Scottsdale Nightlife

A big share of Old Town's weekend traffic is bachelor and bachelorette groups, and their habits explain what the district feels like. Friday is their top night, ahead of Saturday, which makes this the one event type where Friday leads. Groups fly in Thursday or Friday, go out hard the first night, and spend Saturday at a pool.

So Friday in Old Town is every bit as full as Saturday, and the Friday vehicles are in real demand, especially April and May when the weekend groups peak.

The typical weekend group is twelve, and what we quote them splits almost exactly down the middle between Sprinter limos and party buses. That's two honest versions of the same night. Under fourteen and mostly wanting to get to the door and home, the 14-passenger limo Sprinter is nimble on Old Town's narrow streets. If the ride is meant to be a venue of its own, take the 16-passenger party bus or the 20-passenger party bus.

Visitors hear "Old Town" and picture one street. It's really four small districts that touch each other, all within about half a mile of Scottsdale Road and Camelback.

• The Entertainment District. East of Scottsdale Road, north of Indian School, around Saddlebag Trail and Shoeman Lane. The dense cluster of clubs and big bars, with lines, DJs and bottle service.
• Stetson and the Waterfront. West of Scottsdale Road along the canal. Restaurants, lounges and rooftop patios, and where most groups eat.
• Historic Old Town. South of Indian School around Main Street and Brown Avenue. Western saloons, live country, a more relaxed crowd.
• Fifth Avenue and the Arts District. Wine bars and tasting rooms. A good first stop before anything gets loud.

Once you're in the Entertainment District, you walk. The clubs sit a block or two apart and moving a bus between them takes longer than crossing the street. The vehicle's job is getting you in, repositioning you between districts if dinner is on the Waterfront and dancing is across Scottsdale Road, and getting you home. The Scottsdale page has more on local pickups.

Entertainment District streets are narrow and full of pedestrians on weekend nights, and the city regularly restricts traffic on some blocks late. A full-size party bus doesn't pull up to a club's front rope, so expect a drop on a wider street a block or two out. Sprinters usually get closer.

Last call in Arizona is 2 a.m., and at that moment several thousand people leave the same few blocks together. Prices surge, waits stretch past half an hour, and a group staying at a rental house in north Scottsdale discovers it needs three cars. This is the strongest single argument for a chauffeur in Old Town.

Make the plan before anyone has a drink. Agree on a corner outside the pedestrian crush, drop a pin in the group chat, and give the chauffeur one person's number, ideally the person whose phone is charged.

The best Scottsdale nights move in one direction, quieter to louder, without doubling back across Scottsdale Road twice.

• 6:30 Pickup at the house or hotel, with photos outside while the light is still good. The dress code generator is worth a look, since several clubs turn away athletic wear and flip-flops.
• 7:00 Dinner on the Waterfront or along Stetson. Reserve ahead for groups over eight.
• 9:00 A lounge or rooftop. The last place anyone will be able to hear each other.
• 10:30 Into the Entertainment District. Arriving before 11:00 means shorter lines and, at a lot of venues, lower cover.
• 1:40 Meet at the pickup corner. Late-night food on the way if the group votes for it.

That's a seven-hour night, which is why Old Town groups often book past the usual four hours. If you'd rather have more stops and less club, the bar crawl page covers that format, and the route planner will sketch either one.

Where you stay decides what you need. Hotels in Old Town proper are walkable to everything, so you might only want a vehicle for the big night and the airport run. Rental houses, which most large groups choose, sit 10 to 25 minutes out in Arcadia, McCormick Ranch or north Scottsdale, and nothing near them is walkable.

Ask when you book the house. Weekend groups here typically arrange the ride about six weeks ahead because flights and rentals come first, and spring is the peak. The ones who wait until arrival week get whatever's left.

Spring and fall are prime. Summer is pool season. In July the night starts later and everything is indoors, and it's still around 100 degrees after dark, which makes a door-to-door ride more valuable rather than less.

The bachelorette guide and the bachelor party guide cover full weekend itineraries, and the split cost calculator handles the math when the guest of honor rides free.