Filed very much in the ‘don’t knock it til you’ve tried it’ category, paintball in Manchester is what every young kid wishes they were able to do, and every adult thinks they’ve grown out of. Though one minute running through the woods or an abandoned warehouse and you’re just a kid holding a stick making machine gun noises all over again. Whether it’s for team building, a stag or hen do, or just because you want your video games to be that little bit more three dimensional paintballing is gleeful, pretty harmless fun (all that running around is bound to lead to some trips but the paint bullets don’t hurt provided you keep covered up).

South Manchester Paintball

Boasting ownership of a genuine World War 2 Bofor Anti-Aircraft Gun ideal for photo ops for any prospective paintball team, South Manchester Paintball offers expansive areas and several themed paintball ‘missions’ for you and your team. Be it battling through a post apocalyptic wasteland of ‘Chemical Alley’, spook and shoot at the dark and gloomy ‘Haunted Graveyard’ or if you’re feeling extra brave take on the Saving Private Ryan-esque ‘Mad Murphy’s Jungle Attack’.

Back Lane, Pewit Covert, CW11 1RL (Just off M6 near Holmes Chapel) Tel. 0844 477 5115 

Paintball Warrington

Ideal for those new to paintball this site just off the M60 is easily accessible from Manchester and its surrounds. With full day entry just £12.99 including lunch and 100 paintballs (though you can purchase more if you’re particularly trigger happy) it is very reasonably priced for getting out that inner warrior. Offering three different game zones featuring different team tactics this is introductory paintball at its finest.

Paintball Warrington, Ringley Woods, Ringley Road West, Racliffe, Bolton, M26 1DY Tel. 0845 430 4455 

Battlefield Paintball

Though there’s nothing better than fighting a battle during the driving rain, it’s sometimes nicer to be inside and warm whilst pelting friends and loved ones with paintballs. Which is why the indoor facilities in Ashton can be a welcome respite from the wintery gusts outside, and for an even more warm welcome (before they pelt you with paint of course) they offer softer paint play for younger members with ‘Splatball’ for those 7 and up, and ‘Battleball’ which uses smaller pellets and equipment to lessen the sting of the balls. There are some special missions you can take part in too including the terrifying sounding ‘Zombie Attack’ in which a rogue infected zombie paintballer hunts down your team whilst you try to catch him. battlefield-paintball.co.uk

2 Hertford Street, Ashton Under Lyne, OL7 0TB Tel. 0843 886 3895

Adventure Cheshire 

Set within a 12 acre woodland valley that also offers Quad Biking, Archery, Clay Pigeon Shooting, Rifling and Falconry, this paintball arena lets the competitors have a go at really playing army. With bridges, forts, bunkers and trenches this can become all out war for those on a team building day or stag and hen parties. Combine your paintballing outing with any of the other activities, though not at the same time (falconry and quad biking together sounds like the world’s best extreme sport but also massively dangerous) and with the excellent catering  facilities at Adventure Cheshire you can finish off your exhausting day of battle with a barbecued steak and a drink from the fully stocked bar.

Catton Hall, Bradley Lane, Frodsham, Cheshire, WA6 7EX Tel. 01928 788295 

____

Browse our deals for paintball in Manchester.