A Day at the Friends Experience London: A Tale of a Pre-Teen Enthusiast and a Reluctant Dad
Oh. My. God. I regret to inform you that the 90s are back – and worse, the kids love it. No one was more surprised than I, when my 11-year-old daughter started to sport a Nirvana t-shirt and printed jeans and demanded we fire up Netflix on TV so she could enjoy the seminal 90’s sitcom that was “Friends”.
Could she have been any more excited?
It’s the oddest feeling, watching the youth of today enjoying the same things you enjoyed as a young person. You watch classic TV with them, with a mix of warm nostalgia and outright horror that you are now, officially, old.
Back in the day, I, like pretty much most people, watched “Friends” and appreciated it for what it was. Some of my friends were absolute fanatics though and wouldn’t come to the pub in the evening if a new episode was airing, especially around the time of the Ross and Rachel romance dramas.
I mean, if we’re taking classic 90’s sitcoms, for my money, I preferred “Fraiser” more, I’d pay good money to try a “Frasier Experience”. The café could serve tossed salad and scrambled eggs.
I digress. Ultimately, when we discovered that the Friends Experience was opening in London, there was no objection from me that we go along and take a peek. Mrs B is a bit “meh” about “Friends” so one quiet school INSET Day, The Girl and I boarded a train for the Excel Centre and the Friends Experience.
It’s London, baby!
The Friends Experience London
We booked tickets via the official website (although there are a number of resellers online) and you have to select a timeslot. Days vary throughout the year, so always check the website first before making any plans, but generally speaking, the Friends Experience is open from 10 am to 7.15 pm, with the last entry at 6 pm.
Like many attractions these days, it’s also subject to dynamic pricing, so tickets can start at £20 but can be as much as £35 during peak times, so pick your day carefully!
We paid £45 in total for an Adult and Child (11 – 15) ticket. Younger children are half-price, and under 3’s are free. Make sure you check the website for the best prices and dates that work for you!
The Friends Experience London
BOOK IT
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
FRIENDS EXPERIENCE
✔️ Photo Opportunities
✔️ Exact Replica Sets
✔️ Friends Memorabilia
Getting to the Friends Experience London
Whichever way you get to London, you need to head for the ExCeL Waterfront. If you’re coming via public transport, the nearest tube station, if you’re on the Elizabeth line is Customs House.
If you’re coming from via the Jubilee line it’s Canning Town station and if you’re coming via the Docklands Light Railway, Customs House or Prince Regent stations are the nearest. I should also point out that if you’re on the DLR, it’s mandatory to try and get the seat at the front and pretend you’re driving the train for a bit.
If you’re driving into London, firstly be warned that parking has to be pre-booked and the ExCeL is in an Ultra Low Emissions Zone, so check your car won’t incur extra charges if you do decide to drive in!
Whichever way you do arrive, follow the signposts, head towards the waterfront and get ready for a brief security check as you enter the experience.
Arriving at the Friends Experience London
After the aforementioned brief security check, you are ushered into the queue for a ticket check and placed in a group of other people in your time slot.
You’ll get a brief introduction from one of the guides, a quick video is played outlining the rules of the experience (mostly, don’t try and steal the props) and then after you’re all funnelled through the first of many photo opportunities (a chance for a photo on the iconic sofa used in the “Friends” opening credits) you’re free to wander through the experience.
As with all group experiences, it’s a bit of a mad crush for the first few metres, then people start to move through at their own pace and things become a bit more bearable.
What can you see at the Friends Experience London?
For “Friends” fanatics, it’s an absolute treasure trove of replica and original props, sets you can pose in from classic scenes and the story of the development of the series is explained on the many information boards dotted around the experience.
The experience has clearly been put together with a great deal of thought and the level of detail they’ve gone to is impressive. I mean, you can open the fridge and inside will be Rachel’s trifle, which she made in Episode 9 of Series 6 (“The One Where Ross Got High”).
You can sit in Phoebe’s yellow taxi. You can try to manoeuvre a sofa down the stairs and yell “PIVOT “ at each other.
Believe me, everything you’d want to see from the series is there, and quite a lot that you’d forgotten even existed. And of course, as this is the Friends Experience in London, a whole section is devoted to Season 4, Episode 4 (“The One With Ross’s Wedding”) when the gang goes to London for Ross to marry Emily.
You can walk down the corridor between the two apartments. You can sit in Joey’s reclining chair. You can literally do everything in the series and of course, snap happily away with your camera as you do so.
I mean, this is an experience clearly designed for the Instagram and TikTok generation, so everyone knows the primary reason a lot of people are there is to get photos, so there’s a kind of communal spirit around and people will offer to take photos of each other as they go round.
There are also a few points where the Experience can provide photos for you as well, and there’s no pressure to buy these when you go.
Is there a Café at the Friends Experience?
Yes! Well, strictly speaking, there are two cafes. There’s the replica of THE Café in Friends, Central Perk, where you can pretend to be Gunther pouring coffee or pretend to be Phoebe playing music to the patrons.
But if it’s actual refreshment you need, there is also an onsite café round the corner selling hot and cold drinks and bakery-style snacks for a pretty reasonable price. A substantial meal it is not, so plan your meals for before or after the visit if you like food.
Exit through Gift Shop?
Of course, in common with every tourist venue since the dawn of time, the exit is through the gift shop. As an aside, this is accessible to people without tickets, so if it’s just some “Friends” merch you’re after, there’s no need to buy an Friends Experience ticket.
You can buy the usual branded mugs, but also, amusing things like Huggsy Bear or a hot water bottle shaped like the turkey Monica puts on her head or some of the pins Phoebe often wears.
There’s also the opportunity to review and buy any of the photos taken of you as you go around the experience for a small (large) fee, depending on your perception of value, I guess.
If you’re looking for a weatherproof activity in London and you’ve heard of “Friends”, it’s well worth a look. Ultimately, the level of enjoyment you will get from it is directly proportional to the amount you liked “Friends” when it was shown on TV.
If you were a massive ”Friends” fanatic back in the day, you’ll have the Best. Time. Ever. I don’t think the tickets are too expensive, especially if you are a huge Friends fan!
If, however, you were only vaguely familiar with the “Friends” phenomenon, your Friends experience will be distinctly “meh”, but then you wouldn’t go there in the first place if you weren’t that fussed; you’d be at home like Mrs B was.
And if you were a fan, it’s only fair to ask: Could you BE any more excited?
