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The Best Nightlife Cities in the World: 2023 Guide

Nightlife

If you’re traveling to a new city, one thing you’re probably interested in is the nightlife and entertainment that’s in store when you get there.

In our 2022 nightlife cities study, we’ve used thousands of data points from popular online review platforms and other sources to put together a guide to the best nightlife cities in the world. This included data from over 500,000 restaurants, 8,000 bars and clubs, over 200 casinos, and more than 15,000 online reviews to determine: 

  • How many nightlife venues each city has
  • The average rating for the different types of nightlife venues in each city
  • The Safety Index Score for each city
  • The average cost of a meal for two, pint of beer, club entry or taxi ride in these cities

Using this data, we’ve ranked the 50 most popular cities around the world on their restaurants, bars, clubs, and casinos, along with Safety Index Score and taxi prices to show you the cities with the most nightlife venues and those that offer the best value for money.

25 Best Cities for Nightlife in the World

Based on the data we collected about restaurants, bars, clubs and casinos from the 50 most visited cities in the world, we allocated points to each city to determine which ones ranked best overall. Here is our top 25 list of the best nightlife cities in the world.

Topping the list is Prague with 267 points out of a maximum of 355. In second place was Madrid with 229 points, followed by Tokyo in third with 223.

RankCityNightlife City Points
1Prague, Czech Republic267
2Madrid, Spain229
3Tokyo, Japan223
4London, England196
5Istanbul, Turkey187
6Osaka, Japan184
7Barcelona, Spain183
8Paris, France170
9Amsterdam, Netherlands168
10Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam165
11Berlin, Germany164
12Rome, Italy161
13Taipei, Taiwan153
14Cairo, Egypt148
15Bangkok, Thailand147
16New York City, USA128
17Dublin, Ireland123
18Jaipur, India121
19Phuket, Thailand120
20Athens, Greece119
21Los Angeles, USA107
22Chennai, India101
23Shanghai, China95
24Las Vegas, USA94
25Antalya, Turkey87

Keep reading to find out more about the breakdown of our rankings based on the number of nightlife venues, ratings, safety and affordability.

Cities with the Most Restaurants

Food is an important part of a trip to a new country or city, with travelers keen to seek out the best and most affordable food spots to visit. If you’re going to a city for the first time, you’ll want to have plenty of choice when it comes to eating out, whether it’s local cuisine or your favorite food staples.Using data from popular online review platforms, we’ve put together a top 25 list of world cities with the most restaurants in total. Tokyo, Japan tops the list with an estimated 102,236 restaurants and eateries. Tokyo also has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city in the world, with 226 restaurants holding at least one Michelin star.Coming in second on the list was Osaka, another city in Japan, with 36,047 restaurants. Making up the rest of the top five was Seoul, South Korea with 35,357, London, England with 20,546, and Paris, France with 17,742. Check out the full list of cities with the most restaurants below.Do bear in mind that the largest cities are expected to have more restaurants and nightlife establishments than smaller cities, and this will have an effect on the total number of each in the cities we researched.

Top 25 Cities with the Most Restaurants

top 5 cities with most restaurants
RankCityNumber of Restaurants
1Tokyo, Japan102,236
2Osaka, Japan36,047
3Seoul, South Korea35,357
4London, England20,546
5Paris, France17,742
6Shanghai, China16,894
7New York City, USA15,868
8Taipei, Taiwan15,244
9Istanbul, Turkey14,940
10Mumbai, India13,884
11Hong Kong, China13,757
12Los Angeles, USA13,444
13Singapore, Singapore12,572
14Bangkok, Thailand12,460
15Delhi, India12,445
16Dubai, United Arab Emirates12,090
17Madrid, Spain11,952
18Rome, Italy11,291
19Barcelona, Spain9,778
20Milan, Italy7,638
21Guangzhou, China7,164
22Berlin, Germany6,386
23Chennai, India6,331
24Prague, Czech Republic5,514
25Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia4,938
bottom 5 cities with the most restaurants

Cities with the Cheapest Restaurants

If you’re travelling on a budget and trying to keep costs down, affordable food is a must. We’ve ranked cities in a top 25 list by the average price of a meal for two at an Italian restaurant including starter, main course, dessert, and wine.

The city with the cheapest average cost for a meal for two was Chennai in India, at $14.86. This was followed by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at an average cost of $19.82 for a meal for two. The highest-priced city on our cheapest list was Dubai, at an average of $65.65 for a meal for two. However, out of all the cities we looked at, Hong Kong had the highest average price overall at $126.35.

Top 25 Cheapest Cities for a Meal for Two

top 5 cheapest cities for meal
RankCityAvg Meal for Two Cost
1Chennai, India$14.86
2Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia$19.82
3Agra, India$22.30
4Antalya, Turkey$22.30
5Cairo, Egypt$23.54
6Jaipur, India$23.54
7Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam$26.01
8Taipei, Taiwan$27.25
9Johor Bahru, Malaysia$32.21
10Istanbul, Turkey$33.44
11Mumbai, India$33.44
12Berlin, Germany$35.92
13Pattaya, Thailand$37.16
14Delhi, India$39.64
15Phuket, Thailand$39.64
16Denpasar, Indonesia$42.12
17Prague, Czech Republic$47.07
18Cancun, Mexico$48.31
19Seoul, South Korea$48.31
20Bangkok, Thailand$49.55
21Madrid, Spain$49.55
22Athens, Greece$52.02
23Barcelona, Spain$55.74
24Singapore, Singapore$61.93
25Dubai, United Arab Emirates$65.65
bottom 5 cheapest cities for meal

Cities with the Highest Rated Restaurants

If you’re a foodie looking for the best restaurants in town when you visit a new place, we’ve combined the popular online review platforms ratings of restaurants in each city to give you a top 25 list of cities with the best-rated restaurants.

Topping this list is Istanbul in Turkey, with an average restaurant rating of 4.96/5. Coming in a close second was Dubai, United Arab Emirates with an average restaurant rating of 4.91/5. 

Top 25 Rated Cities for Restaurants

top 5 rate cities for restaurants
RankCityAvg Popular Online Review Platforms Rating for Restaurants
1Istanbul, Turkey4.96
2Dubai, United Arab Emirates4.91
3Paris, France4.88
4London, England4.86
5Rome, Italy4.85
6Bangkok, Thailand4.82
7Barcelona, Spain4.82
8Madrid, Spain4.74
9Cancun, Mexico4.72
10Phuket, Thailand4.71
11Denpasar, Indonesia4.69
12Delhi, India4.68
13Cairo, Egypt4.68
14Jaipur, India4.66
15Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam4.65
16Prague, Czech Republic4.65
17Athens, Greece4.63
18Tokyo, Japan4.61
19Hong Kong, China4.61
20Amsterdam, Netherlands4.60
21Singapore, Singapore4.59
22Milan, Italy4.59
23Taipei, Taiwan4.57
24Berlin, Germany4.55
25Mumbai, India4.55
bottom 5 rated cities for restaurants

Nightlife City Safety

Safety is an important thing to consider when going on a night out, especially if you’re in a city you’re unfamiliar with. We took the 2021 Safety Index scores for our cities to determine which ones were the safest to visit.

Top of the list for safety was Taipei, Taiwan with a score of 86.55 out of 100, and second was Dubai, United Arab Emirates which scored 83.44 on the Safety Index.

RankCitySafety Index Score
1Taipei, Taiwan86.55
2Dubai, United Arab Emirates83.44
3Hong Kong, Hong Kong78.27
4Tokyo, Japan76.71
5Prague, Czech Republic75.84
6Antalya, Turkey72.83
7Madrid, Spain70.58
8Osaka, Japan70.13
9Shenzhen, China67.21
10Singapore, Singapore67.02
11Amsterdam, Netherlands66.32
12Shanghai, China65.68
13Jaipur, India65.42
14Guangzhou, China60.05
15Chennai, India59.78
16Bangkok, Thailand58.92
17Berlin, Germany58.86
18Milan, Italy56.44
19Barcelona, Spain54.49
20New York City, USA53.04
21Istanbul, Turkey52.50
22Los Angeles, USA51.59
23Cairo, Egypt50.03
24Orlando, USA48.07
25Rome, Italy47.87

Cheapest Cities for a Pint of Beer

When looking for the best cities for nightlife, you’ll probably be considering the cost of a drink when you go out. For those who want to find the cheapest cities for a pint of beer, we’ve put together a top 25 list. We used data from Expatistan to find the average price for a pint of beer in a neighborhood pub in each city.

The cheapest city we found for a pint of beer was Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, with a beer costing just $1.04. The next cheapest was Antalya, Turkey where the average pint of beer costs $1.55.

Out of all the cities we looked at, Dubai had the most expensive pint of beer, with an eye-watering average price of $12.38.

Top 25 Cities with the Cheapest Pint of Beer

top 5 cities for cheapest beer
RankCityAvg Cost of a Pint of Beer
1Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam$1.04
2Antalya, Turkey$1.55
3Cairo, Egypt$1.66
4Prague, Czech Republic$1.70
5Agra, India$1.71
6Taipei, Taiwan$1.92
7Jaipur, India$2.27
8Cancun, Mexico$2.29
9Pattaya, Thailand$2.32
10Istanbul, Turkey$2.54
11Denpasar, Indonesia$2.82
12Bangkok, Thailand$2.86
13Phuket, Thailand$2.92
14Chennai, India$2.96
15Seoul, South Korea$3.07
16Delhi, India$3.58
17Johor Bahru, Malaysia$3.73
18Mumbai, India$3.86
19Osaka, Japan$3.88
20Vienna, Austria$3.88
21Tokyo, Japan$3.96
22Berlin, Germany$4.01
23Madrid, Spain$4.21
24Barcelona, Spain$4.44
25Venice, Italy$4.63
bottom 5 cities for cheapest beer

Cities with the Most Bars and Clubs

When it comes to nightlife, many of us will see bars and clubs as a key attraction in cities that we visit. We found out which cities had the most bars and clubs, so you can find the ones with the most bustling nightlife scene.

From the cities we looked at, London and Tokyo had the highest number of bars and clubs, estimated at 1,000+ each. Please note, both of these cities have over 1,000 bars and clubs each but we were unable to extract data over 1,000.Making up the rest of the top 5 were Prague in the Czech Republic with 631 bars and clubs, New York City with 601, and Madrid, Spain with 592 bars and clubs.

Top 25 Cities with the Most Bars and Clubs

top 5 cities with most bars
RankCityNumber of Bars/Clubs
1London, England1,000+
2Tokyo, Japan1,000+
3Prague, Czech Republic631
4New York City, USA601
5Madrid, Spain592
6Barcelona, Spain521
7Berlin, Germany502
8Osaka, Japan502
9Istanbul, Turkey439
10Paris, France421
11Rome, Italy391
12Las Vegas, USA283
13Milan, Italy274
14Amsterdam, Netherlands263
15Dublin, Ireland250
16Los Angeles, USA249
17Phuket, Thailand181
18Bangkok, Thailand176
19Athens, Greece165
20Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam165
21Vienna, Austria148
22Singapore, Singapore141
23Orlando, USA117
24Shanghai, China92
25Dubai, United Arab Emirates83
bottom 5 cities with most bars

Cities with the Cheapest Club Entry

If you’re planning to visit a club when you’re out in a new city, you’ll probably want to know the typical cost of entry or cover charge. Most clubs will charge some form of entry fee before you even buy any drinks, and the price can vary depending on the type of club you go to and the location. If you’re looking to visit the biggest party cities, these costs might be a little higher.During our research, club entry price data was only available for 16 of the cities we looked at. Of these, the cheapest average club entry price was in Rome, Italy at $14.50 followed by Orlando, USA at $15. The most expensive was, unsurprisingly, Las Vegas, USA at an average of $48.

Ranking of Average Club Entry Prices from Cheapest to Most Expensive

top 5 cities by avarage bar rating
RankCityAverage Club Entry Cost/Cover Charge (May 2022 Inflation-Adjusted)
1Rome, Italy$14.50
2Orlando, USA$15
3Prague, Czech Republic$15.50
4Berlin, Germany$14.70
5Amsterdam, Netherlands$17
6Barcelona, Spain$18
7Dublin, Ireland$19.50
8Madrid, Spain$19.50
9Paris, France$19.50
10Miami, Florida$21.50
11London, England$22.30
12Los Angeles, USA$24
13New York City, USA$26
14Tokyo, Japan$29
15Las Vegas, USA$48
bottom 5 cities by avarage bar rating

Highest Rated Cities for Bars and Clubs

If you’re looking for the cities with the highest-rated bars and clubs, we’ve put together a top 25 list based on average popular online review platforms ratings in each city. If you’re not necessarily seeking out the cheapest nightlife, but rather the best quality establishments to visit, consider these cities. 

That’s not to say that the cheapest cities don’t perform well, Ho Chi Minh City had the cheapest pint of beer, and comes in 5th on our list of highest rated cities for bars and clubs.

The city with the highest average rating for bars and clubs is Tokyo Japan at 4.65/5. Coming in at a close second was Athens, Greece with an average rating 4.61/5 for its bars and clubs.

Top 25 Cities by Average Bar and Club Rating

top 5 cities by avarage bar and clubs rating
RankCityAvg Popular Online Review Platforms Rating for Bars and Clubs
1Tokyo, Japan4.65
2Athens, Greece4.61
3Phuket, Thailand4.60
4Barcelona, Spain4.55
5Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam4.52
6Johor Bahru, Malaysia4.50
7Prague, Czech Republic4.47
8Amsterdam, Netherlands4.45
9London, England4.45
10Osaka, Japan4.42
11Cairo, Egypt4.42
12Berlin, Germany4.41
13Madrid, Spain4.40
14Bangkok, Thailand4.40
15Rome, Italy4.38
16Los Angeles, USA4.37
17Paris, France4.35
18Jaipur, India4.33
19Dublin, Ireland4.33
20Istanbul, Turkey4.33
21Pattaya, Thailand4.30
22Taipei, Taiwan4.28
23New York City, USA4.28
24Agra, India4.25
25Denpasar, Indonesia4.25
top 5 cities by avarage bar and clubs rating

Public Drinking Laws

While public drinking is generally legal in most of the cities covered in our guide, there are some which do not allow public drinking or have specific rules regarding alcohol consumption in public. For each of these cities, we have deducted 10 Nightlife City Points from their total score.

CityPublic drinking rules
Dubai, United Arab EmiratesDrinking alcohol in public spaces is illegal and punishable by arrest
Singapore, SingaporePublic alcohol consumption is restricted between 10:30 pm and 7 am
Barcelona, SpainDrinking alcohol in public spaces is illegal and punishable by a fine
New York City, USADrinking alcohol in public spaces is illegal and punishable by a fine
Los Angeles, USADrinking alcohol in public spaces is illegal and punishable by a fine
Orlando, USADrinking alcohol in public spaces is illegal and punishable by a fine
Cancun, MexicoDrinking alcohol in public spaces is illegal and punishable by a fine

This list may not be extensive, some countries impose specific rules in certain districts and streets relating to public alcohol consumption. You should always check the local laws when visiting a new city or country.

Average Cost of a Taxi Ride Per km

For those who are venturing out in the city at night, transport is something you’ll need to consider, especially late into the night when public transport might not be as accessible.

We’ve broken down the average cost of a taxi ride per km in the world’s most visited cities. The cheapest average taxi ride is in Cairo, Egypt at just $0.16 per km. Tokyo, Japan had the most expensive average taxi cost at $4.17 per km.

RankCityAverage Taxi Cost Per KM (May 2022 Inflation-Adjusted)
1Cairo, Egypt$0.16
2Delhi, India$0.20
3Chennai, India$0.20
4Mumbai, India$0.33
5Shanghai, China$0.41
6Singapore, Singapore$0.46
7Dubai, United Arab Emirates$0.51
8Istanbul, Turkey$0.55
9Taipei, Taiwan$0.93
10Athens, Greece$0.97
11Hong Kong, China$1.25
12Prague, Czech Republic$1.31
13Madrid, Spain$1.38
14Paris, France$1.70
15Rome, Italy$1.77
16Los Angeles, USA$1.93
17New York City, USA$1.97
18Las Vegas, USA$2.14
19Amsterdam, Netherlands$3.14
20London, England$4.13
21Tokyo, Japan$4.17

Cities with the Most Casinos

If a trip to the casino is what you’re interested in when it comes to the best nightlife cities in the world, we’ve put together a top list of cities with the most casinos to visit. 

It’ll come as no surprise to anyone that topping the list with 85 casinos is Las Vegas, USA. Around 30 of these casinos are located on the famous Las Vegas strip, with many others dotted around the city in different locations. Coming second on the list was Prague in the Czech Republic, with 27 casinos in the city – also near Prague main station – closely followed by London with 24 casinos. 

Highest-rated Casinos

As well as looking at the cities with the highest number of casinos, we also found out which cities had the highest average rating for their casinos.

At the top of this list was Paris, France, which had an average casino rating of 4.75/5. Second on the list was Rome, Italy with an average casino rating of 4.5/5. So if you’re looking for the best casinos, consider checking out these cities first.

Cities with the Most Casinos and Best-rated Casinos

RankCityNumber of CasinosCityAvg Popular Online Review Platform Casino Rating
1Las Vegas, USA84Paris, France4.75
2Prague, Czech Republic27Rome, Italy4.50
3London, England24Osaka, Japan4.33
4Dublin, Ireland13Prague, Czech Republic4.13
5Amsterdam, Netherlands10Athens, Greece4.00
6Macau, China9Tokyo, Japan4.00
7Madrid, Spain9London, England3.97
8Cancun, Mexico8Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam3.90
9Barcelona, Spain5Dublin, Ireland3.86
10Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam5Madrid, Spain3.83

Summary

So, there you have it, the top nightlife cities in the world for restaurants, bars and casinos. Whether you want a destination with a variety of nightlife spots, or you want to seek out the best food and drinks, you’ll be sure to find something in our extensive guide. Have you planned your next trip yet? Which city do you think you’ll visit?

Methodology

When extracting data for this piece, we researched restaurants, bars, clubs and casinos for the top 50 most visited cities in the world[5]. We also found the average cost of a taxi ride per km and the Safety Index score for each of the cities.

Using information from popular online review platforms, we determined the number of restaurants, bars and clubs, and casinos in each city, as well as the average rating for these types of establishments in each city.

We used Expatistan to find out the average cost of a meal for two and a pint of beer in each city. For the club entry charges and taxi costs per km we took data from 2018 and adjusted for inflation to estimate an average charge for 2022.

Points System

We applied a points system to the cities based on the top-ranked cities in the 12 different categories we researched with a maximum of 355 points available. Categories seen as more desirable to those looking for the best nightlife cities were weighted more strongly with a higher number of points. We analyzed more than 500,000 restaurants, 8,000 bars and clubs, and over 200 casinos, using over 15,000 online reviews. The points allocated break down as follows.

  • Most Restaurants – Maximum 25 Points
  • Cheapest Meal for 2 – Maximum 25 Points
  • Highest-Rated Restaurants – Maximum 25 Points
  • Average Taxi Ride Cost per km – Maximum 25 Points
  • Most Casinos – Maximum 25 Points
  • Highest-Rated Casinos – Maximum 25 Points
  • Cheapest Pint of Beer – Maximum 35 Points
  • Cheapest Club Entry – Maximum 35 Points
  • Safety Index Score – Maximum 45 Points
  • Most Bars and Clubs – Maximum 45 Points
  • Highest-Rated Bars and Clubs – Maximum 45 Points
  • Restrictions on Public Drinking – Deduction of 10 Points
  • Total – 355 Nightlife City Points Available

All data is correct as of May 2022

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Giacomo Piva

Giacomo Piva, CMO and Co-founder at Radical Storage
Giacomo Piva has worked in the travel industry since 2008 across multiple niches including tourist transportation, luxury travel, and ecotourism. He now focuses on growing the global luggage network, Radical Storage, which is currently available in over 500 cities, in the likes of London, Paris, New York, and Rio de Janeiro.
Giacomo has a bachelor's degree in Communication Science and an in-depth experience across travel marketing, especially in improving a brand’s digital presence within the industry.