For a standard adult session, expect around £30 to £40 a person. Of the 38 tracks that publish a price and a length for an adult open session, the cheapest at each has a median of £30, and half sit between £25 and £37. Race events and parties cost more.
That’s only part of the answer. Tracks sell sessions of different lengths, on circuits of different sizes, and many add compulsory costs at the counter. And 64 of the 137 tracks we list don’t publish fixed prices at all, including all 37 TeamSport venues, which show the price during online booking.
Here’s how to work out what you’ll actually pay.
Cost per minute is the number to check
Karting at Haynes charges £35 for twenty minutes of arrive and drive. Dunkeswell Raceway charges £46 for thirty. The cheaper-looking one is the worse value: £1.75 a minute at Haynes against £1.53 at Dunkeswell.
We calculate cost per minute the same way for every track: session price divided by minutes on track. Across those 38 tracks the middle figure is about £1.37 a minute, and half fall between £1.22 and £1.51. At the cheap end, Apex Kart Chester (£20 for twenty minutes) and TopGear Karting (£30 for thirty) both work out at £1 a minute. At the top, South Coast Karting and Thruxton Kart Centre’s National Circuit charge £30 for fifteen minutes: £2 a minute.
Length makes a difference too. The typical fifteen-minute session costs around £1.93 a minute against £1.50 for thirty minutes, so where a track offers both, the longer one is usually better value.
Circuit length matters too
A minute at one track buys more driving than a minute at another. Of the circuits that publish a length, the median indoor track is 500 metres and the median outdoor track 800.
TopGear Karting’s £1-a-minute session is 55 laps of a 200-metre indoor circuit: about 11 kilometres. Dunkeswell is 750 metres, and at a good lap of 44 to 48 seconds, thirty minutes there covers roughly 29 kilometres. Karting at Haynes is 400 metres.
Neither is better in the abstract. A tight indoor track is more work per lap and often more fun for beginners. But if price is what you’re watching, distance covered is the honest measure. Our guide to indoor or outdoor karting covers the rest of that choice.
The costs they don’t put in the headline
It’s rarely more than a few pounds a head, but it adds up across a group. Of the 137 tracks we list, 57 have a compulsory charge for a balaclava, gloves or both, usually £3 to £5:
- All 37 TeamSport venues: £3.99 for a balaclava
- Karting at Haynes, PF International, South Coast Karting and M4 Karting: £5 for balaclava and gloves
- K1 Speed Canary Wharf: £6, the highest we’ve found
- Ellough Park Raceway: £1 for gloves and £2 for a balaclava, among the cheapest
So a “£35” session for two people at Haynes is £80 by the time you leave. Nearly all of these tracks drop the charge if you bring your own, and a balaclava and gloves are reusable and cheap online. See what to wear go karting for what’s accepted. A few tracks, including Kartworld Extreme Leisure and March Hare Leisure, provide them in the price.
Deposits and cancellations
Of the 59 tracks that publish booking terms, most fall into three camps. Some take full payment upfront: 28 TeamSport venues do, non-refundable. Many smaller tracks take a per-person deposit, most often £10, as at Nottingham Raceway, Cannon Raceway, Stretton Circuit and Tockwith Outdoor Karting; Bayford Meadows takes £25. Others take a percentage: 50% at Lydd Kart Circuit and Midland Karting. At the flexible end, Xtreme Karting Edinburgh gives a full refund up to 24 hours before.
The clause that matters is what happens when someone drops out. At Nottingham Raceway the deposit is non-refundable and the organiser is liable for the full number booked even if fewer turn up. That catches groups out constantly.
What group race events cost
Race formats cost more than open sessions, because you’re getting qualifying, heats and a final rather than laps. Of the 33 tracks that publish a per-person Grand Prix price, the entry-level option has a median of £49, and half sit between £44 and £60.
Cannon Raceway’s 40-lap private Grand Prix is £34.95 a driver off-peak, and TopGear’s Open Grand Prix £35. At the top, Thruxton charges £85 on weekdays and £95 at weekends, and Dunkeswell £79, with an Ultimate Grand Prix at £97.
Nearly all race formats have a minimum group size, and six to twelve drivers is normal. Dunkeswell needs six, Bayford Meadows eight for an exclusive adult event, Nottingham Raceway ten to have the track to yourselves. K1 Speed Canary Wharf needs 20 for an exclusive adult or corporate event. Rye House Kart Raceway sets no minimum for its Open Grand Prix.
If your group is smaller than the minimum, you’re either paying for absent drivers or booking an open session instead. For a stag or hen or a team-building day, check the minimum first.
The format that’s better value than it looks
Team endurance is often priced per kart or per team rather than per driver, and people miss this. Some one-hour prices:
- Wakefield Indoor Karting: £80 per team, minimum eight teams
- JDR Karting and Lasertag: £90 per team of two or three
- Dunkeswell: £95 per kart, minimum six karts
- Ancaster Leisure: £140 per kart for teams of two to four
Split between four drivers, Dunkeswell’s hour works out under £24 each for far more track time than its £54 sprint race. Rye House makes the same point: its 60-minute Grand Prix is £95, or £51 a head if you share a kart. Not every track does this: Eddie Irvine Sports and Formulakart price team endurance per driver, so check before you budget.
What karting costs for children
Junior sessions are usually cheaper. Cumbria Kart Racing Club charges £8 for ten minutes for under-12s, and Wakefield £25 for a 30-minute junior arrive and drive. Most tracks start children at age 8; see karting by age and can my child go karting?
Owning a kart is a different scale
If the question is really about getting into club racing rather than a day out, the numbers change completely. An ARKS test and licence, club membership, a used kart, safety kit, race entries and tyres come to several thousand in a first season. Practice days alone run from £30 at Nutts Corner Circuit to £65 at Lydd, among the 11 circuits that publish a fee.
We’ve written that up separately in our guide to racing your own kart.
Working out your real total
- Find the cost per minute, not the headline price.
- Add the compulsory kit, or bring your own balaclava and gloves.
- Check the minimum group size before you commit to a race format.
- Ask whether endurance is priced per kart if your group is larger than four.
- Check the deposit terms, particularly what happens if someone drops out.
Every listing on this site shows the session price, the cost per minute, and any compulsory extras we’ve found. Prices change, so we show the date each listing was last checked, and it’s always worth confirming with the track when you book. To find one near you, start with karting by location.