London Crazy + Mini Golf: The Best Places To Go
This post is part of our archived content. While we’ve shifted focus, it still may be useful.
Looking for something fun to do in the capital?
If you’re looking for an alternative to world-class museums, art galleries, cinemas, and shops, why not try hitting something with a stick?
A golf club, maybe.
London’s mini golf and crazy golf scenes are in full swing; see what we’ve rounded up for you.
The best places to go for mini golf in London:
Puttshack is like standard mini golf but better.
They’ve combined your standard mini golf with ground-breaking technology.
You won’t need your standard pencil and paper scorecard, it’s all done virtually.
Your profile is linked to your ball and you work your way around trying to score as many points as possible.
With three locations in London, there’s probably one near you.
The food and drink are top notch (vegans and veggies fully catered to) and over 18s will appreciate the fully-stocked bar.
If you combine gourmet street food, cocktails, DJs and four nine-hole crazy golf courses in the middle of London, you get Swingers.
Or rather, you get your pick of two Swingers’ mini golf venues.
Swingers City is just a block away from The Gherkin in East London and housed in a 16,000 square ft. basement.
The vibe here is reimagined ‘20s English country golf club with two courses – the Lighthouse and the Windmill – to choose from.
A little more central, the seaside-themed Swingers West End is a few minutes’ walk from Oxford Street in the former BHS flagship store.
Attempt the Helter Skelter course, or try your luck on The Big Wheel fairground course.
For those 18 years and over, Swingers turns crazy golf into something cool, with excellent food and drink alongside.
You’ll find street food stalwarts Patty & Bun, Breddos Tacos, Pizza Pilgrims, Slide and Crosstown doughnuts to whet your sporting appetite.
The drinks menu, meanwhile, includes all the usual tipples with a bombastic cocktail list.
There’s nothing quite like attempting a hole in one while navigating a perfectly mixed One-Armed Bandit (that’s vodka, raspberry puree, pineapple syrup, lemon and rosemary to you).
There are packages available for those arriving as a group of up to 20 people to solve the hassle of individual per person payment.
You can also privately hire an area, a whole crazy course or take over the entire venue for those wild and sporty works events.
Book online or just walk in for tickets, and if crazy golf just isn’t your thing, go in anyway for food and drinks.
Both venues are wheelchair friendly, and each has one course that is fully accessible.
There’s plenty more excitement to be had on a London crazy golf night out.
Junkyard Golf Club’s Shoreditch and Camden venues boast four distinct crazy golf courses. Under 18s are only permitted on Sunday to Wednesday before 6 pm, and must have an over-18 with them.
There’s Bozo, a homage to all things carnivalesque.
The course features dark fairgrounds, circus freaks and twisted clowns.
Gary is more of a scrapyard golf course for motorheads.
You’ll wind your way through towers of tyres, written-off cars and auto-junk.
Then there’s the Dirk course, an Acid House of Horrors which recreates an all-nighter ‘90s rave.
Last but not least, there’s Pablo, a polluted jungle paradise filled with UFC bears, pirate speedboats and glitter temples.
Drinks are varied; from draught beer and cider, wines, fizz, spirits, mixers and shots.
Best of all, there’s a ‘Slush Putty’ option of either delicious fruity frozen daiquiris or martinis.
Larger bookings are up for grabs for groups over 12 people, while eight is the maximum number of punters allowed on the courses in any time slot.
There are limited walk-in tickets available, so book online in advance for the best chance of a golfing night out.
Call ahead for access queries as all courses involve different levels, ramps, steps, uneven edges and restrictive spacing.
There are four locations where Plonk Crazy Golf London has pitched its various holes:
- Shoreditch
- Borough Market
- Hackney
- Camden Market
The course features Plonk’s signature loops, huge hills, balancing beams and ramps.
Hackney hosts another of Plonk’s venues; a private yard overlooking the plane trees in London Fields park.
There’s a fully accessible nine-hole garden golf course for people of all ages and abilities.
Groups of up to six are welcome.
You’ll find a tiki cocktail bar that also stocks local craft draught beer, mocktails, and exotic juices.
The venue features an arcade with more pinball machines than anywhere else in London, a skeeball machine, foosball and over 100 board games.
There’s even an in-house German hot dog shop for when the exertion of the golf just gets too much.
In North London, Plonk’s mini-golf courses can be found in Camden Market.
Hidden inside the Victorian horse stables arches, the course features ramps, ¼ pipes, balancing beams and jumps.
There’s a fully licensed bottle bar serving G&Ts, cocktails in a can, wines and craft beers.
The market is full of excellent eating options and the shopping is good, so make an evening of it.
Hidden in the arches underneath Borough High Street, Plonk has harnessed London’s energy into 9 holes of putting madness surrounded by custom graffiti.
Their latest course has holes and artwork designed to showcase London’s most famous monuments, sights, and traditions.
You can jump over an opening Tower Bridge, loop the loop around the millennium wheel and swoop past a big wave and around the Thames barrier.
The arcade is a celebration of all things retro, with a 360′ mural done by Ed Hicks of a retro sci-fi landscape, and is stocked with pinball machines, retro arcade games, car racers, boat racers, shooters, air hockey, board games and more.
After a spell on this golf course, wander the market to find the freshest, most innovative street and farm-sourced food to eat in or take away.
Putt in the Park has golf courses in Wandsworth Park, Battersea Park, and Acton Park, and will open soon in Gunnersbury Park.
Each course has been carefully designed to delight and challenge all ages and comes complete with tunnels, jumps and bridges.
Battersea Park’s course is right next to the traditional Neapolitan wood-fired pizza restaurant with an extensive wine list and Peroni beer on draft.
There are cakes, snacks and coffee on offer too.
It’s an atmospheric place; above the course, you’ll spot tree-top adventurers scaling the heights on zip wires and bridges.
Acton Park also has a traditional pizza restaurant and Wandsworth Park, featuring Putt in the Park’s original café, is notable for its 12-hole golf course.
Adults from £11 per person and under 15s £9 per person.
Nine holes and a nautical theme make this a fun day out for all the family.
If your little ones love it, they also offer standard golf lessons for kids.
Enjoy 18 holes while you dodge giant snakes and other beasties.
The golf courses below aren’t technically London but they’re close enough and worth a drive if you want to entertain the kids for a few hours:
Explore their two 18 hole Congo and Amazon adventure golf courses as well as a huge nine-hole footgolf course (played like regular golf but with a football).
They’re Europe’s largest adventure golf course so you could keep the kids occupied for hours here.
Jurassic Encounter, New Malden
Jurassic Encounter marries mini-golf with dinosaurs.
There are 18 holes, nine giant dinosaurs plus caves and waterfalls.
It stays open until 9 pm so your teens may appreciate a few rounds while their little siblings are tucked up in bed.
Children’s tickets are £9 and adults, £11.
If you’re in East London, Romford is where you should go for a 60-metre lagoon, an 8-metre waterfall and of course, Dagenham’s legendary sperm whale Moby Dick.
We love that the 18 hole course allows 100% wheelchair access.
Dinosaur Escape Adventure Golf, Northolt
18 holes, dinosaurs and you can even bring the dog.
Mr Mulligan’s Dino Golf, Sidcup
Mr Mulligan has courses all over the UK so you’re sure to find one not too far from you.
Their Sidcup course is the closest to London and has two 18 hole outdoor adventure golf courses plus a café serving delicious treats.
The Dino Adventurers course is wheelchair and pushchair accessible.
Dragon Quest Adventure Golf, Croydon
Enjoy 18 challenging holes of fun and fresh air, in a glorious landscape of caves, waterfalls and lots and lots of dragons.
Where’s your favourite place for mini and crazy golf in London?