Looking to play some games while out hitting the pubs with your friends? We have put together this list of the best activity bars London has to offer…
Want to get competitive with your friends while hitting the pubs? The “Activity Bar” scene in London has taken off recently with new and creative bars opening all over the city. From playing darts and pool, to shuffleboard and virtual axe throwing, there are plenty of places to get a drink and beat your friends at something new. Many of these bars are even incorporating new technology to bring an arcade-like feel to classic sports and games that are traditionally offered.
Whether you are looking for something traditional or more innovative, London has everything you need. So we have put together this list of the best activity bars London has to offer.
Flight Club
Flight Club is dedicated to bringing the ultimate darts experience. With locations in Victoria, Shoreditch, Bloomsbury, and Islington, aswell as plans for even more expansion, a Flight Club is never too far away. They offer sections for large and small groups of all skill levels to try their hand at darts with walk-in and reservations available. Each location also has a uniquely designed interior. For example their Bloomsbury location is adorned with beautiful portraits, murals and lights that dance in time to the music.
Alongside darts, the kitchen and bar at Flight Club are fully stocked. Their menu features sharing platters, sourdough pizzas, burgers and more. Alongside the food they offer a wide variety of beers on tap, cocktails as well as signature cocktail slushies. In the afternoon from Thursday to Sunday you can catch the Brunch Social which includes prosecco and bottomless pizza.
Where: Multiple locations around London
To Book: https://flightclubdarts.com/
Electric ShuffleBoard
A well-known place to get your shuffleboard fix, Electric Shuffleboard has it all. Self-described as “beautiful event spaces, delicious food and drink packages, and thrilling tournament gameplay, events with us are focused on bringing groups together”.
The business has two locations, one in Canary Wharf and one in London Bridge, each allowing up to 32 players at one time to enjoy their own semi-private playing and drinking area. There is a minimum group size of 6 during peak hours so bear this in mind if heading with fewer numbers on busy days, The shuffleboard tables feature interactive electric screens which display your teams, your position on the board, and the score making for a really smooth gameplay experience. While here enjoy drinks from the bar as well as a range of meals and light bites from their menu,
Where: 10 Cabot Square North Colonnade Canary Wharf London E14 4EY,
10 Bermondsey Street London SE1 2ER
To Book: https://electricshuffle.com/london/
TOCA Social
Have you ever wanted to play football inside a bar? TOCA Social offers drinks, food and a fully interactive football set up. TOCA Social has a selection of five games and has a range of levels for each one, so it is accessible for players of all abilities. The difficulties are beginner, intermediate or advanced and if there are more than six of you, you can pair up on the pitch. The games include Zombie Attack, Striker, Atom Splitter, Eliminator, and TOCA Challenge. You don’t need to show up in your football boots either as they have a full boot room ready for you to switch your shoes. They also have a variety of other classic games available like Foosball, Crokinole and arcade games.
Where: The O2, Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX
To Book: https://www.toca.social/
Boom Battle Bar
The best way to describe this bar may very well be a battleground! Located on Oxford Street Boom Battle Bar has a huge variety of games both old and new. On the classic side they have pool, darts, and shuffleboard with a variety of tables. The exciting new games they have are augmented reality axe throwing, beer/prosecco pong, and crazy golf which has a putting course that includes catapults, conveyors, loops and more. Boom Battle Bar also has a karaoke room which you can have up to 20 people in. The nice thing about this bar is that you can mix and match each of the different games through the booking so you can create the perfect flow of different games throughout the night.
Where: Ground Floor 70, Basement and, 88 Oxford St, London W1D 1BP
To Book: https://boombattlebar.com/uk/london-oxford-street/
Puttshack
Located in Central London, Puttshack takes the indoor putting course and bar scene to another level. Each game has 9 holes and instead of using paper and pencil to mark down your scores the balls actually keep track of it for you. They offer new courses like the pop quiz course in which you have to put into the true or false tube based on the trivia they give you. You can also win prizes like free drinks, merchandise, games and more at the wheel of fortune section.
Puttshack offers a wide selection of cocktails and beers which you can drink on the course while you play. They also offer student discount Monday to Wednesday, with 20% off food and drink and buy one get one free on all the mini golf games.
Where: Puttshack Bank, 1 Poultry, Queen Victoria Street London EC2R 8EJ
To Book: https://www.puttshack.com/uk/locations/bank
Four Thieves
With karaoke, remote racing, arcade games, virtual reality, and events almost every day, Four Thieves in Battersea has a lot going on. The first floor of this old Victorian music hall houses a huge retro arcade set up. There is a full size race track which you get to control a mini race car and the rest of the pub is populated with many other games like Skee Ball, Gopher Racing, Time Crisis, Dance Dance Revolution, and Point Blank. They also have a fully set up virtual reality area where up to three people can play at a time. Their weekly events also include happenings like quizzes, comedy nights and live jazz.
Where: 51 Lavender Gardens, Battersea, London, SW11 1DJ
To Book: https://www.fourthieves.pub/
Queens
“Skate, Dine, Bowl” is the tag line of Queens and it’s a London activity bar with a host of unique activities such as ice skating and curling. Queens, located in Central London, shows off a beautiful ice rink with coloured lights and all kinds of music. It is one of the only places you can go to get a drink and then go ice skating in London and as such promises a unique night or day out. You can just skate right up to the “Sin Bin” which is a ringside bar and enjoy a cocktail or soft drink. They also offer curling and bowling so you can get competitive with your friends on and off the ice.
Where: 17 Queensway, London, W2 4QP
To Book: https://queens.london/
Clays
Clays brings the clay target shooting experience out of the British countryside and right onto Canary Wharf. With heated outdoor terraces and interactive virtual clay target shooting games, this is a great experience to share with friends. You get set up in your own booth and can even preorder food and drinks to be waiting there for you.
Clays also takes the arcade shooting experience to a whole new level with a large screen and realistic-looking guns. The inside decor fits the experience really nicely with lots of wood and greenery making for a really nice indoor/outdoor atmosphere.
Where: 55 Moorgate London EC2R 6LL,
Unit B1 on the wharf at West India North Dockside 1 Cabot Square London E14 4QJ
To Book: https://clays.bar/canary-wharf
Bar Kick
Looking for a pre, post, or mid game sports bar? Bar Kick has everything to make watching any sports game comfortable and fun then keep you around after as well. Located in Shoreditch, Bar Kick has dozens of HD TVs that broadcast live games from around the world. Then for some post game competition with your friends they have table football and interactive darts which has multiple different game modes. As far as activity bars in London go, this is a great, chilled one ideal for making a night out last that bit longer and be more competitive!
Where: 127 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JE
To Book: https://www.barkicklondon.com/
Bounce
If you want to get your ping pong fix, Bounce is the place to go. A bar dedicated to the sport, it features a number of tables ideal for playing as a couple or a group. It also has a Bottomless Brunch deal every Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 7pm which lets you get 90 minutes of prosecco, ping pong, and pizza. This ping-pong-centred bar has locations in Battersea, Farringdon and Old Street. It also puts on events throughout the month with special deals and sometimes even the opportunity to play against a professional should you so desire!
Where: Multiple Locations around London
To Book: https://www.bouncepingpong.com/
Top tips for booking activity bars London
- While many of these places do offer walk-ins, it is highly recommended that you book ahead of time to get the best experience. Nobody likes to show up and have to wait 30 minutes to an hour to play!
- Come with as big a group as you can (or that the games allow) because many charge a set price for the activity and is divided by however many people there are
- Be sure you know how long you want to stay because if you book for only an hour and then end up wanting to stay and play a couple more games you might just be out of luck.
That was our best activity bars in London list, if you go and visit them let us know which one you liked in the comments below!
