The Best London Activity Bars
The Best London Activity Bars including...
- A mega mini-golf place
- A place revolutionising pub darts
- A footy fantasy land
- And many more
Are you a 17 year old looking for a venue to host the big One Eight? A manager attempting to build on the fragile morale of your Sales Team following a string of unexpected redundancies? Are you looking to avoid an uncomfortable conversation with a soon to be visiting relative? Are you at your most charming first date best when absolutely battering him at bowling? Do you really really like ping pong? Are you that guy who really likes ping pong? Well, this is a list for you.
Swingers
The first, but not the last cheekily named activity bar on this list, Swingers is an indoor crazy golf club with two London locations. Each venue boasts two 9-hole courses to choose from, with holes ranging from the simple to the insanely difficult. Drinks-wise, you’ve got a whole host of classic and soon-to-be classic cocktails to choose from. And Swingers have left the food options in the hands of the pros, with Patty&Bun burgers and Breddos tacos among the superb dining options available. You can enjoy walk-up rounds of crazy golf every day from midday to 6pm. If you’re looking to come later, you’re going to need to book in advance. The City and West End [caption id="attachment_4739" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
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Flight Club
Isn’t there a dart board in most pubs, you ask? Well, yes, often there is. But Flight Club is a London bar that focuses on what they call Social Darts. It’s all the fun of pub darts, but without the sense that you’re annoying the locals who think they own the oche. And Flight Club have brought tech into the darts arena with a series of fun darts games that appeal to pros and beginners alike. See, Flight Club is more than just a punny name. Grab a sharing pizza served on a paddle while you’re there, or choose a few dishes off their large Mini Plates menu. Kids can come in before 5pm if you’re eating, but the darts areas are solely for the over 18s. Bloomsbury, Islington, Shoreditch and Victoria [caption id="attachment_4740" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
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Bounce
Boing. One of the top London activity bars since it opened in 2012, Bounce is all about ping pong. Their venues are stylishly designed in dark blues and neon...the perfect lighting for the hypnotic back and forth of a nail biting rally. They’ve got a tech-embracing game called Wonderball to try out alongside the trad game. They do digital (and non-digital) beer pong at Bounce now too. The rooms are expertly laid out for engrossing games. Don’t worry: other people’s balls aren’t always getting in your way or hitting you in the face. When it comes to the bar, refined and ballsy new cocktails are the show stealers, but Bounce pride themselves on their craft beer selection and wine menu too. Farringdon and Old Street [caption id="attachment_4741" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
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Bar Kick
A classic of the genre, and one of the leading London activity bars. Bar Kick is the place to come if you like football minus the running around. It’s the place to come to see finally who wins, The Reds or The Blues. They’ve got a huge number of table football tables here, all well-maintained (no more stuck goalkeepers) and ready to go. It’s a quid per game, with 11 balls in each game. So whether it’s an 11-0 thrashing or a 6-5 nail-biter, you’re definitely getting your money’s worth. Reserve in advance to make sure you’ve got a table during peak hours. Peak hours are pretty much whenever they’ve got the football on. See, as you’d expect, Bar Kick is a great place to watch live sports, with massive screens on each floor. There’s a good selection of bar meals to choose from too, including wrap-your-own chicken shawarma and big old burgers. They’re known for their selection of international beers too. Shoreditch [caption id="attachment_4743" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
@WhatsOnBarKick[/caption]
Smoky Barrels, Mac & Wild
When it comes to London activity bars, Mac & Wild has brought something new: a virtual shooting range. The company have built up a reputation for their showcasing of Scottish produce. They run steakhouses in London and Scotland, with wild venison, beef, seafood and lots of whisky on the menu. But now they’ve added the Smoky Barrels Virtual Hunting & Bar on the lower ground floor of their Devonshire Square address. The three separate hunting screens are kitted out with two replica shotguns each, so you can hunt in pairs if you like. It’s state-of-the-art stuff, and a million miles away from the Scottish Highland scene shown on screen. But to help you get into the experience, there’s a dressing up box filled with shooting attire and tweed. You can even pick what you’ll be shooting, with birds, deer, boar and bears all on the digital menu. Nothing beats the satisfaction of digitally eating something you have digitally shot yourself. The City [caption id="attachment_4744" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
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All Star Lanes
A place that goes all-in on all-American swagger and style, All Star Lanes is a king in the realm of London activity bars. Their locations are all designed to be fun, kitsch places to spend an evening with friends or an afternoon out with family. Rather than going to some grim industrial park out in the sticks, All Star Lanes invite you to bowl at their trendy city-centre venues, enjoying game after game of 10 pin action on their lanes. And, when you’ve wiped the floor with all challengers, there’s plenty of good grub to get tucked into. They have a fantastic menu of English pub classics. Just kidding, it’s USA dinner fare from start to finish. And very good it is too. They’re very popular with groups, parties, work-dos and the rest. You can book private rooms and rent out areas for big events. They only have a finite number of lanes, and some of their venues are pretty small, so they do tend to get booked up during peak times. Make sure you book ahead so you haven’t brought your custom-made ball and put on your special glove for nothing. Brick Lane, Holborn, Westfield Stratford City and Westfield White City [caption id="attachment_4745" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
allstarlanes.co.uk[/caption] So now you know where to find some of London's newest activity bars. Check out some of the capital's oldest pubs here.