Squash and padel in Finchley and North London
Where the courts actually are in N3, N12, N20, NW11 and around — who lets you play without a membership, and what it costs.
North London has an unusual split. Squash here is almost entirely locked behind club membership — four courts at Finchley Manor, two at Temple Fortune, seven at Coolhurst, none of them open to walk-ins. Padel is the opposite: nearly every court within three miles of Finchley Central is pay-and-play, bookable on your phone, and priced per court rather than per year.
That is the practical difference for anyone in N3 trying to book a game this week, and it is why this site covers both sports rather than one.
Start here
Squash courts in North London — six venues across Finchley, Temple Fortune, Whetstone, Crouch End and Southgate, with court counts, access rules and membership prices where they are published.
Padel courts in North London — six venues from Summers Lane to Brent Cross Town, with hire rates and booking platforms. Includes what happened to S3 Padel at Brent Cross and where those courts went.
Squash vs padel — what actually transfers between the two, what does not, and which one to pick if you are choosing for the first time.
Padel for squash players — the swing correction, the grip, the walls. Four specific mistakes squash players make in their first hour.
By borough
Squash courts in Barnet — three member-owned clubs, no pay-and-play anywhere in the borough.
Padel courts in Barnet — four venues, all bookable online, two indoor.
Work out what it costs
Padel cost calculator — court hire is quoted per court, not per player. Split it and see the real number per session, month and year.
Squash membership calculator — how many games a year it takes before an annual club fee beats paying per court.
How the listings work
Every row in every table carries the source it came from and the date it was last checked. Where sources disagree — and for padel court counts they frequently do — the field is left blank rather than filled with a guess. Where only one source exists, the row says so.
Nothing here is a booking system. Court availability moves hourly; this site records what venues exist, who can use them and roughly what they cost. Book through the venue or its platform.
What changed recently
S3 Padel Brent Cross stopped taking bookings on 4 May 2026. Its replacement, a ten-court outdoor site at 255 Finchley Road, is due to open late summer 2026 — which would make it the largest padel venue in the area by some margin. Until it opens, the eight courts that used to serve NW4 are simply gone, and Padel Tree Finchley and PADELHUB in Whetstone are absorbing that demand.
On the squash side, nothing has opened in Barnet in years. The court stock is what it was.
Common questions
Where can I play squash in Finchley?
Finchley Manor Tennis, Squash & Health Club on Lyndhurst Gardens, N3 1TD, has four courts including a glass-backed show court. It is members-only. The Temple Fortune Club in NW11 has two, also members-only.
Where is the nearest padel court to Finchley?
Padel Tree Finchley on Summers Lane, N12 0PD — five outdoor courts, pay and play, about twelve minutes on foot from Finchley Central.
Is squash or padel cheaper in North London?
It depends entirely on how often you play. Two games a week makes a squash club membership the cheaper option per hour; once a fortnight makes pay-and-play padel cheaper. Both calculators on this site work it out.
Do I need to be a member to play padel in North London?
No. Effectively every padel venue in the area is pay and play, booked online, usually through Playtomic.