Activity bar (games, darts, shuffleboard) stag do

Amsterdam's activity bars lean towards drinking games. The common formats are an hour of beer pong in a city-centre bar with pitchers for the table, a 90-minute run of beer-based challenges, or a two-hour sports-bar package with screens, games and drinks included throughout. A pub quiz with dinner runs about two and a half hours and doubles as the evening meal. Everything here is 18-plus, with ID checked, and minimum numbers are usually around ten. Put it early in the evening, because the unlimited-drinks packages set the pace for the rest of the night.

Birmingham's games bars sit at Five Ways at the top of Broad Street, on Victoria Square, on Heath Mill Lane in Digbeth and inside the Bullring. The common stag format is two hours with two games chosen from pool, shuffleboard, electronic darts, beer pong, karaoke and axe throwing, plus two drinks each and a host. Daytime slots run hourly from midday to 6pm at the bigger venues. Table-gaming packages suit groups of eight to twenty. Axe throwing usually carries a supplement, so check it is included before you choose it.

Bournemouth's games bars are in the town centre. The main one is in the leisure complex on Exeter Crescent, where a two-hour package lets you pick two of American pool, beer pong, karaoke, electric darts, shuffleboard or axe throwing, with slots between noon and 6pm. Richmond Hill has a darts-and-shuffleboard package of an hour each, running noon to 9pm, 18+ with ID. An apres-ski-style beer bar in town does beer towers at happy hour, which makes a good opening stop for the evening.

In Brighton, the games format with the clearest local detail is a hosted TV-style gameshow at a brewpub on Gloucester Place. It runs for an hour, every day between noon and 11pm, is 18+, and can take anything from a handful of players to a very large group in teams, so the whole stag plays together. Treat it as a late-afternoon warm-up, then head towards the Lanes and West Street for the evening, where most of the night is a short walk from the seafront hotels.

Cardiff's games bars are central: one in the Brewery Quarter, about five minutes' walk from Cardiff Central, and another off Queen Street. The stag package is two hours with two games chosen from pool, shuffleboard, darts, beer pong, karaoke and axe throwing, plus two drinks each and a host, with slots hourly from midday to 6pm. Tech darts and table games run in one-hour blocks for eight to twenty people. A 90-minute hosted game show is also available in a private room at a city-centre bar. All are over-18s.

The main games bar for groups sits on Fleet Street in Temple Bar: a large sports bar with about 24 screens, pool tables, table tennis, air hockey and shuffleboard. Packages give the group a reserved area, a pint or three each and finger food for one to two hours, while most games are pay-as-you-play on a first-come basis. A separate shuffleboard bar books tables of up to eight for an hour with drinks tokens. There is also a traditional sports bar with live music every evening. On a big match day, book well ahead.

Edinburgh's games bars are in the leisure complex near the top of Leith Walk, about seven minutes' walk from Waverley, and up in the St James Quarter at the east end of the New Town. Rose Street has a smaller table-games bar. Packages run about two hours with two games and two drinks each, or two to two and a half hours of mixed activities with pizza for groups of six to 28. Daytime slots run hourly from midday to 6pm. Rose Street books an hour of pool, table tennis and shuffleboard with drink tokens. ID for 18+ is checked.

Liverpool's games bars cluster in the centre: one on St George's Place, about six minutes' walk from Lime Street, another in Clayton Square, plus options on College Lane and Rainford Square. The stag package is two hours with two games, two drinks each and a host, with slots hourly from midday to 6pm. Just off Concert Square, a pool bar offers a private room with pool and footpool for up to 20, or a reserved area for 20 or more. Beer pong on Seel Street runs 90 minutes, Saturdays 3pm to 8pm.

London's games bars cluster on Oxford Street, around Victoria Street and in Shoreditch, with indoor cricket nets on Bermondsey Street. A typical package gives two games and two drinks over about two hours, or a two-and-a-half-hour multi-activity session. The cricket nets go 18+ from 6pm and scale with numbers, roughly one net for up to 15 and two nets above that, with food and drinks added. Shoreditch's ball-pit bar sells fixed time slots from Wednesday to Sunday, so book the slot first. ID is checked at all of them.

Newcastle's games bars cluster in three spots: Collingwood Street on the Diamond Strip for shuffleboard, the leisure complex on Newgate Street for fairground-style arcade games and interactive darts, and Pilgrim Street for a multi-floor venue with street food, darts and shuffleboard. There is also a retro arcade bar on Dean Street with console booths and tokens. Most bookings are one or two hours with a welcome drink, and smart casual is the usual standard. A pool lounge that stays open until 6am makes a useful last stop if the group is still going.