\n<\/p>\n
T<\/span>here\u2019s a ritual at the start of every event hosted by the Offline Project. Run by Pel\u00e9 Zachariah, the activities vary \u2013 it could be a group walk, a\u00a0collage\u2011making class or a supper club \u2013 but each one begins in the same way, *with an invitation to hand over your phone. Devices go in a lockbox. Once they\u2019re all in, Zachariah closes the door and turns the key. \u201cI don\u2019t place them in for people, because it\u2019s nice for them to physically put it in the box themselves, walk away, and think: for the next two or three hours, I\u2019m fully present.\u201d<\/p>\n He has been running these screen-free events in London since August 2025. First-timers can be apprehensive about being separated from their phone. \u201cYou can sense the vibe when they\u2019re putting it away,\u201d says Zachariah. \u201cPeople have said to me, \u2018I felt really weird\u2019 or \u2018I felt super uncomfortable for the first few minutes not having my phone on me.\u2019 Then they\u2019ll say, \u2018I didn\u2019t know how much I needed that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Zachariah understands why people might find it difficult at first. \u201cIt\u2019s very unnatural. You might put your phone in the living room while you work in the kitchen, but here you\u2019re seeing it locked behind what is essentially a gate that you can\u2019t access,\u201d he says. But when people leave, they often say they would like to have their own phone lockbox, or tell him that they\u2019re going to try to not look at their device until they get home. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of sad that we have to literally lock our phones away. But people really crave that time.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span> Illustration: Guardian Design<\/p>\n This is true for Jarred Laros, 31, who lives in Essex and has been a regular at the Offline Project since it launched. One of the first events he went to was a \u201cpaint and sip\u201d evening, where an artist taught everyone how to paint a landscape scene with mountains, a river and a sunset. People sat around a table together, working on their canvases while having drinks and snacks, and getting to know each other. \u201cI liked the idea of getting off my phone and being more intentional with how I\u2019m spending my time. I would never try to teach myself how to paint, but doing that in a community setting is very easy-going. The conversation flows.\u201d<\/p>\n Laros runs his own business, and spends a lot of time on his devices. \u201cI\u2019m always glued to a screen, whether it\u2019s my iPad, my MacBook, my phone, or all three at the same time,\u201d he says. \u201cOutside of work, there\u2019s the doomscroll that you succumb to. I go on Instagram without intending to. Half an hour later, I\u2019m, like, \u2018What am I still doing on this app?\u2019 My average daily screen time is seven and a half hours. My relationship with my phone is not what I want it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n The Offline Project is part of a new wave of digital detox communities that host events to give people time away from screens. It\u2019s not hard to understand the appeal: adults in the UK now spend an average of four and a half hours online a day, and most of that is on their phones, according to Ofcom\u2019s 2025 Online Nation report.<\/p>\n In 2025, the annual TouchPoints survey by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising found that British adults were spending more time on their phones than watching TV for the first time. The government has recently announced that in spring 2027 it will bring in a social media ban for under-16s, which will include platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. When the news was announced, a teenage girl went viral when asked by a news reporter how she would spend all her newfound free time. Her answer? \u201cStare at a wall.\u201d<\/p>\n Thankfully, if you want a break from your phone, there are plenty of things to do that are much more engaging. As our lives are becoming ever-more online, people are starting to push back against the hold that technology has on us. Sick of looking out at a sea of screens, some musicians are enforcing a no\u00a0phones policy at their gigs. Bob Dylan\u2019s 2025 UK and Ireland tour, Fred Again\u2019s gigs at Alexandra Palace in February, and Harry Styles\u2019s one-off gig in Manchester in March this year all had rules against using phones. It\u2019s happening at comedy events, too \u2013 phones were placed in locked pouches at Sarah Silverman\u2019s London Palladium gig last year, and Russell Howard\u2019s current Don\u2019t Tell the Algorithm tour promises \u201cno phones, no distractions, just humans and jokes\u201d.<\/p>\n double quotation markNightclubs are meant to be dark for that dual sense of losing yourself and finding yourself at the same time. Phones inhibit both of those things<\/span>Annie Mac\u2019s club night Before Midnight, where stickers are placed on phone cameras to prevent people taking photos or videos.<\/span> Photograph: Karen Stanley<\/p>\n According to data from Eventbrite, attendance at phone-free events in 2024 to 2025 increased by 121% globally. At broadcaster and DJ Annie Mac\u2019s club night Before Midnight, stickers are placed on phone cameras so you can\u2019t take photos or videos. \u201cIt reminds people to be in the moment. You\u2019re only going to get so much satisfaction out of blurred videos with distorted sound, or dark, fuzzy photos,\u201d she says. \u201cNightclubs are traditionally places where you go to feel a sense of freedom \u2013 to be whoever you want to be. They\u2019re meant to be dark for that dual sense of losing yourself and finding yourself at the same time. Phones inhibit both of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n While some are seeking out pockets of time at events and venues where they can escape their smartphones, others are going one step further and ditching them altogether. Cody Ramone, 31, from Derby, was using an old flip phone from 2015 until the pandemic, when life became more online than ever and he needed a\u00a0smartphone again. In 2024, he switched back to a\u00a0\u201cdumb phone\u201d. \u201cI got tired of all the notifications and being constantly online,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Abandoning his smartphone has been transformative and given him time for more enriching activities. \u201cI\u00a0get bored more. Being bored is what drives you to try new things, pick up an old hobby, or think creatively. My attention span has improved, so I read more and spend more time doing creative hobbies, like crochet. I call people or hang out with them more often,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n What is it that makes our phones so addictive? \u201cDigital media activates the same reward pathway as drugs and alcohol, releasing dopamine, our reward neurotransmitter, in a key area of the reward pathway in the brain,\u201d says Anna Lembke, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and the author of Dopamine Nation. \u201cMoving images are like catnip for the mammalian brain, leading to video-chaining, akin to \u2018chain smoking\u2019. Once we begin, it\u2019s hard to stop, even when we want to.\u201d<\/p>\n The more time we spend on our phones, the more we become \u201cdesensitised to what we are seeing\u201d and look for more \u201cpotent rewards to recreate that original experience of pleasure\u201d, says Lembke. \u201cAt the same time, we lose our ability to take joy in other more modest rewards, like watching a sunset, sharing a meal with friends, or reading a good book. We spend more time scrolling alone. We become increasingly dissatisfied and lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n While that might sound like a bleak state of affairs, the good news is that it doesn\u2019t have to be this way. With the rise of phone-free experiences, it\u2019s possible to detach yourself from your device, even if it\u2019s temporarily. \u201cPart of having a healthier relationship with technology must include discrete periods of time when we are not using it, and instead fully present and interacting with the people and the world around us,\u201d says Lembke. \u201cThis means creating collective spaces where we come together device-free.\u201d<\/p>\n From off-grid, tech-free cabins to the pubs where devices aren\u2019t allowed, these are the places to escape your phone in the UK.<\/p>\n <\/span>On arrival at the Digital Detox Club, devices are put in the \u2018phone hotel\u2019.<\/span> Photograph: Celie Nigoumi<\/p>\n Set up in Amsterdam in 2024 by friends Jordy van Bennekom, Valentijn Klok and Ilya Kneppelhout, the Offline Club has 14 chapters in cities across 10\u00a0countries, including London and Bristol in the UK. Events start with everyone putting their devices in the \u201cphone hotel\u201d, a lockable metal box with slots. For the first hour, there\u2019s music playing but no\u00a0talking, and everyone does their own thing. For the second hour, people are encouraged to chat.<\/p>\n The demand for these kinds of events is growing. In London there\u2019s the Switch Off \u2013 quiet, phone-free sessions for women where they can journal, collage or read a book \u2013 while the Offline Project hosts screen-free walks, talks and workshops. Logging Off Club is a UK initiative \u2013 with local groups in London, Bristol, Brighton, Southampton, Cambridge and the New Forest \u2013 that has now expanded to Sydney, Mexico City and Winnipeg.<\/p>\n In Bath, friends Nicola MacDonald and Laura Hughes started the Digital Detox Club in early 2025. They host events every two months at The Den cafe in Bath \u2013 phones go into the \u201ctech motel\u201d on arrival, and the pair provide optional activities like board games, journalling and crafts. \u201cWe\u2019ve been struck by the diversity of attendees, from university students to retirees, which suggests this isn\u2019t a niche concern,\u201d says MacDonald. \u201cIt reflects a broader cultural fatigue with constant connectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Digging clay for wild pottery with Native Hands in Sussex.<\/span> Photograph: Natasa Leoni<\/p>\n If you\u2019re trying to spend less time on your phone, a\u00a0craft class does some of the work for you by keeping your hands busy. But there are specifically phone\u2011free classes, too. Native Hands offers basketry, pottery and bushcraft sessions, held outside in an\u00a0ancient woodland in Sussex. At\u00a0Curious House in\u00a0East\u00a0Sussex, classes range from basket weaving to\u00a0portrait painting. All sessions start with a\u00a0mindful breathing exercise to help people switch off.<\/p>\n In November last year, Dan Palmer launched Airplane Mode \u2013 a monthly phone-free event at his organic restaurant and natural wine bar, Eat Your Greens, in Leeds. The free events include workshops hosted by local creatives, doing things like painting, collage and origami.<\/p>\n Rather than locking phones away in a safe, they use a swear jar system. \u201cEvery time I catch anyone on their phone, I fine them 50p,\u201d Palmer says. \u201cAll\u00a0the fines go to a charity called Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers. So far, I\u2019ve\u00a0issued three fines \u2013 and one of them was for me! No one wants to be on their phones when they have something more interesting to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The idea of using your hands to make something tangible rather than doomscrolling is what inspired Nadia Butt from Inner Canvas to host art sessions for women at her home in Reading without the distraction of screens. \u201cThe screen-free element is\u00a0at the heart of the sessions,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u00a0treat it\u00a0like a ritual. At the start of each session, phones are\u00a0silenced and placed in a box. I call it the \u2018phone\u00a0spa\u2019. Framing it as something collective removes the anxiety around it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>The Bath Thermae Spa. \u2018All of my best ideas in the past two years have been while sitting in a sauna,\u2019 says a regular.<\/span> Photograph: Ellis Reed\/We Are Found<\/p>\n Spas are all about relaxing and switching off, but often these spaces aren\u2019t phone-free. That is changing, though, with some spas now enforcing phone bans. The Bath Thermae Spa has a strict no phones policy \u2013 guests must put devices in a\u00a0lockable pouch that\u2019s kept in their locker. At Careys Manor in the New Forest, there\u2019s a digital detox spa break, which includes relaxing treatments, a\u00a0complimentary journal and a phone amnesty box in the room.<\/p>\n Phones have been banned at the Bothy at Heckfield Place, Hampshire, since it launched in 2023. \u201cSeeing someone on their phone in a space dedicated to restoration felt out of alignment. You are there to be with yourself, to listen inwardly, to slow down,\u201d says the spa operations director, Reka\u00a0Seres-Erdei.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just at spas \u2013 as sauna culture rapidly grows, many people are finding these spaces offer a welcome break from technology. Ryan Haynes, 34, is a regular at London\u2019s Community Sauna Baths, which has locations in Camberwell, Hackney Wick, Stratford, Walthamstow and Peckham. You can\u2019t take your phone into the sauna, but you\u2019re allowed to take photos outside, although they are considering a phone ban throughout.<\/p>\n Haynes\u2019s Wednesday morning sauna session is\u00a0\u201cnon-negotiable\u201d for him. \u201cAll of my best ideas in the\u00a0past two years have been while sitting in a sauna. Everyone needs to slow down to hear what\u2019s going on in their brain,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Sign up to Inside Saturday<\/span><\/p>\n The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n <\/span>Kelly Wickson, who runs a sauna book club in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, says: \u2018We do it on a Friday evening and it sells out.\u2019<\/span> Photograph: Petra Harrington<\/p>\n As an independent bookshop owner and a sauna enthusiast, Kelly Wickson had an inspired idea last year: a book club in<\/em> a sauna. Wickson owns Chapter 34 in Shoreham-by-Sea on the Sussex coast, and hosts the sauna book club once a month at the Nomadic Sauna on Kingston Beach. Creating a\u00a0phone-free space was a big part of it, and the sauna\u00a0conveniently ticks that box. \u201cIt will ruin your\u00a0phone; you\u2019ve got no choice,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The books are always 250 pages or less, and there\u2019s no commitment to go every month. Phones are left in waterproof tubs outside the sauna. The\u00a0book club is an hour long, and they go in and out\u00a0of the sauna throughout, with some having a\u00a0quick dip in the sea during breaks. Wickson has been amazed at how popular it is. \u201cWe do it on a\u00a0Friday evening and it sells out,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n While a book club in a sauna is particularly unusual, people increasingly value being given the\u00a0time and space to switch off and read. This is the\u00a0thinking behind Silent Book Club, where one of the mottoes is: \u201cPut down your phone, pick up a book.\u201d It\u2019s a global network with about 2,000 chapters in more than 60 countries, and there are almost 150\u00a0in the UK and Ireland.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u2018The idea is to enter a fantasy world where you can enjoy the moment,\u2019 says Camille Jetzer, co-owner of the Roses of Elagabalus in east London.<\/span> Photograph: Ollie Tomlinson<\/p>\n When Camille Jetzer and James Nasmyth opened the\u00a0Roses of Elagabalus in Dalston, east London, last\u00a0year, they knew they wanted to minimise phone\u00a0use. They refer to it as a \u201cclubhouse\u201d \u2013 there\u2019s a bar, restaurant, dancing and cabaret. \u201cThe idea of\u00a0having no phones is that you would walk into the Roses, leave the outside world behind and enter this fantasy world where you can just enjoy the moment,\u201d Jetzer says.<\/p>\n When you arrive at the Roses, a host explains that\u00a0there\u2019s no photography, and places a sticker over your phone camera. There are also reminders on the menus. \u201cIt\u2019s a \u2018you were there or you missed it\u2019 situation,\u201d Jetzer says, who has also noticed their regular punters reminding new visitors about the rule.<\/p>\n While phones aren\u2019t locked away, Jetzer says the stickers on cameras mean they are used less. \u201cIt creates an environment where phones are less desired. In a dream world, we\u2019d lock away the phones. That\u2019s maybe next year\u2019s project,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in London, Esmeralda\u2019s Mayfair and the Spy Bar at Raffles London at the OWO both put stickers on phone cameras. In 2019, Samuel Smith\u2019s pubs brought in a rule that customers couldn\u2019t use phones or laptops in their establishments, of which there are more than 200 across the country. At the Barrel at Bude in Cornwall, anyone who breaks its no phones rule has to donate \u00a31, which goes to local charities. In Herne Bay in Kent, the Butchers Arms has been a\u00a0phone-free zone since it opened in 2005 \u2013 there are no signs needed to enforce it, says owner Martyn Hillier. \u201cA disgruntled look from other customers is enough. If that doesn\u2019t work we all start saying, \u2018Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb\u2019, louder and louder until they realise they can\u2019t converse any more.\u201d<\/p>\n In Woking, Kim and Mike Jarred run Beyond the Screen, a monthly phone-free social at their local pub the Olive Tree. They set it up in March 2025 after\u00a0talking about how they could model good phone habits for their teenage sons. They provide activities like puzzles and conversation starters, but\u00a0mostly people just sit and chat. \u201cPubs are closing down and we\u2019re just staying in our houses with our\u00a0phones in front of our faces rather than getting out and meeting people. We\u2019re human beings, and\u00a0we need to connect with each other. Phones are\u00a0getting in the\u00a0way of that,\u201d Kim says.<\/p>\n <\/span>Amber\u2019s in Manchester. \u2018People seen taking photos or videos are politely asked to leave,\u2019 says co-founder James Hutchins.<\/span> Photograph: Amber\u2019s<\/p>\n \u201cNights out now can feel like content creation exercises. We wanted to remove that layer entirely and return the focus to the room,\u201d says James Hutchins, co-founder of Manchester club Amber\u2019s. It opened in December 2024 and has a no-photo, no\u2011video policy, with stickers placed over phone cameras. \u201cIf people are seen taking photos or videos\u00a0inside the club, they are politely asked to\u00a0leave,\u201d Hutchins says.<\/p>\n Amber\u2019s is part of a growing trend in UK clubs, as more venues are making their dancefloors a\u00a0phone\u2011free space. The policy is used at both Fold and Fabric in London, Lakota and sister venue Moon Club in Bristol, and Doppler Studio in Leicester. Some\u00a0clubs ban phones completely. At\u00a0Offgrid, a\u00a0monthly day party at House Party in Soho, London, co\u2011founded by Stormzy, phones are sealed in a\u00a0locked pouch. At\u00a0her club night Before Midnight, Annie Mac has noticed a palpable shift in atmosphere \u2013 something she experienced during the first phone\u2011free Before Midnight event at the\u00a0Warehouse Project in Manchester. \u201cPeople were more present and louder. They whooped, they hollered, they whistled. They reacted to the tunes in a visceral way.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>The Cottage in the Clouds, in the Lake District national park, where there\u2019s no wifi and limited phone signal.<\/span> Photograph: Canopy and Stars<\/p>\n In 2019, Hector Hughes was working for a tech startup in London and feeling burnt out. \u201cI ended up at a silent retreat at a Buddhist temple on top of a\u00a0mountain in the Himalayas. When you got there, they took your phone off you. I spent 10 days cut off from the outside world. It was a revelation,\u201d says Hughes.<\/p>\n He came back from that trip, quit his job and started setting up Unplugged \u2013 off-grid cabins in the UK where you lock your phone away. It launched in the summer of 2020; there are now 60 digital detox cabins around the country (and they have expanded to Catalonia, too). The phone-free element is self\u2011policed, but each cabin has a lock box with a\u00a0padlock, and the key is in a sealed envelope. They provide a Polaroid camera, a map and an old-school Nokia phone in case of emergencies. Hughes says that Unplugged\u2019s customers often return for regular stays and go on to make changes in their daily lives, like having phone-free date nights or drastically cutting down their screen time.<\/p>\n If you like the idea of escaping to an off-grid cabin and ditching your phone, there are various options around the UK. Unyoked\u2019s cabins run on solar power, have no wifi and often no phone signal \u2013 there\u2019s a \u201cspice signal\u201d, from mild to extra spicy, to set expectations for how remote a cabin feels, and how long it might take to walk to one. They also have Brick devices, which help you block certain apps from your phone for a set amount of time. Similarly, Shacks\u2019 cabins are off-grid with no wifi, and lockboxes for phones.<\/p>\n Alternatively, you could look for a remote cottage with no wifi and limited or no phone signal, like the Cottage in the Clouds in the middle of the Lake\u00a0District national park, or Woodcock Cabin in\u00a0the Cambrian mountains in Wales. If you want to escape dry land, too, Lilypod in Devon is a floating retreat with three solar-powered eco pods built on a\u00a0platform next to a\u00a0lake, where there\u2019s no TV, wifi\u00a0or\u00a0phone signal, but there are board games, beanbags and a king-sized bed.<\/p>\n <\/span>Wild dipping with Yoga Retreats and More. \u2018I had to WhatsApp a guest after they left \u2013 they\u2019d left their devices behind,\u2019 says founder Florence Achery<\/span><\/p>\n Florence Achery, founder of Yoga Retreats and More, launched her \u201cRetreat like it\u2019s 1999\u201d digital detox breaks, in Lancashire and Cumbria, in 2023. A recent guest enjoyed the break from her devices so much that she forgot to pack her laptop and phone when she left. \u201cI had to WhatsApp the guest she was travelling with to get them to pick up her stuff,\u201d Achery says.<\/p>\n On arrival, guests hand over their devices before spending the next few days sharing meals together, going on long walks, doing yoga and star gazing. \u201cThey\u2019re in charge, not their phones,\u201d says Achery, who gives her guests a battery-powered alarm clock to take home, to encourage them to keep phones out of their bedrooms. She has also launched a parent and teen digital detox retreat to help younger people to change their relationship with technology.<\/p>\n At its 223-hectare (550-acre) estate on the River Dart in Devon, the Sharpham Trust hosts retreats focused on mindfulness and connecting to nature; guests are encouraged to switch off their phones.<\/p>\n And, in Suffolk, sisters Lauretta and Sharon Gavin host regular phone-free retreats at the Detox Barn, where guests enjoy vegan food, yoga, sound baths and countryside walks. \u201cFor many people it\u2019s a huge relief to step away from their phones for 48 hours,\u201d Lauretta says. \u201cPeople open up, share stories and properly connect.\u201d<\/p>\nDigital detox clubs<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Craft sessions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Spas and saunas<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Book clubs<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Pubs and bars<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Club<\/strong> nights<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Off-grid stays<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Remote retreats<\/strong><\/h2>\n