Well in the UK we can drink from 18 so I'll give my experience of that, I had just broken up with my partner and was v depressed and I only went out to my very small local to celebrate it, it was ok but no I'd never visit those places

I now hit Cardiff every week

I drink around 4 bulmers as my pre drinks and then catch the train for an hour to get there. I usually stay up til over 4AM and cuz I live so far away I need to make friends with people to go home with them, that or sleep on the streets

so anyway I re-celebrated my 18th birthday on Black Friday over Christmas and it was sooooo good! We booked a five star hotel to stay in and everything . You'll have a great time