The city home to Rio Carnaval, the world’s biggest party, was hardly going to miss out on the number one spot. Nightlife in Brazil’s raucous seaside city was given a 90 percent quality score, and locals rated it highly for affordability, too. What exactly makes nightlife in Rio so great? According to our survey of locals, the best things about going out in Rio are the bohemian bars of Lapa, live music, dance halls and spontaneous outdoor samba parties
A night out won’t drain your bank account in the Philippine capital, which came out as the most affordable city on our list to go out in at night. Not only that, but Manila’s nightlife scene earned an impressive 78 percent quality score, too, with locals describing the city as ‘beautiful’, ‘bright’ and ‘alive’ after hours. According to locals, Manila’s nightlife has the edge for its late-night food markets like Divisoria and the lively districts of Poblacion and Bonifacio Global City
With its legendary club scene, techno parties and true 24-hour-city status, it’ll come as a shock to no-one that Berlin ranked highest of all European cities surveyed. Nightlife in the German capital earned scores of 82 percent for quality and 48 percent for affordability, with locals shouting out iconic clubs Tresor and Matrix alongside the lively pockets of Friedrichshain and Warschauer Straße.
As the capital of a region that gave the world mariachi music and tequila, Guadalajara is a guaranteed good time – and locals agree. Nightlife in Guadalajara was rated the highest for quality out of every city on this list, with locals giving it a top score of 92 percent. A low affordability rating of 28 percent knocked the city back a few pegs in our ranking.
Texas’s state capital – aka the Live Music Capital of the World – topped the rankings of all US cities surveyed. In fact, nightlife in Austin received the third-highest quality score from locals in our survey, with the buzzy thoroughfares of 6th Street and Congress Avenue getting the most shoutouts.
Afrobeats, a sound that has taken dancefloors by storm the world over, has its roots in Nigeria – so it’s no wonder the country’s largest urban hub scored so highly on the nightlife front. Lagos earned an 80 percent quality score for its nightlife scene, and it’s not too expensive to locals either, scoring 48 percent for affordability.
The Netherlands’ second city ranked as the second-most affordable destination for nightlife in our survey (the same can’t be said for the other ’Dam, that’s for sure). Locals named the industrial Maassilo and dance club Annabel as their favourite venues, but while the city’s techno and clubbing scene got a few mentions, the most used term to describe Rotterdam’s nightlife was ‘cosy
Anyone who’s been out in Manny will have a story for the ages, so legendary is the northern city’s nightlife scene in the UK. Locals gave Manchester’s nightlife an 80 percent score for quality (though they didn’t rate it so highly for affordability, which earned a score of just 28 percent). Mancunians praised the ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘variety’ of Manchester’s after-dark offering (‘bubbly’ and ‘happy’ featured several times in the survey, too).
Locals in Budapest couldn’t settle on one favourite nightlife venue – Budapest Park, Remix, Instant-Fogas, CAT, BOB, Peaches and Cream and Morrison’s 2 all received multiple shoutouts in our survey. In other words, the Hungarian capital is bursting at the seams with options for a great night out. With an 80 percent quality score, Budapest’s nightlife scene is easily up there as one of the best i
Ghana’s coastal capital ranked well overall for its nightlife scene, scoring 66 percent for quality and 36 percent for affordability. Locals described nightlife in Accra as ‘beautiful’, ‘peaceful’ and ‘safe’, naming the bar-laden neighbourhood of Osu and Labadi Beach – known for its all-night-long beach parties – as their favourite spots to let loose.