6 Alternative Night Outs In London To Try With Friends

London certainly has its fair share of amazing restaurants and bars for you and your friends to experience, so much so that the list seems almost dauntingly endless. Trying an alternative night out instead can spice things up, add a lot of extra fun and break up the routine of restaurants and bars every night (as fabulous as they may be). This is our guide for quirky alternative night out ideas in London.

1. Bowling

Hitting the lanes with your friends can make for a fun night out and even help get everyone in a competitive spirit. Queen’s Bowling Alley has recently had a revamp, giving its interiors a swanky new look with neon lights, photo booths, graffiti walls and even has a Meat Liquor restaurant inside which ensures good grub and good fun. Other bowling alley locations to check out is Westfield in their newly built extension and Bloomsbury for a more central location. These bowling alleys all serve drinks so fear not, as your thirst will be quenched too.

2. Ice-skating

Ice-skating is a great way to have a laugh with friends as you can see who is the pro-skater, who is just a bit wobbly and who has to hold onto the side of the rink for dear life, it can certainly make for a humorous evening. London has some amazing outdoor ice-rinks available during winter for you to skate under the stars in some of London’s most beautiful and iconic locations such as the Natural History Museum in South Kensington and Somerset House by the Thames at the Strand. For year-round ice-skating, check out Queens Bowling Alley which also has their very own skating rink.

3. Ballie Ballerson

Who’d have thought that grown men and women would be spending a fantastic night out in London in a ball pit of all places? Believes when we say that Ballie Ballerson does not disappoint in bringing out the inner child in you whilst also giving you those fabulous grown-up perks of drinks. Found in the East London’s hip and cool area of Shoreditch, Ballie Ballerson offers much more than a ball pit for you and your friends to play around in, but has its own bar and DJ for you to dance the night away. The atmosphere of the dance floor is almost like a club, giving you the best of both worlds.

4. Crazy golf

Crazy golf has recently become quite popular with different locations popping up, perfect for you and your friends to take advantage of. Puttshack in Westfield White City is a particularly fun spot for a night out, with amazingly cool decor and interactive challenges whilst you play mini golf to help keep the game more interesting. Great for a group night out, Puttshack also offers food and drinks to make the most of your night and to keep you well sustained for more golfing.

5. Darts

Flight Club has three venues in Shoreditch, Bloomsbury and Victoria. They offer what they call ‘Social Darts’, which is their reinvention of darts with fast-paced multiplayer games, groundbreaking dart-tracking technology, instant scoring and a slick and intuitive user interface. Flight Club also offer food and drinks whilst you and your mates try your hand at a few games, which can all be delivered to your ‘oche’ which is the area that your group will be seated in.

6. Escape room

Escape rooms are definitely a change from the usual night out routine, but makes for an interesting and quirky plan which sees how good your group is at working together and solving mysteries and challenges. With quite a few spots in London, such as Angel, Euston, Bermondsey and Kings Cross to name a few, you’ll have your pick of the lot.