Updated July 2026
Virtual golf in the UK costs £25 to £50 per hour for bay hire at a typical simulator venue, with London venues starting around £60 per hour and off-peak or member rates at regional venues dropping as low as £12 to £20. The number that changes the maths: the bay price usually covers the whole group, often up to four or six players, so a night of virtual golf with three mates can cost less per head than a round of pitch and putt, while a weekly solo habit quietly costs more per year than owning a simulator.
Here’s the full price picture, venue by venue type, and where the crossover point to buying your own sits.
Venue prices by type
| Venue type | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| City sim lounge / bar | £30-£60 per bay per hour | Premium tech, food and drink, peak-time surge pricing |
| Regional sim studio | £20-£40 per bay per hour | Often bookable per bay, membership discounts common |
| Golf club sim bay | £15-£30 per hour | Winter availability is best, sometimes member-only |
| Off-peak / member rates | £12-£20 per hour | Weekday daytime slots at regional venues |
| Toptracer / tech range | Bay by the hour, commonly £10-£20 | Ball-tracking range bays rather than full course simulation |
Three pricing patterns worth knowing before you book. Peak and off-peak spreads are large: the same bay can cost half as much on a Tuesday morning as a Friday night. Most venues price per bay, not per person, so group size is the biggest lever on cost per head. And lessons on a simulator (a PGA pro using the venue’s launch monitor data) are priced like private lessons, £40 to £90 per hour in most of the UK, rather than like bay hire.
What you get for the money
The £40-a-bay city venue and the £15 golf club bay are not the same product. The premium venues typically run tour-grade launch monitors, licensed course software, and proper hitting bays, which is a meaningfully better data and visual experience than budget setups. If the point of your session is practice with trustworthy numbers rather than a social round, the venue’s technology matters as much as its price, and it’s worth asking what hardware a venue runs before assuming an hour is an hour.
The solo-player maths
For social golf, venues are hard to beat: £40 split four ways for an hour indoors in January is £10 a head. The economics flip for regular solo practice.
A weekly solo hour at a mid-range £35 venue comes to about £1,820 a year. Two hours a week clears £3,600. Against that, a genuinely usable home setup starts at £1,500 to £2,500 (see our full cost breakdown), with £180 to £300 a year in software. In other words, one year of weekly venue practice funds a budget home simulator, and the break-even for a weekly venue player who switches to owning arrives in roughly 12 to 18 months. Our worth-it analysis runs the same comparison against range balls and lessons if you want the complete ownership case.
The honest counterpoints to owning: a venue’s £15,000 launch monitor is better than what most home budgets buy, there’s no space requirement in your house, and there’s beer. The honest counterpoint to the counterpoints: nobody drives 25 minutes each way for a 40-minute practice session in November more than a few times before the sessions quietly stop.
When venue golf is the right answer
Not everyone should buy a simulator, and this site sells nothing either way. Venue golf is the better fit if you play virtually a few times a month or less, if your golf is primarily social, if you don’t have a garage or room with the space (our small garages guide covers the real minimums), or if you specifically want time on tour-grade hardware you wouldn’t buy for home. The worst outcome in this hobby isn’t paying venue prices, it’s spending £3,000 on a home setup that gets used six times.
Frequently asked questions
How much does virtual golf cost per person? Bay hire is usually priced per bay, not per person. A typical £30-£50 bay split between four players works out at £8-£13 each per hour, which is why virtual golf has become a popular group night out. Solo players pay the full bay rate.
How much is virtual golf in London? Expect £50-£60+ per bay per hour at central London venues at peak times, with off-peak slots cheaper. Regional cities typically run £20-£40 for comparable setups.
Is it cheaper to play virtual golf at a venue or buy a home simulator? For occasional and social play, venues win comfortably. For weekly solo practice, a home setup overtakes venue costs within roughly 12 to 18 months, since a weekly £35 bay habit costs about £1,820 a year and usable home setups start around £1,500 to £2,500.
How long is a virtual golf session, and how many holes can you play? Bays are booked by the hour. A full 18 holes for one player typically takes about an hour; a four-ball usually books two hours or plays 9 holes. Practice-range modes make even 30-minute slots useful.
Do virtual golf venues include clubs and balls? Almost all provide clubs, balls, and everything needed to play, though most golfers bring their own clubs for practice sessions since the point is feedback on your own equipment and swing.