The 17 Durham college bar crawl: An ultimate (tried and tested) guide

As we trundle our way through exam season, the prospect of a carefree night out feels ever more enticing. In the name of respectable journalistic research (and my 21st birthday), we at The Durham Tab undertook the ultimate mission: The 17 College Bar Crawl.

Starting at 7pm and finishing at 11.10pm, with 10 minutes allocated to each college, the route took us just over four hours. We hope this gives you some inspiration for your big post-exams night out!

It is worth noting that we completed the bar crawl on a Friday, which, given each college’s respective opening times, is the optimal day for such a challenge. We had 50 minutes of wiggle room, meaning we were prepared for any setbacks such as long queues. As we embarked on this challenge during the notoriously quiet exam season, we didn’t have to wait longer than two minutes to be served anywhere.

Therefore, if you are attempting this route during the busy post-exam period, you will need to factor in longer waiting times. I would also recommend doing this route in a smaller group, as it cuts down the time you spend waiting to be served. Although some colleges were closed during our bar crawl, we did not let that defeat us; for those bars we couldn’t access, we took a shot of vodka outside instead.

We were lucky enough to be joined by a respectable member of Ustinov, who was able to grant us access to the bar. We have therefore included it in the route outlined here, but be warned that you will not be able to access the bar without a Ustinov campus card. If you do not include Ustinov in your route, you will save roughly 45 minutes, given the inconvenient location of the college.

Stop one: Hild Bede

Moment of recognition for Joe’s pigeon outfit please!

We started off strong at Rushford Court, before taking an Uber across the city to Josephine Butler (arriving for 7pm). It is worth noting that Hild Bede was actually closed on the day we completed this challenge, so we took a shot outside rather than ordering drinks.

Had Hild Bede been open, we would have instead visited the bar as our final stop, after Castle. If completed on a Friday, this route allows for a spare 50 minutes, so it would be more than doable.

Stop two: Josephine Butler

We arrived at Butler for 7pm, which is when the bar opens. They opened a few minutes late which ate into our allocated time, but we made sure to be speedy and chop our drinks!

Stop three: Stephenson

We arrived at Stevo for 7.10pm, after briefly getting lost trying to find the right entrance (it’s confusing for us Bailey people okay!). I am a big fan of the Stephenson lager, so I ordered a quick half pint. Cheryl went for a slightly more adventurous drink and ordered some blue glittery cocktail. I’ve got no idea what was in it, but it certainly looked interesting.

Stop four: South

We left Stevo at 7.20pm, arriving at South for 7.25pm. I was rather annoyed that they didn’t have any cranberry juice (surely this is a fundamental bar ingredient?!), which ruined my plans to order a vodka cran.

Stop five: John Snow

We arrived at Snow for 7.40pm, only to find that it was closed. Shot outside it was!

Stop six: St Aidan’s

We originally aimed to get to Aidan’s for 7.55pm, but arrived slightly early due to Snow being closed. Turns out this was a blessing in disguise – we needed the extra time to recover from climbing those stairs!

Stop seven: Van Mildert

We arrived at Mildert for 8.10pm. Mildert was originally supposed to be my “break” location (where I order a glass of water instead of a drink), but in the spirit of 21st birthdays, someone bought me the “Mildert shot” (whatever that is). Honestly, 0/10, do not recommend. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever tried.

Stop eight: Trevelyan

We arrived at Trevs for 8.25pm. From this point onwards, the night starts to get a bit blurry.

Most Read

Ranked: All 24 Russell Group universities by how terrifying their financial deficits are

The Boys’ Karl Urban likes brutal post dragging season five as viewers say it ‘doesn’t make sense’

Worst Ex Ever: Varya Malina shares shocking update on 90 Day Fiancé partner Geoffrey Paschel

Stop nine: Collingwood

The Stag’s Head is normally a very trusty bar, so you can imagine my annoyance when we arrived (at 8.40pm) and found it was closed (thanks a lot, Sports and Socs formal). Shot outside it was.

Stop 10: Grey

We aimed to arrive at Grey for 8.55pm, but got there slightly early due to Collingwood being closed. It was nice to have a break and sit down for a bit (even if it was in Grey).

Stop 11: Mary’s

We got to Mary’s for 9.10pm. I was slightly anxious about this one as you need the door code to get into the bar, but thankfully we arrived at the same time someone was leaving, so didn’t have to wait around for someone to open the door.

I thought I would switch it up a bit by ordering a shot of Sourz (I had mostly been drinking half pints at this point), an was outraged to find that it was £2.20. I did not think a shot of Sourz would be nearly double what I had been paying for the halves.

Stop 12: Ustinov

Ustinov really was the crème de la crème of the bar crawl. It took around 15 minutes to walk from Mary’s to Ustinov, meaning we arrived at 9.35pm. Although it would have made more sense geographically to start at Ustinov, the bar unfortunately didn’t open until 8.30pm, we had to wedge it between the Hill and Bailey.

Despite all the excitement for Ustinov bar, we were not happy to find out they had stopped serving due to it being mostly empty (seriously, how boring are all you postgrads?!). We hung out in the bar for a bit (we didn’t come all this way for nothing), before proceeding onto Cuth’s.

Stop 13: St Cuthbert’s

It was a 20 minute walk (through some forest, past Durham School, and over Prebends Bridge) to get to Cuth’s, which we got to for 10.10pm. It did take us slightly longer to get served during the Bailey leg of the route, but it was still thankfully not too busy.

Stop 14: St John’s

We arrived at John’s for 10.25pm. We actually ended up spending less than our allocated 10 minutes here, as it was simply too small for us all to fit.

Stop 15: St Chad’s

Chad’s is always a classic. The upstairs bar was open, which meant getting served was much quicker. We stayed here from 10:10 to just after 10.20pm.

Stop 16: Hatfield

I’m going to be so honest, I don’t really remember much of Hatfield (which we arrived at for 10.55pm). A tickler is always good fun.

Stop 17: Castle

We finally did it! Arriving at 11.10pm, we ordered one final drink and let ourselves relax. Since the Bailey bars don’t close until midnight on a Friday, we were able to spend nearly an hour in Castle. Most of our group had left by this point, but shoutout to Cheryl and Rob, who braved Klute with me afterwards.

I hope this guide has been helpful for all of you wishing to complete the ultimate 17 college bar crawl this summer. If you take away one thing from this article, let it be this: carry a vodka miniature on you in case of bar closures!

For more of the latest news, guides, gossip, and memes, follow The Durham Tab on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.