Bournemouth Overnight

Your weekend, day by day

1. 1

   Day 1

   

   Add-on

   Guided bar crawl

   From about 20:30 · 4 hours

   The evening is built around the reserved table. Groups that want the night run for them can add a guided bar crawl, moving through a run of bars and finishing at a club. Dress for the last door: no sportswear.

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   Bournemouth's crawls start in the town centre, often on Old Christchurch Road, from around 7pm, and run about four hours, finishing by 11pm or heading into a club soon after. Everything is within walking distance, though one Friday and Saturday format moves the group between bars on a party bus from 7:45pm, about 45 minutes per bar, reaching the club around 11:45pm. Bring photo ID, leave the fancy dress at home on the guided routes, and keep the pace steady, as doors refuse anyone who has had too much. Self-led routes arrive a week before.

   You meet the guide at a fixed point and move through a run of bars across the evening, usually four or five, finishing at a club. The guide knows the doors, so you skip the queue and the group is not turned away for being too large.

   Most crawls include a welcome drink or a shot at each stop, and entry to the final venue. The rest is on you. Groups from several bookings are often merged, which some stags like and some do not, so ask whether yours is private.

   Dress code is the club's, not the guide's. No trainers and no sportswear at the last venue, and matching shirts get refused at some doors.

   

   Activity bar (games, darts, shuffleboard)

   From about 14:00 · 2 hours

   Arrival day. Check in, then the daytime activity if the group picks the activity bar: a reserved booth with darts or shuffleboard and the screens keeping score. Drinks and food are ordered at the table.

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   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.

   You get a reserved area for a set block of time, with the games on your table or lane and someone on hand to explain the scoring. Most venues run digital darts, shuffleboard, beer pong or a mix of all three, and the screens keep score so nobody argues.

   Drinks and food are ordered at the table. Some venues include a drink or a platter in the booking, others put it on a tab. Check which you have before you arrive so the money side is settled.

   No kit needed. Wear what you would wear to the pub. Trainers are fine.

2. 2

   Day 2

   

   Add-on

   Bowling, darts & pool

   From about 12:00 · 1.5 hours

   Departure day. If the group picks bowling and darts, lanes or oches are reserved for a block of time, with automatic scoring and a bar alongside: a low-effort way to finish before the drive home.

   More about this+

   Digital darts in Bournemouth is centred on a bar on Westover Road, close to the pier, with 90-minute sessions on boards that keep score automatically, a buffet option for groups of ten to 30 and a smaller package for two upwards. It is 18+ and everyone must bring ID. Hours run noon to 10pm Sunday to Thursday and 11am to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, so a late Saturday slot is possible. Groups of ten or more can add a buffet, and cancellations need seven days' notice.

   You book a set number of lanes or oches for an hour or two and play through a scored league or a knockout. Scoring is automatic, shoes are handed over at the desk and the staff will set up a group format if you ask.

   It is low effort, indoors and cheap to add drinks to, which is why it survives on almost every weekend. Nobody needs to be good at it and nobody gets hurt.

   Socks are needed for bowling. Beyond that, wear what you like.