Nightlife looks different around the world and is about so much more than clubbing – it’s also street life and community, late-night cafe culture, and hybrids of art gallery and dancefloor.
Time Out has unveiled its annual ranking of the World’s Best Cities for Nightlife. Las Vegas tops the list as global nightlife capital, with Madrid and Paris completing the top three of true nightlife veteran cities. Time Out’s ranking this year highlights an after-dark scene that has evolved beyond the superclub, with today’s nightlife offering an incredible spectrum – from sophisticated cocktail bars and nostalgic vinyl lounges to new music genres taking over dancefloors or immersive digital art parties.
To compile the list, Time Out – the global brand that inspires and enables people to experience the best of the city – surveyed thousands of people around the world about nightlife and going out in their city. Each city was ranked on how locals rated the quality and affordability of their city’s nightlife scene, from clubbing to entertainment. Time Out editors included only the highest-scoring city for each country to ensure the list reflects the nightlife scenes of cities around the world. To create the final ranking, a panel of nightlife experts, including Time Out city editors and arts and culture writers, voted on their favourite cities. Local editors and writers have also shared why each city on the list makes the grade, and how to have a good time out after dark.
Grace Beard, Travel Editor at Time Out, says: “Informed by the insights of 18,500 city-dwellers and a panel of nightlife experts, this year’s list of Time Out World’s Best Cities for Nightlife reflects the incredible spectrum of after-dark culture in our cities. There’s something for all tastes on this year’s list, from all-weekend raves and veteran superclubs to intimate listening bars and late-night cafe culture. No matter what a good night out means to you, each of these 20 cities has a unique nocturnal culture waiting to be explored – and with our on-the-ground recommendations from local experts, you know exactly where to go out there.”
For the full list of Time Out’s 20 World’s Best Cities for Nightlife right now, please visit www.timeout.com/travel/worlds-
1. Las Vegas
Nightlife in Las Vegas – the city most likely to be described by residents as ‘exciting’ – famously centres around top DJs spinning EDM or hip hop in enormous resort nightclubs, a scene that’s celebrated each May when the Electric Daisy Carnival transforms the Las Vegas Motor Speedway into a giant rave. But in recent years, there has been a shift to a more low-key nightlife venue: the cocktail bar. Many of which – such as Stray Pirate, Doberman or Nocturno – can be found in the city’s thriving Arts District, a walkable downtown neighbourhood of vintage shops, breweries and restaurants. Vegas also has a slew of tiki bars and dozens of speakeasies; spots hidden inside a working barbershop, behind a bookcase of a Mamak stall at Resorts World; in the basement of the Mob Museum; or The Lock that guests crawl into through a safe door.
2. Madrid
The Spanish capital is home to an incredibly diverse nightlife scene and with its outstanding bars and clubs, this is a place to party till dawn. Devil’s Cut – the first European bar from Tokyo bartending royalty Shingo Gokan – only opened a few months ago but has already become one of the best cocktail joints in the city; and there is Pensión Mimosas, the new ‘secret’ bar near Puerta del Sol, with its buzzy atmosphere. For those who want to go clubbing, there are icons with more than two decades under their belts, like Fabrik and Ochoymedio, or the roster of clubs from Madrid’s nightlife masterminds Edgar Kerri and Laura Vandall (Club Malasaña, El Internacional and Lucky Dragon). Big nights out happen on Gran Vía thanks to LuLa and Fitz, while Madrid’s LGBTQ+ scene boasts legendary venues like Rick’s and weekly drag shows at former indie temple Maravillas Club. There’s also a new kind of high-end fun in town, spearheaded by a wave of Latin American arrivals: at places like Pabblo, Rhudo and Jimmy’s, night owls can find either dinner and a show, or restaurants where the food is just the warm-up before the party really kicks off.
3. Paris
Going out in Paris is expensive – it got the lowest affordability rating for clubbing, with only 23 percent of respondents saying it was cheap to party in the French capital – but worth every penny, according to 80 percent of locals and the editorial panel. In fact, Parisian nightlife is going through a new golden age right now with Queer collectives like La Créole, Divin0 and Le Bunker lighting up the city with joyous, inclusive and intersectional parties where dancehall, perreo and afrobeats ring out, proving that techno no longer has a monopoly on the dancefloor. Some exceptional new clubs have also sprung up this year, from the tiny, cutting-edge Essaim to the huge industrial temple that is Mia Mao. The city's northeast quarter can now boast Europe's biggest concentration of clubs – from La Station to Nexus, via Le Gore and Glazart – primed for non-stop 48-hour parties.
4. Shanghai
To most of the world, Shanghai’s nightlife scene is relegated to single pavilion, multi-storied nightlife venues like INS or shiny cocktail bars, like the newly opened Penicillin and mezcal maven Coa. But what makes Shanghai’s nightlife truly one-of-a-kind is how it spills out into the city’s pedestrian-friendly streets, uniting night owls across all demographics. Some streets are better than others for witnessing and participating in this rite of passage: worth a visit are Changle Road, Cedar Kitchen (a gas station by day and alternative venue by night), the 'golden triangle' (Changle meets Fumin and Donghu) to see largely expat revellers living their best lives, and Xiangyang Road for Long Islands by smash burger joint Goodman and heavenly highballs by Ferra Bar, a Canto BBQ spot before 9pm.
5. Berlin
Berlin’s nightlife is constantly transforming, even as it reckons with the tragic closure of spots like Watergate and Wilde Renate – casualties of the wider ‘Clubsterben’ (literally ‘club death’) moment. But its UNESCO-listed techno culture pounds on at RSO.Berlin and DSTRKT, and in lower-cost underground events. Beyond dark rooms there is house at Panorama, all‑weekend raves at Sisyphos, queer nights at SchwuZ and summer day‑to-night raves at Else, Oxi and Heideglühen. Not heading to the club? In this city, the party will come to you – don’t be surprised when Christopher Street Day (Berlin’s answer to Pride) or Rave the Planet spills into the streets.
6. Melbourne
In Melbourne, on any given evening, you can find a basement club catering for all kinds of subcultures, an intimate bar with a vinyl collection (Music Room) or a glittering drag show starring a roster of fabulous queens. And while the tried and true nightclubs such as Revs remain a rite of passage for all partygoers, there has been a noticeable shift to alternative after-hours adventures. Think chic, cosy lounges with epic sound systems à la Waxflower, Caretaker’s Cottage and Angel Music Bar, or late-night festivals like Rising and Now or Never that host exhibitions, feasts and parties well into the early hours. It’s no surprise that an impressive 81 percent of Melburnians rated their city highly for nightlife. However, only 23 percent agreed a night out in the city is cheap, making it one of the lowest-ranked cities for affordability.
7. Brighton
At Brighton’s nighttime core is the deep-rooted role that LGBTQ+ spaces – which began cropping up in the ’20s and ’30s – have played. Today, veteran queer institutions (like Legends and Revenge) are still at the forefront of the queer nightlife scene. A welcoming, accessible and – crucially – fun nightlife scene is a big part of Brighton’s ethos: take TidalGroove, an events collective founded to spotlight the talent of local upcoming DJs and offer more affordable nights out across the musical spectrum. Since it started two years ago, the team now host the annual TidalFest, and run open deck sessions to foster a vibey, inclusive dynamic between partiers and performers. Fancy turning your hand to the decks? Head to Presuming Ed’s or The Mesmerist. Then there’s the roster of more intimate, sound-led venues and bars that have spawned in recent years: try The Well, Helm and Alphabet.
8. Mexico City
CDMX's nightlife is as diverse as its people: For culture seekers, museums like San Carlos and Cineteca Nacional extend their hours once a month, offering art and cinema until 10pm. Party lovers find their rhythm in urban and trap clubs like 512, or in exclusive experiences like the secret parties of Pervert and Fünk Club. The LGBTQ+ community flock to spaces like Bonito y Rico, while the mixology scene shines with innovative options such as Fo+Ma and La Vista, along with timeless classics such as Mauro and Bar Polilla, ensuring an unforgettable night for all tastes. Locals find that the city’s nightlife is reasonably affordable, with 57 percent saying entertainment – including live music and the theatre – is either ‘cheap’ or ‘free’.
9. Dubai
Dubai’s nightlife scene was once all about superclubs, but more and more locals are spending their evenings at curated listening bars and beach clubs. Legacy nightclubs like Sky 2.0 and Soho Garden are still pulling in big crowds, but the real energy is in the underground scene. In Business Bay, Honeycomb Hi-Fi – a bar hidden behind a record store – leads the city’s listening bar boom, while Chanca, a speakeasy inside Peruvian restaurant COYA Dubai, hosts genre-hopping DJ nights. Music-wise, amapiano, afrobeats and deep house dominate dancefloors, with party series like Bohemia Beach Club and Ushuaïa booking international names on the regular. And while there are still big crowds in the cocktail bars of DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre), it’s the pool and beach clubs like Cloud 22 on Palm Jumeirah and Sirene Beach at beachside district J1 Beach that are defining Dubai's nightlife trends in 2025.
10. Mumbai
With Mumbai’s traffic as legendary as its nightlife, where people go out depends on their whereabouts in the city. Much-loved and non-fussy neighbourhood bars that are perfect for letting your hair down after work include The Ghetto in Breach Candy and Toto’s Garage in Bandra, both going strong for decades. For fine cocktails with skyline views, head to AER in Lower Parel or Eau Bar overlooking Marine Drive. Packed karaoke nights are a weekly affair at Soul Fry, while Kitty Su at The LaLit in Andheri glams it up with vivacious drag shows.
For the full list of Time Out’s 20 World’s Best Cities for Nightlife right now, please visit www.timeout.com/travel/worlds-
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About Time Out Group
Time Out Group is a global media and hospitality brand that inspires and enables people to experience the best of the city through Time Out Media and Time Out Market. Time Out launched in London in 1968 to help people discover the exciting new urban cultures that had started up all over the city – today it is the only global brand dedicated to city life. Expert journalists curate and create content about the best things to do, see and eat across over 350 cities in over 50 countries, and across a unique multi-platform model spanning both digital and physical channels. Rooted in the Time Out brand, Time Out Market is the world's first editorially curated food and cultural market, bringing a city's best chefs, restaurateurs and cultural experiences together under one roof. The portfolio includes eleven Markets in cities such as Lisbon, New York and Dubai, and several new locations with expected opening dates in 2025 and beyond, in addition to a pipeline of further locations in advanced discussions. Time Out Group PLC, listed on AIM (AIM: TMO), is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Learn more at www.timeout.com and LinkedIn.