What fits, with guide prices
£20–40 a head, guide price
Bowling, arcade, burgers
Easy to book for six, easy on the budget.
£15–35 a head, guide price
Cinema and a bite
The one plan that survives being arranged the day before.
£8–20 a head, guide price
Five-a-side and a pint
An hour on the pitch, split between ten.
£20–35 a head, guide price
An escape room
Sixty minutes locked in with your friends' worst ideas.
£30–60 a head, guide price
Go-karting
Indoor tracks run in all weather and take groups without fuss.
£10–25 a head, guide price
A board game café
A table, a shelf of games and something to eat.
£15–30 a head, guide price
Bouldering
Low walls and thick mats. Nobody needs to have climbed before.
Why these suit awkward diaries
Vennado looks for free windows of at least three hours by default, and almost everything here fits inside one. That matters, because a busy group can have plenty of three-hour gaps and no free Saturdays. The guide to finding a date everyone is free covers what to do when the gaps are small.
Most of these ideas also work at any time of day, though check the opening times.
They are also the right size of plan for a near miss. If five of six can make Thursday, an evening that costs £20 a head is an easy one to go ahead with. The sixth person comes next time, and nobody has lost a deposit on a cottage.
Group size is the thing to check
- Bowling. Lanes have a maximum, and it is not the same everywhere: eight players at Hollywood Bowl according to its FAQ, six at Darlington council's bowling centre. Above the limit you need two lanes. Ask for neighbouring ones with the same start time.
- Escape rooms. Check the room's maximum team size. A bigger group books two rooms. Check both slots start at the same time, then race.
- Five-a-side. Vennado suggests it from eight people, and ten is the game. It is the most fragile plan here, because two dropouts end it. Invite eleven.
- Board game café. Suggested for up to ten, which is about what one big table holds.
- Karting. Suggested from four people up. Ask whether your group gets its own race or joins a shared session.
- Bouldering. Ask whether first-timers need an induction and how long it takes, and add that to the window.
If someone in the group is on shifts
With a chef, a nurse on lates and someone between night shifts in the group, the shared window may well be eleven on a Tuesday morning. Bowling, bouldering and the cinema do not mind. The page on planning a social life around shifts starts from that kind of week.
Be kind to whoever has just finished a run of nights, or a long day. They are a cinema candidate, not a five-a-side one. Put the physical plans on a day off and keep the seated ones for the evening after work.
For anyone whose rota only appears a week ahead, these are the plans to keep ready. The page on hospitality and retail rotas is written for that.
By the lane or by the head
Priced by the lane, room or pitch. The total is fixed, so every dropout makes it dearer for the rest. An hour on a five-a-side pitch split between ten is cheap, and split between seven it is not football. Agree what happens to a dropout's share before you book.
Priced a head. Cinema, karting and bouldering are bought one ticket at a time. Either everyone buys their own, or one person buys and collects before paying.
Food afterwards is separate. The guide prices include the hire kit where it is needed: shoe hire for bowling and bouldering, and the kit for karting.
Before you pay
- Whether your two lanes or rooms are side by side.
- How early to arrive for the briefing, for escape rooms and karting.
- Age and height limits for karting, and anything you need to wear.
- Whether the slot can be moved if plans change, and how late.
Questions people ask
What can a group do on a weeknight with only three hours?
Most of this list. Bowling, an escape room, five-a-side, bouldering, a board game café and karting each need between two and three hours, and the cinema with something to eat needs about three and a half. Vennado's guide prices for them run from £8 to £60 a head, so they suit a modest budget too.
How many people can share a bowling lane or an escape room?
It depends on the venue. Hollywood Bowl's FAQ allows eight players to a lane, and Darlington council's bowling FAQ allows six. Escape rooms set their own maximum team size. A bigger group books two lanes or two rooms, side by side and at the same start time.
How do we split the cost when someone drops out?
For anything booked as a lane, a room or a pitch, the price is fixed and the cost a head rises when someone drops out. The simplest rule is that everyone who said yes when it was booked pays a share, unless they find a replacement. Agree it in the chat before booking.
Can these be booked at short notice?
Often, which is why they suit a group that only finds its free evening the week before. The cinema is the one plan that survives being arranged the day before. For anything on a Friday or Saturday evening, check there is a lane, a room or a pitch left before you promise the group, and book as soon as the vote is in.