Bar crawl: how to plan a great one
A bar crawl (or pub crawl) is a night where a group visits several bars in a row, usually having one drink at each before walking to the next. A good one has 4 to 6 bars within a few minutes' walk, a rough plan for when you move on, and something that ties the night together, like a theme or a game.
Switch kinds of theme on and off to fit your group. Tap the card to draw again.
Draw a theme from the deck on this page, then use the checklist below to plan the route and keep the group from scattering across town.
- Bars
- 4 to 6
- Walk
- Under 10 min
- Time
- 3 to 5 hours
- Themes
- 40
What is a bar crawl?
A bar crawl is a planned route through several bars in one night. The group stays together, has a drink at each stop and moves on. In the UK and Ireland it is usually called a pub crawl, and bar hopping means much the same thing, though bar hopping is often less planned: you just drift from place to place.
| Bar crawl | Pub crawl | Bar hopping | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where people say it | US | UK, Ireland, Australia | Everywhere |
| Planned route | Usually | Usually | Rarely |
| Theme or game | Often | Often | Rarely |
| Typical stops | 4 to 6 | 4 to 12 | As many as feels right |
Organised bar crawls also exist: you buy a ticket, get a wristband and follow a guide to bars with drink deals. They are fun in a new city. This guide is about planning your own with friends, which is cheaper and you choose the bars.
One photo per bar
Every bar gets a polaroid
The best bar crawl rule is one photo per bar. In Dronk you snap your glass, the app cuts it out like a sticker and prints it as a polaroid with the time and place on the map. By the last bar you have the whole route, and the next day it is ready as a video.
How to plan a bar crawl
- Pick an area, not a listChoose a street or neighbourhood with many bars close together. Five to ten minutes' walk between stops keeps the energy up and nobody gets lost.
- Choose 4 to 6 barsMix them up: start somewhere relaxed where you can talk, put the busy bars in the middle and finish somewhere with music or late opening.
- Check the boring stuffOpening hours, entry rules, whether they take cards, and if any bar needs a booking for a big group.
- Set the pacePlan around 40 to 50 minutes per bar. Write the route in the group chat with rough times, so people who join late know where to go.
- Agree on moneyRounds get expensive and uneven fast. Either everyone buys their own drink, or you use a kitty: everyone puts in the same amount at the start.
- Add a theme or a gameIt turns a normal night into the one people talk about. Draw one above, or play pub golf or bar crawl bingo along the way.
Bar crawl checklist
- Route and times in the group chat
- Charged phone and a small power bank
- Card and a little cash
- ID for everyone
- Something to eat before the first bar, and a food stop halfway
- A plan for getting home, agreed before the first drink
Bar crawl rules that keep the night good
The best rules are not about drinking more. They are about keeping the group together and making the night easy for everyone, including the people on soft drinks.
- Nobody walks home alone. Leaving early is fine, just tell someone and go together.
- Water between bars. One glass of water per stop keeps people going until the last bar.
- Soft drinks count. Anyone can join every round with something non alcoholic, no questions.
- Last one to the bar picks the next challenge. It keeps people moving.
- Respect the bars. Big groups are hard work for staff. Order in one go, tip, and leave the table tidy.
- One photo per bar. Same pose every time. It makes the best recap the next day.
See where everyone is, without the group chat chaos
In Dronk you snap your glass and land on the map for the friends you pick. The group can see which bar everyone is in, send a cheers or ask people to come over. It only shows while you're out, and the next day your night is ready as a video.
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40 bar crawl themes
A theme gives everyone a reason to dress up and something to laugh about at every bar. These are sorted by how much effort they take. Draw one at random at the top of the page.
Easy, no shopping needed
10- Colour crawl: everyone wears one colour, and each bar is a different colour drink
- Denim on denim: double denim, no exceptions
- Office party: shirts, ties and lanyards with name badges
- Black tie: dress up properly for a very normal night
- Matching tees: one shirt, printed or written on with a marker
- Hats only: every person wears a different hat
- Twin night: pair up and dress the same as your partner
- Pyjama crawl: pyjamas, slippers optional
- Sports jerseys: wear a team you don't support
- All white: easy to spot, hard to keep clean
Costume themes
12- Golf pros: polo shirts, visors and argyle socks, play pub golf
- Tourists: bum bags, maps and loud shirts in your own city
- Decades: each person picks a decade from the 60s to the 2000s
- Superheroes: capes welcome
- Cowboys and cowgirls: hats, boots and a lot of yeehaw
- Tacky Christmas jumpers: the uglier the better
- Halloween: one costume, every bar
- Beach party: Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses after dark
- Rockstars: leather, eyeliner and air guitar
- Characters from one TV show: the group is the whole cast
- Famous duos: pair up as a pair the bar will recognise
- Wrong era: everyone dressed for a party from 1985
Themes with a game
10- Pub golf: every bar is a hole with a drink and a par
- Bingo crawl: everyone gets a bingo card of things that might happen
- Accent crawl: a new accent at every bar, slipping costs a forfeit
- Secret mission: everyone gets a secret task from a hat at the start
- Alphabet crawl: each bar's drink starts with the next letter
- Around the world: a drink from a different country at each stop
- Quiz crawl: one quiz question per bar, points add up all night
- Name tags: everyone wears a fake name and has to keep the story going
- Photo hunt: a list of photos to collect before the last bar
- Hidden rule: each bar has a secret rule only one person knows
For an occasion
8- Birthday crawl: the birthday person picks every bar
- Hen or stag crawl: one challenge per bar for the guest of honour
- 12 pubs of Christmas: twelve pubs, twelve rules, in December
- Graduation crawl: caps and gowns, if you dare
- New city crawl: let a local pick the bars
- Leaving do: everyone brings one story about the person leaving
- First Friday of the month: the same route, a new rule each time
- Reunion crawl: revisit the bars you went to years ago
Games to play on a bar crawl
A game gives the walk between bars something to do. The three that work best:
- Pub golf: every bar is a hole, every drink has a par, the lowest score wins. Use our free scorecard.
- Bar crawl bingo: everyone gets a bingo card of things that might happen tonight. First full row wins.
- The imposter game: one person doesn't know the secret word. Works at any table, all you need is a phone.
Questions people ask
What is a bar crawl?
A planned night where a group visits several bars in a row, usually with one drink at each stop before walking on to the next.
What's the difference between a bar crawl and bar hopping?
They are almost the same thing. A bar crawl usually has a planned route and often a theme. Bar hopping is looser: you move from bar to bar as the night goes.
How many bars should a bar crawl have?
Four to six is the sweet spot. Fewer feels like a normal night out, and more than eight usually means the group falls apart before the end.
Do you pay for drinks on a bar crawl?
On your own crawl, yes: either everyone buys their own or you use a kitty. On a ticketed bar crawl, the ticket usually includes entry and drink deals, but not free drinks.
What do you wear to a bar crawl?
Whatever the theme says, and comfortable shoes. You'll walk more than you think. Matching shirts or one colour make the group easy to find.
Is there a bar crawl app?
Dronk shows your friends on a map while you're out, so you can see which bar everyone is in and send a come over. It also has 16 party games for the table, and this page has a free theme picker.
Keep the night going
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