Why sit back, relax and watch it, when you can walk through it, punch it, sing along to it, or eat a jelly shaped like a petri dish while doing it? Whatever the format – immersive exhibition, projection-mapped concert, movie-musical hybrid, or afternoon tea with a side of chemistry – the throughline is the same: London and inertia are irreconcilable. If you’ve already done the rounds across every terrace and rooftop in town, thinking, naively, than the first London heatwave would be a singular, unrepeatable phenomenon, these immersive experiences are for you.
Are you diving into a pink ball pool, or losing yourself in a live concert lit up by 360° visuals projected across a cathedral ceiling? This summer, London is packed with new immersive experiences, from upside-down apartments to ancient civilisations to a walk-through recreation of Rydell High from Grease. We’ve rounded up five of the best new arrivals – here’s where to go, what they cost, and how to book.
1. House of Dreams, Immerse LDN
Sixteen rooms, one enormous ball pool, and a fully upside-down apartment – House of Dreamers opened 26 June, having already pulled two million visitors through its Milan, Rome, Madrid and Paris editions.
Each installation is meant to inspire you to dream and to dream bigger – with motivational quotes and advice throughout. For example, Change Perspective is a whole apartment built upside down built around the idea that literally flipping your surroundings forces a different point of view. Do What You Love is a heart-shaped tunnel lit from within, while Never Give Up gives you a padded wall built to be punched. Importantly, there’s Enjoy Today, a gigantic pink ball pool, sunk into the floor and lit from beneath. In essence, endless opportunities to grab a pic for socials or film some TikTok content.
London’s edition adds DreamBand, a wearable that uses AI to adjust each visitor’s route through the space in real time – reading, in theory, which rooms you linger in and adjusting what comes next, so no two visits follow the same order.
Tickets: From £21.90
Address: Immerse LDN, Excel Waterfront, London E16 1XL
2. LUMINISCENCE, Westminster Cathedral
Following a run at Manchester Cathedral, LUMINISCENCE arrives at Westminster Cathedral this summer for a 360° projection-mapped concert combining live choral performance with video mapping across the building’s domes, mosaics and columns. Hugh Bonneville narrates a specially commissioned script by Tim Whitnall tracing London’s history, set against live performances of Beethoven, Verdi, Debussy, Vivaldi and Bach from the Lux Aeterna choir.
The show’s central set piece uses digital modelling to complete the cathedral’s mosaic domes, which were left bare for over 120 years after construction funds ran out. Performances run until Sunday 27 September 2026, and it’s worth noting that a portion of every ticket goes towards the cathedral’s upkeep.
Tickets: Standard tickets start from £32.50 (including a 10% booking fee), with a Gold tier offering premium seating and express entry.
Address: Westminster Cathedral, Victoria Street, London SW1P 1LT
3. Timewalk, ImmenseLDN
A new walk-through exhibition from DEM Museums – the company behind Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum and the Ephesus Experience Museum – opens at Immerse LDN on 23 July, running for a full year until 23 July 2027. TIMEWALK is built as a sequence of full-scale, walk-through environments, each one reconstructing a different ancient civilisation through projection, spatial audio and staged sets.
The route moves through five civilisations in order: Göbeklitepe, Babylon, Ancient Egypt, the Maya, and Rapa Nui, closing with the Moai statues and their role on the island. Along the way visitors move through recreated moments – a sunset sail down a projected Nile, passage through Babylon’s city gates. The full walk takes roughly 60–90 minutes.
Tickets: General admission starts at £28.50, children’s from £22.70.
Address: Immerse LDN, Excel Waterfront, London E16 1XL
4. Science Museum Interactive Afternoon Tea, South Kensington
The Science Museum’s Gallery Café has launched a science-themed afternoon tea with Benugo, running Thursday to Sunday from 4 June. The children’s version (£26) comes with a self-decorated elemental cupcake, test tubes of popping candy and sherbet, a rocket ship cookie, petri dish jelly, and a build-your-own fizzy pink lemonade, plus standard savoury bites.
The adult version (£36) swaps in a solar system cupcake and galaxy brownie, Earl Grey-soaked scones, and savoury options including smoked salmon and grilled peppers with hummus, with unlimited tea and coffee.
Two optional add-ons make the experience even more hands-on: the Alien Activity Package (£24) has kids build a circuit powered by cake to run a digital clock, alongside a milk-and-food-colouring reaction and a bicarbonate-and-vinegar “toothpaste” experiment; Liquid Lava Layers (£10) has them build oil-and-water layers with a fizzy tablet reaction for a lava-lamp effect. Sittings run at 12pm and 3pm, and advance booking is required.
Tickets: £26 for the children’s version and £36 for the adult version
Address: Gallery Café, Science Museum (Level 2), Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD
5. Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical, Battersea Park
Secret Cinema’s Grease returns to Evolution London in Battersea Park for a second summer, this time for eight weeks from 22 July to 13 September. Sandy and Danny’s story plays out live across the show’s original screening – the film runs on multiple screens while a 30-strong cast performs the scenes and songs (Summer Nights, Greased Lightnin’, We Go Together) in real time in front of it, backed by a live band. The set stretches across Rydell High’s key locations – the Frosty Palace diner, the autoshop, the gym – with a funfair and 1950s American diner food outside.
Audiences can either free-roam on a standing General Admission ticket, or book Roam and Return seating at the Drive-In or Frosty Diner. Note that this is an 18+ show by recommendation given it shows mild language and sex references. Performances run Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm, and Sunday shows at 12.30pm and 5.30pm.
Tickets: From £29
Address: Evolution London, Chelsea Bridge Gate, Battersea Park, Queenstown Road, London SW11 4NJ
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