There are people near you who'd like some company tonight. Say hello.
Where to pull in the UK: eight cities after dark
Where to pull says as much about the city as the person. Some places are built for it: compact centres, packed streets, a crowd that's out to meet people rather than sit in a corner with the same four mates. Others make you work harder. Below are eight UK cities that do a proper night out, with where the late crowd actually goes, which nights each one comes alive, and where to meet someone from the site for that first drink. No bars or clubs are named, because they change every year; the streets and districts don't.
One rule applies everywhere. The bigger the night out, the more of a lottery it is. The people who reliably end the night with company tend to stack the odds: they go out with a plan, keep their phone handy, and line up a chat with someone nearby on the night-out hookup site before they've even left the house.
Where to pull in London
London isn't one night out. It's thirty, and picking the right one matters more than anything you say at the bar.
Soho is the old reliable: dense, late and mixed, with Old Compton Street at its heart and a crowd that's out to flirt. It's the easiest place in London to talk to strangers because everyone is a stranger.
Shoreditch and Hoxton draw a younger, louder crowd, with the busiest nights on Friday and Saturday and plenty of people heading on somewhere after midnight.
Clapham is where a lot of south London's twenty and thirty-somethings go to let off steam at the weekend, with a crowd that's mostly there to meet people.
Camden is grungier and more mixed in age, good for the live music crowd and people who'd rather not dress up.
Getting home is easier than in most cities. On Friday and Saturday nights the Night Tube runs through the night on several lines, and the night bus network covers the rest, so "yours or mine" rarely comes down to who has the cheaper taxi. If you're meeting someone from the site, Soho is the classic neutral ground: central, busy, and a short hop from almost anywhere.
Where to pull in Manchester
Where the night starts: the Northern Quarter, with its side streets and late-opening bars, is where Mancunians go to warm up. It's sociable, unpretentious and easy to drift between places in a group. Spinningfields is the dressed-up alternative, popular with the after-work crowd on a Thursday or Friday.
Where the night ends: Canal Street and the Gay Village for one of the friendliest and latest nights in the country, welcoming to everyone, and Oxford Road and Fallowfield for the student scene during term. Late August brings Manchester Pride, when the whole Village becomes one long party.
Manchester is compact enough that you can do all of it in one night, which helps. If someone you've been chatting to is in a different part of town, you're rarely more than a short walk apart. Saturday is the big night, but Thursdays are busier than you'd expect, especially with students and young professionals who like their Fridays quieter. For a first drink with someone you've been chatting to, the Northern Quarter is ideal: relaxed, central, and full of places to move on to if it's going well. If you want to hook up in Manchester the same night, that's where most plans start.
Where to pull in Birmingham
Three things to know about Birmingham after dark.
- Broad Street is the classic big night out: bright, loud and full of groups, especially on a Saturday. It's where to go if you want numbers.
- Digbeth is the other side of the city, with warehouses, street art and a later, more alternative crowd. Conversations start more easily here because nobody's trying too hard.
- Hurst Street, the heart of the Gay Village in Southside, is busy most nights of the week and welcoming to everyone.
The Jewellery Quarter adds a quieter, slightly older option for a first drink with someone you've met online. Birmingham is spread out, so if you're arranging to meet someone, pick the area first and save yourself a long walk in the wrong shoes.
Where to pull in Leeds
Leeds runs on two crowds. Students fill the city from autumn to early summer, and the rest of Yorkshire piles in at the weekend. Between them, the centre is busy most nights of the week.
Call Lane is the street everyone mentions first: a narrow run of bars that gets lively early and stays that way. Greek Street is smarter and suits a dressed-up Friday. Merrion Street draws a younger crowd heading on to dance.
Then there's the Otley Run, the city's famous fancy-dress pub crawl through Headingley. If you've ever wanted proof that a costume makes people braver, spend an afternoon on it. It's chaotic, it's sociable, and more than a few people have ended the day with someone dressed as a completely different cartoon character.
Leeds is compact, the centre is walkable, and the late crowd tends to stay in town, which makes it one of the easier northern cities for a same-night hookup. Meeting someone from the site? Call Lane is busy enough to feel easy and central enough that nobody's stranded if the chemistry isn't there.
Where to pull in Liverpool
Liverpool regularly tops the lists of the UK's favourite hen-do cities, and you'll feel it. On any Saturday the city fills with groups who've travelled in for a big one, and that energy spreads.
The centre of gravity is the Ropewalks: Concert Square, Seel Street, Slater Street and Wood Street, packed at weekends and loud until late. Bold Street is better for an earlier, more relaxed drink and a bit of conversation. Mathew Street is where the visitors go. The Baltic Triangle, just south of the centre, is the warehouse-and-courtyard side of the city, with a more creative crowd.
Here's the thing about pulling in Liverpool: locals have heard every line. Scousers are famously friendly and quick-witted, and the fastest way to fall flat is to try to out-talk one. Be easy, be funny, take a bit of stick, and you'll do fine. If you're arranging to hook up in Liverpool with someone from the site, Bold Street is the better bet for the first drink: quieter than Concert Square, and you can actually hear each other.
Where to pull in Newcastle
Newcastle's reputation goes before it. People come from all over the country for the night out, and the legend of Geordies going out in January without a coat is at least half true. It's a city that dresses up, goes out early and commits.
The Bigg Market is the traditional heart of it: loud, busy and unashamedly about a big night. The Quayside along the river is a bit smarter, especially on a summer evening. Collingwood Street, nicknamed the Diamond Strip, is where people go to be seen. Over in Jesmond, Osborne Road is popular with students and young professionals who'd rather stay out of the centre. The Pink Triangle, around Times Square by the Centre for Life, is the city's gay scene.
What makes Newcastle easy for pulling is the attitude. People are out to meet people, conversation is a sport, and nobody expects you to stand quietly at the side of the room. For a first meet with someone from the site, the Quayside works well: a bit calmer than the Bigg Market, and a good walk along the river if you want to talk.
Where to pull in Bristol
Bristol works by night of the week more than any other city here.
Thursday: the student crowd from both universities, around Park Street and the Clifton Triangle.
Friday: the waterside bars of the Harbourside for an after-work crowd that doesn't want to go home, then Corn Street in the Old City as it gets later.
Saturday: Stokes Croft and the streets around it for a later, more alternative night with music to match, or King Street, just off the Old City, for something more traditional.
Sunday: Gloucester Road, for a long afternoon that sometimes turns into a long evening.
It's a relaxed, creative city where people are open to talking to strangers, and it's small enough that a meet-up is never far away. The hills, however, are real. If you're meeting someone from the site, the Harbourside is flat, central and easy to find, which counts for a lot in the wrong shoes.
Where to pull in Nottingham
Nottingham has one of the biggest student populations in the country, with two big universities, and that keeps the centre lively almost every night of the week in term time. The Lace Market is the stylish end of town, with old warehouse buildings turned into bars, and it's where people go to look good. Hockley, right next to it, is more independent and a bit later. The streets fanning out from Old Market Square, the city's central square, carry the big weekend crowds between them.
In the first week of October the Forest Recreation Ground is taken over by Goose Fair, one of the oldest travelling fairs in the country. It's not a night out in the usual sense, but it brings the whole city out, and fairground rides have always been good for getting close to someone.
Nottingham's centre is compact enough to walk, which makes a spontaneous "shall we go somewhere else?" easy. It's also a city that likes its nights long, so pace yourself. The Lace Market makes a good first-drink spot with someone from the site: smart enough to make an effort for, close enough to everything else.
Before you head out
Whatever city you're in, the same few habits make the night better. Know how you're getting home. Keep your phone charged. Meet someone new somewhere busy first. And if you've arranged to meet someone from the site, tell a mate where you'll be. Our page on getting home fine has everything you need in two minutes.
If you'd like to brush up on the bit between "hello" and the taxi, there's our honest guide to pulling, written for exactly these nights.
Night out questions
Which UK city is the best night out for pulling?
It depends what you're after. Newcastle and Liverpool have the most sociable crowds and the biggest weekend energy. Manchester and Leeds are compact and busy most nights. London has the most choice but needs a plan, because it's really dozens of separate nights out. For the easiest same-night hookup, a compact centre where everyone ends up on the same few streets helps most.
Are UK city centres worth going out in midweek?
In the student cities, yes. Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester and Bristol stay busy on Thursdays during term, and some on Wednesdays too. Fridays suit the after-work crowd in London, along Bristol's Harbourside and in Manchester's Spinningfields. Saturday is biggest almost everywhere, but it's also the most crowded with couples and big groups, so midweek can be easier.
Is it easier to pull in a big city or a smaller one?
Big cities have more people out, but they're spread across more places, so it's easy to pick the wrong one. Smaller cities concentrate everyone on a handful of streets, which means you keep bumping into the same faces as the night goes on. That repetition is often what turns a glance into a conversation and a conversation into a plan.
How do I meet someone if I'm visiting a city for work?
Arrange it before you arrive. A few messages on the train to someone who lives locally means you've got a plan, and a guide, for the evening. Pick somewhere central and busy for the first drink, near where you're staying. If it goes well, you're close to home. If it doesn't, you've still had a night out in a new city.
Going out tonight?
See who's nearby and up for it before you leave.