As the Toast the City Awards approaches, we’re looking at some of the very best places in the Square Mile – today we celebrate the brilliant Aldgate City Bouldering.

The City is known for a place where people work hard and play hard – and at Aldgate City Bouldering you can do both at the same time. Part fitness, part fun, rock climbing feels like the perfect Venn diagram for sporty City types who want to work out their body and their mind.

Located in a shiny building in the Aldgate Connect BID, it’s a slick and stylish space that features a dedicated gym and a separate, street-level climbing area with large windows, offering a different atmosphere to the main climbing room, with its underground atmosphere. It opened in 2021, when it became the City’s first dedicated climbing centre, later expanding to White City and Stratford.

It focuses on bouldering, which is undertaken on relatively low walls without the need for a harness. It has more than 100 regularly-updated routes – or “problems” in rock climbing parlance – for you to climb, meaning every session here feels fresh. 

Aldgate City Bouldering: Good for mind, body… and wallet

As well as solo sessions, Aldgate City Bouldering has a schedule of community-focused events, including weekly Monday Madness social climbing sessions; a competitive league for more experienced climbers and sessions aimed at specific groups including “queer climbers” and “geeks who climb”.

With prices starting at £14 for a single climb or from £875 for a full year’s membership (that’s less that £8.50 a climb if you go twice a week throughout the year), climbing is not only good for your body and mind – it’s also great for your wallet. 

Aldgate City Bouldering made our finalist list last year – will 2026 be the year it takes home a Slice of Toast trophy?