It’s no secret that the Great British Night Out has faced more than its fair share of challenges in the past few years. Rent hikes, soaring inflation and the lingering effects of the pandemic have all led to clubs, pubs, bars and venues across the country struggling to make do.
Plenty UK nightlife scenes, however, aren’t just surviving but thriving – and that’s shown by Time Out’s list of the world’s best cities for nightlife, which was published this week.
Time Out’s ranking of the planet’s top nightlife scenes was the result of surveys of thousands of city-dwellers around the world, who were quizzed on the variety, energy and general quality of their local nightlife. We then combined that feedback with the expertise of our network of nightlife experts to come up with a ranking. Thousands of Brits also took part in the survey, revealing the UK’s best cities for nightlife right now.
So, where in Britain will you find the country’s best night out for 2025? According to our surveys and editors, that’d be Brighton. A whopping 81 percent of Brightonians had great things to say about their city’s dancing and drinking scene, putting the Sussex seaside city several percentage points higher than anywhere else in Britain. Brighton was the only UK city to make the global ranking of the world’s top 20 cities for nightlife, placing seventh.
Earlier this year Brighton was named one of Time Out’s best cities to visit in 2025, and nightlife is a huge part of the city’s appeal. Whether you’re exploring its diverse roster of bars, solid pub selection or formidable array of music venues – from Brighton Centre to Concorde 2 – Brighton is a guaranteed top-tier night out.
And that’s before you get to Brighton’s LGBTQ+ scene, which is among the very best in the UK. From institutions like Legends and Revenge to more recent additions like lesbian club night Crushed and disco rave collective TidalGroove, Brighton’s LGBTQ+ nightlife remains without equal. Find out more about Brighton’s out-out supremacy in this piece about Britain’s current nightlife capital.
The second-best nightlife city in our ranking was Liverpool, which we also crowned the UK’s best city for food earlier this year. Once you’ve filled up on ’Pool’s top-notch nosh, the city has a spectacular selection of places open late into the night. The banks of the Mersey boast clubs and gig venues galore – Mountford Hall was named one of the country’s best venues by Time Out – as well as historic pubs and award-winning bars. It’s no wonder 78 percent of Liverpool locals had positive things to say about the city’s nightlife.
In third place was London. The state of nightlife in the capital has been hot topic in recent years – we ourselves have published features on London’s early bedtime and the struggles of grassroots venues – but London is having a nocturnal renaissance. A not-too-shabby 75 percent of Londoner survey respondents were positive about the city’s nightlife.
Writing about the capital for our 2025 list of the best cities in the world, Time Out London editor Joe Mackertich said:
‘London’s nightlife scene has seen some serious investment in the last year or so, meaning now is exactly the right time to come if you want fun. Hoxton’s flat-roof-pub-turned-serious-club Lion and Lamb, the way-better-than-it-should-be Here at Outernet, Hackney Wick’s thriving Colour Factory, the grassroots-tastic Cause and the already legendary Fold in Canning Town.’
‘Plus there’s a host of new hype-y queer bars, including La Camionera, The Wing and a Prayer and The Divine (from the folks behind legendary nightspot The Glory). None of this existed just a few years ago. Does that sound like a moribund metropolis to you?’ You can find out more about London’s placement here.
Next up was Cardiff in fourth, with a 74 percent satisfaction rating. The Welsh capital has seen a few key closures in recent years but remains a solid night out, with the legendary Clwb Ifor Bach and local mags like Radar shouting loudly about the best of the city’s music and culture. Survey respondents named Cardiff the UK’s cheapest city for drinking in pubs and bars, or going to the theatre.
RECOMMENDED: The 23 best club nights in the UK in 2025.
Fifth was Manchester with 73 percent of respondents praising the city’s out-out scene. With legendary clubs like the White Hotel and Warehouse Project alongside newcomers like Amber’s, Manchester’s nightlife is still booming. Across areas like Deansgate, Oxford Road, the Northern Quarter and more Manchester boasts an enviable array of bars, pubs, cocktail bars, clubs and music venues.
Sixth and seventh in our list with a score of 68 percent were Edinburgh and Leeds, respectively. Auld Reekie’s tiny but mighty clubs continue to attract the best DJs on the planet, while Leeds has overcome the loss of the brilliant Wire and is still a varied and buzzy place for a drink and dance. The Yorkshire city was also named one of the UK’s most affordable places to go clubbing by survey respondents.
At eight was Glasgow (with 67 percent of locals praising its nightlife), which is home to Time Out’s best club night in the UK, while ninth was Belfast (65 percent) with its epic pub scene. Bristol rounded out the top 10, with a 64 percent rating. The southwestern city recently saw the closure of Motion but is still very much a top nightlife destination, with an awesome musical history and excellent grassroots club nights like Club Djembe.
Time Out’s top 10 UK nightlife cities in 2025
Here are the 10 best British cities for nightlife right now.
Find Time Out’s full global list of the world’s best cities for nightlife in 2025 here.
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