Cardiff - The Cardiff Takeover

Your weekend, day by day

1. 1

   Day 1

   

   Activity bar (games, darts, shuffleboard)

   From about 19:00 · 1.5 hours

   Interactive darts as the arrival-night activity.

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   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.

   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

   

   Club entry, VIP & booths

   From about 23:00 · 4 hours

   VIP guest-list entry on the main night.

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   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.

   Standard entry gets the group past the queue on a guest list, which matters because large male groups are the first ones a door turns away. A booth adds a reserved table, a set number of bottles with mixers and a host who looks after the table.

   Booths are sold on a minimum spend rather than a flat fee at many clubs, so the bottles you order count towards it. Ask what the minimum is and what it includes before you agree to anything.

   Dress code is enforced hard on stag groups. No sportswear, no trainers at some doors, no matching shirts, and nobody visibly drunk gets in regardless of the booking.