The Castle Climbing Centre
Green Lanes
London N4 2HA
Climbing is an excellent activity for children and can improve their self-confidence, balance, coordination, trust and general fitness, besides being good fun! The Castle has an extensive range of facilities and courses for beginners and advanced climbers alike, with over 1000 square metres of wall surfaces, with overhangs and bouldering routes. There is also a climbing shop and a cafe.Children of any age can climb at the Castle with a registered adult climber. For children aged 9 and over there are N4 Climbing courses (80 for 4 sessions, book in advance: 0208 211 1066 / iwona@castle-climbing.co.uk), and Geckos climbing school (07803 597669 / geckos_climbing@bigfoot.com). Geckos also provides private tuition for children, holiday climbing workshops, and runs unique climbing birthday parties for children. For more info contact Sophie on 07776 176007.
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri 2 pm – 10 pm, Weekends 10 am – 7 pm, Bank Holidays 10 am – 10 pm
Website: Visit The Castle Climbing Centre website
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About the Author: Janis
I look after the day-to-day running of ReallyKidFriendly.com, as well as some geeky stuff behind the scenes. Thanks to my two boisterous rascals (aged 4 and 5), I have become an expert in soft play areas, parks, energetic music classes, and where to get a stiff drink once the kids have gone to bed. Really – ask me anything! 
As a regular climber at the castle I have a membership that means kids can climb for free with me. I still have to rent a harness for them but that’s only a couple of pounds from the shop on site. I’ve taken both my kids (5 and 8) and both really enjoy it. Ok, I can’t climb when I’m with them but it’s just great to be out and about being active with them.
The Castle itself is a little awkward to get to as it’s about 5 mins walk from Manor House tube. It’s not far away from Finsbury Park and the Arsenal ground, so best avoid it on match days as the traffic can be a nightmare. Parking is possible but a little tight at times. My usual trick is to park in the road opposite (near the houses) as there are a few weekend parking spots on the road.
However, once there, it’s an amazing sight. 3 floors of indoor climbing with artificial rocks, overhangs and funky climbs everywhere. The ‘boulders’ are fun for kids as they don’t need ropes and there is a special kids wall upstairs with funny shaped holds and a mural on the wall. You can climb on pretty much any wall as there are loads of holds. Proper climbers only use the colour coded holds relevant to their chosen route but kids can just go ‘tutti-fruity’ as I call it, using any colour holds to make it fun and easy.
The cafe there is great for healthy food as that’s what trendy climbers like. You can get juices, toasted sandwiches, home-made flapjacks, soups etc as well as organic treats.
I was introduced to climbing during an arranged group visit from work and they do the same for kids parties. Not sure it’s exactly cheap but it would be great if you have a relatively small group. The staff there are great and safety is paramount. They make climbing fun and easy to get into. I also know a friend who takes their child for private lessons on a Saturday. Mum goes to the cafe and daughter has an hours exercise with an instructor. Beats the cliche ballet lessons I guess.
Toilets are a bit hit and miss though so it’s not really a toddler and baby venue. There are showers and the like but bear in mind it’s mostly aimed at adults, you have to just deal with changing rooms that remind me of school. Clean but basic.
So, if you don’t climb, you can take a course over about a month to qualify to climb unsupervised. If you don’t want to climb, you can hire an instructor to teach your kids. If you do climb, you’ll be the one holding the ropes! Really fills my kids with confidence and it’s always a fun few hours.
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