Fun activities London for adults

Right, can we just have a quick honest conversation about what a night out in London can actually look like when you stop defaulting to the same old options? Because London is one of the most extraordinary cities on the planet and yet somehow a huge number of people spend their weekends doing the same three things on rotation. A dinner reservation somewhere slightly too expensive, a bar that's a bit too loud to have a proper conversation in, and then a half-hearted scroll through their phone at midnight wondering why the evening felt a bit flat.

London is not a flat city. London is a city that has a glowing ball pit full of a million neon balls and an ancient thermal spa hidden under its streets and tech-infused crazy golf and sip and paint sessions with art-inspired cocktails and frankly we think everyone deserves to know their options. So here are five things to do in London as an adult that will actually give you a story to tell and a memory worth keeping. Not a vague recollection of sitting in a restaurant. An actual, proper, brilliant evening.

Sip and Paint at Art Play

📍 Shoreditch, London 🎟️ From £38 🔗 Book here

We are starting here and we are starting here with full confidence because we genuinely believe a sip and paint session at Art Play is one of the best things you can do in this city as an adult and we will not be taking questions on that front.

Here is what an evening with us actually looks like. You walk in, the space feels warm and creative and immediately a bit exciting, there is a drink in your hand very quickly, and you are given a canvas and a paintbrush and a very relaxed and lovely guide who walks you through creating an actual painting. Not a colouring-in exercise, not painting by numbers, an actual painting that you have made with your own hands from scratch. And the whole time you're drinking something lovely and talking to the people you came with and laughing and occasionally looking at what someone else is painting and going oh that's brilliant, and before you know it two hours have disappeared and you're standing back from your canvas going actually, I love that.

"Such an amazing day out! A lovely place to go and a great artistic and creative space to laugh, socialise and RELAX. I don’t think we spoke to each other for 30mins straight because we were all so focused in our paintings. It was a beautiful experience and I would 100% recommend going. Close walk to the underground too. The staff are so lovely from the minute you walk in. They gave a great variety of colours and brushes and it’s just an amazing place to be at! Definitely going back soon :)"

The sip and paint format at Art Play is specifically designed to be completely accessible to everyone. If you haven't picked up a paintbrush since primary school, you are exactly who this is for. Our sessions are guided by brilliant artists who make the whole thing feel approachable and genuinely fun without dumbing it down or making anyone feel patronised. You follow along at your own pace, you make it your own, and the result is something that genuinely surprises people every single time.

The cocktail menu is something we're particularly proud of. Think art-inspired drinks with proper personality, things that look as interesting as they taste. We're talking beautiful colours in the glass, interesting flavour combinations, the kind of drinks that make you stop and go oh, that's clever. And having a drink in your hand while you paint does something quite magical to the creative process. The inhibitions drop, the brush gets a bit bolder, and the painting gets better. We've seen it happen hundreds of times and it still gets us every time.

We have venues in Shoreditch and Chelsea, both of which are gorgeous in completely different ways. Shoreditch has that brilliant East London energy that makes everything feel alive and a bit electric. Chelsea on King's Road has this incredible warm light and a sense of occasion that makes an evening there feel genuinely special. Book your session at Sip and Paint at Art Play and come and see what all the fuss is about. You will leave carrying something you made and feeling inexplicably brilliant about yourself and your evening.

Book Sip and Paint

Puttshack, Because Mini Golf Grew Up and Got Very Cool

📍 Bank in the City & Westfield, White City, London 🎟️ From £9 to £20 per player

If you haven't been to Puttshack yet then you have been missing out and we say that with absolutely no exaggeration. Puttshack has done something genuinely brilliant, which is take the humble game of mini golf and turn it into a fully tech-infused, competitive, cocktail-fuelled evening that works for literally any group of adults in any mood for any occasion.

There are locations at Bank in the City and at White City in Westfield, and both of them have this fantastic futuristic energy the moment you walk in. Neon signs, clever lighting, courses that are genuinely creative and challenging with holes named things like Drum Roll and Evel Up that will make you laugh and swear and pump your fist in equal measure. The technology is the thing that makes it feel different from every other crazy golf experience you might have tried before. There's automatic point scoring built into the balls themselves, live leaderboards, and a prize system where points can actually win you things, free cocktails, pizzas, even a year's worth of mini golf. So every hole actually matters, which keeps everyone properly engaged rather than halfheartedly putting while thinking about what to order.

The food and drink situation is properly good. Island bars, a menu of guilty pleasures alongside some genuinely impressive cocktails, and the whole venue is designed to make you want to stay long after your round is finished. Which you inevitably do, because you're having too much fun to leave.

It is the perfect option for a group who want to be competitive without it being intense, who want something to do with their hands, and who want to walk away having had a genuinely funny, energetic evening. Book in advance especially on weekends because the tee times fill up quickly and nobody wants to turn up and wait.

Bank is at 1 Poultry, Queen Victoria Street, EC2R 8EJ and White City is in Westfield.

Both are brilliant. Both have something slightly different to offer. Go to both honestly, you'll find reasons to prefer each one.

Ballie Ballerson, the Ball Pit Bar That Needs No Justification

📍Shoreditch, London 🎟️

There is a very specific kind of joy that comes from being an adult and realising you are standing in a pool of one million glowing neon balls and you do not have to justify this to anyone. Ballie Ballerson on Curtain Road in Shoreditch is an absolute one-of-a-kind experience and if you've never been, your London education has a gap in it.

The concept is exactly what it sounds like. Two enormous ball pits filled with over a million glowing balls, UV lighting, mirrors on every surface so the whole thing looks infinite, smoke machines adding to the general sense of having stepped into somewhere completely otherworldly, and live DJs keeping the energy exactly where it should be for a venue where adults are unashamedly throwing themselves into piles of neon plastic balls. The cocktail menu leans into the whole nostalgic playful vibe brilliantly, with drinks like the Dibbie Dabberson, a strawberry gin number that comes with a Dip Dab lollipop, and the Snap Bubble and Pop which combines Midori, Cointreau and strawberry vapour and tastes like your inner child got a bartending qualification.

There's also a Soho location on Berwick Street if you'd rather be in the West End, and both do bottomless brunch packages that start at £20 and are exactly the kind of decision you make with your friends and then absolutely do not regret. Private karaoke rooms are available if you want to take things even further, which honestly, why wouldn't you.

Time Out named it London's best activity bar and we completely understand why. It is ridiculous in the very best way. It is the kind of night out where you arrive thinking this sounds a bit mad and leave thinking that was genuinely one of the best evenings we've had in months. Entry starts from £8.50 and booking ahead is strongly recommended, especially on weekends.

AIRE Ancient Baths, for When You Need a Completely Different Kind of Evening

📍Covent Garden, London 🎟️ From £105

Okay so this one sits slightly apart from the others on this list because it's less about fun in the loud and lively sense and more about fun in the deeply luxurious, genuinely transformative, where has this been all my life sense. AIRE Ancient Baths is one of London's most extraordinary hidden secrets and it is the answer to the question of what to do when you want an evening that feels genuinely special rather than just entertaining.

The spa is tucked beneath the streets near Covent Garden and when you descend those candlelit stairs and enter the space below, something genuinely remarkable happens. The city disappears completely. You are in a series of stunning underground thermal baths, warm pools glowing in candlelight, the scent of orange blossom in the air, the sound of soft music playing somewhere in the distance. There's a tepidarium for gentle warming, a caldarium if you want seriously hot, a frigidarium cold plunge that is bracing in the most wonderful way, a steam room scented with eucalyptus, salt baths where you simply float, completely buoyant, completely still, thinking of nothing at all.

It is the most effective form of decompression we have ever encountered and we cannot recommend it highly enough, particularly for adults who spend most of their lives in a state of low-level stress pretending they're fine. You are not fine. Go to AIRE. Float in the salt bath. Come out feeling like a completely different person, which you basically will be.

It's also one of the most romantic date experiences in London, full stop. Taking someone to a dimly lit underground thermal spa by candlelight is a very strong move. Book a couples massage alongside the baths and you've created an evening that will genuinely be talked about. Prices vary depending on what you book but the standard thermal experience is worth every penny for what it gives you.

The Lost Estate, Because Immersive Dining is Having Its Moment and Rightly So

📍 Elephant and Castle, London 🎟️ From £59.50 to £279.50

The Lost Estate is the kind of place that makes you feel like you're living inside a story rather than just having dinner, which is an increasingly popular thing to want from an evening out and also just completely brilliant when it's done well. The venue in Elephant and Castle is an immersive dining experience meets theatrical performance that genuinely defies being put in a box. There are lavish spaces to explore across multiple rooms, theatrical performances happening around you throughout the evening, and a menu of seriously good food and drink that you enjoy while the show unfolds.

The whole thing is atmospheric in a way that's quite hard to describe until you've experienced it. You arrive into what feels like a completely different world, all dramatic decor and mysterious energy, and the evening just builds from there. Staff stay in character throughout, performers interact with guests, and the combination of beautiful food, strong drinks, and genuinely talented performance creates something that feels miles away from any other dining experience in the city.

It works brilliantly as a date because the shared experience of watching things unfold around you and reacting to them together is deeply connecting in a way that sitting across a table from each other simply isn't. It works brilliantly for a group because there's always something to talk about and react to and nudge each other about. Book ahead, dress up a bit, and surrender to it completely. That's the only way to do The Lost Estate justice.

So There You Have It

Five activities in London that are genuinely worth your time, your money, and your Saturday night. From glowing ball pits to underground thermal baths to neon crazy golf to immersive dining to painting with a cocktail in hand, this city has absolutely no excuse for a boring evening and neither do you.

Our personal favourite on this list is obviously the sip and paint at Art Play, and yes we are entirely biased and also entirely right. There is something about creating something with your hands, drinking something beautiful, and leaving with a canvas you're genuinely proud of that no other evening on this list quite replicates. It's the one that gives you something to take home.

Go to the Sip and Paint page on the Art Play Website and book your session. Then work through the rest of this list at your leisure. London is brilliant. Go and enjoy it properly.