10 Fun Things To Do in Stoke-On-Trent for Adults

The Staffordshire city of Stoke-on-Trent is home to more than a quarter of a million people and is best known for its pottery and ceramics industry.

There's a good choice of fun things for adults to do in the city, including some wonderful hands-on pottery-related experiences unique to Stoke-on-Trent.

Here are 10 fun activities for grown-ups that caught our eye:

Emma Bridgewater Factory Tour

If you have Emma Bridgewater pottery at home, or you'd just like to see how it's made, then you'll love the Emma Bridgewater Factory Tour.

Go behind the scenes of the victorian factory, see the cream-coloured earthenware being cast, fettled, sponged, fired, decorated and glazed. You'll also meet the skilled craftspeople who handmake and hand-decorate every piece of Emma Bridgewater pottery.

Alternatively, you could have a go at painting your very own design with a visit to the Decorating Studio. Choose which piece you'd like to paint, and it will be glazed, fired and ready in a couple of weeks.

For the ultimate experience, you can book an Afternoon Tea Experience Day which includes the fascinating factory tour, followed by a session in the Decorating Studio and concludes with a delicious Afternoon Tea, served on Emma Bridgewater pottery of course!

There's a lovely café on-site, a secret walled garden, and a well-stocked gift shop with an unrivalled range of best-quality Emma Bridgewater pottery. There's also a factory outlet shop where you can pick up a bargain from the seconds on offer.

https://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/pages/factory

Gamegrid VR and E-Sports Gaming Centre

Gamegrid is the largest VR and E-Sports gaming venue in the West Midlands. They have loads of state-of-the-art VR and simulation equipment to make sure you have an amazing experience:

Gamegrid has lots of VR Racing simulators complete with motion and wind effects, so you can race your friends and find out who's the fastest on the virtual grid.

Experience the thrill of flight, and feel the wind in your hair as you soar through the air on the amazing VR Flying Simulator.

Experience a new level of immersion with the VR Treadmills that allow you to walk through the virtual environment with 360-degree movement.

If you like escape rooms, get your team together and try solving the puzzles in one of the VR Escape Games - exciting escape scenarios set in huge virtual worlds that would be impossible to do in real life.

Try the VR Gaming Arena and choose from more than 50 VR games to play with up to 6 other players in an individual arena.

PC gaming enthusiasts will love the E-Sports PC Gaming area equipped with state-of-the-art gaming PCs so you can challenge your friends (including online friends) on your favourite games.

https://www.gamegrid.gg/

Rage Indoor Sports

Rage Indoor Sports offer a choice of exciting activities: Axe Throwing or the Airsoft Shooting Range.

Don't worry if you've never thrown an axe or fired an airsoft gun before - all sessions are designed for beginners and the expert instructors will have you up to speed in no time.

Once you've finished your training, it's time to compete against the rest of your group in a tournament to find the axe-throwing or airsoft champion! Sessions are 1 hour long.

Every Friday to Sunday, Rage offers Bottomless Drinks with 90 minutes of unlimited cocktails from £20, or Bottomless Drinks and Pizza for £25.50.

https://www.rageindoorsports.com/

Awesome Walls

Indoor climbing is booming in popularity and if you fancy having a go, you'll be pleased to hear that Stoke is home to one of England's largest bouldering centres.

With more than 900 square metres of bouldering, Awesome Walls has lots climbs that will challenge everyone, from first-timers to the most experienced. There's even a large overhanging roof.

If it's your first time, you can book a one-hour induction session for two or more people, where you'll learn all you need to know to get started safely in indoor climbing.

Awesome Walls also have car parking and free WiFi. Hot and cold refreshments are also available.

https://awesomewalls.co.uk/stoke/

Love Clay

At the Love Clay ceramic centre, you can try your hand at throwing or decorating pottery.

There are a variety of exciting workshops, courses and events to choose from including:

Throw a Pot Session: A one-hour session where a group of up to 7 can learn how to throw their first pot under the guidance of a master potter. At the end, each person can choose 2 pots to be fired and glazed.

If you get the pottery "bug" and want to improve your skills, you can book a one-to-one Masterclass Throwing Session. This masterclass lasts two hours and will help you develop your throwing skills and take the next step to becoming an expert potter.

If you'd prefer to just decorate pottery, Love Clay has a decorating session on one Saturday each month where you can choose your own colours, decorate your chosen item and have it glazed and fired.

https://www.loveclay.co.uk/

Waterworld Aqua Park

Featuring more than 30 rides and attractions including Thunderbolt, the UK's first trap door drop waterslide, Waterworld Aqua Park is as much fun for adults as it is for kids.

Other experiences include Hurricane, with in-slide lighting and a top speed of 17mph, Twister where you're propelled through twists and turns by a deluge of water, The Python, The Rapids, The Black Hole where you must overcome your fear of the dark, and many more.

Waterworld is kept at a constant 30 degrees so you'll never be chilly no matter how bad the weather is outside.

Once you've dried off, why not have a go at adventure mini-golf on one of two tiki-themed 18-hole courses?

If you're feeling too grown-up for the Waterpark, you could buy a day pass to M Club Hanley which boasts a luxury swimming pool, steam room, sauna, hydrotherapy pool and a fantastic range of weight training and cardio equipment. Then wind down at the M Club Bar and Restaurant.

https://www.waterworld.co.uk/

Wedgwood Factory Tour & Potter's Wheel Experience

See how the world-famous Wedgwood jasperware is made on the Wedgwood factory tour.

The tour includes films and audio to tell the story of Wedgwood, as well as a behind-the-scenes view of the factory at work.

See how Wedgwood is designed, cast, glazed, decorated and even gilded by amazingly skilled workers. The tour takes approximately 45 minutes.

If you fancy getting hands-on with the pottery, you can book a one-hour or three-hour Potter's Wheel session and learn the art of throwing a pot. If you prefer to focus on painting pottery, the Decorating Studio, open at weekends and holidays welcomes adults wanting to get creative.

The Wedgwood Tea Room offers breakfast, brunch, lunch and the iconic Wedgwood Afternoon Tea.

Eating on the go? The Courtyard Café offers a great range of home-cooked food, including Full English Breakfast, Filled Rolls, Jacket Potatoes or Pasties.

https://www.worldofwedgwood.com/content/wedgwood-factory-tour

Stoke Ski Centre

Whether you're a beginner looking for your first skiing lesson, you want to improve your skiing with a bit of practice, or you want to try freestyle skiing or even learn to race, Stoke Ski Centre has something for you.

Adult ski lessons are available for anyone over 16 who wants to learn or improve, and they include an hour's group tuition and hire of all necessary equipment.

Once you can control your speed and direction and can stop safely, you can book onto an open practice session, and practice at your own pace.

More advanced skiers can try freestyle sessions or race training to take their skills to the next level.

https://stokeskicentre.com/

Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club Stoke

Based in Stoke-on-Trent's Regent Theatre, the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club offers four top professional comedians in each show.

There's a show every month and each one features different acts, so there's always someone new to see.

There's a fully-stocked bar for refreshments and each show has two intervals so there's plenty of opportunity to chat and get more drinks in.

Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club is a great Saturday night out for grown-ups.

https://lolcomedyclubs.co.uk/venue/regent-theatre-stoke/

Tenpin Stoke

Bowling is always a fun activity for adults and Stoke-on-Trent is lucky enough to have Tenpin, which has recently been refurbished with new flooring, furniture, LED lane lighting and even a new bar!

With 30 lanes available, you'll be able to book a game at a time that suits you.

Once you've destroyed the opposition at bowling, there are arcade machines, air hockey and pool tables too.

Tenpin also has a great range of food including burgers, hot dogs, pizzas, paninis and various platters and sharers, like fries, nachos and onion rings, so you won't go hungry.

They also have a great range of cocktails and mocktails to choose from.

https://www.tenpin.co.uk/our-locations/stoke/

 

As you can see, there are plenty of fun things for adults to do in Stoke-on-Trent, so whether you want to go climbing, skiing or bowling, try your hand at axe-throwing, get creative with a hands-on pottery experience, or something else entirely, we hope you have a great time.