Mofie
Barcelona Guide Loses A lot of Sleep in Rome – One Night of Insomnia
One Night of Insomnia
I swapped rooftop mojitos in Barcelona for Roman cobblestones and told myself it was going to be a “quiet Monday.” By midnight I was proving myself wrong on a packed dance floor with a plastic cup of something neon-green in my hand. Rome doesn’t believe in easing into the week, and the One Night of Insomnia Pub Crawl is all the proof you need.
Power Hour at Highlander Pub
Everything kicks off at Highlander Pub, just off the Spanish Steps, one of Rome’s best-known landmarks. The pub is a favorite among travelers because it’s tucked into the historic center but feels like home turf no matter where you’re from. At 9:30 sharp, the Power Hour begins: unlimited beer, wine, and mixed drinks for a full 60 minutes.
Somewhere between my third rum and Coke and my first attempt at beer pong, the room turned into an impromptu language exchange. “Salud,” “prost,” and “na zdrowie” all clashed together, and by 10:30 the place was buzzing like a Friday night.
The guides, who clearly run this show like a well-oiled machine, rounded us up with practiced ease. You can tell they’ve been doing this for years: it felt less like “herding tourists” and more like joining an army of new friends heading into battle against Monday itself.
Bar Hopping Through the Eternal City
Rome is famous for many things, ruins, fountains, fashion, but it’s also notorious for its queues. Outside nightclubs, you’ll often see long lines of people waiting to get in. Luckily, not for us. With the crawl wristband, we breezed past the velvet ropes, shot in hand, while the crowd outside gave us the “who are they?” look.
Three or four stops later, I had collected a squad of drinking buddies from Brazil, Canada, and Ireland. That’s the best part of these crawls: it’s less about the bars themselves and more about the weird, wonderful mix of people you’d never meet otherwise. The music switched between pop, hip hop, and house, the kind of variety that makes even the worst dancers feel like professionals for five minutes.
The Insomnia Part
The final club of the night didn’t care that it was Monday. If anything, the fact it was Monday made the energy wilder, like everyone had conspired to forget the calendar. Drinks still flowing, strangers swapping Instagrams under the glow of the DJ booth, and somewhere around 3 AM I was on stage shouting the lyrics to a song I only half knew.
That’s the Insomnia effect: one minute you’re thinking, “I’ll just have one drink, it’s a school night,” and the next you’re leading a chorus of strangers in a song you couldn’t name sober.
By the time I stumbled back onto the Roman cobblestones, the city was quiet except for our crew. The crawl lived up to its name: sleep wasn’t happening anytime soon.
Rookie Mistakes to Avoid
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Forgetting your ID - Rome’s clubs won’t let you in without it.
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Dressing sloppy - guys, no shorts or flip flops unless you enjoy rejection.
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Not pacing yourself on the open bar - These Romans know how to pour!
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Underestimating Monday - it’s not “a quiet night.” It’s Rome.
Damage Check
€35 gets you:
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1h open bar (beer, wine, mixed drinks)
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Free shots at 3-4 venues
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Skip-the-line entry to every bar and club
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FUN!
Running late? There’s a €25 option that still hooks you up with a drink + shot at Highlander and club entry.
Barcelona Final Word
Rome doesn’t do Mondays like anywhere else. Forget the idea of a “quiet night” - the One Night of Insomnia takes the worst day of the week and turns it into the highlight of your trip. If you can survive Monday night in Rome, you can survive anything.
🔥 Ready to see how Rome does Mondays? Book your One Night of Insomnia and meet us at Highlander Pub. Or check out more chaos on the Rome Pub Crawl main page.
🍹 And when you’re back on the beach, keep the party alive with the Barcelona Party Pass.