The quick answer
| If you want… | Go to | Allow | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| A proper few hours indoors | Milestones Museum | 2–3 hours | £16.50 adults, under-5s free |
| Something free in town | Willis Museum | 1–2 hours | Free (open Wednesday to Sunday) |
| To use up some energy | Basingstoke Aquadrome | A session | Book online |
| A group activity | Hollywood Bowl | 1–2 hours | Deals from £9 |
| Something loud on a Saturday night | Basingstoke Bison | An evening | Standing from £8.50 for children |
| A film | The Vue at Festival Place | A film | Varies |
| A show | The Anvil or The Haymarket | An evening | Depends on the show |
Prices were checked in October 2026 and change, so check before you go.
Milestones Museum: the best all-rounder
If the whole day has been written off, Milestones is the answer. It recreates streets and everyday life from Hampshire’s past, with old shops, vintage vehicles and a working pub, the Baverstock Arms. It is fully indoors and properly absorbing: allow two to three hours.
It is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4.45pm, plus Mondays in school and bank holidays. Tickets are £16.50 for adults and £11.50 for children aged 5 to 15, under-5s go free, and every ticket gives unlimited visits for a year. If you live locally, that makes it the obvious bad-weather standby.
The Willis Museum: free, central and short
The Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery in Market Place is free and needs no booking. It covers the borough’s history from archaeology to the modern town, with changing exhibitions in the gallery. It suits an hour or two rather than a whole afternoon.
Two things to know: it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the upper floors and toilets are up stairs, with no accessible toilet on site.
The Leisure Park: three things in one car park
The Leisure Park on Worting Road is the most useful place in town on a wet day, because bowling, swimming and ice hockey sit side by side with free parking.
- Hollywood Bowl has 26 lanes, pool tables, an arcade, a diner and a bar. Book a lane for weekends and school holidays, which fill up first.
- The Aquadrome has a 25m pool, a 20m pool and a lagoon pool with flumes and a baby beach. Sessions run to a timetable and most are booked in advance, so check before you promise anyone the flumes.
- Basingstoke Bison play ice hockey at Planet Ice, mostly on Saturdays with a 6.30pm face-off. Wrap up: the rink is cold even when the game is not.
Festival Place and the cinema
Festival Place is not glamorous, but it is warm, dry and full of food. The car park sits directly above the centre, so you can get from car to shop without going outside. It is also home to a ten-screen Vue cinema, and parking drops to a flat £2 if you arrive after 5pm and leave before 2am.
A show
The Anvil hosts concerts, comedy and touring shows; The Haymarket is the smaller theatre in Top of the Town. Both are entirely indoors once you have made it from the car park. Our before a show guide covers where to eat and park.
Somewhere dry to eat
- El Bigote is independent Mexican in Festival Square, inside Festival Place.
- Han’s Buffet is upstairs in Festival Place, useful when a group cannot agree on anything.
- Chennai Express on Wote Street does South Indian food, a short walk from the centre.
With small children
Milestones is free for under-5s and has enough to look at to keep most children busy. The Aquadrome’s lagoon pool has a baby beach, and there is a baby and toddler session in the 20m pool. Both are a better bet than another hour of soft play.
If the rain stops
It occasionally does. When it does, our free things to do guide and the walks section have plenty for when you can face going outside again.