The Level: bowling and crazy golf in Preston

The other bowling entry, and the one that answers 'crazy golf Preston'.

The Level is a bowling venue in Preston with crazy golf alongside it. It is the second of the two bowling entries in this directory, the other being Lakeside.

The bowling-plus-something format is the direction the trade has moved in: lanes alone no longer fill a building, so venues add mini golf, arcade games or food. That is why searches for crazy golf in Preston land on a bowling entry.

The Level Preston is the bowling and crazy golf venue on the same side of the centre, and the two formats share one floor.

For the outdoor equivalent there is nothing directly comparable in the city; the parks and outdoors index covers the free alternatives.

Two formats in one building

Two formats under one roof change what the building has to be. Lanes want length and very little height; a crazy golf course wants floor area and sight lines, and neither wants a wall between them. That is why the pairing appears in wide modern sheds and never in the converted stock older formats can use.

Pairing bowling lanes with indoor crazy golf is a more recent idea than either format on its own, and it exists because a single large shed can carry both and because the two suit different halves of a group at the same time. That makes it the most flexible entry in the category for a mixed party, in a way a single-format venue is not.

Getting there, and the other lanes

Two formats also means two arrival patterns: a lane booked for a fixed time, and a walk-up round of golf that fills the wait around it. Both assume the group is already on site. Neither half of the offer rewards arriving alone or late, which is what makes the car park part of the plan rather than a detail of it.

Preston's other bowling offer is Lakeside, which is lanes alone. For adults wanting one activity and not two, indoor karting is the other option on this side of the city.

The free alternative: Avenham and Miller Parks

On a dry day the same group has Avenham and Miller Parks five minutes' walk from the shopping streets and free. The ground falls to the river there, steeply, which is the opposite of a flat indoor floor and the reason that walk is the one people remember.

For lanes alone the alternative is Lakeside. For a single adult activity, indoor karting is the other option on this side of the city.