Duck pin bowling in Bristol is only at one venue: Roxy Lanes on Union Street, where it runs alongside standard ten pin. If you just want straightforward family bowling with a lot of lanes, Tenpin at Avonmeads or Hollywood Bowl at Cribbs Causeway are your best bet instead. For a night out with drinks, darts and a few rounds of something else thrown in, Lane7, Roxy Lanes or King Pins in the city centre suit that better. All five are real, currently operating bowling venues in Bristol, and this guide compares where they are, what's around the lanes, and what bowling actually costs.
Bristol's bowling venues at a glance
| Venue | Area | Bowling type | What else is there | Vibe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenpin Bristol | Avonmeads Retail Park, St Philips Marsh | Ten pin | Karaoke, laser tag, Houdini's escape rooms, pool, table tennis, arcade, licensed bar with sport on TV | Big family-friendly retail-park venue, all-in-one |
| King Pins | Cabot Circus, city centre | Ten pin | Ice-free curling, tech darts, shuffleboard, karaoke booths, arcade, food and cocktail bar | Shopping-trip bowling, easy to combine with a day in town |
| Roxy Lanes | Union Street, city centre | Ten pin and duck pin | Duck pin bowling, karaoke, batting cages, ice-free curling, tech darts, shuffleboard, American pool | Games-bar night out, lots of side activities to mix and match |
| Lane7 | Millennium Promenade, Harbourside | Ten pin | Pool, darts, beer pong, shooting pods, arcade, cocktail and games bar | City-centre night out, geared towards groups and dates |
| Hollywood Bowl | Cribbs Causeway (The Venue), Patchway | Ten pin | VIP lanes, American diner, bar, amusements arcade | Straightforward big-box bowling next to the shops |
What is duck pin bowling, and why Roxy Lanes is the only place for it
Duck pin bowling is a faster, trickier variant of the standard game: shorter lanes, smaller duck-shaped pins and a featherweight ball with no finger holes, so it rewards finesse over force. Because strikes are harder to come by, you get three rolls per frame instead of ten pin's two. Roxy Lanes on Union Street is the only venue in Bristol offering it, run alongside its standard ten pin lanes, so if duck pin specifically is what you're after, it's the only option in the city rather than one of several.
Tenpin Bristol, Avonmeads
Tenpin is out at Avonmeads Retail Park in St Philips Marsh, a few minutes from Temple Meads and easy to reach from Bedminster, Brislington and Kingswood by car. It's the most purely family-oriented of the five: 26 lanes with bumpers and ramps for younger bowlers, dynamic lane lighting, and food and drinks brought to your lane. Alongside bowling there's karaoke, laser tag, an escape room, pool, table tennis and arcade games, plus a licensed bar showing sport.
Tenpin publishes some real numbers on its site: a single game booked online starts from around £8.65 per person, with a Tenpin Tuesday deal offering 50% off bowling and selected drinks (bowling from about £3.75), and bowling party packages at £13.99 per child including pizza and squash. As with all these venues, exact prices depend on the day, time and how far ahead you book, so treat these as a guide and check the live price when you book.
King Pins, Cabot Circus
King Pins opened in Cabot Circus in February 2025 and sits right in the shopping quarter, so it's an easy add-on to a day in town. Alongside ten pin bowling there's ice-free curling, tech darts, shuffleboard and karaoke booths, plus an arcade and a bar doing cocktails, coffee and food from an on-site pizza and chicken kitchen. Opening hours run from midday most weekdays (10am on Saturday and Sunday) into the evening, with later closing on Fridays and Saturdays.
King Pins doesn't publish a flat price for a game of bowling on its site; like most bowling operators it prices dynamically through its booking engine, so check the live price for your date and party size before you go.
Duck pin and ten pin bowling at Roxy Lanes, Union Street
Roxy Lanes on Union Street is on the edge of the shopping quarter and leans into being a games bar as much as a bowling alley. Beyond the lanes there's karaoke, batting cages, ice-free curling, tech darts, shuffleboard and American pool, and a food and drink menu built around pizzas, burgers and cocktails. Book more than one activity and you unlock Mix & Match discount pricing, which is worth doing if you want bowling plus a round of something else.
Roxy's own pages aren't fully consistent on price for either bowling format: duck pin bowling is listed from around £8 per person per game off-peak (Sunday to Wednesday) rising to about £10 to £12 at peak times (Thursday to Saturday, and across the run-up to Christmas from mid-November), with ten pin priced similarly. Treat those as a starting guide rather than a locked-in figure and check the live price for your date before booking.
Lane7, Harbourside
Lane7 is on Millennium Promenade down at the Harbourside, close to the Watershed and the SS Great Britain, which makes it easy to fold into an evening in that part of town. It's ten bowling lanes plus pool, darts, beer pong, shooting pods and arcade games, all built around a proper bar with cocktails and food. Lane7 states that bowling starts from £9.50 per person, with package deals for two, three or four games from £13-£21pp off-peak, and a group package ("Bowl, Drink, Game") from £18pp for groups of four or more.
It opens later than the others through the week (from 3pm Monday to Thursday) and is one of the most obviously date-night or work-social focused of the five, though it does welcome walk-ins if you don't fancy booking ahead.
Hollywood Bowl, Cribbs Causeway
Out at The Venue in Cribbs Causeway, Hollywood Bowl is a straightforward big-box bowling centre: 26 lanes, a VIP lane area, an American-style diner, a bar and an amusements arcade. It's part of the UK's largest bowling operator and is the most car-friendly option if you're coming from north Bristol, South Gloucestershire or combining a visit with a trip to the shops at Cribbs. There's free parking, disabled access, and concession rates of around 50% off for seniors and disabled guests and their carers on weekdays before 6pm.
Hollywood Bowl doesn't list a flat bowling price on its Bristol page either, so book online for your date to see the current rate. Watching someone else bowl is free, and there's no group size limit, though a maximum of 8 players is allowed per lane.
Tips for booking bowling in Bristol
- Prices at every venue here move with the day and time you book. Weekday daytimes and off-peak slots (typically Sunday to Wednesday) are consistently cheaper than Friday and Saturday evenings.
- All five take walk-ins in theory, but booking ahead online is worth it at weekends, evenings and school holidays if you want to guarantee a lane rather than wait.
- If you want bowling plus something else in one visit, Roxy Lanes and King Pins both bundle bowling with games like shuffleboard, curling and darts, so check their combo pricing rather than booking separately.
- Bowling is a solid option on a wet day out; see our guide to things to do in Bristol in the rain for more indoor ideas if the weather doesn't cooperate.
- Comparing it against other group activities, our Bristol escape rooms guide and paintball, go-karting and shooting guide cover other ways to spend a few hours with a group.
- For younger children specifically, our soft play and indoor play centres guide is a better fit than bowling for under-5s.