# Nightlife in Europe



## nicdel (May 13, 2011)

Berlin, London, Hamburg, Barcelona, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam (regarding the cities I've been to)


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## dreaad (Nov 22, 2004)

in italy turin is considered the "italian berlin", speaking about clubbin.

rome is one of the best for street life, like madrid and barcelona.


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## DasWolf (Jan 25, 2011)

Great answers so far.

I will agree that the European nightlife scene seems more lively than the American one, though this is only an assumption. I am sure I will find out for sure.


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## thun (Aug 8, 2007)

They say that Italy has more clubs than the whole US. I'm curious if that's really true, maybe someone (Italian) could confirm that with some data?


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## Mr. Uncut (Jan 13, 2008)

Berlin, Frankfurt (both cities are on the top of worlds nightlife), London, Ibiza, Madrid...some crazy locations there, the rest is quite normal!

Some smaller cities in Germany, Netherlands and Spain also offer some great nightlife locations!


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

thun said:


> They say that Italy has more clubs than the whole US. I'm curious if that's really true, maybe someone (Italian) could confirm that with some data?


Well, many small cities in Italy, provided they are not a "retiree village" of sorts, do have their own local clubs. I guess it has to do with the the combination of facts that Italy has less places for younger guys to hang out, adults usually leave parents' house later then in UK or US, drinking age is 16/18, and there are far less pubs/bars that appeal to a younger crowd.

But many places called "clubs" in Italy are more like mixed venues, bars with DJ pulling some music.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

DasWolf said:


> Great answers so far.
> 
> I will agree that the European nightlife scene seems more lively than the American one, though this is only an assumption. I am sure I will find out for sure.


Be careful with that type of assumption; we tend to do a lot of assumptions when comparing North America to Europe that are often completely unfounded.
You would be surprised, but North American cities have plenty of bars and clubs, as well.


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## LosAngelesSportsFan (Oct 20, 2004)

thun said:


> They say that Italy has more clubs than the whole US. I'm curious if that's really true, maybe someone (Italian) could confirm that with some data?


Im sorry but im pretty sure LA and NYC alone have more clubs than all of Italy


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## LosAngelesSportsFan (Oct 20, 2004)

Of all the major European Cities ive been too, i would rank them in this order in terms of where i had the most fun and what i thought were the best nightlife cities. i would include bars, clubs, late night eating, atmosphere, etc..

1) Berlin
2) Dublin
3) Paris
4) London
5) Amsterdam
6) Brussels
7) Athens
8) Frankfurt
9) Florence
10) Rome
11) Milan
12) Cologne
13) Venice

Again, these are from my personal experiences. I had a great time in all these cities


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## krkseg1ops (Mar 19, 2009)

In Kraków, Poland, there is approximately 670 places within the borders of the Main Square where you can either drink and dance or dance and drink. That's an area of roughly 50000 m2.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

thats pretty much Europe for ya, every street historically had a bar/pub at one end which people could use as a communal living room (hence a pub is actually short for 'public house'), and a church at the other. Of course the pubs far outnumbered the churches 

I've heard NYC 5 boroughs has something 1000+ bars, the equivalent of a small city in Europe. By comparison London has 8000, Barcelona 10,000, Madrid 30,000. As for clubbing London is way tops in numbers and choice- 500,000 clubbers a night, and the worlds largest entertainment districts (The Piccadilly-Soho area alone, acc. to police numbers gets 500,000 people passing through a night, and doubling on weekends, just one of several zones).

For nightlife:

Madrid London Berlin Belgrade Hamburg Amsterdam rock.

Outside Europe:

Tokyo Beirut Bangkok NYC Vegas Buenos Aires


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Beware! As Benjamin Disraeli said, _"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics".
_
These "statistics" we quote often represent different things based on different definitions of "bars". In some cities, a bar and restaurant licence is the same thing (that is the way it is in Toronto, and there are about 8000). In other cities, "bar" and "restaurant" licenses are completely different. I doubt very much if _"NYC 5 boroughs has something 1000+ bars"_ is a fair, or true comparison to the statistics given for those European cities which quite likely represent all establishments licensed to serve alcohol and food. A visit to New York will reveal bars on every street, and well over 18,000 licensed bars and restaurants.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

not talking about restaurants, or licenses


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## 69696969 (Jan 9, 2009)

heyy , you forgot PORTUGAL !, especially lisboa and porto which are really amazing at night !! (i'm french, living there)


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

I'd love to see some photos of the nightlife of Lisboa and Porto....


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## lawine (Jul 24, 2006)

LosAngelesSportsFan said:


> Im sorry but im pretty sure LA and NYC alone have more clubs than all of Italy


I do hope you're joking.


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## GENIUS LOCI (Nov 18, 2004)

thun said:


> They say that Italy has more clubs than the whole US. I'm curious if that's really true, maybe someone (Italian) could confirm that with some data?


Mmmh, soccer clubs maybe 



LosAngelesSportsFan said:


> Im sorry but im pretty sure LA and NYC alone have more clubs than all of Italy


I'm pretty sure that's far from reality as the previous statement I quoted above yours


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## GENIUS LOCI (Nov 18, 2004)

dreaad said:


> in italy turin is considered the "italian berlin", speaking about clubbin.


Italian Berlin? First time I hear it

I don't know well Turin night life: I knew there was an interesting nightlife with many live music clubs and 'underground culture' all over the place, but everything is concentrated in just 2 areas, Murazzi and the so called _quadrilatero_

In Milan nightlife is way more spread out in many more areas (Navigli, Ticinese, Brera, Corso Como, Isola the most famous which come to my mind) and same in Rome as far as I know


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

I think the point is, people might be making presumptions based on personal stereotyping. If we have in our mind that our cities have much livelier clubs and bars than other places in the world, then we close our minds to the possibility that the same thing might be happening on the other side of the ocean. From my personal experience, I would definitely _not _say that London has 8 times the bars and clubs as New York City. I think there are probably more bars and clubs in North American cities than people in Europe might be imagining.....


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## Metro007 (Apr 18, 2011)

Are you really thinking the more bars & clubs the better the nightlife ??? For me 2-3 very cool bars and clubs are enough for spending an excellent night if people are nice, funny and open...so i dont understand what the comparaison with number of bars will say about the quality of the nightlife.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

I was just commenting on the discussion on numbers of bars, which you will find on the previous page. The discussion of* quality* of nightlife has nothing to do with the number of bars.

Anyhow, this thread is about nightlife in *Europe*, so let's not derail it further with hypothetical comparisons to nightlife in North America.


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

NYC: 18,000 liquor licenses, of which 15,000 are restaurants. Leaves only 3,000 others inc. public buildings, cafes etc. Just saying.


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## LosAngelesSportsFan (Oct 20, 2004)

lawine said:


> I do hope you're joking.


I wasnt being entirely serious, but rather making fun of the original post.


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## lawine (Jul 24, 2006)

the spliff fairy said:


> NYC: 18,000 liquor licenses, of which 15,000 are restaurants. Leaves only 3,000 others inc. public buildings, cafes etc. Just saying.


To be fair, this does not take into account the speakeasy.

They still have those, right?

Right?


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

lawine said:


> To be fair, this does not take into account the speakeasy.
> 
> They still have those, right?
> 
> Right?


Of course! And Wild West saloons with cowboys, too! 

_now back to our programme on Europe, which is currently in progress....._


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

One must take into account the effect that alcohol-licensing laws have on how entertainment is organized. Must American cities (I don't know about Canada on this) require some form of license to sell alcohol. It might be a simple process like paying a fee or something that involves periodic auctioning for a limited number of licenses. The overall effect is, usually, to produce venues that are larger in average to compensate the hassles of setting up a venue that dispenses alcohol.

Then, there is the drinking age law. The basic legal drinking age in most European countries is around 15-16 years, whereas in US it is 21. This has a certain effects on the demographics of nightlife, and explain why, probably, youngsters in Europe go out to drink more often than their American counterparts.


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## GENIUS LOCI (Nov 18, 2004)

But in Canada the drinking age is not 21

Anyway the topic is about nightlife in Europe


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Suburbanist, are you thinking no licence is required in the UK or Europe to sell alcohol?!??!  It's not the 1400's any more. And as Genius has pointed out again, the topic is about *nightlife in Europe,* so let's please stick to the topic.


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## katia72 (Mar 1, 2009)

Clone said:


> That's why I don't like it. Paris is to big. But that also applies to london, Berlin,...
> 
> Though I bet that it can be fun when you have a local to show you around.


Try Poland...many friends of me from Norway go for weekends to Wroclaw, Poznan , Krakow or Sopot. They love it.
I live in Oslo but I use to party in those cities, 

And I can recomend Dusseldorf in Germany, great place for party.
:banana:


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

Fair enough. So I ask the following: which are common times for clubs to open for serious business in each country on prime nights (Fri/Sat)? I figure out there are huge differences: in Spain, hardly any club gets rolling before 2am. But in Northern Europe, usually clubs are well on their peak at that time.

How does that work in your country?


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## LosAngelesSportsFan (Oct 20, 2004)

unfortunately in California, clubs and bars need to stop serving alcohol at 2 am. Some clubs in LA and Hollywood stay open till 3 or 4 and stop serving at 2, but the majority close at 2. stupid archaic ruile that needs to be changed, but is supported by the organization Mothers against drunk driving (MADD) and the police protective league, so its a very uphill battle. 

With younger politicians gaining in Sacramento, there has been some movement in changing the closing hours...


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

LosAngelesSportsFan said:


> unfortunately in California, clubs and bars need to stop serving alcohol at 2 am. Some clubs in LA and Hollywood stay open till 3 or 4 and stop serving at 2, but the majority close at 2. stupid archaic ruile that needs to be changed, but is supported by the organization Mothers against drunk driving (MADD) and the police protective league, so its a very uphill battle.
> 
> With younger politicians gaining in Sacramento, there has been some movement in changing the closing hours...


Italy has passed some laws in certain cities about similar measures, but enforcement so far has been lax to say the best. Some get around with a pre-paid system in which party-goers buy tokens/receipts before the established time but can redeem them well after the time limit.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

It's 2am in most of the US, but actually last call is 1:30 am. Some states like Delaware have bars close by 1!.


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## Onoudidnt (Feb 24, 2008)

It's important to remember that usually, in order to find the really great clubs in any city, you have to have some insider knowledge of the place.
I always use Dublin as the example. I always hear from friends abroad who have visited that the nightlife is boring, and the city mostly has bars for after-hours partying.
The reality is that Dublin has a fantastic edgy nightlife that centres around the (suprisingly big) gay scene, where all the androgenous hipsters go wild.

And as regards Berlin, anyone else been to Berghain? ;D


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## SkyBridge (Feb 15, 2006)

Berghain is, no discussion possible, the best club in the world


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

LtBk said:


> It's 2am in most of the US, but actually last call is 1:30 am. Some states like Delaware have bars close by 1!.


What? Seriously? That´s about the time you get out on a saturday night.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

I'm serious unfortunately.


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## city_thing (May 25, 2006)

LosAngelesSportsFan said:


> unfortunately in California, clubs and bars need to stop serving alcohol at 2 am. Some clubs in LA and Hollywood stay open till 3 or 4 and stop serving at 2, but the majority close at 2. stupid archaic ruile that needs to be changed, but is supported by the organization Mothers against drunk driving (MADD) and the police protective league, so its a very uphill battle.
> 
> With younger politicians gaining in Sacramento, there has been some movement in changing the closing hours...


It's obscene that clubs would close at 2am. In most of Europe (and Australia) clubs don't even start to gather a crowd until 2am. Closing at 6am is the norm, though a lot will stay open until 8 or 9am here.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

I think the 2am last call in most places has to do with anti-alcohol attitudes dating back to prohibition. After all, we are the only western country to have 21+ drinking age, but I read that bars and clubs in Sweden are just as restrictive.


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## diablo234 (Aug 18, 2008)

LtBk said:


> I think the 2am last call in most places has to do with anti-alcohol attitudes dating back to prohibition. After all, we are the only western country to have 21+ drinking age, but I read that bars and clubs in Sweden are just as restrictive.


In some bars located in mostly college towns however actual enforcement of these laws are pretty lax. Plus Fake-ID's are pretty easy to come by.

Also in some cities there are afterhours clubs that are open as well (the only difference being that they are not allowed legally to sell alcohol).


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

in London dress codes means its a shit place (Yates's, Leicester Square etc), while places that let anyone in are invariably the best. Dress codes smack of the small mindedness of clubs in regional cities that don't let trainers, jeans, fat people, foreigners in etc. These kinds of places are invariably populated by chavs in the ubiquitous going-out uniform of black shoes, black trousers and buttoned up shirts, and tarty girls, innit. Regional small mindedness. These places are all about beer and pulling, not about partying, and notorious for fights. Blokes outnumber girls by about 20-1.

Yates's bars:
















In the eyes of Londoners, a place where anything goes, people wig out, and where you can dress as stand out (or not) from the crowd as you like (and not uniformed) is where it's all at.

Dalston superstore (no dress code, entry fees, attitude etc. =complete headfuck)


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## Blackpool88 (Nov 15, 2007)

Dalston's alright it's getting a bit too cool for school now though I like it in Moustache Bar. In Manchester there is an area called the Northern Quarter that is really good for going out.


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## Adde (May 8, 2011)

LtBk said:


> Has anybody here experienced Stockholm nightlife? I have a feeling it wouldn't be as good as in mainland Europe.


The Stockholm nightlife is good on weekends, but weeknights can be a bit slower. Summer is better than winter, except when everybody leaves the city for the countryside a couple of weeks in July/August. 

And like with most cities, you need to know what kind of place you want to go to. If you like posher clubs with lots of really beautiful, but very dressed up and sometimes snobby people, then go to Stureplan. If on the other hand you want something more low key, laid back and diverse, go to Södermalm and so on. 

Virtually all of the nightlife takes place in the city center, so it's easy to get around, and the subway runs all night Friday-Sunday.


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## manon (Jan 8, 2011)

based on my personal experience, 
During the summer, Marmaris, Alanya, Bodrum
during the winter Istanbul, Lisbon, Belgrad


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## Portvscalem (Jan 9, 2007)

Porto nightlife is nowadays amazing. New clubs, restaurants, bars are growing like mushrooms. In general with some kind of artsy and retro aesthetics. And of course, a great number of festivals and other cultural iniciatives. We call the fenomena "movida", in allusion to Madrid nightlife in the 80´s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZ_38E_EAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMEvlfU7KV8

And we will have PrimaveraSound Festival ( the famous Barcelona indierock) in 2012:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbZkQw1LOCY

Barcelona or London, for example are great cities to go out, and generally southern europe coastal cities.


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Berlin takes the cake here.


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## Ribarca (Jan 28, 2005)

erbse said:


> Berlin takes the cake here.


Possibly for clubbing. In terms of street and bar life at night it is in my experience no match for a city like Madrid. There are tons of small cities in Spain like Granada that are immensely lively at night.


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## MareCar (Jun 6, 2006)

I don't know why everyone here is hyping Berlin so much. I was in Berlin and it was boring as fkuc. The city itself felt dead to me, looking back I don't see any people, it's like we were walking around in an empty city all the time. The clubs the locals and hotel staff pointed us to were awful. Half empty, ridiculous crowd, awful music, no atmosphere or vibe whatsoever. Sadly that is the way most nightlife in Germany feels. Munich has more and better clubs, a somewhat better crowd, but it still feels dull, like partying in a retirement home or in a mannequin store.


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## Ribarca (Jan 28, 2005)

MareCar said:


> I don't know why everyone here is hyping Berlin so much. I was in Berlin and it was boring as fkuc. The city itself felt dead to me, looking back I don't see any people, it's like we were walking around in an empty city all the time. The clubs the locals and hotel staff pointed us to were awful. Half empty, ridiculous crowd, awful music, no atmosphere or vibe whatsoever. Sadly that is the way most nightlife in Germany feels. Munich has more and better clubs, a somewhat better crowd, but it still feels dull, like partying in a retirement home or in a mannequin store.


When I was in Berlin I found pockets of nightlife. But not being a clubbing person the city as a whole felt a bit cold for the most to me. I prefer smaller cities like the mentioned Spanish cities or places like Antwerp and Amsterdam with a well defined city center packed with bars and outdoor terraces to have a drink (in the summer) outside at night.


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## SkyBridge (Feb 15, 2006)

@ Marecar
Wow, that's amazing. The 12 times I went there in the past three years on nightlife-weekends were amazing and I haven't spotted such an adventurous, bustling nightlife elsewhere. There is a reason people go there for a weekend of clubbing!

But Ribarca is right, places like Amsterdam and Antwerp are amazing too where the latter is certainly underrated. Before moving here this year I couldn't have guessed the nightlife is so inventive and crazy. The city has a policy that opens up unusual locations for parties. Examples in recent months are the central station, tree houses in a small forest, a medieval castle, several old factories, man made beaches, a circus tent, etc. etc.


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## Thermo (Oct 25, 2005)

Talking about strange places for a party in Antwerp. In 1998 they started with a small street party in a narrow street in the city center (Kammenstraat), called "Laundry Day". After a few years it got so big they had to move to some dock areas in the north of the city. 

Nowadays it takes place in the south of the city, right behind the 'palace of justice' building. Unfortunately it has lost a bit of its small-scale-charm. Now it's a major festival with visitors from all over the country (and beyond).

1999:









2005:









2011:


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Thanks for the response regarding Stockholm nightlife. Now what Italian cities outside of Milan?


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## Blackraven (Jan 19, 2006)

This is what night life is for me:

TRANCE MUSIC










































:banana:


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## vladanng (Aug 2, 2009)

Belgrade and Berlin!


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## Gobbo (Jul 26, 2007)

Well, I don´t know all Europea citires, but can judge these citires (from 1 to 6 stars):

Berlin ****** a very vibrating city with a huge night life, and there is something for any taste, both heterosexuals and gays.

Hamburg ***** is a very cool city. Reeperbahn is famous in the whole world for its nightlife, parties, sex-shopes, prostitutes and you name it...

Copenhagen **** has always been knows as Scandinavias Party Capital and probably still is, even that in the last years many sexshops in the red light district have closed, so it´s not so good as it used to be 

Aalborg *** only 125.000 inhabitants, but Aalborg is a good place for party since it has Denmarks most famous party-street Jomfru Ane Gade. It´s also the city in Denmark that have the most sex clubs, bars and discos compared to the number of inhabitants LOL 

Aarhus ** nice city, but the nightlife could be better.

Malmö ** nice city, but nightlife is a little boring honestly.


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## Kaufmann (Mar 9, 2010)

Nightlife in Rhein-Ruhr and there five best places to have a unforgettable night 



*biggest and best club in town - Dortmund "View"*









*Düsseldorf Altstadt*









*Köln Bootshaus*









*Bochum Bermudadreieck*









*Dortmund Mayday - Westfalenhall*


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## Kaufmann (Mar 9, 2010)

by the way is Dortmund one of the "Mekka" of electronic music

Mayday Westfalenhalle










biggest Loveparade ever with 1,6 million people


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## earthJoker (Dec 15, 2004)

Well but the biggest still existing is the Streetparade Zürich:


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## dhulkamaniac (Sep 26, 2011)

Best nightlife.... Ibiza and barcelona by far : )


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## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

marrie11 said:


> Nightlife in many European cities is among the best in the world. It is so full of life that cities anywhere else struggle to beat it. You will find everything.Nightlife in Europe will help you to enjoy the drink, the music and the dance. As someone young and wanting to spend time in Europe, I am curious to know what is the nightlife like in all of the cities and would like to hear .
> Night Clubs In Miami


Ströget, Copenhagen. The Broadway or shall we say the Manhattan of Scandinavia. Sprawling night life.


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

Gobbo said:


> I also think that this discussion is mostly about sensations and personal experiences. For Mr. Bricks Helsinki IS probably the most interesting city in the world because he lives there and loves the city.


I never said that. Some people.


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## vladanng (Aug 2, 2009)

Belgrade, different from western metropolis, and its cheap and nice, and peole are outstanding!!


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## taboe (Jan 30, 2007)

Top: Berlin, Madrid, Sevilla,...

cities like Amsterdam are also fun, but no more so than Antwerp, Brussels, Krakow, ... or most European cities of the same size really. And the bars close so damn early in Holland. 

The problem with mega-cities like London or Paris is that you have to know where to go, which is not always evident. 

Smaller cities with a large student population are always great as well. Think of Granada, Ghent, Leuven, Montpellier, Olomouc, etc...

Some specific preferences:
- Best beer: Belgium 
- Prettiest women: Czech Republic
- Best music clubs: UK
- Friendliest people: Portugal
- Best cheap drinks: Czech republic (beer)/Poland (wodka)


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## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

vladanng said:


> Belgrade, different from western metropolis, and its cheap and nice, and peole are outstanding!!


I was in Belgrade last summer with high expectations regarding nightlife. But I was dissappointed. I was with a travel group led by local students and we went to one of those boatclubs, which looked nice at first. But the crowd was so snobby that it destroyed my party mood. Just not my kind of people.
On another day we went to another boatclub. The crowd was normal, the music average. Something I can get everywhere. And due to the incompetency of the organisers of our travel group I couldn't experience much more. I guess I just had bad luck and didn't see that much of Belgrades nightlife anyway. 
Afterwards I went to Budapest. Much better experience for me.


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## mennoverweij_ (Sep 4, 2014)

I know that Many Non-Europeans will not accept what i will say, but, Many European countries especially GB, Germany and The Netherlands dominate in contemporary music. The whole scene around the music and the music itself usually reach America years later, this is what I saw when visiting America. The "hipster" concept is growing massively in many European countries (you recognize them with colorful shirts and skinny jeans) And it fully depends on your music taste and age. The music most European hipsters (mainly students) like, is: Deep house, house, techno, tech house, etcetera. But you have cities within Europe that have venues with a special music kind. My experiences are that London has a big underground house scene, where Berlin is a specialist in deep house. And then Amsterdam is a huge techno metropolis, children in Dutch High schools (age 12-18) listen to techno and can't wait to be a student to join huge parties in the student cities like Amsterdam, Groningen, Utrecht, Rotterdam and Tilburg. And of course don't forget the Amsterdam dance event, for the people who don't know what this is, it is a huge event where hundreds of thousands bars have DJ's having shows. But i would say every city is different. I would say, though Berlin has the biggest and most dynamic nightlife of europe and perhaps the world (?)


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## WWW king (Feb 19, 2013)




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