Stag do in Cardiff

The quickest option is rafting on the purpose-built 250-metre white-water course in Cardiff Bay: two hours, up to six to a raft, with extra rafts for bigger groups. Gorge scrambling and canyoning in the Brecon Beacons run as a half day or a full day of about 10am to 3.30pm, with waterfall jumps and caves; one operator uses a village hall for changing. River tubing covers about 5km over four to six hours. Coasteering runs April to October and canyoning March to October. Bring swimwear, a towel and dry clothes.

For darts, the easy Cardiff option is an hour of electronic darts at a games bar in the centre, about 12 minutes' walk from Queen Street station. The board keeps score and runs several game modes, so nobody has to do the maths, and food and drink are bought at the bar. It works for groups of any size from two upwards. Pair it with pool or shuffleboard in the same building and the first two hours of a Saturday night are sorted without a taxi.

Bubble football in Cardiff is played at five-a-side centres in Leckwith, west of the centre, or off Manor Way in the north, and the pitch is usually confirmed about two weeks before. Allow an hour on the pitch and arrive 15 minutes early. Bubbles take players up to 6ft 5in and 22 stone. Trainers and a T-shirt only, with no football boots and no bare chests. Groups of 20 or more usually get an extra 30 minutes. Pitches are mostly outdoor, so a morning slot works best.

Dodgeball in Cardiff usually runs at a five-a-side centre off Manor Way in the north of the city, as an hour of classic and variant games for over-18s; it can be indoors or out, so ask which. A ten-over cricket game with forfeits runs on a 3G pitch or in a hall for 60 to 120 minutes, though indoor is not guaranteed. For a properly dry option, a 90-minute challenge game inspired by a TV panel show runs in a private room at a city-centre bar.

Football formats run at five-a-side centres in Leckwith, west of the centre, and off Manor Way in the north of the city, with the exact pitch often confirmed two weeks before. Options include football darts, oversized-boot football and electric-shock football, each about an hour; football darts stretches to 90 minutes for more than 20 players. Footgolf is played on a golf course on the eastern edge of the city over two to four hours. Wear sportswear and trainers. Studs are refused, and fancy golf outfits are encouraged.

Cardiff's inflatable games day has a Welsh theme: rugby runs, a bucking sheep, dragon-suit races and a celebrity knockout, eight or nine games in all. It is held on a farm about 22 miles from the centre, transfers are not included, and it runs March to October only. Arrival is 10.30am or 1pm, and the session takes two to three hours. Socks and trainers are compulsory for the inflatables, and old clothes or fancy dress both work. Groups of 18 or more are split for some games to cut waiting.

Games in Cardiff run at five-a-side centres in Leckwith and off Manor Way, where the two-hour stag bundle lets you pick two events from sports day, bubble football, dodgeball and goggle football. The local twist is a Welsh-themed version, with rugby runs, sheep-themed games and dragon suits, lasting one and a half to three hours, with photos and a prize for the winner. Fancy dress is encouraged. Sports day on a 3G pitch runs an hour, with an extra 30 minutes for groups over 32. Bring water.

Brunch in Cardiff runs on Womanby Street, St Mary Street, Caroline Street and around the Brewery Quarter, with one bar two minutes from the castle. The standard is 90 minutes to two hours of free-flowing drinks with a dish each, and Saturday sittings commonly start at 2pm and 4pm. Some venues want food choices 48 hours ahead. Bigger show-style brunches on Greyfriars Road run four hours from midday, with drinks served from 1pm to 2.30pm. Evening bottomless sessions from 5pm suit a group arriving late on the Saturday.

Cardiff's classes are almost all within a few streets of each other: St Mary Street, Mill Lane, Womanby Street and Caroline Street. Most run 90 minutes to two hours with a welcome drink and two or three cocktails each, often finishing with a round of shots. Friday sessions usually start between mid-afternoon and early evening, and Saturday ones from about midday. ID is checked, and one speakeasy-style bar holds your slot for only 15 minutes, so do not run late from lunch. It makes an easy first stop before St Mary Street.

Group dining in Cardiff is easiest in the city centre, close to St Mary Street, so the group can walk on to the bars afterwards. Reserved tables and a set menu are standard, and one popular option requires pre-orders for groups of nine or more. A two-course meal takes about 90 minutes to two hours, sometimes with sharing platters and a glass of fizz on arrival. On international weekends, book well ahead and eat early, because the centre fills from the afternoon.

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.

Cardiff's biggest club is on Greyfriars Road, holds around 1,500 and runs several rooms; guest-list entry there must be used before 11.30pm on Friday and Saturday. Most other packages are on or just off St Mary Street, where bars stay open until 3am on Friday and Saturday, with entry before 11pm or, at a couple of venues, 10pm. Reserved areas cap at ten per package, so larger groups book several. Some include a cloakroom token, which helps in winter. Dress is smart casual.

Cardiff's best-known comedy club is an intimate room rather than a theatre, with a house compere and a changing line-up of touring acts. Entry is from 6.45pm, seats are reserved and the show runs about two hours 45 minutes, so the group is out in time for the bars. Friday and Saturday packages can include a main meal, which saves booking a separate dinner. Packages suit four to 30 people, and smart casual is fine.

Cardiff's crawls stay in the centre, mostly around St Mary Street, which keeps everything on foot. A private guided crawl starts at 7pm and finishes at 11pm with three or four bars and club entry. A public crawl runs every Friday and Saturday from 7.30pm for about five hours, joining other groups and visiting around five venues. Bring photo ID, wear smart casual and expect fancy dress to be refused. Doors turn away anyone who has had too much, so pace the afternoon.

Private karaoke in Cardiff is all central: rooms off Queen Street, a Bavarian-style bar on Mill Lane and a games bar about five minutes from Cardiff Central. Rooms are booked for an hour, or two with table service, and catalogues run to thousands of songs. The Mill Lane package pairs two hours of karaoke with an hour of free-flowing prosecco, on Friday and Saturday only. Most packages want eight people or more. It works as a late-evening stop between dinner and the clubs on St Mary Street.

The format most groups book in Cardiff is a 90-minute hosted traitor-style deduction game, played in a private room at a city-centre bar or hotel. The host runs the puzzles and the voting, and props are supplied. Groups need ten or more. The exact venue is confirmed once the balance is paid, so keep the time flexible until then. It works well on a wet afternoon before St Mary Street.

The stand-out guided option for a Cardiff group is a three-hour coach tour of TV comedy filming locations at Barry Island, leaving from Barry Island station. It suits a group that knows the show well. Barry is on the coast south-west of Cardiff, so allow for the train there and back. Otherwise the centre is compact enough that the castle, the arcades and the bay are best seen on foot between other plans.

In Cardiff this is a prison-themed cocktail bar in the Brewery Quarter on Caroline Street, rather than a tour of a real jail. Actors run the set, the group wears orange jumpsuits, and you smuggle in your own sealed spirit for the bar team to turn into three or four rounds of cocktails. Allow one 70cl bottle between three or four people. Sessions last an hour and 45 minutes for six to 40 people, and everyone needs photo ID. It sits in the centre, so it leads straight into the night.