What are the best activity bars in London for a date?
The short answer
The best activity bars for a date in London give you a game to play side by side, which takes the pressure off the conversation. Boulebar, Draughts and Swingers suit a first date, Electric Shuffle, Puttshack and NQ64 suit a second or third, and Rowans suits a relaxed daytime date. Check the age rules and booking terms below before you go.
The best activity bars for a date at a glance
| Activity | Venue | Price per person | Why it works for a date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pétanque | Boulebar, South Bank | £10£20 for two, 90 minutes | Side-by-side game, mostly outdoors, drink in hand |
| Board games | Draughts, Waterloo | £7.95 (£9.95 at peak)£15.90 for two off-peak, up to 3 hours | Over 1,000 games, with staff to teach you the rules |
| Crazy golf | Swingers, West End | £12£24 for two, golf only | Nine-hole course, four cocktail bars and street food |
| Shuffleboard | Electric Shuffle, London Bridge | £10 (£13 Wed to Sat)£20 for two, 60 minutes Sun to Tue | The table projects the games and keeps score |
| Crazy golf | Puttshack, Bank | £14£28 for two, one round | Tech-scored golf, with a full kitchen and bar |
| Retro arcade | NQ64, Soho | Free entryTokens £10.50 for 15, £14 for 25 | 60-plus cabinets, free consoles, pool and darts |
| Bowling | Rowans, Finsbury Park | £9.60 to £10.70£19.20 for two, weekday before 6pm | Bowling, karaoke and pool in one building |
Prices are per person at the cheapest standard time and were last checked in September 2026. “For two” is the price for a couple at that rate.
Boulebar, South Bank
From £10per person for 90 minutes on a court
Boulebar is a French-style bar built around pétanque, a game where you throw metal balls (boules) as close as you can to a small target ball. You book a court for 90 minutes with all the equipment included, and each court takes 2 to 6 players, so a couple gets one to themselves. Eighteen of the 20 courts are outdoors, behind the National Theatre, with covered courts in winter, and you play with a drink in hand.
Why it works for a date
Venue page
Draughts, Waterloo
From £7.95per person, midweek before 4pm (£9.95 at peak)
Draughts is a board game café and bar with more than 1,000 games to choose from, in a railway arch in the Leake Street tunnel beneath Waterloo station. A table is held for up to three hours for a per-person fee, and staff called Game Gurus recommend a game for your group and teach you the rules. A full kitchen and a bar run alongside the games, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.
Why it works for a date
Venue page
Photo of crazy golf, not this specific venue. Photo: TMBLover / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Swingers, West End
From £12per person for crazy golf
Swingers is a nine-hole crazy golf course styled as a 1920s English seaside resort, a minute’s walk from Oxford Circus. A round takes 30 to 40 minutes at busy times, and next to the course is Carnival, a retro arcade with more than 30 games. Four cocktail bars and a rotating line-up of street-food traders, including Pizza Pilgrims, Patty & Bun and Breddos Tacos, mean you can eat and drink as you play.
Why it works for a date
Venue page
Canary Wharf site, shown for the table and gameplay. Photograph by Matt Brown, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
Electric Shuffle, London Bridge
From £10per person for 60 minutes, Sunday to Tuesday
Electric Shuffle is a shuffleboard bar, where you slide weighted pucks down a long table and a projection system runs the games and scores every shot automatically. You book 60 or 90 minutes in a semi-private area, and food and drink are ordered with a call button on the scoreboard, so you never need to leave the game. The sourdough pizzas are the standout on the menu, alongside cocktails, burgers and small plates.
Why it works for a date
Venue page
Puttshack, Bank
From £14per person for a 9-hole round
Puttshack is crazy golf where the ball does the scoring: each ball carries a chip that sensors under the green track, so your score appears on a screen without anyone writing it down. Bank has three 9-hole courses and three bars, and a round for two players takes about 30 minutes. A full kitchen and cocktail bar run the length of the venue, including the signature Sapphire Island Iced Tea.
Why it works for a date
Venue page
NQ64, Soho
From Free entrytokens from £10.50 for 15
NQ64 is a retro arcade bar with more than 60 arcade cabinets across two floors at Orange Yard, plus pool tables, interactive dartboards and retro consoles that are free to play. Cabinets run on tokens, which cost £10.50 for 15 or £14 for 25, and most take one or two tokens a play. Soho is NQ64’s biggest site, opened in September 2026, with a cocktail bar built around the games.
Why it works for a date
Venue page
Photograph by Tom Page, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Rowans, Finsbury Park
From £9.60per person for one game with admission, Monday to Friday before 6pm
Rowans is a bowling alley in Finsbury Park with 24 lanes across two floors, plus karaoke booths, pool tables and a bar in the same building. It has been open since 1988, and it is a no-frills bowling alley rather than a cocktail bar, so our guide rates it lower for dates than the other venues here. Two games takes roughly 45 minutes.
Why it works for a date
Venue page
How do you choose an activity bar for a date?
Think about how well you know each other
On a first date, a game you can play side by side keeps things light and gives you something to talk about. Boulebar, Draughts and Swingers all work that way. On a second or third date, Electric Shuffle, Puttshack and NQ64 add more competition, which suits two people who already feel comfortable teasing each other.
First date
Boulebar, Draughts and SwingersEach one gives you a light game to play side by side.Second or third date
Electric Shuffle, Puttshack and NQ64These are more competitive, and the scoring is automatic.Daytime
Draughts and RowansDraughts opens at noon on weekdays and Rowans at 10:30am.Late night
NQ64It is open until 2am Monday to Thursday and 3am on Friday and Saturday.Think about whether you can talk
We have not measured noise levels at these venues, so we cannot give you a decibel figure. Reviewers describe weekday afternoons and early evenings as calmer than weekend nights at most activity bars, so go earlier in the week if being able to hear each other matters to you.
What should you check before you book?
Age rules
Electric Shuffle is 18 and over for everyone who plays. Swingers is over-18s only after 6pm and asks for photo ID under its Challenge 25 policy. Rowans is for over-21s only after 7pm, with photo ID checked at the door.
Group size and booking terms
Electric Shuffle needs a group of at least 6 on a Saturday, so a couple should book another day. Swingers tickets are non-refundable and cannot be changed within 48 hours of the booking, and Electric Shuffle allows cancellations up to 48 hours before. Boulebar and Draughts recommend booking at busy times, and NQ64 takes walk-ins for general entry.
Payment
Boulebar and Swingers are cashless. Rowans has a long reputation as a cash-heavy venue, so bring some cash as well as a card.
Prices and rules change. Check the venue’s own booking page before you book.