UKC

Hello!

Hope this is the right forum.

I have a madcap idea to grab the train from Devon up to London one weekend in the middle of March and try out some Indoor bouldering centres there. 

It'll be a fun, if different, adventure. Maybe?

Any top tips for:

A) cheap, solo accomodation for a couple of nights in the big city?

B) any must visit bouldering centres in London?

C) anyone fancy a boulder and showing me round their favourite centre? The real BB is not quite as misanthropic as my online persona may suggest. Drop me a message if you're keen? 

Cheers all,

BB

Please note my use of 'madcap' :p 

Totally get this isn't everyone's idea of a good time. It'll be an experience either way. 

I am also combining the thing with seeing some old friends. 

Up until I saw the...

I thought you'd lost it, what with having granite tor bouldering nearby

Same!  

If you want the best indie walls in London I would say....

Hang. Yonder, Rise

LCC walls offer a solid offering, couldn't tell you why but Bethwall is the best imo

Strongholds are very good, would get 10/10 if they had a decent cafe but the climbing is good

Haven't climbed at the new Boardroom or Rhino but they get good reviews!

Get some accommodation along the Elizabeth Line, it will be cheaper as further out but you can still get into the city centre quickly. Just make sure the line is running on the Sunday that weekend, as sometimes it doesn’t. 

London’s bouldering walls are good, but no better than anywhere else. However there are many things in the city that are world class and which don’t exist in the rest of the country. Maybe make time for some of those things too. 

You're clearly a masochist! London walls are fine, but my abiding impression of them is that they're busier than you would think possible. With the exception of the Arch North in Edgeware, that was quite relaxed last time I went.

Saying that, it's been years since I've been to any. Maybe since lockdown everyone's moved out of London and the walls are less busy? One can dream...

When I visit london i usually take my climbing shoes. I have visited Vauxwall numerous times over the last 10 years always midweek and always daytime and it has never been too busy.

Do walls get unpleasantly busy evenings or weekends?

Stronghold London Fields is good, great vibe down there and huge variety of problems. 

I'd say the London walls are quieter in the evening than alot of Northern walls simply because there's so many of them!

Did a bunch of boot demos last year and they where noticeably quieter than I remember. Then outsider to that being VauxWest

As others have said, the Strongholds are really good, LCC are all solid, Bethwall the best for some reason.  Wouldn't bother with Eustonwall, it's very busy in the evenings and not very big.

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the Castle yet - it's routes and bouldering, but absolutely massive so has more bouldering than half the bouldering only places mentioned so far.  Probably one of the more interesting spaces too.  Certainly much more to explore...

Mile End?  London's oldest wall.  Some nice setting and the Monkey Room is great for getting your pump on.  Best pub in the world nearby too, live Jazz on a Sunday night.

Rise is nice enough, but I honestly wouldn't bother going if you're just up checking out London bouldering venues  (sorry to disagree Euan!).  It's my local wall and even I don't go there much, it's quite small and nothing special.

If you're here in the week I'm always up for a bit of an evening boulder session.  Weekends are trickier.

London walls most definitely do get busy in the evenings, but then I've no idea how busy walls up north get as I didn't climb when I was a northerner.

I never managed to go during working hours, but I always found evenings and weekends completely rammed. As I said, my experience is about five years out of date. It sounds like there are a lot more choices now.