Offering an exciting challenge requiring teamwork and determination, escape rooms are a family-friendly activity that has rapidly gained popularity in recent years. With so many themes and skill levels on offer, you can find escape rooms that suit any group – from young families to groups of grown-up friends.
You can find great escape rooms all around the country; you might even have one in your hometown. Here are our picks for the best escape rooms in the UK, all easily accessible via a direct train with CrossCountry.
Escape Key, Newcastle
One of the best escape rooms in Newcastle is Escape Key , With four escape rooms of varying difficulties to suit all kinds of players. Located just a 10-minute walk from Newcastle station, it’s right in the city centre.
Escape Key have taken care to create a fantastic range of escape room experiences, including historical settings like the gruesome Plague Room and fantastical asteroid escapes. Each room has a huge variety of puzzles to solve in order to complete the challenge, which is why Escape Key has become so highly rated by visitors.
If you’re new to Newcastle, Escape Key offers story-led outdoor escape games and tours of the city to help you feel right at home with an adventure.
Escape Hunt, Edinburgh
If you’re looking for an enjoyable team-building exercise for you and your friends in Edinburgh, head over to Escape Hunt , where you can enjoy solving tricky puzzles. Players have the opportunity to transform the Scottish capital into their very own playground with City Hunt adventures, a treasure hunt that will take you past the confines of four walls and out into the city.
Whether you’re helping the White Rabbit’s friends find their way back to Wonderland or saving humanity from artificial intelligence, Escape Hunt is a thrilling experience for all. Plus, if Edinburgh is a little too big for your first try, they offer four fantastic indoor escape rooms complete with riddles, exciting themes, and challenges. Whether you’re exploring the city in a treasure hunt or tackling a traditional escape room, you can get to Escape Hunt from Edinburgh Waverley station in just eight minutes on foot.
Escape Live, Birmingham
Escape Live is one of the best escape rooms in Birmingham and is perfect for horror fanatics seeking scary escape rooms. Not for the faint of heart, players are entrusted to solve the infamous Jack the Ripper murders while the elusive murderer himself is hunting you down. If you’re visiting with younger kids or simply prefer something a bit less frightening, Escape Live has plenty of family friendly games that can take you to the future in your very own time-machine or to the hangout of the legendary Birmingham gang - the Peaky Blinders.
Escape Live is located close to Birmingham New Street station, accessible in less than twenty minutes on foot, or in nine minutes on the West Midlands Metro.
Escape Rooms, Cardiff
With plenty of exciting themes, such as space adventures and zombie apocalypses, Escape Rooms Cardiff is the ultimate destination for thrill seekers. Rooms can be booked for up to six people, making it ideal for family outings, birthday parties, or even team bonding sessions with colleagues. Escape Rooms Cardiff is also a great place for hosting larger events, with multiple escape rooms running at once so you can divide into teams.
One of our favourite rooms is the Cardiff Castle. Based on the city’s medieval motte-and-bailey castle, this escape room tasks you back to 1404 where you must help Owain, the valiant knight, reclaim the precious castle back from the English. If you’re travelling to Cardiff by train, you can get from Cardiff Central station to Escape Rooms Cardiff with a ten-minute walk.
Lockhouse Escape Games, Cambridge
Cambridge has some fantastic escape rooms to offer, including LockHouse Escape Games . LockHouse offers a selection of games with varying difficulties, including a Mayan temple which requires participants to tackle ladders and tunnels in order to find the lost explorer South Dakota Jones.
Their most difficult room sees you and your friends transform into secret agents, then it’s up to you to stop the evil villain before they take over the world. Lockhouse Games can be easily booked online, just be sure to check the maximum number of participants per room.
Travelling to LockHouse Escape Games from Cambridge station is easy and direct – you can walk in fifteen minutes or hop on a bus towards the city centre.
If you’re planning on visiting an escape room, don’t forget to book an Advance ticket via our website or the CrossCountry app. If you need more information, you can contact us here.
Written by Julia