Best immersive experiences to try in London: from ABBA to Squid Game

The RadioTimes.com team have our ears to the ground when it comes to the best things to do in London. We've tried and tested some experiences first hand, like the Harry Potter inspired cocktail-making bar The Cauldron, and we've found some great things to do as we step into spring, like the best Easter activities.

We also understand the importance of budgeting, so here you'll find a variety of experiences to suit every wallet. There truly is something for everyone in our best immersive experience list. Let’s get started.

Fancy trying your hand at the best escape rooms in London? Our Going Out section is great for inspiration for the whole year.

Jump to:

• Best immersive experiences for the family
• Best immersive experiences for friends
• Best immersive experiences for date night
• Best immersive experiences for foodies

This BBC Earth Experience is perfect for David Attenborough fans

Sir David Attenborough is narrating this brand new immersive experience, which is in London for a limited time only from March 2023. The exciting experience invites you to travel to the seven continents of the world through impressive 360-degree visuals and audio.

Buy BBC Earth Experience tickets from £28.50 at Ticketmaster

Best immersive experiences in London at a glance

• Dopamine Land: A Multisensory Experience, from £14
• Dalí: Cybernetics The Immersive Experience, from £15.90
• Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, from £15.90
• The Peter Rabbit Easter Adventure, from £19
• BBC Earth Experience, from £28.50
• Alcotraz Prison Cocktail Bar, from £39.99
• The Gunpowder Plot, from £45
• Squid Game immersive experience, from £47
• Avora: New World cocktail experience, from £47
• ABBA Voyage, from £55
• The Murdér Express Part Deux, from £69.50
• Faulty Towers The Dining Experience, from £74
• Mamma Mia! The Party, from £137.50

Best immersive experiences for the family

The Gunpowder Plot

Everyone knows this historic story, we celebrate it every year on Bonfire Night. The night when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Westminster Palace. Now, the story has been brought to life in The Gunpowder Plot. With Tom Felton (of Harry Potter fame) as Guy Fawkes, participants will wear VR headsets for 90-minutes as they take a boat down the Thames to the Houses of Parliament, then return to Tower Hill Vaults to witness Guy Fawkes’ brutal end.

Buy The Gunpowder Plot tickets from £45 at Ticketmaster

BBC Earth Experience

Sir David Attenborough will be narrating this brand-new immersive experience, which invites you to travel to the seven continents of the world through a 360-degree audio and visual journey. BBC Earth Experience is hitting the Big Smoke in March 2023 and it's up for a limited time only, until July 2023. So for a memorable family day out, bag tickets today.

Buy BBC Earth Experience tickets from £28.50 at Ticketmaster

The Peter Rabbit Easter Adventure

This might be the perfect experience for the Easter holidays. Taking place at London's Covent Garden, this is an outdoor experience for families where children can draw and play, as well as write and post a letter to Beatrix Potter. Children will also be able to help Beatrix find gifts for all her animal friends, and even save Jemima Puddle-Duck from Mr McGregor.

There are also options for children to aged four to nine to drive a mini-rover in Mr McGregor's Obstacle Course, although this will set you back a little extra.

This experience starts on Wednesday 22nd March and runs until Sunday 16th April. Tickets are available for individuals, family bundles and group bundles.

Buy The Peter Rabbit Easter Adventure tickets from £19 at Fever

Best immersive experiences for friends

Dopamine Land: A Multisensory Experience

Let's face it, being an adult is hard: it's all work and rent and bills and more work, and we long for the days when the most difficult decision in our lives was deciding who our best friend was that week at school. Dopamine Land is designed to unleash your inner child and give you a much-needed break from life's stresses; there's crafting, bubbles, and meditation in different sensory rooms.

Buy Dopamine Land: A Multisensory Experience tickets from £14 at Fever

If you're a fan of the unusual, why not try your hand at activities like the best UK zombie experiences?

Alcotraz Prison Cocktail Bar

Inspired by America’s most infamous prison, Alcatraz, this adults-only immersive experience will see you smuggle alcohol into a prison-themed cocktail bar for you to whip up your own drinks concoctions. You have to bring your own booze to this activity, but all mixers, juices, fruit and syrup will be provided — aren’t the prison guards good to you!

Buy Alcotraz Prison Cocktail Bar tickets for £39.99 at Fever

If you're a fan of a cocktail, why not try the Sex and the City experience tickets, which is coming to London for one week in June, where you can sip away on a Cosmopolitan.

Mamma Mia! The Party

If you're dreaming of a sunny getaway this year, booking tickets for Mamma Mia! The Party could be the next best thing. Transport yourself to the Greek island of Skopelos and transform into the dancing queen we know you are with this immersive experience. Expect a freshly-made four-course Greek meal, plenty of drinks, performances of the hit songs from Mamma Mia, and even an ABBA disco after the party.

Buy Mamma Mia! The Party tickets from £137.50 at Eventim

If you know someone who loves a dance, check out our guide to the best Strictly Come Dancing gifts for 2023.

Squid Game immersive experience

The Squid Game immersive experience is available to play right here in the UK, and don't worry! Unlike the Netflix show, your life isn't at risk. The immersive experience has adapted six exciting games from the show: Red Light, Green Light, the Honeycomb Challenge, Tug of War, Marbles, Glass Stepping Stones, then finish the experience with Squid (the children’s game).

Buy Squid Game immersive experience tickets from £47 at Immersive Gamebox

Immersive experiences would make a brilliant gift for a friend. For more present ideas, check out the best London experience gifts and the best tech gifts and gadgets.

Best immersive experiences for date night

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience

One of our RadioTimes.com team experienced this exhibition in Manchester and absolutely loved it. Feel like you’re stepping into a piece of art with a 360-degree digital exhibition of the works of the late and great Vincent van Gogh. There’s also a VR experience where you travel through eight paintings and find out their inspirations, as well as projection mapping and sound effects throughout.

Buy Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience tickets from £17.20 at Fever

If you're an art lover, take a look at our guide to the best art exhibitions in London.

Dalí: Cybernetics The Immersive Experience

Get ready to step into the metaverse with this interactive experience which explores the work of artist Salvatore Dalí. You'll experience his surrealist masterpieces through virtual reality which truly lets you step into the artwork, complete with sound effects, digital displays and 360-degree mapping. Whether you're an art lover yourself or just looking for a new experience, we think this would make a fantastic date night for you and your partner.

Buy Dalí: Cybernetics The Immersive Experience, from £14.40 at Fever

ABBA Voyage

Do you want to jive and dance all night long? If so, then ABBA Voyage is the immersive experience for you. This live concert is performed entirely by CGI versions of the four ABBA members: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The singers have recorded their voices and body movements to be transformed into 3D avatars (or ABBAtars, if you will), and you'll hear hits like Mamma Mia and Waterloo live.

Buy ABBA Voyage tickets from £21 at Ticketmaster

If you want to experience the music of ABBA in a different light, check out Waterloo: The Best of ABBA tickets and our guide to candlelight concerts.

Avora: New World cocktail experience

Are you ready to be transported to another world? Discover the new world of Avora with this cocktail experience, where you'll get to interact with Avorians. In the incredible setting of this new world, you'll don an Avora jumpsuit to try three specially designed cocktails. There'll be plenty of opportunities to take photos to make sure this is an experience you never forget.

Buy Avora: New World the cocktail experience from £47 at Fever

Best immersive experiences for foodies

The Murdér Express Part Deux

What better way to spend your next date night than at an immersive theatre experience onboard an ornate 1920s-inspired train carriage? For this experience, you’ll be transported to the year 1937 when the world’s most valuable diamond has just gone missing from your carriage. Bodies are piling up, and it’s down to you to uncover the killer and the thief. This dining experience is perfect for foodies, too, as you’ll enjoy an amazing four-course meal cooked by a MasterChef professional.

Buy The Murdér Express Part Deux tickets from £69.50 at Fever

Faulty Towers The Dining Experience

Fans of the BBC TV show Fawlty Towers are going to love this new immersive experience, which is perfect for foodies. Get transported back to the 1970s at the President Hotel in West London, where you'll enjoy a three-course lunch or dinner surrounded by actors improvising some of the most iconic and comic scenes from Fawlty Towers.

Buy Faulty Towers The Dining Experience tickets from £74 at Viator

Are you a fan of the theatre? Check out our best West End shows list and how to get cheap theatre tickets. Head to our Going Out section for more on ticket releases, including how to get Great British Bake Off Musical tickets.