Best escape rooms in London in 2023: from Alice in Wonderland to Crystal Maze
Round up your savviest mates and get down to an escape room for an unforgettable experience. We’ve selected the best escape rooms in London that are guaranteed to test your brain power.
Escape rooms are one of the most fun and unique experiences to emerge in recent years, and by now, you already know the drill: you and a group of friends have to solve a puzzle in a locked room before the clock hits zero. If you crack the game, congratulations! You’re through to the next room. Fail? Unlucky. An escape room agent will come and collect you, losers.
These rooms are designed to test your brain power, how well you work in a team (though you probably can’t add this to your CV) and how cool you stay under pressure. They can be like Monopoly if you’re playing it with your nearest and dearest; the puzzle solving coupled with the time pressure is a recipe for a family fallout, so be sure to choose your team wisely. Or better yet, keep repeating to yourself: 'It’s just a game, it's just a game'...
If you’re puzzled about which escape rooms to try in London, we’ve selected and locked in the best ones. The RadioTimes.com team know there's nothing worse than 'solving' an easy-peasy puzzle — we want to be challenged. As selecting exciting things to do in London is our department (just take a look at the best London art exhibitions and our BBC Earth Experience review), you can rest easy that the escape rooms in this list are top notch.
We’ve also picked the top rooms to try in each location, with themes such as horror, mystery and fantasy, as well as a television show-inspired escape room (we are RadioTimes.com after all).
If you're a fan of escape rooms, check out the best immersive experiences in London, which includes themes like Stranger Things, BBC Earth Experience and ABBA Voyage.
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Best escape rooms in London at a glance:
- Hangover Déjà Brew, from £30
- Psychopath’s Den, from £30
- Alice in Wonderland VR Escape Room,
£60£49 for two - The Demon Barber of Oxford Street,
£76£50 for two - The Dentist,
£76£50 for two - The Haunted Toy Store, from
£120£59 for four - Prison Van Escape Room, £60 for two
- Blackbeard's Treasure Escape Game, £80 for four
- Escape the Wild West, £80 for four
- The Breakout, £120 for four
- The Killer, £120 for four
- Spy Heroes,
£160£120 for four - The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience, £130 for two
Best escape rooms in London for 2023
Psychopath’s Den
AIM Escape Rooms, East London
You’ve probably guessed by the name that this escape room is one of a spookier genre. You and your friends have to solve puzzles to get further away from the clutches of a psychopath. With gruesome objects, blood splattering, and instruments of torture lining the room, this game is pretty unnerving.
With this room, there’s a minimum of three players and a maximum of five, unless you book via Virgin Experience Days, then it’s for you and one other person.
- Buy Psychopath’s Den tickets from £30 at Fever
- Buy two Psychopath’s Den tickets for £80 at Virgin Experience Days
Are you a fan of things that go bump in the night? Then take a look at the best UK zombie experiences, best Edinburgh ghost tours, and best York ghost tours.
Spy Heroes
AIM Escape Rooms, East London
Your international spy friend, James, is missing. You’ve been kidnapped by his arch-nemesis, Mr Supervillain, and are currently trapped inside James’ headquarters. You must solve all of the puzzles to save yourself and James before time runs out. This Spy Heroes escape room is fun for the whole family.
More like this
Like with Psychopath’s Den, there’s a minimum of three players and a maximum of five.
Buy four Spy Heroes tickets for £120 at Virgin Experience Days
Hangover Déjà Brew
AIM Escape Rooms, East London
One of the more weirder escape rooms we’ve come across is this one named Hangover Déjà Brew. It’s the day of a wedding ceremony, you had a messy night last night and are currently nursing a hangover, but the groom’s missing and it’s your job to find him and save the ceremony.
This escape room has a minimum of three players and a maximum of five.
- Buy Hangover Déjà Brew tickets from £30 at Fever
- Buy four Hangover Déjà Brew tickets for
£160£120 (save £40 or 25%) at Virgin Experience Days
Prison Van Escape Room
Trapped Escape Rooms, South East London
If, like us, you hypothesise if you could break out of prison each time you watch a film like The Shawshank Redemption or a series like Prison Break, then this escape room is for you. Trapped in a refurbished prison van, you and your fellow outlaws have to apply your street smarts to escape the van and avoid prison. After all, orange definitely isn’t the new black.
Buy two Prison Van Escape Room tickets for £60 at Virgin Experience Days
For other exciting things to do in London, check out the best West End shows and our what is Frameless? explainer. Plus, here's how to get cheap theatre tickets.
The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience
Shaftesbury Avenue, West London
Fans of the iconic ‘90s game show The Crystal Maze will be jumping for joy at the chance to take part in the puzzles in real-life. You’ll head through the Industrial, Futuristic, Middle Ages, and Aztec zones, before coming face-to-face with the final test in The Crystal Dome. There will be a mixture of mental and physical challenges, so get your thinking caps on and your blood pumping.
Buy two The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience tickets for £120 at Virgin Experience Days
If you fancy making a day of this experience, why not go out for a meal, too? With this Buyagift voucher, you and another person can enjoy a two course meal with a drink at Marco Pierre White’s restaurant Mr White’s, as well as tickets to The Crystal Maze escape room.
The Haunted Toy Store
No Escape Limited, East London
Despite the 10+ age rating, the RadioTimes.com team are too scared to take part in this escape room — creepy dolls? No, thank you! If you’re braver than us, however, The Haunted Toy Store escape room challenges you to solve the mysteries of the haunted toys.
- Buy four The Haunted Toy Store tickets for
£120£59 (save £61 or 51%) at Groupon - Buy six The Haunted Toy Store tickets for
£180£69 (save £111 or 62%) at Groupon
For more activities to try across the country, take a look at the best UK pottery classes and the top UK driving experiences.
The Breakout
Enigma Escape, North London
There’s not many people we know who would happily break out their boss from prison, but in this escape room, let’s pretend you want to… Located at Enigma Escape in North London, this escape room let's you choose from one of two games: The Breakout or The Killer.
Buy four The Breakout tickets for £120 at Buyagift
Did you know June is Pride Month? For top Pride Month experiences, check out our guide, and here are the best LGBTQ+ movies, too.
The Killer
Enigma Escape, North London
In this escape room, the story is that you and your team have been invited to a premiere of the movie The Killer (surprise, surprise), but before the movie starts, you pass out, then wake up in a cell with a sinister message on the wall. You have an hour to break out of the cell before the killer returns.
Buy four The Killer tickets for £120 at Buyagift
For more unique activities, be sure to take a look at the top London walking tours. Plus, Harry Potter fans will love The Cauldron.
Alice in Wonderland VR Escape Room
MeetspaceVR, North West London
An escape room with a twist as this one incorporates Virtual Reality (VR) technology. Follow the White Rabbit to meet other iconic Alice in Wonderland characters, like the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat, then complete a series of tasks to triumph over the Queen of Hearts and save Wonderland. We’ve heard that if you fail this escape room, it’s off with your head!
Buy two Alice in Wonderland VR Escape Room tickets for £60 £49 (save £11 or 18%) at Buyagift
The Demon Barber of Oxford Street
We all know the story of Sweeney Todd — the fictional character who first appeared in the penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls — and as he roamed Victorian London, it's only right to include this escape room in the best ones the capital city has to offer.
You and your partner-in-crime have just 60 minutes to try and discover the special ingredient in Mrs Lovett’s pies without getting caught...
If you're a fan of Virtual Reality, here are the best London VR experiences. And if you think one of these experiences would make the perfect gift, check out how to buy a Virgin Experiences gift card.
The Dentist
Going to the dentist can be a terrifying experience for some, so a dentist-themed escape room is bound to scare the socks off potential escapees!
Get your teeth stuck into this next escape room: spooky secrets are hidden all around the practice, and you have just one hour to collect the clues and solve the puzzles.
Buy two The Dentist tickets for £76 £50 (save £26 or 34%) at Virgin Experience Days
Blackbeard's Treasure Escape Game
Escape Hunt, West London
Grab three of your best problem-solving pals (ones who are not prone to sea sickness...) and head to Escape Hunt on Oxford Street to solve this next escape room. You and your gang have just helped yourselves to the contents of the infamous Blackbeard's treasure chest, but before you can hurry away with the goods, the door jams shut. Will you be able to break out before time runs out?
Buy four Blackbeard's Treasure Escape Game tickets for £80 at Virgin Experience Days
Looking to try something new in London? Take a look at the best London rooftop gardens, best London boat tours and best London Shakespeare plays.
Escape the Wild West
Escape Hunt, West London
Here's another Escape Hunt game and this time, we're heading to the Wild West. In this immersive experience, you'll step into East Victoria, a small frontier town, where you'll discover gold! Your luck doesn't last for long, however, as the bloodthirsty Bill French Gang catch wind of your new fortune and are on their way to claim it. With no sheriff in sight, your only hope is a rusty locomotive and plenty of brain power.
Buy four Escape the Wild West tickets for £80 at Virgin Experience Days
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How many people do you need for an escape room?
Before you carefully select your most clued-up mates to take part in an escape room with you, you need to know how many people to shortlist.
Most escape rooms let you play with between two and 12 players, and they will make it obvious on the website how many people you’re allowed per team. For example, at the Eltham Escape Rooms in South East London, each room can have a minimum of two and a maximum of six players.
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