The best clubs and nightlife in Cape Town

When it comes to glamour and spending-to-impress, nowhere in Cape Town comes close to Saint Champagne Bar & Lounge. It’s a proudly opulent venue, with patrons unashamedly showing off buckets of Möet and endless bottle service – a place of leather banquettes and VIP zones, celebrity spotting and velvet ropes. For glitz, glamour and top-drawer local DJs, look no further.

The glamour of a Vegas pool party comes to Cape Town at Cabo Beach Club, an impressive beachfront venue where you can segue from the restaurant table to the cocktail bar to the dancefloor in one seamless move. In summer, you can add an oceanfront plunge pool to the mix, as the seaside pool deck comes alive with private cabanas and champagne menus. There’s a roster of DJs, but also look out for regular events featuring the hottest local and international live acts, from Grammy-winning Black Coffee to Stephan Bodzin.

Who doesn’t love a little local secret? And what nudge-nudge-secret-handshake speakeasy bars are to cocktail fans, Safehouse is to clubbers. Tucked away in the back of a treehouse-inspired eatery in the central city, Safehouse is the work of celebrated South African producer and DJ Das Kapital. This means the tunes are bound to be good on any night of the week. Expect cold cocktails at the bar and beautiful people on the dancefloor.

The Harrington Street development collects together your entire night’s revelry in one location, from an experiential rum bar to an elegant cocktail venue dishing up global tapas. And all of it will help ease you neatly into District, a world-class club and live music venue. Expect eclectic décor of caged chandeliers and retro-style booths, coupled with state-of-the-art lighting and a soundsystem that has made it one of the city’s leading late-night destinations.

Nightclub purists passionate about diving deep into the city’s house and techno scene will feel right at home at this city centre venue that takes its cue from Berlin’s underground clubs. Mødular is dark, edgy and a little bit gritty, but since the doors first opened in 2017 it’s become known as a venue that puts the music first, creating what the Mødular team call “a safe space for freedom of sonic expression, music experimentation and boundary-pushing.” There are three separate rooms, with a strict no-phones policy on the dancefloor to keep punters focused on the beats. A roster of leading local and global DJs keeps the music going four nights per week.

Cape Town is known as a welcoming destination for LGBTQI+ travellers, with a lively gay-friendly nightlife scene to match. While there’s no shortage of bars and restaurants – especially in the suburb of De Waterkant – The Pink Candy Nightclub is the most popular late-night dance venue in town. Expect suitably ripped bartenders, a diverse crowd and a never-ending range of hugely popular theme nights.

With hypnotic lights and enchanting beats, Club Paradise is sure to bring a smile to your face. Set in the East City precinct, there’s a slightly underground feel to this newly opened club, but once indoors you’ll be surrounded by state-of-the-art soundsystems, leading local and international DJs, stylish bars and even more stylish patrons. There’s no dress code here, but you’ll want to put on your glad rags.

A staple of the Camps Bay strip since 1999, Café Caprice is hugely popular for its street-side tables and sunset views, with a menu of tropical cocktails and Mediterranean plates to match. But on weekend nights it transforms from chic restaurant and cocktail bar into glam dancehall. The playlist leans towards house, electro and funk, and attracts a stylish crowd who are unafraid to dress up. If you want to blend in, do the same.

Once a literal waiting room for the restaurant downstairs, this intimate club and bar attracts a younger and diverse crowd, who come for the rotating selection of leading local DJs and popular themed nights. If you’ve ever wanted to dance the night away to your favourite 1D hits, The Waiting Room is the place to be. The balconies overlooking Long Street – Cape Town’s late-night boulevard – are a fine place to cool off while you take a break.

A French-inspired bistro that becomes a bar that becomes a club, all served with a dollop of style and panache. What’s not to love about The Moveable Feast? It’s a venue geared for a slightly older crowd, who lap up the ’90s hits and indie favourites in a space adorned with velvet couches and gilded frames. Set at the top of the popular Kloof Nek Road, it’s also a fine ending to an evening of bar crawling. Hemingway would be proud.

While bars and clubs come and go along Kloof Street, Asoka has endured thanks to an impressive global menu that’s smartly paired with inventive cocktails. ‘Come for dinner, stay for drinks’, is the mantra here, and by the time the resident DJs start spinning their repertoire of house tunes (check out Asoka’s SoundCloud), you’ll soon see why locals love this space for late nights on laid-back weekends. There’s a dancefloor here if the music moves you, but it’s just as seductive as a cocktail lounge and restaurant.