Smoke and Oak
Jazz and cocktail bar
A jazz bar with rustic charm and a portrait of Bill Murray on the wall. Order the Blazer, a flaming cocktail, or the No Tai if you are not drinking.
📍 14 Dashwood Crescent, Darwin City NT 0800
Fun bars for groups: 8 bars
Swipe to see all 8 bars →
Babylon Bar
Retro small bar
A small, kitsch bar tucked in an arcade: disco balls, vintage Esquire posters, a dim red interior and a giant painted pair of blue eyes. Order the strong ginger beer.
📍 Air Raid Arcade, Shop 18/35 Cavenagh Street, Darwin City NT 0800
The Darwin Ski Club
Club bar
Over 50 years old and right on Fannie Bay, one of the best places in town for a sunset. The Bali Bar serves tropical cocktails.
📍 20 Conacher Street, Fannie Bay NT 0820
The Tap on Mitchell
Open-air pub
A big open-air pub in the middle of the action, shaded by an enormous leafy tree, with busy service and a croc burger on the menu.
📍 58 Mitchell Street, Darwin City NT 0800
The Cavenagh
Party bar
Darwin's backpacker party bar, with frozen mango daiquiris, cocktail specials and live music, about ten minutes' walk from the Waterfront.
📍 12 Cavenagh Street, Darwin City NT 0800
The Precinct Tavern
Tavern
A spacious tavern at the Waterfront with a big outdoor beer garden and cocktail area for warm nights under the stars.
📍 7 Kitchener Drive, Darwin City NT 0800
Shenannigans
Irish pub
An Irish pub known to locals as Shags, with Guinness on tap, nightly specials, live music and a dance floor at weekends.
📍 1/69 Mitchell Street, Darwin
🕒 Daily 10am to 2am (OpenStreetMap; check before you go)
Darwin Railway Club
Club bar
Local and international musicians, a tropical beer garden, swing dancing lessons on Wednesdays and free pool tables every day.
📍 17 Somerville Gardens, Parap
Map: fun bars for groups
Tap a pin for the bar. Numbers match the list.
Your questions
What are the best bars for groups in Darwin?
Start with Smoke and Oak, Babylon Bar, The Darwin Ski Club, The Tap on Mitchell and The Cavenagh. Our full list has 8 bars.
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Who wrote this guide
This guide is written by the team at M.AD Agency. We run Cocktail Week, the ten-day cocktail festival held town by town across the UK and Ireland. Now we're bringing it to Australia. Since 2022 we have taken it to more than 20 towns and cities and worked with hundreds of bars. We put this guide together from our own research and trusted local guides, including Australian Traveller and Norther.
No bar paid to be included and nobody can buy a place. We check the guide regularly as bars open, change and close.
Cocktail Week in Australia
Want your bar in this guide?
Run a bar in Darwin that should be here? Get in touch at hello@cocktail-week.com and tell us about it.