With over 700(!!) bars and pubs in Dublin, it can be hard to know where the best spots to hit up are. That’s why putting a Guided Bar Crawl on the itinerary is a must because you end up heading to places that you would never have thought of, and it avoids any drunken arguments with your mates about where to go (we’ve all been there!).
We started the night by meeting our lovely bar crawl guide Matt in the Temple Bar area (not to be confused with our boss, so we gave him the nickname ‘fun Matt’). We had opted to go for a private bar crawl, but there’s also the option of doing a public bar crawl if you fancy making some new pals for the night.
Team LNOF with 'fun Matt' our bar crawl guide
The first bar of the night was 4 Dame Lane, which is where our guide handed out wristbands that would entitle us to drinks offers and some free shots in selected bars. 4 Dame Lane was a party bar with quirky décor that included loads of trumpets on the wall and a disco ball that was bigger than the sun (probably). We got a free drink included here so went to cash in our drinks tokens, most of us went for Guinness, with some of us now being converts to the black stuff.
4 Dame Lane
After this we headed to Storehouse. Our guide told us about all of the drinks offers we could get with our wristbands, to which we all cheered after every single drink that was mentioned. This included Irish whiskey and red lemonade. Our guide told us that he would meet us again at “ten to f*cking ten”, which of course became a saying of the night that only got funnier the more drunk we got.
LNOF gals looking glam
The Storehouse had a proper Irish feel to it with warm and cosy décor, as well as a fab line up of live musicians for the night. The musicians were playing a range of contemporary hits, including a load of Amy Winehouse. One of us headed to the bar to ask for a whiskey and red lemonade and asked what the difference is with a red lemonade and was told ‘the colour’…. so, the more you know! Before we knew it, it was “ten to f*cking ten” and time to move on.
Bad Bobs was buzzing!
Next up was Bad Bobs, which was absolutely heaving… and massive, with a whopping five floors to explore, including a karaoke room and a silent disco. After we cashed in our free shot, we grabbed a drink and soaked up the party atmosphere. The coolest thing about this place was the fact that they had a roaming saxophonist just wondering about the place and playing along with the DJ’s music.
Obligatory group pic
Then we went to Whelan’s where a free shot was waiting for us. Whelan’s is known as a live music venue, although there wasn’t any live music on this particular night. It didn’t stop us from heading to the dancefloor to dance like drunk Dads at a wedding/Mr Bean (or maybe that was just me!). The alcohol had definitely hit us at this point. It turns out the measures in Ireland are stronger than in England, so if you order a double, it’s actually a treble. Good thing in Newcastle we are used to trebs!
Ending the night at Copper Face Jacks.
The night ended at Copper Face Jacks, which in Ireland is an absolute institution. Known as Ireland’s No.1 nightclub, this place had fab music and epic strobe lighting. Anywhere that plays Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal is somewhere worth visiting. After two full days of drinking on our trip to Dublin, we probably had ‘given sanity the slip’ to be honest.
Getting into the Irish Spirit...
We had a great time on the bar crawl. It was a great way of getting a real mix of different pubs, bars and clubs with some drinks, shots and drinks offers thrown in too. Be sure (to be sure) to get this fab Guided Bar Crawl on the itinerary. FYI the route of this bar crawl does fluctuate so it could be slightly different if you do it, but this is the route we took.
This guided bar crawl was a part of an activity testing trip to Dublin, click the link to see what we got up to on our mad Dublin weekend!
Whilst you're there take a look at the rest of the brilliant Dublin Stag Activities and Dublin Hen Activities that you can do.
We've got a Dublin Stag Nightlife Guide and a Dublin Hen Nightlife Guide for you to look through too for the best nightlife hangouts, activity and accommodation.