Queens Skate Dine Bowl: London's Oldest Ice Rink & Bowling

If you’ve ever wandered past 17 Queensway on a summer afternoon and wondered why people were hauling ice skates in and out of a building in Notting Hill, QUEENS Skate Dine Bowl has probably crossed your mind. This Bayswater institution has been drawing Londoners since 1930 — not for the novelty, but because it’s Central London’s only indoor ice rink that doesn’t shut down when the temperature rises. Throw in 17 bowling lanes and a MEATliquor restaurant with lane-side service, and you’ve got a venue that packs three activities into one address near Queensway Tube.

Bowling Lanes: 17 · Location: 17 Queensway, London W2 4QP · Ice Rink Feature: Oldest all-year-round in London · Activities: Skate, Dine, Bowl · Student Night Price: From £7.95

How much does it cost to ice skate in London?

QUEENS positions itself as the budget-friendly alternative to seasonal outdoor rinks. General admission skating starts from Day Out With The Kids (family activity guide), with a standard one-hour session costing £12 per person, plus £2.75 for skate hire if you don’t bring your own blades. One Tripadvisor reviewer noted that QUEENS charges roughly half what the “fancy outdoor ice rinks” do, which matters when you’re budgeting a day out for a family in the capital.

Queens skate dine bowl prices

Booking in advance is the move — Day Out With The Kids explicitly recommends it for securing the cheapest tickets. Student Nights kick off from 6pm until close, with activities from £7.95, making it one of the more accessible ways to ice skate in central London on a weeknight. Some visitors feel the costs stack up quickly though, particularly for families landing around £15 per person once skate hire is factored in.

Average ice skating costs

The implication for skaters is straightforward: QUEENS undercuts the premium rinks, but the savings evaporate if you need gear hire and want a full session without cutting it short. Families should factor in the £2.75 skate hire per person, while regular skaters who bring their own equipment capture the full value advantage. Advance booking isn’t just cheaper — it’s practically essential on weekends.

How long is one session of ice skating?

Standard ice skating sessions at QUEENS run for one hour, which works fine for casual visitors but leaves serious skaters wanting more. The venue is open 365 days a year — Sunday through Thursday 10:00-23:00 and Friday through Saturday 10:00-midnight — so you can technically skate at 11pm on a Tuesday if the mood strikes. The year-round operation is genuinely unique for Central London, where most rinks are seasonal pop-ups.

Session duration at Queens

One hour feels adequate for beginners and families with children, but it doesn’t match the half-day sessions some visitors expect. Tripadvisor reviewers have flagged that bowling sessions are also “timed strictly,” and the same tight scheduling applies to skating. Book your slot, show up on time, and don’t assume you can linger beyond your booked window.

Hyde Park comparison

The catch for skaters who love Hyde Park’s winter rink is the seasonality — it disappears when the temperatures rise. QUEENS solves that problem but trades the outdoor atmosphere and longer sessions for a compact one-hour indoor experience. For those who want to skate in August or during a Notting Hill summer evening, it’s the only game in (central) town.

What is the average cost of bowling in London?

London bowling isn’t cheap, and QUEENS sits squarely in the “happily affordable” tier — at least according to DesignMyNight’s classification. Bowling starts from £7.50 per person, which undercuts the London average for ten-pin bowling. But that’s before food, drinks, or lane-side MEATliquor service, which pushes the real cost upward. Group bookings and private celebrations in the five Ruby Lanes add a premium on top of the base lane rate.

Queens bowling prices

Lane-side dining from MEATliquor is where costs escalate. The restaurant serves directly to your lane, which is convenient but adds menu prices to your bill. DesignMyNight lists the venue as “££” (happily affordable), but that rating assumes you’re sticking to bowling basics. Bring a group of four, add food and drinks, and you’re looking at £40-60 minimum before any special events or private lane bookings.

All Star Lanes averages

Competitors like All Star Lanes — the retro-styled bowling chain with multiple London locations — typically charge £8-12 per person for open bowling, putting QUEENS in a similar ballpark. The difference is the bundled entertainment: at All Star Lanes you’re paying for bowling and vibes; at QUEENS you’re paying for bowling, skating, and dining under one roof, which either represents good value or scope creep depending on what you came for.

Where is the best ice skating in London?

It’s a crowded field if you count every pop-up rink that sprouts in shopping centres and parks each December. But for a venue you can visit any day of the year, QUEENS at 17 Queensway is functionally the only option in Central London. Somerset House offers a stunning seasonal rink with architectural gravitas, while Alexandra Palace brings the elevation and theAprès scene, but both shut down when spring arrives. QUEENS has been operating since 1930 precisely because it’s the answer when “any day” is the constraint.

Queens as top year-round rink

The “oldest all-year-round rink in the capital” is both a genuine distinction and a reminder of how limited year-round skating options are for Londoners. The indoor setting lacks the outdoor drama of Somerset House’s courtyard or Hyde Park’s winter fairy lights, but the practical advantage of 365-day access is real. DesignMyNight confirms QUEENS has been a London institution since 1930, blending “iconic entertainment with modern experiences” — which translates to an ice rink that didn’t disappear when Instagram stopped posting winter rink content.

Other rinks like Somerset House

Somerset House wins on atmosphere — the skating session inside a Neoclassical courtyard is a genuine London experience — but it’s a winter-only event that sells out fast and charges premium prices. Tripadvisor reviews of QUEENS consistently highlight the value of year-round access for locals who want to practice without booking months ahead. The two venues serve different purposes: Somerset House is a bucket-list visit; QUEENS is a skill-builder and rainy-day option.

What is the oldest bowling alley in London?

QUEENS doesn’t claim to be the oldest bowling alley in London — that honour belongs to venues with longer ten-pin histories — but it does have one of the most unusual amenity bundles. Since 1930, it has operated an ice rink, bowling lanes, and (more recently) a MEATliquor restaurant with lane-side service across its Bayswater footprint. The 17 bowling lanes — including five private Ruby Lanes for celebrations — make it one of the larger single-venue bowling operations in the Notting Hill/Bayswater area.

Queens historic features

The establishment date of 1930 places QUEENS in the pre-war entertainment era, giving it historical cred even if newer alleys have sprouted since. The Ruby Lanes — five private bowling spaces styled for group celebrations — represent a modern addition to the classic formula, combining the vintage venue with contemporary private hire expectations.

Skittle Alley comparison

True bowling historians will note that skittle alleys predate ten-pin bowling in London by centuries, and several Victorian-era skittle alleys still operate in pubs across the city. QUEENS is a ten-pin venue through and through, which means it’s competing on a different axis than historic skittle pubs. The value proposition is scale (17 lanes) and bundled entertainment (skating, bowling, dining) rather than heritage authenticity.

QUEENS Skate Dine Bowl specifications

Six activity areas, booking systems, and capacity limits — here’s how the venue stacks up on specs.

Visitor perspectives

“For the price they charge, it should absolutely be a full game, not some strict timer that cuts you off mid-play.”

— Tripadvisor visitor review

“One of my favourite spots in London. Overall: 4.5/5.”

— QUEENS Instagram feed

“The price is probably half of that of fancy outdoors ice rinks.”

— Tripadvisor visitor review

Related reading: Comprehensive venue guide on DesignMyNight · QUEENS official website

Searches for Queens Skate Dine Bowl often confuse it with New York spots, but this London venue and NY alternatives clarifies the historic London original at 17 Queensway.

Frequently asked questions

For visitors planning a London day out, the choice is clear: QUEENS makes sense if you want year-round skating access or a bundled activity day without switching addresses. Book ahead, skip the skate hire if you bring your own kit, and keep food expectations modest — and you’ll get what you pay for.