Padel courts in York: The Padel Farm, 2 indoor from £20/hr

York has three padel venues – and while that’s modest for a city of 200,000, the quality-to-quantity ratio is unusually good. The standout is The Padel Farm: two indoor panoramic courts on a working farm north of the city, with a coffee bar in a converted horse box. This is not your typical leisure-centre padel setup.

Below is a quick overview of what’s available, followed by more detail on each venue.

The Padel Farm – York’s most distinctive venue

York’s only indoor padel courts sit on a working farm, with a horse-box coffee bar and panoramic glass walls. Court hire runs from £20 to £60 per hour.

The Padel Farm is the reason York punches above its weight in the UK padel scene. Located near Skelton, a few miles north of the city centre, it has two indoor panoramic courts – the kind with full-glass back walls that open the view outward into the farm grounds. The setting is rural and atmospheric in a way that most city-centre venues can’t replicate.

The coffee bar, housed in a converted horse box, is part of the charm. This is somewhere you can play a session and then sit with a flat white in the farmyard – a detail that makes the venue feel more like a destination than a sports facility.

Court hire is booked via Playtomic and ranges from £20 to £60 per hour depending on time of day. Peak hours will push you toward the top of that range; off-peak slots are considerably cheaper. Split four ways, even peak-time padel at The Padel Farm works out at £15 per player – comparable to a game of squash at a decent club. The guide to choosing a padel club covers what to look for when weighing venues beyond price alone.

There is free parking on site, changing rooms, and a cafeteria. One thing to note: racquet hire is not available here, so if you’re playing for the first time you’ll need to bring kit or borrow from a friend. It is worth checking the Playtomic listing for current slot availability before making the trip.

The venue runs a Facebook community at facebook.com/thepadelfarm where members share open games and find fourth players.

York St John University – best for beginners

Three outdoor courts at Haxby Road Sports Park, open to the public year-round via Playtomic. Racquet hire available at £3 per person – no experience or kit required.

York St John University opened three outdoor padel courts at its Haxby Road Sports Park as part of a wider sports facility expansion. What makes these courts valuable for the York padel scene is the access policy: they are open to the public – community players and students alike – and the university explicitly designed them with beginners in mind. No previous experience or sports kit required to book.

Racquet hire at £3 per person makes this the lowest-barrier entry point to padel in York. If you’re curious about the sport but not ready to invest in your own racquet, this is the obvious first stop. The courts are outdoor, so they’re weather-dependent, but they’re available year-round.

Booking is through Playtomic, the same platform used by The Padel Farm. If you’re new to Playtomic, it takes about two minutes to set up an account and find available slots. Have a look at our guide to your first month of padel if you’re figuring out what else you need to get started.

The Haxby Road site is about a mile and a half north of the city centre – walkable or a short cycle if you’re staying in York.

How much does padel cost in York?

The Padel Farm: £20–£60/hr via Playtomic. York St John: racquet hire at £3/person, court booking via Playtomic.

Padel pricing in York is fairly straightforward. At The Padel Farm, you’re paying for the full indoor experience – panoramic courts, parking, and the farm setting. The price per court ranges from £20 at off-peak to £60 at peak. Split four players, that’s £5–£15 each, which is reasonable for two hours of decent sport.

York St John is structured differently. The courts are publicly funded university facilities, so the cost model is more accessible: pay for racquet hire if you need it (£3 per person) and book the court via Playtomic.

WePlay Padel in Kirkbymoorside is 25 miles from York city centre – relevant if you’re based in Ryedale or the Malton area, but a significant drive for a York resident wanting a quick session after work. Their two covered courts use a 9-metre canopy structure, making them playable in most weather. Check weplaypadel.co.uk for current pricing.

One thing to keep in mind: padel pricing across the UK varies enormously by location and peak hour. If you want to understand how York compares to what social padel costs across the country, there’s a broader breakdown worth reading.

Getting to grips with padel as a beginner

Padel is a doubles racquet sport played in a glass-walled court smaller than a tennis court. Rallies are longer, the walls are in play, and most beginners find it easier to pick up than tennis.

If you’ve landed on this page before picking up a racquet, here’s the short version: padel is a four-player doubles sport, played in a walled glass court about a quarter smaller than a tennis doubles court. The ball can bounce off the walls, which makes rallies longer and more chaotic than tennis – and more fun for beginners, who don’t need the same level of athletic precision to stay in a rally.

The underarm serve is one of the things that catches people out at first. You bounce the ball and hit it at or below waist height – no overhead smashing required to start a point. The scoring is the same as tennis (15, 30, 40, deuce, advantage), so if you’ve played tennis before, that part needs no learning.

York St John’s courts are explicitly designed for beginners, which makes them the right starting point. Once you’ve got a few sessions in, The Padel Farm is worth the trip – the courts are good, and the setting is unlike anywhere else you’ll play in Yorkshire.

For a longer rundown of what to expect before your first session, our padel vs tennis comparison covers the differences that matter for new players.

What’s coming next

Poppleton Lawn Tennis Club, near York, is listed as coming soon on Playskan – a fourth York venue that hasn’t yet announced a launch date. If it opens as planned, York will have four options: two indoor venues, three outdoor courts, and a community club. For a city that had no padel three years ago, that’s a meaningful shift.

If you’re thinking about making a trip specifically to play at The Padel Farm, it’s worth combining with one of York’s other draws – the city gets millions of tourists a year for good reason, and Skelton is close enough to the centre that you can play a morning session and still have time for the Shambles. For players who want more court options, Leeds is 25 miles southwest and has one of the largest padel scenes in the north of England. Harrogate sits 21 miles west – closer still, and with Surge Padel’s six indoor courts worth knowing about.

For court guides in other parts of the UK, browse the full directory of towns we cover.