There is no large indoor soft play centre in Glasgow city centre itself. That is the short answer, and it is why so many searches for one end up pointing south. Fun Street is on the upper level of Silverburn Shopping Centre, Barrhead Road, G53 6AG, which is one motorway junction off the M77 and a straight run on the 3 or the 10 from town.
This guide is the practical version: how to get here without a car, what a session actually costs on a Tuesday compared with a Saturday, what the play frame holds, and who should not bother making the trip. Everything below comes from our own price list and from Silverburn’s published travel information, both checked this week.
1. Getting here from the city centre, three ways
By car
Take the M8 southbound out of town, merge onto the M77 at Junction 22, and come off at Junction 2. Silverburn is signposted from the slip road. Fun Street is on the upper level, and the closest doors are the ones nearest the food court end of the centre.
Silverburn has over 3,000 parking spaces and parking is free all day, every day. No ticket machine, no two hour limit, no coming back out mid session to move the car. If you have ever paid for city centre parking on a Saturday you already know what that is worth.
By bus
Silverburn has its own bus station attached to the centre, so you are not walking from a main road with a buggy. These are the services that serve it:
| Operator | Services into Silverburn |
|---|---|
| First Glasgow | 3, X8 and 10 |
| McGill’s | 3, 6, 49 and 374 |
| SPT | 153 |
The bus station is the reason this works for families without a car. You get off under cover and walk straight into the centre.
By train
The nearest station is Priesthill and Darnley, and Silverburn describes it as a 20 minute walk. That is fine on a dry day with a five year old who wants to walk. It is a long way in February with a pushchair and a toddler who has just fallen asleep. If the train is your only option, plan for the walk rather than discovering it.
Full directions, including the map, are on our How to Get There page.
2. What a session costs
Entry is priced by age, and weekdays are cheaper than weekends across every band. A session is 1 hour 30 minutes and covers the whole venue: soft play, the toddler area, the themed frame and the storybook playhouses.
| Who is coming | Entry |
|---|---|
| Child, 3 to 12 years | Weekday £10.99, weekend £15.99 |
| Toddler, 13 to 35 months | Weekday £9.99, weekend £14.99 |
| Infant, 6 to 12 months | Weekday £5.99, weekend £7.99 |
| Baby, under 6 months | Weekday £1.99, weekend £2.99 |
| Adult, 13 years and over | Weekday £1.99, weekend £2.99 |
Two adults and one three year old on a Tuesday is £14.97. The same three people on a Sunday is £19.97. If you have any flexibility at all, that gap is the single biggest saving available on this trip, and it is bigger than the petrol.
There is also an After School Eat and Play deal on weekdays: £13.99 for a child including a meal, £1.99 for an adult. We wrote about how that works in our after school guide.
3. Is the trip out of town worth it?
Sometimes not. Here is the case against, first, because you will work it out yourself otherwise.
If you live in the city centre, have no car, and your toddler naps at half twelve, a bus out to Silverburn for a 90 minute session is a big chunk of the day for something you might get closer to home. A local church hall play group or a library session costs a fraction and is five minutes away. We would rather say that than pretend every family should be driving to us.
The case for is about the things that go wrong on a soft play trip rather than the play itself. Parking that costs nothing and never runs out. A building that is not sweltering in July, because Fun Street is fully air conditioned and climate controlled. A cafe on site, so nobody has to be dragged out hungry. Lifts and changing facilities that were built for a shopping centre rather than squeezed into a railway arch. And a whole retail centre around it, so if the weather turns you are not stuck.
Whichever venue you end up choosing, these are the five things worth checking before you commit an afternoon to it:
- How long is a session, and does the clock start at booking time or at entry?
- Is there a separate area for under threes, or do babies share the frame with nine year olds?
- What does parking cost, and is there a time limit that is shorter than your session?
- Is there real food on site, or a vending machine?
- What is the building like in a heatwave? Soft play gets hot, and hot children stop playing.
Fun Street is Scotland’s only fully air conditioned, climate controlled indoor soft play centre.
4. What is inside, zone by zone
Fun Street is built for children from birth to twelve, and the layout separates them rather than hoping for the best.
The baby and toddler area is padded, low and set apart from the main frame, so a crawler is not in the path of a running seven year old. The themed soft play frame is the multi level part: slides, tunnels, nets and the climbing challenges older children want. The storybook playhouses are the quieter middle ground, and they are where three and four year olds tend to settle for longest, because they can play a story rather than just burn energy.
Sensory touches run through the building: air conditioning, gentle scent diffusers, and a general absence of the noise reflection you get in a hall with a hard ceiling. If your child finds busy places difficult, our guide to additional support needs sessions at Fun Street is the one to read next.
For a fuller age by age picture, see soft play for different ages, and for the first trip with a baby, the babies guide.
5. The best time to come
We are open every day, 10am to 6pm, all year.
Weekday mornings in term time are the quietest hours in the building and the cheapest, which is a rare combination. If you have a child under school age, that is the slot to take. Weekend afternoons and school holidays are the busiest, and that is when booking ahead stops being optional. Parties and private hire always need booking in advance.
6. Making a day of it at Silverburn
Because Fun Street sits inside the centre, the session does not have to be the whole trip. Shops, restaurants and a cinema are all under the same roof, and Erina’s Kitchen, our own cafe, means lunch is fifty steps from the ball pit rather than a drive away.
Our guide to things to do at Silverburn with kids maps the rest of it out. If you are comparing us with other places to eat and play across the city, our play cafes guide sets out what to look for.
Coming from the other direction? We have local guides for Paisley, Newton Mearns and Barrhead.
7. Questions parents ask
Is there a soft play in Glasgow city centre itself?
There is no large dedicated indoor soft play centre in the city centre core. Families searching for one are generally pointed to venues on the edges of the city or in the surrounding towns. Fun Street at Silverburn is the closest large centre to the south, one junction off the M77 at Junction 2, with its own bus station attached.
How do I get to Fun Street from Glasgow city centre without a car?
Take a bus into Silverburn bus station, which is attached to the centre. First Glasgow run services 3, X8 and 10, McGill’s run 3, 6, 49 and 374, and SPT run the 153. By train, the nearest station is Priesthill and Darnley, which Silverburn describes as a 20 minute walk away.
Is parking free at Silverburn?
Yes. Silverburn has over 3,000 spaces and parking is free all day, every day, with no time limit to work around. That is one of the main reasons families from the city centre drive out rather than trying to park in town.
How much is a session at Fun Street?
A child aged 3 to 12 is £10.99 on a weekday and £15.99 at the weekend. A toddler aged 13 to 35 months is £9.99 and £14.99. An infant aged 6 to 12 months is £5.99 and £7.99. Babies under 6 months and adults aged 13 and over are £1.99 on a weekday and £2.99 at the weekend. Every session lasts 1 hour 30 minutes.
How long does a session last?
One hour and thirty minutes, and it covers everything: the soft play frame, the toddler area, the themed frame and the storybook playhouses. Adults stay with their children throughout.
Do I need to book ahead?
You can turn up for a standard play session, but weekends and school holidays fill, so booking is the safer move if you are travelling in from the city centre and do not want a wasted journey. Parties and private hire must be booked in advance.
What ages is Fun Street for?
Children from birth to twelve years. There are separate zones for babies and toddlers away from the main frame, so mixed age families can come together without the youngest being in the way of the oldest.
What are the opening hours?
Every day, 10am to 6pm, all year round. Fun Street is on the upper level of Silverburn Shopping Centre, Barrhead Road, Glasgow G53 6AG. The phone number is 0141 899 0125.
