Review and other guides below: