Immersive experiences are an unstoppable boom, a force; and they’re not slowing down anytime soon. For good reason, too: they’re really friggin’ fun.
London Experience Week recently concluded, and we had the pleasure of attending a couple of events. As part of the extravaganza of industry heavyweights enthusing about the future of immersive experiences—some of which were included in an event-hopping city ‘safari’—ticket holders were given the opportunity to glance at what’s to come for VR and the experiences industry. Speakers included Olivier Goulet, the creator of the new Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue in London’s Canada Water.
From gigantic screens at Outernet projecting artistic advertisements and messaging that has single-handedly transformed London’s Tottenham Court Road into a must-visit tourist destination, to Monopoly Lifesized, where you quite literally step into the classic game; immersive experiences are at the core of how we now enjoy and play within the world around us, and London Experience Week had all of the bigwigs of this booming universe in attendance.
Now that there are experiences for anything and anyone, we’ve rounded up some of the coolest on offer and placed them in a handy map at the bottom of this page – but let’s dive into some of our favourites first, shall we?
The best immersive experiences for music lovers
ABBA Voyage
The stratospherically stunning quest through the musical galaxy landed in East London a few years ago, and hasn’t stopped wowing crowds ever since. Fully enveloping the entire purpose-built arena with the ABBAtars, plus a live band who elevate the hits into a true, thumping concert, ABBA Voyage is such a hit the show has extended into 2026.
Elvis Evolution
Fans of The King, it’s time to pop on your blue suede shoes! Those who can’t help falling in love with his music will be enthralled by the ultra-immersive experience opening this July. With live musicians and detailed imagery, there’ll be no suspicious minds about this caper of a musical odyssey into Elvis’s legacy.
The best immersive experiences for TV and film fanatics
Squid Game: The Experience
If you cockily thought you’d breeze your way through Squid Game, London has just the ticket. One of the city’s latest immersive experiences will have you competing in the show’s most recognisable games, but with much less at stake.
Jurassic World: The Experience
Sure, there are tons of dinosaur experiences dotted around the country, but this is the only one with any connection to the beloved movie franchise. Immerse yourself in iconic scenes, get up close with baby dinosaurs and dino poop, and come face to face with the deadly tyrannosaurus rex. It’s an immersive adventure you certainly won’t forget.
The F.R.I.E.N.D.S Experience
It’ll be there for you! Finally, step through the screen and peep through the purple door of the iconic New York flat shared by Rachel and Monica, play games in Joey and Chandler’s place, lounge on the sofa at Central Perk, and boogie away in front of the fountain from the opening credits. With full-sized recreated scenes, jump right into the middle of the FRIENDS universe. Oh and there’s a special London-twist, but we’ll keep it a surprise!
Paddington Bear Experience
Multi-sensory, immersive and interactive, jump into the world of Paddington across seven scenes at South Bank’s iconic County Hall. Recognisable from the iconic films, from Paddington Station to 32 Windsor Gardens, engross yourselves in the recreated virtual world, straight from the bear’s mouth.
The best immersive experiences for history buffs
The Legend of the Titanic – The Immersive Exhibition
History buffs will love London’s newest exhibition; a journey through 13 rooms that transport you on board the legendary Titanic. Filled with rich history, replica artefacts and a huge 360° immersive projection room – it’s quite unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before.
The best immersive experiences for gamers
Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue
Jeepers, Creepers! Grab your orb of interaction and storm through multiple rooms, each with projections onto floors and walls. Interact with virtual elements as you collect items to build, then FIGHT the baddies and save the villagers.
It’s physical; hop, tap, skip, and jump to be the action. Collect wood, gather hearts, and build up your strength to battle in the penultimate round, where you knock-out enemies with real-life softballs. Children and young people, plus their obliging parents, will tell you: Minecraft Experience is overwhelmingly cool.
Monopoly Lifesized
What will you be: the hat? The car? Taking the world-famous board game and overexposing it into a human-sized caper of skill, stealth, and steady nerves, Monopoly Lifesized is all about strategy. Beat your opponents to win across the famous London game board. Will you read newspapers on Fleet Street, dance and dine across The Strand, or schmooze in glitzy Mayfair? You are the players, and the board’s yours to conquer.
The best immersive experiences for cocktail lovers
Avora
Step out of this world and into Avora: a multi-sensory experience where cocktails are the antidote; the key to adjusting to your new environment.
Alcotraz
Venture through an immersive prison world, made with the calibre of a film set, all while enjoying professionally concocted cocktails (shh – it’s made from your own “smuggled” liquor). Go mad with the thrill of taking charge of your own plot line as you navigate through the prison. At the end of it all, in true Orange is The New Black style, there’s the picture-perfect opp to take photos in bright orange prison jumpsuits.
The Magicians Table
Two solid hours of talented magicians: surprising, enthralling, and –*poof*– you’ll never believe your eyes. Mashing it together with a spectacular theatrical show, plus music, you’re in for the most magical night of your life.
Of course, the most important aid to this are the cocktails. Made with care by dedicated bartenders, the whole show has a distinctly ‘20s Downtown NYC feel to it, with a hint of burlesque with its velvet-curtained, spotlit enchantment.