Edinburgh Overnight

Your weekend, day by day

1. 1

   Day 1

   

   Guided bar crawl

   From about 20:30 · 4 hours

   Arrival day. Travel in and check in; the evening is the guided bar crawl through the Old Town, a run of bars with the guide handling the doors. The hills and cobbles mean sensible shoes, but dress for the last venue: no sportswear.

   More about this+

   Edinburgh crawls come in three shapes. The public guided crawl visits about six bars over five hours, shots included, and finishes with club entry. A private crawl for 11 to 50 covers three bars in about three and a half hours. Self-led passes send you the route a week ahead and run from 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Some routes meet on George Street and finish by 11pm, and one bans fancy dress. Photo ID is checked, and anyone too far gone is refused at the door, which matters on the steep walks between bars.

   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.

   

   Add-on

   Activity bar (games, darts, shuffleboard)

   From about 15:00 · 2 hours

   If the group picks the activity bar, it runs in the afternoon: a reserved booth with digital darts or shuffleboard, the screens keeping score, and drinks and food ordered at the table.

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   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.

   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

   

   Bowling, darts & pool

   From about 12:00 · 2 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 journey home.

   More about this+

   Group bowling in Edinburgh is mostly in the city centre, including up in the St James Quarter, where packages for 6 to 28 come with a welcome drink and reserved lanes. Turns are timed at about ten minutes per person, with a pizza break on the food version. A boutique bowling package adds an hour of pool, table tennis, darts or shuffleboard. For pool, there is a hall with 18 American pool tables and a reserved area, and two-hour interactive darts sessions where the board keeps score. Packages run about two hours.

   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.