Westfield London is the biggest shopping centre in Europe, which is exactly the problem: two hours in and somebody in the group is done. The useful thing to know is that a lot of what is inside has nothing to do with shopping at all, and most of it is under the same roof, so nobody has to go back out into the rain.
Paint something (this is us)
We are inside the centre at SU0236, on Ariel Way, at our White City studio. Choose from a wall of 300+ ready-made ceramics, paint at your own pace, and leave it with us: we glaze it, fire it and message you when it is ready, usually in two to three weeks. Pieces run from £18 to £60 and the studio fee is £5 per person, with paints, tools, glazing and firing included.
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We also run hand-building workshops here, and Sip & Paint evenings where you bring your own drinks.
Bowling and mini golf
All Star Lanes brings a 1950s American bowling alley into the middle of West London, and Puttshack does mini golf with the scoring automated so nobody has to argue about it. Both are the sort of thing that works with a group who cannot agree on anything else.
Climbing
City Bouldering sits in Westfield Square, next door to Puttshack: over a hundred routes, no ropes, and no experience needed. A genuinely different way to spend an hour if the group still has energy.
Cinema
The Vue inside Westfield is one of the busiest in London for a reason: recliners, big sound, and it is thirty seconds from wherever you were standing when somebody suggested it.
Eating
There are something like eighty-eight places to eat in the centre, from street-food counters to sit-down restaurants. The practical advice is to decide before you are hungry, because deciding while hungry in Westfield is how you end up in a queue.
Getting here
Westfield London sits between White City on the Central line, Wood Lane on the Circle and Hammersmith & City, and Shepherd’s Bush on the Central line and Overground. We are inside the centre itself, so no weather involved.
Comparing studios? Pottery painting in London lists all three of ours side by side, with prices and hours.
