There is something quite thrilling about a good game of paintball, especially that signature ‘splat’ sound when you’ve hit your target or enemy. And luckily, you and your mates aren’t far from some great places near Manchester to team up or battle it out paintballing. Whether you’re after a team-building activity, a way to celebrate a birthday, stag or hen do or simply want to unleash some aggression on the “battle field” then these are the best paintballing spots in and around Manchester to visit.
1. Delta Force, Eccles
One of the closest locations to Manchester city centre for paintballing is Delta Force situated in Bottany Bay Woods, Eccles and close to Worsley. The paintballing centre just outside of Manchester is home to one of the biggest paintball game zones in the country meaning it’s the perfect place for you to let your imagination run wild.
Participants can scale the 100ft long Berlin Wall, find refuge in the hidden sniper spots, capture the gold in a full scale Wild West Gold Rush scenario – complete with authentic saloon swinging doors – and defeat the relentless zombie hordes in the creepy haunted graveyard. The paintball centre also hosts kids paintball parties for ages eight years old and up.
📍Bottany Bay Woods, Grange Road, Eccles, M30 8JW
🚗 Drive from Manchester city centre: 31 minutes
🎟️ Entry and equipment hire for a session of paintball from £9.99 per person, plus £7.99 for 100 paintballs. Find out more here.
2. UK Paintball, Bolton
Located north of Manchester is Bolton paintballing venue UK Paintball, which has multiple locations across the country. Here you can storm huts, raid towers, capture the flag as well as other paintball scenarios and game zones to suit all styles, ages and abilities of players.
Participants can take part in the likes of Speedball, where you and your team try to evade the opposition and maintain the upper hand. There is also Over the Hill, which sees teams race up the hill to gain advantage and rain paintball fire down, as well as a game which sees teams take turns to attack and defend the fortified bunker.
📍Ringley Woods, Ringley Road West, Bolton, M26 1DY
🚗 Drive from Manchester city centre: 32 minutes
🎟️ Adult admission starts from £11.99. Find out more here.
3. Delta Force, Holmes Chapel
Another Delta Force paintballing venue in the Manchester vicinity is one near Holmes Chapel. The centre boasts action-packed paintball game zones such as the riveting Vietcong village in which players have to capture and control numerous huts in a domination style game.
You’ll also find a huge base camp to roam complete with gigantic props and structures that immerses players into realistic and fun day-out. The camp features multiple areas for team photos (perfect for those team-building days as well as stag and hen parties) and the best spot would have to be the genuine WWII Bofors Anti-Aircraft Gun.
📍Pewitt Hall Farm, Back Lane, Brereton, Cheshire, CW11 1RL
🚗 Drive from Manchester city centre: 48 minutes
🎟️ Entry and equipment hire for a session of paintball from £9.99 per person, plus £7.99 for 100 paintballs. Find out more here.
4. UK Paintball, Ormskirk
Tucked away in the woodland near the Lancashire town of Ormskirk is another UK Paintball site, and with open space and trees in abundance it is the ideal setting for a bit of paintballing. You’ll find a village area where teams aim to capture the flag, scenarios where you protect a convoy from attack or reclaiming a wooded valley from the opposition.
Make sure to try out The Fortress game zone, as this is one not to be missed, as you and your team’s mission is to protect the abandoned fort whilst your enemy launches their attacks. You will need to cover the backs of your team mates as the firepower hots up and the smoke bombs fill the air!
📍Firswood Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire, WN8 8UT
🚗 Drive from Manchester city centre: 51 minutes
🎟️ Adult admission starts from £11.99. Find out more here.
5. Outpost Paintball, Cheshire
Although a little further afield from Manchester than other paintballing sites, Outpost Paintball sets itself apart by offering paintball, low impact paintball and airsoft all in one place. Outpost offers you the opportunity to skirmish at a genuine Cold War military base complete with real concrete bunkers, towers and gun emplacements, ammunition storage huts alongside custom built areas.
The site is the largest closed quarter battlefield in the UK and has been built with a new approach to paintball, with complex scenario game zones including WW1 themed trenches, the graveyard and a post apocalyptic ‘ruins’ zone. The paintballing venue also boasts pro baller tournament fields for tournament paintball team training alongside video game inspired game zones.
📍Moor Lane, Lower Kinnerton, Cheshire, CH4 9AQ
🚗 Drive from Manchester city centre: 1 hour 6 minutes
🎟️ Entry, kit and 300 paintballs costs £30. Find out more here.
6. Splat Paintball, Cheshire
Located in Frodsham, Cheshire as you head towards the likes of Chester and Delamere Forest, Splat Paintball offers a paint-powered thrill ride in the great outdoors. Set within sloping and rugged woodland, you and your friends or colleagues will find villages, forts, bridges, trenches, swamps and bunkers to help you track and invade the enemy on your quest for paintball victory.
Splat Paintball has multiples locations across the UK, however this site in particular is not far from a clay pigeon shooting range and quad biking area meaning you could enjoy a full day’s worth of activities in one place (although you can do a full-day of paintball instead of half if you prefer, too). They even offer a discount for those outdoor activities when booking your paintballing experience in advance.
📍Bradley Lane, Frodsham, Cheshire, WA6 7EX
🚗 Drive from Manchester city centre: 58 minutes
🎟️ Packages start from £37.99 with on the day paintballs costing £5 for 100. Find out more here.