I'm pretty sure I've watched The Crystal Maze since I was a kid, wishing that I could pretend to do challenges in my house to win crystals but I couldn't ever do that. I would occasionally watch the repeats on TV and when I heard they were bringing it out for a Celeb Special for Stand Up To Cancer, I was a little bit excited. Whilst I was watching it, I was googling about the one-off show, to then realise that there was an actual Crystal Maze Experience in London that had opened earlier that year. I really wanted to go but didn't really think anyone I knew of would want to do it with me.

A few months past, the new series with celebs came on TV, followed by regular folk and I still had it in my mind that I would love to try out the experience. One day, I was hanging out with some friends, who was suggesting we all do something fun, and someone (surprisingly not me) came up with the idea of doing the Crystal Maze. I instantly put my hands up and said yes, to which most of my other friends actually followed and said they'd do it aswell. We called up three other friends to see if they wanted in and they did! That was it! We were actually going to do it! The next thing was picking a date that everyone could do. We received a text from a friend who was organising it and said that a date that had some availability was the 10th September but at 9pm, which was pretty late. But everyone was good for it so we went ahead and booked it. He also asked 'Green or Orange' as this was going to be our team colour. We ended up with Green.

The date came and I was actually excited but nervous as I didn't really know what to expect. We all headed into London a bit earlier so we looked around the Chinese Food Market that was going on near London Bridge, checked out the Science Museum and went to a Wetherspoons to get some last minute fuel. We were only round the corner from the place, which was near Angel Tube Station, and there it was, in all it's glory, THE CRYSTAL MAZE sign all lit up.


We went on it, did the waiver bit, put our things in a complimentary locker (apart from my phone as I wanted to take some snaps before going in) and headed to our green table, which had the green bomber jackets hanging underneath. Alongside our team, there were three others, blue, red and orange. We all go round at the same time but start off in different zones. A guy at the place took a few photos of us in our jackets, went through a couple of things, like the premise of the experience, health and safety etc. and when we got our little call before our start time, I put my phone back into the locker, went to the bathroom (as you don't get a chance to go once you're in) and took the jacket off, as you don't actually wear them during your time in the maze. It's literally for photos at the beginning. It 9pm and we headed into our first zone, which was the Medieval zone. We sat in a room which had a TV playing clips of TV show and all of a sudden, a guy walks in, which happens to me our Maze Master, wearing a glorious star cape. I can't remember his full name but we did call him Bert. Whilst in that room, we decided on our Team Captain (who got to wear the fab cape) and Vice Captain and I swear, all we did was constantly cheer and clap for unknown reasons. Suddenly, it was time to play! Unfortunately, I have no pictures on when we were inside as you cannot take phones in with you, so you don't ruin things for others so this next bit is going to be a bit wordy.

So yes, we started in the Medieval zone so it was a little dark but I was quite impressed with what they did with it. Our Maze Master asked the Team Captain what game we wanted and for who so one by one, we went round and did our tasks. I had a mental one and I was so close to it but just ran out of time. Yes, you do have either 2, 2 and a half or 3 minutes to complete it. Legit, the time goes by so quickly that I felt like I was hardly in the room. I was gutted but seeing as there were 8 of us and potentially going to do 16 games, I knew that I could have a second try. So after our first zone, we only won one crystal but we had many zones to go.

Climbing up some steps and crawling on a platform close to the ceiling, we reached our next zone, which was Aztec and again, I was really impressed with what they did. They have actual sand so, very realistic. We did a quick photo in the Aztec zone which we could see at the end. So, during the first game, our friend got locked in but rather than leaving you in the room like they do on TV, they take you to 'jail', where you have to answer a riddle and if you can answer the riddle before the team move onto the next zone, you can get out for free otherwise, if you don't, you have to give up one crystal. Luckily, he managed to get out during our third game in, so we didn't lose any crystals. We did better in this zone by winning two crystals, which put us up to three and we were half way round.

Third zone was the Industrial zone, which we only had to climb a few stairs to get to from Aztec, and it looked all rusty, which was similar to TV, just no water in sight. This is where I had my second game, another chance to win a crystal but sadly, I didn't do it, so I won no crystals for my team at all (bit gutted, not gonna lie). My boyfriend was doing really well in his and the crystal did actually get revealed but he had already knocked on the door to come out so he only needed a few extra seconds to have grabbed it and come out without being locked in, which was a shame but after that zone, we again managed to win another 2 crystals, which put our total up to 5.

Our last zone, which I was most intrigued to see, was the Futuristic zone. We had to climb down a ladder from Industrial and into a pod, which would see us 'travel in time' to the zone (I had a little lol). The look of the zone was pretty cool, lots of white walls and lights. I was still a bit gutted that I couldn't even redeem myself but was just looking forward to seeing what my friends could do in their games. This was our most successful zone, where we picked up 3 out of 4 crystals, which was so good. This put our total up to 8. Once we had finished all the games, it was time to head 'TO THE CRYSTAL DOMMMME'.

We got to the set of doors, and our Maze Master said to us to shout our team name (which was Team Faff because we are so awful at making decisions and actually getting things done, bit ironic when it came to actually doing the Crystal Maze but that's what made it funnier) which we did and there was the dome and the other teams waiting for us. Some funky music was playing, another Maze Master introduced his team into the Crystal Dome, where they had 35 seconds of time (one crystal less than us as 1 crystal = 5 seconds in the dome). The music was playing, we all chanted the last 5 seconds and it was their time up. A quick 35 seconds. It really made me just want to get in there but the second Maze Master introduced her team, who won 9 crystals (I think) so just slightly better than us. They did their bit and it was done. Orange team was next, who won 12, which meant they had 60 seconds in the dome. Longer than everyone else but was a quick 60 seconds. Then, it was our turn. Good ol' Bert introduced our team, told how many crystals we got and we headed on in. Hold the bars at the back, can't pick any 'tickets' from the floor. They didn't have the whole silver and gold tokens because you don't win anything at the end, so it was just gold tickets, although some of them looked like they were just ripped up, but it was just the taking part that was the fun about it. So, we would have had 40 seconds in there but it just seem to fly by but I had a right laugh in there.


Now it was time to count how many we got. They must have had a way of doing it (possibly by weight) but the results were in. Our team came 3rd out of 4, but the amounts were quite close to each other so none of us did a bad job. We all had team photos in front of the dome, in the jackets again and said our goodbyes to our Maze Master. They had a bar at the end where we all grabbed a small cup of water and headed back down so we could get our stuff. By this point it was about 10:30pm, so the whole thing lasted about an hour and half. We then also saw our photos, from the Aztec zone and the ones sat in front of the dome. We wanted to buy the ones of us sat in front of the dome but they would also upload them to their Facebook page at a lower res. My boyfriend and I bought ourselves a small crystal (and a large one too, oops) and then we headed on home. Didn't actually get home until about 1am because there were issues with the trains.

Overall, I had an absolute fantastic time and a childhood wish had actually become a reality. If you watched the show and wanted to do it, I would highly recommend going, even when I didn't win a single crystal. They also have one in Manchester but I can't say for certain if anything I've said above is the same for that location. Seriously, if you and your friends want to do a fun activity, this is definitely the thing to do.

Have you been to the Crystal Maze Experience? How did you find your experience?

Look after yourself,


This blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own and honest!

I recently went to Sketch in London for afternoon tea for a friends birthday and it was one of the most amazing experiences ever.

Located on Conduit Street, a side road off Regent Street, Sketch is close to the popular Oxford Circus tube station. From looking at the outside of the building, you wouldn't even imagine what it holds on the inside. We were greeted by the front door and were taken to The Gallery, where we would be situated for our afternoon tea. As soon as you walk through the archway, you just see a room full of pink seats, pink walls, gold detailing and lots of pictures. The room itself was so breathtaking, it reminded me of the Titanic where they had the domes in the ceiling. I just couldn't stop staring.


We arrived at our table, was helped into my seat and settled down, nice and comfortably. We were looked after by this nice waitress, who took our order of tea (I went with Vanilla tea) and asked if we had any questions or wanted anything. We asked if we could get some water for the table.


As it was a special occasion, we opted for the champagne afternoon tea. So we had tea being filled into our cups and champagne being poured into our glasses. So much going on already. After being there for about 15-20 minutes (which goes by so quickly because you are literally so mesmerised by everything), our food arrived. It was presented so exquisitely to the point I didn't even want to touch it. But hey, I was there to eat and enjoy myself so I started to delve into the sandwiches.  The waitress said that we could ask for more sandwiches if we wanted to, which we ended up doing, just the ones we enjoyed the most.


About half an hour later, where we only really finished the sandwiches (included the extra ordered ones), the waitress came round and said that there is still plenty more to get through. We still had our scones and slice of battenburg cake to go! I decided to have a plain scone and it seemed like within a blink of an eye, there they were in all their glory. The jam was so smooth and the cream was delicious. It was a dream. We decided to get more, even though we still had our selection of mini cakes and tarts.

More scones came round, the waitress got us more tea and this is the point where I was getting really quite full. This is the point where I realised we probably didn't need to order more sandwiches or scones but I proceeded to carry on.

Slowly but surely, I made my way through the cakes and tarts and it was becoming a struggle. I know I didn't have to eat it, but I didn't want it to go to waste. I wanted to finish everything that was given to me. It took me a while but I did it, I finished it.

We were given the bill and I wasn't surprised by how much it cost for four of us, but I think it's great that you can ask for more sandwiches, cakes etc for nothing. Don't get me wrong, it is pricey but it's so worth the experience. I've never said thank you so many times in quick succession in my life. Everyone was so lovely and took good care of us, making sure our glasses of water and mugs of tea were still full.


After we paid, we couldn't just go without seeing the bathrooms. Seeing the egg shaped toilets finished the day off perfectly. Of course my friends and I had to take some mirror pictures.

I will definitely remember this day for many years to come and would love to go back another point in time. I would for sure recommend you go if you get the chance. It's so worth it and so amazing.

Have you been to Sketch? How was your experience?

Look after yourself,


This blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own and honest!