With spooky season well underway, you might be wondering what to do for Halloween this year.

Whether you’re keen for trick or treat or you’d rather be scared by actors, there are plenty of events for you to go to in and around Bolton during this time of year.

Independent research from Wild Packs has revealed the 10 best escape rooms in the UK and one in Manchester features in the list.

The study, which found the best escape rooms according to the number of 5-star Tripadvisor reviews, was conducted as searches for “escape rooms” have increased by 5000% throughout the UK in the past week according to Google Trends. 

Wild Packs found the best escape rooms in the UK for £30 or less so you can enjoy a day out on a budget.

Manchester escape room named the best in the UK

Breakout Manchester is one of the best escape rooms in the UK, according to the research, with 3053 5-star reviews. 

The establishment offers a range of escape room options with different levels of difficulty including Cursed Carnival, The Emporium of Magic, The Detective Agency, Zombie Lab, Immortal, Frankenstein and more.

The website adds: “Breakout is a live escape room game located in the centre of Manchester. You are locked in a room with friends, family or work colleagues for an hour and have to solve a series of puzzles, riddles and tasks to escape.

“You will have to search high and low for clues and work together to be in with a chance of breaking out. 60 minutes might sound like a lot of time, but it will fly by as we test your puzzle-solving, lateral thinking and team-working skills.

“There are no physical activities or challenges involved in the game, it is purely a mental challenge.”

Visitors have shared their experiences on Tripadvisor, praising the escape rooms with a five-star rating from 3,307 reviews.

One reviewer wrote: " Amazing evening at breakout Manchester church street. Reece was honestly incredible, helped us escape and made our experience more enjoyable. Thank you Reece”

Another said: " Had a great time breaking out of a Crimson Lake Motel with only 16 seconds spare! Thanks to Claudia for running a really fun room.”

You can find out more about the escape rooms and how to book tickets via the Breakout website.

The Bolton News:

Best escape rooms in the UK

Here's the list of the best escape rooms in the UK and the minimum cost for one person, according to the research by Wild Packs.

  1. Escape Live, Birmingham - £25
  2. ClueQuest - The Live Escape Room Game, Islington, London - £30
  3. The Panic Room, Gravesend - £30
  4. Houdini's Escape Room Experience, Southampton - £25
  5. Tulleys Escape Rooms & Games, Crawley Down - £22
  6. Escapism Chester, Chester - £23.50
  7. Mission Breakout: The Escape Room, Camden, London - £28
  8. Breakout Manchester, Manchester - £26
  9. Breakout Chester, Chester - £21
  10. Escape Hunt, Leeds - £22
  11. The Great Escape Game, Sheffield - £24

To create this list, Wild Packs used Tripadvisor's list of escape rooms and sorted it using three categories: traveller’s favourites, budget-friendly and good for adrenaline seekers.

They then ranked the top 20 escape rooms on the list by the number of five-star reviews they received on Tripadvisor and researched the cost of an escape room for one person, cutting out venues that exceeded past £30.

Wild Packs explained why they think escape rooms are so popular at Halloween, saying: “Like Halloween, escape rooms have connotations of being scary, especially after the release of horror films like Escape Room which popularised the activity even more. 

“The concept of being ‘trapped’ in a room that you can only escape by solving puzzles is intriguing as well as taps into our fear of being stuck in enclosed spaces. 

“Timed puzzles combined with scary escape rooms help create an adrenaline rush in our bodies, which is why they are so popular for young adults and teens especially. 

“Halloween also falls at the end of “Sober October”, when people give up drinking for a month for charity as well as their health, so there will be horror fanatics looking for fun activities that go beyond simply watching a scary movie or going to a costume party. 

“If you enjoy jump scares, a creepy atmosphere and terrifying actors that can give you an adrenaline rush, then a scary escape room is the perfect fit for you this Halloween. 

“There are also more tame, family-friendly Halloween escape rooms perfect for children and adults who are not so interested in the spooky themes of the holiday. 

“In reality, many escape room themes are unrelated to horror, offering a variety of adventures suitable for different preferences. Ultimately, with over 1500 escape rooms in the UK, there’s a great option for everyone!”